Surprisingly Tough Workouts

Whoa. Last night’s WOD was surprisingly tough. At first look, it didn’t seem too difficult, but as things progressed, holy hell”¦ I was counting down the seconds until it was over.

EMOM 10: 13 Unbroken Kettlebell swings (Any style)

Rx: (70, 53)
L2: (53, 35)
L1: (35, 25)
Beg: (30, 20)

Ok, here’s how the WOD worked. For every minute on the minute (EMOM), the goal was to do 13 Kettlebell swings in a row without stopping (aka unbroken). Once you finished your swings, you could put down the Kettlebell and rest, but only until the clock sounded for the next interval. Basically, you had 60 seconds to do 13 Kettlebell swings and rest before doing it all over again. If you couldn’t do the Kettlebell swings in the allotted amount of time, there was a Burpee penalty, which was 10 reps for every interval you missed.

[image source: CrossFit 781]

This WOD was definitely one those workouts that was surprisingly tough. When I first saw it, I didn’t think it would be that bad. I even blew through the first few rounds of Kettlebell swings with ease, but I definitely changed my tune by the time we reached minutes 4:00 and 5:00””that’s when things got tough. My forearms burned and my grip loosened more and more every interval.

By the 7th round, I was really starting to lose steam, so I played a numbers game in my head to get me through the rest of the workout. I picked 5 and 9 as the rep counts to aim for during each interval. Basically, I broke the Kettlebell swings into thirds to help motivate me and make the 13 more manageable.

The final three minutes of this WOD were brutal. I felt like I was going to drop the Kettlebell so many times, but I didn’t let myself. I tightened my grip and powered through. I used a 35-pound Kettlebell and did all 10 rounds (130 Kettlebell swings) unbroken. It felt awesome to complete this workout without stopping, especially since it was so challenging at the end. I still can’t believe how tough this workout was!!

In addition to last night’s Kettlebell WOD, other surprisingly difficult workouts that I’ve done in the past include:

1 mile Farmer’s Walk. It was a single movement, so I didn’t expect it to be that hard, but I was sore for 3 days after.

[image source: CrossFit 781]

Barre classes like Secret Physique and Core Fusion. All of those little movements really add up, and I get my butt kicked every time I take a class.

Dinner

When I got home from CrossFit last night, I threw together a quick Tuna & White Bean Salad for dinner. I wasn’t in the mood to cook, so I was happy an easy, no-cook meal was on the agenda.

Mal and I rearranged/moved our small appliances to give us some more counter space in our kitchen. Check out our new prep area””love it!

I mostly followed the recipe for the Tuna & White Bean Salad, but I used chickpeas instead of cannellini beans and added chopped red and yellow bell pepper (yay, reduced produce). Additionally, I added a huge squirt of Dijon mustard to the mix. I just felt like it needed it.

After dinner, I satisfied my sweet tooth with a bunch of strawberries.

And then a few spoonfuls of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter straight from the jar. (For a cold, chocolaty treat, I highly recommend storing this nut butter in the refrigerator. Mmm! So good!)

I ended up staying up until midnight watching the Olympics, so around 11:00 PM, I sliced up a banana and added a scoop of almond butter to it, but I never snapped a pic. Sorry!

Breakfast

This morning, I spread sunflower butter on a Joseph’s Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Flour Tortilla and added banana slices for breakfast. I also drank a glass of iced coffee with coconut-almond milk.

Question of the Day

What surprisingly tough workout have you done? What made it so tough? Would you do it again?