Crossfit

I took yesterday off. I know, it was a gorgeous day, but I didn't really feel like going out with the jogging stroller after Tuesday's heckling incident. Besides, with Monday's eight miles and Tuesday's run, my quads were in need of a little rest. Today, I would like to do speed work, but we're busy today and I don't have the luxury of my husband being home to watch Sophie, while I go out and run sprints--it will have to wait to the weekend. Instead, I plan to do a little Crossfit workout at home. Some combination of squats, pushups, plank holds and maybe a few "thrusters" (squat with a push-press at the end, as you come up from the squat).

I love Crossfit. It is simple. It kicks your butt and you feel really hard core when you do it. Yet, with modifications, anyone can do it. Crossfit is a type of working out that involves fundamental movements, like squats, pull-ups, push-ups, deadlifts, and variations of the clean (power clean, hang clean etc.). When my husband first introduced these workouts to me I balked at the "weight-lifting" moves, thinking that only men and women who looked like men did that kind of thing at the gym. But really moves like a power clean are quite technical and involve a lot more finesse to preform correctly, than brute strength. So with my husband's coaching I started doing deadlfts, overhead squats and, my now personal favorite, power cleans. All these moves are total body workouts; you're using large muscle groups from head to toe in one movement. No more biceps curls, no more triceps extensions; you work everything all at once in one move.

When I stopped running at about 7 1/2 months pregnant I kept up with my Crossfit workouts. Up until about two weeks before my due date I was still doing slightly modified Crossfit workouts (also known as WOD's or Work Out of the Day) from Crossfitmom.com. I believe that it helped me have a manageable all-natural delivery and a quick recovery (Sophie was born at 3:15am, we were in the car on the way home at 6:30am).

Now that I'm running again I don't Crossfit as much as I used to. But when I have a day like today, when I can't get to the gym or out for a run, Crossfit is the way to go; it can be a super easy workout to do at home with little to no equipment.