Month: November 2013

CrossFit Swell in Dorado, Puerto Rico

Had a couple of rest days since I came down to Puerto Rico for a work trip. Hit up CrossFit Swell in Dorado this morning for the 7:30am class. It’s just a place in someone’s back yard that has slowly grown into a cool little box. They started as two guys in this little space.

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Warm-up

  • 3:00 Jump Rope (5 burpees each time you miss)
  • 20 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10/10 PVC Around the Worlds
  • 20 PVC OHS
  • 10 PVC Good Mornings w/ side to side twist

Luckily I’m pretty damn good at jump rope singles when I concentrate. Went the entire 3 minutes without a miss.

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 205#
  • 3 @ 235#
  • 3 @ 275#
  • 3 @ 305#

We were supposed to go 60%-70%-80%-90% and I came pretty damn close by winging it. Squats felt really good!

WOD

15:00 AMRAP

  • 20 Goblet Squats
  • 15 KBS
  • 10/10 One-arm KB OHS
  • 5/5 Turkish Get-ups

I went with a 53# KB for everything since they didn’t have a ton and didn’t want to hog two of them. The OHS and Turkish Get-ups with 53# were rough! I went 3/3/2 in the second round of Turkish Get-up, so was 2 reps shy of completing a 2nd round. Did the 2 extra after the clock was done to even out the sides. 🙂 The humidity adds another element to the workout. I’m just soaked to the bone with sweat. Very friendly and welcoming community of people.

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Barbells for Boobs

2013-989-crossfit-barbells-for-boobsWent out to 989 CrossFit this morning for the Barbells for Boobs event. It was a partner workout that Kevin and I paired up for.

“Helen” meets “Grace”

  • 3 Rounds
    • 400m Run
    • 21 KBS (53#)
    • 12 Pull-ups
  • 30 C&J (135#)

Both team members run together, but split up the rest however you want. I did the first round of KBS and then the 2nd and 3rd rounds of pull-ups. Kevin obviously did the opposite movements in those rounds. I think I went 7-6-4, all touch-n-go on my C&J. The 400m runs had to be a little short because the top team did their first run in a minute. We finished in 9:26, tied for 2nd place, but a full minute behind the first place team, who destroyed the runs. In a 1 round Rowling tiebreaker, I did 106m against the other teams 105m, so we officially took 3rd place. It was a really fun event, especially since it was for such a great cause.

I jumped on the rower for 5 minutes to cool down.

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3 Position Clean Work

In at 10am with Kevin for some light work.

Warm-up

  • Shoulder Stretches
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 2:00 Air Dyne

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlifts

  • 45# to warm-up
  • 3 x 3 @ 75#
  • 2 x 3 @ 105#
  • 2 x 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#

Working hard to try and fix my positioning. Feels a little awkward at first and I could really feel the tightness in my back throughout the series. Kevin gave me a good cue for getting shoulders, back, and knees in a good power position. From the knee, I focus on bringing the shoulders back to neutral and the knees and hips naturally move into the correct position to offset my center of gravity. It’s not glamorous or exciting work, but it should pay off big time. Here are some videos…

Strength

Tricep Band Press-downs

  • 5 x 10 (Green band)

Front Squats

Focused on speed, explode up!

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 165#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 215#

Three’s Company

Over to Kevin’s garage to train with him and Alex tonight.

Warm-up

5:00 Air Dyne

OLY

  • Blocks at the knee:
    • 2 x 2 Snatch Deadlifts + 2 Power Snatches @ 95#
    • 2 Snatch Deadlifts + 2 Power Snatches @ 115#
    • 2 Snatch Deadlifts + 2 Power Snatches @ 135#
  • 2 Power Snatches @ 145#
  • EMOM 5:00 – Power Snatch @ 155#
  • EMOM 5:00 – Power Snatch @ 165#
  • EMOM 3:00 – Power Snatch @ 170#

The EMOMs were a little longer because there were 3 of us rotating through each lift. I missed the 2nd one at 170, even though it was OH just fine.

Strength

Pendlay Rows

  • 7 @ 170#
  • 8 @ 185#
  • 8 @ 200#

3 Rounds, paced with 3 of us going

  • 5 Strict HSPU
  • 5 Kipping HSPU
  • 5 C&J @ 135#

The HSPU were on 55# competition plates with an AbMat, so a bit of a deficit. Wanted to get the feel for some touch-n-go C&J for Barbells for Boobs on Saturday.

Back Squats

  • 5 x 3 @ 255# for speed

Conga-line style, so very little rest between sets.

It’s pretty nice having the three of us being so close in a lot of lifts, makes it really easy to cycle through stuff without changing plates all the time. Kevin and Alex were done for the day after this.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 1:30 Rest

Would have done 10 if it wasn’t already approaching 2 hours for the session.

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For the first 2 intervals I was doing a few short fast pulls to get the erg going. Then for the last 3 I went back to a full pull to start. I think I know which one I’ll be sticking with. Is that consistency or what?

Langford Squat Couplets

In at 10am. Feeling spicy in the back and shoulders.

Warm-up

Jump Rope and DU for about 3 minutes.

Squats

Warmed up with 5 front squats @ 45# and 5 back squats at 45#, then into doing Langford Squat Couplets, which are 2 front squats, rack it, immediately into 5 back squats with the same weight.

  • 2/5 @ 95#
  • 2/5 @ 135#
  • 2/5 @ 185#
  • 2/5 @ 225#
  • 2/5 @ 255#
  • 2/5 @ 275#
  • 2/5 @ 285#

Was hoping to hit 275# when I started, so really happy with 285#.

EMOM 10:00

  • 10 DB Bench Presses (45# DBs)

Felt pretty good and right arm wasn’t lagging behind. Didn’t think I’d be able to stick with the 45s all the way, but wasn’t too bad.

3 Rounds NFT

  • 5 Box Jumps (32″)
  • 10 T2B

I haven’t done box jumps since before the knee issue, so was good to test it out.

Got on the rower and did an easy 15 minutes for 3,365m, holding about a 2:10 pace.

The squats were a challenge, but overall a pretty light session. No need to kill myself after just training 13 hours ago though.

3 Hours Bro

Over to Kevin’s garage for a 3 hour training session tonight.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlift

  • 2 x 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#

High Hang Cleans (Power Position, no dip)

  • 5 x 2 @ 135#

These two position pieces really helped my feel. My cleans have felt pretty terrible lately. Even my setup position is feeling better after forcing myself to stay over the bar, but get in a more upright position.

Warmed up the shoulders with 5 x 45# shoulder press, 5 x 45# BTN press, and 5 x 45# split jerks.

Power Clean & Jerk

  • 2 @ 135#
  • 5 x 1 @ 155#
  • 5 x 1 @ 185#

Tried not to go 100% on the jerks because they felt terrible when I did and I don’t need to at these weights. Also worked on slowing down the first pull and pushing the knees out instead of having them cave in on me after the bar gets by them.

Push Presses

  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 190#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 200#
  • 3 @ 205#

That’s a 20# PR on my 3RM and just 10# under the max I set about 5 weeks ago.

Gymnastics

Alternating Tabata (4 each)

  • Hollow Rocks
  • Pull-ups

Did 16-13-12-10 on the pull-ups. Didn’t drop from the bar in the first 2 rounds.

WOD

3 Rounds, Follow the leader style

  • 500m Row
  • 21 KBS (53#)

So we got some rest after completing the KBS each round. Pulled about a 1:46 pace for each 500 and all of the swings were unbroken.

All Over the Place

In at 10am with Matt and Alex.

Warm-up

  • 3-4:00 of Jump Rope & DU
  • 45# Snatch Positions and some Klokov Presses

Power Snatches

  • Positions and some doubles with 95#
  • 2×2 @ 115#
  • E30S 5:00 1 @ 135#

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 3 @ 255#
  • 2 @ 275#
  • 2 @ 295#
  • 1 @ 305#
  • 1 @ 315#
  • 1 @ 325#

Matt and Alex were doing some 7 rep TnG Bear Complex, so I jumped in at 145# for a go. That’s a 20# PR. I actually forgot to do a front squat (power clean right to jerk) on the 2nd or 3rd one, so did an 8th for it to be legit.

I grabbed an empty bar and did a set of 20 shoulder presses.

10 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 30s Rest

Felt pretty rough today on this, but looking back, that’s 5m more than October 4th, which isn’t all that easy to do when you’re sprinting anyway.

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Grabbed an empty bar for 20 more shoulder presses.

Came back at 8pm to do a little more with Matt.

3 Rounds NFT

  • 100m Sled Drag (25# sled + 270#, 50 down and back)
  • 30s Battling Ropes waves
  • 30s Battling Ropes slams
  • 30s Battling Ropes circles

Holy fuck! Tried to do big steps and full foot on the ground for all of the sled dragging. We’ve done 5 plates before, but never 6. Really burned the ass. Those battling ropes are no fucking joke either.

Michigan Rivalry Saturday

Feeling ok after training 5 days in a row, so made it a 6th out in the garage.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne
  • 15# Snatch Warm-up

OLY

  • 2 @ 95# Power Snatches
  • 2 @ 125# Power Snatches
  • 2 @ 145# Power Snatches
  • EMOM 10:00
    • 155# Power Snatch
    • 155# OHS w/ 5s bottom hold

Didn’t have the explosion today, probably from late squats yesterday. Had to keep dropping lower and lower in the EMOM to receive the bar and all of that time OH was killer on the wrists.

Strength

Front Squats

  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 3 @ 255#
  • 3 @ 275#
  • 3×3 @ 245#

Was feeling great in the early rounds, but barely pulled out the 3rd rep at 275#. The last 3 sets weren’t that bad though.

5 Sets

  • 3 Weighted Ring Dips (53#)
  • 10 GHD Sit-ups

WOD

10:00 Air Dyne for calories

Started out way too fast, doing about 95 rpm. Quickly brought that down after the first 30 seconds and kept it just under 80 most of the way. Picked up the pace for the final minute. Ended with 342 calories and 6.47km. Smokes my previous best of 319 calories.

Not the greatest training day, but some good work and I’m feeling good after it. Now off to watch the Michigan vs Michigan State game. GO BLUE!

Rapid Fire Squats with 285#

Went to open gym tonight to train with Brent.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 45# Clean Position Work
  • 95# Clean Position Work

Power Cleans

  • 3 @ 125#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 2 @ 185#
  • 1 @ 215#
  • 1 @ 225#
  • 1 @ 235#
  • F @ 245#

I gave up on that last one before I even started. Would have been a power clear PR. My clean feels terrible compared to my snatch.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 2 @ 255#
  • 10 x 2 @ 285# (rapid fire!)

Brent and I went pretty much one right after the other for those last 10 sets. Finished just under 9:00. Last few sets were a big struggle for me to get the 2nd rep.

Bench Press

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 205#
  • 3 @ 215#
  • 2-F @ 225#
  • 3 @ 205#

Getting better, but right arm was still the failure on 3rd rep at 225#. Don’t think I’ve ever done more than 1 at that weight though.

WOD

5:00 AMRAP

  • 15 Ball Slams (15#)
  • 25 DU
  • 10 Pull-ups

Everything unbroken for 3+42, 8 pull-ups shy of 4 complete rounds. Haven’t done any double unders in weeks, so stoked to have done all 4 sets unbroken. The pull-ups weren’t bad either. Ball slams were terrible in that last round. Triceps were smoked from bench press.