I Was the Nail

Yesterday I walked 18 holes. My ass has been sore from the back rack reverse lunges. Worked out at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 BikeErg (4,665m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 80′ Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 20 PVC Passes
  • 5 Power Cleans (45#)
  • 10 Front Squats (45#)
  • 5 Push Jerks (45#)
  • 10 Kip Swings
  • 3 Power Cleans (95#)
  • 6 Front Squats (95#)
  • 3 Push Jerks (95#)
  • 6 Kip Swings

I used the black band today since the hip circle is awkward to walk with around my ankles.

Conditioning

Almost “Hammer”
5 Rounds, each round for time

  • 5 Power Cleans (135#)
  • 10 Front Squats (135#)
  • 5 Jerks (135#)
  • 20 Pull-ups
  • 1:30 Rest

Being a hero workout you have to suspect this would be bad. I underestimated it and went out too hot. My times for the first four rounds were 1:34, 1:43, 1:59, and then holy fucking shit 3:48!! I clearly died in round four. After nine reps in the final round my back popped and I was done for the day. FUCK!

I went unbroken on the barbell with 7-7-6 pull-ups for three rounds. In the fourth I did single cleans, took a break after 6 front squats, and almost missed the first jerk so I had to drop the bar and rest again. I started with four pull-ups and took so much rest between sets of twos to get the rest of the way. I thought about quitting right there and should have, which would have saved my back for another day.

I went down in to the reset position on the ground for a few minutes as has become the norm whenever this happens now. After that I was walking around and it didn’t feel bad, so hopefully I’m ok tomorrow. Skipped the ab work.

Brutal Leg Day

Warm-up

  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 80′ Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 10 Monster Squats
  • 6 alt Back Rack Reverse Lunges (75#)

My hips were burning after 20 feet of the monster walks with the circle around my ankles. It’s so much worse!

Strength

4 Sets

  • 12 alt Back Rack Reverse Lunges (125-135-145-155#)
  • 10/10 Single Leg RDL (foot on wall, 70# KB)

Good combo. Could have gone heavier for the lunges.

3 Sets

  • 16 alt Pistols
  • 24 Banded Prone Hamstring Curls (red)

First time trying the banded hammy curls and they were pretty good.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 cal Bike Erg (standing, no seat, @10)
  • 10s Transition
  • 30s Weighted Plyo Lunges (35# DBs)
  • 1:20 Rest

I did two lunges and holy shit! In the first round I did some bigger sets but in rounds two and three I primary did a lunge on each leg and took a second rest. So much burn in the legs! I got 26-23-24 calories and the bike and get 18 lunges each time. This was just brutal.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 10/10 Side V-ups (5# ankle weights)
  • 10/10 Partner Banded Rotations & Holds (blue)
  • 10 Evil Wheels
  • 10 OH Crunches w/ 3s pause (50# DBs)

Really good combo here too. Great training day!

Stacked Shrugs

Yesterday I had the day off work and I really needed it after a busy weekend working on projects and yard work. I walked 18 holes of golf. It was rough sleeping for the first two nights without air conditioning in my bedroom, but I slept good last night and the nights are supposed to be cooler for the next week. Out in the garage at 4 today.

Arms & Shoulders

3 Sets

  • Bicep Curl 21s (30# DBs)

5 Set Drop Set

  • 8 DB Curls (35# DBs)
  • 4 Drop Sets

I did 12-10-10-16 reps with the 30-25-20-15 respectively. Massive pump!

3 Sets

  • 12 Incline Hammer Curls (25-30-30# DBs)

These were done with our chest on the inclined bench. Is that incline or decline?

3 Sets

  • 12 Dumbbell Skull Crushers (30# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 12 Double Dumbbell Bent Over Tricep Kickbacks (25# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 12 Bent Arm Lateral Raises (25# DBs)
  • 12 DB Shrugs (50-75-75# DBs)

Had to stack a 50 and a 25 pound dumbbell on top of each other to get up to 75 pounds.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 35 Double Unders
  • 200m Run

Got this from the Bodyweight category of Beyond the Whiteboard Fitness Level workouts because running and double unders were both movements I wanted to hit in metcons this week. I could tell the runs were going to have to be pushed in this one, so I picked it to challenge myself. Really happy with a time of 6:21, with one DU miss at 21 in the final set. This ranks in the 93rd percentile on BTWB, which is good for me considering it was basically all about the running.

Gymnastics

6:00 EMOM

  • Strict HSPU

I set out to get 10 each minute, knowing that was probably too high. I made 10 unbroken for two rounds, then 5-5. I was blown and not able to recover after three minutes. Went 4-2 for only six reps each minute the rest of the way.

AC-less

Spent all day yesterday withDad pulling out some old AC units and patching up the holes in the walls. Was not a rest day! Now I’ll be without AC in my bedroom for just over two weeks until the mini splits are installed. We worked from before 8am to after 8pm without much break time.

Fitnessed at noon today.

Conditioning

20:00 BikeErg

Real easy pace today out on the back patio. It was hot in the sun. Went 9,548 meters.

Chest

3 Sets

  • 8 Incline DB Bench Press (45#)
  • 8 Incline DB Chest Fly (25#)
  • 8 Incline DB Bench Press (45#)

3 Sets

  • 10/10 Dead Bug Single Arm Bench Press (50# DB)
  • 10 Decline Push-ups

Back

3 Sets

  • 10 Straight Arm Lat Pulldowns (60#)
  • 10 Bent Over Back Fly (35# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 10 Lat Pulldowns (115#)
  • 10/10 Kroc Rows (40-45-50#, alt elbow in/out)

Midline

3 Sets

  • 50/50m Single Arm OH Carry (50#)
  • 30 Russian KBS (70#)
  • 100m Sandbag Carry (100#)
  • 12/12 Side Plank Row (cable, 30#)

This was like an old school strongman metcon. Nice change up for the core work.

3 Beat Downs

Yesterday I walked 18 holes and otherwise had a rest day. Out in the garage at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 BikeErg (4,620m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 80′ Monster Walks
  • 15/15/15/15 Steamboats
  • Squat Cleans
    • 6×45
    • 3×95
    • 3×115
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Weightlifting

E2M – 8 Sets

  • 10 Burpees
  • 3 Squat Cleans (increasing)

I was able to keep a steady pace on my burpees and then hit the numbers I planned, which brought me to my current limit. I did 135-145-155-165-175-185-195-205 pounds. After I got through 185# I actually thought about cutting back for the last round or two. Went for it though. Felt heavy. I haven’t done a squat clean since December and it’s probably been nearly that long since I’ve done any type of heavy front squat.

Conditioning

“Legs Gone Bad Vol 2”
150x

  • Squat Jump
  • 2 Plyo Lunges

I did doubles through 14 and then a few sprinkled in over the last 25 reps. Finished in 11:07 for a big PR compared to the 12:50 in May. Brandi was better by around three minutes! Good retest but I think this workout is retired; it’s just so brutal the entire way.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 10 V-ups
  • 10 Pike-ups
  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 10 V-ups
  • 10 Pike-ups
  • 1:00 Rest

Another big PR with 9:01, beating the 10:19 from June. I didn’t have to break up the hollow holds, so those have come back a lot over the last few months.

Today beat us up the whole way.

Grippy Repeaters

Got another good night of sleep. My traps, arms, and low back are all tight today. In the garage at 3pm.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 SkiErg (460m)
  • 160′ Monster Walk
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walk

Strength

4 Sets

  • 8/8 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (24″, 45#)
  • 16 Goblet Kossack Squats (45# DB in front rack)

4 Sets

  • 10/10/10 Three Position Calf Raises (45# DBs, out-neutral-in)
  • 10/10 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (2@125, 2@135)

Those lunges turn in to a cardio session.

Conditioning

2 Cycles

  • 3:00 AMRAP
    • 10 DB Box Step Overs (24/20″, 35/20# DBs)
    • 15 Pull-ups
  • 2:00 Rest

This got grippy! The step overs were much quicker than I expected, but that was a goal with the lighter weight. I got a pretty good rhythm going. I forgot to chalk up my grips and couldn’t stay on the bar in the first set of pull-ups so after 5 I had to drop, chalk up, and then finish the 10. I did the next 15 unbroken and got 2+11 in that first cycle. In the second cycle I got 2+12 by doing 15 unbroken pull-ups and then I had to go 8-4-3.

Midline

2 Sets

  • 12 Decline Sit-up (30# DB)
  • 12 Parallette Shoot Throughs (5# ankle weights)
  • 20 Floor Wipers (55# plate, 5# ankle weights)
  • 10/10 Half Kneeling Partner Banded Rotations/Holds (red)

2 Sets

  • 12 Parallette Shoot Throughs (5# ankle weights)
  • 12 Decline Sit-up (30# DB)
  • 20 Floor Wipers (55# plate, 5# ankle weights)
  • 10/10 Banded Rotations/Holds (red)

That ab work was tough too. The shoot throughs really got to me today. I did wear the ankle weights for all of the movements.

Surprising DT

I decided not to golf yesterday because I didn’t sleep well Sunday night, rain was in the forecast, and after being off work for seven week days I had a lot to catch up on. I probably needed the complete rest day because I’d fitnessed nine days in a row! Out in the garage for 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 7:00 BikeErg (3,581m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 6 Deadlifts (45#)
  • 4 Hang Power Cleans (45#)
  • 3 S2OH (45#)
  • 6 Deadlifts (95#)
  • 4 Hang Power Cleans (95#)
  • 3 S2OH (95#)
  • 6 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 4 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
  • 3 S2OH (135#)

Conditioning

“DT” – 5 Rounds

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

I’ve been working on a post for nick.blog about the programming we’ve been doing over the last couple of months and I thought this would be a good final test for some data to include. We have barely touched a barbell at all, so how would I do on a hero workout that only had barbell movements? Another surprising result, getting a lifetime PR by 26 seconds with a time of 8:10! I followed the same strategy I used the last time I did this workout in 2017. Every round I did 6 deadlifts, 5 deadlifts, 1 deadlift + 4 hang cleans, 1 deadlift (extra credit) + 4 hang cleans, 1 deadlift (extra credit) + 1 hang clean + 6 push jerks. At the end I should have tried to go for 5 hang cleans + 6 push jerks and get under eight minutes. The hardest part was the second set of 4 hang cleans each round.

Here are my previous results for this workout.

  • 8:36 – 2017/04/30
  • 10:02 – 2016/06/12
  • 10:35 – 2014/11/11
  • 11:48 – 2013/05/10
  • 14:40 – 2013/02/15

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 12 Tricep Push Downs (50-50-55#)
  • 12 Seated Incline DB Curls (30# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 16 alt Cross Body Curl w/ Twist & Negative (30#)
  • 12 Rope Tricep Push Downs (55#)

3 Sets

  • 10 Hammer Curl to Shoulder Press (30-30-35# DBs)
  • 10 Standing French Press (50# DB)

My biceps are weak!

Quality Sleep

Got a good night of sleep in my own bed! I feel good after working out every day for over a week. In the garage at 10am.

Accessory

  • 15-12-9-6-3 Strict HSPU
  • 15-12-9-6-3 Strict Pull-up
  • 20-16-12-8-4 Push-up
  • 20-16-12-8-4 Banded Row (step on band)
  • 20-16-12-8-4 V-ups
  • 20-16-12-8-4 Banded Tricep Push Downs
  • 20-16-12-8-4 Banded Curls
  • 30-24-18-12-6 Band Pull Aparts
  • 30-24-18-12-6 Russian Twists

I got the idea from TeamRICHEY and modified it to suit two people. It was an I Go You Go style workout with Brandi. I went 9-6, 7-5, 9, 6, 3 on the handstand push-ups. The new mat is a lot nicer than using a plate and AbMat. The pull-ups gassed quick. Went 9-6, 5-4-3, 5-4, 6, 3 on those. The only other movement I had to take any kind of break was with the rows. I went first on the first five movements and then we swapped and Brandi went first the rest of the way. I used a blue band for everything

Midline

4 Sets

  • 10/10 Banded Partner Rotations/Holds (blue)
  • 14 OH Crunches w/ pause (50# DBs)
  • 20/20s Weighted Side Planks (20# DB)
  • 16 Jack Knives (20# DB)

Even Faster 30

I had a nice vacation up at the lake and drove back home this morning. Went to the park at 5pm.

Warm-up

  • 200m Run
  • Arm Circles & Swings
  • Toe Touches

Gymnastics

30 Muscle-ups

Two and a half months ago I did a set of three reps every 30 seconds and got a time of 4:48. Since then I’ve been doing a lot of sets of five, so my goal today was five reps every 45 seconds, which would have me finishing around 4:00. Aggressive, but my max unbroken set improved more than I could have imagined, so I wanted to go for it. Nailed it with a time of 3:51!

Last time I said my days of knocking a minute off my time were over, but now I’m really really sure! I still can’t believe the improvement on this workout.

  • 6:55 on 2019-01-31
  • 5:55 on 2019-12-19
  • 4:48 on 2020-05-16
  • 3:51 on 2020-08-01

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 70m Hill Sprint
  • 10 Squat Jumps
  • 70m Walk Downhill

I originally wrote down 20 squat jumps but that would have been way too many. Ten was the right amount to get what I was looking for out of this workout.

Last Day at the Lake

I’m posting a day late (backdated) again!

My shins started getting tight from the broad jumps and my neck was a little sore from playing Beat Saber with the VR headset I think. Laced up the shoes a little before 9am.

Conditioning

4 mile Run

This felt really good again and took me 35:26, with a 8:50/mile pace. Here’s a WHOOP comparison to March 19th, where I ran 3.81 miles in 35:47, which is a 9:23 pace.

Ran longer and faster, with a much lower heart rate. Not really sure what that high heart rate is about at the start of this run, but WHOOP sometimes does that for me. My Garmin watch doesn’t show anything like that. Here’s some data from Garmin and RunKeeper.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 20 Leg Lifts (5# ankle weights)
  • 20 Push-up + DB Pull Through (50#)
  • 20 Plank Jumps (5# ankle weights)
  • 50/50m Single Arm OH Carry (50#)

After dinner, I put my sister through another ab workout to finish out the week. This was kind of nasty.