Category Archives: Workouts

Throw a Wall Ball Into Your Workout

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If you’re getting into CrossFit or some other functional fitness program, you’ll soon be introduced to Wall Ball, if you haven’t already!  When you consider functional exercise is meant to move multiple muscles and joints over multiple planes, Wall Ball is a winner in so many ways!  This one move alone works 11 different muscles including quads, glutes, calves, hamstrings, abs, lower back, chest, front delts, back delts, bis and tris.  Plus, if you are doing the drill to achieve the highest number of reps possible within a certain time period, it can also be quite an intense cardiovascular workout.

As the name implies, the only equipment needed for Wall Ball is a sturdy wall and soft medicine ball. Beginners can start with a 6-pound ball and, over time, work up to 10, 12, 16, 20 pounds or more! Before you start the drill, chalk off a line about 8 to 10 feet above the ground as your target.

To perform the movement, assume a front squat position with feet shoulder width apart. Hold ball to your chest, elbows tucked close to sides. Propel body upward in an explosive movement and follow through by pushing / tossing the ball toward the wall target. As the ball rebounds, catch it with outstretched arms and absorb the impact while moving back into the squat position.  Repeat for a predetermined amount of reps (5 sets of 8 reps a good start). Be mindful that each shot / catch movement remains fluid and continuous.  The drill can be made as difficult as needed by increasing the weight of the ball, moving further back from the target, or raising the height of the target.

As you become more proficient, The CrossFit Journal  lists milestones to work toward:

  • 1 minute: 25 shots
  • 2 minutes: 50 shots
  • 3 minutes: 75 shots
  • 4 minutes: 100 shots
  • 5 minutes: 125 shots
  • 6 minutes: 150 shots

 

From Flexed-Arm Hang Flunkee to Dead-Hang Pull-Up Diva – Pull Up Tips

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My recent experience at the 2012 Austin Fit Magazine Fittest was filled with quite a few events outside my comfort zone. One of the most intimidating of all was the pull up test that required us girls to perform this classic upper-body strength move just like the guys. No easier chin-ups (where fingertips are oriented on the bar to your face), no swinging, jumping, kipping, butt-wiggling or knee-pumping.   These pull-ups had to be strict, military-style pull-ups where the body must fully-extend back downward into a “dead hang.”  How could I ever make this happen? Never had I EVER even passed the flexed-arm hang test for the Presidential Fitness Test in elementary school. Ugh!

In January at CrossFit Endurance Camp, I could only do one strict pull-up and a couple with a kip. It was embarrassing to be around so many strong women, but a least I had them on the run! Not fully committed to the idea, I started practicing pull-ups chin-up style with a kip (maybe) once a week working my way up to four or five using major swinging motion to get my chin over the bar. Not long later, I could do four or five without the kip. On competition day, an adrenaline rush helped me squeak out six military dead-hang pull-ups and the judge noted I had “good form.”  Whoo-hoo! Inspired by the winner in my age-group who completed 15, I started working a little harder on the dead hang pull-up. Now less than a month later I can do 9!

If I can do “proper” pull-ups (palms facing away from you, no extraneous body movement), so can you! Here are some tips to get you started.

Practice: Do a pull-up progression 3x per week.  Start with 5 sets of 1 or 2 and then work your way up to 3 sets of a few less than your maximum effort.

Negatives: If you are unable to complete a strict pull-up, work on “negatives” first. Negatives are done by jumping up to the bar from the ground, box or half stability ball or with a spotter boost. Once your chin clears the bar, slowly move into the fully-extended dead hang position. Repeat!

Machine-Assisted Pull-Ups: This piece of gym equipment isn’t as intimidating as it looks. Set the counter-weight an amount that offers you an attainable challenge. Kneel on the platform, grasp the overhead bar and pull up!

Supplemental Exercises: Lat Pull-Downs, Ring Rows, Ring Dips, Bicep Curls, Dumbbell Rows

Who Cares About Getting Older With Legs Like These?

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For those us getting older (and really who isn’t?), the importance of regular physical exercise is important in so many ways – keeping obesity, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic problems away. Running, biking, swimming and other physical activities have also been proven to maintain muscle mass and strength, according to a recent study conducted at the University of Pittsburg.

Most of us have fearfully read in fitness magazines that the loss of more and more muscle is inevitable with each passing year. In fact, past studies report that in the decade between 40 and 50 years, a person loses 8 percent of muscle mass – and each future decade results in an even greater percentage loss. Now, this has always made me wonder if I will just be some big blob of fat and bone by the time I’m 70 or 80 or older.  I want to be a strong, healthy older person, not some frail lady with strength, balance and mobility issues that stem from barely-there muscle mass.

Strong legs at any age thanks to vigorous exercise.

The good news is that this investigation, headed by Vonda Wright, MD (an orthopedic doctor), looked at physically active adults for their research, not the sedentary adults that make up the research groups of most past studies.  The levels of both subcutaneous and intramuscular adipose tissue (that’s fat y’all) were quantified via magnetic imaging in the legs of 40 high-level recreational athletes between the ages of 40 and 81 years, fairly serious athletes who worked out 4 to 5 times per week. The results are readily apparent in these cross-section photos of the quadriceps area (see photos). There is virtually no difference between the 40 year old triathlete and the 70 year old triathlete – in fact, it looks like the young guy has just a touch more subcutaneous fat (gasp).

Personally, I enjoy a juicy, fat-marbled steak — but on my dinner plate, not my legs! You have to agree these photos are instant motivation to get out there and run, walk, bike, swim, climb a mountain or whatever makes you active!

Check out the full white paper on this study at Physician and Sportsmedicine: Volume: 39 No.3

Core Values

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Valerie Hunt CrossFit abs

Aspire to abs like these with easy core workout.

There are many reasons to exercise your core muscles, not just having killer six-pack abs like my friend Valerie Hunt from Fit & Fearless CrossFit – although we’ll all agree this is a nice perk! Keeping fit in your midsection, by working out both the abs and back muscles, helps the body function properly with everyday chores like lugging around a kicking toddler or unloading bags of mulch from car. With stronger core muscles, you’ll be less prone to injury and have more stability, flexibility and muscle tone to boot! I used to avoid sit-ups and crunches at all costs, until one day after a 10-mile running race I wondered why my back hurt more than my legs. Apparently, it was almost too much for my weak core to stay upright for the distance – that’s when I gave in to a new workout plan that included a little more attention to my middle! Nothing hardcore or time-consuming, you can make up a routine at home that takes 15 minutes or less, two to three times a week. There are plenty of core exercises to choose from if you surf around the Web or flip through fitness magazines, here are three fun and fairly easy moves to get you started that were first published in Real Simple:

                                               Knee Fold Tuck 

(A) Sit tall, hands on floor, knees bent, squeezing a medium ball between them. (B) Lift knees so shins are about parallel to the floor; extend arms. Pull knees toward shoulders, keeping upper body still. Bring knees back to starting position. Repeat 15 to 20 times.

 

Side Balance Crunch

Begin with left knee and left hand on the floor, right arm straight up. Extend right leg so your body forms a straight line. (B) Pull right knee toward torso and right elbow toward knee. Straighten arm and leg. Repeat 10 times, then switch sides.

 

Sliding Pike

(A) Begin in a plank on an uncarpeted floor, hands under shoulders and a towel under feet. (B) With legs straight, raise hips and draw legs toward hands into a pike position—your feet should slide easily. Hold for one count, then return to start. Repeat 10 times.

 

Living Through (and Loving) the Deadlift

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The first time I saw this exercise, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be for me.  I mean some massive 250+ pound guy was lifting a bar with an insanely large amount of weight on it as his eyeballs bulged out and he made Neanderthal-like grunting noises.  Really, how could this help me keep my status as lean-mean running machine and bona fide girly-girl?

But, but then my friend Valerie Hunt, a personal training guru and POSE running coach at Fit and Fearless CrossFit, reminded me how I’m always whining and complaining about tired legs that couldn’t power up a hill during races and a sore back and midsection after long training runs. She encouraged me to give the deadlift another look, reminding me that – if performed correctly – the deadlift is really a whole-body exercise that engages the quads, glutes, lower back along with the abs, traps and upper back. Check out this diagram that shows all the muscles involved – amazing!

I’m not planning on transforming into a weight-lifting record-setter by any means; I just want to reap the benefits of explosive power and overall strength this functional move can bring to my running – and everything else!   Using a modest amount of weight, about 75% of my body weight, I’ve been doing five sets of five lifts once per week (which is perfect for beginners) and am looking forward to seeing the results of this functional exercise in a 10K race next weekend.

For more information and an example of safe and proper technique, please check out The Deadlift by Greg Glassman published in The CrossFit Journal.