There is no direct correlation implied here, just a coincidence that I happened to have leftover chicken pizza and scored a personal record (P.R.) on the WOD named Cindy on Thursday.
First, the recipe, which I got from Scott Hagnas on the Catalyst Athletics board. A few nights ago we made 3 cheese basil chicken pizzas. But “Pizza isn’t Zone-favorable.”, you might be saying. It can be, you just have to change your perspective a bit, as well as a few ingredients.
Crust
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Olive Oil
Pizza Topping
1 can marinara sauce
Ricotta Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan
Fresh Basil, chopped
Place the chicken breast in a plastic bag and pound flat. Don’t crazy or you’ll completely macerate the breast and it will be worthless. So, if you had a bad day at work, take a few deep cleansing breasts before commencing pounding. This is not a time to get your aggression out.
Coat a frying pan with olive oil and give the chicken breast a quick fry. Doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through because you will finish it off in the oven. Once the breast is browned on both sides transfer to a cookie sheet or flat baking pan. Top the breast with marinara followed by the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle fresh basil on top of the ricotta cheese. Next, cover the breast with the fresh mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake the pizza on 375 degrees until cheese is melted then finish off with a couple minutes under the broiler to give the parmesan and mozzarella a chance to brown a little.
Once the cheese is melted and browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and then enjoy. Obviously this is a rather high protein recipe and lacking in carbs, aside from the marinara. Add a big hearty salad and a good glass of red and you are golden. Depending on the size and content of your salad you may even have room for some fresh fruit for dessert. We didn’t really block this out in terms of the Zone diet, but your certainly could.
Now, for the Cindy P.R. – I woke up Thursday morning feeling a bit beat up. We had a tough workout on Tuesday, tackling the Hero WOD, J.T. That was a butt kicker, my shoulders were smoked after that. On Wednesday we hit another named, benchmark workout in Helen. Earlier that day I tried to do a couple of bar muscle-ups at work and kind of tweaked my shoulder. Even though Thursday is usually a CrossFit day for me, I was thinking that maybe I should take the day off.
When I checked the website and saw that we were doing Cindy (As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats), I was a bit disappointed that I would not be joining the workout. Then the smack talk started. Daniel posted on the board that he held the gym record at 23 rounds and then named me and another gym member in his comments. I saw this as a personal challenge and pretty much decided at that point that I was going to hit this workout, even if it wasn’t in my best judgement.
I checked out the shoulder by doing a few pull-ups and a set of push-ups. It didn’t feel too bad so then I knocked out 23 burpees, ½ of what I was supposed to do for the day. The shoulder was still feeling okay and a couple of hours later I did the other 23 burpees I owed for the day. At that point it was decided, I’m in and Daniel, I’m coming for you.
Got to the gym and started warming up, still feeling just a bit anxious about my shoulder. It wasn’t painful, but it was definitely noticeable during my warm-up. I did a few more pull-ups and it felt okay. I even knocked out a couple of muscle-ups on the rings and managed to hit 2 in a row, which I guess is also a P.R. for me.
Once we started the WOD I did continue to notice my shoulder for the first couple of rounds and then either the endorphins kicked in or I was too focused on the pain I was experiencing everywhere else in my body to notice my shoulder. I managed to knock out 25 rounds, which was a new gym record for all of about 30 minutes. Jeff jumped in and bested me by 1 round, nailing 26 rounds. Not sure if that stood as the record as we had to leave before everybody got a chance to complete the workout for the day. My previous performance on this WOD yielded 17 rounds, but that was done 2 days after running a marathon, so I may have been dealing with a little fatigue.
After the workout I noticed that my shoulder actually did not bother me anymore. Strange, I would have never guessed that would happen. As a physical therapist, I would probably have recommended against doing the workout, who knew that it would actually end up being therapeutic for me. Hmmmm….maybe I should rethink my approach to rehab…..
First, the recipe, which I got from Scott Hagnas on the Catalyst Athletics board. A few nights ago we made 3 cheese basil chicken pizzas. But “Pizza isn’t Zone-favorable.”, you might be saying. It can be, you just have to change your perspective a bit, as well as a few ingredients.
Crust
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Olive Oil
Pizza Topping
1 can marinara sauce
Ricotta Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan
Fresh Basil, chopped
Place the chicken breast in a plastic bag and pound flat. Don’t crazy or you’ll completely macerate the breast and it will be worthless. So, if you had a bad day at work, take a few deep cleansing breasts before commencing pounding. This is not a time to get your aggression out.
Coat a frying pan with olive oil and give the chicken breast a quick fry. Doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through because you will finish it off in the oven. Once the breast is browned on both sides transfer to a cookie sheet or flat baking pan. Top the breast with marinara followed by the ricotta cheese. Sprinkle fresh basil on top of the ricotta cheese. Next, cover the breast with the fresh mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake the pizza on 375 degrees until cheese is melted then finish off with a couple minutes under the broiler to give the parmesan and mozzarella a chance to brown a little.
Once the cheese is melted and browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes and then enjoy. Obviously this is a rather high protein recipe and lacking in carbs, aside from the marinara. Add a big hearty salad and a good glass of red and you are golden. Depending on the size and content of your salad you may even have room for some fresh fruit for dessert. We didn’t really block this out in terms of the Zone diet, but your certainly could.
Now, for the Cindy P.R. – I woke up Thursday morning feeling a bit beat up. We had a tough workout on Tuesday, tackling the Hero WOD, J.T. That was a butt kicker, my shoulders were smoked after that. On Wednesday we hit another named, benchmark workout in Helen. Earlier that day I tried to do a couple of bar muscle-ups at work and kind of tweaked my shoulder. Even though Thursday is usually a CrossFit day for me, I was thinking that maybe I should take the day off.
When I checked the website and saw that we were doing Cindy (As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats), I was a bit disappointed that I would not be joining the workout. Then the smack talk started. Daniel posted on the board that he held the gym record at 23 rounds and then named me and another gym member in his comments. I saw this as a personal challenge and pretty much decided at that point that I was going to hit this workout, even if it wasn’t in my best judgement.
I checked out the shoulder by doing a few pull-ups and a set of push-ups. It didn’t feel too bad so then I knocked out 23 burpees, ½ of what I was supposed to do for the day. The shoulder was still feeling okay and a couple of hours later I did the other 23 burpees I owed for the day. At that point it was decided, I’m in and Daniel, I’m coming for you.
Got to the gym and started warming up, still feeling just a bit anxious about my shoulder. It wasn’t painful, but it was definitely noticeable during my warm-up. I did a few more pull-ups and it felt okay. I even knocked out a couple of muscle-ups on the rings and managed to hit 2 in a row, which I guess is also a P.R. for me.
Once we started the WOD I did continue to notice my shoulder for the first couple of rounds and then either the endorphins kicked in or I was too focused on the pain I was experiencing everywhere else in my body to notice my shoulder. I managed to knock out 25 rounds, which was a new gym record for all of about 30 minutes. Jeff jumped in and bested me by 1 round, nailing 26 rounds. Not sure if that stood as the record as we had to leave before everybody got a chance to complete the workout for the day. My previous performance on this WOD yielded 17 rounds, but that was done 2 days after running a marathon, so I may have been dealing with a little fatigue.
After the workout I noticed that my shoulder actually did not bother me anymore. Strange, I would have never guessed that would happen. As a physical therapist, I would probably have recommended against doing the workout, who knew that it would actually end up being therapeutic for me. Hmmmm….maybe I should rethink my approach to rehab…..
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