Win of the Week: Rope Climb

Made it more than halfway! Photo from my friend Aly (who climbed all the way to the top!)

Only on my second day back at CrossFit Greenhills (after a month-long hiatus,) and I conquered the rope! I tried this once late last year, and couldn't understand the footwork; but took a mental note to pursue it as a new goal. Earlier today, with my Morning Crew, and with the help of "unusually-perky" Coach Stephen, I managed a few squat breaks (will double check this term) and almost made it to the top! I probably could've done it, but I belatedly realized that it was a bad day to wear shorts. 🔥 I got rope burn on my thighs! 

As with many skills, this can't be done by anyone at just any point in time; but it can be done after some training. I'm proof of that, and that's why I love CrossFit so much: I always win at something after I put in the work. 

Wanna try the rope climb? Here are some of my tips as a newbie climber.

1) Wear pants!

2) Put the rope between your legs, and twist it around one leg once (refer to picture.)

3) Clamp the lower end of the rope with the other foot.

4) Position your hands slightly higher than your head and engage your arms for a pull. (The boys said they engaged their lats.)

5) Scooch your legs up closer to your butt, like a reverse squat (or a ballet plié!) without losing your feet's clamp on the rope.

6) Stand up from the squatting position to hoist yourself upward.

7) Repeat from #4.

That's it for my Win of the Week (I should launch this as recurring theme.) Off to work! Happy Tuesday!

P.S. It's my first time to post from my iPad, and there aren't many formatting options!

Quit the "Versus:" Fitness is Personal

I just read something that left me feeling sore. The head of a particular gym compared his fitness program with CrossFit, in the guise of clarifying certain points on what makes the two different. He might have written this with good intentions; he even peppered his article with apologetic disclaimers, but unfortunately this came off slightly patronizing instead of sincere. While the author tried to be careful with his phrasing, he did not avoid making negative implications regarding the "competing brand."

I'm not against making comparisons, but before anyone does it and posts it on an official website, I think their opinion had better be substantiated. He kept repeating the noncommittal statement, "there are good boxes, and there are bad boxes;" but the way I read it is he made all his comparisons based on the best features of his advocated program against the most ill-rumored features of CrossFit. How can you compare something with a bad version of another? If he really meant to differentiate the two, he would've been better off presenting the definition of CrossFit and have made an easy, objective point without defaulting to his biased views.

If we're going to compare fitness programs to find out which will be better suited to our interests and goals, then by all means break down the components and find the advantages of each. Comparing fitness programs to one-up another, or to attract clientele by posting uninformed claims about the other, is not a classy move. It's definitely not befitting of the motivational community he is professing to belong to. 

The fact of the matter is we should support all sorts of fitness, if it gets more people living more active, healthier lifestyles. Fitness is personal, and something that each individual should be able to incorporate into their day-to-day. In effect, there is no hard ranking of what is better than the other, nor should that be the focus. Whether people choose boxing over HIIT, long distance running over tennis, or circuit over CrossFit -- if they love it and do it regularly, that is already better than doing nothing. 

Personal Best

I used to dread Mondays: from being the start of a school week, to the first day of the work week, it was the day that forced me to abruptly shake off the comforts of the weekend. This changed since I started doing CrossFit at CrossFit Greenhills last year, and I've actually been looking forward to Mondays, itching to get back in the box (what we call our gym) to workout. I've mandated Saturdays and Sundays for muscle recovery, so I've noticed that I generally perform better at the start of another week. 

Today was one such Monday, and I beat several personal records (PR,) with the help of tips from my coach and community!

Handstand Happiness

I actually achieved my first two handstands last week, but I wasn't sure if they were lucky attempts because they looked and felt wonky. My friend Ara, who used to be a gymnast, told me to look at my hands when springing up, instead of straight back. It diminished my uncertainty and really helped with my balance. I did several successful ones this morning.

Squat cleaned 111# today! I didn't calculate how much weight I was adding to avoid psyching myself out, and I had to remember the points of proper form (like dropping fast and turning over.) This is 16# heavier than my previous PR just last week!

After a year and a month of #CrossFit at @cfgreenhills, I finally did my first (not one, but six!) pull-ups! 😭 Tears of joy! I will now be able to save myself should I ever be dangling from the edge of a cliff! 😋

A video posted by Katherine (@kaichypoo) on Sep 6, 2015 at 8:26pm PDT

My favourite achievement of the day is my first (six) pull-ups! Not entirely sure how I went from none to six, but again, Ara's tip about lifting the hip up made a difference.

Thank you, Monday!