Getting stronger or not?

Yesterdays workout...It was "sort of" a crossfit workout. We did 30 clean and jerks (sounds dirty, but its really just painful and involves a barbell) and then did 10 wall ball burpees. I hate burpees. I thought that there was really no exercise worse in my mind than a burpee, but I was wrong. Wall ball burpees involve a nice rubber medicine ball you can fling around the gym. A regular burpee is hellish enough: you drop, you push up, you kick your knees under you, and wham!! jump as high as you can and clap. The dumbest part is the clap. The clap itself seems so stupid after you can barely get your butt up out of the squatting position in the first place. I actually think the clap is to mock you or to attempt to make you think you are having fun (yay! clapping!) but it doesn't work. Now the wall ball burpee is the same general movement, but when you throw yourself down on the floor, you now do your push up with both hands on the medicine ball, when you bring your feet up under you, you then "clean" the medicine ball and hoist it as high and hard as you can on the wall, catching it when it comes down (preferrably not with your face, thats bad) and then pressing it one last time over head and throwing it violently to the ground. Note the part I said dont catch the ball with your face right? Well also, when you fling the ball to the gym floor, even though its a medicine ball, they still have a tendency to bounce toward your face.... yeah, maybe I caught one in the chin, maybe I didnt....

Maybe this round of exercise was easy for some, but if it was, they probably should have heaved more than just the 45 lb barbell over their heads and thrown more than a 12 lb medicine ball! For those warriors heaving 115 lbs and 30 lbs of medicine ball in the sky, you rock and one day I will be like you. I found it challenging but not the usual butt kicking laying on the ground gasping I usually get from crossfit. It was as if the lead instructor read my mind. I thought the workout was over, then came tabata squats. Only three minutes 50 seconds! If you are now wondering, what is a tabata squat, try typing it into you tube...I think I am still too traumatized to even begin to explain! Granted, the first time we ever did this "just a four minute workout" I seriously was walking like a zipper neck frankenstein from the soreness and this time, I am just a little sore. Does this mean I didnt push hard enough or that I am getting stronger? I hope it means I am getting stronger.

Tomorrows scheduled workout we are doing is "Helen" from the crossfit world. I am going to try to grab a heavier kettle bell than I usually do and see how far I can push myself. (Note to self, this may only last one round of "Helen" or it might never make it off the blog page!) We are supposed to have some guests working out with us tomorrow too, and that always pushes me harder because I have a tendency to show off. (What a goober I am!!)

Today wasnt a crossfit day, it was the usually gym stuff, sets of push ups, sets of pull ups, sets of scissor kicks, and the endless run. Okay, three miles isnt endless, but my legs were tired! Ha! Isn't it funny that I look more forward to the crossfit workouts but they are much harder on my body? Aaaah, exercise. If you don't develop anxiety before the workout about the workout, is it really pushing you hard enough? Good times.