How I Came to Crossfit: Shed WoD #12: The Dumbbell 300

Long ago in a galaxy far, far away...actually, sitting in the sauna at my big box gym after a bicep workout, I was reading through a Men's Journal and came upon this article. Maybe my box workout felt a little lackluster that day, maybe I wasn't feeling as pleasantly worn down as I'd have liked--whatever the reason, this mysterious, magical Crossfit stuff really hit my where I itch. I decided I'd hit the website and try whatever the WoD was the next day.

Next day, next sauna: I'd aborted the WoD after failing on the 3rd or 4th rep of the first set of cleans (prescribed weight was 135 lb, I was using 25 lb dumbbells). So maybe I wasn't ready for Crossfit just yet.

Fast forward to the premiere of "The 300" and the Men's Health cover story on the leading man's Crossfit routine. I was still slogging away at the big box, running my own bodypart programs, making little functional progress, and spending way too much time there to boot: 45 minute workouts, half of which were spent just idling around waiting for an area or machine to clear. Alright, I thought, let's give this functional fitness a shot again--I've always been a bit of a masochist...

That decision having been made, I enlisted my brother to hit the WoDs with me and we began following the main site workouts 3 on, 1 off at our big box in Boston. A few months later, having seen some definite progress in intensity and strength, I took a new job outside of the city and made the switch to working out at a Crossfit facility--Crossfit Boston. For all that I'd gained in strength and capacity for hard work, my form...well, we'll get into that at a later date.

Today's Shed WoD #12: The Dumbbell 300
(based on today's CFB WoD)
Warmup: joint mobility, 3x15 squats, walking lunges
Skill/Test: 70 pushups for time, time 3:31
Rest 4 min
25 burpees
50 one arm power snatches from floor, 40 lb db
50 db swings, 40 lb
50 situps w/40 lb db overhead
50 one arm sumo deadlift high pulls, 40 lb db
50 db clean and press, 40 lb db
25 burpees
time: 28:11...burpees were 5 at a time by the end. Tough one.