Year: 2017

Performance Plus

Traps and neck are sore from yesterday. Legs seem fine from the squats though. Had a last chiro appointment to make sure everything was smooth sailing. Wanted to get in workouts at home, but while I was out figured I might as well just walk over to the gym. I started the Push-Only program for real today.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 8×135
  • 4x8x170
  • 3x12x185

It seems weird to do the working sets of 8 and then what seems like should be drop sets (supposed to be to failure in 10-12 reps) have to be heavier. I was too light on them.

Close Grip Bench Press

  • 12×135#
  • 12×150
  • 12×165

These were supposed to be the same failure in 10-12 reps but I wasn’t really sure what I was capable of. When I did sets of 12 with 115 and 120 recently I wouldn’t call it easy. These weights were no issue though.

Accessory

  • DB Tricep Rollback
    • 15 with 20#
    • 15 with 25
    • 15 with 30
  • 3×15 DB Side Raises (10#)
  • 3×15 DB Bent-over Side Raises (10#)

Definitely hit failure on that final set of JM Press! The last 5 were some ugly reps.

Performance Plus

Last week I saw Pamela Gagnon of CrossFit Gymnastics was pairing up with The Barbell Physio to launch a new prehab program. Only being a 10-20 minute time commitment caught my eye.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSRuUPxjfOU/

The program dropped already on The Barbell Physio site! Couldn’t believe it came out so quick, unlike the Brute Gymnastics program which they’ve been promising for about 2 years. They’re giving a 14 day free trial so I’m going to add it in the days I do this Hybrid Push-Only program and see how it goes.

  • Pec Minor Soft Tissue Mobility: 2x 20-30 seconds each side (video)
  • Crab sliders: 3:00 Tabata (video)
  • Overhead Snatch Shrugs: 3x10x45# (video)

Pretty simple stuff and easy to get through. I paused for a quick 2 count in each shrug.

Conditioning

  • 20:00 Airdyne

Wore my Garmin to keep an eye on my heart rate and keep it aerobic but it was only reading 101 for some reason. I’ll have to try a software update. I kept the RPMs at about 72-73 based off the pace that worked for my 30 minute “ride” last week. Did 11.59km.

 

Without Restrictions

Finally took a rest day yesterday. Feeling great. Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up – 2 Sets

  • 5 Burpees
  • 12 Barbell Curls
  • 12 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

The board actually had barbell GMs (good mornings) but I thought it said curls from far away. I was wondering why a bunch of people were doing good mornings. After finishing the first set I was committed to the curls.

Strength – Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 8×135
  • 6×185
  • 6×215
  • 4×245
  • 3×265
  • 3×275

My back was just fine.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 100 DU
  • 10 Rounds
    • 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
    • 5 Power Snatch (95#)
  • Cash-out: 100 DU

I missed after 17 and then not until after 97 in the first 100 dubs. After the first few rounds I started to count my rest and tried to get in 2-3 deep breaths between movements after walking to my spot. The final 100 dubs were terrible. I was stopping every 10 reps. Doing them in lifters is not so great. The rope kept getting caught up in the velcro. Finished in 15:02.

Remembered to bring my dumbbells home so I can start the Hybrid Performance Method Push-Only program for real and get in a lot of the workouts at home to save time traveling to the gym.

No Joke

Abs and quads are still sore, but feeling pretty good. Went to the 10am class ready to lift some weight.

Warm-up

  • 800m Row
  • 3 Sets
    • 30s Bar Hang
    • 10 HR Push-ups

Gymnastics

3 Cycles

  • 1:00 T2B
  • 2:00 Rest

I did 5×5 the first two cycles and then 3×5 with 5×1 for a total of 70 toes-to-bars! I could tell the wall was coming and I hit it head on after 65 reps.

Conditioning

“Fran”
21-15-9

  • Thruster (75#)
  • Pull-ups

Nope, not an April Fool’s joke!

For some dumb reason I thought I had 65# on the bar until after I was done and Alex mentioned the weight. No issues with the weight. My shoulders were pretty fried from the T2B though so I had to break up pull-ups from the start, going 3×7 and then 8-7 on the 15. I did the 9 unbroken to finish and did all of the thrusters unbroken. Not a good time (4:21), but I’m back. 🙂

Midline

  • 100 Sit-ups

Wasn’t going to be pretty after the T2B. Took me 3:51, almost a minute off my best time.

New Accessories

Quads are getting sore from yesterday and my abs are still feeling those knee raises. Got to the gym before 5. My back is feeling really good.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×165
  • 5×185
  • 5x5x205

Accessory

  • 3×30 alt DB Bench Press (50#)
  • 3×12/12 Half-kneeling Single Arm KB Press (26#)
  • 3×15 Banded Triceps push down (red)
  • 3×12/12 Landmine Press (70#)

All kinds of new stuff! Those bottoms-up kettlebell presses are hard! My left side fatigued much faster and was more unstable than the right.

Conditioning

Just a 20 minute aerobic Row for 4,880 meters. I bit harder to find the heart rate sweet spot on the rower. It was right around a 2:00/500m pace.

A Little Load

Damn my abs are sore today from those knee raises! Back is a little tight too. Went to the 5:30 class and tried adding a little loading.

Warm-up – 3 Sets

  • 8 Toe Touches
  • 8 Strict Pull-ups
  • 8 Burpees

Strength

Double Kettlebell Deadlifts

  • 2×10 with 35# KBs
  • 2×10 with 44# KBs
  • 2×10 with 53# KBs

I wasn’t going to try doing deadlifts with the bar so this was good to get in some reps.

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Bear Complex (45#)
  • 18 Wall Ball (14#, 10′)
  • 8 Step-ups (24″)

Was thinking of substituting something but after I picked up the bar it felt fine so I went with it. Going light on wall balls is always nice. I did everything unbroken and quickly moved from one movement to the next. Finished 6 rounds, the bears, and 16 wall balls.

Do What I Can

Did seem to feel a bit tighter when I woke and through the morning. Maybe from the air squats? Went to the chiro at 5:15 and then to the gym. Planned to modify and substitute a lot and I needed to with what was programmed.

Strength

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 8×135
  • 4x8x165
  • 3x12x140

Close Grip Bench Press

  • 3x12x120#

Class was doing OHS so I was happy to be able to bench. Should have bumped up the 4×8 too, but increased 5# on both 3x12s with no problem.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 10 Ball Slams (15#)
  • 20 Walking Lunges
  • 20 Knee Raises (rings)

The workout was ball slams, 10 deadlifts, and 10 T2B so I had to change a lot. Never stopped or had to break any sets but didn’t seem to work up much of a sweat on breathe too hard. Finished in 8:23.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 15 Triceps Push Downs (red band)
  • 10/10 Prone Rows (50# DB)

I propped a bench up on a couple of short boxes and laid down on that.

Scale to Get More Reps

Warm-up

After realizing the aerobic pace yesterday I better step it up in these warm-ups. Did 5:00 on Airdyne for 1.74 miles 2.8 km.

Strength / Accessory

  • 3×15 Strict Pull-ups (blue band)
  • 3×10 Rack Chins (feet on bench in L position)
  • 3×10 Wide grip pull-ups (blue band)
  • 3×20 DB Curl (8#)
  • 2×20 Shoulder IYTs (Crossover Symmetry – purple)

Wanted to use a band to be able to get in the higher reps but even that wasn’t easy. I don’t have my adjustable dumbbells home yet so my only choice was the really light ones.

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 20 Box Step-ups (18”)

Planned on 15 air squats but made the decision during the first set to cut it back to 10. Wasn’t even able to do a single air squat until a few days ago. Loosed up a couple of rounds in and probably would have been fine. Heart rate didn’t get too high but worked up a little sweat even in the cooler garage. Finished 7 rounds plus the push-ups, squats, and 16 of the step-ups. I had to switch it up from only doing Airdyne conditioning and this was a good intro back.

Hoping to be able to pick up a barbell at the end of the week. Feeling much better but I can still feel the tweak here and there throughout the day.

The 180 Formula

A good morning again. Can still feel my back in certain positions and still have a side lean. Out in the garage for some aerobic work before heading to the chiropractor. When I’m doing these 30-40 minute pieces, I might as well do them at a pace that is worth my time. So I’m going to try following Phil Maffetone’s 180 Formula. With my injury, my ideal heart rate for fat burning and aerobic base building should be 128-138 beats per minute. I set high and low alerts on my Garmin watch and jumped on the bike.

30:00 Airdyne

Went pretty well! Usually I’d keep around 60 RPM for recovery work like this and I found that 70 PRM for about the first 20+ minutes kept me in the zone and then I had to gradually slow down a bit to end around 65 PRM. The computer said 711 calories and 16.4 km, which is 0.3 km more than I have ever recorded for 30 minutes on the machine, according to my Beyond The Whiteboard logs. There was no problem holding that pace. Will be interesting to see where this goes. If I keep this up and improve, I should be able to go faster at the same heart rate.

Fresh Moves

My morning was infinitely better today. I got out of bed and got dressed mostly normal. Went to the gym at noon to watch the final Open workouts and do my own thing on the side.

Warm-up

Five minutes on the Airdyne to loosen up the back more.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 6×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×195
  • 3×215
  • 3x3x225

Accessory

  • 3×15 Pallof Press (15 reps facing each way, 2s hold at extension, red band)
  • 3×15 DB Side Raises (10#, thumbs up)

The Pallofs are interesting. I had to fight the twisting on my back a little more than probably is normal. Have never done either of these movements.

  • 50 HR Push-ups

Could probably classify these push-ups as conditioning as well and they allowed me to get a little core work. Set a PR by 12 seconds with a time of 1:40!

Conditioning

“Airdyne Hell”
10 Rounds

  • 15s Sprint
  • 1:45 Rest

Never easy but wasn’t as bad as I remember from previous attempts. I got through 252 calories. The last time I did this with Bryan, and the only calories number I have for the AD2, we combined for 512 so I was pretty much on the same pace unless I was doing a lot more calories than he was. No idea. Overall felt pretty good.

I did a few air squats here and there throughout the time in the gym and then I did some bottom squat hold against the wall while the workouts were finishing up.

Suffer Through the AM

I was up late after the beers and could feel the fatigue in my legs from the intervals I did. Mornings are brutal with my back until I’m up and moving for an hour or two. Sitting on the exercise ball definitely helps wake things up sooner.

Warm-up

5:00 Airdyne  – 1.58 miles

Accessory

  • 5×10 Ring Rows  (Laying on bench with feet on it)
  • 2×20 Shoulder I’s
  • 2×20 Shoulder Y’s
  • 2×20 Shoulder T’s

I did the IYTs laying on back on the bench with a 5 pound dumbbell in each hand. I tried to do them standing with the Crossover Symmetry bands but it was too much pull or my midline which aggravated my back.

I even tried and was successful at doing an air squat with my heels staying on the ground!

Conditioning

  • 20:00 Airdyne

Looked up my best, which was 7.06 miles with my notes saying 70+ RPM. Challenge accepted! Crushed it by going 7.42 miles (574 calories). Was pretty steady at 72-73 RPMs for the first 12-14 minutes and then slowly started picking up the pace. For about the last 2 minutes I was averaging about 80. Makes me think I should be able to go quite a bit harder on the 10 minute test.