Month: May 2013

From the Blocks

Went in at 10:30 to do some Olympic lifting work.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

OLY

Kevin had some of his jerk blocks in, so I used them to do hang snatches and cleans. It was great work and made some progress in reaching extension, especially in the snatch.

Snatch

I did a double at 95#, 2 singles at 95#, 2 singles at 105#, 6 singles at 115#, and 3 singles at 125#. Triple extension was feeling the best it ever has. Here’s a video of one of the 125# lifts. I get too high off the ground, but everything else is a big improvement.

Clean

I did 2 doubles at 135#, 3 doubles at 155#, and then 6 singles at 175#. Didn’t feel as good as the snatches, that’s for sure. I have a bigger tendency to cave my knees in on the clean and wasn’t getting the greatest hip extension. Here’s a lift at 175#.

Really took my time on the lifts and probably spent more than an hour working them. Need to do this more often.

Headed back around 6:30pm to open gym for some extra work.

Strength

Seated Good Mornings

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 155#

Not so sure these were a good idea today, but oh well.

WOD

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Push-ups
  • 10 Pistols
  • 10 T2B

Quick little metcon to throw in a few things we haven’t worked in over a week. The pistols were brutal, especially without wearing my OLY shoes. My quads were on fire after round 1. I finished 5 complete rounds and then got 6 push-ups.

Finished the Squat Program

In at 10am. Trained with Kevin and Kinde.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Air Dyne

Strength

Front Squats

Last session of the 6 week volume squat program. Warmed up with 5 @ 45# and 5 @ 135#.

  • 5 @ 205#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 3 @ 230#
  • 2 @ 240#
  • 1 @ 260#
  • 6 @ 205#

I went a little over the prescription since loading 200# on the bar is not convenient and then also added 5# on the set of 1 so I could set an easy PR. Forget the reps and did an extra one on the last set. I’m really happy I did this program and can tell my squats are better. I’m excited to test out my maxes next week.

Bench Press

Had a disappointing showing a couple of weeks ago for 1RM bench, so needed to get back on track. I looked back to the last time I did sets of 3 and went for the same weights.

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 215#
  • MAX @ 175# (Did 10)

The set with 215# wasn’t exactly easy today, but at least I know I can still do it. Had to really concentrate on keeping my right elbow in close today and it helped.

WOD

  • 5-4-3-2-1 Clusters (135#)
  • 10-8-6-4-2 OTB Burpees

This one was inspired by a WOD Briggs and Valenzuela did.

I dropped the bar every rep, but didn’t take any breaks. Took me 4:22.

Finisher

5 Sled Drags of about 100m (135#)

Easier Day

In at 10am. Feeling a bit fatigued from the strength work and WODs yesterday, but Kevin and I planned for an easier day today anyway.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne (easy pace)
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

5 Rounds

  • MAX Pull-ups (strict)
  • 90s Rest
  • MAX Ring Dips (strict)
  • 90s Rest

Originally we were going do to this as a 10:00 EMOM, alternating between the two, but after the 2nd round of pull-ups it was clear that wouldn’t work. So we started taking more rest after the 2nd round. I managed 12-5-7-7-6 on the pull-ups and 14-10-11-10-10 on the dips. Much harder than expected and I was breathing like I just finished a metcon.

OLY

15:00 EMOM

  • Power Snatch
  • Snatch

I used 95# for the first 3 sets, then 115# for 7, 125# three times, and finished with 135# for the last two rounds. Got it all on video except for the first set of 95#. Was feeling pretty good about a few things, but still have a lot to work on. Need to start doing a lot more Olympic lifting like this.

Here’s the rounds of 135# in slow motion.

WOD

2k Row

My goal was to keep a 1:50/500m pace, which I was able to do for 600-700m and then it was a struggle just to keep it at 1:53 or so. Pushed it for the last 200m or so to finish in 7:23.8, beating my old mark of 7:38 back in December.

20130514-122248.jpg

Last Week of the Squat Program

Had a couple of rest days, so feeling good. Went in at 10:30 and trained with Kevin and Monica. Matt did his own thing.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)
  • 2/2 World’s Greatest Stretch

Strength

Back Squats

Last week of the 6 week volume squat program and it’s a challenging one. Warmed up with 5 @ 45# and 5 @ 135#.

  • 6 @ 235#
  • 6 @ 250#
  • 4 @ 265#
  • 3 @ 280#
  • 2 @ 300#
  • 6 @ 235#

Just like last week, those first sets were harder than the end. After the 3 with 280# I didn’t think there was a chance I’d hit both with 300#, especially since I’ve only ever done it once and 315# once. I even asked Matt and Kevin to spot me on the ends of the bar, but I got both reps no problem. This program is working!!

Push Jerks

Worked up to a heavy triple. I went 135#, 145#, 165#, 175#, and 195#. Knocked out each triple fast except for the last one where I reset on each rep instead of going right into the dip.

WOD #1

8:00 AMRAP

  • 5 C2B Pull-ups
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ Target)

Push-ups held me back, but I did all C2B and WB unbroken. Finished with 5+15.

WOD #2

5 Rounds

  • 20 Unbroken DU
  • 20 Wall Ball Sit-ups

Messed up on my first round of DU, but then was solid. Those wall ball sit-ups added up fast after a couple of rounds. Finished in 7:27.

Some solid strength work and a couple of short WODs, which were a nice change of pace after doing a bunch of longer metcons last week.

Dominating “DT”

Went to the 9am class today since I don’t have time for a longer training session.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Star Jumps

XWOD

7:00 EMOM

  • 2 Broad Jumps
  • 2 Thrusters (45# DBs)

I was jumping over 10′ on each jump and was really explosive on the thrusters.

Strength

5×3 Deadlifts

I’ve been trying to stay away from heavy deadlifts during my squat cycle just because I don’t need to focus on improving my max. I thought about staying lighter today, but after a couple of sets, I said fuck it. Did 225#, 295#, 345#, 395#, and 425#. Matches a 3RM from a couple of months ago and it felt easier today.

WOD

“DT”
5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts
  • 9 Hang Cleans
  • 6 Shoulder to OH

The first (and only) time I went RX (155#) was back on February 15th with a time of 14:40. It hurt! Figured I could beat that today, but we had a 12:00 time cap, so I was really going to have to push it to finish. In the end, the time cap actually helped me out a lot.

In the first round I was able to pick a pace and force myself to rest so that I could last. I got 11 unbroken deadlifts to start each round, just like before. Last time around, the cleans and the push jerks were pretty horrible on me. This time around, the cleans ended up being the worst, but I was actually able to get a couple sets of 8 unbroken. I made the biggest improvement on the push jerks though, getting all 6 unbroken every round. Finished in 11:48, a PR by almost 3 minutes!

“Nancy Grace”

Went golfing and walked 18 holes yesterday for the first time since getting back from Arizona. Was nice to have a day away from the gym. Went in at 10am this morning and trained with Kevin, Monica, and Kinde.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 2 Rounds of “Cindy” with strict pull-ups

Strength

The end of squat week 5, one more to go. Front squats today. Warmed up with 5 @ 95# and 3 @ 135#.

  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 4 @ 230
  • 3 @ 240
  • 5 @ 200

Felt really solid today.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 10 Evil Wheels
  • 20s Ring L-sit (knees up)
  • 30 Russian Twists (35# KB)

Brutal!

OLY

6:00 EMOM

  • 1 Hang Snatch (95#)
  • 2 Snatch Balance (95#)

I missed on the first snatch, but felt pretty good with my technique after that.

WOD

“Nancy Grace”
5 Rounds

  • 15 OHS (95#)
  • 6 C&J (95#)
  • 400m Run

One benchmark girl isn’t enough, right? Pretty rough on the wrists after the previous work. Did 10-5 each round on OHS and had to fight for it. All C&J were unbroken. Running got progressively slower. Finished in 20:42.

On Short Rest

In at 10am on short rest after doing 8pm last night. Trained with Kevin and Monica.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus

This has become my go-to warm-up when doing our own programming. Need to start switching it up some.

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Evens: 5 Weighted Dips
  • Odds: 5 Weighted Pull-ups

I went 20-25-25-30-35 on dips and 20-20-20-20-25 on pull-ups. The pull-ups were a real struggle today.

10:00 E2M

  • 4 Clean High Pulls
  • 6 Pendlay Rows

I stuck with 135# throughout and tried to work on some technique during the high pulls.

OLY

10:00 EMOM

  • High Hang Squat Clean
  • Hang Squat Clean
  • Squat Clean
  • Split Jerk

This was pretty brutal doing the 4 reps every minute. Not much rest time. I used 135# for the first set, then 145# for 4 sets, 155# for 3 sets, and finished with 2 sets at 165#.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 8 HSPU
  • 12 American KBS (53#)
  • 400m Run

Went unbroken on everything, but my running kind of sucked after the 2nd round. Finished in 12:01.

Planning to take a rest day tomorrow and go golfing as long as the weather is nice.

Heavy Duty

Feeling pretty good after the 30 minute AMRAP yesterday. Went in at 8pm for Open Gym to do the following gem I concocted. Brent did it all with me and then Kevin joined us for the WOD when he was done coaching the class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Back Squats

Week #5 of the squat program. Things are getting heavy! I warmed up with 5@95#, 5@135#, and 3@185#.

  • 6 @ 220#
  • 6 @ 235#
  • 6 @ 250#
  • 4 @ 265#
  • 3 @ 280#
  • 6 @ 235#

The 6 reps at 250# might have been the toughest part of this and I was wondering how in the world I was going to get the next two sets done, but they were actually easier.

Push Press

5×5 @ 165# and then did MAX reps on the 5th set, getting 7.

These felt really heavy, especially with my calves getting more sore from 153 box jumps yesterday. Glad we picked this weight though.

WOD

21-15-9

  • Row calories
  • Goblet Squats (53# KB)
  • T2B

Went out a little too hot on the rower and had to back off. Never set the KB done during my goblet squats. Kept my T2B around sets of 6 so I didn’t rip. Finished in 6:57. Pretty good WOD where you could keep pushing the whole way. Got a little rest during the T2B before jumping back up.

Hero WOD McGhee

Yesterday we held a competition at Survival Fitness for beginner’s and scaled athletes. I ran the computer all day taking care of the scoring. I did win the 1 minute burpee challenge with 29 reps. It was a great event and of course a bunch of us partied afterwards. I got home at 8pm and passed out until this morning. Feeling kind of rough, but went to the noon class.

Warm-up

  • 1 mile run
  • Deadlifts (5 @ 155#, 5 @ 225#, 3 @ 275#)

I wasn’t setting any PRs on my mile today so kind of just took it easy.

WOD

“McGhee”
30:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Deadlifts (275#)
  • 13 Push-ups
  • 9 Box Jumps (24″)

Brent and I paced each other on this one. We were doing our rounds in about 1:20-1:30 and rested about 20-30 seconds after each round. I wanted to get over 15 rounds without killing myself, especially with a hangover. So many reps of heavy deadlifts were going to put a toll on the back too. We finished 6 rounds in a little more than 10:00 and pretty much kept the same pace throughout. Got done with the 17th round and had about 15 seconds left on the clock, but that was enough.

I’m feeling better already.

Squats Are Getting Easier

In around 10 this morning and trained with Laura and Kinde. I came up with most of the programming for the day and Matt added the explosive work.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)
  • 2/2 World’s Greatest Stretch

XWOD

7:00 EMOM

  • 2 Sumo Deadlifts (Fast reps and reset at the bottom, no bouncing – 205#)
  • 2 Broad Jumps for distance

Was supposed to use 40% for the deadlifts, but I didn’t want to calculate so picked 205#. Should have been closer to 180# I guess, but these weren’t hard so heavier was better I think.

Strength

Finishing up week 4 of the squat program. The back squats were pretty brutal, but the front squats weren’t too bad. Lot’s of volume though. Warmed up a bit with 135#.

  • 5 @ 160#
  • 5 @ 175#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 4 @ 230#

Rested about 2 minutes between each set. I think this program is really paying off. The last two weeks look pretty brutal so we’ll see how it goes.

Olympic Lifting

7 Sets

  • Power Clean
  • Hang Power Clean
  • High Hang Power Clean
  • Rest 90s

I started at 115# and went up 10# each set, ending at 175#. Wasn’t easy there at the end, but I felt like I was staying over the bar pretty well and getting decent hip extension.

WOD

15-10-5

  • Power Clean (155#)
  • Bar-facing Burpees

I had to switch collars after about 5 reps because they kept popping open and flying all over the place. Smacked myself in the chin on a jerk about halfway through the round of 10. 155# didn’t feel too bad today. Finished in 9:20.

Finisher

Tabata Air Dyne

This was pretty terrible after all the other work. I only managed to get 72 calories.