Saturday WOD in the Park - 6/30: Olympic Bars & Prowler

Almost every Saturday for more than five years I have taken part in a CrossFit style workout, led by my husband (a certified CrossFit instructor). I have shared the workout of the day (WOD) with my Lipedema Fitness Facebook support group during that time, and as a way to reach others outside of our group, I'm going to start sharing those WODs here.

A little background on me, CrossFit has changed my life. I was diagnosed in 2007 with Lipedema, and at the time the advice given to the newly diagnosed, was not to exercise, as they thought it would make our condition worse. When you are first diagnosed with Lipedema your first thought is YAY, finally there is an answer! You quickly find out there is no cure, and not really much geared towards Lipedema. For me, a stage 3, they focused on the Lymphedema (a secondary condition to my Lipedema) and the biggest goal for me was not getting worse, so I stopped the gym visits. Fast forward 6 years and I was getting worse anyway, so decided to take my health back and started working out again, and thus began our training. (You can read more about me in the older blog posts).

Our weekly Saturday WOD (workout of the day) last week was in the park. We are fortunate to have a lovely park to workout in, that offers things like racquetball, tennis and basketball courts, a football field with 1/4 mile track around the outside, even a skateboard area. There are also a couple baseball fields, but those are mostly in use by the youth and college clubs.

We started with our regular warmup on the grass (3 rounds of 10 each: sit-ups, pushups, squats, good mornings, and Sampson stretch; then moved on to the racquetball court with our Olympic bars for Olympic lift progression:

• Deadlifts
• SDHP - Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
• Cleans
• Overhead Presses
• Front Squats
• Overhead Squats
• Power Snatches
• Power Snatch Overhead Squats

Coach was glad to see that our technique did not require much tweaking, even though it had been a couple months since we worked with the olympic bars. After ensuring each movement was in proper form we did (10) of each lift.

Even at 9am the temperatures were climbing rapidly up, so it was key to be prepared. I wore a baseball hat (great for the protection under the sun, but also a useful tool when lifting, if you get too close to your face, you hit the brim), brought my electrolyte drink, keeping it cool in the shade of the racquetball wall, and I sought out shade of the nearby trees whenever possible.

After the Olympic lifts, we pulled out the prowler. It is a device Coach made that carries various amounts of weight, and sometimes even our training mates hop in to make it more challenging. Up and down the field with 90lb. in the prowler, first pushing up and back then pulling up and back.

My body responded by needing a nap that day. In the past five years that is one indicator of progression that has been an eye opener. Early on I needed a nap after every workout, now it is occasionally.  Lipedema makes it harder to notice progression, since we don't show it in our bodies (externally to see), you have to get good at noticing other changes, you feel different internally, stronger, etc. and things like needing less modifications to do the workout, needing less naps for recovery, cardio improving, etc. A journal is a good place to keep track of that, or join a group, start a blog, etc. where you document what you did, how it felt, what your recovery was like, etc. I can promise you, you will be surprised by the progression your body makes, subtle changes add up, and noticing changes, improvements in your body feels great.