• How I added 30# to my deadlift and shed 11# of fat in 45 days – bit.ly/cNWd6c ~ RT pls #
• My kid is so cool. She wants to do her speech on internet memes. #
• Eek, I have to start sharing my workspace with a coworker tomorrow and my cube is a disaster. Seriously, I should be on that hoarders show. #
• Join in on the conversations happening at the Women's Strength Symposium forum – bit.ly/cBIdCT #
• Sometimes work is like a workout. I just sprinted through five writing proposals on elance. Need a writer? #

Powered by Twitter Tools

On January 25th I started a frequency-based strength program from the now-extinct CrossFit 603. You can find the entire program here, and a thread for discussions about the program here on the new Whole9 site.

My goals for this program were three-fold:
– Get my deadlift over 200# (aka “I want a 200-pound ass”)
– Increase my overhead press by and undefined amount
– Lose some fat

The first two goals are what the program is designed for; get bigger 1RM numbers for deadlifts and presses. My third goal was a ‘nice to have’, but wasn’t the focus. It’s hard to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. I was just hopeful that a few months of clean eating along with my program would help me drop some of the jiggly.

Starting Stats

Female, 30, 5’10″
180lbs, 35%BF
Deadlift 1RM: 185# (pulled on Jan.22, previous PR was 195#)
Press 1RM: 85# (which was a PR in itself!)

Results

Still female, 30, 5’10″ (haha)
174.5lbs, 30%BF
Deadlift 1RM: 215# (+30# BOOYAH!)
Press 1RM: 95# (+5#, I’ll take it!)

I added 30 pounds to my deadlift, 5 pounds to my overhead press, put on four pounds of muscle and lost 11 pounds of fat. That is a whole lot of win.

Impressions

This program was a dream for me. I love strength work. There were also metcon-type-workouts almost every day, but most of them were under fifteen minutes. No more suffering through 20-minute metcons feeling like a lardass! I found the workouts fun, interesting, challenging, motivating. They were just fan-freaking-tastic. And holy taco, they worked!

Adherence

My adherence to the program was what I would call “OK”. I blasted through the programming with laser focus, until day 13. I skipped day thirteen because I was feeling tired. Day fourteen was a rest day anyway, so that was cool. On Monday I was back at the gym for workout fifteen and had no problems and felt good, but on Tuesday everything went off the rails. All motivation to do anything was gone, I didn’t even drag my ass to work that day. I also went completely off my diet, chomping down on every bit of bread, pasta, and chocolate I could find within my reach. This funk lasted pretty much the whole week. The next Monday I was ready to restart and picked up from day sixteen. Between day sixteen and thirty seven I missed three more workouts for typical random reasons: time, tired, or just lazy.

On my last week leading up to my 1RM attempts I really focused on adherence and did six days in a row of WODS, followed by three rest days before my 1RM attempts.

Diet

I’ve been following the paleo diet for the entire program, but with a few modifications. For the first few weeks I was eating mostly strict paleo but allowed a bit of dairy and one non-paleo meal every five days. I don’t know if that contributed to my ‘spinning out’, but I decided to dial things in a bit after that bad week. I had probably two non-paleo meals in the last half of the program, being extra strict with food choices in the last ten days.

At the beginning of the program I tracked my calories and macro-nutrients. I would average about 1900-2100 calories with 50%fat, 30%protein, 20%carb ratios. After my spin-out I stopped measuring/tracking, ate pretty much the same amounts and servings, and just focused on eating the right foods and not getting hungry.

During the whole program I supplemented with 2Tbsp of liquid fish oil and 2000IU of Vitamin D every day.

Final Thoughts

I just think this is a phenomenal program for building a solid strength foundation. I know “periodization” is a no-no concept for CrossFit, but if you aren’t already a firebreather or if you have significant weaknesses I think focused training makes sense. Would I recommend this program to an absolute beginner to the gym? Probably not. It is more likely I would recommend a month or two of “The New Rules of Lifting for Women” or “The Female Body Breakthrough“. I think it’s important to learn all of the major lifts and work on form before tackling a program that focuses on only two lifts and works them four times a week.

I think the 603 PTP program best suits someone who has spent at least a few months at the gym already and has done some lifting, either a traditional split approach or through CrossFit. As someone who’s been on and off the CrossFit wagon a few times but still has a hard time slogging through longer metcons this really made me feel more functional and less like a wind-sucking out-of-shape goober.

Pics or It Didn’t Happen

I wasn’t even sure if I’d post pics but I know there’s a saying about pictures and words…whatever.

You can see some slight change in body composition here. The belly, aka my “food baby” is disappearing. I also have some nice shape to my ass now, if I do say so myself.

Note that I took these for myself, not for you. Ignore my unhappy expression, shiny tired-looking face, and that weird stain on the front of my pants (I’m sure it’s something paleo).

Next

If you stuck with this post this long I won’t keep you much longer. I just wanted to point to my next program. I’ve drafted it myself and dubbed it the “Amazon PUE” (Pull-Up Extravaganza).

Here is the entire 47-day Amazon PUE Program

I start next Monday and will finish April 30.

• I just installed an app called F.lux (http://stereopsis.com/flux/). It adjusts your display based on time of day. Right now it's all mellow. #
• COOLEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL WEEK: Snake Oil vs. Evidence Bubble Chart – http://bit.ly/bex9OV #
• Reading: PaleoChix "Levels of Adherance" – http://bit.ly/ca2QLz ~ If you are paleo-curious this is a good place to start! #
• OMG my sore, tired, fat-as-ever ass just ran a 1:55 400m. PR by 9 seconds. #
• RT @ceewiss: Calling all women – get your athlete on! http://is.gd/9G88I #crossfit #crossfitladies #
• Recipe: Sweet Cheeks Egg Chick Muffins – http://bit.ly/aH4YkL ~ I'm egg-cited to try these! #
• Ugh S-O-R-E… My kingdom for a foam roller! Maxing my work, food, and rest for the last week of PTP. #
• MUST READ: The Grain Manifesto by Whole9 – http://bit.ly/a66XBD ~ Bonus points for eating broccoli while you read it. #
• Uh "New Atkins"?? http://bit.ly/b7s7gx Anyone know more about this? I'll buy into Atkins when they ditch dairy and stop vilifying fruit… #
• Gubernatrix is hosting a women's strength training symposium online next week for Intl. Women's Day – bit.ly/cBIdCT – RT PLS #
• Goal: OHS 3700# When I started I wanted to cry, halfway done I wanted to quit, so I told myself to STFU and squat. And I did. #
• Laughing at "Processed food makes me fart & tired" – http://bit.ly/9ZYsEf #
• RT @jensinkler: BEET HUMMUS!!!! http://tinyurl.com/yl4mqnc – that looks like it deserves all four exclamation points!!!! #
• Damn, that was some game! Good play USA and WOOT CANADA! #
• CAN-A-DAAA!! #

Powered by Twitter Tools

It kills me to see a poorly performed squat. With that said, some public shaming is in order. How is it a person attempting to demonstrate the squat can get it so wrong, and some lady doing her laundry get it right?

NOT

 

SQUAT

 

Join in the fun by leaving a comment about some of the awesome or horrendous squats you’ve seen!

Hectic lives make it hard to find time for complex gourmet recipes. This recipe gives you a bit of exotic “oh la la!” in just fifteen minutes. Try this punchy sauce over salmon and steamed frozen veggies (as pictured here).

Coconut Curry Sauce
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 can coconut milk
3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric

Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic and ginger. Stir and fry for about one minute, until the onions and garlic are soft. Add the coconut milk and spices to the pot. Continue to stir over medium heat as the coconut milk dissolves and blends with the spices. Bring to a slow boil and remove from the heat a few minutes before serving.

Ways I have eaten this sauce:

• Steam some frozen mixed veggies and quickly pan-fry a salmon fillet. Pile up the veggies on a deep plate, top with the salmon, then drown in about 1/2 cup of the curry sauce.
• Hard-boil some eggs, cool, peel, and split in halves. Arrange on a plate and drizzle with warmed curry sauce.
• Hard-boil some eggs, cool, peel. Scoop out the yolks and mix with curry sauce, then stuff them back into the whites. Curried deviled eggs!
• Mix the curry sauce half-and-half with some real/homemade mayonaise and use as a dip for veggies.
• With the curry sauce heated in a saucepan drop in some cooked shrimp, heat through. Serve over veggies or cauliflower “rice”.