I got a little headache during the warm-up. I wonder if the pre-workout drink I started taking has something to do with it.
Strength
4 Sets
2-3 Back Squat, 3-0-X-1 tempo
20s Rest
15 KBS
3m Rest
Did one warm-up set of back squats at 135#. Then used 185#, 200#, 210#, and 220# for the working sets and was able to get 3 reps each set. For the first time I didn’t feel like I was tipping forward when I started to come up. 3 reps at 220# beats my previous best of 1 rep there. I used the 70# KB for the first time today. It was an ass kicker, but I got through each set unbroken.
WOD
4 Rounds, 2m each round, 2m rest between rounds
250m Row
MAX Squat Cleans with remaining time
This might be my favorite WOD I’ve done since starting CrossFit. Going straight from the row to squat cleans was a killer on the quads. I finished the row in less than a minute each round and then used 115# on the bar. Knocked out 7, 6, 5, and 6 squat cleans during the rounds. I should have been able to get 6 in round 3 as well, but I gave up on myself with 6 seconds left on the clock. Should have been just enough time for one last rep. I made sure not to let that happen again in the last round.
My shoulders and wrists are pretty sore from doing OH squats yesterday. Everything else is feeling good though. My hand is healing faster than the last time I ripped, but this one wasn’t as deep either.
Warm-up
2 Rounds
20 Band walks (each direction)
15 Band Presses
15s Rhomboid Stretch
15s Samson Stretch
3 Hand Walks
Strength
4 Sets
4-6 Shoulder Presses, 1-1-X-1 tempo
90s Rest
20 DB Walking Lunges
90s Rest
I wasn’t sure how the shoulder presses would go since I just did a bunch of OHS yesterday. Warmed up with the bar and then did 6 reps each at 95#, 105#, and 115#. I had previously done 123# twice, but got 3 reps in today. The sets really felt good. For the walking lunges I used 40# DBs.
WOD
5 Rounds
MAX Pull-ups
TBD Broad Jumps
Complete 30 total reps each round. So, if you do 20 pull-ups on your first set, you must do 10 broad jumps before returning to the pull-up bar.If you can easily perform more than 30 consecutive pull-ups, drop on 29 and do your 1 broad jump before returning to the bar for your second round of max reps pull-ups.
I used tape grips on my hands and tried to grip the bar more in my fingers instead of my palms. It worked because I don’t have any new rips. I do have a little blister that formed under the knuckle on my left ring finger. My rounds of pull-ups came out to be 11, 9, 7, 8, and 8. Eleven is a new kipping PR! If I don’t kick my legs back so far when I get tired I think I could string together more. After the first round of pull-ups I’m 95% sure I started counting broad jumps from 0 so I did 30 of them. I was wondering why everyone finished so far ahead of me on that set. My total time for the WOD was 6:22.
After class I started to get an understanding of how to do a muscle-up, but I was dead from the pull-ups so there was no chance of it happening. When I got back home I pulled out the jump rope for a few quick attempts at DUs. Easily was stringing together some small streaks. Just wanted to make sure I don’t lose it.
My entire body is still sore from the open workout. Olympic lifting class was switched from 4pm on Sundays to noon, which works out much better for planning out the day. I can get up at my usual time and either go for a hike or hit the 9am class. Then there is enough time to get breakfast and run an errand or two. After the Olympic class I can get in a round of twilight golf. Perfect!
Today I went to the 9am class because a nice cardio blaster was scheduled in the programming and it would take care of my DU practice for the day.
3 Rounds
500m Row
100 DUs
400m Run
I finished in 22:13. I was able to do a lot 10+ DU streaks and overall it was the best I’ve done DUs in a WOD. All of the practice is paying off. When I do so many DUs I start to get a headache though. This has been happening even when I practice them. After some Google-ing it seems to be an issue with head position, which would make sense because my neck seems to be getting tighter and tighter from CrossFit. I’ll have to find something from the MobilityWOD to help loosen it up.
John is starting to run the Olympic lifting class more open so everyone can choose what they want to work on. I chose to start with overhead squats because of my strength weakness there and I’ve always felt tipsy holding that weight overhead so long. I did some warm-up rounds with the bar and then started working my way up with 75#, 95#, 105#, and 115# for 4-5 reps. 115# was a new PR and it felt good, so I went for one last round with 125# and knocked out 3 reps. I’m going to have to buy some wrist straps because I could really feel it as the weight got heavier.
The other gals had moved on to split jerks so I worked on those as well. I didn’t get up to anything too heavy. Mainly worked with the bar, 75#, 95#, and 115# to focus on technique. My leg positions in the split are getting better. Still only 3 people showed up today. I can’t believe more people don’t want to take advantage of this class.
While we were working on our Olympic stuff, the gym owner, Gayle did the open workout again and did nearly 2 more rounds than her first attempt. She was flying through it. Pretty amazing to watch!
Yesterday ended up being a rest day because the scheduled workout had push presses. My shoulders would have been wrecked for Open workout 12.3, which I was doing today with a group at the box.
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 18 minutes of:
15 Box jumps, 24″ box
12 Push press (shoulder to overhead), 115#
9 T2B
Damn! 18 minutes is a long time. When I saw this workout I knew I could place much better than I did with snatches, but there is a potential to fatigue early on and totally suck. I can do box jumps all day long, but 115# would get heavy early, and since I ripped my hand open on Wednesday, I wasn’t sure how the T2B would go.
I watched all of the videos CrossFit HQ and the Journal put out on efficiency and read some strategies and lessons learned on blogs. Seriously, I think I have a problem. I’m just some average guy trying to challenge myself. You’d think I had a chance to make it to the finals the way I think about these workouts.
My strategy going in:
Box Jumps: Rebound as much as possible and try to complete all reps unbroken.
Shoulder to overhead: Start with push jerks from the very first rep. Push presses would fatigue my shoulders much faster. I know this because of how much 95# thrusters take their toll on me. Once push jerks no longer work, switch to split jerks. Break each set into 2 sets of 7 and 5 as long as possible and then break them up even more as needed. Try not to drop the bar, but instead rest in the rack position.
T2B: Do a knees to elbow and kick the feet up. Drop my legs straight down from the top and try not to swing them out away from the body or everything will start to swing. Break each set up into 6 and 3 or maybe even 3 sets of 3 depending on how it goes. Grip is probably going to be an issue.
In order to deal with my ripped left hand and prevent ripping on the right hand, I made some tape grips following this video.
To help prevent ripping I planned to try changing my grip on the bar.
After checking out some athletes on the leaderboard with scores similar to mine for workouts 12.1 and 12.2 I set my goal at 6 rounds, which comes out to 3 minutes per round.
How did I do? Not too bad. 5 complete rounds plus 15 box jumps and 6 push presses for a total of 201 reps. I’ll take that. My strategy was solid, but my gut instinct about problem areas was right on the money.
I missed a bunch of box jumps in the 1st round because I’m so used to rebounding off the top like we do in class. Once I remembered to extend my hips at the top, box jumps were smooth sailing. I rebounded at the bottom as much as I could, but once I get a little tired I’m afraid I’ll miss the box. I completed every round of box jumps unbroken as expected. Can we do a workout of all box jumps? 🙂
As planned, I started with push jerks right instead of attempting any push presses or strict presses. The weight was heavy right away. I don’t think I ever got 7 in a row and I had to break up the 12 into 3 or 4 sets on every round. 115# adds up quick with my lack of strength.
Grip was definitely an issue on the toes to bar, but more because of my swinging than anything else. When my feet came back down with each rep I could reach to touch the ground and stop myself from swinging out of control. This wasted a lot of time and I broke the 9 reps up into 2 or 3 sets each round. I need to learn how to kip these. The tape grip and grip change really helped to save my hands.
I was fast out of the gate (too fast) in round 1 and think I had it done in around 2 minutes, but it was the 115# that really killed my momentum. Three workouts done and 2 to go.
Final results are in for workout 12.2 of the 2012 CrossFit Games Open. For the snatch workout I finished 1,703rd out of 2,125 in the South West region and 23,604th out of 31,287 in the world. That puts me in 1,624th place in the region and 23,040th in the world after 2 workouts. I dropped in both rankings, but heavy weights are not my thing compared to most of these guys. I’ve only been doing workouts with barbells for 2 months of my 4 month CrossFit journey!
The deadlifts hit me a bit harder today. Pretty sore in my legs and lower back. I can feel all of the pull-up work we did yesterday in my shoulders and upper back too. Or maybe I’m just getting old!
When I saw today’s workout I had mixed feelings. No strength work, but three metcons. Interesting to say the least. From the pull-ups and T2B I knew today had the potential to wreak havok on my hands, and it did.
Warm-up
Stretch
600m Run
Rest 8 minutes between AMRAPs.
WOD #1
8m AMRAP
250m Row
5 HSPUs
10 Thrusters
I flew through the first row, knocked out the HSPUs using 1 AbMat, and did the thrusters unbroken at 95#. Second row went well too, but then I hit the HSPUs and got stuck. The first two were ok, but I had a lot of trouble with the next three. Tried kipping them out with some success, but I took me a long time and I fell off the pace. All that work wore me out for the thrusters and I had to break them up into small sets. I managed to get out the final row just before the time ran out. So I completed 2 rounds plus 250m of rowing.
WOD #2
8m AMRAP
40 DUs
20 HR Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
DUs, I own you! I started off with a streak of 20+ and thought, “This is easy.” Haha! I fell off the pace a bit, but this was the first WOD where I didn’t suffer too much from DUs. I kept my head and tried to relax, which really helped with my rhythm. The second round of HR Push-ups were tough. In the second round I set a new PR by getting all 10 pull-ups in a row by kipping. I have a nice wound to show for it as you can see in the picture. I only tore up my left hand this time and it’s under a different finger than the first time I tore up my hands. Funny thing is, that was exactly one month ago. I sure hope the Open workout doesn’t require anything on the bar because I don’t know what I’ll do. I finished 2 rounds plus 14 DUs for this WOD.
WOD #3
8m AMRAP
20 Box Jumps
15 T2B
10 Ring Dips
I used a 24in box for the jumps and substituted GHDs for the T2B since my hand was already tore up. I didn’t substitute anything for any of the ring dips today. I finished 2 rounds plus 20 box jumps, 15 GHD, and 2 ring dips.
Once everything was all said and done, that was a pretty cool program for today. I really love how they switch things up at the box. I’m going to miss the programming when I head back to Michigan, but I’m excited that the box back home is making a lot of changes and going to become a CrossFit affiliate this summer. Damn, I love this shit!
My legs and back are really sore from RDLs on Sunday and deadlifts yesterday. I used the foam roller for the first time today. Wow it really brings everything out in those sore areas.
Warm-up
600m Run
3 rounds
10 PVC Shoulder Pass-thrus w/ shrug
15s Dead Hang
30s Plank (on hands)
First time doing a dead hang during class. Focus for them is on keeping the shoulder engaged. I think it was also the first time I had done planks on my hands.
Strength
4 Sets
2-3 Weighted Pull-ups, 2-1-X-0 tempo
20s Rest
MAX Strict Pull-ups, 2-0-X-0 tempo
20s Rest
30-45s L-Sit (cumulative)
2m Rest
I really struggled with the strength work today. I used an 18# KB for the weighted pull-ups and was able to get 2 or 3 each round. But that completely knocked me out for doing strict pull-ups. It was an adventure trying to get 2 or 3 of those with such a short rest. I did the L-Sits on PVC parallettes with my knees slightly bent and tried to get 10-15 seconds at a time.
WOD
In teams of 2, complete the reps however you want, but you must run together.
4 Rounds
12 DB Renegade Rows
400m Run
I paired up with Dominic, who I hadn’t met before. We split up the renegade rows by each doing 6 in each round. I used 25# DBs but should have used 30s. We finished first in 11:43. My endurance is improving a lot lately. I really pushed my pace in the 3rd and 4th rounds.
I took out the jump rope after a rest and knocked out a couple of good DU streaks. Didn’t try more than a minute. I’ll do a longer practice session on them tonight. Last night while looking for tips on DUs, I found a great video for progressing through DUs, from Again Faster. Check it out.
I wasn’t really sore this morning from yesterday’s Olympic lifting session. I do feel a bruise near my neck from doing cleans though.
Warm-up
3m DUs
6 each of Push-up complex (Under the fence, knee to elbow at bottom of push-up, foot to outstretched hand at top of push-up)
50 Sit-ups
6 each of Push-up complex
I think we did something else in the warm-up, but I can’t remember what it was.
Strength
5 Sets
5 Deadlifts
20s Rest
MAX HSPU
3m Rest
Since I had just done RDLs last night I wasn’t sure what I’ve have left in the tank for deadlifts. I started with a warm-up set at 135# and then my rounds went like this:
165# DL / 7 HSPU
195# DL / 7 HSPU
215# DL / 5 HSPU
245# DL / 6 HSPU
275# DL / 4 HSPU
Everything felt pretty good. Today was the first time I tried HSPU with only 1 AbMat. It’s definitely harder than 2, but I’ve come along way since doing stink bugs 2 months ago. 275# is a new PR for deadlifts by 5#.
WOD
5 Rounds
8 Deadlifts, 85% of 5RM
20 Wall Balls
I used 235# for deadlifts and a 15# MB so that I could keep up the intensity throughout. In the first round I did all 8 deadlifts unbroken, but then broke them up into sets of 5 and 3 for the rest of the rounds. Each round I tried to do the wall balls unbroken, but had to take a break of 2-3 seconds during a few of the rounds. I finished in 10:41. On one of the the deadlift descents, the knurling of the bar scraped my knee and took a souvenir.
It’s been a busy day! I hadn’t been to the Olympic lifting class in a couple of weeks, so making sure I made it was my top priority. I hadn’t been hiking in a couple of weeks either, so that was also a high priority. I really wanted to get out golfing too so I could work on some swing changes and get more practice with my new clubs.
In order to get everything in, I woke up at 7am and headed out to Piestewa Peak. I hiked 2.72 miles in 1:03:03. I rushed home, ate, showered and sped off to the golf course where I walked 18 holes. The pace of play was good for a Sunday, so I got home with plenty of time to eat and relax a bit.
When I got to the gym, I worked on DUs for about 5-10 minutes to warm-up. Still struggling. I ended up being the only person to show up for the Olympic lifting class, which was kind of cool, because it meant I got a 1-on-1 session with John for the entire hour! It’s such a great opportunity to get tips and coaching from someone that has competed in the Olympic lifts. I’ve come a long way with my technique since the first time I tried the lifts.
We started with clean and jerks. I warmed up with the bar a bit and then did a few sets of doubles at 95#. Moved on to doubles at 115#, 125#, and 135#. Then switched to singles at 145#, 155#, and 165# which were all PRs! On Wednesday I set a 40# PR in the snatch and today I hit a 30# PR in the clean and jerk!
For the second half of the class I did Romanian deadlifts (RDLs). I did 2 or 3 sets of 5 at 95#, then sets of 5 at 115# and 135#, and a final set of 3 at 155#. The RDL is a little hard to get used to, but when you do it right you can really feel it through your hamstrings and ass. I’m going to be sore tomorrow. I just looked at what tomorrow’s CrossFit workout is going to be and there is a bunch of deadlifts in both the strength work and the WOD. Great!
I didn’t get much sleep last night. Was wide awake at 6:30 so got out of bed after already laying there for a good 45 minutes. My left calf is sore. I guess it could be from intervals or the jump rope yesterday. I played 18 holes of golf, but rode in a cart since they didn’t allow walking on that course on weekends.
I wanted to go for a hike, but Duke and North Carolina were playing, so I watched the game instead. During halftime, I went outside and practiced DUs for 10 minutes. Couldn’t get a rhythm going and barely got more than a few streaked together. Just when I was making progress, I run into a brick wall again.
After the game, I went over to the gym in the apartment complex and jumped on the treadmill. I was planning to do a slow 30 minutes, but the cushioning in my left shoe came loose and kept sliding back towards my ankle. I’ve had this pair of Inov-8 F-Lite 230’s for about 4 months now, but haven’t been wearing them much since I bought the Inov-8 Bare-XF 210 CrossFit shoe. Because of the setback with the shoe, I only managed 7 minutes on the treadmill so then I did 30 minutes on the stationary bike.
Since I had just done RDLs last night I wasn’t sure what I’ve have left in the tank for deadlifts. I started with a warm-up set at 135# and then my rounds went like this:
Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs 