CrossFit

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mystik610

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Well, had my first Crossfit workout last night. After the warmups were done, my body was ready to say "ok, great workout...lets go home!".

The WOD was 36 reps of 8 different exercises, from pushups to pullups, from 360 meter (x3) runs, to wall ball to box jumping to double unders.

(Un)fortunately, I was only allowed to do 10 reps of each, since it was my first day and I'm so damn fat (out of shape lol). By the time I got done (took me exactly 24 minutes to finish) I could barely walk. Lifting my water bottle was hard.

It was the hardest thing I've had to do in 10 years, and i'm looking forward to going back tomorrow and on Friday.

Oh, and word of warning - friends don't let friends Crossfit and drive! I could barely turn the wheel on my way home.

Congratulations man. That's quite a feat, and far more than even people who work-out religiously do. I Guarantee a lot of the big body builder guys at the gym can't do pull-ups. (I know I couldn't do them back in my stupider body building days)

ryanjoachim

mystik610 wrote: »

Congratulations man. That's quite a feat, and far more than even people who work-out religiously do. I Guarantee a lot of the big body builder guys at the gym can't do pull-ups. (I know I couldn't do them back in my stupider body building days)

Yeah, I should have put an asterisk by the pullups - I had some help from a box for those, as did a lot of people there. My body weight is still way too high for my arms to handle.

mystik610

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Yeah, I should have put an asterisk by the pullups - I had some help from a box for those, as did a lot of people there. My body weight is still way too high for my arms to handle.

Still...going through the motions of a pull-up is a lot better than an isolated back fly routine. Pull-ups are a full body motion, and even with the assitance of a box or chair they will kick your ****$ (and thats all that matters).

In my body building days I could clear a whole stack of weights on a back fly machine, but couldn't do pull-ups. I was strong, but too heavy, and didn't have a strong enough core.

Ace944gs

That's good stuff...never done CF, but heard it's a beast. I do 90x (not the actual plan, just exercises when I can't get to the pool), and that roughs me up good. The best thing about those muscle building exercise programs (as opposed to pure aerobic programs) is that as you build more muscle, you burn more calories...even doing things like sitting on your couch listening to tunes. Muscle "costs" more calories for your body to feed than fat, so building muscle (even if it's under a lot of fat for now) is a very good thin

Good luck, and keep at it. Make exercise/healthy life choices a habit, not a temporary obligation.

fatchowmein

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Well, had my first Crossfit workout last night. After the warmups were done, my body was ready to say "ok, great workout...lets go home!".

The WOD was 36 reps of 8 different exercises, from pushups to pullups, from 360 meter (x3) runs, to wall ball to box jumping to double unders.

(Un)fortunately, I was only allowed to do 10 reps of each, since it was my first day and I'm so damn fat (out of shape lol). By the time I got done (took me exactly 24 minutes to finish) I could barely walk. Lifting my water bottle was hard.

It was the hardest thing I've had to do in 10 years, and i'm looking forward to going back tomorrow and on Friday.

Oh, and word of warning - friends don't let friends Crossfit and drive! I could barely turn the wheel on my way home.

Get plenty of rest and especially sleep. Good job!

Ericw2431

Its really intense I been in it for a year not as easy as you think first 2 weeks I was like MAN!!! Ha but after a while soarness calms down and you will see alot of improvments especially if your a boy

WilliamM2

It doesn't take much exercise to lose weight. After my neck surgery last February, I was told to walk a mile each day, and slowly increase it it to 2 - 3 miles a day as a type of physical therapy. I also quit smoking at the same time, so rather than think about smoking every break at work, I would go walk a mile instead, the wife and I would also go for a walk after dinner, for a total of four miles a day. Imagine my surprise, when by August I had lost 35lbs, without ever trying, and no change in diet at all. I drink several cans of Coke a day, not diet, and always have candy as a snack after dinner. Although it seems the weight loss has leveled off, and is no longer going down, that's okay with me.

ryanjoachim

I'm not planning on drastically changing my diet, because I know that I wouldn't be able to stick with it. I'm going to buy fruit and such, cut it up and bring it to work, so I can eat it throughout the day instead of having just breakfast, lunch and dinner (with chocolate and such mixed in).

Anyone know if fruit smoothies are all that healthy for you? I had one Monday night after exercising, and I was surprised at how much it filled me up. I had it made with sherbet though, so I'm sure that ruined any healthiness.

fatchowmein

Check the calorie count on your smoothie.

I use a protein powder with milk which is approximately 280 calories. Toss it in a blender with 1 banana and some berries (strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries). I'm guessing my concoction is just shy of 400 calories but it's the only thing that prevents the dreaded famish after exercise feeling.

I workout (P90x) before dinner but eating a big, heavy dinner only curbs the hunger pains for an hour so I've experimented and found that a protein shake with fruits + a very, very, very light dinner, sometimes just a pbj sandwich, does the trick for me. I don't have hunger problems on cardio or Yoga days so I skip the shake and eat a healthy dinner. YMMV. Listen to your body but be smart about the calories.

There are non-sugar protein powder with low calorie count but I haven't tried them.

bobman1235

ryanjoachim wrote: »

I'm not planning on drastically changing my diet, because I know that I wouldn't be able to stick with it. I'm going to buy fruit and such, cut it up and bring it to work, so I can eat it throughout the day instead of having just breakfast, lunch and dinner (with chocolate and such mixed in).

Anyone know if fruit smoothies are all that healthy for you? I had one Monday night after exercising, and I was surprised at how much it filled me up. I had it made with sherbet though, so I'm sure that ruined any healthiness.

Depends where you got it. The ones at the mall have like 1000 calories and are just mostly sugar, so those aren't so good for you.

greyford1979

One of my friends I work with goes to crossfit every morning and is a trainer in the evenings...even our job is physical, the guy is nuts lol. I prefer to workout at home sometimes with my fiance. One of the things that keeps us from getting bored is we like to go running on our local metroparks trails and also going hiking in the winter time. Climbing up a rocky cliff in a foot of snow gives you quite the burn That's one of the biggest things I've found to keep motivated are doing things I like to do anyways. No matter how motivated in the beginning, if you dread doing the workouts sooner or later most will likely go back to old habits and quit. Good luck with everything!!

ryanjoachim

Yeah, looks like that smoothie I got was around 700 calories. If I didn't add the sorbet it would be 400 or so.

joeparaski

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Yeah, looks like that smoothie I got was around 700 calories. If I didn't add the sorbet it would be 400 or so.

Dude, you just started and you're already cheating.......not good.

Joe

silvertuner

best thing ive ever done is taking my mountain bike and going out on trails. eat right, drink milk/water/juice respectively. hell i lost 10 lbs when i threw out mt dew for a few weeks. i would ride 20 or so miles a day, both on and off road mixed, and in 3 months i had lost almost 40 lbs. i went from a 38 inch waist to a 32 inch waist in 3 months, and still had room to go to get "ripped". i was 16 when i did that though lol. when i feel im getting to an "abnormal" weight, i will diet and exercise for about a month to keep myself around the 200lb mark, still "overweight" according to my dr, but i have shoulders that barely fit thru doorways it seems like lol. but this is irrelevant to your thread and i appologize

ryanjoachim

joeparaski wrote: »

Dude, you just started and you're already cheating.......not good.

Joe

I wouldn't call it "cheating", since I didn't know a "fruit" smoothie would be unhealthy. Now I know.

joeparaski

You are going to have to do a lot of reading because the market is bombarded with so-called "healthy" and "low-cal" and "fruity" etc etc...that is really loaded with crap. You need to start reading labels more. Btw...how old are you?

Joe

ryanjoachim

I'm 27. A tough thing for me is that I'm still waiting on my permanent dentures, which means I can't eat many "healthy" items like salads, veggies, etc.

Plus the fact that I can't stand most vegetables...

Demiurge

Dentures at 27? Can I ask what happened? :frown:

ryanjoachim

Demiurge wrote: »

Dentures at 27? Can I ask what happened? :frown:

Bad teeth run in my family on my mother's side. Her mother, mother's mother, etc had terrible teeth. Mine just went bad at an accelerated rate, no matter what I tried.

I was down to 22 teeth before I had them all removed last year.

Demiurge

Damn, that sucks...although I guess having full dentures would be infinitely better than teeth that hurt like hell all the time.

ryanjoachim

Demiurge wrote: »

Damn, that sucks...although I guess having full dentures would be infinitely better than teeth that hurt like hell all the time.

Besides having to relearn (from scratch) how to eat, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I sometimes have "ghost" pain, where my gums twinge like a tooth was hurting, but I haven't been this pain-free for 15 years.

Demiurge

Well, good luck with that.

Back to the CrossFit stuff...I'd definitely recommend not buying prepared meals or snacks. Make it yourself, that way there's no doubt about what's going in it.

Yes, smoothies without added sugar aren't going to taste as good as those with it...at least at first. Cutting back on sugar is more important than fat in my opinion. There are a lot of fats out there that are good for you in moderate quantities. Avocados, olive oil, nuts...etc. If you don't like vegetables, try making guacamole or something. You get the fat from the avocado and some onions and tomatoes.

You're trying to drop a good deal of weight, so you're gonna have to pay attention to what you're eating in addition to the exercise for a while.

ryanjoachim

Any suggestions for a good smoothie? I was just getting the banana+banana smoothie, but I don't think just banana's and ice are going to taste all that good.

Also, what fruits are best to eat? I was thinking of bringing sliced cantaloupe to work so that I can eat those instead of going out for lunch. Just trying to think of little things that that will help keep me out of fast food joints.

Demiurge

Bananas with skim milk and ice taste just fine. If you need some sugar, put in a small amount of honey.

All fruit is good in moderation.

mystik610

As your body gets used to working out, it will start craving healthier, more nutritious foods, and you will start feeling the negative effects of eating junk foods. The initial shock of starting the work out will leave you craving all sorts of terrible foods, but all of that will subside very quickly. Lean meats, whole grains, fruits, veggies, and nuts are your friend.

Eat smaller meals (enough to be satsified, but not enough to feel full) and plan to have snacks in between. Bring healthy snacks to curb your appetite throughout the day. If you get hungry, eat. Letting hunger linger will leave you craving junk foods.

If you can't squeeze enough veggies into your diet, pick up some organic superfood caplets and take those. Also, look into a good protein powder to have after your work-outs. I use Optimum Nutrition Gold Class. While not intended to be a meal replacement, you'd be suprised how much they curb your appetite (I don't think we get enough lean protein in our diets).

Also, if you feel completely wasted after a work-out, look into a recovery formula of some sort. I use Endurox R4....it's very much necessary for me as I work out in the morning before work.

ryanjoachim

Is V8 healthy? Trying to find something to drink besides water.

mystik610

ryanjoachim wrote: »

Is V8 healthy? Trying to find something to drink besides water.

It's good as a snack or with a meal, but water should be your primary source of hydration. Anything else is unnecessary calories. You should be significantly increasing your fluid intake to keep yourself hydrated, as cross-fit will take a lot out of you. If you're like the average person, chances are, even without doing cross-fit, your body hasn't been getting enough hydration in the past. Nothing hydrates your body better than water....plus its a natural appetite suppressant.

exalted512

If youre like me, I cant drink a lot of water...I can literally make myself sick trying to drink as much I should...so I stick with crystal light. I drink primarily the ruby red grapefruit...which is a little hard to find. Im guessing because not a lot of people like it...lol. The wife drinks the fruit punch which is pretty good as well. And the calories are minimal.

Sipping Gatorade during your work out is a good thing as well.
-Cody

ryanjoachim

Well, I went to Crossfit for 3 months before unexpected medical bills came up and forced me to stop. Started back up a year later (this March) and have been back at it since. I absolutely LOVE Crossfit!

In the 3 months that I did Crossfit initially, I ended up losing 60lbs! Since I started back up again, I've lost another 20. At this rate, I should be near my goal (around 220) by the end of the year!

I really recommend Crossfit to anyone and everyone. Doesn't matter your age or physical ability, they can tailor a workout to work for anyone.

Original weight - 340lbs
Current weight - 255lbs

I've got pictures somewhere...I need to put together a before/after set.