Well, here we are. It was three months and a week ago that I walked into CrossFit Liberation in heavy tennis shoes and baggy shorts. The first workout was eight minutes long, and afterward I felt exactly as I'd feared—drained of energy, out of breath and out of shape. Fast forward to the present: I've just finished a five-week Paleo Diet Challenge and I have the endurance of a bull in Pamplona chasing a screaming mustachioed jerk in white pants. Tacos for Dinner Thank God the Paleo challenge is over. There's no substitute for a hamburger and fries, or chorizo con huevo with corn tortillas …
The energy level is high, and even though I'm nearly broke from near-constant trips to the grocery store (mostly for bacon and fruit), the Paleo diet is agreeing with me. The Workouts of the Day are getting loads easier, and doing pull-ups... I can do pull-ups until the cows come home. Actually, most of the issues I experienced with running and lifting at the beginning of this three month CrossFit Liberation challenge have disappeared, and I feel like a new man—ready to grow a handlebar mustache, bend bars with my teeth and go on tour with the bearded lady. And that's the point of this week…
You can't stop me. I feel like I'm an out-of-control train that has more than enough juice to run at full speed until doomsday. CrossFit Week 11: There's two weeks left in our CrossFit Liberation experience, and it will seem a little strange to not write about being tortured voluntarily, and be surrounded by like minds. For the last 11 weeks, the most interesting thing for me has been this: These workouts will crush you even if you're in great shape. On top of that, I'm now in the third week of the five-week CrossFit Liberation Performance Nutrition Challenge, and, at the moment, the …
Without CrossFit, I think my heart would explode with all of the excess energy this five-week Paleo Challenge is giving me. And even with CrossFit, after years of being a night owl, the only way I can really sleep a full six hours is if I walk Josephine, my Boston Terrier, a couple miles every evening. Since the sugar crash has come and gone, all I want now is exercise, roasted chicken, steak, bacon, almonds, fruit and veggies… and the occasional piece of dark chocolate. CrossFit Week 10 I recently spoke with my boss about CrossFit and mentioned that, after this series is concluded, I might …
I've had easier weeks. Last Sunday was the official start to the CrossFit Liberation Spring Performace Fitness Challenge, and since then my diet has consisted of water, meat, fruit and veggies and nuts. If you've followed my recent posts, the Paleo diet sounds pretty healthy, right? It is, but there are consequences for people like me, and eating too much sugar for too long took a toll. CrossFit Week 9: Everything was going pretty well until about midway through Monday. All of a sudden around noon I got a terrible headache between my eyes and my energy level went from an 8 to about a 2. …
Things are great! For the past week, impending prohibition has energized me with a fervor to scarf down fistfuls of candy, soda and as many processed foods as possible. Today, in fact, I had 10 chicken McNuggets, fries and a Coke, and it was absolutely delicious (and cheap!). Last night, I played poker with some buddies and drank beer and ate milk chocolate with a face of stone and watched my pile of chips fluctuate from plush to non-existent. Yes, I lost at poker, but the candy soothed my injured pride. I've savored every bite and sip, because this Sunday, everything will change. Sunday, May…
The Box nearly killed me on Monday and I actually had my first CrossFit nightmare as a result. In my dream, I couldn't pull up a bar sans weight and everyone was watching me while eating Sour Patch Kids. At one point, someone told me I could have some water, but only if I ate a handful of yellow and green ones. I woke up exhausted (with a busted-up right hand to boot) and my body felt like I'd just been thrown into a room full of angry Kung Fu experts. CrossFit Week 7 If you didn't see me at CrossFit Liberation this week it was because I was crawling to the finish line every day after work…
"CrossFit will change your life!" I regularly hear this from all sorts of people—at least once a week. My fellow CrossFitters have all received bloody shins after too many Sumo Deadlift High Pulls and have subscribed to the ideology that the human body constantly needs to be tested by varied forms of physical craziness that would make any "Curves" gym in the country look like a rest home. It's an environment full of energy and anticipation, and Lorton's CrossFit Liberation is full of people who want a challenge, have something to prove to themselves and know that there is always a better …
It's been five weeks since I started CrossFitting, and there's definitely been some improvement in the old physique. I'm drinking more water, eating more regularly, and, along with these rigorous workouts, have lost about 15 pounds. Sure, some of that was water weight, and some of it was gained intentionally. Why intentionally? Well, wouldn't you try to live it up as much as possible before being thrust into a gym full of success stories? Week 5 I'm not that sore anymore — definitely a positive — even though I end most workouts lying on my back in a drenched T-shirt. The workouts are still …
At some point you realize that both ends of a burning candle will eventually meet and that it'll take more than coconut water to bring you back from the depths. In other words, this has been the toughest week so far in my CrossFit adventure. I've been completely wiped out—sluggish, sore and irritable. It all amounts to fatigue—brought on by the continuation of bad habits and lifting too much weight. Week 4 Everything went downhill after Friday's WOD (Workout of the Day). The workout itself went pretty well—seven minutes to do "push jerks", jumping jacks and sprints while holding 2.5 pound …
For some, Sunday afternoon is reserved for Eggs Benedict and mimosas. Mine was spent slinging a 70-pound rucksack 2.75 miles on my back, and, with three other guys, carrying a stretcher loaded with 135 pounds. On Monday, we did lateral box jumps, jump-rope and front squats. Tuesday was lots of fun — a dozen 200-meter sprints. I'm bruised and sore, so why am I doing this to myself? Honestly, CrossFit is addicting, and, after years of not doing full-body workouts, I think my body is sending me subconscious messages like: "Whatever you're doing, don't stop!" and, "Before long you'll be able to …
My second week at CrossFit Liberation was harder than my first. This is the point where quitters make for the door, but not Patch. We're sticking it out for three months. Week 2: It was actually tough walking yesterday. I guess that's what happens after you curse your way through an intense WOD [Workout Of the Day] of sled drags, dumbbell push-presses and sit-ups followed by an hour-long foundations session of repeatedly flipping a 250-pound tire and then wailing on it with a sledgehammer. It will be nice to get these foundations classes out of the way. As I mentioned in my last article…
Lorton Patch Editor James Cullum is on a mission to get (back) in shape. He's working with CrossFit Liberation on Lorton Market Street. Follow this column every Friday on Lorton Patch to see how James Cullum's three-month journey is progressing. (Need a reminder? Sign up for the Lorton Patch email newsletter.) ----- By the end of just eight minutes doing a rotation of exercises at Crossfit Liberation on Lorton Market Street, you'll be gasping for air and crawling to the drinking fountain. The Crossfit program run by Atom and Carrie Ziniewicz is the real deal: calisthenics, weight lifting, …
