Year: 2014

Controlled Falling

Got moving pretty late this morning, but still made it to 9am, even though it was a few minutes late. I’ve never been late to a class. Legs are pretty tight today, either from the thrusters on Sunday or back squats yesterday.

Shoulder Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 3×125#
  • 7x5x135#

Phew! Somehow made it through all the sets again.

Conditioning

5:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 10 American KBS (53#)

All unbroken for 5 rounds plus the 10 wall balls. Got to the kettlebell, but didn’t get it locked out in time for a rep.

Rested 2:00, then…

5:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Curtis P (95#)
  • 5 Burpees

Ugh, damn barbell. Finished 3 rounds and with only about 8 seconds left I didn’t pick up the bar.

At 6:30 I attended a running technique class. Dan recorded us, talked about running form, had us do a bunch of drills, and then recorded us again. My main problem was running too much on my toes, which is what I’ve always thought running on my midfoot. Apparently not. But at least I don’t heel strike like the majority of people. Felt weird to try landing more back on my foot. I’ll have to continue to think about it as well as concentrating on the lean, which I’ve already been trying to work on.

Started feeling my hamstrings a lot more in the afternoon and at night. I’m surprised I could run at all with my quads tight from thrusters and squats and now my hamstrings from the deadlifts.

DSC_0472

Paying Off

I’m very surprised that my legs work today. Usually after doing “Karen” I can barely walk for 3 days, so was sure that the 260 training bar thrusters would be worse. In for the 9am class at CFi. I didn’t really warm up much today other than a 2:00 squat hold.

Strength

  • 10×45# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-ups
  • 5×135# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 5×185# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×225# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×235# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×245# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×255# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×265# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×275# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups

Taking it easy so I don’t tweak my back again. Focused on not bottoming out with a butt wink. Did nice and controlled descents on the push-ups with an explode up, trying to keep a vertical forearm.

Midline

10-20-30-20-10

  • Sit-ups
  • Russian Twists (35# KB)

Not for time, but all done unbroken.

Conditioning

21-15-9

  • Deadlifts (225#)
  • Over the Bar Burpees

Did my deadlifts in 12-9, 9-6, and 9. Didn’t stop on the burpees and had a little let to push on the last round. Finished in 4:41. If I were to do it again I think I’d go for the round of 15 unbroken.

Jumped on the rower for an easy 10 minutes and covered 2,045 meters.

Hit the garage in the afternoon to use the Ski Erg. Warmed up with 1,000 meters in 4:52 and then I hit the interval workout I did on the first day I got the machine, which wasn’t much more than a month ago. I didn’t just beat my times on everything, I destroyed them.

Max effort intervals

  • 60m (0:12)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 60m (0:12)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 100m (0:19.7)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 100m (0:19.3)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:29)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:28.4)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:28.2)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 200m (0:37.2)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 500m (1:45)

Although this is programmed as a continuous series of intervals, it really should be treated as 2 sections. The 1st 3 intervals (2×60, 2×100, 1×150) and the 2nd 3 intervals (1×150, 1×200, 1×500). The 1st intervals are short and very explosive efforts that will recruit your fast twitch muscle fibers. The 2nd 3 intervals are all gearing up to that final 500m max effort. The final 3 intervals are focused on creating endurance while your fast twitch fibers are fatigued.

Set PRs on every interval and if the distance repeated, I beat it again! I’ll keep track of the 100, 200, and 500 on the PR page. The first time I did this, it absolutely smoked my arms, but I didn’t get any of that today. Hopefully the improvement is a combination of hard work over the last month and improved technique, not just the latter. Walked a half mile to cool down.

Tabata Thrusters

Really needed the rest day yesterday. Was up early do go play in a golf scramble. Kind of a shitty day since we had to use all of our rain gear. I was exhausted when I got home.

Got up early this morning, put on the weight vest and headed out for a brisk walk before eating or drinking anything. It was 3.06 miles in 44:05 with the additional 20# strapped to me.

Over to CFi at 12:30 to train with Kevin. Got started with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then did some warm-up sets of shoulder press with 5×45#, 5×95#, and 5×115#. Did a few single muscle-ups and some swinging on the rings too.

XWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Shoulder Press (127.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Muscle-ups
    • 2s: Kipping Muscle-ups
    • 1s: Weighted Kipping Muscle-up

First time trying a weighted muscle-up. Failed with 20#, then failed with 10#, and made it with 10# on the last one. Shoulder press was the biggest struggle I’ve had out of any day in the 2 cycles. I may have to reevaluate my plan for these last 3 days. I should have been fresh after the rest day yesterday, but even the muscle-ups felt sluggish in my shoulders.

Gymnastics

E30S 11:00

  • 3 C2B Pull-ups

Was planning to go for 4 every 30 seconds for 8:00 as a step up from 60 total reps doing 6 EMOM 10:00 last week, but after the XWOD I decided to adjust. Went the extra minute to get more volume in. Started doing butterfly chest-to-bar for the first time. Had a kipping one mixed in here and there, but was over 90% butterfly. I’ve never been able to string them together before today. Making GAINZ in many areas lately.

Experimenting

16:00 Tabata (32 Rounds)

  • 20s Thrusters (15#)
  • 10s Rest

Trying out something new. This was all about building an aerobic base for thrusters, which will continue to be built on. The goal is not to go balls to the wall, but slow, controlled, and consistent. I got 8 reps every round and went for it, getting 12 on the final round, which comes to a total of 260 thrusters! Not hard or terrible, but pretty boring. I’m a little worried how bad the DOMS is going to be.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 500m Row
  • 3 Rounds
    • 5 Snatches (95#)
    • 10 T2B
    • 15 Ring Push-ups

Pulled around 1:45-1:48 on the row. Did all TnG snatches, 5-5, 5-5, and 5-3-2 on T2B, 5-5-5, 6-5-4, and 6-5-4 on the ring push-ups. Finished in 7:13.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 20 GHD Sit-ups

All under 2 hours.

Friday Grindin’

Forgot I wanted to finish off the 2nd week of Smolov Jr before class, so rushed off to get there. Hit up Crossover Symmetry Activation and got right into it the lifts.

Shoulder Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 3×135#
  • 10x3x142.5#

I nearly missed the last one in the 8th working set, but made sure to keep tight and use the bounce on the final two sets and didn’t have a problem. One more week of the cycle and then I might reset for another one instead of testing my max.

Did some banded tricep stretching after to continue warming up.

Skill

IMG_4866Practiced triple unders for 8-10 minutes. First by just getting one at a time and stopping. I was able to get 2 in a row several times, but I need to work on slowing down the rope after the 3rd spin because it kept coming around and hitting my feet before I had time to jump again. Jump will need work too. I was kicking my feet back a lot. I think I’ll have to work on these using my Rx rope instead of the RPM, because the bare cable can draw blood!

Conditioning

20:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Power Cleans (155#)
  • 15 T2B
  • 20 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 25 Sit-ups
  • 30 Air Squats

All singles for the cleans, 3 sets of 5 each round for toes to bar, and broke deadlifts up into 2 sets of either 10-10, 11-9, or 12-8. Completed 3 full rounds plus 10 cleans, 15 t2b, 20 deadlifts, and 3 sit-ups. It was a grinder!

Accessory

Farmer’s Carry

  • 135m (62# & 53# KBs)
  • 100m (62# & 53# KBs)
  • 100m (2×44# KBs)
  • 135m (2×44# KBs)

Owwww! Shoulders and forearms on fire after this.

Quick afternoon session in the garage. Warmed up with 5 minutes on the Air Dyne at about 55 PRM for 2.18km and then rested two minutes.

5 Rounds

  • 10 Plyo Lunges (Jumping)
  • 1:00 Air Dyne
  • 2:00 Rest

Really had to push in the last couple to keep going. Distances were 0.76, 0.78, 0.79, 0.78, and 0.8 km. Cooled down with another 5 on the AD for 2.14km. Rest day tomorrow!

Knees to Feet

Slept in until after 8 this morning, which never happens. Needless to say I didn’t go to the 9am class. Headed out to the garage around 10:30 and knocked out Crossover Symmetry Activation. Then I started getting warmed up for the XWOD.

Warm-up

  • 5×45# Shoulder Press
  • 2 Kneeling Jumps
  • 5×95# Shoulder Press
  • 2 Kneeling Jumps (5.5″)
  • 4×115# Shoulder Press
  • 2 Kneeling Jumps (10.5″)
  • 4×125# Shoulder Press
  • 1 Kneeling Jump (12.5″)

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 Shoulder Press (135#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Kneeling Jumps
    • 2s: 10″
    • 1s: 12.5″

Bumped up the height a bit from where I’d been doing these previously. Wanted to go higher, but couldn’t get myself to attempt it at 14″. Here’s a slomo of my last jump of the day. I have a feeling the final day of shoulder press for week 2 is going to be rough tomorrow.

EMOM 10:00

  • 3 Power Clean & Push Jerk 185#

Man, do I need this type of work. Keep on pushing 1 rep at a time. After getting a few rounds in, it was taking me about 30 seconds to complete the reps as singles.

Walked 0.42 miles right after and then did Crossover Symmetry Recovery.

Afternoon session at CFi with Kevin before classes started. I worked on some triple unders doing one at a time while I was waiting.

Row

5 Rounds

  • 600m @ moderate pace (2:02-2:05)
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 100m @ 100%
  • 100m Easy
  • 100m @ 100%

Not too bad. My ass was really feeling fatigue (not from the seat) in the last round. Took me 22:40 (17:40 not counting the 5 rest periods). Walked about 400m after and then did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap before I left.

Pain Travels

Left calf is still really sore, but I’m able to move around on it, so that’s a good sign. Went to CFi at 9 for some lifting. Started out with Crossover Symmetry Activation and some snatch positioning with an empty bar.

Muscle Snatches

  • 2×75#
  • 2×95#
  • 2×105#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×125#

Snatches

  • 1×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×175#
  • 1×185#
  • 1×170#
  • 1×180#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×175#
  • Fx185#
  • 1×185#
  • Fx195#
  • Fx195#

Figured I’d try out some waves today. I guess I’d count the first 6 lifts as one big wave since it wasn’t a drop, so didn’t have a miss until the middle of the last wave. Getting the bar plenty high enough as usual. Called it a day after 3 misses. Glad to have hit 185 a couple of times and 190 once. Calf didn’t seem to affect anything.

Front Squats

Warmed up with 5×135# and 3×205#. Then did the following sets every 2 minutes.

  • 2×240#
  • 2×255#
  • 2×270#
  • 1×290#
  • 1×295#
  • 1×295#
  • 1×285#
  • 1×285#

Harder than it should have been, which is why I didn’t keep going with 295#. Calf didn’t hold me back here either.

Went back for the 5:30 class. My low back started acting up again this afternoon. 😦

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 40 Mountain Climbers
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Skill

I tried a few bar muscle-ups and got up there on the first one. Need to work the skill soon like I’ve been doing on the rings.
3 Rounds NFT

  • 4 Wall Walks + 20s Handstand Hold
  • 2 Rope Climbs (13′)

Those wall walks are so deceiving. Always end up breathing hard after a couple of them.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 OHS (95#)
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 20 Sit-ups

I have my butterfly down now! No problem getting all of the pull-ups. The EMOM work on muscle-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups must be helping a ton. Finished in 6:07 with everything unbroken. Sit-ups got slow though.

More Skill

4 x Wall Walk + Handstand Hold each time

We all did it together. He had us go for a max hold on the last one and I got around 1:30 before I bailed.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 20s Rest

The hollow holds were not easy after coming right out of a long handstand hold!

Cool Down

2k Row

Nice and easy, keeping pace under 2:10/500m. Finished in 8:28.

Gimpy Calf

Yesterday I played 18 holes of golf (rode in a cart) in the morning and did DDP YRG Diamond Cutter at night. Body felt pretty beat up all day. My low back felt pretty tight last night when I’d wake up and roll over in bed. In for the 9am at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Squat Hold
  • Rapid Toe Touches
  • Zombie Kicks
  • Inch Worms w/ Cobra
  • 5 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (245#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (315#)
  • Couple of jump course runs

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Deadlifts (335#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 PVC Jump Course

We had about 6 different PVC heights setup. I tried to get through them all each time, but would often miss the last one once during the double rounds because my spacing was off. I tweaked my left calf on the last jump in the 6th round of the course so didn’t jump again after that. Same area where it was really tight last week. Hopefully nothing serious.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Push-ups
  • 15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Kept everything unbroken with an extra breath or two between movements. Finished 5 rounds plus 5 push-ups, 15 wall balls, and 3 swings.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 20s Rest

Strength

Since we switched it up with deadlifts today I needed to get in my shoulder press since I’d already taken 2 days off from last doing them on Saturday. Stayed after class for week 2 day 2 of my 2nd Smolov Jr. cycle.

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 7x5x127.5#

Little rough after the shoulder work in the WOD. Made it through though.

Kevin had me do a bunch of mobility and SMR work on that left calf. Ouch!

Went out in the garage for an afternoon session around 3. Started with an easy 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg in 5:19 and then rested about 4 minutes.

E2M 30:00

  • 250m Ski Erg

The original plan was to go as long as I could without the time getting over 1:00. I quickly realized that could take all night so I settled on 12 rounds. Got there and said I need the push so did 15. I’d say if your speed starts to drop a couple of seconds, stop anywhere after 10 of these. My splits were 58.6, 58.2, 58.1, 58.1, 58.2, 58.6, 58.2, 58.4, 58.4, 58.4, 58.2, 58.2, 58.1, 58.2, and 56.6. So I had two at 58.6 and all of the rest were 58.1-58.4, with the exception of the 15th, where I pushed through to the end. My shorts and socks were soaked all the way through. Gets hot and humid in the closed garage.

I did a real slow 5:00 on the Air Dyne to cool down since it had started raining outside. Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Narrow Grip

My left calf is still sore, I have some tightness in my low back and neck, and traps are definitely sore. Went out to the garage around 9:30.

30:00 Air Dyne (AD2) @ Z1

Went 11.52 km, keeping RPM between 45 and 50. After doing a little reading on zone 1 training, I’d been going a little hard previously.

Headed to workout with Kevin at 3:30. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then we did a little yoga to loosen up.

OHS

  • 5×45#
  • 3×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 3x60kg
  • 1x70kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x85kg
  • 1x90kg
  • 1x95kg
  • Fx100kg (PR attempt)
  • 5x2x60kg (narrow with pinkies on mark)

I don’t think I’ve done a heavy OHS in 2014. Could tell working up too. Made 95kg, which I’ll call 210# with the collars on. Just five pounds below my old PR, so I’ll take it for the day. I didn’t try the PR again because I could tell my low back wasn’t having it. Still tight. We dropped down and I figured I’d try them with a narrower grip. Not too bad!

Gymnastics

EMOM 10:00

  • 6 C2B Pull-ups

Up from 5 last week. Kept losing the kip after the 4th rep again, but tried a few things that helped it here and there. Still needs work.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 10 Weighted Pistols (26# KB)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Pistols were tough. Mostly broke them up into 6-4. I should have stuck to the 18# since today was the first time I’ve ever tried a weighted pistol. Did all of the KBS unbroken and finished in 10:30. After picking myself up off the ground I walked about 200m. Got home and put in a little more work.

30-20-10

  • Push-up
  • GHD Sit-up

Took me 4:41. Push-ups help up surprisingly well. The GHDs got horrible though.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap to call it a weekend.

All Push

Massage was great yesterday. Definitely needed one. The outside of my left calf is sore! Headed out to the garage around 8:30 this morning.

Warm-up

  • 500m Ski Erg

Went at about 70%, in 2:25.

SkiErg Intervals

3 Rounds

  • 6 Rounds
    • 30s @ 100%
    • 30s Rest
  • 3:00 Rest (total, don’t rest the 30s extra after the 6th)
  • Round 1 meters: 134-137-135-134-132-134
  • Round 2 meters: 140-138-135-134-135-133
  • Round 3 meters: 137-136-135-135-132-133

Damn! That was a battle. Just enough rest to let you go hard again. I picked up some extra technique stuff from an old video on the CrossFit Journal showing to go up on the toes during the recovery phase, which gives your body more room to drop. Seemed to work and I’m getting more comfortable with the rhythm of the machine. Was holding 1:45-1:50 once I got the flywheel going on each interval.

Walked 0.45 miles around the block for a cool down.

Went over to CFi around 11. I did Crossover Symmetry Activation to get started. Then started warming up with shoulder presses and seated box jumps for the XWOD. Did 10×45#, 6×95#, and 6×115# shoulder presses. Also 2×24″, 2×32″, 2×35.5″, 1×38″, and 1×42″ seated box jumps.

2014-08-10-seated-box-jumpXWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Shoulder Press (120#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Seated Box Jumps
    • 2s: 42″
    • 1s: 45.5″

 

Weightlifting

E90S 15:00 (10 sets)

  • 2 Squat Cleans

I went 165-175-185-195-205-215-220-225-235-245. Reps were TnG through 195# and then I dropped the bar between reps. Was thinking to go up by 5# at a time after 215# but after 2 little jumps, I went for broke with two 10# jumps to finish. My max clean is 260# so that felt pretty good to hit 245# for a double at the end of that work.

Conditioning

21-11

  • Handstand Push-ups
  • Ring Dips
  • Push-ups

The plan started out as doing “J.T.” but after the round of 21 we made an executive decision to adjust. Everything was pretty much down to singles by that point and we wanted to be able to use our arms at the Adventure Park tonight. My time was 9:52.

Midline

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Grabbed some sushi after.

2014-08-09-sushi

Attack

No issues with the back last night. 🙂 No golfing this week to stay away from twisting the back though, so in at the 9am.

Warm-up

Reverse Hypers

  • 10×70#
  • 10×100#
  • 10×120#

EMOM 10:00

  • 1/1 Turkish Get-up

Did 2 rounds with 26#, 4 with 35#, and 4 with 44#. I could feel I need to be doing these more often for my shoulder stability.

Skill

Pick your own adventure.

EMOM 10:00

  • 3 MU

I had to do 2+1 on the 10th round, so then switched to 2 every minute (no extra rest going to the next part).

EMOM 5:00

  • 2 MU

WTF! 40 muscle-ups in one day? On July 5th Kevin had me do a 10:00 EMOM and I was surprised to make it through doing 2 the whole way. Since then I’ve been working muscle-ups every week with some type of EMOM work. I’ve gotten 10x more comfortable with the movement in that time and have improved a lot. Attack a weakness for a month!

Conditioning

10-8-6-4-2

  • Burpees
  • Pull-ups
  • 30 DU

Was a little worried what the pull-ups might feel like after all of the muscle-ups, but I was able to do all unbroken sets of butterfly pull-ups. I missed on double unders 3 or 4 times in the last 10 reps of the 4th round. Ugh! Finished in 5:15.

1 Mile Run – Nothing crazy. But we did kick it in gear for about the last 300m and then sprinted out the last 80-100m or so.

My calves were on fire. Don’t remember them ever feeling like that before. I think the combination of sprints and box jumps together with dubs and the run today did not make them happy. I did a whole bunch of calve and hamstring stretching before leaving the gym. Getting a massage this afternoon.