Breaking in

“Jack” – Results

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:

115/80-85 lb Push press, 10 reps

10 KB Swings, 1.5/1 pood

10 Box Jumps, 24″/20″ box

Mikko Salo 18 rounds + 10 PP, Stacey Kroon 10 rounds + 3 KB (85lb PP, 1.5 pood KB, 24″ box)

Get ready for the Zone Challenge….

Push Press wmv mov

Kettlebell Swing wmv mov

Box Jump wmv

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I began CrossFit in January 2008, but didn’t actually start Zoning until March 2008, three months after the fact.  I must have watched the video several times a day, every day, understanding all the benefits that came with it, but for whatever reason just couldn’t bring myself to weigh and measure my food.  I loved my diet at the time:  3 to 4 bowls of cereal for breakfast, Marinated and bbq’d tri tip steaks, grilled onions, and full boxes of Mac ‘n Cheese for lunch and dinner.  But I also wanted to be like the athletes on the videos, and if memory serves me right I acutely remember placing DFL on almost every WOD, every time I came in, for those first few months.  And even then I couldn’t bring myself to dial in the diet.

It wasn’t until my best friend/arch rival Sean Milar started beating me on a continual basis, with no rhyme or reason, that I started paying attention.  What the hell was he doing that I wasn’t?  It happened WOD after WOD, where before we were usually on equal footing.  I found out later that he started Zoning and didn’t tell me (the jerk), trying to get one in on me.  So I bought the Zone book, downloaded Issue 21, absorbed them fanatically, and waited for Spring Break to house arrest myself and do this thing the right way.

Within the first 7 days, I lost 5 lbs, leaned out, got really full after eating the meals, and got really hungry  before meal times.  Once I got over the hump, things started changing.  I was lifting more weight, more often, I was going faster and doing more reps, without tiring.  I took less breaks during WODs, and even when I did, the breaks themselves weren’t as long.  Workouts still sucked, to be sure, but there was a light-on-my feet, easy going, but fierce quality about my body and how the WODs felt.  Throughout the day and after meals, I was never truly full or satiated, but had an edginess that I can only describe as a perpetual state of being ready for something, like the feeling you have when you’ve commited to finishing a full plate of food you know is too much and have only finished half of it.  I came to understand that this was what it meant to live in a primal, relaxed, joyous, healthy, and ready state.  And it showed in my performance.

So we’re going to do a Zone Challenge starting Monday.  As Diso said, I will do the lecture and Q & A to kick things off on Sunday evening at 6pm.  We’ll go over the rules as it’s essentially a 2 part learning experience.  Here are some basic resources:

CF Journal Issue 21(this will be your best friend during the challenge)

Lecture Supplement to Issue 21 (this is the video I watched repeatedly)