Strength/Skill
Every 3 minutes, for 24 minutes (8 sets) of:
3-Position Snatch
(high hang, mid-thigh, then floor)
Build in load over the course of the 8 sets, emphasizing good speed and mechanics.

MetCon
In teams of two, alternating complete rounds, perform as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
8 Deadlifts (225/155 lbs)
8 Burpee Box Jump-Overs (24″/20″)

Strength/Skill
Four sets of:
Push Press x 3-5 reps
Rest 90 seconds
Weighted Supinated-Grip Pull-Ups x 3-5 reps @ 2110
Rest 90 seconds

MetCon
For time:
10 Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lbs)
1 Ring Dip
9 Wall Ball Shots
2 Ring Dips
8 Wall Ball Shots
3 Ring Dips
7 Wall Ball
4 Ring Dips
6 Wall Ball
5 Ring Dips
5 Wall Ball
6 Ring Dips
4 Wall Ball
7 Ring Dips
3 Wall Ball
8 Ring Dips
2 Wall Ball
9 Ring Dips
1 Wall Ball Shot
10 Ring Dips

Strength/Skill
Four sets of:
Bulgarian Split Squat x 6-8 reps each leg @ 30X0
Rest 60 seconds
Plank Hold x 60 seconds
Rest 60 seconds

Metcon
Five rounds for time of:
Dumbbell Complex* x 5 reps
Toes to Bar x 10 reps

*One rep of the Dumbbell Complex =
Start from the plank with dumbbells in hands
Right Arm Row
Push-Up
Left Arm Row
Push-Up
Jump to standing
Dumbbell Clean
Front Squat x 2 reps
Push Press x 2 reps

Feeling confused by all these CrossFit Abbreviations? Below are some common definitions of abbreviations you might see.

AMRAP: As Many Rounds (or Reps) as Possible
BS: Back squat
BTWB: Beyond the Whiteboard. A website for tracking your WOD’s.
BW (or BWT): Body weight
CFT: CrossFit Total (A best of three attempts at a 1RM of (Press/DL/BS)
CF: CrossFit
CFHQ: CrossFit Headquarters
CFWU:CrossFit Warm-up
CLN: Clean
C&J: Clean and jerk
C2: Concept II rowing machine
C2B: Chest to Bar Pull ups
DFL: Dead F’ing Last
DL: Deadlift
DNF: Did Not Finish
DU: Double Under. Jumping Rope with two spins of the rope per 1 jump.
EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute
FS: Front squat
GHD: Glute hamstring developer. A device that allows for posterior chain exercise, such as a hip extension, sit-up or a back extension.
GPP: General physical preparedness, aka “fitness.”
HC: Hang Clean
HRPU: Hand Release Push ups. Hands have to come slightly off the ground when at the bottom of the push up.
HSPU: Hand stand push up. Kick up into a handstand (use wall for balance, if needed) bend arms until nose touches floor and push back up.
HSC: Hang squat clean. Start with bar “at the hang,” about knee height. Initiate pull. As the bar rises drop into a full squat and catch the bar in the racked position. From there, rise to a standing position
IF: Intermittent Fasting
KB: Kettlebell
KTE: (or K2E) Knees to elbows. Similar to TTBs described below.
MetCon: Metabolic Conditioning workout
MU: Muscle ups. Hanging from rings you do a combination pull-up and dip so you end in an upright support.
OHS: Overhead squat. Full-depth squat performed while arms are locked out in a wide grip press position above the head and in line or slightly behind the ears.
PC: Power clean
Pd: Pood, weight measure for kettlebells
PR: Personal record
PP: Push press
PJ: Push Jerk
PSN: Power snatch
PU: Pull-ups, possibly push ups depending on the context
Rep: Repetition. One performance of an exercise.
Rx’d; as Rx’d: As prescribed; as written. WOD done without any adjustments.
RM: Repetition maximum. Your 1RM is your max lift for one rep. Your 10 RM is the most you can lift 10 times. (Commonly found in WOD’s as 1RM/3RM/5RM etc.)
SC: Squat Clean
SDHP: Sumo Deadlift High Pull
Set: A number of repetitions. e.g., 3 sets of 10 reps, often seen as 3×10, means do 10 reps, rest, repeat, rest, repeat.
SPP: Specific physical preparedness, aka skill training.
SN: Snatch
SQ: Squat
Subbed: Substituted. The CORRECT use of “subbed,” as in “substituted,” is, “I subbed an exercise I can do for one I can’t,” For example,if you can’t do a HSPU, you subbed regular push-ups.
TNG: Touch and Go
TTB: (or T2B) Toes to bar. Hang from bar. Bending only at waist raise your toes to touch the bar, slowly lower them and repeat.
WO, sometimes W/O: Workout
WOD: Workout of the day
# : Symbol for pounds or lbs.
” : Symbol for inches
‘ : Symbol for feet

Other Terms:

The “Girls” : A series of benchmark workouts created by CFHQ that are universally known among the CF community.

The “Heroes” : A Hero workout is a tribute workout in honor of a fallen CrossFitter (either Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Firefighter, Police officer) that died in the line of duty. They are tough and among the most difficult of WOD’s. There are sadly too many of them. Read here for a great explanation of them.

Tabata Interval: A workout of 8 intervals alternating 20 seconds of max rep work with 10 seconds of rest. Total is 4 minutes per exercise. Score the lowest interval rep count.

Strength/Skill
Every 2 minutes, for 18 minutes:
Minutes 1-2, 7-8 & 13-14: Muscle-Ups x Max Reps in 45 seconds
(OR 3 Rolls to Candlestick + Low Ring Muscle Up Progression x 3-4 reps)
Minutes 3-4, 9-10 & 15-16: Handstand Walk x 10 meters
(use partner assist or Handstand Wall Runs if you don’t have handstand walks yet)
Minutes 5-6, 11-12 & 17-18:
L-Sit Hold x 45 seconds accumulated time

Metcon
Against a two-minute running clock, complete as many reps as possible of:
3 Hang Cleans (135/95 lbs)
6 Shoulder to Overhead
9 Front Squats
Burpees x Max Reps

Rest 2 minutes between sets,

Strength/Skill
Every 3 minutes, for 18 minutes (6 sets):
Overhead Squat x 2-4 reps

Metcon
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
10 Pull-Ups
10 Alternating One-Arm Dumbbell Snatches
10 Box Jump Overs

Metcon
In teams of two, with one partner working at a time, partners alternate rounds to complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 30 minutes of:
5 Push-ups
10 Kettlebell Swings
15 Squats
200 Meter Run

Strength/Skill
Every 2 minutes, for 20 minutes (5 sets of each):
Station 1 – Power Clean x 1.1.1.1
(rest 10 seconds between singles)
Station 2 – Weighted Pull-Ups x 2-3 reps @ 21X0

Metcon
Three rounds for time of:
10 Power Cleans (155/105 lbs)
10 Burpee Box Jumps (24″/20″)

Strength/Skill
Every 2 minutes, for 20 minutes (5 sets of each):
Station 1 – Shoulder Press x 3-5 reps @ 20X1
(if you make 5 reps, increase the load until you establish a strong 3-RM)
Station 2 – Toes to Bar x 10-15 reps

Metcon
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:
10 Thrusters (115/83 lbs)
15 Pull-Ups
50 Double-Unders

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted anything in my blog here. Life has been busy!

I’ve made a great recovery from my surgery, having gotten fully back in to CrossFit with no problems from surgery. I can do everything that I could do before. I started working out (and Coaching some) at CrossFit 30518 back in November 2015, and that has been really great! If you are planning to have a breast lift or augmentation, you can find help with recovery here: Rebuild Your Body

I gained some unwanted weight over the last year and a half, but am working on getting back to my macro-counting basics to start over. The program I was following got “updated” and gradually became overly complicated and annoying to follow. So I decided to get back to the simple style of macro tracking program that I began with, and was so successful at.

My newest venture is to start doing Nutritional/Fitness Coaching with a new company, BITE Nutrition. Its a great new company, started by some amazing Coach friends I made at the previous company I was coaching with. I’m excited for all they can, and will, do with this new business!!!

Near the end of every year, I always start thinking about what I want to focus on the following year. This year was for de-cluttering and getting my house and life in better order. I definitely accomplished that to a large extent with the remodeling of the house, and really focusing on my health and fitness. I worked on a lot this year relating to health/fitness… by trying different things with my diet, plant-based supplements to help heal my gut, learning more about nutrition by taking the Precision Nutrition course and reading a ton, and even changing gyms and the type of workouts I’m doing.

I often feel like whenever I have things “under control” and working perfectly with my health and fitness that something changes and I have to start all over. Back at the end of 2014 and through most of 2015 I had things “perfect”… I was working out great and had all kinds of PRs and my weight was exactly where I love it and it was easy to maintain while eating around 2,000 calories a day and without feeling deprived! It was the BEST!! Then at the end of 2015 things went wonky again and I began gaining weight and started having problems with different injuries and issues – shoulder, elbow, plantar fasciitis, breathing problems, etc. It’s been a somewhat frustrating two years.

I’ve spent most of 2017 working on my health and injuries by taking some plant/animal based supplements to help heal my gut and strengthen my liver and other organs. I’ve learned to do more prehab and rehab for my shoulder and FINALLY resolved a nagging shoulder issue that I’ve had on and off for a couple of years. I changed gyms so that I could swap all the running for cardio kickboxing, as well as swapping the crazy CrossFit workouts for more heavy lifting and less intense/crazy Metcons. I spent almost four months following custom programming designed specifically for me and my goals, and that was a HUGE contributing factor to healing my shoulder. Since changing gyms I am also able to workout five days a week without feeling like I’m always sore/tired/injured. These things have been so good for me physically and mentally.

Even with all the changes, my weight still has refused to budge from the 15-20 pound gain that began at the end of 2015. Part of that was certainly WHAT I was eating… as I still continued to eat some fast/fried/sugary foods. So, in 2018, my major health & fitness goals will be to eliminate the foods that are my worst weaknesses and triggers (those things that make me crave all the bad stuff). I began this five weeks ago by slowly eliminating things. First, it was fried foods (chicken fingers and french fries mostly). Second, it was candy and sodas. Third, it was dairy and cheese. Fourth, all the other refined foods (bagels, bread, rice, pasta, and other snacky foods like cheeze-its, pretzels and cereal). I’ll basically be doing a Whole30 for a minimum of four months to hopefully heal my body even more, and to hopefully heal some inflammation issues that cause me pain in my hands, knees, and hips.

What is interesting to me so far is that even with eliminating fried foods, candy, sodas and dairy, I did not lose a SINGLE pound! Nada. Nothing. Zip. I find that absolutely crazy. Most people would lose five pounds in the first week or two of eliminating just sodas and candy or just the fried foods. NOTHING for me. Prior to Thanksgiving and prior to eliminating the final refined starches, I did a 5 day Potato Hack to help feed the healthy bacteria in my gut (potatoes have Resistant Starches that feed healthy gut bacteria). I dropped almost 6 pounds, taking me down to a weight (135) that I have not seen in over a year. I gained all of that back over the Thanksgiving weekend – of course, because I was eating a lot but I had also stayed away from the things I had eliminated in the previous weeks. But, now with eliminating the refined starches that re-gain is dropping like crazy and I am back down to 136 after just 3 full days.

I do not know if the influx of all the resistant starches has helped heal my gut more, or if it was mainly the refined starchy foods that were really my biggest problem (I freaking LOVE bagels, pretzels and cheez-it type snacks). I may never know which has helped me the most. But, I am going forward with maintaining the elimination of foods for a minimum of four months because I feel like I really need that time to break my bad habits an heal my body even more. Plus, I have a Hawaii trip in April that I want to be ready, and feel my best, for!

My hope is that 2018 will be my best and healthiest year YET!!

I’m now well into my second month of Whole30. I took a one day “break” at the end of month one because it fell on Christmas day and I wanted to fully enjoy the day and the “off plan” foods that were around me. My final weight at the end of month one was 133.8. I had not seen that weight since early 2015.

For this second month of Whole30 I have committed to not weighing myself. It is hard. I caved one day in week 1 because I woke up feeling good and “lean” and was more curious about my weight than I could stand. I was at 135. That made me feel a bit frustrated. Logically I knew it didn’t matter, especially since the day before I had done a really hard workout and that likely meant some water retention. Weighing myself also made me realize that I really do need to stop weighing myself for awhile, and start focusing on other areas of “success” with this plan. I looked and felt leaner that morning, so why did it matter that the number on the scale wasn’t what I wanted to see!?! It shouldn’t! The success was how I FELT before I stepped on that scale. The success is in how my energy levels are up and stable. The success is in how I stayed on track New Years Eve, and my workouts, and all the other great things that are happening.

I’ve started to have people actually notice the changes in my body and comment on it. That feels pretty awesome. I am actually beginning to see the physical changes myself – in my calves and quads, shoulders and arms, and even my abs and hips. All great changes that feel really good to see. I’m starting to feel better in my clothes (less like I’m a stuffed sausage being smothered in them). It feels reminiscent of 2014 when I did my first Whole30 for six weeks and everything started coming together, and I began seeing the changes that I really loved seeing, and ended up (after a couple more months) with the body, weight, and performance that I just loved.

All of this progress is great, and I feel motivated to keep pushing full force with my plan to do Whole30 for four full months. What is crazy though, is the moments of self-doubt and self-sabotage that I sometimes feel on some days. When things are going the best, little thoughts creep in that are negative and unhelpful. Self-doubt, I suppose. But almost seem like thoughts of feeling like I don’t deserve this success. It makes no sense, because I DO deserve this success. I’m working for it and am so very deserving of it. It is really “funny” how the mind works sometimes… how those childhood issues come creeping in to try to bring you down and break your spirit.

This negativity will be one of the major things that I work on in 2018. I want to not just squash it, but to RESOLVE it. To come to a place where I don’t just try to shut up the negativity by stuffing it down, but to accept it and come to terms with it, and actually resolve it. It is time to stop letting those old demons take control.

It is going to be a GREAT YEAR! My theme for 2018 is “I CAN AND I WILL”!!! I can resolved old demons, and I can finish my Nutrition plan and reach my goals SUCCESSFULLY! I can keep working hard in the gym (now doing Weightlifting instead of Crossfit), and get stronger and fitter. And through it all I will keep learning to love my body and myself! Yes, it will be a GREAT YEAR!

Partner Wod
In teams of 2, with only one person working at a time, complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 30 minutes of:
800 meter Run
80 Walking Lunges with KB Farmer’s Carry
400 meter KB Farmer’s Carry (walk together – only one partner carrying KBs at a time, trade as needed)
40 Single Arm KB Push Presses (switch arms and partners as needed)

Metcon
For Time:
80 Double Unders
40 Russian KB Swings
20 Ring Dips
10 Muscle-Ups (or Pull ups + Push ups)
800 meter Run
10 Muscle-Ups (or Pull ups + Push ups)
20 Ring Dips
40 Russian KB Swings
80 Double Unders

Core Work
EMOM, for 15 Minutes:
1 – Supine Ring Rows, 8-10 reps @ 2111
2 – Side Plank (left) x 40 seconds
3 – Side Plank (right) x 40 seconds
4 – Rest

Strength
Six Sets of:
Overhead Squats x 3 reps
Rest 2 minutes between sets

MetCon
For time:
Row 1000 meters (run 800 m)
20 Snatches (full squat)

Cardio Kickboxing
Tabata – alternating, for 8 rounds at each exercise
Punching Bag (jab/cross, hooks, kicks, knees – mix it up)
Sit ups
Mountain Climbers
Rocking Chair sit ups

For time:
50x Squat jumps
10x Knees to elbows
40x Squat jumps
20x Push-ups
30x Squat jumps
30x Sit-ups
20x Squat jumps
40x Pull-ups
10x Squat jumps

Strength
E2MOM, for 8 minutes:
Strict Shoulder Press, 3-4 reps
(Go heavy)

E2MOM, for 8 minutes:
Push Press, 3-4 reps

MetCon
40/30 Calories, on Bike (or Row)
40 Burpee Pull ups

In teams of two, complete five rounds for time of:
Run 400m (partners stay together)
20 Deadlifts (10 each)
30 Pull ups (15 each) (ring rows or bent rows for substitute)

Strength
Every 3 minutes for 15 minutes (5 sets):
Bench Press, 3 reps
Use 80%  of 1 rep max and up

Metcon
Every 6 minutes for 18 minutes (3 sets):
Row 500m
20 Alternating Dumbbell Snatches
30 Push ups