Month: January 2016

Trying to Keep Up With Mattie Rogers

Lifting days are my favorite. 🙂

Warm-up

  • 2×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Snatch Warm-up
    • 5 Muscle Snatch (20kg)
    • 5 BTN Snatch Press (20kg)
    • 5 OHS (20kg)

Snatch

  • 5x20kg
  • 2x3x40
  • 3×50
  • 3×60
  • 2×70
  • 1×75
  • 1×80
  • 1×85
  • F-F-F-1 90
  • F-F 95
  • F-F 100

Couldn’t quite get the bar pulled back into the slot. I was so close to making 95 and when Alex put 100 on the bar I said, “fuck it, why not!” I never take risks. The first attempt was 100 was only my second try ever. I was pretty tilted to that left shoulder that’s bothering me and rushed it coming out of the hole. Got it up there no problem. Second attempt wasn’t very good so I finally stopped. Too many misses on the day.

C&J

Got fired up last night after seeing Mattie Rogers hit 130kg. Messaged Alex and said that was the goal for the day.

Started out heavy since we were already up there with some big snatch attempts and then took bigger jumps than we usually do. I actually did clean-jerks on the first two sets of having the “and” in there.

  • 3x70kg
  • 2×90
  • 2×100
  • 108
  • 114
  • 119
  • 123
  • 126 (PR)
  • 130 Fail Clean
  • 130 (PR)

After the easy 126 I didn’t really feel like taking a 2 kilo jump and if I was going to 3 again, might as well go 4. I was scared of the clean on the first attempt. Then I watched the video and saw how high I got the bar. Can’t remember the last time I missed a clean. Double-pumped the setup in the next attempt and said don’t be a bitch. Got it! Was under the clean plenty high enough for it to be a power clean too.

Really wanted to squat today too, but was tired by the end of the lifts and it was close to 2 hours already. Chilled at home and hit a garage session after 3pm and a huge plate of spaghetti.

Back Squat

  • 5×45#
  • 5×135
  • 5×185
  • 5×225
  • 5×265
  • 5×295
  • 5×315
  • 5×335 (PR)

My best 5 was 325 pounds last January. So my goal was to stand up 330. After 315 I figured it had already been a day of risks and my positions stayed solid through every set so far. Everything held up and knocked out the 10# PR.

Follow the Rules

Frustrating day at work and almost didn’t even make it in to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds NFT

  • 15s Hang
  • 5 Push-ups
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 5 Pass-thrus

It was pull-ups or ring rows on the board. I was going to do ring rows but my shoulder wasn’t even having a first rep so I just hung from the bar.

8:00 EMOM

  • 5 Thrusters (115#)
  • 3 Burpees

Brought back nightmares of “Kalsu”. Didn’t want to go crazy so I kept it at light and quick.

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row (calories)
  • 1:00 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Sit-ups
  • 1:00 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 1:00 Rest

Other than the squats I felt really good. Did 25-25-26 on the rower and totals were 115-119-121. I never increase like that.

Test

  • 50 Hand Release Push-ups

I thought I’d be brake and try a little bigger sets to start so I did 3 sets of 8 and regretted it because then I started to die out. Managed a 2:06, which is 14 seconds slower than my PR, but 33 seconds faster than an attempt in July.

Glad I made it in. Workout schedule for the week was switched up a bit when the boys couldn’t lift tonight (I planned to take an easy day tomorrow) so we are lifting tomorrow instead and this won’t drag me down.

crossfit-rules-topless.jpg
Look at the harassment I deal with.

One More

Surprisingly I felt fine after the 125 push press reps from the other night. Don’t sense any improvement in my left shoulder. Planned on going to 9am but woke up in the night with a headache, so I slept in. Got to the gym at 3:30 to get in the pull-up work before class.

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 2 Day 3

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

  • 10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
  • 10 Straddle V-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions
  • 5/5 Bar Taps (tight/dynamic)

Substituted the bar taps in for wall walks and skin the cat due to my shoulder which doesn’t feel good with either of those.

Test Your Max

  • Max C2B Pull-ups
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 4 Sets
    • 60% of Max set
    • 2:00 Rest

I got 23 today, which is another PR by a rep! I actually had counted 24 when I did the set, but had video and it was only 23. Shit. So my drop sets were 14. I did the first set unbroken and then 10-1-1-1-1 for the other 3 sets. Didn’t realize it until after class, but I have a decent blister on my thumb and one on a palm.

Strength Accessory: 3 Sets

  • 10 Strict T2B
  • 20 GHD Heel Drives

Cut back to 3 so I’d have a little rest time before class and because I didn’t want to fatigue my back too much going into squats. It was a great warm-up actually.

Strength – Front Squat

  • 6×45#
  • 6×155
  • 3×205
  • 3×235
  • 3×255
  • 3×275
  • 3×295
  • 3×305

No issues; felt good.

Conditioning

10->1

  • Box Jump (24″)
  • Power Clean (115#)
  • S2OH (115#)

I switched to step-ups with the round of 8 and my back still got a little cramped up by the end. For every set through 5 I dropped the bar with 1 clean to go so I could finish it off going into the overheads which were all unbroken. At the round of 4 and below I didn’t put the bar down. Should have done that starting at 5 though. Did mostly push jerks but some push presses mixed in. Finished in 9:32.

Midline

Class was doing Tabata planks, so I usually go for a max hold. Didn’t have it today though due to my back being lit up. Stopped at 2:30 (hands).

Staying Active With Recovery

With some of the brutal Sunday hero workouts  we had been doing and extra volume over the holiday break I needed full rest days to recover. Today I felt good and was able to get back to an active recovery day. Before eating lunch I went out to the garage and jumped on the Air Dyne (AD2). Turned on a podcast and kept my eyes off the screen until about 33 minutes in. Wanted to get in at least 40 minutes and I was starting to feel some fatigue in my ass and legs, so that was a good place to end. Went 11.74 miles.

Kipping Deficits

Feeling those lunges from Sunday and probably a little bit of the various squatting yesterday. Left shoulder is still funky. Out in the garage tonight since it was a busy day. Remember to heat the place up first. 🙂

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 2 Day 2

Skipping the day 1 muscle-ups this week to see if my shoulder improves.

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

  • 10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
  • 10 Straddle V-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions
  • 10 Bridge Rocks

The wall walks bother my shoulder going through the middle so I put the bridge rocks in this week.

Mobility: 5 Sets

  • 10s GHD Hanging Stretch/Bridge

Test Your Max

I didn’t feel the need to do a 1RM deficit again and eat up all that time so I did a few warm-up sets and then got right into working sets. These are all kipping handstand push-ups with a deficit.

  • 2@1″
  • 2@4
  • 2@5.75
  • 4×6@6.5
  • Max @ 6.5 (7 reps)

The prescription is working sets at 70% but I was lower than that last week and still had to decrease to get in the volume. Today I went another inch lower to start, which ends up putting me at 50%. Got all the working sets and an extra rep in that max set. I rested 2:15 between the working sets because I was late catching the clock on the first set so decided to stick with it. Felt much better about that! Here’s my first working set.

Strength Accessory: 5 Sets

  • 8 Seated DB Press (45#)
  • 20 Barbell Hollow Rocks (45#)

I have access to more dumbbell options at home so increased over the 40# I’ve been using. Found out these hollow rocks are indeed holding a barbell. Pretty interesting twist to them.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 25 Push Press (75#)
  • 50 DU

Got this sucker from the “Light” category of the Beyond the Whiteboard Fitness Level workouts. High reps at low weight was a nice challenge for me. Cool combo with push press using a lot of calves, which also comes into play with the jump rope obviously. Then both fatigue the shoulders.

I got the new RPM handles for my jump rope and it came with a bare wire cable, so I figured I’d try it again. Yesterday was the first working trying it out and the result was very disappointing. So today I went back to the old handles that have a coated cable. Like night and day and it doesn’t hurt like a bitch if you miss. I will be swapping cables on those new handles for sure.

I only had 3 misses on dubs. Went 43-7, 8-42, 7-43, and the last two rounds unbroken! I broke up the push presses into 15-10, 2 rounds of 10-8-7, and then 15-10 the final two rounds. Finished in 10:31. I might be feeling that one for a few days.

Back to Work in 2016

Back to work today after 2+ weeks off for the holidays! Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

  • 2×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 3 Rounds
    • 30 Jumping Jacks
    • 4 Inch Worm Push-ups
    • 15 Ball Slams (30#)

Was warm after that!

Strength – Back Squat

  • 6×45#
  • 6×155
  • 3×205
  • 3×255
  • 3×285
  • 3×305
  • 3×325
  • 3×345

Didn’t feel as solid in my leg drive as the 350 triple last week. Back was fine though. Would have liked to try for 355 coming into today but I don’t think I would have gotten it and didn’t have time anyway.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 300m Row
  • 20 Russian Kettlebell Swings (53#)
  • 20 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 20 Sit-ups
  • 2:00 Rest

I didn’t notice that he increased the rest from 1:00 due to the size of class and the number of rowers available, so I thought I was getting a bunch of extra rest. Turned out to be pretty close to 2:00 each round. My rounds were 3:43, 3:56, 3:59, and 3:40 which included a nice walk across the gym after getting off the rower. Rests were 2:03, 1:50, and 2:26. I guess that extra rest helped my last round because it was my fastest even though it was my slowest row. I did transition right into each movement though instead of taking a couple extra breaths so that helped.

Stuck around and did a partner workout with Bryan, Michelle, and Weston. We did it I-go-U-go with each movement for quick work and short rest.

  • 60-40-20 Double Unders
  • 15-12-9 Toes through Rings
  • 15-12-9 Overhead Squats (75#)

I missed a lot on dubs. Too heavy to get myself off the ground? 🙂 The other movements were unbroken. We decided to go light on the OHS for a change and so we could speed through them. Took Bryan and I 7:17 and they were only 10 seconds behind us.

Finally Over Linda

I planned to do the chest to bar pull-up workout yesterday but I woke up and NO! I was still feeling the effects of Linda and needed a day off. I don’t know how I hit those lifts on Friday. Woke up this morning feeling much better and recovered. Incorporated the pull-up workout into Super Sunday.

Warm-up – 3 Rounds

  • 10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
  • 10 Straddle V-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions
  • 3 Wall Walks
  • 10s Ring Hang Skin the Cat

When I passed through part of the skin the cat my left shoulder did not feel good. I’m going to skip the muscle-up workout this week to rest it.

Gymnastics

  • 1 Set of MAX C2B Pull-ups
  • 4 sets at 60% with 2:00 rest

Got 22 for a 2 rep PR! I’ll take a 10% gain after the first cycle of Skill WOD. Then my drop sets were 13. I got the first set unbroken, then 10-9-10 unbroken with singles to finish those sets out. Not sure I’ve ever done that much C2B volume in one day.

Accessory – 6 Sets

  • 4 Good Mornings
  • 8 Lunges

Went 95-125-135-145-155-165# and was feeling a little rough after.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 6 Snatches (115#)
  • 6 Burpees OTB
  • 1:00 Rest

Picked up a second wind after getting into this beauty. My rounds were roughly 32-28-29-31-29-29 seconds to finish at 7:58 on the clock. All snatch sets were unbroken.

Midline – 5 Sets

  • 10 T2B (strict)
  • 20 GHD Heel Drives

This was the strength accessory from the 3rd day of skill WOD. My shoulder wasn’t having toes to bars so I did a scaled version laying on the ground holding the rig with the small orange band around my feet (anchored to a DB) and simulating a strict T2B movement that way.

Really liking the heel drives from this program. Nice change up from weighted reverse hypers to keep my low back healthy and these are also a good chance to practice straight legs up into the arch position, with a squeeze in the glutes.

Hello 2016

Last year was a pretty solid year in my training. Still getting stronger every year. I had to pull back on my goal to hit a 400 pound squat in 2015 after several back tweaks, but after I stepped back and slowed down, I’m progressing nicely and will get there eventually. No rush. I also wanted to get to a 300 pound bench press at one point, but stopped working on it after gaining 25# on the lift from two 10 week cycles.

2015 was another solid year of consistently spending time in the gym. Here’s an image that shows each day of the year and my workouts. Some pretty long streaks in there, but other than when I squatted 49 days in a row, the long consecutive day streaks were always due to active recovery. I’ve learned to take my rest.

unleaded-gains-posting-activity-2015.png

Feeling beat from Linda, but in at 2pm to lift with Alex and Bryan. Didn’t expect anything special. Did 2 sets of 10 GHD heel drives and a couple sets of the empty bar snatch warm-up (5 muscle snatches, 5 behind the neck snatch presses, 5 overhead squats) I like.

Snatch

  • 3x40kg
  • 3×50
  • 2×60
  • F-2 @ 70
  • 2×75
  • 1×79
  • 1×82
  • F-1 @ 85
  • 1×88
  • F-1 @ 90
  • F-F-1 @ 92

The front of my shoulders are still feeling pretty damn weird after Monday’s muscle-ups. The miss at 70 was just a lapse in concentration. Later misses were usually due to the bar being too forward. The Max at 90 had a great turnover and felt like the best lift of the day. Really had to fight and be patient in the hole with the make at 92, which was over 94% of my max C&J.

Clean & Jerk

Started with 5 cleans + 5 jerks with the empty bar.

  • 2x50kg
  • 2×70
  • 2×80
  • 1×90
  • 1×100
  • 1×105
  • 1×110
  • 1×115
  • 1×118

I could feel really tight in my low back on some of the snatches and also when catching the cleans. Not a pain, but definitely know I did a ton of heavy deadlifts yesterday. Didn’t want to push it anymore than the 118. The guys said I was getting under the bar super high. Rode everything down into the squat though. It’s amazing that I don’t even think twice about the jerks anymore. I used to get a little scared at 235+ pounds. Here I hit 260+ without a problem, which is over 94% of my max as well. Really wasn’t expecting that with either lift today.

Back Squat

  • 3×135#
  • 3×185
  • 3×205
  • 3×255
  • 3×275
  • 3×295

Good enough for the day. Didn’t want to risk anything with my back already feeling rough.

 

nyf-ginger-ale
Hope this is half as good as the Root Beer Ale.