I felt really good this morning. Maybe because I slept flat on my back ALL night, or maybe because the Cowboys won and I didn’t go to sleep pissed off, or maybe just maybe it’s just a good day. Good energy, not as achy as normal. Who knows! I feel good and I like it!
I even woke up with ease this morning and was ready for the BOOM Box! Skill/Strength: 5 rounds 50yd sprints. I can do short distance sprints much better than 100 or 200 yd ones. Plus on flat ground vs. that damn hill makes the running all the better. Today we mostly focused on form. It appears I was sprinting like a loonball and Coach had me work on technique. Let me tell you it’s hard to actually THINK about how you run. All of sudden I feel like I’m in quicksand. My BRAIN is draining what little speed I thought I had. But by the end my technique was better, now I just need the speed!
MetCon: 2RM of the BEAR Complex
Our task this morning was to warm up and work up to a 2 rep max of the Bear Complex with a 30 minute time frame. 30 minutes sounds like forever, but we were teamed up on a bar to take turns and I’m sure to make sure we get SOME rest so that was nice! I know some of you are wondering what exactly is the BEAR Complex. You start off cleaning the bar, doing a front squat, push pressing over head, bringing bar down to back of shoulders, back squat, and push pressing back up overhead. That’s 1 REP. You’ll see the movements in the video below. You also hear her explain it’s 5 rounds of 7 sets. Our goal however was work up in weight and do at least 2 REPS.
We started off at 55lbs, EASY BREEZY. I squat cleaned to a thruster to a backsquat to a thruster really well at such a light weight and was able to do that up to 80lbs. It was at 85lbs that I had to slow it down. And it was at 90lbs where I grew a chicken wing and FAILED 3 times, womp womp! I got through 1 Rep fine, it was the 2nd rep and the last push press where I couldn’t get it up. My left arm/elbow would just fly out. It couldn’t hang with the bar. My left arm is FIRED! And on my last attempt I was so damn focused on getting that 2nd Push Press I totally FORGOT to Back Squat! Seriously? WOW Stephanie! Ah well, that Push Press didn’t happen anyways so what if I missed the Squat, whatever! Heheheh. I know that 90lbs is MINE. It just sucks I couldn’t string it together! I got you Bear Complex, I got you!
Also, I just want to let you know if you’re on the fence about OLY Shoes… GET THEM! I felt great in my squats. Good depth, stable and confident. You realize right off the bat how beneficial they are BUT it was TODAY that I really could tell a big difference. Maybe all this Feeling GOOD is me finally breaking into a new level mentally and physically…. cross your fingers this is TRUE and that it sticks ツ
In other news
So Paleo is the thing we do, we’ve been lacksidasical in the past two months, I know, but still we eat pretty clean and stick to Paleo pretty closely. Now Ernie is flipping the script and reading up on Carb Backloading! I don’t know if flipping the script is the right terminology, it’s just different!
Sounds too good to be true, eat clean, eat clean, eat clean, WORK OUT, then stuff your face with all sorts of good and bad carbs, then go back to eating clean until after your next workout. That’s the gist of it or that’s how my brain is taking it in. Thoughts? Anyone else doing this? PLEASE NOTE – I have yet to read/research/educate myself about it. Forgive me if I have it all wrong. I don’t even know if I do ENOUGH physical work to justify this type of program. Just throwin it out there to see if anyone has any comments, ideas, suggestions, testimonials, etc.
Tha, Tha, That’s ALL Folks for this Thursday edition of Drinking the CF KOOL-AID. Let me tell you… it’s still good! Be the most Awesome of AwEsOmE today!
idrankthecfkoolaid 
That BEAR thing looks TERRIFYING! Especially since I do not get along with front squats or thrusters.. bleh.
Carb backloading sounds awesome. Totally on board with that – eat clean, workout hard, reward with McFlurry 😉 At least, that’s how I did it prior to this Whole30 thing.. I read some bit about CBL before and I don’t really think it’s that simple, but gotta find what works for you!
The Bear is not that terrifying but it’s mean! And yes I’m sure the CBL is much more involved but I’m down for the McFlurry reward. Hehehe. Doing Paleo I definitely feel better. I’m not a fat losing machine though like a lot of people are on Paleo or Clean eating in general … so I know I’m missing the mark somewhere. I’ve been told my FAT intake could be upped and although I love fats like Avocado and Coconut Oil, I can only do so much. It’s neverending, argh! Always an experiment 🙂
How about coconut milk? I started putting that over frozen blueberries.. YUM.. and Almond Butter.. double yum.. I don’t think I struggle with the fat part. But 6 days into the whole30, it’s early. I’ll be interested to see what I do after this.. I like how eating clean makes me feel, but don’t want to totally eliminate wine and the occasional off-limits foods.
Ya, I haven’t given coconut milk a fair shake. Not a big fan and don’t ever give it a chance. I do eat Almond Butter a few times a week which is fantastic! I don’t think I get enough fat ratios with each meal though. After completing the Whole 30 you probably won’t want your off limits foods as much and when you eat them it will be that nice little treat and something you can rationalize not really needing often. It should be easier to just pass in general. Save everything for those special occasions, ya know? At least try! I know it’s hard. Believe me I know!!
Ooh I love the bear complex!! I haven’t tried it out since I was doing the 603, but I think I did it ARAP 12 minutes starting with 65# and dropping to 55# halfway through. And I think I only busted out like 9 lol. I haven’t tried for maxes on it, but yours is amazing and that sounds fun!!
I actually have been considering back loading for awhile now, and it’s something I kind of accidentally do anyway – like I try to hit my protein macros (at least 155 grams) before I go to carb sources for the rest of my calories. It’s taken a lot of stress out of my eating habits, that’s for sure. I need to look into the actual back loading diet though so I can be more educated about the best way to do it. Maybe I will start experimenting next week! Let me know your thoughts on it!
Ya buddy and the bear complex works everything and that’s what makes it so great. I felt good doing it, well until the FAILS but that’s gonna happen. I still felt accomplished afterwards. I think I need to really focus on hitting the science behind my food but I just am plain ol lazy. It’s more work on top of all the other work that goes on in my day. Is that sad or what? I’m saying this to the woman who runs a bar! And really I know it’s not that hard and I feel like a small stubborn child, but really can’t someone do all the research, math, measuring, etc for me and just tell me what to eat and I’ll eat it! I need to educate myself as well on the backloading. I’m sure it will be a slow learn but I’ll keep you posted as I form a real opinion on it.