Playground Workout Video for Developing Abs and Core Strength

I often talk about the knees-to-elbows and toes-to-bar exercises that I do during CrossFit metcons. They are a great way to develop not only your abs, but your entire core. But, they are often hard to perform; either because someone isn’t strong enough to hang off a pull-up bar for that long or because their…

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Totally Spanked "Cindy" at CrossFit

Photo of Woman Doing Pull-upsI totally spanked “Cindy” yesterday at CrossFit. It was my best performance with her ever! It is a 20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) of 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, and 15 Air Squats. Breaking the pull-ups into sets of 5 like that made it feel pretty easy and I switched my grip so that I was alternating pull-ups and chin-ups. Funny how squats start to feel like a break when you do them right after push-ups.

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Jump and Pull and Push and Push to Work Your Whole Body

Jumping Jacks at SunriseMy CrossFit workout this morning really hit my overall body with a variety of exercises that worked the core, arms, and legs. I felt it all over! Made me also realize that my forearms were more sore than I anticipated from the 32 Kg kettleball farmers walk and hammers yesterday. I really felt it on the pull-ups and performed a bit weaker than I had hoped. Oh well. Every day can’t be the best day for a given exercise. We did this same workout back in November 2010, so I was able to compare my performance. This is so critical for your motivation!). I took 17 seconds off my time and did much better on my pull-ups this time. Now my goal for the next time I do this WOD is to do everything unbroken. No breaks!

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Back in the CrossFit and Paleo Saddle Again

Chocolate French pastriesI apologize for not posting in a while. I was traveling in Europe and playing a bit of catch up over the past week. The business trip and my stay in a very small, somewhat authentic, Parisian hotel made it a bit too challenging to keep up with any CrossFit travel WODs. But, despite a week of French food and no high-intensity exercise (although I did walk for about 10 hours each day!), I only gained about a pound and getting back into the swing of things at CrossFit last Monday wasn’t too painful. It wasn’t easy! But, it wasn’t as bad as I feared it might be.

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Pre-Paris CrossFit Workout of the Day for Thursday

Photo of Eiffel Tower in Paris, FranceWell, this morning was my last CrossFit workout before heading off to Paris. I have two challenges while traveling this time:

  1. Keeping up with CrossFit Travel WODs
  2. Avoiding the temptation of French food to maintain the Paleo Challenge

That’s right. I have to somehow avoid the great bread, cheeses, pastries, and chocolate and only eat duck, beef, and foie gras. Wish me luck!

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CrossFit Legs & Abs Work for Thursday Workout

Photo of Woman Doing Stiff Legged DeadliftWe really worked the legs and abs today in CrossFit. The strength training was the Front Squat and the conditioning was a combination of Squat Cleans, Stiff Legged Dead Lifts (SLDL), and Knees-to-Elbows (K2E). I’m really happy with my ab strength progress (been practicing every week), since I was able to knock out 15 K2E with proper form very quickly today. Practice, practice, practice to overcome exercises that challenge you!

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