CrossFit and Some Bike Riding

Last night after work, I rode my bike in the rain to CrossFit. We have been having a really rainy spring so far (who hasn't, I suppose), but this was the first time I was riding the bike in a serious rain. I got to CrossFit in plenty of time for the workout despite going slowly.

After the warm-up, our workout started with 5x5 squat cleans. Because I'm not really strong on front squats, which are closely related to squat cleans, my lifts were a cross between squat cleans and power cleans. Also, because of my shoulder, I took it fairly easy, weight-wise.

Our main workout was as follows:

100 kettlebell swings @ 70#

100 Abmat sit-ups

Do this as quickly as possible.

Level 1 used 53# kettlebells. Level 2 was 35# kettlebells and only 75 reps. The goal was to do this with a kettlebell weight that would be challenging. But, I was pretty sure that 100 swings at 53# would be more than I could handle. So, I combined level 1 and level 2, choosing the 53# KB, but only 75 reps. This was a good choice, as I was hurting after the first 75 reps. And then, just as we were warned, it turned out that the sit-ups were the harder part of the workout. I think that both exercises really hit your abdominal muscles, so no matter which was first, the second was going to suck. My total time was 10:35, and I realize it's time for me to start working with the 53s rather than the 35s on KB days. I'm not strong on the 53s yet, but the 35s are too easy.

Right after the workout, a chiropractor who has been coming to the gym a few nights a week did some work on my shoulder. He used Active Release Technique and Graston Technique. He found that not only did I injure my supraspinatus tendon, but also the Levator Scapulae muscle. ART worked really well on that muscle and my neck feels better today. For weeks, I'd assumed the pain in my neck was just due to the supraspinatus injury, but that wasn't the case. It still came out of the same skiing fall, but I'd injured more than one location.

I can't say that either ART or Graston was painless, but my range of motion was much improved immediately after the treatment. Today, I'm pretty sore from the treatments though.

This morning, I rode my bike back to work - wet roads but no rain. Tonight, I'll ride to CrossFit again and then back to my rented room. The total biking distance is just over 14 miles per day at an easy pace, so it's not a lot of work.

Two weeks ago, I took my rest day for the week on Saturday. Last week, I rested on Thursday. This week, I already feel ready for a rest day, which leaves me wondering if I'll be able to train six days this week. That is my goal right now, even if some of the workouts are very easy.

But, if I got into a routine of 6-6-5 (17 of every 21) or even 6-5-6-5 (22 of every 28), I think I'd be happy with that, if I was doing quality training.