I’m With The Band

Not this band…

Or this band…

I am in THIS band, but it’s not the one I mean.

I mean this one:

Yesterday’s CrossFit Women workout was a monster, and I’m still feeling the after-effects. It was five rounds of stuff that, taken individually, didn’t seem too bad. But the sum of the parts meant it was a palm-killer.

Observe.

CrossFit Women
5 rounds for time:
10 sprawls + kb high pull, 20kg
10 kb swings + walking steps, 16kg
10 pullups

Crystal warned us she wanted a sub-20-minute finish, so the heat was on to keep moving. I actually like the sprawl+high pull thing, and I cranked through the first set of those and the swings feeling confident. The swing+steps are HARD, but Good, too.

I hit the pullup bar with the blue band – it’s maybe 1.5 inches wide – and was soaring over the bar. As much as I enjoy that feeling, it seemed like a bit of a cupcake. Pullups are not meant to be easy, especially when, like me, you’re still working on learning to kip. Easy is not the order of the day. Easy is not acceptable. There should be no smiling on the pullup bar (unless you’re feeling great about kipping unassisted, then you’re free to smile away).

Round two: same thing. The swings were a little harder, but I was still keeping a good pace and in halfway through round three, Crystal called 10 minutes. Sweet! I’m cranking!

But then my conscious kicked in about the band.

Damn the band!

I switched to the skinny purple one. It’s width? About half an inch. Just enough to provide the mental and physical support to get my chin just over the bar.

Those I can only do one or two at a time. And there is no “soaring” over the bar. My overall timing took a nosedive, but my self-respect enjoyed an upswing. Making it harder always feels good, in that really painful way.

So I finished rounds three, four, and the first five pullups of round five with the skinny purple band, when I found I could no longer get my chin over the bar. The last five, I was back on the blue band and finally, blessedly, called time.

18-something.

After I’d eaten breakfast and showered, I had a penny-sized blister on my left hand, just below my middle finger. It’s almost like my palm is trying to flip me off.

I lanced and drained it (yuck!). In the middle of the night last night, I dreamt my hand hurt, and when I woke up for a 2:00 a.m. bathroom break, it really did hurt. Again with the lancing and the draining (and the yuck). By 6:00 a.m., it was filled with fluid again.

Gross.

Lance. Drain. Neosporin. Band-aid. Deadlifts and shoulder presses at the craptastic gym. My palms look and feel like a braille sign. What does that braille sign say?

I’m with the band.

AnnieBug has a good story today about her experience doing this workout, too; check it.

Strength Tuesday 2/5/13 (w/ Bonus Bear)

[caption id="attachment_2853" align="aligncenter" width="592"] photo - flickr.com/photos/undergroundbastard/[/caption] In my quest for lean superhero-ness, I'm following the Wendler 5/3/1 strength training program. Twice a week, Dave...

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Strength Monday & Friday (w/ Bonus Musical)

[caption id="attachment_2853" align="aligncenter" width="592"] photo - flickr.com/photos/undergroundbastard/[/caption] In my quest for lean superhero-ness, I'm following the Wendler 5/3/1 strength training program. Twice a week, Dave...

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Comments

  • Alaina says:

    Great job on the workout! Thank goodness for Neosporin with the pain killer in it.

  • jencereghino says:

    We love these BandAid Blister ampoules, in our house:

    http://www.bandaid.com/productList.do?typeId=4

    And, one more thing…I think I'd like to attempt this WOD over the weekend and am curious how these parts work:
    "10 sprawls + kb high pull"

    Is this one sprawl and then directly into a HP, ten times?

    "10 kb swings + walking steps"

    Is that swings and then lunges, with the kettlebell?

    Happy Healing!

  • Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan says:

    Thanks for the blister remedy recommendation!

    10 sprawls + kb high pull = put the kettlebell between your feet… sprawl over it… when you're feet are planted again, get a flat back, pick up the kettlebell, and do a sumo deadlift high pull.

    10 kb swings + walking steps = do a regular kettlebell swing, but while the kb is overhead, take a step forward. It's a sort of shuffle step with your feet kinda wide. Much harder than I thought it would be, but fun. Just make sure your feet are firmly planted again on the down swing.

    Have fun with the workout!

  • Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan says:

    Here's a video of the walking kettlebell swings. I think she should be using her hips more, so don't follow her form example… but at least you can see it in action.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aajB2Svl6k

  • jencereghino says:

    Thank you! I will be attempting this WOD, this week. Sounds like I might want to practice that KB-Step a few times before I start the clock…yikes!

    We just got back from Tulsa, after watching our CF buddy, Tim compete in the Sectionals…pretty inspiring! We are in the company of some pretty badass women!

  • Erin Clare says:

    Your band is so much cooler than mine!! My band is the one that comes in the color blue and specifically, is the one that looks all stressed out and frazzled. And there is no soaring over that one as well.

    Yer soooo close to Kipping I'm excited for you… and jealous… but mostly excited. 🙂

    XOXO!

  • Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan says:

    Hey, Erin!

    Don't be too excited… I've been here before. The band and I have approach-advoidance issues 🙂

    I'm just gonna keep chippin' away and we'll see when I get there.

  • georgia says:

    The PURPLE BAND!!! You DO realize this means you are totally capable of doing kipping pull-ups without a band at this point. Maybe not in a workout but to just do them…you've got 'em!!! This is just too friggin cool and I'm so happy/excited for you!

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