Apollo Lee

Fitness

On July 27, 2007, I weighed in at 196 pounds. This was a serious issue. My BMI had crossed 28 and I was closer to "obese" than "normal." On that day, I decided to do something about it. At first, I used the track and did pushups and situps, while I researched a program I could do at home, at my pace, and not get bored. On September 18, 2007, I switched my entire program to CrossFit. Since then, other than walking to the train station to commute to work, I do CrossFit exercises. Are you ready to get in the best shape of your life, with metrics that are meaningful, observable, measurable, repeatable, and not easy? CrossFit, baby.

Why CrossFit?

CrossFit's entire philosophy is based on forging elite physical fitness with a minimum of equipment and with fundamental physical fitness concepts. It's about doing amazing amounts of work at very high intensity. It's about scaling the workout until you don't have to scale it anymore. It seeks to forge a level of physical fitness that is non-specialized, granting the athlete a high level of general, inclusive fitness that no other program can match. Since it's open-source, there's nothing to join or buy or sign up for. I simply follow the workout-of-the-day on the CrossFit website.

Athletic Achievements

I started this wiki just to post my personal bests after I fell out of the habit of posting daily workout reports to my blog. This allows me to share my triumphs and failures with the world, while continuing to forge myself from dough to iron.

Scaling Tips

When I found CrossFit, I looked at it and decided when I was "in shape", I'd start CrossFit, because there's no way I could do 100 pullups (or even 5) or deadlift 225 pounds 45 times. But, I read more and learned that I should scale back the workout assigned to something I could handle, whether my shortcoming was my strength, my knowledge of how to correctly execute fundamental movements, or my equipment. So, in a moment of epiphany, it occurred to me to scale back the workout with a good benchmark. To do this, I'd need to calculate a percentage. So, I used the Army Physical Fitness Test to generate such a percentage.

1. 2 minutes of pushups for max reps
2. 2 minutes of situps for max reps
3. 2 mile run for time.

Using the chart, I found the correct score and calculated out the points, averaging the scores. For example, my APFT score on 19 Aug 2007 was 136. If I divide that by 3, I get a multiplier of 45%. So, until I took the next APFT a few months later, I scaled the CrossFit workout of the day to 45% (weight, reps, or distance), as I felt I needed to.

Results So Far

So far, the results have been amazing.  I currently weigh 149 pounds, where I've been since the beginning of 2008 (give or take a pound or two in either direction).  That means that in five months (27 Jul - 31 Dec 2007), I lost 47 pounds.  I've dropped nearly 10 minutes off my 2 mile run time without running every day.  I went from doing one deadhang pullup to the ability to finish a workout requiring 100 kipping pullups.  I've done all of this without a gym membership and minimal equipment.

Equipment Roster

• Speed Rope
• Kettlebells - One each of the following weights (35 lb, 53 lb)
• Dumbbells - One pair each of the following weights (10 lb, 15 lb, 20 lb, 25 lb, 30 lb, 35 lb)
• Door Gym - For pullups on rain days
• Elite II gymnastics rings (one pair, with straps)
• Parallettes (home made)
• Mizuno Running Shoes
• Sportline 470 Stopwatch
• Polar F6 Heart Rate Monitor
• Pendlay Econ barbell (45 lb)
• Kraigburg Rubber Bumpers, two in each of the following weights (10 lb, 15 lb, 25 lb, 35 lb, 45 lb) {belongs to Eric R}
• Iron plates, two each in the following weights (2.5 lb, 5 lb)

Future Acquisitions

• Kettlebells - One of the following weights (16 kg, 24 kg, 32 kg)
• Kettlebells - One pair of the following weights (8 kg, 12 kg, 20 kg)
• Dumbbells - One pair of the following weights (40 lb, 45 lb, 50 lb) 
• Weights (bumpers) - Two more each of the following (45 lb, 35 lb, 25 lb, 15 lb, 10 lb)
• Weight rack, adjustable
• Wall balls - Crafted from basketball filled with sand (I have the basketballs).
• Workout buddies - HEY, YOU SHOULD COME WORK OUT WITH ME!
• CrossFit Level I Certification