Year: 2013

“Hope”-ing for a Speedy Recovery

Whatever this MudCrud virus is I got from Tough Mudder has ruined an entire week. I did a little work on Monday morning, but none the rest of the week. Headed over to the new Survival Fitness Bay City at 10am today.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row

We were on our own for warm-up and I didn’t want to wear myself out because I know I’d be pacing the WOD really slow anyway.

WOD

“Hope”
3 rounds

  • Burpees
  • Power snatch (75#)
  • Box jump (24″) *Rebounding off the top is allowed
  • Thruster (75#)
  • Chest to bar Pull-ups

“Hope” has the same format as Fight Gone Bad. In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of “rotate,” the athlete/s must move to next station immediately for good score. One point is given for each rep.

Last year I was left with tunnel vision for over an hour after this WOD. I had managed a total of 235 reps with rounds of 82, 74, and 78. No way I was coming close to that with my body beat down. I really paced things and probably rested more than I repped. Did 54-54-53 reps for a 161 total. Was great to sweat it out, but damn I felt like a rookie.

2013-hope

Mud Crud

I’ve been sick since Sunday. Damn Tough Mudder! At least 5 or 6 people from our group were puking sick and many others felt bad. I guess there was an outbreak of norovirus going around from something there. I’ve had mostly sinus issues and fatigue, with night sweats that have kept me from getting much sleep. Haven’t worked all week and have been craving a workout. Went to the ER early this morning to get checked out after reading about some scary things that can cause night sweats.

Decided to hop on the Air Dyne today to sweat on my terms and get moving.

  • 5:00 Warm-up (60-65 rpm)
  • 10 Rounds
    • 30 seconds fast
    • 30 seconds rest
  • 5:00 Cool-down (60-65 rpm)

Knocked out 436 calories and traveled 8.52km. Definitely got my sweat on!

Strength Focus

My legs are feeling a bit sore. Not sure if it’s from the Super Squats or the step-ups on Wednesday. Shoulders are a little tight from the pressing and muscle-ups last night. In at 11 this morning.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)
    • 10/10 Flamingos
    • 10/10 Scorpions
    • 10 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 5 RDLs (135#)
  • 3 Pendlay Rows (115#)
  • 5 RDLs (225#)
  • 3 Pendlay Rows (145#)

Strength

10:00 E2M

  • 5 RDLs (275#)
  • 3 Pendlay Rows (155# first set, then 160# for 4 sets)

Got some new lifting straps that are much easier to use. Really helped with the heavy RDLs.

DB Bench Press

  • 20 @ 35# DBs (DB held with palms facing towards feet)
  • 3 x 20 @ 40# DBs (DB held with palms facing each other)
  • 20 @ 45# DBs (DB held with palms facing each other)

Switched to the other grip after the first round to try to work on keeping that elbow in. Should translate more to ring dips as well.

Sled Work

  • 150m Sled Drag (205#)
  • 3 Box Jumps (32″)
  • 150m Sled Backwards Pull (160#)
  • 3 Box Jumps (32″)
  • 150m Sled Drag (205#)
  • 3 Box Jumps (32″)

Planned on doing 3 of the drag and 3 pulls, but it started raining.

Tough Mudder tomorrow with nearly 30 people from Survival Fitness!

Finally Some Muscle-ups

Went over to the new Survival Fitness Bay City at 5pm, which opens on Monday. Really sweet setup there with a Rogue rig and all brand new equipment.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Jump Rope
  • 2 Rounds
    • 20/20 Band Walks
    • 10 Band Presses
    • 10 Ys & Ts (5.5# plates)

Those band walks and Ys and Ts are such sneaky burners.

Strength

Push presses today. Do a 5×3, working up to a heavy weight, then take 90% and do 3×3 with it.

  • 4 @ 45#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 186#
  • 3×3 @ 166#

Why the weird weights ending in a 6? Because Jason had brought is some of his from home and there were in kilograms. The last time I did a 1RM push press was so long ago, but it was a 190. Today 186 for three was no problem.

Olympic Lifting

7 Sets

  • High Hang Snatch
  • Hang Snatch
  • Snatch

Working the squat on all of them. I used 95#, 100#, 105#, 110#, and then the last 3 sets with 115#. Legs are feeling a bit fatigued from Super Squats and wanted to keep trying to get in quality reps.

WOD

2 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 4 MU
  • 10 Hang Power Snatches (95#)

Did all of the muscle-ups as singles, but did both rounds of snatches without putting the bar down. Finished in 8:41. It was fun to get in some muscle-ups after not having done them since the Open workout back in March. With the 1 rep I did when we got to the gym and then 8 in the WOD it was 9 total for the day, which is the most I’ve done. Before it was 7 from the Open workout. I finally started to feel the turnover of my hands and wrists better on my 2nd round, since I don’t use the false grip. Didn’t miss any reps today either.

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that I got a couple pain of the Reebok CrossFit Nano 3.0 shoes. Wore them last night and today and love them. They are a nice improvement over the 2.0.

nano3-0

Morning Air Dyne

Golfed with a buddy yesterday, so took a rest day.

Conditioning

Did 20 minutes on the Air Dyne at about 9am. RPM was steady at an average of 72. Never saw a number lower than 69 or higher than 74. Totaled 520 calories and 11.41km. Felt good!

Went to Survival Fitness at 8pm for open gym and worked out with Brent.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • 2 Rounds
    • “Cindy” round (strict and quality reps)
    • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)

Strength

Super Squats! I warmed up with 8 @ 45#, 5 @ 135#, 3 @ 185#, and 3 @ 215#. Then I used 245# for the set of 20, up 20# since starting 2 weeks ago. That first week was definitely the hardest though. Really taxing today on the breathing. A couple of hours later I’m feeling tight in my lower back and my neck.

Then I did 3 sets of 20 pullovers with a 60# DB to stretch out the ribs, with the added benefit of working on my chest.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Ring Push-ups
  • 10 T2B
  • 10 Weighted Step-ups (24″ box, 45# DBs)

Originally planned for 5 rounds, but decided to keep it shorter after the super squats which are pretty taxing. Right before we upped to 20 step-ups too, but as soon as we got into them, I quickly made the executive decision that was a bad idea because of the big box. I finished in 4:59. Was able to do all of the push-ups and T2B unbroken, but had to break up the 2nd set of step-ups into 6-4 because of grip, but then powered through the last round. Could barely squeeze my water bottle after.

Low Intensity

Feeling pretty good after the competition yesterday and have a high from the atmosphere, competing, and the win. Little sunburn on my shoulders, but nothing is really sore. In at 10:30 this morning.

Warm-up

Did some mobility work.

Strength

OHS

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 105#
  • 5 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 125#

This is where not using wrist wraps really gets me. Wrists felt like they were going to break on the last two sets.

HSPU

10:00 EMOM: 5 Reps (all strict)

  • 35# Plate Deficit for 4 sets
  • 25# Plate Deficit for 4 sets
  • No Deficit for 2 sets

A couple of weeks ago I used a 25# plate for all 10 sets, so 35# was a significant jump. I think the OHS fried my shoulders a bit and maybe feeling a little fatigue from yesterday. I’ll take the results though.

Conditioning

Kevin, Michelle, and I rotated for 3 rounds (everyone used a bit different weights) of:

  • Air Dyne at an easy pace
  • Backwards Sled Pull (25# + 90# for 2 rounds, 25# + 135# for 1 round)
  • Prowler Walk (90# + 90#)

Took us about 20 minutes to do this and it was all out in the hot sun. Got a nice sweat on.

Nothing too taxing today, but didn’t want to overdo anything after a long day out in the sun yesterday. Competition zaps you more than you realize too.

Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown – 1st Place

Competed at the 3rd Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown, held at CrossFit Worthy in Mount Pleasant today. Teamed up with Michelle, Casey, and Breanne. We brought home first place!

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Tons of fun!

Event 1: Clean & Jerk Ladder

Each team had a bar and enough weight to total 250#. You started with the 45# bar and each person had to lift each weight, increasing by 5 or 10# each lift. Team order stayed the same, but once you missed a lift, you were done.

Michelle set a PR with 135#, then Breanne was out after making a 155# PR. Casey and I had hoped to finish and our timing couldn’t have gone any better. We both finished off the ladder by making 250# PRs, the only team to have 2 guys finish. We took first place in the event!

Event 2: WOD Relay

Each team member completed:
2 Rounds

  • 10 Plate Burpees
  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 6 Clusters (65/95#)

We rocked this one too, taking 3rd place.

Event 3: Run, Row, DU

  • Run 800m as a team
  • Each team member must complete a 300m row, while 2 other members hold a plank, and one rests
  • One attempt at a max unbroken set of DU in a 1:00 time window. Each rep, subtracts a second from overall time

We took 2nd place on this event, only getting beat out by a team that had 4 people just kill the DU. I hit a set of 55 and was pretty happy with that.

We ended up with 6 total points, second had 11, and two other teams tied with 12 points. Long day, with a lot of time out in the sun, but it was a blast.

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More Super Squats

I went golfing this morning and then went in to open gym at about 5:30pm.

Warm-up

5-10 minutes of DU work. I got a streak of 65 and some others over 40.

Strength

Back Squats

Warmed up with 45#, 135#, and 185# for 5 reps each. Last week I did 225# for a set of 20 and originally was just going to try 230# this week, but figured I might as well make it tough so went for 235#. It actually felt easier than last week and I didn’t get that pass-out feeling. Maybe I can try 245# next week!

Pullovers

I did 3 sets of 20 with a 60# DB and they were tough.

WOD

Row 5k

Kept a consistent pace at 20s/m and right around 2:05-2:10 per 500m. Finished in 21:13.8 by upping the pace a bit in the last 1,000m. Good aerobic work heading into the weekend and the competition on Sunday.