So today I went for some variety.  My Crossfit Workout of the Day:

1 min of Plank in my WOD

400m Run

20x Dumbbell Russian Twists (50#)

10x Man Makers (15#)

10x Dumbbell Floor Presses (2×50#)

10x Dumbbell Deadlifts (2×50#)

10x Bent Over Dumbbell Rows (2×50#)

10x Dumbbell Push Presses (2×50#)

1 min Plank

10x Dumbbell Shrugs (2×50#)

10x Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extentensions (50#)

20x Dumbbell Curls (2×30#)

10x Dumbbell Lateral Raises  (2×15#)

10x Dumbbell Front Squats (2×50#)

400m Run

For my Russian Twists, I used a counter top as my “partner”.  It worked out well since I workout alone.

As a bonus this morning I did as many situps as I could with the timer set for 5 minutes.  I quit counting, but it was pretty sad.  I’ll keep working on getting a quick workout in the morning.  I think it’s starting my day off better.  Back a few years ago when I did P90x, I did doubles, but during that time, my job was a lot less demanding and I found it easier to get two workouts in a day.

Traveler’s Crossfit Workout of the Day

1200m Run

10x Dips

10 Dumbbell Cleans (2×50#)

10x Dips

10x Turkish Get Ups (30#/5 per arm)

10x Box Jumps

So you may be wondering how I managed to do dips or box jumps in a hotel.  I did my dips on the handlebars of the treadmill.  The grip is a bit wide, but it’s functional for a non-weighted dip.  Lucky for me I’m not a tall man, so anybody over 5’6″ might not be able to pull it off.

Hotel Box Jumps

As for box jumps, I’ve found a couple ways to do them.  Back in my hotel room, I can either do box jumps on an ottoman of solid construction pushed into a corner or I can use the bed.  The bed gives a bit, but it does provide more height.  It’s not ideal, but for a few box jumps it will do.  Of course, I wouldn’t do any kind of plyometrics unless I was on the ground floor.  I’d hate to disturb someone by jumping up and down on them.

As usual, my pre-workout drink was BSN’s N.O.-XPLODE and my post workout drink was Lite Lemonade and Optimum Nutrition Whey

Tonight was no exception.  I had a pre-planned workout that I figured would take me about an hour.  But the clock was ticking and I had to modify my WOD .  It also didn’t hurt that once I got going, I saw that my initial workout was probably a bit advantageous for my current level of conditioning.

Here’s tonight’s Crossfit Workout of the Day:

400m Run

21 Dumbbell Swings (50#)

800m Run

21 Dumbbell Swings (50#)

600m Run

21 Dumbbell Swings (50#)

I also practiced my handstand push ups again and got up to 2 sets of 5 reps!  I felt good after this WOD, although a bit wound up.

This is how I felt after my workout

I wanted to work my upper body a bit more in this WOD, so I incorporated some isolation exercises into this workout of the day.  I’m a huge fan of compound body moves, which is one of the reasons that I enjoy Crossfit, but from time to time, I’d like to focus on specific muscle groups.

3 Rounds

200m Run

10 Overhead Dumbbell Tricep Extensions (50#)

20 Hammer Curls (2x 30#)

30 Push Ups

40 Sit Ups

I don’t know about you, but 40 Sit Ups just about do me in.  On that third round, I found myself really struggling for both stamina and form.  I had to take several pauses after about 6 or 7 reps.

I’ve also been working on my handstand push ups,  although I’m not to a point where I can incorporate them into an actual WOD.    So far, I’m only good for about 4 handstand push ups, supported by the wall.  But I’m going to keep working on them until I can bring them into my workout of the day.

Slowly making progress on my Handstand Push Ups for Crossfit

After the workout, I couldn’t wait to drink my whey protein shake.  As I mentioned yesterday, this week I’m mixing Lite Lemonade with the whey protein.  It’s a great taste and very light.  It hits the spot.

Amazon will ship it right to your door!

200m Run

5x Burpees

7x Dumbbell Swings (50#)

10x Overhead Dumbbell Squats (2x 45#)

I was able to complete 4 full rounds and one extra 200m Run.  It was a nice fast workout, but it left me huffing and puffing by that 5th 200m Run.

Lite Lemonade Mixed with Whey Protein

After I finished up, I had a nice refreshing shaker cup of whey protein waiting for me.  This week I’m mixing my protein with Minute Maid Lite Lemonade.  I’m getting some post workout carbs in the form of a granola bar.  I like the lemonade/protein shake because of how light it seems compared to my usual orange juice I mix with the protein.

But I wanted to get back into more robust state of conditioning.  And Crossfit Workout of the Days are doing that for me. Right now I’m on a M-T-W schedule for sure and then whatever I can work in the rest of the week.   Here is tonight’s workout:

I couldn't find a good picture example of a bear walk with weights, so I figured a Grizzly Bear is a good substitute

3 Rounds

200m Run

8x Dips

10x Sit Ups

10x Sumo Deadlifts with dumbbells (2x 50#)

20m Bear Walk (2×25#)

10x Dumbbell Flyes on an exercise ball (2×40#)

The hotel fitness room doesn’t have a dip station, so I make do with what I’ve got.  The two treadmills are close enough that I can do dips with a pretty wide grip stance.   I didn’t time tonight’s workout, but I know I came in under 30 minutes.  I should have brought my timer.

600m Run
21x Turkish Get Ups (25#)
8x Overhead Dumbbell Squats (2×40#)
21x Burpees
400m Run
15x Turkish Get Ups (25#)
8x Overhead Dumbbell Squats (2×40#)
15x Burpees
400m Run
9x Turkish Get Ups (25#)
9x Overhead Dumbbell Squats (2×35#)
9x Burpees

I initially was going to do a 21-15-9 rep structure. But the Overhead Squats quickly showed me that for the weight that I had chosen. I had to modify my plan. I stuck to the rep structure for the Burpees and Turkish Get Ups, but I dropped the reps to eight for the overhead squats and eventually dropped the weight a bit and added one more rep.

Post Workout Whey Protein - Vanilla flavor and Orange Juice

Afterwards, I had a nice big shaker full of whey protein powder and orange juice. I recommend Optimum Nutrition’s Gold Standard Whey Protein. Vanilla is my personal choice. Mixed with orange juice it tastes a bit like an old school Orange Julius.

Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey Protein

As a side note, there were a couple of generic forty something generic business men in the fitness room toward the end of my workout. They were half-assed working out on the stationary bike and one of the treadmills and watching basketball on the tv. One was telling about how he played basketball in college, intramural basketball that is. And the most fascinating part was that sometimes he played pick up games with actual college basketball players. All I could think was “Cool story Bro!” I understand people holding on to special memories of playoff games or other such momentous events in their youth, but who gives a crap that you happened to play a pick up game with a guy that happened to play with a ball player from the University of Arkansas?

Luckily, I’ve at least got dumbbells to work with at this hotel. I’ve been taking kettlebell workout of the day’s and modifying them for the dumbbells and the limited equipment that I have in the hotel workout room. I wish there was a way to do pull ups. Maybe in the spring when it warms up, I’ll take it outside and find a park nearby. So far, I’ve found the Crossfit principals easy to modify for my available facilities.

Tonight’s WOD:

5 Rounds:
400m Run
5x Dumbbell Jerk (2×40#)
20m Overhead Dumbbell Walk (2×40#)
15x Dumbbell Swing (40#)
20m Farmer’s Walk (2×40#)
1 minute rest between rounds

I found that tonight’s biggest challenge was the Overhead Walk. My form must have been pretty shaky by the fifth round. In fact the Overhead Walk made the Farmer’s Walk look like a piece of cake. I could have upped my weight on the Farmer’s Walk in in hindsight, although I could only go up to 50 pound dumbbells, which is all the hotel has.

Tonight’s Workout of the Day:
9 rounds
Rep structure:1-2-3-2-3-4-3-4-5
200m run
Dumbbell Jerk (2×45#)
Dumbbell Bent Over Row (2×45#)

And to cap it all off 50ft bear walk with 25 pound dumbbells!

As I mentioned, I was going to go 18 rounds, but ran out of time. I’m pretty sure that if I had gone 18 rounds I would have been dragging. The girl at the hotel front desk was looking at me a little funny when I stopped by to book my room for the next week.

I’m really enjoying the Crossfit WOD’s. For the past year, I had been focusing on just lifting. I had a good gym that was right by work and I ended up gaining strength and muscle, but getting a bit flabby around the edges. I then got busy at work and eventually changed projects and really took about a two month break. But now, I’m mixing things up, focusing on much more conditioning and starting to see improvements on that front.

I thought this, despite only having gotten about 3 1/2 hours worth of sleep the night before.  So I headed to the workout room at that hotel and started running.  Then I started on the burpees and that’s when reality kicked in.  By the time I had hit 20 burpees, I had realized that there was no way that I was going to be able to push through 100 of anything.  So I readjusted my goal and here is what I came up with:

400m run

50 burpees

400m run

50 body weight squats

400m run

50 push ups

400m run

50 sit ups

Even at 50 reps per exercise, it was a challenge.  I was really feeling spent on the last 400m run.  It was a pretty good WOD.  I’d like to work up my conditioning to be able to do 100 reps.   Maybe I’m pushing too hard after being sick last week.  But if you don’t feel like you’re going to puke, you haven’t worked out hard enough!