Made-Up WOD: Angie in 10 Rounds

I enjoy doing the workout known as Angie when that WOD comes up.  Angie looks like this:

For minimum time, complete the following:

• 100 pull-ups
• 100 push-ups
• 100 sit-ups
• 100 squats

Like almost all CrossFit workouts, the athlete must complete the movements in the order listed;  all the pull-ups must be completed before starting the push-ups, and so on.  That's a great challenge to the endurance of the muscles in each exercise, but it's not a serious challenge to metabolic condition, and it can be a little frustrating breaking the first two movements into a large number of sets.  

So, a couple of months ago, I made up a WOD to see how fast I could complete all the movements in Angie if they were broken down according to a different scheme.  I call this workout Angie in 10 Rounds, and it does what it says on the tin: 

For minimum time, complete 10 rounds of the following:

• 10 pull-ups
• 10 push-ups
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 squats

This rep scheme really kept me moving, and I managed to complete the WOD, without trying too hard, in 13:01.  That's almost 4 minutes faster than my best Angie time.  I think I'll keep this workout in my quiver for future use.

PR: Vest Fest

Tonight I set a new personal record for a workout of the day that I made up, then fine-tuned, recently. I call this workout the "Vest Fest."

For minimum time, perform 5 rounds of the following while wearing a 30-pound weight vest:

12 squats.

12 back extensions.

12 sit-ups.

12 push-ups.

12 get-ups.*

12 pull-ups.

My first version of this workout featured 10 reps of each exercise, but I found that didn't fatigue the muscles sufficiently, so I cranked up the volume by 20%. It seems reasonably difficult now. What may not be obvious from the list of exercises is that this workout challenges the core muscles more than any others.

For the record, my latest time is 18 minutes, 32 seconds, just 16 seconds faster than my previous best.

* To perform a get-up, start from a standing position, lie down into a supine position. Then, get up into a standing position. This exercise is surprisingly tiring when performed with 30 pounds of steel strapped to your upper torso.

Made-Up-WOD: Newport

I spent most of the last week at the LEOS Annual Meeting in Newport Beach, California.  While I was there, I availed myself of the hotel's fitness center.  I did some stairclimbing, weight training, and even some "ellipticizing" during the first 3 days, but, for the last day, I was inspired to make up my own CrossFit-style workout of the day.  I was pretty happy with what I invented, so I've decided to name this WOD "Newport," in honor of the 

For minimum time, do 4 rounds of the following:

10 box jumps, 20 inches

10 decline setups on the steepest setting

10 1-arm dumbbell snatches, 40 pounds, left arm

10 1-arm dumbbell snatches, 40 pounds, right arm

10 1-arm pushups left arm

10 1-arm pushups right arm

For the record, I managed to finish in 28 minutes, 40 seconds without pushing myself too hard.

PR: Made-Up WOD

For various reasons, mostly relating to my recent illness, I've gotten off-track with respect to the CrossFit.com Workouts of the Day. So, today I decided to redo the first made-up WOD that I thought worthy of posting to this blog. I set a substantially faster time---and thus a new PR---of 18:56.

Made-Up WOD: Sharon

During my trip to Illinois, I had to make up my own Workout of the Day each day, since I didn't have access to my normal suite of equipment. I did manage to make-up one good WOD while staying at Alison's mother's house. It was, in fact, the only good workout I had during my trip. I've decided to name this workout "Sharon," in honor of my mother-in-law:

For minimum time, do 4 rounds of the following:

• 10 1-legged squats (pistols), left leg
• 10 1-arm push-ups, left arm
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 pullups, underhand, strict
• 10 1-legged squats (pistols), right leg
• 10 1-arm push-ups, right arm
• 10 sit-ups
• 10 pullups, underhand, strict

The strict, underhand pull-ups came about because the in-doorway pull-up bar Sharon has isn't really sturdy enough for kipping and doesn't offer enough width for overhand use. I don't have my log book with me now, but I think it took me about 16 minutes. I think I'll add this workout to my list of made-up WODs that I'd do again.

Another Good Made-Up WOD

I "made up" another good workout of the day today. I use the quotation marks because I built this WOD out of elements from yesterday's and today's WODs. Here it is.

Perform the following for minimum time:

• 400-m run
  
• 30 L pullups
• 30 ring dips
• 400-m run
• 30 strict pullups
• 30 pushups
• 400-m run
• 30 kipping pullups
• 30 handstand pushups, supported

I found this workout quite challenging. For the record, it took me 25 minutes, 6 seconds. By the way, Alison performed a similar workout and took a few seconds less time to do it.

My Made-Up WOD

As I've said, I'm really enjoying the challenge and variability of my CrossFit workouts. Sometimes, however I don't want to do the Workout of the Day (WOD) published by CrossFit.com, Primal Fitness, or American Parkour, usually because of my nagging injury or the sport I expect to do the following day. On those occasions, I make up my own WOD. My made-up workouts typically go moderately well, but I never seem to push myself as hard as I would on a prescribed workout. Today, however, I was quite pleased with the workout I designed and performed. So, for your edification, here it is.

For minimum elapsed time, perform 4 rounds of the following:

• 20 push-ups
• 20 sit-ups
• Carry 100-pound heavy bag up 3 flights of stairs (basement to third floor)
• 20 push-ups
• 20 sit-ups
• Carry heavy bag back down stairs

Man! The sit-ups and especially the push-ups felt like rest. Incidentally, my Nike Free cross-trainers came in quite handy; they let me feel when I stepped off of the last stair in the flight, which was covered with ribbed anti-slip treads, and onto the landing, which was not. This was convenient, since I couldn't see directly in front of me, due to opacity of the bag.

For the record, this WOD took me 23 minutes, 18 seconds.

Update: When I told Jesse about this workout, he described it as "BADASS!" (The capitalization is his.) That description makes me feel rather proud of my workout.