In-House Throwdown!!!

A few weeks ago we had an "In-House Throwdown" at our gym.  Elite Fitness hosted a competition between any male or female that wanted to compete.  You could be a member or a non-member...it didn't matter at all...we just wanted a good old fashioned throwdown!  A big deal in CrossFit is "The Fittest on Earth."  So, Elite decided to do their own spin on it to see who the fittest was within the gym and anyone else who wanted to participate.

So, here's how it all went down.  There were three different workouts that you had to complete to be eligible to win the throwdown.  The male competitors had three workouts to complete, and the female competitors had three workouts to complete.  Our workouts were different, so we weren't doing anywhere near the same thing.  There were 9 guys and 6 girls that competed.

Here's the guy's workout...

And here's the girl's workout...

They split us up into heats of 3, so there were 3 heats of guys and 2 heats of girls.  The 3 heats guys went first, then the 2 heats of girls.  So, the guys did event 1 first, then the girls did event 1, then the guys did even 2, then the girls did even 2, finally, the boys did even 3, then the girls did event 3.  The winner of each even got 100 points, 2nd place got 75 points, and third place got 50 points.  While the first group went, the others stayed in the back so they couldn't watch and have an advantage by knowing the times.  But, as the previous groups finished, they could stay out and watch the groups compete after them.  It was fun to be able to cheer everyone on after you were finished if you went before them.  That's one of the things I love so much about the way we compete and workout.  Even though we are trying to get a better time, more weight, more rounds in the given time, etc...we are always cheering each other on and motivating and encouraging one another to go faster, be stronger, and go harder.

Bria, Britain, and I before the throwdown started...love these two girls SO much!!!

The throwdown was super intense...but probably the most fun I've had in a long time!  I got to spend an entire day working out with and cheering on my hubby and my best friends.  Even though we were competing against each other, we wanted the other one to do their best and kick some serious tail!  The other thing that was so amazingly awesome was that we all increased our weight during the workouts, conquered things (like pull-ups) that we had never done before, got new 1 rep. max weight, and improved our times.  That's what this sport is all about...improving each and every time you do a WOD...love it!

All the boys that competed as well as the judges that made sure we were doing everything right!

 The girls that competed...minus Anna.  I don't know where she was, but I'm sad she wasn't in this pic!

Jeremy and Chanan were amazing throughout the throwdown...no surprise there!  As our coaches, they were walking around and making sure that we had the proper form so that we wouldn't injure ourselves.  We also each had our own judge.  Their job was to count our reps, make sure we were doing them right, going low enough, etc.  If we didn't do something right, they would "no-rep." us...which basically means that that rep. didn't count.  When this happens, it totally sucks!  But, it also makes you get your form down to ensure that every rep. counts.  Cause let me tell you...when you get no-reped on anything...you are doing twice as much work.  For instance, on Fran (the 21-15-9: 65 lb thrusters and pull-ups), I got no-reped a few times.  So, I wound up doing more reps than the workout actually called for.  Like...I probably did about 2 extra thrusters and 5 extra pull-ups.  The same thing happened to Cody when he was doing Elizabeth (the 21-15-9: 135 lb cleans and ring dips).  On his very last set (the 9's) he was on rep number 8 and couldn't get his elbows locked all the way out for the 9th rep.  I bet he probably did an extra 15 reps trying to get that very last rep to complete the workout.  Talk about brutal!  Logan took first in Elizabeth and completed it in 3:00 minutes...which is flying!  So proud of our boys!!!

Brent doing 135 lb cleans during Elizabeth!

 Cody throwing up 135 lb cleans during one set of Elizabeth!

 Ring dips during Elizabeth.  After 21-15-9 reps of 135 lb cleans and ring dips...you don't want to look at rings for awhile!  So proud of you babe!!!

Me doing Fran!!!  I did it RX'd (65 lb thrusters and kipping pull-ups all the way) in 5:19...SO pumped about this!!!

Bria throwing up 65 lb thrusters.  Look at that form...PERFECT!!!

 Britain busting out Fran...so proud of you girl!

After the guys did Elizabeth and the girls did Fran, we moved on to the weight lifting ladders.  The guys did the Bear Complex Ladder and the girls did a Clean Ladder.  I got second in Fran by 16 seconds...but I won the clean ladder!  I got all the way up to 115 pounds...which was a new max for me!  I attempted 125...but just couldn't get under it.  I need to try it again...I'm bound and determined to clean 125!!!  Cody did awesome on the bear complex ladder.  He got up to 235 pounds...which is so amazing!  Brent actually won this one.  He got 255 pounds...he's a beast!!!  It was so awesome to watch him squat-clean, push press, back squat, and push press that much weight.  We were all super pumped for him...and he was pretty excited too!  All the boys did great with the bear complex ladder...and all us girls were so happy that we didn't have to do this.  The bear complex ladders is one of the hardest heavy weight lifting exercises in CrossFit.  For our clean ladder, we started at 65 pounds and went all the way until failure.  Bria and Britain got a new max weight on the cleans too...they got up to 95 pounds!!!  I love that all of us girls can throw-up some intense weight...don't mess with us!!!  Hehe!  But seriously...don't ;-)  So, this completed the second of the three workouts.  We had about a 15 minute break before the third workout...so we snacked on some healthy snacks to refuel and then headed outside to cheer the boys on and get ready to compete ourselves.

Cody getting a new max for the Bear Complex Ladder...235 lbs!!!  My hubby's a beast!!!

Brent working 255 lbs on the Bear Complex Ladder.  He got it!!!  We were SO excited for him!!!  Congrats Brent!!!

Me getting a new max on cleans...115 lbs!!!  I love that Cody is so excited for me!  It helps me push harder hearing him cheer me on and encouraging me through workouts!

The last workout for both the guys and girls was a Chipper type workout.  Meaning...there's a bunch of different things that you are to complete within the single workout.  It sort of represents this high-intense grinder of a workout with a series of movements all linked together one right after another.  Trust me...you'll get all this CrossFit lingo...WOD, EMOM, METCON, AMRAP...and the hundreds more that are out there!!!  It's a language all in it's own right.  And you really know you're a CrossFitter when you start about workouts using these acronyms (and literally the hundreds of others)...and the people who you are talking to know exactly what you mean!  You can go HERE to see some of the other acronyms that us CrossFitters use in our everyday language!  LOVE!!!  So, the boys went in 3 heats of 3 again.  Since this was the last workout, and it was coming down to see who would take first in the throwdown, they separated the heats of boys and girls by who had the lowest amount of points to who had the highest amount of points.  This way, it would be easier to determine who would win the entire competition.  Cody competed in the middle heat and wound up getting 4th overall...good job babe!!!  He totally rocked it on all the workouts and really improved on each and every exercise.  And the winner for the boys...BRENT JORDAN!!!  WOO HOO!!!  We were all so excited when Brent won the boys division.  After the boys finished up...it was time for us to go!  When I first looked at the chipper, I knew it would be hard...but I didn't think it would be as hard as it was.  My legs were DEAD!  After doing 45 65lb thrusters during Fran and the clean ladder, the 400M row, the burpee box jumps, sit-ups, and air squats just about did me in.  After the two rounds of the burpee box jumps, sit-ups, and air squats...we still had a 400M run to do!  When I took off to do my run...my legs were so wobbly!  Everyone said they were afraid I was going to fall over because they were so shaky!  But...after a few steps my stride came into full motion and I wound up coming in first!  Which meant...I won the girls division!!!  WOO HOO!!!  I was super pumped...and super exhausted!  It felt so good to be done and to just sit back and celebrate with friends over what we had just accomplished!

Brent and I after the competition was over.  We had to get a "winners" pic together!

 My love and I.  It's amazing to be able to work out with your best friend and cheer each other on...I love you babe!!!

Cody and I with Jeremy and Chanan...love these two so much!!!  Thank you guys for all you do and for encouraging each and every one of us to go beyond what we ever thought our bodies could do!  Elite is amazing and I am honored to be apart of your gym!!!

I love being that tired after a workout.  For me, it just means that I pushed my body to it's maximum and got better.  I pushed past the hurt, the mental blocks, and the exhaustion to make my body be stronger.  "If you are in your comfort zone, you are still warming up." I love this quote!  You simply can't get better unless you are pushing your body beyond what your mind thinks you can do.  CrossFit has helped me go above and beyond what I ever thought my body could do.  It's also taught me that I'm way stronger than I ever thought possible.  Another thing that I love about CrossFit (really I just love everything about it!) is that whenever I doubt myself on what I can lift or push myself to do, there are about 10 other people telling me that I can.  It gives me confidence in myself and in my physical ability and strength to push through the pain and...as Nike says..."JUST DO IT!"  Elite Fitness has taught me more about myself than anything I've ever done workout wise.  I've grown so much more in other ways too.  I have more confidence in everything I do because I have learned to overcome so many obstacles throughout my workouts.  I have also grown to know my best friends in a whole new light.  We have all been friends for so long, and know pretty much everything there is to know about one another.  But, because we have been working out together doing these super intense workouts, we have learned how to challenge one another, encourage one another, and also learned how to help each other through weaknesses that we probably wouldn't be able to overcome otherwise.  I have also met so many other amazing people through this community.  There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not rooting for someone else to overcome an obstacle or cheering them on to finish a workout.  And...I can't say enough about Jeremy and Chanan.  They are such amazing people and have done so many things to encourage each and every one of us.  If it weren't for them and their coaching, there is no way that I would have come this far.  They have helped me to push my body in ways I never thought possible.  I can do 30 consecutive kipping pull-ups, 95 pound overhead squat max, and my snatch form is almost perfected.  Those three things I could have never done before on my own, and because of them and their coaching, I can do them without blinking an eye!  Jeremy has been working with my on my muscle-ups...I'm almost there!  Long story short...the throwdown was awesome and I can't wait until the next one in January!!!

To look at all the pics from the throwdown, you can click on the link below!  Enjoy!!!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151128373092881.443062.161832982880&type=3