Nick Momrik

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.

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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.

Strict EMOM

I’m still sore from Barbara. Could feel some tightness in my low back this morning that seemed to be from the reverse hypers I did yesterday. Before lunch I got on the rower in the garage.

Engine Builder – Anaerobic

5 Rounds

400m Row
5:00 Rest

To improve on a month ago my goal was a pace of 1:35/500m, which I beat without a problem. My splits were 1:15.9, 1:15.5, 1:15.3, 1:15.2, and 1:15.0. It always feels good to get negative splits and I was able to recover really well in the five minutes, which probably means I should be pushing harder for this type of workout. Supposed to go at 90-95%, but it’s hard to know what that is exactly, so maybe I’m my recovery is just improving. Averaged 1:34.2 and was 14 seconds faster overall than a month ago.

Went to the 4pm class, which was a small one today.

Warm-up

5:00 on a machine
2 Rounds
- 5 Strict Pull-ups
- 10 Hand Release Push-ups
2 Rounds
- 5 Inchworms
- 10 PVC Passes

Gymnastics Strength

10:00 EMOM

5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
5 Strict Ring Dips

Was programmed as 5 muscle-ups (same as last week), but my right shoulder is still bothering me, so I’m not doing those any time soon. Did strict pull-ups last week in this format, so tried chest to bars today. I did 3-2 for the first three rounds of pull-ups, but then did singles for the rest of the way. Dips were all unbroken.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

10 Deadlifts (155#)
20 Wall Ball (20#, 10′)

Knew I wasn’t trying the Rx 225. Thought about 185, but settled on 155 and figured I’d just be faster. Warmed up with 10×45, 5×95, and 5×125. My hamstrings started to feel tight in the 3rd set of deadlifts, but overall I felt good in this one, going unbroken on everything. Finished in 6:23.

Accessory

3 Sets

Dumbbell Curl 21s (25#)
1:00/1:00 Single Leg Stand

Did the T Nation A version again for 21s. I could really feel the stands in my glutes after doing those deadlifts.

400 Sit-ups in 3 Days

Throughout yesterday I got sore in my quads, shoulders, core, lats, and biceps. Pretty much everywhere. I finally cleaned out my gym bag yesterday too.

After morning meetings at work I got on the bike.

Engine Builder – Speed

5 Rounds

2:00 Airdyne
30s Rest

I wanted to hold 87-90 RPM, because I had to go faster than I did for a straight 10 minutes, right?! Made it, but would like to be more consistent. Those 30 second rests were over in the blink of an eye. My calories were 90-84-82-85-89 (430 total) and 4.35 miles. I did an easy five minutes for 1.36 miles to cool down.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

400m Run
Front Rack Stretch
10 Muscle Cleans (45#)
10 High Hang Power Cleans (45#)
10 Hang Power Cleans (45#)
10 Power Cleans (45#)

Weightlifting

Power Cleans

5×95#
5×135
3×165
2×185
8x2x205

No belt. Worked on not leading with my hips, which alleviated some pressure on my low back. Go figure!

Conditioning

20:00 EMOM (alt)

20 cal Row
20 Sit-ups

I was really excited (/sarcasm) for 200 more sit-ups after doing 200 on Sunday! My goal was to hold 1,500 cal/hr on the rower and I did it with ease. Average was probably 1,550-1,600. I was finishing the row in 46-47 seconds each round and pushed the last one to finish in 43 seconds. I was barely even breathing heavy when I got off the ground after sit-ups each round. I actually felt pretty good with these smaller sets of sit-ups and did them in 30-31 seconds every round.

Accessory

4 Sets

12/12 Single Leg Hip Thrusts
15 Reverse Hypers (90#)

Definitely got a low back pump from the RHs.

Beat Barbara

The strained muscle in my back is feeling better and better. My low back has felt pretty good and not feeling any affects from the cleans on Friday. Hamstrings are still a little sore from the GHRs. Went to open gym at noon.

Warm-up

5:00 Assault Bike (46 cals)
Dead Hang
Bottom Squat Hold
Kip Swings

Conditioning

Barbara
5 rounds, each round for time

20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 AbMat Sit-ups
50 Air Squats
3:00 Rest

This workout has never been a strength of mine, but was hoping I could go sub 20 today for a big PR. I knew it was a big ask to think I could average less than four minutes per round, especially if you look at my history of rounds. New strategy today though. I wanted to try all sets of 5 for pull-ups and push-ups with very short rests.

Worked out really well! My rests got a little longer between pull-ups and push-ups, but still very short. It felt like my sit-ups slowed down the most and I was able to keep pushing myself on the squats. Crushed my goal and went 18:44 for a PR by nearly three minutes! When I came in at exactly four minutes in round four I pushed hard in that final round trying to make sure it was better because I really wanted 4:00 or better when it was my goal to average that round time.

Date	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	Total
Sep 22, 2012	4:23	4:26	4:26	4:33	4:27	22:15
Nov 16, 2014	3:37	4:12	4:29	4:59	5:07	22:24
Apr 16, 2017	3:52	4:06	4:19	4:42	4:38	21:37
Mar 31, 2019	3:27	3:41	3:37	4:00	3:59	18:44

Something fun to think about, with no way to know, is what contributed most to this improvement? Am I really that much fitter than 2 years ago? Doubt it. Is the Engine Builder program already paying off? Maybe a little bit. Did my lighter body weight help? Definitely some. How much did the new strategy help? Probably a lot. The PR is probably due to a combination of all of these things.

Accessory

3 Sets

30 Arms Only Rowing Strokes
30 Rower Curls

Started with the damper at 1, then 2, and finally 3. This was a huge arm pump! Everyone was laughing at our unique use of the rowers.

Strength

Bench Press

5×45#
5×95
5×125
5×155
5x5x185

Didn’t have much left in the upper body for benching, but good to hit it fatigued for something different.

After the Duke game I finished the 4th week of Engine Builder.

Engine Builder – Interval

3k Row
3:00 Rest
2k Row

My goal was to hold a 1:50/500m pace through both, which I thought would be extremely difficult after already having done a long workout. I did it for the 3k with a time of 10:59.5. I couldn’t hold on during the second half of the 2k, finishing with a time of 7:24.7, which is only 4.7 seconds off that goal. Calories were 221 and 145.

To be honest, it turned out better than I expected, especially after 250 squats this morning.

I really love having a rower at home and the numbers don’t lie, especially this month after starting Engine Builder.

This doesn’t tell the whole story though, because I also do plenty of rowing in class at the gym. Here’s a chart from BTWB for rowing distances.

Three months in, 2019 is nearly my second biggest year for rowing. The chart for rowing calorie workouts shows a different story.

After I looked into these charts, it makes a lot more sense that 2015 had been my best Open finish until this year. In my opinion rowing is the best way to improve your engine.

Row & Row

Even though I was up late watching the games last night I got up and went in for 9am. Good crowd this morning.

Warm-up

Line Drills

Conditioning

Team of 3

Accumulate 6,000m Row
Rotate every minute. After getting off the rower:
- 15 Burpees
- 50 Double Unders

Teamed up with Tom and TJ. I started and averaged about 1:48/500m throughout, feeling good on the rower. I got through my 9th row and Tom finished off the 6,000, but I finished that round of burpees and my double unders at 25:41. I kept a nice steady pace on the burpees, but missed quite a bit on the double unders. Ended up getting 20-25 seconds of rest each round. Our team averaged just over 230 meters per turn.

Reminded me a lot of two workouts we did last year with these movements:

I’m beginning to think this is my triplet!

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Started feeling some soreness in my hamstrings after sitting at home.

After lunch I did more rowing.

Engine Builder – Anaerobic

10 Rounds

20s Row
1:40 Rest

Didn’t bother to warm-up. My distances were 113-114-112-113-115-114-115-113-115-115 meters. I was under 1:30/500m by the third pull and kept it at about 1:27. My average pace for the workout was 1:27.7, which is also the pace when getting 114 meters. Recovered really well between intervals, so probably should have gone harder.

Back Survives Powers

The outside of my pecs and my shoulders were fairly sore from Wednesday. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

5:00 Row (1,200m)
2 Rounds
- 15 PVC Passes
- 15 Air Squats

Weightlifting

Power Cleans

10×45#
5×95
5×115
2×135
2×155
2×175
2×190
2×205

I think I put on the belt for 190 and 205.

Conditioning

400m Run
9 Power Cleans (205#)
400m Run
6 Power Cleans (205#)
400m Run
3 Power Cleans (205#)

Kept the belt on for this. Ran at a pretty good pace, right ahead of a runner the entire time. I was able to pick the bar back up pretty quickly after each rep. Finished in 8:15.

Accessory

4 Sets

10 GHRs (red band)
20 Banded Pull-throughs (green band)
40/40s Single Leg Stands (squeeze glute)

When I was testing out the glute hame raises I could feel them in my back a bit, so I knew I wasn’t keeping a solid position. Tried without a band, then the tiny orange, and finally settled on the red. I even used my hands to push off a little on the pad. Probably should tell me something that GHRs have always been a huge weakness for me.

I should probably also get in one of the Engine Builder workouts today, especially with the 95% recovery score in WHOOP, but I’ll do it tomorrow.

Got this new pair of kicks, the Speed TR Flexweave. The Speed TRs have been my favorite style of shoes over the last couple of years and these are even better. Felt great lifting and running.