A Little Encouragement and Inspiration for My Homies!

***WARNING FAT PHOTO'S ARE BEING POSTED...BEWARE!***

Ok obviously this isn't one of the "fat" photos...this was the good ol' days...back in 2004 senior year..high school.  (but as you can see the monster arms are developing) (also note that this picture can kinda give you an insight to the kind of person I was back then...hint: prissy girly girl)

O MY! yup this was taken in October of last year.  Probably the fattest I've been since giving birth to Kela. YIKES!

And now this is me today. The strongest I've ever been since.....ever. and the monster arms are finally shrinking! O YEAAA! *victory dance*

I just thought I'd share with all of you my embarrassing weight journey thous far in life.  I am still not as confident in my appearance that I think I should be...but I know that will come in time....and hard work.  I encourage you to bust ass during the work out because that is the only way to see results.  My time at RFM is limited so I am trying as hard as I can to push my body to the 'healthy' limits.  And thus far I think I've been here about 2 months and already am seeing major strength improvement and some appearance improvement in my body showing more muscle and less fat.  Which is I think...every persons goal.  

So going on to today. I work a night shift so I thought I'd get my workout done this morning instead....and visit my 8am crew.  I am still sore from yesterdays workout and pretty much I'm still sore from day 1 of joining RFM.  I don't think that ever really goes away.  It's like the ache that never leaves and is your constant unwanted tag along for every day movement....giving you a zap of annoyance every time you bend to pick something up or doing various movements that you took for granted prior to the continuous torture we do in the gym to those unknown muscles. It sucks but it's true.  

Anyhow, moving on to the WOD...

Now I know you guys probably haven't looked at what we are doing today so I won't spoil it for you.  All I'll tell you is the WOD was AMAZING! Difficult in the right degree of pain.  I think you guys will really enjoy it. (for those of you that are planning on coming tonight....yes I'm calling you out 5pm and 6pm classes!)...Rod....Chandler...Jen....not naming any names. :P  and Rod Vegas Abs are at RFM tonight.  Super fun and killer.  

I  think this WOD will give you some unforeseen confidence after you are done.  It looks intimidating I'm not going to lie about that....but what WOD isn't. If you aren't scared of the workout you aren't working out hard enough right? 

So anyway, sorry I can't make it tonight but I am rooting for you at 10,000 ft..(haleakala summit) CHEEHOO! 

WORK IT BOYEEEE! CHEE!

Pistol squats Beeoch!

 

Look Ma' no hands....or shoes..huh.

 

My mother-in-law beats me at everything...including pistol squats...sh*t. 

 

My baby boy gets warmed up for his WOD with his Daddy...

Ok gotta start this blog with the last picture....My little boy Lokela decided that he wanted to do the runs with us.  So kaika decided that he will go through some stretches with him and get him warmed up for the runs...It was the cutest thing I think I've ever seen...warms my heart up to the core. :')  Anyway, Kela ended up doing the first 200 meter run with us and actually beat me to the finish line...and decided that he was going to do his own WOD so he got a 45lb weight and did his "box jumps" (he even helped his Auntie Val with her fear of jumping...such a good boy we have)....then he did assisted hand stands with his Dad. and when I was ready to do my 400 meter he was out the door with me.  He made it to the stop point and half way back when his little body finally needed a rest...so me being #1 mom (just kidding)...I carried him while I ran for a little bit. (not kidding)...after his little rest he took off sprinting again and beat me to the finish...again.  Now if that doesn't motivate you to finish off strong I don't know what does. :)

Anyway the WOD was short and sweet.  More arms of course.  Kristi is watching my back and getting some arm workouts in there...Love it! 

so it was: 

200 meter run

20 box jumps

5 chin ups (strict hang)

400 meter run

10 box jumps

10 chin ups

200 meter run

20 box jumps 

5 chin ups

yea sounds like a whole lot and sounds crazy difficult but it wasn't as bad as I originally thought.  Well I originally thought we were doing 20 wall balls which scared the crap out of me cuz I hate having a huge 10lb black ball rocketing towards my face...just saying. Also I have issues with letting that ball take me into a squat and then having to hurl that thing back up in the air.  Not fun. But box jumps I can do.  When  I first started RFM we did a WOD with crazy amounts of both box jumps and wall balls.  I had my little internal 'battle of wills' with the box....me and him had to clear some sh*t up.  But in the end I showed that box who was boss and now I even upgraded to a higher box for this WOD....O yea boyee!  But me and the wall balls are still trying to hash sh*t out.  I think I won some battles but the 'big black ball' cracked me in the chin a few times so we are still trying to work on our 'relationship'.  I donno I'll let you know how it goes with that one.  

Anyhow, I had fun on this WOD.  Especially since we were doing pistol squats and I didn't do to bad...and I actually saw a real quad muscle bulge here and there.  O YEA!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrows WOD...because I just looked and it looks like some fun! 

Peace y'all!

"1001, 1002, 1003....O It's a Deep Burn...Burn so Deep...."-Ron Burgandy

 

All the dear friends that made it to Kristi's Birthday Party!...wait a minute where the hell is Rod?

 

This is titled "Kaanapali"...I don't know why or what they are doing...Kristi any input?

 Alright so first and foremost....HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTI! We had a great time celebrating with you and all the RFMers!  Of course one of the main questions of the night was..."where is Rod?" but I guess we will never know since he didn't show up for the WOD tonight.  :P  Also, an explanation would be nice for this picture that Kristi took on my phone.  I have no idea what Shauna is doing to Mikki.....and obviously Mikki is expressing her thoughts through sign language. lol

Anyhow, I can definitely say that this night as brought our already tight group even tighter through all the adventures that we shared....quick recap: starting with the various margarita pitchers that was consumed during dinner...which made Ali (one of our newer members to RFM) more talkative and even loosened him up to bust a move or two, Mikki's little 'love show' with the dessert, Val's 'deadlift' on the dance floor, Kristi's 'Snatch-clean & jerk' on the dance floor that made a mexican "jerk"...lets see what else...o and Derek and Elena's burpees..... and last but not least Lori's black friend that made her look tall.  All these things made it that much more fun and very eventful for sure!

So going on to today's WOD.....

here it is:**DB=dumbbell** **AMRAP=as many rounds as possible**

AMRAP in 10mins

5 DB hang cleans

5 DB push press

10 alternating renegade rows (5 each arm) w/ DB

Hey looks like the theme for this week is still arms...o yea! 

So I was really scared of this WOD, because as you can see there are lots of arms and my arms aren't very strong....but that's why we do this right!?! so 'no fear' just do it.  O my! I was already feeling the 'deep burn' after the first round...and looked at the clock and only a minute or so passed so I like..."omg! I still have so much more time to go...Damn!"  Also I used 15lb DB's and those were getting heavier by the min.  I think what killed me the most was the hang cleans.....I HATE cleans with a PASSION!  Mostly because they scare me and they hurt like hell fire! bringing weights all the way up to your shoulders and then squatting down into a full below parallel squat will sap your energy real quick if you are pushing hard.  Then on top of that scary, energy sapping squat, you gotta get those DB over your head for the push press...yea arm burn for shizzle my nizzle!  To top off the bbq on my arms doing 10 alternating renegade rows was like putting lemon juice on an open wound.  It just took the pain to another level.  But hey, if it will shrink my 'monster drumsticks' I'm there! 

Unfortunately, I couldn't do more than 6 rounds.  I felt like I could of pushed a little harder maybe....take less breaks, let the pain linger a little longer before I stopped for a breather....maybe bang out at least 1 more round but that's ok.  At least now I know what I want to shoot for in the future.  I know my reps will increase over time so I just have to hang in there and keep at it.  This is going into my second month in CrossFit and I have already exceeded most of my expectations for myself.  The only thing that I really want to do is do a full unassisted pull up.  But I know that is coming soon.  I just have to keep doing the assisted ones.  One day though...real soon I'm going to do it.  Anyhow...I need to go ice my shoulders now...cuz my arms are starting to show signs of bruising from all the times I let the dumbbell wack my shoulders as it made it's barely controlled resistance lacking fall in my arms.  I'm just lucky I didn't wack myself in the head with those damn things.  

WOW that was a good workout! *sigh....and 1 2 3...pass out*

Peace!

Two Tickets To The Gun Show....

 

Showing off the 'Guns'

 

(this doesn't have anything to do with my blog but....)

Props to brother Rod, look at that stance...VEGAS BABY!

 

& Thank you to everyone that has been making sure Kaika is taking better pictures because as you can see....you can actually see me....amazing!

Ok so the topic of this blog is....The 'Guns'..aka: arms.  Ever since high school my genetics have been  going against me.   When I was younger everyone called me a 'bean pole' because I was really skinny, zero form, just straight limbs...thats it (obviously my filipino blood was going strong back then). But when high school hit I started getting MONSTER ARMS...among other things (like THUNDER THIGHS....but that's a blog for another day).  Unfortunately from my gene pool my grandma contributed 2 things....a love for food that borders on obsession and the notorious MONSTER ARMS.  If I was a guy...it wouldn't be so bad.  But my mom had 3 girls.  All of which have grams arms. 

Imagine substituting your bicep and tricep for a KFC fried chicken drumstick (but more like human life size)....what I'm trying to get you to picture is basically the fat bulb of the drum as my arm and then my forearm being just the bone part (cuz my forearms are very narrow and skinny plus i have small hands)....and that's how I picture my arms....disgusting right?  Anyway, that is one of the issues I have in my self image.  I look in the mirror and see the MONSTER DRUMSTICK! ew! (and mind you they are big for no good reason. totally useless mass...lame)

So being at CrossFit of course one of my goals is to get rid of the terrible arms that I unfortunately inherited from my elders.   So WODs that have pull ups, dips, push ups, push press...basically anything that can shrink my arms into a more slimmer feminine form I am all for it.  Well I got what I wanted this week so far.  on top of squats to 'tame the junk in the trunk' I also got lots of arm workouts. 

Example of this is tonights workout....5 rounds: 10 Dips, 5 pull ups, and 20 lunges.   I think I was pushing a little to hard for the negative pull ups prior to the WOD because by the time the WOD came my arms were already dead.  I also tried to do harder dips because I felt like doing them the way I have been was a little to easy.  So I did it with my legs elevated and I used 2 parallete bars instead of the bench.  Yeah I felt the burn...o my! Then came the pull ups...dead hang....o gosh.  I was using the blue band and I could barely get my chin above the bar.  by the 3rd round my arms didn't want to go anywhere.  So my sweet husband tells me....ok use the green band instead of the blue.  So I do and then I get through the 3rd and 4th round doing that.  But by the 5th round even the green band was not getting my body up from a dead hang.  so Kaika (genius that he is) puts the blue band and the green band together and tells me to try that.  ok ok, I don't weigh that much so what do you think happened....that thing sprang me up so fast my pink shoes went right over my head...(I think kaika got confused some how and thought we were doing toes to bar or something)  Good thing I was holding on because that would of been a disaster.  So of course Kaika, Lori, and Kats were all witnesses to this 'hilarious' moment.  and I was trying to get my legs out of the thing laughing so hard...my time suffered for that.  (good thing speed isn't something I shoot for).

anyway I my arms are super sore and I think I did a good job pushing my arms to the limit.  and aside from the little mishap with the bands...I think I did ok.  The motto for me and my sister Randi that we will have to repeat for the rest of our lives is......

"NO GRAMA ARMS! NO GRAMA ARMS!" 

which I will probably have to revise to "NO MONSTER DRUMSTICKS!" 

anyway that's my story...Peace!

ps: im kinda writing this in a rush because i need to get up at 5am and I still haven't showered yet....so if i am all over the place. sorry :) but enjoy!

Gym Rat

 

 

From Zumba Skirts and Dancing sweat....

 

To Pink Shoes and Olympic Lifting......

So as you can see it has taken me a long time to write about these past couple days....  There has been much to ponder, much to reflect on, and much time to get back to reality.  This past weekend, as you RFMers know, was the Matt Major Olympic Lifting workshop or seminar (whatever it was called).   I did not plan on going to it.  And since I already had reservations about joining CrossFit there was no way I was going to get myself any deeper by learning more about 'oly' lifting.  But, as fate would have it....there were some last minute cancellations and slots that needed to be filled. ('needed' probably isn't the right word..since i don't really think they 'needed' me to fill in) but since I was available and I was (just so happened) in the area, I went. 

So for the whole weekend I was surrounded by sweat, barbells, weights, gym cloths, and RFMers.  It kinda gave me a mini flash back to youth camps....in a sense where you are surrounded by one purpose, one goal, one focal point....and all you think about is that.  Even when you leave you are still picturing the Snatch movements...still practicing at home even though your muscles are so sore and tired that you are not doing anything more than jerking back and forth and you look like you are in serious need of some strong mental medication.  

I think the most interesting thing I learned from the workshop was......how to pole dance.  Pole Dance, WHAT??? Actually, Matt is surprisingly very good at it.  I know what you're thinking...what the heck were we doing in the gym for 4 hrs a day for 2 days?  And the answer to your question is......we repeatedly did obscene movements...some with a pole, some with the barbell, some with the pvc pipe.  Ok ok, not really....but really.  Before your brain starts going toward more X-rated material...I'll explain.  We were learning how to bring our hips to the bar and not the bar to our hips....which gives us more power for our Snatch Clean.  It's actually just a lot of pelvic thrusting....which I think is why Oran scheduled 'Thrusters' for our WOD yesterday.  (He still has 'thrusting' on the brain. haha. jus kidding Oran).  

Anyway, even though (like with everything else exercise related) I wasn't planning on being there or trying it out, I really enjoyed it.  Not that my new goal is to be a competing Olympic Lifter or anything but it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it.  Coincidentally, I feel more confident in the gym now.  Especially where the weight lifting is concerned.  I told a few people that when I first started I had a huge fear of the bar.  I've always been afraid of the bar.  bench pressing in high school was an ordeal for me.  Mostly because I didn't and I still don't have much upper body strength so not being able to bench the 45lb bar was very embarrassing for me.  Since we aren't doing much bench pressing at RFM I guess i don't really have that much to be scared of.....Even so, I still have lingering 'prissy girl' tendencies and shy away from more 'strong people' activity.  Which is stupid right? Because I can do it, I'm not weak.  But old habits die hard.  

Any how, I was just thinking back on my Zumba days and if anyone told me back then that I'd be doing 'Olympic Lifting' I would of laugh at them.  So WOW for me!  Getting crazy over here...breaking out of the box.  Watch out....you never know what could be next...'Muscle ups' here I come. Ha! or not. 

Peace Peps!

 

Redemption & My First of Many Blisters

(What you get when you ask your husband to take a photo)

(What you get when your wife takes a photo)

(& my first real blisters since I started RFM)

Alright, so since you've read my previous post about photo taking you know that I don't just take one photo...I take many...and out of those many I usually have maybe 2-3 good photos worthy of the public eye.  And I know that when I ask a coach to take pictures for me they won't stop at one.  Reasoning I think for this is that by taking multiple photos they know there will be one or 2 that may show up in the next blog post.  Not only that but they are also showing a reflection of their coaching....good form, hard work, etc. (Kehau is a great photographer *wink*)  But husbands on the other hand don't care (and actually grumble about "how many pictures I really need".....I ask him to take my picture and he snaps one...doesn't look at it and calls it a day....Thanks a lot.

Well enough raz for now....(I told you I'd level out the status quo later).

Anyway, Todays WOD......

Well, as you know, I had a terrible time with the WOD yesterday.  So I was really scared to attempt another WOD that Kehau thought up.  Looking at it kinda scared me.....I saw lots of Kettle Bell action happening....not that I don't like the kettle bell, only that the workouts are usually very taxing.  And after yesterday I was afraid of how taxing she was going to make it.  Oly lifting drills were DeadLifts and I love Deadlifts so I was hopeful.

3 rounds:

In 4:00 complete as many rounds as possible of this kettlebell complex:

8 KB swings

6 KB deadlifts

4 KB goblet squats

2 KB Push press (2 per side)

Right before the start I was thinking of only getting the 15lb kettle bell because I was afraid of over doing it with the amrap part of this wod.  But then I rethought about my strength and decided that I was strong enough to do the 20lbs and that if I was ever going to get rid of my 'grama arms' I need to make sure it hurt.

Starting the first round....I felt good.  Mostly because I usually feel good after doing deadlifts.  I think because, at least for me, weights are usually higher than any other oly workout so psychologically I feel "strong".   So I pounded out my first round going as many times as possible....but then my hands started sweating and my grip started slipping....never a good thing with Kettle bells.  I think 3 rounds was a perfect number of rounds...it hit just the right amount of pain level before the end.  Rounds 1 and 2 you were still feeling good.  Sweating but still strong....the 3rd round took you over the edge and made the workout complete.

I honestly thought that this workout was the perfect workout to redeem yesterdays mayham.  I loved it.  If there was any thoughts in my head about quitting CrossFit this workout put all my concerns at ease.  Not to say that this workout was easy....on the contrary...It was challenging and it hurt....my arms and legs were shaking by then end.  But as yesterdays workout made you feel like 'ass' after...this one made you feel 'strong' and 'powerful'.  Confident that you can push that kettle bell through the roof if you needed to.  This is one of those workouts that you pull your arms back, walk straighter, thrust your chin up into the sky, hold your head high....and strut out into the world.  And it is these kinds of workouts that make you feel proud to be apart of CrossFit.

I don't know maybe I'm just retarded and it was just like that for me....so I wanna hear how it was for you guys....

Am I right or am I a crazy person who likes pain?

Lions, Tigers, and BEARS!!!! OH MY!

 

"Pressing Snatch Balance"

 

(does my elbow look weird to you?)

Hey so hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!! This WOD will help you shake off any lazy slug tendencies that you may have developed over this long weekend away from the gym.  (for those of you that are planning on going to the gym today......I recommend that you not eat right before your workout...just a suggestion)

It's weird how fast the lazy part of your brain kicks in after a few days away from the gym.  I almost had to literally drag myself out of bed, accompanied by not a mental slap  but a literal slap to myself to get me prepared to torture my limbs....(I said "almost" so I didn't actually slap myself.)  But that doesn't mean my feelings toward getting up to do a wod were good.  I absolutely didn't want anything to do with working out today.  Then Kaika told me what the workout was, and that really didn't help me decided to go even more.  

WOD: 5 rounds.....
 -Bear crawls  100 ft.
-standing broad jumps 100 ft. (not hard enough you say.....well then lets tack on some burpees with that)
***Do 3 burpees after every 5 broad jumps***
                       
                            Bears have never been my favorite animal.....and now I know why.

Since I know Kehau made this WOD, and I know how ridiculously in shape she is.....(as Rod can tell you all about her super human abilities)......I also know that she is doing this for our benefit.  It is ment solely so that we can all grow up and be just as strong as her. (lol, kidding kehau I love you)  But, BY ALL THAT IS HOLY......that was the worst WOD I've ever done!

Have any of you non-crossfiters ever tried to walk on all 4's like a bear for an extended period of time? Well if you haven't.....it's pure fricken hell! Your arms are burning, your legs are burning, your meal is one wrong bounce away from saying "hello!" to the gym floor.  I felt terrible.... and that was just after my first round of bear crawls....I didn't even get to my broad jumps/burpees yet!

The thing that I was most afraid of was jumping to short and having to do more burpees than most ever need to do.  So I put as much power into those jumps as possible.  The only problem with that is that your body is using more energy for those jumps and as an obvious side effect the fatigue comes on faster as well.  The 'seeing stars syndrome' is how I know my body is just about to revolt against me.    *I have to keep reminding myself....air to the brain might be more helpful to me than having no air to the brain....so BREATH DAMIT!* (easier said than done... believe me...I know.)

***on a side note:  I think I even remember Kehau saying something sarcastic about 'my Bear crawl being so fierce and fast.' when in actuality my bear crawl probably looked like the bear was on some kind of sedative, got shot in the leg and was now slowly bleeding out into a slow painful death. (believe me, it did not look pretty)

Taking everything into consideration.......I still think I hate this workout.  I don't really think it was that 'fun' either.  But the filipino in pink never backs down from a challenge.  So it is done and I am glad to be done with it. 

Who likes bears anyway?  Don't let 'Teddy Bears' fool you.  They really stink, they're ugly, and they probably can't even see the color pink....they can't be trusted.

Peace!