Month: January 2015

Still Dark

Woke up at 4:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep. After an hour, I had enough. Got up and headed out to the garage.

Ski Erg

  • 3,000m @ 92% of 2k pace (2:09)

Ended up with an average pace of 2:07.9/500m for a total time of 12:47.6. Kind of nice to already have that done at 6am.

IMG_5596

Had a chiropractor appointment and then went straight to the 4:30 class.

Power Clean & Push Jerk

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×165#
  • 3×185#
  • E20S for 4:00 (12x)
    • 1×205#

Last 3 reps with 205# started to feel some fatigue. The bar was crashing a little and I couldn’t go right from the clean into the push jerk. Had to stand it up for a second and then get it. Felt solid though.

6 Rounds

  • 5 Cleans (135#)
  • 5 Evil Wheels
  • 5 Burpees
  • 30s Rest

All touch-n-go on the cleans and fast burpees. Evil wheels were a rest because they take me a long time with my height. Every round was under a minute for a total time of 7:58.

5 Rounds with partner (alternating with slam ball being the time for the OH hold)

  • 20 Slam Balls (25#)
  • OH Hold

Did the first two rounds of holds with the Earthquake bar and no idea how much hanging on it in KBs, then held a 45# overhead for the next 2 rounds, and back to the bar for the final round. Shoulders were smoked!

Well Rested

Needed that complete rest day yesterday, which was the first one in two weeks. I’d taken days with only some light cardio, but not any complete days off during that span. Was also in bed early last night for over 9 hours of sleep. 🙂 In for the 9am class.

Strength

Push Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×155#
  • 5×175#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×195# (PR)

My shoulders felt a little fatigued, which must be from Sunday. Pretty good speed through all of the reps, which felt good, especially for a 5# PR. Could have spent more time and gone heavier, but it would have been a struggle.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 10/10 Kroc Rows (62# KB)
  • 10 HR Push-ups

Easiest the rows have ever been. I think the muscle-up pulldowns are paying off in multiple ways. Tried to be explosive on my push-ups since 10 is no problem.

Conditioning

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

  • Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • Sit-ups

No reason to break anything up here. Sit-ups are essentially a rest period in this workout. I started going for a pipe on the wall, which is probably a little more than 10.5 feet. Finished in 6:31. I wish I could figure out how to speed up my sit-ups and not slide backwards through a set.

Was nice to get out early so I had more time and energy for a second session. Out to the garage later in the day. Warmed up with 3:00 on the Air Dyne for 1.36km.

Air Dyne

6 Rounds

  • 2:00 @ 120% of 10:00 max cals pace
  • 1:00 Rest

The way I’ve been calculating percentages for AD work is flawed. I knew it seemed really high when 120% came out to 96rpm and it didn’t take longer than a minute at that pace to realize it would be impossible for 6 rounds of double that length. I took some readings of speed (km per hour) to rpms and will try to come up with something more useful. So, needless to say, my pace how a lot slower after round 1. My distances were 1.48, 1.4, 1.32, 1.29, 1.27, and 1.33 kilometers.

Update: After doing some speed to rpm calculations and looking at the average speed for my 10:00 PR, I’m not sure where to go. It says I averaged 38.8km/hr and 120% would be 46.6 which is about what I was trying to hit with 96rpm. My guess is that if there was a calories per hour number it would not follow a progression that the speed or rpms do, but on this cheaper model of the Air Dyne, who knows. The percentages less than 100% I’ve used seem to work fine, so I guess I’ll continue as I have been and when it’s over 100% I’ll just have to adjust and play a little guessing.

squat-deload

Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 4x5x135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×205#

Started focusing on exploding out of the hole and really using my hamstrings. No lifting shoes or belt again, but will go back to them for heavy lifting later this week.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 20 MU Pulldowns
  • 15 Back Extensions (20# Vest)

Damn those last 5 pulldowns in each set were as struggle, even more so probably after having done the Kroc rows this morning. Good work though! Glad I bumped up from 15 per set for the challenge.

Last Laugh

Went out to a comedy show with a bunch of Michigan beers last night called Brew Ha Ha. Was home early though and drank a bunch of water to be ready for today. Can’t miss out on Super Sunday. 😉

I was at the gym early so took the time to get in a little extra warm-up on the rower. Did 1,000m in 4:09 to get moving. Did bottom squat holds and various stretching as well.

Gymnastics

4 Sets

  • Max C2B Pull-ups
  • Rest 1:00

My first set was better than 2 weeks ago and 2nd set was equal, but then fell off hard. The accumulation of the muscle-ups yesterday did me in. Went 15-12-8-8.

Strength / Midline

3 Sets

  • 10 Good Mornings (95#)
  • 5 Evil Wheels
  • 1:30 Rest

Nothing crazy. More of a rest time before getting into the conditioning.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 2 Power Snatches (135#)
  • 4 Bar-facing Burpees

When I wrote this, my goal was to have to dig in order to complete every double as touch-n-go. I made it. 🙂 Nice steady pace on the burpees and kept moving from movement to movement. Total time was 6:15.

Update: Makes me feel good when I see a very similar workout by one of the best. I’d sent the workout to a friend early in the week and looked back to make sure I hadn’t copied, but I had shared it before Spealler even did his workout. I hope to never make claims I’m an expert at programming workouts, but seeing stuff like this makes me think I’m on the right track with some good ideas. I program Sunday workouts a week or two in advance (and tweak up to a few days before we hit it) and a similar thing happened with last Sunday’s workout and something Outlaw did a few days later. Not identical, but along the same lines, with our version fitting our athlete base better.

We rested 10-15 minutes before getting into some Tabata work.

  • Tabata – Thrusters (45#)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • Tabata – DU
  • 2:00 Rest
  • Tabata – Thrusters (45#)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • Tabata – Lateral Bar Hops

I did all sets of 8 on both thruster tabatas. The last few rounds of the 2nd time through were a big shoulder burn. I got a total of 240 double unders and 210 lateral bar hops. I think the bar hops were the worst part of the entire workout and I was not expecting that.

Cooled off with a really slow 2,000m row in 9:59 and then did some foam rolling on my back. That was one of my favorite Sunday workouts.

Bear Struggles

In for the 10am class.

Warm-up

Dynamic for 11 rounds of 15s I think. Combination of jumping jacks, mountain climbers, plank, push-ups, and squat jumps.

Gymnastics

Front squats were on the board, but I’m deloading squats this week, so did my own thing here. I was planning to stay after class and do these, so worked out even better.

E2M 16:00

  • 4 Muscle-ups

I missed the final rep on the 8th set! Then I missed a single 2 more times and called it quits before I tore up a shoulder. Was feeling good, so was kind of surprised I missed, but when I hit that point it’s just done. Most sets of 4s I’ve ever done though.

Conditioning

11:00 AMRAP of 1-2-3-4… Ladder

  • Bear Complex (115#)
  • Burpee

Paced myself right away. Not the kind of day where I want to kill myself going into Super Sunday. I dropped the bar after every bear complex and took a few breaths. Ended up completing the round of 7 and then 1 bear complex of the 8s. Glad I didn’t go with 135#. Using 95# would have been interesting.

Midline

3x with a partner

  • 6 Chest MB Passes
  • 6 OH MB Passes
  • 6/6 Side MB Passes
  • 6 Up MB Passes

Each person goes all the way through before switching out. Used a 20# ball. Those side passes were not bad at all compared to when we do 10 reps.

Deceptive

Tired this morning after going to see American Sniper last night and getting to bed really late. Needless to say, wasn’t going to make it for the 9am class, so I hit this in the garage around noon.

Air Dyne (AD2)

  • 12 minutes @ 95% of 10:00 pace (76 rpm)

On the edge of being uncomfortable. Racked up 7.3km.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 4x5x135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×205#

When I got to 135# I set the clock and did the last 6 sets E2M. Deloading squats for a week after the Super Squats. Didn’t wear a belt or lifting shoes either for some variance.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP @ 80%

  • 30 DU
  • 3 Strict Ring Dips
  • 6 GHD Sit-ups

Nice combination. Missed way too many dubs. Got through 8 full rounds plus 18 double unders.

3:00 Rest

10:00 AMRAP @ 80%

  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 1 Wall Walk
  • 30s HS Hold (Wall facing)

I was sweating bullets by the end of this one. Didn’t expect that, but the handstand holds were pretty rough. I had my hands in closer than usual due to the mat I was using. Finished 5 rounds plus 5 burpees, 10 swings, the wall walk, and 24 seconds of a hold.

Then I hit the bacon truck for some fuel. 🙂

IMG_5586

With Gloves

“Rest” day today. Out to the garage around noon.

Ski Erg

6 Rounds

  • 500m @ 2-4s faster than 2k pace (1:58-2:00)
  • 1:00 Rest

Not bad. Splits were 1:58.2, 1:58.4, 1:58.1, 1:58.1, 1:57.9, and 1:57.5. I thought my first one was 1:58.4 or else I would have went faster on round 2. Nice to get faster is it goes.

Didn’t preheat the garage since I wouldn’t be out there long, so wore gloves.

indoor-skiing-bw

8 Below

I woke up and checked my phone to see what the temperature was like.

negative-8

Almost went back to sleep, but got moving and went to the gym. Only one there this morning so adjusted to suit my liking. 🙂 Did some bottom squat holding and then 10×45#, 5×75#, and 5×95# shoulder presses to warm-up.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Shoulder Press (115#)
  • Evens: 20s Row

Front squats were programmed but my legs are shot from Super Squats. Didn’t feel like going heavy so I kept the shoulder presses light. Went harder each round on the rower, getting 107-109-110-111-113 meters.

5 Rounds

  • 40 DU
  • 20 Sit-ups
  • 20 Russian Twists (45# plate)

Nice change of pace using a plate instead of a kettlebell. I had 2 stupid misses on dubs. After 1 rep in the first round and after 2 reps in the final round. I hate those kind of misses because it’s just a lack of concentration. Finished in 9:04. Was nice that this workout was pretty much just about moving. Was out of breath but didn’t really break a sweat.

Back in the evening to talk about the Open and then do some more work.

Row

  • 12:00 @ 5k pace (1:57)

Kept the average pace under and ended up around 1:56.4 I think for 3,099 meters.

Grabbed a bar and did 5 hang power clean and jerks (45#) and 5 power clean and jerks (95#).

7 Rounds

  • 5 C&J (115#)
  • 10 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 1:00 Rest

Finished at 9:40 with round times of 30, 34, 32, 31, 31, 31, and 31 seconds. Not sure why round 2 was so slow. The clean & jerks felt great and were all unbroken. I missed a box jump in the last round or I think it would have been the fastest round. Box jumps are quickly coming back, which makes me pumped. My calves are shot after super squats, double unders, jerks, and jumps.

4 Rounds NFT

  • 25 Back Extensions
  • 25 Shoulder Taps

Whoops, I had 20 back extensions per round written in my plan but never checked it. No wonder my low back was feeling so pumped at the end of each set.

275# Super Squats

Woke up with a headache, so went back to sleep and skipped the 9am class. Out in the garage around 3pm.

Warm-up

  • 1,500m Ski Erg

Felt good. Took me 6:47.6.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 10 T2B
  • Evens: 15 HR Push-ups

All unbroken. The push-ups got slow at the end of the last two sets, but I never stopped.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×115#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×255#
  • 20×275# (PR)

Super Squats are brutal and make you dig deep. I have a love/hate relationship with them. This was a 15# PR over this summer.

Accessory

3 Sets NFT

  • 15 MU Pulldowns (blue, 7’3″ bar, 5.5″ seat)
  • 15 GHD Sit-ups
  • 15 GHD Reverse Hypers

In just 2-3 weeks the pulldowns have improved a ton. I smacked myself in the forehead on one today I was being so explosive with them. Excited to try a strict muscle-up again now. Only went to parallel on the sit-ups and didn’t use a band for resistance on the reverse hypers. After the squats I didn’t want to put much more stress on my back.

Air Dyne Twenty

My legs were feeling fatigued as the day went on yesterday. Overall I’m feeling pretty good today with nothing too sore. Out in the garage shortly after waking up.

Air Dyne

  • 20:00 @ 80% of 10:00 max effort pace (67 rpm)

Kind of an estimation game to get the rpm pace, but it felt right. RPMs were between 67-71 each time it came around on the display and total distance was 11.01km on the AD2. It’s nice getting the workout in early for the day.

Going Overhead

Another Super Sunday! Only 45 days until the first Open workout is announced. Warmed up with a lot of stretching and mobility stuff.

5 Sets

  • 3 Strict HSPU

Didn’t use a deficit on the first set, but then went 1.5″, 2.5″, 3″, and 4″ or the other sets.

E2M 12:00

  • Thrusters (95#)
  • C2B Pull-ups

I did 12 thrusters and 10 chest-to-bar for the first two rounds and then adjusted to 10 and 8 the rest of the way because I wasn’t getting enough rest time. This was so much worse than I planning it to be. Would have been more of what I wanted by going every 3 minutes. That’s ok though; it was hard!

10:00 Rest

3 Cycles

  • 2 Rounds
    • 5 Push Jerks (115#)
    • 10 Deadlifts (115#)
    • 15 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 2:00 Rest

This comes from Open Workout 13.2. Changed from 5 cycles to 3 after the thrusters and pull-ups. Ended up being perfect and kept up the intensity. I need to get my box jumps back so I forced myself to jump everything instead of bitching out to step-ups when I got tired. Box jumps used to be one of my strengths and lately I haven’t been able to keep knocking them out in workouts. There were only a few reps during the second cycle that I didn’t rebound before kicking my ass to man up. The second round of deadlifts each cycle were a surprising burn on the hips. My round times were 1:45, 1:57, and 2:05. Happy I was able to do everything unbroken and not rest other than a few breaths between movements after the first cycle.

2x with a partner

  • 10 Chest MB Passes
  • 10 OH MB Passes
  • 10/10 Side MB Passes
  • 10 Up MB Passes

Each person goes all the way through before switching out. Used a 20# ball. Those side passes are always horrible.

A lot of shoulder work today. I only have some Air Dyne work planned for tomorrow so no worries.