Month: January 2012

I’ve been getting to bed earlier the last…

I’ve been getting to bed earlier the last few days and getting over 8 hours of sleep, which has been great. My shoulders were a little tired this morning and I could feel a bit of tightness in my quads from Sunday.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 5 World’s Greatest Stretch (each side)

Strength
Deadlifts
Work up to a 3 rep max with 3 minutes of rest in between sets. Slow with a reset at the bottom (do not touch and go). Set a goal and base percentages off that for each set.

  1. 5 reps @ 50%
  2. 3 reps @ 75%
  3. 2 reps @ 80%
  4. 1 reps @ 90%
  5. 3 RM
  6. Optional 3 RM if the last set felt good

Decided with Gayle, the trainer, that 245# would be a good starting goal since I really had no idea how much I could do. So I used 125#, 185#, 205#, 225#, and 245#. Doing 245# was pretty easy so I bumped it up to 260# for the bonus round. It felt good. I probably could have done another 10 or 20 pounds, but I’ve never lifted that much weight doing anything, so I’m a happy camper.

WOD
3 rounds of 2 minute max effort on the rower with 3 minutes of rest between rounds.

Two minutes doesn’t seem like a lot, but after deadlifts, my legs were shot. I managed to row 575m, 535m, and 519m.

Was feeling good this morning with a little…

Was feeling good this morning with a little tightness in my quads probably from the squat parts of the snatches and cleans in yesterday’s Olympic class. Today’s workout was:

Warm-up

  • Monster walk, forward the length of the gym and then backward.
  • 2 sets of 4×4 Push-ups

To do a monster walk, we put a small band around both ankles, spread our feet and slowly walked along while keeping the feet spread apart. 4×4 Push-ups are 4 reps each of 4 different push-ups:

  • Hands in close with elbows going straight back to work the tricep.
  • Dive bombers: hands and feet wide, moving down under a fence and then back under it.
  • Bring the knee up to the elbow at the bottom of the push-up. Alternate knees each rep.
  • After a pushup, bring a foot through and touch it with the opposite hand.

Strength
4 sets

  • 3 Push press
  • 20s Rest
  • 1m Plank
  • 2m Rest

I did 95#, 115#, 125# and 135# for the push press. I wasn’t paying attention to the weight total after the first set and when we got done I was surprised what I ended up doing. 135# was a new PR!

WOD
12:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Jerks
  • 5 C2B Pull-ups
  • 25 DUs

After strength work we started trying different weights to use for the jerks in the WOD and Emily, the trainer, convinced me to go with 125#. I’d never tried to clean that much before and with my lousy form it was a struggle getting the weight up to my shoulders after my 1st round. I tried kipping for the C2B pull-ups, but it’s still a struggle for me to get the sequence right. DUs are improving but they really held me back in this WOD. In the end I completed 3 full rounds plus 5 jerks, 5 C2B, and 16 DUs. Everyone else smoked me. I know I used the max weight I could for the jerks, so I felt really good about that.

My legs have been really sore since Thursday…

My legs have been really sore since Thursday when we did front and goblet squats. I almost collapsed when I got out of bed on Saturday that’s how sore I was. It doesn’t help that I went hiking on Friday and walked 18 holes of golf each of the last two days. Who needs rest days?

I just got back from the Olympic lifting class at CrossFit Full Strength. I’ve really wanted to check it out, but this was the first time I could make it. Two weeks ago I was in Mexico and last weekend I was recovering from getting sick there. John, the Olympic lifting coach, was a key member of the 2005 Team Arizona Junior National Champions, so it’s a great opportunity to learn from him.

I got warmed up with a 500m row and then we started working on the snatch. To be honest it’s kind of a scary looking exercise because you are taking a barbell and weights from the ground to overhead in one fluid, but complex, movement. I’ve never done a snatch in my life so I got some special attention. I was able to learn the basics of the snatch quicker than most people I guess. John was impressed with how fast I picked it up and said it takes most people quite awhile. Of course I still was doing a lot of little things wrong and have a lot to work on. Felt good overall though and it’s not really as scary as it looks.

After the snatch, we moved on to power cleans, which I’ve done several times now in class. It was good to have John give me some tips because the clean in probably the exercise I feel the least comfortable with. In the back of my mind I fear the barbell is going to smash me in the face or smack my chin. It’s probably because of this that I don’t have the fast elbows yet when I get under the bar. It’s a work in progress for me.

I’m really glad I went to this class and I’m going to try and make it every week. Getting better technique will help me improve my strength and endurance, but will also make it safer for me to do the lifts and CrossFit WODs involving them.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up 400m Run…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2 rounds:
    • Hip flexor stretch (45s each leg)
    • 10 Wall squats
    • Shoulder stretch with band
  • Tabata abs of choice

Strength
5 sets:

  • 2-4 Front squat, 3-0-X-1 tempo
  • 20s Rest
  • Max C2B or work on pull-ups
  • 2-3m Rest

WOD
5:00 AMRAP:

  • 15 Goblet squats (53# KB)
  • 30 Flutter kicks (each leg)

In the warm-up I did Russian twists for my abs with a 18# KB. For front squats I got up to 145# in the last set. In the first set I did strict pull-ups and got 4 in a row. Then I worked on kipping pull-ups the rest of the sets. In the WOD, I finished 3 rounds plus 15 goblet squats and 28 flutter kicks.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up * 2:00…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Jump rope
  • Tabata isometric holds of choice, such as a wall sit, deep in air squat, top of pull-up, bottom of push-up, plank. etc.

Strength/Skill
5 sets

  • 8 RDL (65#)
  • 60s Rest
  • Max DUs in 45s
  • 60s Rest

WOD
5 rounds

  • 5 Deadlift (205#)
  • 200m Run

In the first round of strength/skill work I got 40 DUs. After that I think I somehow got into doing them for 60s and never even hit 40 again with the extra time. I finished the WOD in 8:53.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up 400m Run…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 3 World’s greatest stretch on each side
  • 5 Turkish get-ups on each side (25# KB)

Strength
6 sets, 2 reps, 2-0-X-1 tempo, 2-3 min rest between sets
Shoulder press

WOD
8:00 AMRAP:

  • 5 Power cleans (105#)
  • 10 Burpee box jumps

For the shoulder press I did sets of 95#, 100#, 105#, 110#, 115#, and 120#. In the WOD I finished 4 rounds plus 1 additional power clean.