To track my training, I use an app called "Beyond the Whiteboard". It records my score for each workout, and shows the the average score of everyone else at my gym who uses the same app. It also has a calendar that gives me a visual to show me how often I have logged in and completed my workouts. The calendar holds me accountable to execute my goal of training three times a week.
Christmas Family Workout
On Christmas Eve, our gym was having a family workout during what would normally be the kids class. So all five of us Charlifue kids turned up for some fun! It was a team workout, meaning that all family members had to work together to complete the workout.
Olympic Weightlifting Workshop with 2016 Rio Olympian Sonny Webster
Sonny Webster is a weightlifter who was the only male from Great Britain to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympics. He finished 14th in the mens 94kg category. He also finished fifth in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games where he competed in the 94kg category, and a 15th place finish in the European Championships that same year.
He came to do a day long seminar at our gym. This workshop consisted of mobility, technique work for two olympic lifts, a Q&A session, along with testing our lifts at the very end to see if we could set new personal records. It was really interesting to get insight from a professional athlete like him, and to receive tips that made all the difference and can be carried through into my everyday training sessions. I find that it is always important to try and get various opinions from different coaches, so having him was interesting just to see how his approach may have varied as compared to some of my other coach's approach. I learned so much from that little time of a day long seminar
He came to do a day long seminar at our gym. This workshop consisted of mobility, technique work for two olympic lifts, a Q&A session, along with testing our lifts at the very end to see if we could set new personal records. It was really interesting to get insight from a professional athlete like him, and to receive tips that made all the difference and can be carried through into my everyday training sessions. I find that it is always important to try and get various opinions from different coaches, so having him was interesting just to see how his approach may have varied as compared to some of my other coach's approach. I learned so much from that little time of a day long seminar
The Open.
Every year, for five continuous weeks in late February to March, hundreds of thousands of crossfitters around the world take part in an online competition. This competition is known as The Open. Five Workouts, five weeks. Some do it for fun, to see if they have improved from previous years, or to make it to the next stage, known as Regionals. If one is able to make it to regionals, only a fraction of Regional athletes make it to the final stage: Reebok CrossFit Games, where only one female and one male can earn the title of The Fittest Male/Female on Earth.
Personally, I do the open for the experience and to see if I have improved upon myself from the previous year. There are several age divisions that are offered, 14-15&16-17 (Teens), 18-34 (Individual), and several other age groups starting at 35 reaching as far as 60+ (Masters). This has been my third year taking part of the open, my first year in the higher age group that exists of the teens.
Every week, a workout is released on Friday, and you have until Tuesday to submit your score on the online platform. You can do the workout as many times as you desire within this time frame, but the workouts are typically designed so athletes can complete it once or twice within that time frame (due to fatigue and soreness). For every workout, the athlete has to have a 'judge' that can ensure that the athlete is meeting movement standards and so their score for the workout can be accurately recorded. To be a certified judge, you can take an online course with an exam you have pass at the end of it. To preview the judges course click below. Then, you submit your score by the deadline and your head coach will confirm the score. Your score is then put onto the 'leaderboard'. The leaderboard can be filtered several ways, age/gender/geographical location/ profession. To view the leaderboard, click below- it is filtered into my age group and geographical location. Every workout also offers two way of being completed, Rx'd or scaled. If you complete a workout rx'd, it means that you completed it exactly as it was written (weights, movements, ect.). If you complete workout scaled, that means you completed the easier version of the workout (lighter weights, easier movements). People who scale their workouts are automatically ranked lower on the leaderboard than those who complete the workout as prescribed.
Personally, I do the open for the experience and to see if I have improved upon myself from the previous year. There are several age divisions that are offered, 14-15&16-17 (Teens), 18-34 (Individual), and several other age groups starting at 35 reaching as far as 60+ (Masters). This has been my third year taking part of the open, my first year in the higher age group that exists of the teens.
Every week, a workout is released on Friday, and you have until Tuesday to submit your score on the online platform. You can do the workout as many times as you desire within this time frame, but the workouts are typically designed so athletes can complete it once or twice within that time frame (due to fatigue and soreness). For every workout, the athlete has to have a 'judge' that can ensure that the athlete is meeting movement standards and so their score for the workout can be accurately recorded. To be a certified judge, you can take an online course with an exam you have pass at the end of it. To preview the judges course click below. Then, you submit your score by the deadline and your head coach will confirm the score. Your score is then put onto the 'leaderboard'. The leaderboard can be filtered several ways, age/gender/geographical location/ profession. To view the leaderboard, click below- it is filtered into my age group and geographical location. Every workout also offers two way of being completed, Rx'd or scaled. If you complete a workout rx'd, it means that you completed it exactly as it was written (weights, movements, ect.). If you complete workout scaled, that means you completed the easier version of the workout (lighter weights, easier movements). People who scale their workouts are automatically ranked lower on the leaderboard than those who complete the workout as prescribed.
18.1
First week of the open and I ended up placing 8th in my division in Germany in this workout. To see the workout, click above. Although the movements were simple, and it was a relatively basic workout, it exposed one of my weaknesses which was conditioning. I now know that for the next year, I really need to improve upon my conditioning since it really is such a fundamental part of fitness.
18.2
Week two. To see the workout, click the workout description above. I was very excited for several reasons, but I also had a healthy hint on nerves going on as well. Nervous because of the burpees which I am not found of. Excited because there was a second part of the workout, which was a heavy lift; there is nothing I love more than a heavy lift. When I completed the workout on Friday I hit my personal best for that lift at 50kg. I was content but I felt that I had more in the tank so I gave it another shot on Sunday. Because there were two parts to this workout, my fear with redoing it was that I might be able to hit a heavier weight which is good, but end up with a slower time in the first part of the workout. Win some, lose some. I ended up with bettering score in the first part of the workout by 10 seconds, and I gained 2.5 kg on the weight I lifted. I ended up lifting 52.2 kg, which I am happy with because it's a new personally record for that lift, and that is impressive considering that was directly following a workout.
18. 3
Week three was yet another week shining light onto my weaknesses which is upper body strength. The open is all about exposing your weaknesses, and this workout was certainly a matter of that. To see the workout description, click above. I did this workout rx'd (as I do with all open workouts), and because I cannot complete ring muscle ups, I simply had to do everything else beforehand as fast as I could to try and get a somewhat decent score (regardless of the fact that I wouldn't be completing the whole workout). When I did the workout on Friday I had no problem with the first two movements, double unders and over head squats, which was nice because my ability to do double unders varies on the day. I decided to give the workout another shot on the following Sunday to try to improve my time, however I did worse than before. My double unders did not seem to be working on that day, which worsened my time. That's ok because in that case, getting a worse score on the redo just means that you submit your better score of the two. This workout too was a learning experience, and was really a reality check that I need to work on improving my upper body strength!
18.4
Three down, two more to go. 18.4 was definitely my favorite open workout, out of all three years I have done the open. Deadlifts, and handstand-pushups (HSPU). There were more movements to come after than, but personally it wouldn't be realistic for me to get that far in the workout- by doing it rx'd. I was able to complete 21 HSPU, which is yet another personal record for me that I hit in the open. Not to mention that that was the first time I had done HSPU rx'd in all year. That alone made me super stoked. However, at the end of that workout, my neck and upper back was super stiff from the impact of the HSPU, so I told myself that no matter what I cannot redo the workout (I religiously always redo every open workout). I was right, the day after (Saturday) I was extremely sore, very stiff so I laid in my bed all day. That helped a lot, and made me feel much better so I stupidly decided I would redo the workout on Monday. I do not know what I was thinking, I just thought a miracle would happen and I could possibly get more than 21 HSPU on the second go. I redid the workout on Monday alone, the environment was no where as good as the infamous 'Friday night lights' enviornment that occurs all around the world in crossfit communities; lots of people with lots of cheering. I couldn't get many HSPU which threw my head for a spin early on in the workout. One rep I was coming down in my HSPU and lost control and landed quite harshly straight on my head. I felt pain shoot up through my neck and upper back immediately upon impact and knew it was not good. I tried to brush it off and did a few more unsuccessful reps before I looked at the time a realized that beating my first score would not be realistic, so I stopped. I was going to go on that Monday night to finish training with my training partner, but I could barely put away, get equipment, or do basic movements without my upper back immensely hurting. The pain got worse as minutes passed which was starting to scare me and I did not want to think about it so I was determined to continue with my session that night. The pain got to the point where I literally could not move without excruciating pain, so my mom came and took me to the hospital. Thankfully nothing serious came out of it, it was a soft tissue injury as a result of my muscles tensing up to save my bones from the impact. The doctor gave me pain medication and muscle relaxers, told me to stop training for the next week and take it easy when I'm back. The next few days as I was bed ridden because of my stupidity, was really an eye opener in terms of many things. Don't be stupid in training even if it's a competition. Put your body's well being first because your health is more important than your score. It's a marathon not a sprint, as my Dad always says. I ended up placing 6th in my division in Germany for that workout.
18.5
Last week of the 2018 open. I came in on Friday to support everyone else competing, but due to my injury I was not ready/allowed to start training again. So on Sunday I decided I would take part and finish the open then. Although my coaches were hesitant of even letting me do it, I felt alright and would stop if I felt any pain. Although I was slightly nervous for lifting weights and having that weight be held on my shoulders, most of my nerves were set around the chest to bar, yet another weakness of mine because it is another movement that requires lots of upper body strength! I ended up getting my first four chest to bar in that workout which was great, although it was another realization I had that I need to really work on my upper body strength this year. Over all, this open season was a great and although I had a few set backs- I am pleased with my performance. As the open does every year, it highlights your strengths and exposes your weaknesses. Now I know what weaknesses to work on for the next year until the next open comes around!
Seminar with Olympian Sonny Webster
Sonny came again for another weightlifting seminar, this time we would delve deeper into the skills we learned last time. There was a lot of further technique work, which was extremely helpful, and again a session to end the day by hopefully setting personal records (PRs). I could not set a PR for my clean and jerk which was ok with me considering that this was at the end of hours of training. For my snatch I was SO close to getting a PR, frustratingly close. We also tested our back squats, which I was sure I wouldn't get one. My old PR was 80kg and that was reached during a time I was solely training strength, so I was sure I could not even hit 80 yet alone a PR. However, I surprised myself and hit 85kg, which I was over the moon about! I truly did not think I could get any higher than 80 so to have a 5kg increase was reassuring that I had improved strength wise since then. Another successful seminar with Sonny!
Supervisor Review and End of Year Reflection
This past Crossfit year has definitely had its setbacks, as well as its high points- both of which are very apparent in my writings above. I have made great improvements, but at the same time I am always looking on how to better myself as an athlete.
Being a Team Partner
The fall time is usually quite a busy time of year for all high school seniors. This can make it difficult to schedule in time to be able to train together with training partners. However, my training partner Marcella and I have planned in our training schedules accordingly to our school schedules. Through this. we decided on a 3x a week training plan of Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday . This designated schedule has made it much easier on the both of us, and training less stressful! In addition, we set a 1 1/2 hour time limit on our sessions, so we have time to do other things in the afternoon such as homework.
Training into the New Year
Coming back to training after winter break, my hands were not used to the heavy lifting in my normal training schedule. Because crossfit is a sport that involves many pulling movements, it is not unusual for me to have callused up hands. However, I lost most of my calluses during the break- leading to blistered hands a blood blistered that stayed for 3 weeks after! This is apart of the gross reality that comes with the sport.
Buckling Down Before the 2019 Open
Every year as promised within the Crossfit community, comes the CrossFit Games Open. This is a 5 week online international competition. Our training picks up so we are at peak performance before the Open, however, about a week or so before it starts we do pure technique training to ensure that we don't fatigue ourselves before we compete. As shown in the photo below, is me doing barbell work without weights, only focusing on technique. I am excited for this year's open and can't wait to see what it brings!
Reflecting
So far this year has brought challenges in ensuring both me and my training partner's schedules align. It has shown me that planning does indeed work! and that it is important to stay active to maintain that balance in your life. I have enjoyed training with the regulars in my gym and continuing to to surround myself with such motivated people, it constantly drives me to work harder myself and to keep pushing through the tough year that this last year of HS is!
19.1
The first workout of this year's open included one of my least favorite movements, wall balls. Wall balls is a movement where an athlete holds a large, weighted medicine ball, squats and then throws it up against the wall to a target. In this WOD we were to do 19 reps of wall balls, followed by 19 calories of rowing. We were to repeat this as many times as possible within a 15 minute window. I enjoy rowing, but I lost a lot of time on the wall balls. Additionally, I struggled with hitting the target on my wall balls. This not only lowered my score, but I could not continue the workout until I hit the needed target. This caused me to fatigue much earlier in the workout than I needed to. Not my best workout, but I was not expecting it to be either. Better luck next time!
19.2
19.2 had somewhat of a difficult layout, combining toes to bars, double unders, and squat cleans increasing in weights. However, before you could progress to the squat cleans, you must do the other two movements within the allotted times. Double unders are alright for me, but my grip and lat strength is not quite there which makes T2B harder. However, I love heavy lifting which was all the more reason to try to get the first two movements done faster. My sister was in town this weekend (pictured below) which motivated me to try to outlift her because she too is a crossfitter. It was a lot of fun going head to head with her, even though her time was too short lived. I got about halfway through the thrid round, while she was able to finish it. The friendly competition is always a great change of pace and way to spice things up!
19.3
19.3 was a mixture of over head squats, lunges, box step ups and strict hand stand push ups. This workout demanded of heavy shoulder and leg work. I love hand stand push ups but was not ready to do them strict, and this really threw me into trouble. I did not realize how much I have neglected working on this movement until I had to actually do it. If you recall to last year's open post with hand stand push ups, I hurt my back while doing the movement. I think that as a result, I have subconsciously been extremely weary of doing them in general. Though this was a trouble spot for me, I was able to complete 3 reps which was somewhat of a feat for me. Thankfully, I had supportive coaches helping my technique through it all, to ensure that no repeat of last year would happen.
19.4
19.4 was alllllll the snatches and burpees. Besides wall balls/ thrusters, there is nothing I hate more than burpees! As you could imagine, I did not do too well but I was not surprised about that either. The open is all about exposing your weaknesses, and with that, you win some and you lose some. Its not that I am bad at burpees, but I just take so. long. Here's to working on weaknesses!
Reflection
This year in Crossfit, my motivation has definitely changed. Before, working out was always very social event, and I enjoyed working out with others. despite the change in the group of people I have been training with, my commitment has remained. My skills and technique related to lifting has remained, however I am constantly trying to better my technique when it comes to gymnastics. When things got difficult, I persisted and tried my best to find a better solution. For example, I couldn't train as much as I was used to, so instead I decided to adjust my training times and come in the morning instead. I feel confident about continuing my loves for this sport as I progress into university, whilst constantly trying to challenge myself as an athlete.