Crossfit Workout

This winter, I want to do more cross training. After the intervals on Saturday, I ran a bunch of stairs - I normally don’t do stuff like that. But I want to start doing more (and different) workouts. So I want to try some Crossfit inspired workouts, and hopefully some Kettlebell workouts shortly.

Catra writes about some kick-ass Crossfit workouts on her blog. And all you have to do is take a look at her body to see what Crossfit can do to you. She’s going on 44 years old, and I’d love to have a body like hers when I’m 44, even when I’m 34 right now. Check her out:

So I wanted to try this workout that she posted on her blog:

"Twenty-One"
Complete the following for time:

• 20 push-ups/1 sit-up
• 19 push-ups/2 sit-ups
• 18 push-ups/3 sit-ups
• 17 push-ups/4 sit-ups
• 16 push-ups/5 sit-ups
• 15 push-ups/6 sit-ups
• 14 push-ups/7 sit-ups
• 13 push-ups/8 sit-ups
• 12 push-ups/9 sit-ups
• 11 push-ups/10 sit-ups
• 10 push-ups/11 sit-ups
• 9 push-ups/12 sit-ups
• 8 push-ups/13 sit-ups
• 7 push-ups/14 sit-ups
• 6 push-ups/15 sit-ups
• 5 push-ups/16 sit-ups
• 4 push-ups/17 sit-ups
• 3 push-ups/18 sit-ups
• 2 push-ups/19 sit-ups
• 1 push-up/20 sit-ups

Push-up standards: Body stays planked whether you are on your toes or your knees. Chest touches the deck. Arms to full lockout.

Sit-ups on an Abmat with feet unsecured [all the way up].

I RX'd this work out..17:48

That’s a total of 220 sit-ups (all the way up), and 220 push-ups. I looked at that workout, and I KNEW it would suck, but I also KNEW it’d be a fun workout. I thought, “I can probably do that in about 10 minutes.” What a naïve, stupid, cocky jerk I was.

I got out the mat, plopped on the floor next to the cats, and started off:

Up...


...and down.

And that last time I did “all the way up” sit-ups was in high school! The cats didn’t know what the heck I was doing:

A few more minutes into it, and I was hurting. Those first few sets (of a lot of pushups with just a few seconds rest [doing just a few sit-ups] and then back to a lot of pushups) were hard! Here I am a few “intervals” into the workout, and my muscles were BURNING:

So I glanced at the time when I was half done, and my time was 7:15. And the sit-ups take longer than the push-ups, so I was going to be slowing up. I had to move my hands from behind my head to across my chest about half way into the sit-ups, and I had to take a few 5 second breaks near the end (during my 17, 18, 19, and 20 sets).

All-in-all, I finished just under a minute faster than Catra, with a total time of 16:54. WHAT A WORKOUT (especially for just 17 minutes of work). So the next time we do intervals at the track, I might bust out a Crossfit-style workout right there on the track before I leave. I’m gonna like this cross-training!

(p.s. Borsch wasn't peeing in that photo at the end of my last post - he was just resetting his Garmin. For serious. We wouldn't defile that great track.)