Year: 2017

17.3 Fresh Off the Plane

I forgot to check overall standings before week 3 scores starting showing up on the leaderboard. My ranking on 17.2 was much better for me though.

  • Open: 25,442th
  • Masters 35-39: 3,129th

Nearly moved halfway up to the top of both overall leaderboards from where I was after week 1, but can’t really get exact numbers due to not looking last night.

Flew home from Austin today, but wanted to get in that first attempt. The plane landed at 7:15 and I was at the gym by 8:30.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Airdyne
  • Banded shoulder mobility
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Snatch
    • 4×45#
    • 3×95#
    • 2×135#
    • 1×155#

2017 CrossFit Games Open 17.3

  • Prior to 8:00, complete:
    • 3 rounds of:
      • 6 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 6 squat snatches, 95 lb.
    • Then, 3 rounds of:
      • 7 chest-to-bar pull-ups
      • 5 squat snatches, 135 lb.
  • Prior to 12:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 8 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 4 squat snatches, 185 lb.
  • Prior to 16:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 9 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 3 squat snatches, 225 lb.
  • Prior to 20:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 10 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 2 squat snatches, 245 lb.
  • Prior to 24:00, complete 3 rounds of:
    • 11 chest-to-bar pull-ups
    • 1 squat snatch 265 lb.

*If all reps are completed, time cap extends by 4 minutes.

Wasn’t sure how to attack this one. Changed my mind a couple of times throughout the day and changed again at the gym after hearing how Bryan did it.

I went 3-3 for the first 3 sets of C2B and touch-n-go on all 3 sets of snatches because 95# really bounces all over the place. Had a solid split at 2:49. First set of 7 pull-ups was 3-2-2 and then a double followed by singles for the other 2 sets. All single snatches with 135#. I really hate doing single pull-ups because I take more break than you can afford. Made it under the 8 minute cutoff with 13 seconds to spare. Not great. I did 8 single C2B trying to calm myself down for the 185#. Took some breaths before giving it a pull and I was not prepared for it. That bar felt heavy as hell, I “Clarked” it, and nearly blacked out. So then I had to waste a bunch of time recovering and getting my head right before stepping back up. I made my next 4 attempts and went 3-3-2 on C2B. I was getting ready to take a pull on the snatch with less than 10 seconds left but my head wasn’t there so I didn’t even try.

So I ended up with a score of 92, which I was surprised by. I remember thinking last night that 90+ would be pretty good for a first attempt. I’m happy to have gotten the 4 reps with 185# because that’s around the load where my squat snatch starts to get really inconsistent in the catch. Will probably try a redo on Sunday or Monday.

17-3.jpg

Looks like 17.3 will move me up nicely too. This is ranked as a level 87 on BTWB, which doesn’t even account for people doing scaled and I should be able to improve on my redo.

Back to Sleep

I set my alarm and planned to do this workout before heading to the conference. Wasn’t happening so I did it before I head out for some Texas BBQ.

30:00 AMRAP

  • 14 Hand-release Push-ups
  • 14 V-ups
  • 28 Air Squats
  • 28 Bicycle Crunches
  • 14 Lunges
  • 14 Leg Lifts

Why 14 and 28? Because as I was picking movement, I got down to 15 lunges and that just doesn’t fly with me. I hate doing an odd number of reps on a movement that alternates sides of the body.

Kept a steady pace and picked up the pace on the air squats in the last 3 rounds. Finished 7 full rounds plus the push-ups, v-ups, squats, bicycles, and 1 lunge.

Rest day tomorrow and then I fly home Friday and hopefully will do a first attempt at 17.3 late that night.

Austin Run

Arrived in Austin today and will be here for a few days. Went for a run since I’m not used to weather like this. It’s a bit hilly in the area near the apartment I rented and not so sure bringing Nike Metcons was a great idea for running. My calves were killing me later in the evening tonight walking to and from dinner.

On the run I went 2.69 miles in a blistering 31:05. Felt good to be outside though.

Great Monday

I felt a little twinge in my back a few times as I moved around the house. Otherwise feeling good after yesterday’s workouts.

Warm-up – 3 Sets

  • 10 Air Squats
  • 8 Strict Chin-ups

Weightlifting

Work up to a daily max power clean + squat clean.

  • 4 @ 45#
  • 2 @ 95
  • 2 @ 135
  • 185
  • 205
  • 225
  • 245
  • 265
  • 275

Wasn’t sure how my back would hold up, but was able to hit a PR on my power clean and this is only 11# under the most I’ve cleaned!

Conditioning

20:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 5 Strict HSPU
  • 5 Power Cleans (185#)

Programmed as 10-12 strict handstand push-ups! Yeah right. I was able to hold on and do every set of power cleans touch-n-go. I probably could have done 6 HSPU each set, but not much more. Really good EMOM though. Was drenched in sweat at the halfway point.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 MU

Figured this would be rough after all of the bar muscle-ups in 17.2 yesterday. Working on jumping into the first rep like I was able to get going on the bar. Usually I grab the rings from right underneath and then lift my legs up. The jump is must faster and more efficient. I was also working a little bit on using the back swing of my legs to drive me up through the dip motion. Made it through every set unbroken but didn’t have much left.

That was a lot of muscle-ups over 4 days! My hands need a break. Leaving for Austin, TX in the morning.

17.2 Redo & More

Rested yesterday so I could redo today. Could have probably even retried yesterday, though my shoulders were a little tight. In at 12:30.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • Banded shoulder stretching
  • PVC passes
  • Reverse Hyper Heel Drives
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Air Squats
  • Dead hang
  • 2:30 Airdyne

CrossFit Games Open Workout 17.2

12:00 AMRAP

  • 2 Rounds
    • 50′ Weighted Walking Lunge (2×50# DBs)
    • 16 Toes-to-bars
    • 8 DB Power Cleans (2×50# DBs)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 50′ Weighted Walking Lunge
    • 16 Bar Muscle-ups
    • 8 DB Power Cleans
  • Every 5-foot interval of the 50″ (25″ out and back), represents 1 rep of the lunge.

With my first attempt not affecting grip at all I knew bigger and fewer sets would buy me some time. I did 6-5-5 on both rounds of T2B, 6-2 on 2 sets of cleans, and all 8 cleans to lock in the tiebreak round. I wanted to go right into the lunges after that 8, but needed a breather so set them down.

Remembered to have my knee sleeves pulled up before the workout today. I also taped my thumbs ahead of time so there was no stop halfway through the last set of lunges. Still kept muscle-ups in sets of 2 because I thought triples would be too risky. I tried to shorten the rest a bit between the sets. I did do a triple right at the end, but more importantly no misses today. Over the weekend I had thought about trying to finish that first round of muscle-ups with 3-3 to save another 20-30 seconds, but I completely forgot.

Bought myself almost an extra minute, which paid off, allowing me to get through 5 more muscle-ups for a score of 121 with a tiebreak of 8:50.

17-2-2.jpg

Michelle kept all my splits again. Nice to see I slowly kept gaining ground throughout. Initial lunges were the same, but then I was ahead of pace by 10-14, 9-19-25, 19-35-46, and 47 seconds. I guess I was more methodical on my lunges (probably gathering my feet more, which is slower) and was definitely focussing more on breathing during them. I also didn’t stretch out to get over the line on any of the rounds. The first round of muscle-ups took me 3:08 today compared to 3:22, which was a little surprising considering I should have been more tired from going faster.

The challenge of the redo is actually pretty fun. One of my friends cracked a beer after his 2nd muscle-up and then got 3 more. LOL I love the Open!

Since my volume was extremely light Thursday-Saturday and I’m heading out of town for most of the week, I wanted to get in some lifting and barbell work. Went back to the gym at 4:30 to judge Bryan and workout.

Back Squat

Missed out on the 5×3 @ 80% yesterday, so definitely wanted to squat today. If I go 2 weeks without squatting it’s no fun the next time.

  • 10×45#
  • 6×135
  • 3×205
  • 3×255
  • 3×285
  • 3×305
  • 3×315

Back was getting a little tender so didn’t push it. Haven’t had that on the bar in awhile anyway.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 10×135
  • 10×165
  • 2x10x185

Bryan started benching while I was still squatted so I worked in and then was done with the squats by the heavy sets.

Conditioning

7 Rounds

  • 5 Power Snatch (135#)
  • 35 DU

Wanted to hit a barbell metcon for sure. Did all singles on the snatches. Missed too many dubs. It felt and looked like my rope’s shape was getting messed up. Maybe it’s time for a new cable. Finished in 9:20.

17.2 First Attempt

My upper back and shoulders were tight yesterday and legs were a little tired for part of the day. Feeling refreshed and ready to go today.

My standings after 17.1 were:

  • Open: 53,684 / 194,167 (27.6%)
  • Masters 35-39: 8,307 / 36,746 (22.6%)

I have some climbing to do. Hopefully that’ll be my worst placing. I’ve already dropped 6 pounds since that workout so cleaning up my diet is quickly leaning me back out.

Warm-up

  • Banded shoulder opening and stretching
  • Bottom squat hold
  • Air Squats
  • 3:00 Row
  • Various testing of DB positioning

CrossFit Games Open Workout 17.2

12:00 AMRAP

  • 2 Rounds
    • 50′ Weighted Walking Lunge (2×50# DBs)
    • 16 Toes-to-bars
    • 8 DB Power Cleans (2×50# DBs)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 50′ Weighted Walking Lunge
    • 16 Bar Muscle-ups
    • 8 DB Power Cleans
  • Every 5-foot interval of the 50″ (25″ out and back), represents 1 rep of the lunge.

Glad I figured out how to better link bar muscle-ups together last week! Definitely work my grips for this one. Had on knee sleeves but forgot to pull them up until after the first set of lunges. Jackass!

My steps on the lunges sucked. I stretched it out a couple of times but was just shy most of the rounds. I need to stretch out each step a little bit to speed those up. I did 4×4 on both rounds of T2B. Went 4-3-1 on the first 2 rounds of cleans and then 4-4 to get a faster tiebreaker. All doubles on the first time through muscle-ups. When I got back to them I started with a triple, got another, but missed the 2nd, and I think I missed another single. Hit the wall right there at the end. So finished with 116 reps and a tiebreak of 9:36. Michelle actually kept nice splits for me throughout.

My thumbs were rubbing on the dumbbells a bit during the lunges and I asked Alex to grab me a piece of tape. In that 4th set I did set them down after 25 feet and tried to quickly put the tape on. I’ll have to remember to tape up with my stretchy tape next attempt to save time there too.

17-2-1.jpg

Like I said, my grip and forearms were fine throughout, after, and now back home typing this post. I think I can make up time by pushing the lunge steps longer to make sure I get there without stretching the final one or having to take a last short one. Then obviously doing that 4th set unbroken too. Should be able to do 6-5-5 on the T2B since it’s only 2 rounds with plenty of rest in between. Cleans will be 6-2 or 7-1. I think I’ll stick to doubles on the muscle-ups because I did end up hitting the wall right at the end, though I was rushing a bit. I’m worried if I try to do triples I will blow it out before I’m through the first 16.

Should be an easy redo. This is one of the more fun Open workouts I’ve done.

Deadlift Day

Scores are still rolling in, but the redo jumped me over 5,000 spots out of 40,000+ men in the Masters 35-39 division and much more in the Open division. My body feels so much better after that second attempt than it did after the first one.

Warm-up

  • DU
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Deadlift

Work up to 5×5 @ 75%.

  • 10×45#
  • 10×155
  • 5x2455x295
  • 5x5x325

I hadn’t done the heavy deadlifts in a few weeks after tweaking my back, so instead of going up to the prescribed 385# I stayed with the boys and did an easy 325.

Conditioning

20:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 12 cal Row
  • 15 Push-ups

Boring! Felt good though. I was keeping my cal/hr over 1,800 and pushed some rounds over 2k and even 2,200. Push-ups felt great and did every set unbroken.

For time:

  • 30 Deadlift (225#)
  • 120 DU
  • 500m Row

Adjusted from 40 cal Assault Bike and 500m run. Did 15-15 on the deadlifts and had a burn down my back side in the final 5 reps like doing those 20RM. Struggled to get going on the dubs but eventually found a rhythm. Bryan got ahead of me there and I tried to catch him on the rower by pulling a sub 1:40 pace. Finished in 4:55.

Should be nice and rested to hit 17.2 on Friday.

No Lungs

After cooling off and sitting at home last night I was feeling wrecked. My back wasn’t so bad but my body just felt beat up and exhausted. Woke up feeling good this morning and a little sore, but nothing compared to the day after my first attempt.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Pass throughs
  • PVC Good Mornings
  • Body Rotations

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 30 Double Unders
  • 12 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 3 Muscle-ups

Was feeling really good about unbroken dubs and I think I jinxed myself because then I missed 4 times in the final set after no misses. I made it through exactly 8 rounds with about 10 seconds left but didn’t feel like picking up the rope. All muscle-ups were unbroken without a problem.

My lungs didn’t seem to want to function today after working so hard last yesterday.

Rested 10:00 and then…

7 Rounds

  • 10 Push Jerks (115#)
  • 10 Pull-ups

We scaled it and turned it into a 3 main follow-the-leader. As written it was supposed to be 10 rounds solo of 10+10 with 135#. This was plenty of work and hard as hell as it we did it anyway. I finished after about 10:15.

Had my grips on really loose due to the jerks, but then they bunch up so much on the pull-ups that they cause more harm than help. Tore them off after the 2nd round. Did pull-ups unbroken until the last set where I had so much sweat I was slipping off the rig and did 8-2.

Much harder day than it looked like. Bryan was beat too so not sure how much was due to my 2nd 17.1 try or that first 15 minutes.

17.1 Redo

Confident I’d crush my previous score of getting through 215 reps in the 20 minute time cap. Plan was to switch hands in the air on all of the snatches, not stand up on the box, and reduce my steps by turning in the jump and stepping down backwards off the box.

Warm-up

  • Pass throughs, stretching, and twisting
  • 4:00 Airdyne
  • Did some of each movement getting the hand of better efficiency.

CrossFit Games Open Workout 17.1

  • 10 Dumbbell Snatch (50#)
  • 15 Burpee Box Jump-overs (24″)
  • 20 DB Snatch
  • 15 BBJO
  • 30 DB Snatch
  • 15 BBJO
  • 40 DB Snatch
  • 15 BBJO
  • 50 DB Snatch
  • 15 BBJO

Finished in 19:15! So much better. It hurt so much worse on the lungs though. It was considerably easier on my back without spending so much time bent over switching the dumbbell hands on the ground. Losing almost 4 pounds in the last couple of days probably helped on the burpees some. Look at the difference in my splits…

17-1-attempts-splits.jpg

Improved round 1 from 2:06 to 1:40, round 2 from 3:27 to 2:47, round 3 from 4:32 to 4:13, and round 4 from 5:43 to 5:24. Then to finish it off I did the round of 50s in 5:09, which was faster than I did the 40s! The snatch hand switch was much faster, but it was also harder on the shoulder and the lungs. I had to do the 30 is 3 sets of 10 today and still did the 40 in 4 sets of 10. I was able to do the 50 in one fewer set by going 14-12 and then 10-14 maybe? It took me forever to catch my breath.

Eventually jumped on the Airdyne for a nice 15:00 flush, going 3.53 miles.

Gymnastics

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s T2B
  • 10s Rest

Strapped on my grips and tried to match the 7s I’d done last time. Nearly made it. Did 6 sets of 7, then 6-1, and only managed 2-2-1 in the final set. I’ll take it though after all those DB snatches.

Bring on 17.2!

Figured out Bar Muscle-up Cycling

Oh by my low back is all kinds of sore and so is my upper back between my shoulder blades. Legs were tired last night but feel fine today. Ass is a bit sore. Went to the gym at 3 with Bryan.

Warm-up

  • Shoulder stretching and body twisting
  • 1,000m Row
  • 17.1 Movement Testing

I tried out some efficiency changes for both movements which should make up a lot of time. I wasted so many seconds when I did the workout.

Weightlifting

2 Hang power Snatch + 3 OHS

  • 2 sets 45#
  • 2 sets 95
  • 115
  • 135
  • 145
  • 155
  • 165

Programmed as snatch + 2 hang snatch + 3 OHS, but I wasn’t pulling from the ground and didn’t want to drop into the squat. Hell, I was going to completely skip this portion but decided to adjust it.

Strength – Back Squat

  • 5×45#
  • 5×135
  • 5×205
  • 5×245
  • 3x5x265

Supposed to be 3×5 @ 75%, which would be 285 on my estimated max, but with my back to tight I scaled it back.

Conditioning

20:00 AMRAP

  • 20 Walking Lunges
  • 15 cal Row
  • 4 Bar Muscle-ups

Made some adjustments since it was too cold to run outside and no Assault Bikes. Did MU on the bar so I could try dropping back to the bottom of the dip before pushing away from the bar into the next rep. My goal was to do 2 sets of 2 each round so I could work on this. Took me a few rounds to work out a few things, like rotating hands at different points, etc. Really paid off though. I’ve never felt better with the transition. I did wear grips too, which needed some adjustments because they tend to really grip the bar when chalked up. I even did all 4 unbroken in my last set. We didn’t have an official count, but it was either 7 (most likely) or 8 full rounds plus 16 lunges. We didn’t push anything hard just kept moving. Felt good. I feel 10x more comfortable now if bar muscle-ups are in the Open.

Gymnastics Strength

10:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 15 Ring Push-ups
  • 7 Ring Rows

I still suck at ring rows.