Author: Nick Momrik

I'm searching for my first hole-in-one. I enjoy being active and making things. I work for Automattic.

Block Laps

I had planned to go in at noon with the crew, but my back was really stiff today. Day 2 or 3 is usually the worst. Finally got out in the garage around 4pm.

This workout originally started as 3 rounds of a run, 50 back squats, and 30 push-ups. Just before starting I decided to change to 4 rounds with 30 squats. Then when I was on the round 3 run I figured I’d go for 5 rounds and make it over 30 minutes.

5 Rounds

  • 675m Run (around block)
  • 30 Back Squats (45#)
  • 30 Push-ups

I did 3 sets of 10 push-ups for the first 4 rounds remember how I had to start breaking them up more during the recent “Barbara” but they pull-ups must really cause some interference there because I had no issues today and even did 2 sets of 15 in the final round with only a few seconds of rest so I could get under 32 minutes. Finished at 31:58 with rounds of 6:13 – 6:33 – 6:33 – 6:37 – 6:02. Not exact because the GPS goes haywire when you spend a couple of minutes in the garage. Pretty consistent rounds, which essentially just means consistently slow running, for me.

Good enough for today. Time to mow the lawn. Rest day tomorrow to golf.

Pull Variety

Stayed up and watched #Breaking2 last night. Pretty incredible to think about all of the planning and commitment that went into it. Amazing what the human body can do. I ended up sleeping until almost 11am! Little rough rolling out of bed. This stupid fucking back! Out to the garage around 12:30.

Hybrid Push Only

  • 3×12 Rope Pull-ups (4×3 switching high hand)
  • 3×17 Rack Chins
  • 4×12 (5-4-3) Pegboard Pull-ups
  • 3×20 DB Curls (20#)
  • 3×20 DB Front Raises (10#)
  • 3×15 Shoulder YTs (CS purple)

Continued with altering some of the pull-ups to different variations. I recently bought a climbing rope so wanted to use that. No Is today because of the front raises.

Performance Plus

  • 2×30 seconds each side – Pec Minor Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • 2×16 alt Bear Rolls (video)
  • 4x30s KB Arm Bars (25# KB, video)
  • 2×16 alt Bear Rolls

I did the arm bars alternating side to side, so it was 8 total.

Wasn’t sure how it would feel, but headed out for a run. The heart rate zone alerts were going nuts for probably the first 10 minutes, but I never once checked time or pace through the whole run. I just felt like going and not being concerned with anything. Did a typical loop for 2.59 miles, which took 28:03.

2017-05-06-run-zones

Can’t Count to 5

Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

  • 3×15 Reverse Hyper (140#)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • 10 PVC OHS
    • 15 Toe Touches
    • 20 Mountain Climbers

Strength – OHS

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95
  • 4×115
  • 4×135
  • 2×155
  • 2×175
  • 3x2x185

Used close grip, slowly widening all the way up until 185 when I went to my full-width snatch grip. That was heavy enough for me on the day since they aggravate my back sometimes. On the last set I said fuck it and went closer grip again and it felt really good. Maybe all of this upper body and shoulder mobility stuff is paying off.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 3 Rounds
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 5 Rounds
    • 6 Deadlifts (115#)
    • 6 Squat Cleans (115#)
    • 6 Push Presses (115#)
  • Cash-out: 3 Rounds
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats

I had those first rounds of “Cindy” done is right around 2 minutes. Oh boy! In the 4th round of the lifts, I felt my back a little bit. Set the bar down and tried again and felt it. So I sat down for probably close to a minute. Decided to jump back in since it has never gotten worse once I feel it once. Just focused on keeping solid positions to close out the rest of the reps. Finished in 12:45.

After the workout someone asked if I knew if they did 4 or 5 rounds. Um, no, I was counting my own workout. Blows my mind how people can’t count to 5.

Midline – 3 Rounds

  • 5 Weighted V-ups (10# DB)
  • 10 Lying Leg Lifts
  • 15 Weighted OH Sit-ups (10# DB)
  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 25 Knee Slides (Crunches)

Wasn’t sure how it would feel with my back so I went light. Took about 8 or 9 minutes.

Gymnastics

I wanted to get in some muscle-up work since it had been awhile. Plan was a 5:00 EMOM of 4-5 reps. I got a first set of 5, but then one of the straps came loose in the next round and I was getting tangled up in it so I dropped after 2 reps. Tied it up to the squat stand and did 3 more. Then I did another set of 3 after a rest and the strap came off again so I said fuck it. I was feeling tired anyway. The strap was a good excuse.

Forced

Had to take a forced rest day yesterday after waking up with a headache that was giving me blurred vision and nausea. I went back to bed until 2:30! Got up and was able to work the rest of the day. Meant I had to skip out on golfing today, though it was quite chilly with rain on the way. Out in the garage at 4pm.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 8×135
  • 8×165
  • 4x8x185
  • 3x12x195
  • 3x10x165 (Wide Grip)

I hate this fucking day in the program. Took 39 minutes to get through those sets!

Accessory

  • 3×15 Skull Crushers (45-55-65#)
  • 3×15 DB Side Raises (15#)
  • 3×15 DB Bent-over Side Raises (15#)

Used a barbell for the skull crushers. I felt a lot more fatigued after the benching today, which made the raises harder than they have been.

Performance Plus

3 Sets

  • 30s Double DB Overhead Hold (50# DBs)
  • 10 Scap Pull-ups
  • 30s Rest

The double dumbbell overhead was the hardest part of the day and I didn’t even do it walking like it was supposed to. I took a few steps and nearly fell over. The fifties were too heavy for this, but after making it through the first round I didn’t want to bitch out.

The scap pull-ups were actually supposed to be paired up with 20 ring dips for 3 sets, but I moved things around.

Conditioning

  • 30-20-10 Ring Dips
  • 30-20-10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 30-20-10 Pistols 60-40-20 Air Squats

I figured the ring dips would be trouble and planned to start with sets of 5 and quickly switch to 2 or 3s if needed. I was able to continue sets of 5 the whole way. GHD sit-ups were harder than they should have been. I struggled through 12 of the ugliest pistols I’ve done in years. My left quad was not having it today. I probably should have warmed up my lower body some. After 12 pistols, a lot of falling over, and too much wasted time, I changed the workout to double reps of air squats. So I finished the first round with 48 air squats to get to 60. Total time was 12:42.

Ski Drift

Last night my legs started to feel trashed! Not sure if it was from the squat cleans on Saturday, DT yesterday, or 3 hours of outlet mall shopping yesterday. All of the above? Was going to golf today, but too much rain. My legs were still feeling fatigued most of the morning. Out in the garage around 6pm.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 6×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×195
  • 3×215
  • 4x3x235

Yeah buddy!

Push Press

  • 6×95#
  • 3×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×185
  • 3×195
  • 3×205

Tender collarbone. Done with the big lifts in 30 minutes with 1:30-2:00 rests between sets.

Accessory

  • 3×15 Pallof Press (CS red)
  • 3×15 DB Side Raises (15#)
  • 3×15 DB Bent-over Side Raises (15#)

Feeling gains on these raises.

Performance Plus – 3 Sets

  • 8 alt Archer Ring Push-ups (video)
  • 1/1 Turkish Get Up (50#)

Exactly an hour at this point. Archers are a lot harder than they look.

Conditioning

  • 2k Ski Erg

I’ve only tried this once for real so it’s hard to know what I’m capable of. Saw my best was 7:53.4 from 2 years ago, so I set a goal pace of 1:55/500m. Once I settled in past the first 500 meters I kept drifting away from the pace so I had a feeling I picked well. I fought to keep it within striking distance and then picked it up in the final 250 and again in the final 150. Was able to pull my average pace back under the 1:55, finishing in 7:39.6.

2017-05-01-2k-ski.jpg

Finally Satisfied

I’m pretty sure I displaced a rip in my back yesterday during the lifts. It’s not extremely painful or anything, but uncomfortable. Went in at 12 with the crew.

Warm-up

  • Shoulder Stretching
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 5 Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 OHS (45#)
  • 5 Squat Snatch (75#)

E3M – 6 Sets

  • 5 Squat Snatch (95#)
  • 8 Strict HSPU

I didn’t go heavy knowing what was coming next and figured it would allow me to push a higher rep count on the handstand push-ups. Picked a good number for those as each set took a bit longer, though all unbroken.

Conditioning

Warmed up with 6-4-2 @ 95#, 3-2-1 @ 115#, and 3-2-1 @ 135#.

“DT” – 5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 9 Hang Power Cleans (155#)
  • 6 S2OH (155#)

A hero workout I’ve always been disappointed with. Since it’s on the heavier side I expect to be capable of a decent time. After my recent thruster experiment in 17.5, I decided to try a new DT strategy today. Take more breaks to prevent the long breaks. I also was going to go lower on my hang cleans since it worked out well when we did the DT Chipper during Open prep workouts. I taped up my thumbs, strapped on my belt, and was ready to grind away.

Started out 6-5 deadlifts, then 1 deadlift and 4 cleans, 4 cleans, and finally 1 clean with the push jerks. Dropped the bar at 1:16. Oh boy! Seemed fast but I felt ok. Breaks were naturally longer after that and it was about 3:05 when I finished the 2nd round. I stuck to the same rep scheme and it was working well. Third round was done just under 5:00 and 4th around 7:00 I think. After dropping the bar I picked it right back up without rest to get in the 6 deadlifts. I think I still took a break after 5 more. But then I went 5 cleans instead of 4. To finish it off I went straight through the final 4 cleans and the push jerks. Finished at 8:36 for a 1:26 PR!! Finally something I’m happy with. It ranks at a level 93 on BTWB.

Midline

E2M – 5 Sets

  • 10 Crab Sliders

I skipped out on some curls and dips everyone was doing since I get enough of that in the Push Only program.

Bottoms Up!

Yesterday my abs were a little sore from the 100 sit-ups on Wednesday. I walked 18 holes on the course. Got a bunch of yard work done today and finally got out to the garage around 6pm.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×175
  • 5×195
  • 5x5x215#

Why does this day always seem so heavy? Maybe not warmed up as much as the higher reps on that first day of the “week” in the program or possibly fatigued from it? Seriously… sets of 12 with 200 feel easier than this. This was a 5# increase over the last time.

Shoulder Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×115
  • 2x5x135
  • 5×140

My plan was to do 1 set at 135 and 2 at 140 but evidently I didn’t pay close enough attention to my notes. Last time I did 2 sets at 130 and 1 at 135, so I guess I ended up lining up with that.

Accessory

  • 3×30 alt DB Bench Press (50#)
  • 3×12/12 Half Kneeling Single Arm Bottoms Up KB Press (25#)
  • 3×15/15 Tricep Kickbacks (15-20-20#)
  • 3×15 Landmine Twists with 45# bar + 15# plate (video)

Fucked up here too and did these kickbacks instead of extensions. I get too used to remembering previous workouts on the program.

That was a lot of lifting. Took just over an hour. First time doing those twists and shit, they are deceiving. Counted left, center, right, center as 1 rep.

Performance Plus

3 Rounds

  • 30s Left – Bottoms Up KB Marching (25#)
  • 30s Rest
  • 30s Right – Bottoms Up KB Marching
  • 30s Rest

This bottoms up KB marching is similar to the presses on a difficulty level. My left arm starts to lose it but my right side is pretty solid. Program also calls for:

  • Foam Roll Lats – 30s/side
  • Thoracic Spine Extension Mobility

I’ll get these in tonight after dinner.

Conditioning

  • 15-10-5 Squat Clean (135#)
  • 150-100-50 DU

Was going to do some running around the block, which is about 700m, but I got rained out again. Thought about doing burpees again but figured the double unders would fatigue the legs more for the squats. I did the cleans 6-5-4, 6-4, and 5 unbroken. Finished in 9:22.

Don’t Be Scared

Felt like was a useless piece of shit at work this morning, so I got out in the garage just after noon to sweat.

Hybrid Push Only

  • 3×10 Strict Pull-ups
  • 3×15 Rack Chins
  • 3×10 Strict Wide Grip Pull-ups
  • 3×15 DB Curls (20-25-25#)
  • 3×20 Shoulder IYTs (CS purple)

The wide grip variation is really hard for me. Done with that stuff in about 38 minutes.

Today’s Performance Plus workout was burpee pull-ups and IYTs. I think I’m covered on those! Just for fun, I put burpees in my metcon.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 10 Thrusters (95#)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 200m Run Ski Erg

I was dreading this since I came up with it last night. Several times this morning I even tried to convince myself I should adjust to something easier. I decided if I was that afraid of it, I should stick to it and grind away. It started raining as I was changing clothes and I’m delicate, so on the Ski Erg it was. 😀

Even during my rest between sets of the pull-up stuff I kept trying to think myself out of it. “Maybe I’ll just do it EMOM style.” Then I got to thinking 18 minutes may actually be a decent time. I knew one thing, I was going to do the thrusters unbroken today since I was alone and didn’t care much about my time.

Wasn’t hard at all to keep the thrusters to a set of 10 each round. Right into burpees, but they were of course slow. Was getting a pace of about 2:15/500m on the erg. Finished at 15:02 and realized it wasn’t as bad as I expected. Running would have definitely taken longer.

2017-04-27-after-wod.jpg

You Never Know

Took a rest day yesterday but was feeling good. Went to the 4:30 class.

Rehab – 3 Sets

  • 15 Reverse Hyper (140#)
  • 100′ Right Arm Front Rack Carry (70# KB)
  • 100′ Left Arm Front Rack Carry (70# KB)

Warm-up – 3 Sets

  • 10 PVC OHS
  • 10 PVC Passes
  • 10 Jumping Jacks

12:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 8 OHS (95#)
  • 12 T2B

Wore grips and even the last set of toes to bar didn’t feel like I was going to fall off the bar.

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Strict HSPU
  • 5/5 Single Arm Suitcase Deadlift (70# KB)
  • 10 Russian KBS (70#)

Bryan says, “Are you going to do them strict?”

“I wasn’t planning on it.”

“It’s only 5,” he says.

“Hmm, usually when I try that I realize it was a bad idea during the 2nd round. Fine, I’ll give it a shot. I don’t mind going slower on the other stuff.”

Surprised myself and didn’t have any problem doing every set unbroken! Seems like 5 months ago I would have struggled to keep doing sets of 5 kipping. Made it through 6 rounds, the HSPU, deadlifts, and 2 swings (6+17).

Midline/Skill

5 Rounds

  • 20 Sit-ups
  • 20 Double Unders

It was programmed for 4 rounds, but I upped it. Missed 1 dub after 18 in the 3rd round. Finished in 4:56.