April Fitness Challenge

Let's keep going on those fitness goals! Here is the April Fitness Challenge and we are changing things up just a little bit from the March Challenge. 

An EMOM is Every Minute on the Minute and this is how you perform it. Beginning on the first minute you will do 8 burpees (or what ever is indicated on the day). Then you will rest the remainder of that minute. On the next minute you do 8 more burpees and then rest. You will continue this until the specified time for example: 4 minutes, 5 minutes, etc., up to 9 minutes during weeks 2, 3, and 4. You will also notice that each week the movements change or more are included. The faster you work, the more time you have to recover before repeating them again. 

On Sunday's you can choose to do 20 minutes of cardio. With the warmer temperatures approaching you might like to take your workout outdoors for a 5K, or a brisk walk, it's up to you! Do your favorite cardio for 20 minutes, what I have listed is only an example of the variety of choices you might like to partake in. 

During the third week you also have the option to substitute kettlebells swings instead of doing the burpees and push ups that week. Or, if you have a rower you can row for calories every minute and rest until the next. 

If you have any questions just leave me a comment. Share this with a friend that you might like to do this with to keep yourself accountable. The more the merrier and working out with friends is always more fun. If you don't know anyone, check out my Facebook page Get Fit with Ris, you can always check in there as you complete the daily workouts and I'll be sure to keep you motivated and inspire you to continue. 

Remember, have fun and make sure you challenge yourself each and every day to be better than yesterday. Summer is almost here!

In Health & Fitness,

Marissa

Get Fit! Be Fit! Stay Fit!

Workout 15.4 CrossFit Game 2015 OPEN

Only one week left in the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Open! My current standings after last week are:

38/472 for the Central East Region and 434/6,158 worldwide. I've moved up quite a bit from last week and I am very excited about that! If only I could have gotten 1 muscle up in 15.3.

I did give 15.3 a second attempt last Sunday to get my first muscle up. I spent the 14 minutes working on it with no success. When it was over, my husband pushed me forward which got me thru the rings and I pushed myself up. Of course, this does not count, I just need to work on “head butting” my way through the rings so I can get up on my own. I will continue to work on them and know that they are not too far away from becoming a reality.



Photo Credit: CrossFit


In the meantime, this past Friday was 15.4 an 8 minute AMRAP of ascending Hand stand push ups (HSPU) and Cleans. I felt pretty good about getting at least 1 or 2 HSPU, so I was excited that I did the first three so easily. Then I had to do the cleans and knew that it wouldn’t be a problem since in 15.2 I did a 125 Clean & Jerk, so I knew I could clean it up. Then I headed back over to the wall for 6 HSPU, and I only got 1. I then spent the last 5 minutes trying to get another one, but again I was not successful. I just couldn’t push myself up. I tried kipping and by the end of the 5 minutes I almost had it and by that I mean I could push my head up off the mat about an inch, but that was about it. So, I completed 5.4 with 7 reps.

What I like about the Open this year is that it showed me where my weaknesses are and what I have to work on. So, over the next couple of months I will spend more time working on my muscle up and learning the kipping for the HSPU. I know I have it in me!


Stay tuned next week to see where I fall in the rankings after the 15.4 submission and what challenges 15.5 will bring.





In Health & Fitness,



Marissa





Get Fit! Stay Fit! Be Fit!

My current standings in the Cross Fit Open after 15.2 are:

57/472 for the Central East Division and 685/6,157 World Wide 

Here is the 15.3 Workout from Friday:

Photo Credit: CrossFit

Ugh! Muscle Ups are something I have not yet perfected or performed. I know that I am certainly strong enough to do them, and if I worked on them more often I know I can get them. I was conflicted going into this workout on Friday morning wondering if I should spend my 14 minutes trying to get a muscle up (or two), or doing it scaled and skipping the muscle ups and just do the Wallballs and Jump Ropes. The scaled version was 50 wallballs at 10# (instead of 14#) and 200 single jumpropes (instead of 100 Double Unders, which I can do).

Well, I chose to do 15.3 scaled on Friday and ended up with 1,007 reps. I was honestly surprised. One of the trainers said to the group as we were warming up to shoot for 700 reps. The timer was counting down, 3…2…1 GO! I started right in with the first round of 50 wallballs and 200 single jumpropes. I never once looked at the clock. I took only a few short breaks during the wallballs to shake out my arms. I did the jumpropes unbroken. There was about 20 seconds left when I finished my last round of jumpropes and I picked up the wallball and was able to complete 7 of the 50 before time was called. I had no idea how many rounds I did. I just tried to stay moving the entire time. I was pleasantly surprised when Meggan told me how many reps I had completed.

 

Now, do I give it another go on Monday and try and get a muscle up or two during the 14 minutes? Even though I had some pretty decent reps with the scaled version, I am told that even 1 muscle up will earn me more points on the leader board than my scaled score. If I am able to catch up with the other coaches on the box, I think I may attempt to do it. After all, I have nothing to lose by trying and I may even surprise myself.

Stay tuned next week to see where I land on the leader board after this weeks workout. 

In Health & Fitness,

Marissa

Get Fit! Be Fit! Stay Fit!

Week 2 of the Reebok CrossFit 2015 Open

My current standing so far for the CrossFit Open for the Central East Region is 55^th place out of 472 for the Masters Women 45-49 age group, and 709 out of 6,143 women worldwide.

Photo Credit: CrossFit

Today was the 2^nd workout for the 2015 Reebok CrossFit Open. It was a repeat from  14.2. Last year I did this workout twice. I did 32 reps the first time and 36 reps the second time. This morning, I did 1 rep better than last year for a total of 37 reps. Unfortunately, I didn’t make it out of the first round and I am considering giving it a second go on Monday morning. The chest-to-bars were tough especially after all the other workouts I’ve been doing this week that have included burpees (lots and lots of burpees) and pushups. I did the majority of them strict and added a few kipping chest-to-bars in there. Megghan, one of the coaches suggested that I work on my kipping over the weekend and then try again on Monday for a better score. I have been working on my kipping during some of the workouts, sometimes I have the rhythm, and sometimes I don’t. My kip is like a sprint, rather than a marathon, once it’s gone, it’s gone. I was afraid to kip all of them today because I thought I might waste too much time on the rhythm rather than just doing chest-to-bars. The overhead squats felt really good, I had no difficulty getting through those.

In addition to my regular workouts, I’ve been doing my monthly fitness challenge and another challenge that I was invited to by my sister that includes a lot of planks. The second challenge I am doing because my younger sister is doing it and I want to help support her in her quest to be fit and healthy! Plus, it’s always more fun when you have someone to help keep you accountable. With my monthly challenge, my friend and I are posting our times and scores on Facebook every time we do the workout. Another friend from the gym is doing it along with us.

Yesterday, my Concept2 Rower from Rogue arrived and I am very anxious to start incorporating this into my workouts. I was able to row a mere 1000m in between my finals and clients I had to train yesterday. I hope to work my way up to rowing 10,000m every Sunday with one of the other coaches that I work with and some of the other members from our Box.

Check back next week to see what 15.3 has in store and my standings after this week’s workout.

In Health & Fitness,

Marissa

Get Fit! Be Fit! Stay Fit!