Moving and Grooving

The last few days have just been a whirlwind. The move is upon us - tomorrow the furturd and I hit the road!

Are you ready for us, Texas?

We will be breaking up our road trip into a two-day adventure. I booked us a room in Shreveport (using Priceline's Name Your Own Price, I was able to get a great rate!) So that puts us on the road for about 9 hours tomorrow and 5 hours on Friday.

I've managed to cram Jane Honda to the brim, everything else we've shipped - 6 large, heavy boxes using Greyhound Package Express, not too shabby. The husband will be packing up the rest of our household goods when he moves at the end of this month.

Let me just tell you, that no matter how smoothly or how well-planned a move goes, it's still insanely stressful. 

I've managed to find myself eating some total junk, things I'd normally save for the weekend or walk away from completely. Things like ice cream, chocolates, cinnamon rolls, cereal, oh, don't forget the beer! I don't know if it's because my husband is right there eating it with me and we're enjoying the experience together, or if I've really just gone of the deep end and am eating everything in site to calm my nerves?

It's not so bad to eat a jar of peanut butter by yourself in 3 days, right?

It's hasn't been all junk, just 80% junk. I feel like I'm living in Willy Wonka land and bathing in a pool of whipped cream cheese frosting and Haagen Daz chocolate peanut butter ice cream (my favorite!)

Here's a few photos from the last few days. I have to jump in the shower and tie up some of these loose ends before tomorrow! If I don't blog tomorrow night from my hotel room, I'll see you again - in Texas!

My last Spin class in ATL!

Watched some of the Regionals coverage on the CrossFit Games website over the weekend.

Went to Lululemon to pick up some of the items I'd had hemmed, and came home with all of these other bags?

And this amazing product from Mac - Blot powder. I have oily skin, so along with my oil-defeating Primer from Bare Minerals that I put on before my makeup, I use this powder for touch ups throughout the day, and it is a miracle worker. It cuts all the shine!

We've been spending a lot of quality time together this last week, you know, making Dos Equis induced duck faces and stuffing out traps with absurdly fattening ATL foods.

Lame bathroom selfie from the movie theatre: Star Trek was AMAZING! (Totally worth seeing twice, and see it in 3-D.)

We even got some maxing relaxing time by the pool. 

Happy Hump Day!

1. Do you ever deal with emotional/stress eating?

2. What kind of makeup do you wear?

3. Favorite ice cream flavor!

Be a Double Under Pro

So, you suck at double unders, huh? Don't worry, you're not alone. I received a lot of emails and comments from my last post, asking for help on becoming more proficient at the double under.

Don't worry if you're not the best, even Mikko Salo needs some training tips. :)

First of all, I am not an expert in double unders, but I can share with you some helpful advice that has helped me in my own pursuit of perfecting the double under, as well as proven helpful to classes I've coached and clients I've trained. I learned almost everything I know about double unders from a training seminar by Molly Metz. She holds the world record for double unders, and can kill 153 double unders in one minute. She's an awesome girl!

Watch the video here.

I actually used the rope she's using in the video in her seminar. It's the R1 speed rope. And still way too fast even for me. On my R2 Training rope, I have no problem getting 200+ though.

Image by Nicole Bedard

I started with a really thick, "slow" rope rope made by Nike. You can see it here. It had a thick cable and even thicker (weighted) handles. I see too many people starting off with thin, fast, ropes. The trick with fast speed ropes is YOU need to be fast to be able to use it, otherwise you're just going to end up beating the shit out of yourself (insert red welts everywhere.)

If you're not fast enough, you're not fast enough. A fast speed rope will not help you, it will only exacerbate the problem. 

Get yourself a beaded jump rope for practice. 

These ropes are heavy and allow you to "feel" yourself, so to speak, and give your slow butt a chance to get that rope around for a few revolutions. And, it doesn't hurt like a mofo when you miss. And if you're tired, they give you a little more room for error.

The length of the jump rope can make a difference. Here's a good starting point - stand with one foot on the rope directly under you, you want the handles to come up to your armpits.But don't fool yourself, I can do double unders with any rope you hand me, too short, too tall, heavy, fast, etc. Too many people think the rope "needs to be perfect" when really, the athlete just needs to learn how to move more efficiently. 

I love the R2 rope from Jump N Rope, it's the rope I use.

I love it because it doesn't hurt when it whips me, and it's adjustable. I can tie knots in it to shorten it if needed. The shorter the rope, the faster you can go. So on a WOD like 'Annie', I tie two knots in it. When I'm just jump roping for practice, I take one knot out. If I'm really tired and my form has gone to shit, I'll probably take both knots out, this gives me a little more room for error as I fatigue. 

When we fatigue, out hands start to drift away from our body (this is also why your shoulders burn out). As our hands drift away from our body, the rope shortens. And then, you start missing it. This is why you can probably get 3-5 in a row, and then you start missing. So, having a little bit longer rope helps with this. But, when you're feeling fresh and the workout is relatively short and I want to GO FAST, like in 'Annie' - it helps me to have a very short (competitive fit) rope to knock them out. If you're new, a little longer rope may be beneficial, so add an inch or two past your armpits.

It's all about the wrists. Too many athletes use their shoulders. If your shoulders start to wear out, relax them! Pull them down, and flick your wrists. Practice in front of a mirror if you can, or have a coach video tape you. Keep your arms close in and a little in front of your body, have a gentle bend at the elbow, relax your shoulders back and down (think open chest), and FLICK, FLICK, FLICK. Like you have a marker in your hand, imagine you're drawing a straight line up and down on the walls next to you. You're not drawing CIRCLES, you're drawing lines, straight up and down flicks, not circular flicks. Have someone tie your arms to your side if you are really shoulder dominant. It forces you to learn to use your forearms and your wrists.

Practice single unders. You need to be very comfortable at single unders before moving on to double unders. Jumping rope is about coordination and neuromuscular efficiency. Having someone that's uncoordinated jump right to double unders is a disaster. So, spend some time getting comfortable just jumping rope: hop on one foot, hop on the other foot, jump in a "cross" motion (forward, backward, side to side). If you're not coordinated enough for this, you know where you need to practice before moving on to double unders.

If you can, attend a Jump N Rope seminar. At least check out their website, and order a few of their ropes! Taking tips from the girl who holds the world record in double unders seems like a smart idea if you're struggling.

Here's a few great articles for further reading if you're interested: 

• The Elusive Double Under from Breaking Muscle
• Can You Do Double Unders from CrossFit One World
• Men's Fitness Pro Tips for Tackling Double Unders
• MetCon5 offers a great Tips & Technique Video

Now, how about them triple unders? ;)

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your Fun

For the first time in a while, I felt like my old self today. *Insert shit-eating grin*

Do you ever have those totally un-motivated, super blah days? When you don't really want to workout, but you know you should? That's been me for a while now.

That is, until this morning! I left the gym with a big, fat grin on my face and have been wearing it ever since. My workout started out totally directionless. And ended up totally awesome.

Not much of a smile, I know.

... torn apart, chewed up, spit out, nothing left but a heaping, sweaty pile of blubbery muscles.

... one of those workouts when you throw down your (insert CrossFit equipment here) barbell, wallball, dumb bells, or in my case, jump rope ... and collapse on the floor, shaking like Jell-O.

I love double unders. I think I forgot how much I love double unders, until today's little number. I warmed up with some stair sprints, did some lower-body strength stuff (deadlifts, lunges, step ups, etc), and then got into the metcon. 

Metabolic Conditioning/Skill training:

10 minutes of 30 seconds on/30 seconds rest

Score total double unders completed

I managed to get 500. Happy dance! I did every 30 second interval unbroken except for the last two, when I was getting a little tired and sloppy and caught my rope once. I discovered that double unders without my iPod are easier, something about hearing the *whip whip whip* of the rope helps me keep a rhythm. 

Speaking of, one of my favorite sounds has to be the sound of double unders!

I haven't picked up a barbell, let alone my jump rope in over a month. So, needless to say, today felt really good. I may not be healed up enough to squat heavy, but one step at a time. I'm grateful for what I can do right now. C'mon spine, I need you to hurry up and heal already.

1. Love or hate double unders?
2. What kind of rope do you use?
3. Your favorite sound?