Month: November 2012

Thanksgiving Sissy Test

I’m up at my parents for a few days so figured it would be a good time to do the Sissy Test. I missed out on it at Survival Fitness a couple of weeks ago. The only time I’ve done it was back in April, when I used a 55# KB and finished in 41:38.

“Sissy Test”

  • 25 -> 1 Burpees
  • 1 -> 25 Russian KBS (53# KB)

For clarification, you do 25 burpees and 1 KBS swing, then 24 and 2, and so on down until 1 and 25.

I made a ghetto KB using my 50 pounder, some duck tape, and a 2.5# plate. It worked for the most part. I finished in 38:16, which is an improvement of 3:22. Could have even been better, but the handle on my KB got so slick towards the end and I had to keep putting it down to wipe the sweat off my hands otherwise it would have went flying.

Bring on the Thanksgiving feast!

Update

Around 11pm I was bored and everyone was in bed. Death by Chest to Deck Push-ups sounded like a good idea. I got through the 18th minute and 16 reps of the 19th for a total of 187 reps. Not bad after doing 325 burpees earlier today. The only other time I did push-ups was last December when I completed 14 + 12 but was not getting my chest to the ground and had to resort to kneelers.

Mini Vacation

Took the next few days off work and will head up north later today. Went in for the 9am to get my WOD on.

Warm-up

50-40-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • Flutter Kicks (x4 counts)

WOD

  • 12:00 EMOTM (do both)
    • 5 Thrusters (85#)
    • 7 Star Jumps
  • NO REST! Can start the next phase as soon as you are ready.
  • 5 Rounds
    • 9 Burpee Power Clean & Presses (85#)
    • 7 T2B
    • 5 Weighted Lunges for each leg (85#)

The thrusters weren’t as bad as expected, but the star jumps really got hard to jump in those last few minutes. I think I was completing the combo in about 21 seconds each minute. I did take a bit of rest before jumping into the next portion of the WOD. In the first two rounds I was doing the burpee power cleans one at a time, which was a waste and really sucked. In the last 3 rounds I figured out I could string them together and turn the clean and press into one motion pretty much without having to straighten my legs and then dip again. That worked better and I broke them down into 5 and 4 the rest of the way. The T2B and weighted lunges were pretty easy and like a break; all were done unbroken. My total time (with the 12:00 in there) was 30:34. Glad I went with 85# instead of the 95# Rx on this one too because it would have been hard to keep up any kind of intensity.

I walked a couple of laps around the 150m rectangle to cool down.

Tabata WOD

I felt like shit all day yesterday after the workout. I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately. Either my cardio is that bad that the workouts are killing me or I’m learning to push myself harder and that’s draining everything I have. Went to the 9am today.

Warm-up

  • 50 Butt Kicks
  • 50 Jumping Jacks
  • 50 High Knees
  • 50 Zombie Kicks
  • 50 Lateral Hops
  • 50s Plank
  • 50 Bicycles
  • 50 Hip Thrusts

Really felt the hip thrusts in my ass and hamstrings.

WOD

  • Tabata – Lateral Over the Bar Burpees
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata AbMat Sit-ups
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Pistols
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Ring Dips
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Ring Rows

Much harder than it looks on the board. I listed them here in the order I did the WOD. I think it was good to start with the burpees and then sit-ups because I was freshest at that point. Managed 49 over the bar burpees and 91 sit-ups. Tried to do strict pistols but just wasn’t happening, so after a couple of reps I started holding a post for balance and support. Alternated legs each round and ended up with 60 reps. I went strict for the first 4 rounds of ring dips and then used a purple band the rest of the way to get a total of 49 reps. Started with straight leg ring rows and moved my feet in as they got harder. 55 reps there for a total of 304 in all.

Finisher

12:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Side Bends on each side (53# KB)
  • 10 V-ups

Once again, the WOD killed me and I was ready to be sick. Went kind of slow, but managed to get 7 rounds in.

Barbell Complex

Up and at ’em for the 9am today. I’m sore from Saturday’s death by pull-ups and from bench pressing yesterday. We are stepping away from strength for the week to recover and confuse the body. Good timing since it’s Thanksgiving week. My cardio and endurance has been a bit lacking, so this is a good chance to kick it back up a notch.

Warm-up

21-15-9

  • Squat Jumps
  • HR Push-ups
  • Leg Raises

WOD

30:00 Partner AMRAP (alternating rounds)

  • 5 Deadlifts
  • 5 Bent Rows
  • 5 Hang Power Cleans
  • 5 Back Squats
  • 5 Good Mornings

I was paired up with Kevin and we had 115# on the bar. He had to bow out, switching to a lighter bar and slowing down around 10 minutes, so I switched to doing a round every other minute on the minute. I think I had 4 rounds in during the partner portion and then I worked the last two minutes in a row to end up with a total of 14 rounds plus 5 deadlifts, 5 bent rows, and 5 hang power cleans. It may have only been 13 full rounds because I’m not sure where we made the switch.

After the first couple of rounds I fell into a rhythm and was consistently getting 55 second rounds. I had never done a good morning in my life so that took some time getting used to. I smoked through the hang power cleans early on, but in those last few rounds it was a struggle to get that bar up. I’m left feeling sick after this WOD, that’s for sure.

Finisher

3:00 AMRAP of Burpees

I got 48 of them, with 16 in each minute I think, so pretty consistent. Not bad with only a few minutes of rest after the WOD.

Back Tuck and Bench Press

Went to gymnastics at 2pm again this week. We did some tumbling stuff to warm up, then I worked on my back tucks.

We also did some work swinging on the bar for the first time, as preparation for doing giants. Finally at the end, we worked on muscle-ups.

Went over to Kevin’s place afterwards to bench press.

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 1 @ 185#
  • 1 @ 205#
  • 1 @ 225#
  • 1 @ 235#
  • Fail @ 245#

The 235# went up really easy even though it was a 20# PR, so went for 245, but just didn’t have it. Probably could have gotten 240#. Not disappointed with a 20# PR though. Then we did 4 Tabata rounds with 115#. I got 10, 10, 10, and 12 reps in my rounds.

Garage Cleans

I’ve wanted to do some cleans for the last week or so. We planned to do some after the class today but we were all feeling pretty shitty and too hung over after a tough WOD. I sat around all afternoon watching the Michigan game and then decided to head out to the garage. Mind you, I hadn’t eaten anything all day except for a couple of bars and my protein shakes, so I was a little weak and fucking starving.

  • 2 @ 135#
  • 2 @ 165#
  • 2 @ 185#
  • 1 @ 205#
  • 1 @ 215#

New PR by 10 pounds!

Here are videos of all the lifts…





Kevin’s First Class

Went out to the Michigan Tap Room at Stardust last night with some of the Survival Fitness crew. Not feeling the greatest today because of the beer, but I hoped a workout would fix that. Kevin was doing the programming and teaching, so wanted to support him as well. Went in for the 11am.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 50 Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • 40 Bicycles
  • 30s Plank
  • 20 AbMat Sit-ups
  • 10 Inch Worms

Took between 14 and 15 minutes for me to finish this off. Good work for the midline.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 1m Russian KBS (53#)
  • 1m Over the Shoulder Sandbags
  • 1m Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 1m Thrusters (75#)
  • 1m Jingle Jangles
  • 1m Rest

This was a good Fight Gone Bad style WOD. My rep counts for each round were 107, 111, and 107 for a 325 total. Staying consistent is a key in a WOD like this. The bulk of my reps came in the KBS and jingle jangles, with thrusters definitely having the lowest counts.

Finisher

Death by Pull-ups (by 2s)

I finished the round of 16 and then got 17 of 18. Total of 89 pull-ups. Last time doing a “death by” for pull-ups was back in May by 3s and I got through the round of 15, which was a total of 45, so that’s quite an improvement. Really happy with how far my pull-ups have come.

400 Club

I had a deep tissue massage today at 1 and then worked out at 5 to get a good chunk of rest before our 1RM deadlifts.

Warm-up

5:00 Jump Rope Singles

After always doing DUs it’s hard to switch over and do singles with a speed rope. Seems so slow. I lost count around 70 and figured it didn’t really matter how many anyways.

Strength

Find 1RM Deadlift

My goal was to hit 400# today. A month ago I pulled 385#, but couldn’t get 395# moving at all. Warmed up with 6 at 225#, 3 at 275# and then started on my singles. Did 315#, 345#, and 365#. Kevin did 405# on his attempt so I said why the hell not and got it easily. Went one more time and got 415# too. That’s a 30# increase in a month and 100# in the last 7 months!

WOD

20:00 AMRAP

1-2-3-4…

  • Deadlifts (115#)
  • Front Squats (115#)
  • Over the Bar Burpees

Around the 7th or 8th minute this really hits you and I had to start breaking things up a bit. Completed 11 full rounds plus 12 deadlifts and 5 front squats. I didn’t expect the deadlifts to get so hard at that weight. Fully expected the front squats to be difficult as the rep counts increased and they were.

No way I was staying for the 6pm Olympic lifting class after this one. My lower back is wiped out.

Shoulders!

Up for the 9am today. My hamstrings started to get sore last night. I think from back squat Monday. My abs are still sore and the GHD sit-ups last night are probably contributing to that.

Warm-up

  • 30 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 20 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 10 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10 HR Push-ups

Great warm-up for the shoulders. I mixed in some around-the-worlds with the PVC too.

Strength

Find 1RM Shoulder Press

  • 10 @ 45#
  • 4 @ 95#
  • 1 @ 125#
  • 1 @ 135#
  • 1 @ 145#
  • 1 @ 155#
  • 1 @ 160#

Just over a month ago, on October 3rd, I missed 150# once and then barely squeezed it out on the 2nd attempt. Going into today I was shooting to match that PR and see if I had anything left in the tank. I was feeling good, so didn’t even make at attempt at it and went right for a PR at 155#. Got it without much trouble so went for 160# and had to fight hard for it.

WOD

2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18-20

  • Push Presses (40# DBs)
  • Burpees

Went unbroken with the push presses through the set of 12 and then broke the last 4 sets up, always getting just over half in the first go and then finishing off the rest after a break. Tried not to stop at all during the burpees and just keep going no matter how slow they felt. It was a struggle to push up off the ground for the last 5 reps. Finished in 16:15.

Finisher

5 Sets

  • MAX L-Sit
  • 60s Rest

I did these with my knees up, using the rings and got right around 30 seconds each round except for the 4th, where it was closer to 20 seconds. Good way to finish off the shoulders and get in the abs as well.