Month: April 2019

AirPods for Cardio

This latest minor back tweak is just annoying enough to know it’s there. After a 5 day streak of green recovery, WHOOP has me in the red this morning.

I went out in the garage before a late lunch.

Engine Builder – Endurance

32:00 Airdyne

Wanted to keep the same 75 RPM I’ve been doing, but was just short of it today. Ended up with 11.93 miles and 924 cals.

Not sure if I’ve mentioned them here, but I got a set of AirPods a few weeks ago, and I love them for all of this extra cardio work. The speaker in the garage is hard to hear over the sound of the machines, especially if I want to listen to a podcast, so the AirPods have been great!

Slow Down the Wall Balls

Quick trip out to the garage before lunch.

Engine Builder – Interval

2 Rounds

  • 7:00 Airdyne
  • 1:00 Rest

Very similar to the 7-5-3-1 work yesterday. Wasn’t feeling 82-83 RPM today though and it ended up being around 80-81. Did 237-239 cals and exactly 2.81 miles both intervals.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 200m Run
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 10 PVC Passes
  • 10 Behind the Neck, Snatch Grip Sotts Press (PVC)

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 12/12 Single Leg Hip Thrusts
  • 25 Banded Pull Throughs (green)
  • Dumbbell Curls – 21s (25#)

Did this instead of OHS because of my back. Still doing the A version of the 21s.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 30 Double Unders
  • 15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 30 Double Unders
  • 15 Pull-Ups

Missed a DU or two in almost every round. Had to go slower than normal on the wall balls due to my back, which I could feel on the jumping and the wall balls. I did 3×5 on every round of pull-ups. Got through 5+30.

Accessory #2

5 Rounds

  • 10 DB Lunges (35# DBs)
  • 20 Sit-ups

Took about 6 minutes.

Tiger Did It!

I definitely aggravated my back a little yesterday with those dumbbell snatches. Surprisingly, this morning I had my 4th green WHOOP recovery day in-a-row.

What an incredible weekend watching Tiger. Due to the shift in tee times to the early morning I didn’t make it to the gym today. After golf was over, I got out in the garage by 4pm.

Engine Builder – Speed

  • 7:00 Airdyne
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 3:00 Airdyne
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1:00 Airdyne

Kept my pace around 82-83 RPM. I got 248-178-109-40 calories and my miles were 2.88-2.03-1.23-0.42.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 15/15 Side V-ups
  • 20 Supermans
  • 10 Floor Wipers (5 each side)
  • 30s Rest

Finished in 8:10.

After a two and a half hour rest I was in the garage again.

Engine Builder – Max Aerobic Power

18 Rounds

  • 45s Row
  • 15s Rest

As soon as I started, I could feel my tight back. Especially without a warm-up. My initial pace was 1:48/500m, but I couldn’t hold that; maybe due to the back or due to the speed work earlier. My distances in meters were:

209-209-207-207-207-205
203-202-203-202-204-204
203-203-203-203-204-206

2019-04-14-row.jpg

Tabata Rows Suck

Stayed up later than I’d like, but got up and went to the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • Stretch

Conditioning

Partner Workout

  • 5 Rounds
    • 10 DB Snatch (50#)
    • 20 Burpees
  • 4 Rounds
    • 20 Box Jumps (24″)
    • 40 Pull-ups
  • 3 Rounds
    • 30 Calorie Row
    • 60 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

I teamed up with Tom and we crushed! For the first four rounds of snatches one person did them and then we split them 5-5 in the fifth round. Burpees were split 10-10 each round. Box jumps were split 10-10 each round and we alternated sets of 5 pull-ups. Those pull-ups started feeling hard in the 2nd round! We split the calories 15-15 every round. First two rounds we alternated 20-20-20 on the wall balls and then 30-30 to finish. Took us 25:51, well under the 35 minute time cap. That felt really good!

I might have aggravated my back a little bit with the snatches. I could feel it on the box jumps, so I went a little bit slower. It felt good for wall balls though.

I was planning on doing my EB work later tonight, but my dad made a last minute decision to come down and watch the Masters, so I got it done before lunch.

Engine Builder – Interval

2 Cycles

  • 8 Rounds (Tabata)
    • 20s Row
    • 10s Rest
  • 5:00 Rest

I had no clue on a pace for this. Maybe something faster than a 1k PR pace? Sounded good to me, so my goal pace was 1:30/500m.

That was a terrible strategy!! I underestimated how much energy is required to get the flywheel up to speed each time, especially on such short rest. New goal for the second cycle was a 1:38 pace. That worked out much better!

My meters were:

108-110-106-98-95-96-97-97 (807)
103-102-102-102-101-101-100-102 (813)

When I hit my average at exactly 1:38 it was 102 meters. Consistency is key and worked out to more meters. I took a look at BTWB and people must use the clock when they do a Tabata row instead of programming the monitor, allowing them to get a lot of carryover meters every interval. 800 meters is only like the 40th percentile!

I did a real slow 1,000 meters in 5:00 to cool down.

I’ll be watching the Masters the rest of the day.

Goal!!

I’ve woke up to excellent recovery scores in WHOOP the last two days after being sick. I’m bummed to miss the gym all week and today looked like a good workout, but I’m going to the Saginaw Spirit playoff hockey game tonight, so only had time for a garage workout.

Engine Builder – Endurance

30:00 Airdyne (AD2)

In BTWB I have 29 logs of a 30 minute Airdyne ride. My best was 11.23 miles (877 calories) 23 months ago. Continuing with the pace of 75 RPM I’ve been using, I figured I would be close to that distance without even pushing for a PR. Got it with 11.26 miles (880 cals).

Accessory

4 Sets

  • Dumbbell Curl – 21s (25#)
  • 10/10 Single Leg KB Deadlift (53#)
  • 1:00/1:00 Single Leg Stand

First time trying four sets of the 21s.

Near Perfection

On Monday I golfed 18 in a cart. Was feeling sick during the NCAA Championship game, started puking in overtime, and was up all night. Tuesday morning I was able to stomach food, but had a bad headache and was exhausted all day. Took several naps and slept 10.5 hours that night. Still felt out of it and tired yesterday. Feeling good and back to work this morning.

Quick trip out to the garage in the late morning.

Warm-up

3:00 Row (750m)

Paced the minutes at 2:05-2:00-1:55.

Engine Builder – Anaerobic

8 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 2:30 Rest

I got 17-17-18-18-18-19-19-19 calories and 173-170-177-177-177-178-178-178 meters. Five calories and 23 meters more than a month ago. Can really feel things loosen up and get the feel for the speed after a couple of intervals. Maybe I should warm up more. Not sure what happened in that second one though, where the distance dropped; I felt like I got up to speed quickly and averaged a better pace than the first.

Today’s workout at the gym was rowing intervals with air squats, so I stayed home to save travel time and get more done at work after two sick days. Allowed me to get in a little gymnastics strength and catch up on another EB workout in the garage.

Warm-up

3:00 Ski Erg (665m)

Paced the minutes at 2:20-2:15-2:10.

Gymnastics Strength

  • 3:00 EMOM
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 3:00 EMOM
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 2:00 EMOM

Each working minute I did:

  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
  • 10 Hand Release Push-ups

Been getting in a lot of strict pull-ups over the last month or so, but this got aggressive real quick!! I was planning on a straight 10 minute EMOM but there wasn’t enough rest. Saying they were all strict pull-ups would be generous because I definitely got some legs in there when I started to struggle. Wearing heavy sweat pants and a heavy hoody may have made a big difference here. Having to jump up to the bar in my garage is a big deal too.

Engine Builder – Max Aerobic Power

15 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row
  • 1:00 Rest

Settled on a goal pace of 1:39/500m, which felt great and at the same time was a good challenge. I got exactly 25 calories every time and 303 meters every round except the 12th, when I got 304. Can’t ask for better consistency. Really good sweat after no workouts since Sunday.

My Highest WHOOP Strain

Didn’t get as much sleep as I’d like last night, but feel pretty good. More importantly I had pancakes for breakfast since it’s Sunday.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Assault Bike (42 cals)
  • Dead Hang & Shoulder Stretching

Conditioning

  • 4:00 EMOM5 Burpees
    • 5 Strict HSPU
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 3:00 AMRAP10 Goblet Squats (53#)
    • 6 Box Jump Overs (24″)
  • 4:00 Rest, Then Repeat

The burpees should be very fast to create fatigue going into the strict handstand push-ups. I was able to get every set of HSPU unbroken, but the last set in the first cycle was hard and then the last 2-3 sets in the 2nd cycle were a struggle. My quads got super pumped during the goblet squats. In the first cycle I was marking off rounds on the board, which just wasted time in such a short workout. Skipped that in the second cycle and did better. I did 3+12 and then exactly 4 rounds.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 50′ KB Dead Walk (44# KBs)
  • 50′ KB Walking Lunges (44# KBs)
  • Dumbbell Curl 21s (25#)

Got some of the idea here from a T-Nation article and video.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 20 Hollow Rocks
  • 50 Hollow Flutter Kicks
  • 30 Plank Jumps
  • 30 Russian Twists (20kg plate)
  • 1:00 Rest

My upper abs were cramping up from the combination of hollow rocks and flutter kicks. Was able to do every movement unbroken, with my only extra break being between the rocks and kicks is the third round. Finished in 7:41.

Went golfing and played a quick 18 holes in a cart.

Engine Builder – Interval

3 Rounds

  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • 1:00 Rest

I wanted to shoot for 82-83 RPM and my average was probably close. I got 173-174-177 calories and went 6.09 miles or 9,800 meters.

All of the activity made for my highest strain day on WHOOP so far and since I waited so late to publish this, it won’t go up much more tonight.

Burning 4,500 calories was a good excuse to get some ice cream. 🙂

Rake It

My glutes are still sore today. Woke up with an alarm at 7:30 to make sure I had enough time to eat and shower before the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • High Knees
  • Butt Kicks
  • Zombie Kicks
  • Power Skips
  • 10 PVC Passes
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 400m Run

Conditioning

Team of 3

  • 12:00 AMRAP
    • 250m Row
    • 2 Dumbbell Snatch (50#)
    • 2 Dumbbell Squat C&J (50#)
    • 2 Dumbbell Snatch
    • 2 Dumbbell Squat C&J
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 12:00 AMRAP
    • 200m Run
    • 15 Air Squats
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 5 Strict C2B Chin-ups

One person is always rowing or running. After the cardio piece, you do your other work and then rest. I teamed up with Tom and Doug. I got through 4 rounds of the first AMRAP and then 4 rounds of the second plus about 150 meters of the run when time ran out. Decided to do the chin-up variation today and they felt really good. All of the bicep work must be paying off.

Decided I won’t do an Engine Builder workout today since I’m going to rake the lawn and my WHOOP recovery score is low.

Squat a Bit

Late morning row…

Engine Builder – Max Aerobic Power

5 Rounds

  • 3:30 Row
  • 2:00 Rest

Settled on a goal pace of 1:48/500m. Halfway through the first interval I knew it was going to be a battle. I was almost going to try 1:45! It was 73 calories each round and it’s hard to get more consistent than 973-973-974-973-973 for meters. I really had to hold on to the pace after the first one or two.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

Rowling

Rob and I smoked everyone.

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95
  • 3×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×185
  • 3×205
  • 3×225
  • 8×185

I belted up at some point. Could feel my glutes working more, especially since they are still sore.

Conditioning

Partner workout

  • 1,600m Run
  • 2,000m Row
  • 100 Burpees

 

Only one person working at a time, even on the running, which was nice. The alternate option from a 4k bike was supposed to be a 2k run, but we cut the course short and were a ways behind the guys that used the Assault Bike anyway. I felt good on the runs, each doing a lap at a time, which was probably about 160 meters instead of 200. We alternated 500m rows to eliminate too much switching. I probably was sub 1:45 on the first one and right around 1:45 on the second one. We started out alternating sets of 10 burpees through 60 and then sets of 5 to finish at 18:41.

Sore Glutes

My glutes are a bit sore today. So either those longer one minute single leg stands work or I’m starting to activate my glutes more for things like the wall balls and deadlifts we did yesterday.

Engine Builder – Endurance

28:00 Airdyne

Aimed for 75 RPM again, even though the duration keeps increasing by two minutes. Went 10.46 miles (16,834m) and 813 calories.

Something I’ve noticed in the last couple of weeks is that I’m getting tired by 10pm. I think it’s due to the extra conditioning work from this program. I’m also getting up by 8am every morning now with improved sleep due to having the WHOOP.