Knotted Up

Woke up out of it and still wasn’t quite awake when I got to the box.

Warm-up

3 Rounds of “Cindy” NFT

  • 5 Pull-ups
  • 10 Push-ups
  • 15 Air Squats

I did all strict pull-ups and a chin-up grip for the 2nd round.

Skill

E90S 15:00 (10x)

  • Rope Climb (13′)

Really getting the “hang” of it. Noticing these are going to be really good for grip strength as well as some extra biceps and triceps work.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 12 DB Snatches (40#)
  • 14 K2E

All step downs from the box and I went 6 in a row with each arm for the snatches. Started out with 5-5-4 for K2E, but was down to 5-4-3-2 in the last couple of rounds. Finished exactly 5 rounds just as time ran out.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Russian Twists (53# KB)
  • 20s Rest

I stuck around for some extra work.

10 Rounds NFT

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions

Did each round quick, but took my time in between. Focused on explosiveness with each rep. Nice burn after the other midline stuff.

Fresh For Press

Really needed the day out of the gym yesterday. Walked 18 holes of golf and shot my best round of the year. 🙂

In to the 9am at CFi. Did CS Activation and then worked with Kevin trying to get him doing a kipping muscle-up. I probably did 5 MU or so to demonstrate.

Warm-up

  • 10x Squat to Stand Hold
  • 8 Snow Angels
  • 10x CS ATYT
  • 4x15s Hollow Hold
  • Shoulder Presses
    • 5×45#
    • 5×95#
    • 3×115#

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 Shoulder Presses (137.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Push-ups
    • 2s: Clapping
    • 1s: Plyo on to three 45s + 35 stack of bumpers

Nailed all 8 sets! One more day and the Smolov Jr. cycle will be complete. My shoulders felt fresh after the day off.

Skill

DU Practice

I did a set of 50 and a set of 102.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 50 DU
  • 21 Russian KBS (62#)
  • 9 Pull-ups

First round of DU was unbroken but I screwed up once in the other two sets. Kettlebell swings and pull-ups (kipping) were all unbroken. Finished in 4:55. Did Crossover Symmetry Recovery when I got home.

In the evening…

Warmed up with some band pulls, 45# snatch position work, and 45# snatch presses. Did a couple of muscle snatches with 40kg and some snatch presses too. Then I started doing snatches. I have no idea how many reps I did at each weight though. Some I did one single and others I did a couple singles. Everything was a power snatch. Around 65-70kg I missed a bunch and then they got easier when I added weight after getting frustrated. Pretty sure the weights I got were 50-55-60-65-70-75-78-80-82-80. One attempt at 84, but was a miss and didn’t feel very good, so I dropped to end on a make.

Back Squat

  • 5×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 3×195#
  • 5×215#
  • 5×245#
  • 5+ x275# (got 11)

I was thinking about starting a Smolov Jr. cycle, but I’m going on vacation in less than 3 weeks so wouldn’t be able to finish. I’ll just take some squat sessions from 5/3/1 on extra squat days for the next couple of weeks, which is where this came from. The max set is a fun mental test.

Back to Back to Back

When you drink alcohol you are just borrowing happiness from tomorrow.

Went over to Survival Fitness Bay City for beering, grilling, and fireworks last night. Didn’t drink much but stomach was rolling a bit through the morning and I had to take a couple of naps. Trained with Kevin and Brandi at 5pm. Started off with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Shoulder Presses

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 7x5x130#

Phew! Went up 7.5# over week 2’s day 2. Hardest struggle I’ve had yet. Glad tomorrow is a rest day.

To warm up snatches I did 2 muscle snatches with 95#, 2 power snatches with 115#, and 2 power snatches with 135#.

Conditioning

  • 3 Rounds
    • 3 Snatches (use 70% of 1RM, same bar for all 3 couplets)
    • 6 Burpee Box Jumps (30/24″)
  • 4 Rounds
    • 6 Front Squats
    • 12 T2B
  • 5 Rounds
    • 9 Deadlifts
    • 27 DU

This is an original I came up with yesterday. No rest between couplets. I used 145# and finished in 15:37. My T2B held me back a lot. I could definitely feel the fatigue in my hips from all of the MU yesterday. This would be nice at 75%, especially if you hadn’t been out drinking.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap when I got home.

Double Morning

Out to the garage for an early lifting session. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation. Lighter than usual so I didn’t fatigue myself before presses.

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 6x6x125#

The final week of Smolov Jr. has begun! Bumping up the weights extra this week.

Back Squat

  • 20×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3x10x225#

Giving up on 315# yesterday pissed me off. Haven’t been squatting enough. Nothing crazy today. A little greasing the groove. I did the last set of 10 unbroken and should have done that for all 3 sets. Was resting and breathing too much in between reps on the first 2 sets.

In to CFi for the 10am class.

Warm-up

  • Cobra Stretch 2x30s
  • Arm Circles
  • T-spine Twists
  • Neck Rotations

Midline

10:00 EMOM

  • 1/1 Turkish Get-ups

Did 3 rounds with 25#, 2 rounds with 35#, 2 rounds with 44#, and 3 rounds with 53#.

Skill

10:00 EMOM

  • 2 Muscles-ups

No misses! I thought for sure I’d be switching to singles by the 5th minute. I only hit 3 in a row for the first time 2 weeks ago and failed on a 3rd try at a double that day. Today I really focused on the hollow/arch/hollow swing, a big hip pop, and then a fast turnover. Never once got my wrists stuck in a bad spot on the turnover like I usually do. I’m excited! The XWODs are paying off in a big way.

Conditioning

Strapped on the 20# weight vest. Did about a 250m jog to warm up the legs.

5:00 EMOM

  • 20s Sprint @ 80% w/ vest

Took a couple of rounds to get a feel for running with that thing. Took it off for the next part.

E90S – 5 Rounds

  • 10s Sprint at 100%

My acceleration felt really good on these.

After a little break we jogged a little more than 1 mile. I finished out by doing Crossover Symmetry Plyo with the red and purple bands.

Freedom

Happy 4th of July! Lifted at 9am.

Warm-up

  • CS Activation
  • 45# C&J Positions
  • 10×45# Good Mornings

C&J

  • 3x40kg
  • 3x50kg
  • 3x60kg
  • 2x70kg
  • 2x80kg
  • 1x90kg
  • 1x96kg
  • 1x100kg
  • 1x105kg

I was trying to work on making that back foot hit the ground first in my jerks, but it got tougher as the weights piled up. Straight up muscled the 105kg jerk with little drop under the bar. Figured that was a good time to stop with the jerks and save my shoulders for the last week of Smolov Jr. presses, which I’ll start tomorrow.

Cleans

  • 1x110kg
  • 1x115kg
  • Fx115kg
  • 1x110kg

I had my mind right for the first attempt at 115, but it crashed on my wrists and elbows a bit, so I got worried and didn’t really go for it on the next attempt. Decided to drop down for a make and end there. Alex said my back was very vertical on that last lift. The 115 clean (254#) was 97% and my max was just 255# until 2 weeks ago. I need to get more comfortable with the weight up in that range. The strength is there. I’m thinking 110kg might be a good place for me to rep out a bunch of singles.

Good Mornings

  • 5×135#
  • 2x5x155#
  • 2x5x175#

Explosive hips coming up.

Back Squats

  • 10×175#
  • 5×225#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×275#
  • 3×285#
  • 3×295#
  • 3×305#
  • 1×315#

It was feeling rough on the way up. I was hoping to get up to 325, but I gave up on 315 after struggling with the first rep. Shit, just a few weeks ago I hit 10 triples with that weight. Chalk it up to fatigue at the end of a 2 hour session.

Grinding Smolov Jr.

Headed in early before the 9am so I could finish up week 2 of Smolov Jr. shoulder presses.

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 10x3x137.5#

Felt rough from the get-go, but I made it through every set. Rushed in and started right away too without any other type of warm-up. Was only taking about 90 seconds of rest between sets so I could finish before class started. The final week should be interesting. I think I’ll bump up the weights a bit over the recommended. My shoulders are feeling strong!

Warm-up

3 Rounds NFT

  • 300m Row
  • 15 Reverse Hypers on GHD

I worked up quite the sweat!

Warmed up deadlifts with 4×155#, 4×245#, and 4×315#.

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4 Deadlifts (365#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Explosive movement
    • 2s: Split Jumps (2 each leg, sandbag on back)
    • 1s: Kneeling Jump (10.25″ – 45-45-25 HG bumpers stacked)

Haven’t done any heavy deadlifts for volume in quite some time. Felt really good!

Conditioning

5 Rounds (Tabata style)

  • 20s Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Sit-ups
  • 10s Rest

I did 10 wall balls and 11 sit-ups each round.

Midline

3 Round NFT

  • 20 Russian Twists (53# KB)
  • 45s Plank

After class I stayed to do some extra work. Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap with the blue bands for heavy and yellow for light. Burn baby!

4 Rounds NFT

  • 15 GHD Sit-ups
  • 15 Back Extensions

Focused on being as explosive as possible for both movements, which got me breathing pretty damn heavy. Took solid rest between rounds to recover.

In the evening I went for a walk. 3.22 miles in 48:29. During the summers my conditioning is always the best, which I attribute in large part to walking so much on the golf course. Felt like some fresh air tonight and the walk was perfect.

A New Chapter

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2:00 Bottom Squat Hold
  • 2x 30s/30s Couch Stretch
  • PNF Rack Stretching

Strength

Warmed up with 5×45#, 5×135#, and 3×185# front squats, with a 2 second pause in the hole on the last set.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 3 Front Squats w/ 2s pause (205#)
  • Evens: 3 Weighted Pull-ups (44# KB)

I’m terrible with the pauses, so it’s good to work on them. First time doing weighted pull-ups in a really long time.

Accessory

2 Rounds NFT

  • 5 Deficit HSPU
  • 10 Ring Rows

Did the HSPU at a much higher deficit than I’ve ever tried. It was rough. I’ve developed a bad habit of getting my shoulders on the wall for some reason. I need to push my head through at the top.

Conditioning

2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2

  • Goblet Squats (53# KB)
  • Russian KBS (53# KB)
  • Burpees

Finished in 6:45, going unbroken on everything.

Rope Climbs

Feeling a little sore in new places from climbing the trees Sunday night at The Adventure Park. Walked 18 holes of golf yesterday. In for the 9am class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • CS Activation
  • Arm Circles
  • 30 Jumping Jacks

Strength

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 8x4x130#

Paired up with XWOD of:

  • 2s – 30″ Box Jumps
  • 1s – Broad Jump

The shoulder presses were a lot more of a struggle today. The final day of week 2 should be very interesting!

Skill

Put on the shin skins and finally tried some rope climbs while the newbs worked on kipping with Kevin. We’ve been talking about me getting on that rope for the last couple of weeks, so it was time. I was using the faster method which starts about halfway through this video…

I did 3 or 4 of them and then did one legless too. Not nearly as hard as I was expecting. Felt a lot different strain on my shoulders doing them, so points to a weakness I need to work on.

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Deadlifts (115#)
  • 10 Push Presses (115#)
  • 5 Burpees

Finished 4 rounds plus the deadlifts and push presses. Did all 10 push presses in round 1 but then had to go 5-5 every other round. Rough after the shoulder presses.

About 2-3 minutes after we finished, we went for a 1 mile jog.

93 Kilos

Didn’t get a ton of sleep last night after going to a 10pm showing of Transformers, but feeling surprisingly good today. Went over to CFi at noon to lift.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 45# Snatch Positions
  • 10 Snatch Presses @ 45#

3 Position Snatches

  • 40kg
  • 40kg
  • 50kg
  • 60kg
  • 60kg (missed high hang)

Snatches

  • 2x65kg
  • 2x70kg
  • 1x75kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x83kg
  • 1x85kg
  • 1x87kg
  • 1x89kg
  • 1x91kg
  • 1x93kg (PR)

Felt great! Had no intention of going for that, but was lifting with Alex, who said he was going to get up around 90 for the day. When I got close, it was feeling good, and I was making everything, figured might as well go for it. That’s 205# for a 5# PR. I haven’t attempted anything over 185 since the end of January. Took the PR and 100% day from the floor, then shut it down. All of the CS work is paying off in a big way. I’ve never felt so good receiving the bar with heavy weights.

Shoulder Presses

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 7x5x122.5#

Day 2 of week 2 for Smolov. Not any struggle, but I think the next 2 days in the program are going to get hard. I paired the working sets up with kneeling jumps for an XWOD:

  • 2s – 5.75″
  • 1s – 8″

Will have to go higher next time for more of a challenge.

I did some skin the cats and then Crossover Symmetry Recovery.

Hot & Sweaty GLBRT

Today was the 6th Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown, with it being hosted at Mission 1 – CrossFit Caro this time. I’ve competed in the last 3 and we won the belt for Survival Fitness at each one. The first two we competed in were one team takes the belt back to their gym and with the last one the format was switched up to make it more of a gym working together, where the top 2 scores from each gym count for each WOD.

Event 1

12:00 AMRAP

  • 200m Run
  • 21 American KB Swings 53/35#
  • 12 Pull-ups

2 teammates work at a time (1M/1F) to complete a round. When the first 2 teammates finish a round the second 2 teammates will begin a round. This pattern continues for 12 minutes. Score is total reps completed.

Both Partners run the 200m. The KB Swings may not start until both teammates have returned from the run to their area. Whoever chooses to start a set of KB Swings or Pullups must perform all the reps in that set, for that round. During the KB Swings the other partner must be hanging from a bar for the KB Swings to count. While the Pullups are being performed the other partner must hold the KB off the ground for the pullups to count. The 2 teammates that are not working must be touching the rig before they can be released for the run. They will be released after the working partners 12th pullup is completed.

Bre and I paired up with her doing all of the KBS and me doing all of the pull-ups. Brent and Laura started the workout and finished our 7th team round just before the time ran out. Wasn’t really that tough of a workout for me since it was just 3 runs and 36 pull-ups. I never dropped from the bar and went unbroken with kipping pull-ups on each set.

Event 2

There will be 8 stations for men and 8 stations for women.

  • Men’s weights = 75-95-105-115-135-155-165-185
  • Women’s weights = 55-65-75-85-95-105-115-125

Each athlete will have 20 seconds to work at each station and 10 seconds to transition to the next station to perform as many reps as desired. At least 1 rep must be completed at each station before moving to the next station. Score will be total pounds lifted per team.

Everyone knows the thruster. All bars will start on the floor. The athlete may complete the first rep as a full clean, receiving the bar in the squat position. The hips must clearly pass below the knee in the squat portion of the movement and the bar must end in a fully locked out overhead position with full extension of the knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow. There may not be a pause between the front squat portion of the movement and the overhead portion. It must be a thruster and not a clean and jerk. If an athlete fails to complete a good rep at a station then they will leave the field at the next transition time.

When we did a run through I only did 3 reps at each weight. Today I went 7-7-5-5-5-3-3-3. Should have gone harder in the early and middle sets. Happy I was still able to get 3 at 185. I did 2, had to drop it, took a breath, and then got in another rep. Tweaked my back a little bit though. 😦

Event 3

Chipper!

  • 50 Wall Ball (20#/14#, 10’/9′)
  • 40 KB Snatches 44/26
  • 30 T2B
  • 20 Burpees
  • 30 Clean & Jerk 135/95
  • 40 Box Jump 24/20
  • 50 Deadlift 185/135

2 men start the chipper. After they complete the 50 Wall Ball and move to the 40 KB Snatches, the 2 women may start their Wall Balls. This pattern will continue through the entire chipper. There will be 2 scores. First score is men’s time and second score is total time. Work can be divided between partners however they choose. For example, if one woman cannot perform a 35# KB Snatch but her teammate can, then she may perform all 40 of them.

Each lane will have 1 barbell for cleans with 2 45# plates, 2 25# plates, 1 45# barbell, and 2 spring collars. It is the responsibility of the team to load their barbell with the appropriate weight. When the men complete their clean & jerk they may load the bar for the women, however, if they choose to do this then the box jumps may not start until both men move off from the Clean station and on to the box jump station.

Each lane will also have 1 barbell for deadlifts with 2 45# plates, 2 25# plates, 1 45# barbell, and 2 spring collars. It is the responsibility of the team to load their barbell with the appropriate weight. When the men complete their deadlifts they must leave the field and cannot change the bar for the women. The first score is recorded upon completion of the men’s 50th deadlift. The second score is recorded after the women complete their 50th deadlift.

Brent and I beat our practice time by over 30 seconds and the girls beat their time by about 1:30! I couldn’t believe it when we were doing our C&J and they were waiting on us to finish. In the practice run, we got done way ahead of them and even changed the weight on the bar for them. They crushed it!

Great day and a fun team to compete with. The weather was brutally hot and it was even worse inside the gym. Spent a lot of time outside in the sun.  After today and walking 27 holes of golf yesterday in the hot sun and humidity I’m exhausted!

glbrt6-sf