Nick Momrik

Holy Shit Balls, That’s A LOT of Squats!

My hamstrings really kicked in today from the 100 good mornings Kevin and I did on Saturday night. Just in time for squat day and RDLs! Went to the 5:30pm class.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Jump Squats

Strength

5×5 Front Squat

It’s been over 2 months since we did this. Last time I got 215# for 2 reps on my last set, so my goal was to hit it for all 5 today and I did. Went 8 reps at 135# and then 5 reps each at 155#, 175#, 195#, and 215#.

Accessory

12:00 EMOTM

Odds: 10 RDLs (155#)
Evens: 10 Goblet Squats (55# KB)

Just what the Doctor ordered for sore hamstrings, high rep RDLs!

WOD

5 Rounds

15 MB Squat Cleans (20# MB)
15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)

Towards the end of the 2nd round my hips really started to lock up. It was a struggle. Finished in 10:26.

That was as shit ton of squats today! I can barely walk already. Going to try and play soccer for the first time in my life at 8:30pm, so that should be interesting.

Bench Experimentation

Did some new bench press related stuff in the garage tonight.

Inclined Dynamic/Speed Bench Press

2 Sets of 3 @ 45#
2 Sets of 3 @ 95#
3 Sets of 3 @ 115# (index finger on smooth part of bar)
3 Sets of 3 @ 115# (extended thumb on the edge of the knurling)
3 Sets of 3 @ 115# (pinky on the power ring)

Decline DB Press

20 @ 30# DBs
20 @ 35# DBs
20 @ 40# DBs

After the first set we propped the foot of the bench up on one of my platforms to get more of a decline.

Tricep Rollbacks

15 @ 15# DBs
15 @ 20# DBs
15 @ 20# DBs
15 @ 25# DBs

I had only done the dynamic benching on a flat bench before and never with the different grip positions. It was a nice change going inclined and switching up the grips like that. Found the info after doing a little research into how Westside does their dynamic days. They also suggested the DB presses and some triceps work. None of the work really killed me, but we’ll see how I feel from it tomorrow.

Road Work Circuit

I’m feeling pretty good after yesterday’s WOD and then the explosive training we did at night. Little sore in a lot of places, but nothing bad. Went to the 11am today and 14 of us were there to get our sweat on.

Warm-up

Matt called this a road work circuit, with the goal being to keep your heart rate in the 130-150 range, but work hard enough to get a sweat on.

5 Rounds

1m Russian KBS (40# KB)
1m Lateral Step Overs (12″ box)
1m Air Squats
1m Jump Rope
1m Jingle Jangles
1m Rest

It was kind of hard not to push the pace, but at the same time nice to work at a steady pace. I started out a little slow and my heart rate was less than 130, so I stepped it up a bit and each round it went up progressively, while still staying below the high-end of the range. Solid long “warm-up” that would be harder than most fitness classes out there.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

12 Box Jumps (32″)
6 Thrusters (75#)
6 Burpees

This is actually based off the hero WOD “Rahoi” but due to space and box availability we had to switch it up. We don’t have the room for bar-facing burpees so we just did normal ones and our supply of 24″ boxes ran out quick so I went with the 32″ box. Since my box was so high, I scaled the thruster weight down from 95# to try to even it out a bit. You can’t really even out those box jumps though. The level of concentration and effort needed to keep jumping on that box is so much more than a 24″. The jump down off the box is really taxing too. Thrusters were probably too easy at 75# so it’s time to start stepping up my game on those. I was able to do 5 complete rounds plus 12 box jumps, 6 thrusters, and 3 of the burpees for a 5 + 21 score.

Explosive Work

Went over to Kevin’s garage tonight to work on some new explosive stuff.

Lightened Deficit Deadlifts

With a black band anchored overhead so we basically had 100% weight at the top of the lift for the lockout

5 @ 295#
5 @ 365#
5 @ 365#
5 @ 415#

The black bands gave up a lot of help at the bottom of the lift, so that we could explode up from the bottom. I used lifting straps on the last round and still almost lost the weight. Had to kind of regrip after the 3rd rep.

Then we did 50 speed 1/4 back squats with #225. You do all 50 in a row, but every other set of 10 you go up on to your tip toes, starting with the first 10. That’s a long time to have that much weight on your back and by the end of the 50 it’s really a lot.

Next we did 100 good mornings. I used 95# and broke it down into 50-20-15-15. Tough. My legs started to get wobbly after these.

To finish things off we did 5 sets of 3 kneeling jumps. The first set was just jumping up to our feet, then using a sand-filled PVC pipe to do cleans. Next I think we did a couple sets for broad jump distance and finally one set with the heavy PVC on our back and to just get back to our feet.

Cleaning Up

Feeling good today after getting a good night’s sleep in my own bed. Went in at 10am for another Kevin WOD.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

15s Jumping Jacks
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Air Squats
15s Lateral Hops

Olympic Lifting

Find 1RM Clean & Jerk

2 @ 135#
165#
185#
205#
225# (missed the jerk)

Felt pretty good so I went for it on my last attempt. After catching the clean I sat in the bottom of the squat for at least a second or two and felt like I nearly choked myself. I powered through the squat, which is only 10# below my last 1RM in the front squat. Set myself up for the jerk, but the clean took a lot out of me. I’ve only done 205# once in the jerk and never even attempted 225#, so confidence probably played a bit into the miss too. Next time! That was another 10# PR in the clean over the 215# that I just hit last weekend.

OLY WOD

10:00 EMOTM

Power Clean
Hang Power Clean & Jerk
20 Lateral Bar Hops

After finding the 1RM we used 70% of that so I went with 155# on the bar. Tried to concentrate on keeping my shoulders back and using good form in all of the cleans.

Plate Shuttle

2 Rounds

25# – 35# – 45#
- 50y Weighted Run with a plate
- 50y Sprint back
45# – 35# – 25#
- 50y Sprint
- 50y Weighted Run bringing the plate back

It was only 35 degrees outside, but it didn’t take long to warm up and not even think about cold.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

10 MB Sit-ups (20# MB)
10 MB Cleans (20# MB)
10 Russian KBS (44# KB)

I did 7 rounds plus the 10 sit-ups and 9 of the cleans.

Really good WOD today with a lot of different work packed into the hour.

A Little Recovery

Doing death by push-ups last night probably wasn’t the greatest idea in the world, but I need the extra push-up work. The front of my shoulders are pretty shot today. Because of the weather I came back home during the day and went in to open gym.

22:00 EMOTM

Odds: 30s Row
Evens: 20 DUs

The plan was to do 20 minutes but the clock got reset part way though and I ended up doing an extra round through. After the first 2 or 3 rounds I didn’t miss a double under. I was pretty stoked about that. Probably should have bumped it up to 30 DUs, but oh well.

After finishing up I worked on mobility for 30 or 40 minutes. I wanted to work on butterfly pull-ups, but decided it wasn’t the best time for it with my shoulders being shot from yesterday. Gotta be smart.

Thanksgiving Sissy Test

I’m up at my parents for a few days so figured it would be a good time to do the Sissy Test. I missed out on it at Survival Fitness a couple of weeks ago. The only time I’ve done it was back in April, when I used a 55# KB and finished in 41:38.

“Sissy Test”

25 -> 1 Burpees
1 -> 25 Russian KBS (53# KB)

For clarification, you do 25 burpees and 1 KBS swing, then 24 and 2, and so on down until 1 and 25.

I made a ghetto KB using my 50 pounder, some duck tape, and a 2.5# plate. It worked for the most part. I finished in 38:16, which is an improvement of 3:22. Could have even been better, but the handle on my KB got so slick towards the end and I had to keep putting it down to wipe the sweat off my hands otherwise it would have went flying.

Bring on the Thanksgiving feast!

Update

Around 11pm I was bored and everyone was in bed. Death by Chest to Deck Push-ups sounded like a good idea. I got through the 18th minute and 16 reps of the 19th for a total of 187 reps. Not bad after doing 325 burpees earlier today. The only other time I did push-ups was last December when I completed 14 + 12 but was not getting my chest to the ground and had to resort to kneelers.

Mini Vacation

Took the next few days off work and will head up north later today. Went in for the 9am to get my WOD on.

Warm-up

50-40-30-20-10

Russian Twists (30# KB)
Flutter Kicks (x4 counts)

WOD

12:00 EMOTM (do both)
- 5 Thrusters (85#)
- 7 Star Jumps
NO REST! Can start the next phase as soon as you are ready.
5 Rounds
- 9 Burpee Power Clean & Presses (85#)
- 7 T2B
- 5 Weighted Lunges for each leg (85#)

The thrusters weren’t as bad as expected, but the star jumps really got hard to jump in those last few minutes. I think I was completing the combo in about 21 seconds each minute. I did take a bit of rest before jumping into the next portion of the WOD. In the first two rounds I was doing the burpee power cleans one at a time, which was a waste and really sucked. In the last 3 rounds I figured out I could string them together and turn the clean and press into one motion pretty much without having to straighten my legs and then dip again. That worked better and I broke them down into 5 and 4 the rest of the way. The T2B and weighted lunges were pretty easy and like a break; all were done unbroken. My total time (with the 12:00 in there) was 30:34. Glad I went with 85# instead of the 95# Rx on this one too because it would have been hard to keep up any kind of intensity.

I walked a couple of laps around the 150m rectangle to cool down.

Tabata WOD

I felt like shit all day yesterday after the workout. I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately. Either my cardio is that bad that the workouts are killing me or I’m learning to push myself harder and that’s draining everything I have. Went to the 9am today.

Warm-up

50 Butt Kicks
50 Jumping Jacks
50 High Knees
50 Zombie Kicks
50 Lateral Hops
50s Plank
50 Bicycles
50 Hip Thrusts

Really felt the hip thrusts in my ass and hamstrings.

WOD

Tabata – Lateral Over the Bar Burpees
1m Rest
Tabata AbMat Sit-ups
1m Rest
Tabata Pistols
1m Rest
Tabata Ring Dips
1m Rest
Tabata Ring Rows

Much harder than it looks on the board. I listed them here in the order I did the WOD. I think it was good to start with the burpees and then sit-ups because I was freshest at that point. Managed 49 over the bar burpees and 91 sit-ups. Tried to do strict pistols but just wasn’t happening, so after a couple of reps I started holding a post for balance and support. Alternated legs each round and ended up with 60 reps. I went strict for the first 4 rounds of ring dips and then used a purple band the rest of the way to get a total of 49 reps. Started with straight leg ring rows and moved my feet in as they got harder. 55 reps there for a total of 304 in all.

Finisher

12:00 AMRAP

10 Side Bends on each side (53# KB)
10 V-ups

Once again, the WOD killed me and I was ready to be sick. Went kind of slow, but managed to get 7 rounds in.

Barbell Complex

Up and at ’em for the 9am today. I’m sore from Saturday’s death by pull-ups and from bench pressing yesterday. We are stepping away from strength for the week to recover and confuse the body. Good timing since it’s Thanksgiving week. My cardio and endurance has been a bit lacking, so this is a good chance to kick it back up a notch.

Warm-up

21-15-9

Squat Jumps
HR Push-ups
Leg Raises

WOD

30:00 Partner AMRAP (alternating rounds)

5 Deadlifts
5 Bent Rows
5 Hang Power Cleans
5 Back Squats
5 Good Mornings

I was paired up with Kevin and we had 115# on the bar. He had to bow out, switching to a lighter bar and slowing down around 10 minutes, so I switched to doing a round every other minute on the minute. I think I had 4 rounds in during the partner portion and then I worked the last two minutes in a row to end up with a total of 14 rounds plus 5 deadlifts, 5 bent rows, and 5 hang power cleans. It may have only been 13 full rounds because I’m not sure where we made the switch.

After the first couple of rounds I fell into a rhythm and was consistently getting 55 second rounds. I had never done a good morning in my life so that took some time getting used to. I smoked through the hang power cleans early on, but in those last few rounds it was a struggle to get that bar up. I’m left feeling sick after this WOD, that’s for sure.

Finisher

3:00 AMRAP of Burpees

I got 48 of them, with 16 in each minute I think, so pretty consistent. Not bad with only a few minutes of rest after the WOD.