Author: Nick Momrik

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

Hobbit Friday

Took the day off work to go see The Hobbit in IMAX 3D and I’m well rested after taking yesterday off. Went in to open gym tonight. All I did for a warm-up were some PVC pass-thrus.

Strength

Alternated sets between bench press and the deficit deadlifts.

5×3 Bench Press

  • 10 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 215#

That’s a new high for 3 reps, up from only being able to hit 215# for 2 reps last cycle. These didn’t feel that great this week either, which is two weeks in a row it’s been a struggle.

5×1 Deficit (3″) Deadlifts

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 1 @ 315#
  • 1 @ 345#
  • 1 @ 385#
  • 1 @ 405#
  • 1 @ 415#

The 415# pull matches my 1RM for regular deadlifts. As I went for it, I didn’t think I was going to get it moving because it was really slow to start. Once it got above the deficit it felt smooth though.

WOD

This was a workout I made up and Matt used for the box today, so I had to give it a try even though I planned to do death by snatch.

10 Rounds

  • 3 Full Squat Cleans (115#)
  • 10 Lateral Bar Hops
  • 10 HR Push-ups

The goal of the cleans was to cycle them without dropping the bar, so I chose 115# instead of the Rx 135#. I also wanted to keep my time under 10:00 so felt I had a good shot by dropping down in weight. I finished in 8:50. Was able to do all of the cleans while holding the bar and the hops were a piece of cake for me. The push-ups on the other hand sucked. Got pretty tough around the middle of WOD. After getting done I’m kind of curious what my time would have been with 135#.

I’m really happy with how the design of this WOD turned out. I figured some of the top scores would be under 10 minutes and they were. A lot of people finished around 12-15 minutes from the scores on the whiteboard. The use of the barbell didn’t overpower the WOD, so you could still get out quality cleans even in the 10th round, but the push-ups were a great challenge. The lateral hops were just enough high intensity to string it all together.

Finisher

3 Sets

  • MAX Deficit HSPU (hands on 15# bumper plate, which is probably 1-2″)
  • 2m Rest

I was able to do 5, 6, and 4 reps. Tough! This was my first time trying HSPU like that.

I did a bunch of jump rope as kind of a cool down too.

Dynamic Effort Speed Squats

Took a rest day today, because I was feeling pretty beat up last night. Did do a round of dynamic effort box squats which I haven’t done in a month or two. Kept it light due to all of the squatting we’ve done at Survival Fitness this week.

  • 2×2 @ 45#
  • 1×2 @ 95#
  • 1×2 @ 115#
  • 8×2 @ 145#

Tried to keep rest time to about a minute between each set. Definitely started to feel it towards the end.

Have a bunch of stuff planned for open gym tomorrow, so it should be fun with a recovered body.

Thrusters Suck

After working out yesterday morning I felt pretty good, until I did the rowing intervals before dinner. After that everything seemed to hurt. Sort of “meh” today, with definite soreness in my hamstrings. I heard about the workout this morning and thought about skipping out because I hate thrusters and knew how bad the WOD would suck. But you can’t improve on a movement if you skip out on it, so I forced myself to go in for the 5:30pm class.

I was there pretty early so had a chance to do a bunch of PVC pass-thrus and around the worlds to warm up my shoulders.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

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

4 Rounds

  • 15s Plank
  • 15s Supermans
  • 15s Right Side Plank
  • 15s Left Side Plank

Strength

Find 1RM Shoulder Press

  • 10 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 75#
  • 2 @ 95#
  • 1 @ 115#
  • 1 @ 135#
  • 1 @ 145#
  • 1 @ 155#
  • Fail at 165#
  • 1 @ 155#

Looking back, I probably did too many warm-up reps. I never do it like that. 160# is my previous PR, so went for a new one even though 155# was pretty damn hard. I’ll take hitting 155# twice for the day though. Sounded like most people were doing pretty bad as well because of other work we’d done this week.

WOD

20:00 EMOM

  • 8 Thrusters (65#)
  • 3 Burpees

The Rx weights for the thrusters were 95/65, which is nearly impossible to do. I used 65# and couldn’t even do it all. After the 14th minute, I had to drop down to only 6 thrusters each minute so I could keep doing 3 burpees. Did all 8 and 3 reps in the final minute though because getting 30 seconds of rest no longer mattered.

55 thrusters and 55 back squat thrusters with 115# on Monday, 140 wall balls yesterday, and 150 thrusters with 65# today. I fucking hope we’re done with that movement for the week! 🙂

Gun Show Finisher

5 Sets

  • 20 DB Curls (10 each arm)
  • MAX Diamond Push-ups
  • 60s Rest

For the curls I used 15#, 20#, 25#, 30#, and 35#. The last set was a struggle to finish. I got 16, 15, 16, 15, and 12 reps on the push-ups. After this and all of the shoulder work, I can barely move my arms.

Definitely not doing a WOD tomorrow, but will most likely go in for the OLY class to work on the clean & jerk.

Four 500s

More work on the engine.

4 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 2m Rest

Went out hot and couldn’t hold up that pace. Last 3 intervals were consistent though.

20121211-165654.jpg

I found out there is a setting for an undefined rest period, which is what I should have used yesterday instead of a 0:00 rest period. That explains the lame logging it did last night.

Switch It Up Tuesday

On Tuesday’s I usually go to the OLY class at 6, but it’s time for a week off that much snatch work, especially with 1RM shoulder press tomorrow. I went to the 9am and will probably do some rowing intervals later tonight.

Warm-up

Tabata Mash-up

  • Mountain Climbers
  • Burpees

Strength

5 Sets

  • 5 Weighted Pull-ups
  • 20 Weighted Sit-ups

I went with the weight hanging from my feet for pull-ups and used 8#, 10#, 15#, 20#, and 25#. That’s a new high for the weight at my feet and I got all 5 reps. I just recently got up to 20# the last time we did this, so my pull-ups are getting a lot stronger. I only had time for 4 rounds of the sit-ups. Used two 25# KBs, 62# KB, two 35# DBs, and 39# + 40# KBs. The weighted sit-ups never seem to get any easier, partly because it’s so awkward.

WOD

20:00 EMOM

  • 7 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 7 Kroc Rows (60# DB, alternate arms each round)

Tougher than it looks. Good workout, but you aren’t left dying on the floor, so it was a nice change of pace after yesterday. I almost took the 71# KB for Kroc rows, but glad I didn’t because I’m not sure I would have been able to get all the reps.

Finisher

3 Sets

  • MAX L-Hang
  • 60s Rest

I held the L as long as I could and when my feet started falling, I held knees up as long as I could. I think I averaged about 30 seconds of hold each round and fought for extra on the last round.

20121211-103305.jpg

Upgrading the Engine

Now that my strength has improved a lot since the summer, I need to get my cardio back and lose some weight. I’ve been eating everything imaginable, putting on 15-20 pounds and increasing my body fat 4 or 5% in the process. Happy with the added muscle, but not the fat. Starting yesterday I’m back trying to eat healthy.

Decided to get in a good cardio burn, with the aim being a 10 minute WOD.

10 Rounds

  • 150m Row
  • 5 Burpees

I didn’t strap my feet in on the rower, so probably lost a bit of power there, but I didn’t want to have to get in and out for each round. I finished in 10:05. It’s nice when things work out as planned. I could have paced myself better, but I wanted to go hard the entire time, knowing I would fade away each round. Need to get those lungs back and it’s not going to happen by taking it easy. I almost pulled the plug after round 5 because I was dying. I told myself you don’t improve by quitting.

I set the rower to do 150m intervals, but the splits are a little confusing because it counted the previous interval’s rest time (or in my case, transition + time to do 5 burpees) as part of each interval. This makes the 500m pace and strokes/minute completely useless to look at. Maybe I set it to do the intervals wrong, who knows.

10x150m-row-5-burpees

Yes, it’s a cut and paste job, because the screen isn’t big enough to display all 10 intervals at once.

What a Bear!

Kind of tired this morning, but went to 9am to get it done.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

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

4 Rounds

  • 15s Plank
  • 15s Supermans
  • 15s Right Side Plank
  • 15s Left Side Plank

Strength

Find 1RM Front Squat

After hitting my previous 1 rep max (235#) for 3 reps last week, I was looking for a nice PR today. Warmed up with 6 reps at 135# and then went 185#, 215#, 235#, 245#, and 255# for a 20# PR. It was pretty easy too.

WOD

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

  • Modified Bear Complex (Clean Thruster + Back Squat Thruster)
  • 2x DU

I went Rx with 115# and finished just under the time limit with 25:45. Pretty happy with that because a long barbell complex in far from my strength and I held my own. I’ll be feeling that one in my legs for a few days.

Easy Like a Sunday Morning

Feeling great after a solid night’s rest and taking it easy all day yesterday.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 1m MB Cleans (20# MB)
  • 1m Inch Worms
  • 1m Jump Rope
  • 1m Figure 8s (20# KB, 25# KB in round 5)
  • 1m Hand-to-hand KBS (39# KB)
  • 1m Rest

The goal is to keep a decent pace, but not any real high intensity. It was easy.

WOD

7 Rounds

  • 24 OH Lunges (20# MB, 12 each leg)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 8 T2B

I really enjoyed this one. It was a WOD where I could go-go-go. Holding the medicine ball overhead was the toughest part of this. In rounds 3 and 4 I split up the lunges into 16 and 8. Other than that, everything was unbroken. I did take a few second breather in between each round as I moved a popsicle stick for counting. Finished in 14:48.

I Should Be Resting

Tired. Was falling asleep with the laptop on top of me in my chair, but went in for open gym.

Bench Press

Starting a new cycle with Kevin, so it was a 5×5 today. Did 8 at 135# and then 5 reps at each of 155#, 175#, 185#, 195#, and 205#. I was not feeling the lifts and last cycle I only hit 2 at 205#, so I was thrilled to get all 5 today.

Heaving Snatch Balance

I wanted to get above my snatch max, but probably took too small of jumps, which tired me out. Went 75#, 85#, 95#, 105#, 115#, 125#, 135#, 145#, missed at 155#, 155#, and a miss at 160#. The plan was to get in 10-15 singles and that was 11. Was pretty fatigued at that point, so stopped before getting hurt.

Double Unders

I made an attempt at the “Flight Simulator” which is an unbroken DU ladder WOD. You have to hit 5 unbroken DUs, stop, then 10 unbroken DUs, stop, and so on all the way up to 50, then back down the ladder. Each ladder jump is 5 reps. I made it up to 35 before I decided to come back down. I was failing too many times on the attempts at 30 and 35. Coming back down went so much faster than going up. My time was 14:51 for the 35 Flight Sim. I’ll take it since I hadn’t even been able to make it up to 25 in a mini flight sim before.