Did anyone catch the USA Weekend supplement in the newspaper yesterday? It contained an article entitled “Fighting Back – a small woman’s guide to self defense.” Apparently, according to this article, January is National Personal Self-Defense Awareness Month”. And the key to self-defense, they claim, is awareness.
The article then goes on to illustrate just how seemingly easy it would be for a 5’2” 110 pound female to fight off a 6’2” 210 pound male who has ambushed her. After seeing the photos of the female reporter fighting back in 5 simple movements, I experienced an “awareness” of my own: I was viewing tabloid journalism – a “six pack in 6 days” kind of article.
You see it all the time whenever you wander down the magazine aisle at the supermarket – cover after cover advertising false promises of impossible improvement.
The muscle mags are notorious for this. The covers and articles are dominated by professional posers who are paid by advertisers and supplement makers to do nothing all day except workout. The reality is that, unless you are one of those models who professionally bodybuild, you won’t look like that – ever. And, unless you train to fight, you won’t successfully out-last someone who towers over you and has committed himself to your destruction.
So, in honor of National Personal Self Defense Awareness Month, I recommend a subscription to a publication that is BS free – the Crossfit Journal. It’s $25 a year and is delivered to your email every month. There are no advertisements and no false promises. There are, however, plenty of useful training tips, including a few from small women who ARE capable of out-lasting someone towering over them who might decide to take them on.
Today, we did 21-15-9 of sumo high pull, box jumps and ring dips. Took me 6:27. Friday, we did squats and handstand push-ups, 5X5. I did 310X5.
Brian going deeeeep
Thanks for the pic Vince. I did get that low for one rep at 275. I think if I continue to work on my squats going that deep, I should see my max really improve. Here’s hoping…..
I think it’s all in the shoes….Go Chuck!!
1/14 – Rounds in 20 of 7 Pull-ups, 7 HSPU, 7 double unders (was going to make it triple unders, but changed as I couldn’t get one during firs round. Going to practice them before throwning them into a WOD). 13 rounds, 7 PU, 6 HSPU.
1/15 – 21-15-9: SDHP (95), Box Jumps, Ring Dips. 5:40. Felt pretty good for a change. Definitely gave me the boost I’ve been looking for since returning from vacation.
Still trying to fully recuperate from my 3 week holiday. Last week beat me pretty bad. On an up note, however, I’ve been using my new Buddy Lee, that I got for Christmas. Last night I tried getting some triple-unders after I finished my workout…no success though. It’s funny, when I try to work up to triples, the timing on my doubles goes to hell and I can’t even do those?!?
Sulli – Nice Depth!
Vince – Great suggestion about CF Journal!
Great to hear from you Joe! I’m still trying to get my timing with the Buddy Lee too.
Great points Vince! a can of pepper spray never hurts either…
Sulli, you have to get the long socks to complete your “vintage” look. Oh and fro would be even better.
Aita
If you aren’t showing up for the weight workouts on Tuesday and Thursday, you are missing out. Yesterday, (Tuesday) we did CrossFit Total. This is a great way to measure your progress. I am telling you, you will amaze yourself. Although we may not do a lot of “heavy” lifting at CrossFit, you will find that you are incredibly strong when you step up to do the 3 specific exercises—static press, back squat, and deadlift. Plus, you get to see some amazing lifts by your fellow CrossFitters. Vince is a machine. I don’t know how much weight he squatted, but it looked to be about 2.5X his own weight. Amazing. Jon threw up some really big numbers, and our own Jeff Chapman stopped playing around and deadlifted 515#. Very cool! Way to go, Molly, on your first CFT. You have WAY more in you! I have a lot more in me, too, I think. But, I did 115 on my press, 175 on my squat, (need to be at 200), and 285 on my deadlift, (going for 300 next time!). As Debbie says, it’s in writing now!
Dawn