Christine Lukasik

Going again

James Lawson eyes the pull-up bar as he prepares to jump up for another set during the 2009 CrossFit Games Pre-Qualifier Challenge event held this weekend at Urban CrossFit in Seattle.

Monday Workout

Warmup – double unders, situps, pushups. Double unders were laughably bad. It was like I had glue on the bottom of my shoes. They just would NOT happen. Weird.

 

Workout

 

15 GHD situps

15 kettlebell swings (15 kilo then down to 12, I think after the first round)

12 Overhead Squat (20kilo bar)

 

5 rounds

 

15:37? Something like that  

 

The thing about CF is it never gets any easier and I’m never quite sure if I feel good about what I just did. This is exactly why I continue to work with a coach, and will for as long as I possibly can.  Today my body felt like absolute crap – and as though the muscles were completely incapable of responding to the commands my brain was sending. It was super hard to get through the workout (like always) and when I finished the workout I felt totally spent (yep, just like any other) but today (as usual) I wasn’t sure if it was because I just sucked today or because it was a super hard workout. Maybe it doesn’t matter or maybe it’s always both. Either way Michael was forced to be on full volume peppy cheerleader and do the post-mortem – which turned out to be pretty all right. I’ve not done overhead with 20k before, and the 15K MB was new but Michael backed me off as I was tucking my hips under too much with the heavier weight. (partially due to doing them just following the GHD situps).

 

Then we went to get coffee & that was great :-)  

 

 

Today's Workout

3 Rounds

 

30 Box jumps

20 Knees to Elbows

15 Double Unders

10 Med ball squat cleans

Carrie demo-ing med ball squat cleans

 

Cooldown then (4?) working sets of hip extensions 1st with 25lb dumbbell, subsequent with 30lb. My back is getting STRONG!

Thoughts:

First round I did the box jumps but they felt terrible/scary/slow/weak. SUCKS as box jumps are def one of my strongest and most favored movements. I love making the stomp on top of the box and it’s a great power movement for me. Love love love ‘em. This was the first I’ve jumped since the finger surgery mess so it’s a first step back toward normalcy, I guess. Either way for the subsequent two rounds Michael had me just step up/downs. Ergh.

 

I’m thrilled that knees to elbows happened at all. I was mega uncomfortable for the first round with body weight hanging on the bar putting that much pressure on the pin/knuckle finger. For the subsequent rounds I just held on with the first two fingers of my right hand and that was WAY better.

 

Double unders – totally the highlight. These have improved a TON in the last few months. Not sure what happened – guess Michael finally drilled into my head the rope spinning part of the movement. Yay!

Med ball claeans. My first time cleaning the 25lb ball so, um, good. Freaking hard but good.

 

As always, mad thanks to Street for the fantastic programming and today thanks to Mark Santaniello for the cheering between his lifts!

quiet. strong.

1000m Row
100 squats
100 Pushups
75 Hip Extensions
1000m Row

Holy hell. I worked this like a calm determined beast crawling, dragging my body to survival. One movement at a time, measured and focused and breathing all the while. Down. Up. Breathe. Again.again. again.again. Made it way past half the squats before I broke for a few breaths and pretty far into the situps, too. Not quite unbroken but very very solid and strong. The squats are benefitting from the recent focus, for sure. Hip ext were way hard and very broken up – down to sets of two toward the end….but last row was, I think, the best most focused gut-it-out-solid work I have done since walking into east side nearly 8 months ago. My love for that place, the coaching, and the programming is well-stated, but today was another day when I felt like crossfit saved my life. Doing the work without the drama of my finger, just pushing through calmly and feeling the strength…all is right with the world again.

Now. Tomorrow - the doc needs to free my wrist from this cast. I need pushups and yoga.

First post-surgery workout!

20ish lb weight vest on for all of the below:
?20kilo then more (put on another plate after first round) later sled pull around parking lot
15 Hip Extensions
6 left-handed push presses w/25lb dumbell (I couldn’t do 25lb with my left before!)
200m run

Oh, then a bunch of sets of situps, some with a dumbell pressed overhead in my left hand. Haaarrd!

3 rounds, wearing vest throughout. Felt great. Hard, but great. Wasn’t actually sure I could run, but was fine. Maybe only because I was running so slowly due to the weight vest. Still, felt great to be there and sweating. Since I worked out Friday before my surgery so far I haven’t missed a single day of regularly scheduled workouts. Keepin’on, keepin’ on. Thanks for the millionth time to my coaches for creating kickin workouts, driving me to and from surgery, and being my “people”. Love you!

Friday Workout

30 Hip Extensions
3 Down/Back Gym length lunges (#? 30ish per round?)
50 Squats

3 Rounds for time.

Oh my burning…well, you know.

Fight Gone Bad Friday!

Today's CrossFit EastSide workout for me:
Championship Fight Gone Bad (FGB) slightly modified

5 Rounds, 1 minute of rest after each round (after Highpulls for me)

1 Minute Box Jumps
1 Minute Push Presses (20Kilo)
1 Minute Row
1 Minute Wall Ball
1 Minute Sumo Deadlift Highpull

Total Score: 385
I was pretty consistent across all rounds, with 20ish on the box jumps, between 16-13 on push presses, 10cal on rower, 20 Wall Balls, and maybe 15 or 16 on the highpulls. At the very least I remember tripping on one of my box jump sets, having a tough time on some wall ball rounds, and def lost a few on the last round of push presses.

Either way, super hard workout, done while on-fast with a bit of a head cold. I FINISHED – so I’m happy!

Mostly "Michael"

Today’s 8am CF workout - slightly modified Michael. I did hip extensions in place of back extensions as my back strength isn’t quite back to normal yet.

800M Run

50 Hip Extensions

50 Situps

3 Rounds for time. My time: 29:10 or some such. NOT my best. heck, I did this is 28something back in August. BUT I had the little burner last night and not a lot of sleep last night so all things considered I feel *all right* about it. I did all the situps unbroken so that’s something. Can’t wait to revisit this one when I’m a bit better rested and really blow it out.

Nice Little Burner

Last night's CFES 5:30 class workout:

400M row

21 Box Jumps

21 Burpees

30 Med Ball Cleans (10@10lb, 20@16lb for me)

30 Pullups (band)

21 Push Press (25lb)

400M row

600M run

Time: 20:10

Overall I feel pretty good about this. I spend a minute or so walking around, getting the right med ball, and was pretty slow on the push presses. Rock star encouragement from Jennifer Oldmann of Redmond Fire, and super nice sprint to the finish with Melody. Thanks Jen & Melody!

CrossFit Workout of the Day (WOD)

Today’s workout

20 Double Unders

20 Wall Ball Shots (10lb med ball)

20 Walking Lunges

4 Rounds for time.

Time: 18:50

Good news? Double unders are getting a ton better. Faster - I'm able to bang out a couple in a row - sometimes even 5! But I still have periods during the attempt for 20 wherein I miss about 8 singles all ina row. Improvement, fo' so'. Toward the end began to string wall ball shots together which, according to Michael, makes them easier/look less like a beat down. Bad news? 18:50. With a little pacing I can get this time way down.