Competing in the Crossfit Asia Regionals in Seoul

I am not sure how I should start writing this blog post, because everything has happened in the past week was beyond overwhelming, with many highlights and special moments.

As some of you know, last week I went to Seoul South Korea to compete in the Reebok Crossfit Games Asia Regional 2012 with my team, Crossfit LifeSpark. Since there is SO much to say, I will break down this post into headlines/days (so you can always come back to read the rest =P). Also there is a link in the end to a photo album.

 

Preparation - Airport & Flight:

My teammates & I
Thanks for Adventure HQ for providing us
with UAE Flag buffs!

The last time and first time I ever traveled was 13 years ago. The simple action of packing, driving to the airport was an overwhelming experience. At 8:30pm, my mom dropped me and my sister to the airport and walked in with us to wish me and my team good luck. I almost cried, leaving what I've always known was scary. As we dealt with the procedures, it slowly started to hit me. I am really traveling for a competition.  

We still had about an hour before the flight aboard at 10:55pm, and it was a good time to catch one last meal before traveling.
As we reached the gates to the flight, there was a bit of a situation. One of our team members has been delayed at the airport due to visa issues. Therefore, one of our team members was left behind as we had to leave. Due to that, there were a few complications competition-wise due to the situation, which will be discussed below. 

As for the flight, it was a bit scary for me, the idea of being in the sky with no place to be "grounded" for 8 or so hours was just nerve wrecking, especially there was some turbulence. I couldn't catch on some sleep as I hoped I would, nor did I watch movies either. I would still NOT choose to travel unless necessary! 

DAY 1 - Landing, Hotel, Exploring Seoul: 

We landed in the Incheon International Airport at noon time. The day before we landed, I called the UAE Embassy in Korea just to inform them about what we're doing in Korea and ask them a few questions about Seoul. They were very friendly and immediately suggested they send us drivers. We had a driver waiting for us with my name tag (ow, I felt special!). They immediately welcomed us, and took our bags in a swift manner (I swear, they were like agents, swift and smooth and fast!). Three cars were waiting for us, we unloaded the bags in one car, the ladies left in one car, and the boys left in another car. 

Our driver was telling us about Seoul, the city, and out of no where he started playing Emirati music, and we couldn't help by smile/laugh. It was CUTE! 

Getting a mini workout at the Hangang park

After an hour drive, we reached our destination. We were staying at the Ritz Carlton hotel which was located in the business side of the city. As we went into the rooms to unload, one of our team members, Brian Sigafoos said he's going to explore the city. So myself, my sister, Tess, Yaseen went to explore Seoul on foot. We walked in the city, across the streets, down and uphill. People in Korea barely stared at us (even though we were very stare-able!), and the streets are usually busy with a lot of people walking on foot. There are plenty of hills and bridges, food stalls on the street that sell really greasy seafood stuff. One of the most interesting thing I found about Korea, is that in every corner, small park, there are exercise equipments (like the bench press, chest press, pull ups bars, and anything you could think of!).  In the end of the day, we went to a big park/river called the Hangang, a really huge and beautiful park. We spent about an hour there, playing around like in the picture above, before we walked back to the hotel as we reached around 7:30pm.

*PS: I will posting a video of us exploring Seoul soon....watch this space.

So, it was food time. Hm. 

Some people are aware that I am very picky with food, and I am intolerant to many others. Such combination didn't work to my advantage in Korea. Beyond that fact there is no halal meat/chicken in Seoul for the most part - eating food was a struggle for me the whole week.

So having not eaten all day (and walking for four hours), as you can imagine...got me starving. However, the team couldn't find food that is suitable for me and for everybody else at the same time. Brian was nice enough walk me through the city and find me some prawns. I had two plates of that, each cooked differently. All I knew at that point, I needed to eat!

 

DAY 2 - Unfortunate News & Registration: 

On the 2nd day of my stay in Korea, I got a couple of unfortunate news.

Before I went to Korea, I have spoken to the management of Ritz Carlton to explain to them the situation of requiring halal meat. Luckily, they were very helpful and friendly and said they will provide the food as I request in advance. 

When I woke up the next morning to go to the breakfast buffet, I found out that they didn't really understand what "halal food" meant, and thought it is a type of food, rather than "meat butchered in an Islamic way." All I can say, the hotel has been great in trying to accommodate us, but the language barrier (very common in Korea), resulted in miscommunication.

Luckily enough, I grabbed some cans of tuna, avocado and coconut milk from home and they kept me somewhat sane leading up to the competition day, as post-competition diet didn't really matter (I ended up living on bread the rest of the week!)

Also, as I mentioned earlier, one of our team members was delayed at the airport. We then later found out the only time the member can join us was the night of the first day of the competition is over. So, we had to double-check with the director of the Asia Region if that could possibly effect us to compete. 

We are originally six members, one of our team members was delayed, and the other member reached on Thursday afternoon as planned. We went for the early registration on Thursday afternoon to the venue, which was in the Peace Institute at the kyunghee University.

Due to the technicality our team member faced and couldn't make it on time for registration on the first day of the competition, Friday morning, the Asia director said we could compete, however, unfortunately we weren't "officially" competing.  In other words, we wouldn't given a score/rank. However, we got media coverage during the competition nonetheless.

There is nothing we could do about the situation, but the fact we were allowed to compete on its own had to be good enough. The whole situation from being qualified, to finding sponsors, to travel arrangements, and making it there had been a roller coaster, but thank God, despite all the lows, there was light in the end of the tunnel on each situation. That's all that mattered to me.

DAY 3 - Competition Day:

This was it. This day has been the day that I've been training the past 5 months for. The day I put my body through hell for. The day that, well, I cried many times, not knowing whether I will make it or not. 

But here it was. The 4th of May. Regionals day.

I woke up at 5am (12am UAE time) to get ready. As an organized freak, I prepared my clothes, gym bag, food, all the night before. I didn't want to worry about anything. It was then 6am and the whole team met in front of our rooms to walk to the Gangnam bus station, which was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel.  

It took us about an hour to reach the institute where the competition was taking place. So we went to the warm up area, and many crossfitters from all over the world where present. Some you'd recognize their faces as  they have been featured in the Crossfit Games website. I got to meet Feng Yi Chew, who came out first in the Crossfit Games Open in Asia (1st stage of the competition).

Some people approached me to take pictures, and the person behind the twitter handle @CFGAsiaRegion to tweet the news of me making it to regionals and being the first Emirati to do so.  

As we were warming up, they announced the plan for the day. The first heat of the day included us, among two other teams. The competition kicked off at 10am sharp (they were very specific on time!).

My whole being was nervous, excited, just want to jump out of happiness and I kept telling myself (somewhat in denial still), "This is real! Is this real?!" It was VERY real.

The team and I spent about 2 weeks trying to learn the movements of the first event. The workout went like this: 

20 partner deadlift (455lbs)

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift (315lbs)

20 handstand pushups

^ minimum requirement to move to the next workout.

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift (455lbs)

20 handstand pushups

20 partner deadlift. (315lbs)

Here's a video of the competition that I put together:

Here's the summary video by the Crossfit Games website where they took a shot of me failing HSPU (haha!):

Handstand pushups seemed to pose a challenge to many athletes that day as the wall was set up too high, and our hips didn't have something to lean on. 

As for our team, I couldn't be any prouder of everyone's efforts. Before training for regionals, two of our members (myself too) never done a handstand push up before. Tess and I both had a new personal record which we achieved DURING the competition itself. It couldn't get any better than this. Although we didn't meet the minimum requirement to advance, we did an awesome job for ourselves, and we worked very hard. 

As for myself, five months ago I had a goal. My goal was simple. Make it to Regionals and be able to start a workout. Even if if I just get the chance to lift a bar once, I would've been happy. If anything, I have exceeded my expectations. I lifted the bar 20 TIMES & did a total of 5 HANDSTAND PUSH UPS, when I couldn't get one in a whole day! 

The whole experience has been just amazing, rewarding, and humbling. Seeing all of these athletes neck and neck, their strength despite their sizes, their beautiful technique, and hard work, was just beyond inspiring.

For that, I plan to continue my training in Crossfit and hopefully make it to regionals next year as an individual. I may never earn the title "Fittest woman in Asia", and that's fine. For me, by just taking part on its own is something that makes me happy and satisfied. And maybe, just maybe, my calling is to encourage other women in a similar situation like myself to come out. I don't know what it is, but each day I am loving sport more and more - and know, in my heart, it's where I belong. 

& big thanks to my sister Sara, who came with me this week to show support and take pictures of the team and competition. She was great emotional support during the whole week.  I couldn't have kept it together without her.

DAY 4 & 5 - Spectating & Interview

During the last two days of the competition, we were spectating the event and cheering for our coach, Candice Howe, who was competing as an individual for the second year. The competition is definitely a lot of harder than it was last year, the workouts, the athletes are all top notch.

In the morning of the final day of the competition, I was approached by Mike Mogard, an athlete who was competing, who wanted to do a short interview with me and do a photo shoot to upload it on his website once it's up and running (will post when it's up!). The gist of the interview was to encourage women in Brunei to start a healthy lifestyle and exercise.

In the end of the day, I was also approached by a number of people, some from the US military, and other athletes who said they were happy to see me come all the way to Seoul to compete and take part. They really respect what I do, and hope to see me competing next year. I just couldn't help but have a big cheeky smile on my face. I was overwhelmed with the positive comments and support.

In the end of the day, all the winners were announced, and Candice ranked 2nd.

Lotte World

My sister and I in our last night in Seoul, decided to go Lotte World, an amusement park with games (indoors and outdoors) and a big ice rink and may other activities. I personally am not a FAN of playing scary games (none were really, but I am a scaredy cat, while my sister is very adventurous). We spent a good couple of hours walking around, playing some rides, and we had plenty of fun. We were both dead tired in the end of the night.

As we went back to the hotel, I started packing, as again, I didn't want to worry too much in the morning as we had a flight to catch!

DAY 6 - Heading back to the UAE! 

Waking up in the morning, I realized wow...a whole week of madness and fun has passed, and it has passed really fast. As we got ready to leave at 10:30am, we left the hotel by a taxi bus going back to the airport. By 1:55 pm our plane starting to aboard. The flight was really long, and very uncomfortable with a lot of turbulence. I couldn't really sleep, so I watched all kind of movies, shows, and listened to music to let the 8-9 hour flight pass by, but each minute felt like forever. 

I had some spicy noodles in the airplane as that's the only thing I could've eaten. A lot of the food they served was not halal/had alcohol in it. The smell of beer/alcohol really makes me feel sick, dizzy, and gives me a headache.  So that was very uncomfortable for me. 

As I stared at the time, it was finally close to landing on UAE ground. I couldn't be any happier to be back home. I literally shouted in the plane "Yeeey! I am back home!" This is how excited I was to finally be back to where everything is known to me.

FINAL WORDS

There is really a lot to say, a lot that I probably have forgotten to mention, but this week has been in one word, overwhelming. Everything from experiencing travel for the first time in 13 years, and staying in another country other than my home, and to take part in an international competition has just been an emotional time for me.

It feels like everything just happened too fast, flew in front of my eyes, and is already a distant memory, but it's a memory that I will never forget. It's just the beginning for something bigger, a bigger test, more failures and successes in the future. And you know what? I cannot wait for the challenge. Just BRING. IT. ON!

Before I conclude this very very very long post, I have to thank Sultan Al Darmaki and his business partner for being our main sponsor who helped facilitate for my team and I go to Seoul South Korea for the competition, without them we couldn't have gone, at all. Also thanks to Adventure HQ for giving us UAE flag buffs that came in very handy as we wore them throughout the city. Finally, thanks for Reebok Middle East who provided us with track suits, shirts, and the awesome new Reebok Crossfit shoes. 

 

To see more pictures of my time in Seoul, visit my Facebook page HERE.
Yours truly,

 

Week 3: CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.3

Three weeks down into the competition, and it ain't getting easier. It's getting heavier and more technical as expected.

As I awaited the workout on Thursday morning... I had a sense of relief when I found out what it is because I know I physically could do it and high expectation about what I want to achieve...So what was the WOD?

The Workout 12.3 

A 18 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of:

15 box jumps (M=24inches, F=20inches)

12 push press (M=52kgs, F=34kgs)
9 toes to bar 

My Experience and Workout score:

I knew this is the kind of workout that I needed to give it my all and my best at one go. In my mind, I had one shot and one shot ONLY. Why? It's a long workout to begin with, and doing heavy push presses within a 4-day period again would be nuts (I am still not fully recovered 100% from the workout! haha)

Also, only recently I established that my maximum push press is 40kgs, and 34kgs is not very far off. So as I got ready to do the WOD and hearing 3, 2, 1...GO! I took on the box jumps, and as I moved into the push presses... I pushed the weight with all my might the first round...but I knew as I started the push presses that they will slow me down, but I was surprised by how much. 

I think in this workout, the tough part was not mental, but it was purely physical - and not in the sense I was gassed out or kept stopping, but I was limited strength-wise in terms of I started failing in some of the reps and the fact I did a few press-outs fatigued my muscles further. 

So, what was my score? 3 rounds + 15 box jumps = 123 total repetitions. 

Regional and International Score:

  

Regional Score (WOD 3): 83rd out of 170 women

Total regional score (WOD 1+2+3): still standing 93rd in the region. 

International score (WOD 3): Among the top 13,000 out of at least 20 thousand women.

Total International score (WOD 1+2+3): Also among the top 13,000.

Final Words: 

I don't doubt for a second that on Thursday, I gave the workout my all.

But the tough part about taking part of a competition, I learned, is that no matter how good you are, compared to yourself, there is always someone who is better than you, and your best may be not "enough" on a scoreboard. However, in the end of the day what matters is how far YOU have come. How far YOU have achieved. How far YOU pushed to get to where you are today. 

Really, putting 34kgs 36 times over my head is PRETTY damn impressive and I am very content with how I did for ME. 

Four months ago, my coach and I were worried whether I will be able to do the workouts RxD (as perscribed) meaning without scaling things down to make it eaiser. And so far, I've done each workout RxD and it got me to be part of the top 95 people competing in ASIA.

Yes, the likelihood of me making it top 60 in the region this year may not be possibility due to nature of the workouts, number of people taking part, my strength levels...and I only had four months training! But imagine where I will be after one year of crossfit training under my belt? Yup. A small beast.

& here is a short video I want to leave you all with to show my progress. Four months ago I couldn't put 10kgs overhead, now I can and squat 40kgs! 

 

Week 1: CrossFit Games WOD 12.1

Want to know who are the fittest people in the world? Follow the CrossFit Games which have kicked off on the weekend!

What are the CrossFit Games Open? 

It's a five week long worldwide competition which includes anything from olympic weightifting, to gymnastics, to kettlebell training and a variety of skills. Each week, one workout is announced (5 am UAE time), which none of the athlete know about ahead of time, and have only 4 days to complete it. Scores are uploaded online and validated by either an affiliate or Crossfit HQ. Through the open, the top 60 women, top 60 men, and 30 teams with the highest score in their REGION, will move to stage two, the regionals. Currently over 60,000 people are competing in the open!

The Workout 12.1:

It was as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of...BURPEES!

Athletes had to touch their chest to the ground
and then jump 6 inches above their reach.

My Experience and Workout Score:

When I found out the workout, I was relieved at first - it's something ANYONE can do. A 13 year old or a 70 year old (and yes, a woman got 71 reps, too!) But...it's a workout that is challenging for me because one of my weaknesses is my capacity.

Surprisingly I did a lot better than I thought I could. Given I had four days to finish the workout, it meant I can do it as many times as I wished to do so. I did the workout from hell, twice.

My first score: 77 burpees in 7 minutes
My second score: 82 burpees in 7 minutes


The Goal, Regional, and International score:

My goal is simple -do the best I can for ME and hope to make top 60 to make it to regionals this year.

Regional Score: My score was changing on the leaderboard during the 4-day period as more people uploaded their scores. At fist, I was in the top 20's, down to 30s, 40s, 50s and my final score after closing of the week one is...81 out of 146 women in Asia.

International Score: Not only do I have a regional score, I have an international score as well which is currently 10764 out of 19789 women worldwide

After the end of week 5, the sum of all five workout scores will determine whether an athlete will move on to the next stage or not. So a score in one workout that is below the 60 mark is not necessairly a disqualification of any sort.


Final Words:

Whether I make it to regionals or not this year, nothing beats the experience of taking part of a big international competition. Not only that I will still have a final score that determines where I stand in terms of my fitness regionally and internationally.

For the next 5 weeks, I will write a blogpost to document the journey each Monday. Also you can follow my progress through my athlete profile HERE.

Yours Truly,

Reflection: Four months training for competition

It's finally here.

Nerves are kicking in, blood swimming in my veins from the adrenaline rush, and my palms are sweaty. But most importantly I feel that I've done all I could to take part of something big.  

The competition that I have been training for and talking about for four months has arrived. A week from today, the CrossFit Games 2012 open will kick off on the 22nd of February, US time.

I have been through a journey in the last four months. Not just physical, but mental. I decided to take my fitness levels beyond the four-walls of a typical gym. I decided to take part in an international competition on a whim after a training session in October.

What's so nerve-wrecking about the competition, you ask me? You don't know what you'll be competing at and against whom. Last year 27,000 people took part, this year it's estimated to be 100,000 people across the freaking globe! and I am one of them.

Stating next Wednesday, each week for five weeks one workout (aka WOD) will be put up online on the Crossfit site, and you only have four days to complete the workout and validate your score. The workouts will include anything from - Olympic lifts, powerlifting, gymnastics, skills (double-unders, wall balls, toes to bar), and met cons (metabolic conditioning, meaning cardio).

They will be paired differently each week with different rep ranges and weights.

Here is the tricky part for me. In four months I have honed all the skills with hard work - from double-unders to toes to bar, to learning more than 20-30 movement patterns. Not only that, I also increased my strength level significantly. Week on week, I was PRing (having new personal records), I was learning new lessons, how to mentally deal with a gain or a disappointment, learned to listen to my body, learned to be in tuned with myself and my thoughts.

Despite all that, my fear since the day I started and until today is always going to be weights. It's always going be my "goat", because no matter how strong I am as female who weighs 50kgs (110kbs), to be able to lift as much as other female crossfitters will always be my challenge. And that's okay - because strength is built over time, not overnight.

I have faced a lot of stumbling blocks in the past few months.  Some were harder to get pass through, some were just a "typical bad day," but each time I got up and took a step forward nevertheless.

Challenging areas:

My mobility - which I have been seeing a physiotherapist for week in week out to ensure I work on it and get my body to work in harmony, and this process is still on-going. Boy, 4 months ago I couldn't overhead squat 10kgs, now I can do so with 35kgs!

Olympic lifts -I have been working on my Olympic lifts on weekly basis with an Oly coach Ikaika Paakaula, who has 15 years experience. In just four months...I was able to improve my Olympic lifts technique and I can do a clean with 42.5kgs, which is REALLY close to my own bodyweight!

Diet -  My eating habits has always been off and on. But recently I did something that although saddened me in a way, it also helped me a lot at the same time. I have done my "Allergy test" to see if I have any issues with certain food items. 36 out of 300 items were marked as "intolerant" from a not so-severe to extreme intolerance. Through that list, I have changed my eating, added new items, removed a few items. It's still not 100% yet, as everything is a process and takes time to sink in and adapt.

Mental - Mental challenges are the worst - not the training, not the sweat, or not the muscle burn you have during WODs. It's the thoughts that swam in my head. But with time I am slowly, I repeat, SLOWLY, learning how to deal with my negative thoughts. Thanks to great coaching by @CandiceHowe, I am much better at dealing with mental breakdowns.

I owe it to her and CrossFit LifeSpark for making me a better well-rounded athlete, physically and mentally. When I first made the decision to take part in crossfit, oh boy, little did I know what it takes... but I made it this far and hopefully I will make top 60 athletes in the region!


Starting next week, I will write a blog post about each workout, how well or not so well I do, and where I rank worldwide. So stay tuned!  

Competition: My Fear of Not Making It

I have a fear. A fear that I won't make it through Crossfit Open 2012. I have been training rigorously as some know, but am I getting closer to where I need to be? Unfortunately, I don't think so. I have been training for competition for exactly 10 weeks, and there are about 9 more weeks left.


You'd think there is enough time. Wrong. There is not. 


If I were to tell you I have not made any gains in the past 10 weeks, I would be a liar. If anything, I have made some awesome personal gains; some of which include my 90kgs deadlift, 65kgs back squat, 40kgs squat clean, 30kgs snatch, 1RM Weight-pull ups @ 10kgs, my wallballs are better, my box jumps are improving...I am improving, but am I improving enough to make it? 


You see, crossfit is unlike any other competition. There are no weight classes; which is what makes it exciting but also very nerve-wrecking for a 50kgs, 5'2 small girl like me. Most crossfit women who I have seen compete are beasts and majority - not all - but majority weigh in their 60s with experience in Crossfit or other sports.


Yes, I was weight-training before, but not this way. Not even close.


However, when it comes to doing body-weighted movements, my light weight helps; with push ups, pullups....etc, but what worries me is that there will be a big weight thrown in the Open which will immediately disqualify me; especially anything overhead.


Although my overhead position improved SO much in the past 10 weeks; before I was not able to hold more than 5kgs and squat it down without dropping the bar. Yet, I recently did an overhead squat with 25kgs, and HERE is a video similar to what I did with 1kg less.


I have been going for physiotherapy for the past 10 weeks and doing extensive 30-45 minutes mobility exercises everyday (aside from my actual training). The goal of the physiotherapy is to make sure I get mobility, better range of motion, prevent injuries and work on existing injuries.


Yet, I wonder...is it enough? Am I doing enough to make it? Am I doing everything I should be doing to get through?


Another major concern of mine is....DOUBLE-UNDERS! Before Crossfit, I never skipped in my life, let alone do a double-under (which basically when you jump once and the rope goes under your feet twice.) I have been going at it for at least TWO months. I get it occasionally - out of the blue - and then it disappears for a long time. And to be honest, I am not sure how to get them. EVERYONE exhausted their double-under cues to me, I watched numerous videos...and it's just not happening. Will that be what stops me from making it through the open to go through Asia Regionals? 


I have quite a lot of these doubts. A lot of people tell me that I have passion and my passion will get me through. I don't think passion without hard work is enough. I have the passion, I am working hard, and spending a lot of money on my training and physio. Yet, I still wonder...is it enough?


I really for once in my life want to do something daring. I never did anything so. I want to make it to the regionals, even if it's just for ONE workout. I know I am not strong enough to make top 10 or go to the Games. Not because *I am not strong as me*, but I am not strong compared to the other women who have years of experience under their belt, while me...I have only been technically doing crossfit for 4-5 months.



It may seem that I am "making excuses", and maybe I am, but my excuses are realistic concerns, too....yet I am still training , working hard, and making gains. So my goal is to keep focusing on getting ME better. Getting ME stronger. Getting me to perfect some skills. Yet sometimes, my body doesn't respond the way I want it to.


I have these fears. And a lot more. They came up sometimes. It's normal and I need to let it out, because if I don't I will be cheating myself and only drive myself crazy with self-doubt.


Yet I am still trying and going to give it a shot - because I never know if I don't try and I don't want to regret not giving it all I've got. But at the same time, I want to be realistic and not disappoint myself if I don't make it or disappoint those who supported me, either.


Yours Truly,
GymFreak @999Fitness

Training for competition...is set!

Being involved in the fitness community, outside the comfort of a normal gym, I realized a lot of things. One of those things is that our fitness industry needs more Emirati women athletes and those involved sports (whatever the sport is!).

I also realized, not only that is needed - but I can do something about it. I started my fitness lifestyle in 2007 and had many ups and downs until it was November 2009. One day I woke up and I said, enough is
enough - and I took charge of my life, how I feel, what I eat, when I eat, how I think, and I react to things (okay, this still needs some work!). In a month, I would have completed two years leading a healthy lifestyle.

What I realized...this is not enough, and I want more and I can be more than an average gym-goer to get my dose of an exercise fix. Now I realize I want to be an athlete, be part of competitions, and make a name not just for myself, but for my country - which unfortunately has high obesity and diabetes rates.

Just about a month ago, I decided it's about time - and that I will train to compete. On Saturday the 14th, I started a new training regime. One that will hopefully get me ready to compete in Reebok Crossfit Games 2012 which is just 4 months away...but in the end of the day it's how much effort I am putting in, in each session.

To simplify the competition details, they are three stages:

Stage 1: The Open (Feb 22- March 25): Worldwide competition that takes place locally with one workout per week for five weeks (we don't know what the workouts will be). Scores and videos will be uploaded online to see who qualifies. The top 60 men, women, and teams’ with the highest scores from each region will be selected to compete in stage two. Last year, over 26,000 athletes competed!

Stage 2: Regional (April 27-May 27): Athletes from the same region will compete against one another to find out who is the fittest in their region.

Stage 3: Reebok Games in California (July 13-15): The fittest athletes from different regions will not only compete at this stage, but they will be tested on whether that can handle the unknown. The winners will earn the title of being the “Fittest man or woman on earth."

Since I will be competing against the unknown, literally, my goal is to get myself strong enough to reach the regional stage at LEAST, and I can only do that through putting my body through intense exercise, healthy eating habits, enough sleep, be stress-free, and a lot of rehabilitation.

Therefore, I will be updating my blog with my progress weekly with my training program for the week and my progress. Each Friday night I will be posting my weekly training and progress.

There is no reason I can't do this. I am going to smash it!

Yours truly,
GymFreak @999fitness