Year: 2014

Spaz(m) Out

I only had one back spasm through the night. On the mend. In for the 9am class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • 3×15 Reverse Hypers (30#)
  • 15-10 Good Mornings (45#)
  • 10 Air Squats
  • Bottom Squat Holds
  • Wall Squat Stretch (laying on ground)
  • 5×155# Deadlifts
  • 5×245# Deadlifts
  • 2x25m Run
  • 2x25m Run @ 90%

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Deadlifts (315#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Sprints
    • 2s: 25m Sprint
    • 1s: 50m Sprint

Kept the weight lighter and focused on speed of the lifts. Controlled every rep back to the ground.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 1:00 Wall Balls (20#, 10′
  • 1:00 Sit-ups
  • 1:00 Rest

In the first round I went 26-17-27. Didn’t hear Kevin correctly and stopped wall balls early. Had time for a few more reps. Second round was better with 24-20-29, and busted ass for 25-23-29 in the last round.

Walked about 200m after and then did a bunch of hamstring stretching.

Afternoon session in the garage started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Shoulder Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 10x3x135#

I set the clock and went every 2 minutes. Might have to rethink adding 10# to each workout for the 2nd week of the cycle.

8:00 AMRAP

  • 2 Chin-ups (Strict)
  • 4 HR Push-ups
  • 6 Air Squats

Stole this little gem with a modification of my own.

I got 16 rounds plus 2 chin-ups, 4 push-ups, and 1 squat for a 16+7. I did it on my little rack, so tried to get my feet out in front of me in a good hollow position so they’d have as little contact with the ground as possible at extension. Push-ups got a little slow on my towards the end but never stopped.

Jumped on the Air Dyne (AD2) for 10 easy minutes at about 50-55% and went 4.49km to cool down. Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Like a Monarch

Back spasms throughout the night for the 2nd night in a row. Just feels tight the rest of the day. Tried to get in for a massage today, but got canceled, so might see a chiropractor tomorrow if it doesn’t improve. Otherwise massage on Friday instead. Went in to CFi early with Kevin for a shoulder press XWOD as part of my Smolov Jr. cycle. Did a bit of warming up with the Crossover Symmetry bands, but was pressed for time so not much really. Did sets of 5×45#, 5×95#, and 4×115# shoulder press to lead up to my working sets.

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 Shoulder Press (127.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 of 5-10-5 Shuttle Drill
    • 2s: 10s rest between each run of the drill
    • 1s: Wearing 20# weight vest

Shoulder presses felt really good.

Midline

We worked on some parallette headstand stability stuff, going from the floor, to upside-down L, to straight body, and back and forth. Pretty fun!

Conditioning

Kevin asked me to come up with something, which is never easy on the spot so early in the morning. 🙂

5 Rounds

  • 6 Push Jerks (135#)
  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 10 Wall Ball Sit-ups (20#)

I kept everything unbroken. When I jumped up on the bar I figured I’d give butterfly pull-ups a shot since I’ve been talking about them and hadn’t tried any since getting the shoulder impingement back in January. I was able to do all 5 sets of 8 unbroken with the butterfly! Kept a nice controlled pace and was able to keep the rhythm going. Finished in 6:01.

10:00 Row (easy)

I kept around a 2:10/500m pace. Went 2,321 meters.

When I got home I did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

Since I didn’t get the massage, I had some time to go out to a track for some running. Went to Heritage but everything is all locked up because they are completely renovating their track. Looks nice from what I could see. They had a sign up telling people to go to White Pine Elementary, so that’s where I went.

IMG_4834.JPG

  • 400m Jog
  • 100m Walk
  • 6 Rounds (skip rest/recovery after the 6th 400m)
    • 400m Run @ mile PR pace
    • 15s Rest
    • 200m Jog (slow recovery)
  • 500m Walk
  • 400m Jog

I ran the 400s in 1:31, 1:32, 1:33, 1:32, 1:31, and 1:31. I wanted to keep them all under 1:35 since I ran just under a 6:20 mile a couple of years ago. Would still love to run a 6 minute mile one of these days.

Ride it Out

My low back, ass, and hamstrings are all pretty sore today. Time for some active recovery, done early morning in the garage.

30:00 Air Dyne (AD2)

Kept the RPMs beween 60-65. Racked up 618 calories and 15.34 km. Stood up 3 or 4 times or different lengths. Was sweating like a pig but wasn’t a high intensity.

At night I did DDP YRG Red Hot Core.

My back side is extremely tight. It’s rough standing up straight when I get out of the chair.

Running Bear

Not feeling it when I woke up this morning. Thought about staying home and hitting up a class later, but got my ass moving and made it to the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 4 Rounds
    • 30s Squat Hold
    • 30s Ring Hang
  • 10 Air Squats

Strength

  • 10×45# Back Squats
  • 5×135# Back Squats
  • 4×225# Back Squats
  • 4×245# Back Squats
  • 4×265# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips
  • 4×270# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips
  • 4×275# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips
  • 4×280# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips
  • 4×275# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips
  • 4×275# Back Squats
  • MU + 5 Ring Dips

The last rep with 280# didn’t feel so good on my low mid back, so I dropped 5# and did the last two sets instead of continuing to increase. Really focused on staying tight with my chest up on the last 2 sets. Decided to do my ring dips up in support after a muscle-up for an extra challenge.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Bear Complexes (115#)
    • Squat Clean Thruster
    • Back Thruster
  • 10 Burpees
  • 300m Run

I did 4 complete rounds plus 3 bear complexes. Dropped the bar on every rep during the 4 rounds and then did the final 3 unbroken as the clock was running out. Weight was perfect for this. Runs sucked! Walked about 200m after the workout.

Glad I made it in and got the workout done. Took an afternoon break out to the garage and started with Crossover Symmetry Activation to get the shoulders ready. Also did some shoulder press sets to get warm with 5×45#, 5×75#, and 5×105#.

XWOD

  • 5-5-5-5-5-5-5 Shoulder Press (120#)
  • Push-ups 2-1-2-1-2-1-2
    • 2s: 20# Weight Vest
    • 1s: Clapping w/ vest

Shoulder presses felt better than the first day back on a Smolov Jr. cycle. The push-ups weren’t that bad. Maybe not the greatest choice for the XWOD.

SkiErg

  • 500m
  • Rest 2:1
  • 5-8 Rounds *If you begin falling off pace dramatically then stop, minimum of 5 efforts*
    • 250m @ 85-95% of 500m pace (~2:02)
    • Rest 1:1
  • 500m

I set a PR on the first 500m with a 1:49.6 and really fell off pace in the last 200m. Would do better not going out so fast, but I was trying the technique improvements (see video below) and didn’t have any idea what I’d be able to do. My splits on the 250s were consistent, actually getting faster as I got more comfortable with the technique.

  • 1:02.4
  • 1:02.5
  • 1:02.0
  • 1:01.9
  • 1:01.0
  • 1:01.3
  • 1:01.3
  • 1:01.1

Then the last 500m my goal was to be able to hold the pace I’d been using for the 250m intervals since it was on the short rest coming off the last one. Did a 2:01.2, so goal accomplished.

Walked 0.44 miles around the block to cool down and catch my breath. Then did Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Setting a Baseline

We didn’t get to do the Adventure Park in the trees yesterday because there was thunder in the area. Knees are feeling the squatting from cleans yesterday but already better than they felt last night. Headed over to CFi at noon. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

“Baseline”

  • 500m Row
  • 40 Air Squats
  • 30 Sit-ups
  • 20 Push-ups
  • 10 Pull-ups

I’ve always wanted to try this. Did the row in about 1:50 or slightly under and then unbroken on all of the movements to finish in 4:33. I need to work on faster air squats.

EMOM 10:00

  • 5 C2B Pull-ups

Had originally planned muscle-ups, but don’t work the chest to bar pull-ups enough. Did each round unbroken.

Snatch

  • 45# Position Work
  • 3×75# Muscle Snatch + OHS
  • 3×95# Power Snatch + OHS
  • 3×115# Snatch
  • 2×130# Snatch
  • E30S 10:00
    • 145# Power Snatch
    • 145# OHS

The every 30 second complex at the end got bad pretty early. After 4 I wanted to shorten it in half. Wouldn’t let myself though and made it all the way through. A lot of work on the wrists!

20:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Strict Ring Dips
  • 6 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 9 Weighted Step-ups/downs (40# sandbag)
  • 12 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 50m Sled Drag (25m down and back, 38# sled + 135#)

Wanted a longer workout where I could just keep moving. I wasn’t rushing anything, but kept everything unbroken. Finished 7 rounds plus 3 dips and 6 deadlifts. Walked about 400m after.

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Managed to get 14-13-13-14-13-13-13-14 on the reps.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap (blue/purple).

At night I did DDP YRG Below the Belt.

Back Home

This morning before leaving the cottage I did DDP YRG Wake Up.

Went over CFi just before 2pm. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

MAX set of pull-ups – 20

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 6x6x115#

Could tell I hadn’t moved any weight in a week. This starts a new cycle of Smolov Jr. for shoulder press.

Clean

  • 2x60kg
  • 2x70kg
  • 2x80kg
  • 2x85kg
  • 2x90kg
  • 1x95kg
  • 1x100kg
  • 1x103kg
  • 3x1x105kg

Felt pretty good considering I hadn’t squatted in a week.

10 Rounds

  • 100m Row
  • 1:00 Rest

Fun! I hit a pace of 1:19/500m in some of the last intervals. Hadn’t been within a few seconds of that before. My splits were: 16.8, 16.7, 16.7, 16.4, 16.5, 16.7, 16.7, 16.7, 16.4, 16.6. I’ll take that consistency any day!

Last Day at the Lake

Finally a nice day on vacation! Walked 18 holes of golf this morning and had one of my best 9 holes ever. Ended up with a headache from being out in the sun though. Took a couple of short naps and finally decided to sweat some around 5pm. Warmed up with an easy 400m jog.

10:00 EMOM

  • 100m Sprint

Walked 0.43 miles for active recovery.

10:00 EMOM

  • 10s Squat Jumps (20# vest)

Focused on explosive jumps and got 5 each round. Walked 0.28 miles for more recovery

  • 100 Sit-ups

Did it in 3:14.

Heading back home in the morning. It’s been a nice change to get in a bunch of running and gymnastics work, but I’m ready to lift some weights!

Improvement on the Road

I can definitely feel the sprinting in my hamstrings and glutes. Having fun this week without the weights, but I’ll be more than read to lift when I get home Saturday.

Hit the pavement by 8am…

  • 0.13 Mile Walk
  • 2 Mile Run
  • 0.4 Mile Walk

I mapped out this course before I took off using a service that uses Google Maps (gmap-pedometer.com), so I knew exactly where to turn around because it lined up perfectly with a side road. Back in April I ran a 15:58 and was very disappointed. I knew it was a terrible effort. Knocked it out in 14:34 today on a course with some small undulations and not really any warm-up! According to the RunKeeper log and the half mile audio cue I kept a consistent pace.

It took me a couple of seconds to get the stop button pressed on my watch, but I figured it would still make a cool picture.
It took me a couple of seconds to hit the stop button.

About an hour later I did DDP YRG Strength Builder.

Hump Day Sprints

Weather is still chilly. Might not even get into the lake all week! My mid-back is feeling sore this morning.

Did the DDP Yoga Fat Burner video this morning. I think I like the P90X yoga video a lot better, except for the fact it’s 90 minutes long, but maybe I’ll find the right video from the DDP series as I keep trying them.

A couple of hours later…

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Made it all the way through without having to take extra rest! Will work my way up to being able to do Tabata.

Everyone was heading in to Rogers City to watch Kennedy in the Kiddie Parade. I went in early so I could go to the track on my old high school. Jogged 600m and walked 300m to get warm. Then it was time for a few sprints.

  • 400m Run – 1:07
  • 600m Walk
  • 200m Run – 0:30
  • 300m Walk
  • 100m Run – 0:13.6
  • 300m Walk

Timing yourself in sprints is no easy task. I was wearing a watch, so had a little disadvantage with starts and had to try to look at the time as I crossed the finish line. Close enough I guess for some benchmarks.

Strapped the rings up on the goal post and tested a set of unbroken strict ring dips. Got 15! About a year and a half ago was the last time I tried a big set of ring dips and only got 16 kipping. Quite the difference, when not many of my other bodyweight things (other than muscle-ups) have improved during that time.

8:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Ring Rows
  • 50m Run
  • 5 Ball Slams (15#)
  • 50m Run

Fun workout. I kept the reps low so I could keep moving. Did 8 rounds plus 5 ring rows, a run, and 2 slam balls.

Did backwards overhead throws to get the slam ball back. Took me 5 throws to cover 50+ meters. Great for hip extension!

E30S 10:00

  • 5 Ring Push-ups

I set the rings as low to the ground as I could, but being on the 10′ tall goal post, 10-12″ off ground was the best I could do. Did all 20 sets unbroken.

Got back to my parents and jumped on the Air Dyne (AD2) for 20:00.

  • 5:00 Sitting
  • 5:00 Standing
  • 5:00 Sitting
  • 3:00 Standing
  • 2:00 Sitting

Standing up for a long period of time is no easy task. First time I’ve tried it and it was a good way to mix things up. I kept my pace around 60 rpm for the entire 20 minutes, which is around the 55-60% range for me. Totaled 360 calories.

Eight

All of that work with the weight vest wore me out yesterday. Had to take a nap before making dinner for the family. Headed over to Hinks Elementary School before noon.

Warm-up

  • 400m run
  • 100 Band Pulls (red)
  • Shoulder stretching

Skill

MAX Unbroken Muscle-ups

Got 8! That doubles my previous of 4. About a month ago I got a set of 3 for the first time, so goes to show how much improvement you can make if you spend some time working on a weakness.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 5 Toes through rings
  • 6 Pistols (alternating)
  • 30 DU

All toes through rings were unbroken. They are easier to keep going than toes to bars. Pistols could use some work on balancing. I think I got 6 or 7 rounds of double unders unbroken, which was pretty good considering I was on a playground with a mix of dirt, rocks, and mulch. Pretty consistent pacing throughout the rounds to finish in 11:25.

I drove over to Alpena High School to use the track, but that thing is all gated in and locked up. How dumb for a public school! So I stopped at a park that has a paved path/trail. Used RunKeeper to walk out a 400m route, but I’m sure it was off one way or the other.

4 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 50 Air Squats

Ran the first 400 way too fast in about 1:30. All those air squats really sucked in between the runs. Doing 60 pistols probably didn’t help. Took me 13:05. I was out on the trail, so walked the 400m back.

Accessory

50 Diamond Push-ups – 1:51

50 Bench Dips – 1:30

Blew up my triceps with this!