Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Breaking Through

On Sunday night I was exhausted by 9pm. Dumb time change! Woke up with a headache on Monday and took a much needed rest day. Out in the garage around 3:30 today.

Warm-up

3:00 Airdyne

Went 69 calories and 1.6 km.

Strength

Bench Press

2x6x45#
6×135
4×185
2×215
2x5x235
5×240
5×245
MAX @ 225 (9)

The program called for 4×5 @ 230-235 and then a max reps set at the base weight. Last cycle I did the four working sets all at 230, so today was a big improvement. My final set of five matches my 5RM and I finally beat my max reps with 225# by two reps after getting exactly seven reps the last four times I’ve tried. 💪 💪 My left arm was actually lagging a little on the heavy set and final max reps, when it’s always been my right. Maybe some of the accessory work is evening things out.

Accessory

4 Sets

8 Seated OH Tricep Extensions (50#)
8/8 Concentration Curls (30#)

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

20 Rounds

45s Row
30s Rest

Settled in around 95 RPM. Total of 734 calories and 10.95 km.

Back Acting Up Again

Last night my quads and traps were feeling sore. I also felt a little something off on the right side of my low back, which is opposite where I always have my issues. This morning I could feel some pinches in the normal spot, especially when I put my left leg in certain positions. WTF! It’s not nearly as bad as it felt last week though. Went to open gym at 10am.

Warm-up

3 Sets

8 cal Echo Bike
15 Reverse Hypers (50#)

I also did 5 strict pull-ups.

Accessory

5 Sets

5 Weighted Pull-ups (30#)
10/10 Kroc Rows (53# KB)

Conditioning

3 Rounds
- 10 Strict HSPU
- 20 MB Walking Lunges (20#)
3 Rounds
- 10 MB Crossover Push-ups
- 20 Wall Balls (20#, 10’)

The first part was originally going to be 20 box jumps, but after 20.4 and with how my back was feeling I changed to lunges. I knew I would do the first set of handstand push-ups unbroken, but wasn’t sure how the other sets would go. I flew through that first 10 faster than I’ve ever done them and I made all three sets unbroken. The crossover push-ups were nasty with all of the shoulders in this little workout. Wall balls were burning, but I kept them unbroken. Finished in 8:21.

Midline

6:00 EMOM

15 Hollow Rocks
10 V-ups

Planned this to be 5 minutes, but decided to do an extra round.

For the Girls

3 Sets

Dumbbell Curl 21s (30#)

Not the prettiest reps, but happy to hit the weight I was doing several months ago when we did them every week.

I chilled at home, mowed the lawn, and was out in the garage just after 3pm.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

38:00 Airdyne

** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36.

Got 1,045 calories and 22.14 km.

Comfortably Cold

I must be really hyped up on Friday nights after the Open workouts because it wasn’t a great night of sleep again. Sore this morning, but no back pain. 👍🏻 Went for a run after 10am, when it hadn’t hit 40 degrees yet and the windchill was 32. I bundled up with warm socks, Under Armour Cold Gear tights and shirt, shorts, light half zip, winter golf gloves, and a hat.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

46:00 Run

I wasn’t sure about my layering, but I was very comfortable the entire run and it was my favorite run of the year! I’ve already bought some proper running gloves and a hat. Went 4.8 miles with consistent splits again. It felt good on my body after 20.4 last night.

2019-11-02-run-splits

Year of the Engine – Speed/Threshold

15:00 Airdyne

I was out in the garage at 6pm. Tried to hold 80 RPM and I think my average would have been close. Went 521 cals and 9.82 km, which is my best by 14 calories and 0.14 km.

20.4

Rest day yesterday. On Wednesday I setup an adjustable stand on my desk so I can go between sitting and standing. Also bought an anti fatigue mat. After only a few hours I could tell my back was fighting to get in a better position, so hopefully it helps in the long run. I didn’t stand at the desk today since I needed my legs for the Open workout. I was getting anxious about the workout, so I got to the gym pretty early for the 4pm.

Warm-up

I started with 3:00 on the Echo Bike for 28 cals. Then I did a ton of ankle mobility work to get them primed for pistols, including sitting on ankles, KB on a knee and driving the leg forward, air squats, Cossack squats, step-ups, deep stretch with one foot up on a box, etc. I think I did 5×45, 5×95, and 3×135 clean and jerks. Honestly, not a ton of warm-up needed for me because the first five minutes of the workout was going to be a great warm-up and I didn’t want to be going too fast there.

CrossFit Open Workout 20.4

30 Box Jumps / Step-ups (24″)
15 C&J (95#)
30 Box Jumps / Step-ups
15 C&J (135#)
30 Box Jumps / Step-ups
10 C&J (185#)
30 Pistol Squats
10 C&J (225#)
30 Pistol Squats
5 C&J (275#)
30 Pistol Squats
5 C&J (315#)

Step up and down every rep on the box. Then all singles with the barbell. Both would keep my heart rate under control through the first part of the workout. I had my belt on and tightened it for every set with the barbell. Since I wasn’t jumping, I wore lifting shoes to would help with the pistols. Knee sleeves on too, which I pulled up for the pistols.

Last night I came up with sort of a slow scenario that would still let me get up to the 275# bar, where I would just stop. I haven’t lifted that weight in a couple years and it wouldn’t be worth an attempt with how my back was just feeling last week. Here was the plan:

1:30 Box
1:30 C&J (3:00)
1:30 Box (4:30)
2:30 C&J (7:00)
1:30 Box (8:30)
3:00 C&J (11:30)
2:30 Pistols (14:00)
3:30 C&J (17:30)
2:30 Pistols (20:00)

I got through 200 reps with a 18:27 tiebreak, so I finished the 225# C&J and the 2nd set of pistols like I hoped. 💥 I was ahead of my total pace at every point. Here are my splits (compared to plan) and total time (compared to plan).

1:24 (0:06) – 1:24 (0:06
1:23 (0:07) – 2:47 (0:13)
1:41 (-0:11) – 4:28 (0:02)
1:32 (0:58) – 6:00 (1:00)
1:57 (-0:27) – 7:57 (0:33)
2:02 (0:58) – 9:59 (1:31)
2:20 (0:10) – 12:19 (1:41)
4:42 (-1:12) – 17:01 (0:19)
1:26 (1:04) – 18:27 (1:33)

I thought it felt like my step-ups got slower and they sure did. I gave back time during the 2nd and 3rd sets. Kind of crazy that the 95# cleans took 1:23 and the 135# took 1:32. The 25# plates bounce around so much it’s hard to pick the bar back up. I should have gone faster on the first set of pistols, but was trying to keep my heart rate under control before that 225 pounder. Those heavier cleans took much longer than expected, considering I handled all of the other weights well. I was trying to rest about 20 seconds between each rep there because I knew I was ahead and I didn’t want to miss a jerk.

That workout was a lot of fun. I was nervous about my back holding up, but it was good. My entire back side is really tight now though.

40 Inches

My back is feeling better. Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

8 Rounds

1:00 Airdyne
2:30 Rest

My goal was 95+ RPM. My rounds were 50-51-52-51-52-51-53-52 calories and 0.77, 0.77, 0.77, 0.75, 0.77, 0.76, 0.77, 0.77 km. Happy with the consistency. Yeah, I definitely should have been doing more intervals on the bike throughout the program. The leg burn is real.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

1:30 Assault Bike (20 cals)
3 Rounds
- 10 Air Squats
- 5 HR Push-ups
- 10 Good Mornings (45#)
Box Jumps
- 5×20″
- 5×24
- 5×30
- 3×37

Conditioning

2 Cycles

40 cal Assault Bike
15 Rounds
- 5 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
- 3 Burpees
- 1 Box Jump (40″)

The single rep movement was programmed as a heavy (315#) deadlift, which I obviously was not doing in my condition. I stacked a couple of 20″ boxes up against the wall, which worked great and was a lot of fun. I did the first bike in less than 2:30 and took the second one nice and easy, somewhere in the 3-3:30 range I think. Finished in exactly 26:00 and felt good with the cardio aspect to it. During the 15 round portions my heart rate was 155+ the entire time.

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Bench is Taking Off

My back wasn’t pinching on me like it did on Sunday. Stayed up late on Sunday night again, so not a great night of sleep. Last night, however, I got more sleep. My back is even better today. Out in the garage at 3:30.

Warm-up

3:00 Airdyne

Jumped on the bike while I was waiting for Kevin to show up. Got 63 calories and 1.56 km.

Bench Press

2x6x45#
6×135
4×185
2×215
3×240
3×245
3×245
3×250
3×255
1×270
1×280

The program called for 5×3 @ 240-245 this week. Last cycle, where I used the same base weight, I did 240 for all five sets and struggled. I felt amazing today so pushed higher and ended up matching my all-time 3RM with 255#. The heavy singles are the most I’ve touched in 2 years and only ended 10# under my PR. Cutting back on warm-up sets and all of the extra accessory work is paying off!

Accessory

10/10 DB Tricep Kickbacks (10#)
10 Barbell Curls (45#)
10/10 DB Tricep Kickbacks (15#)
10 Barbell Curls (55#)
3 Sets
- 10/10 DB Tricep Kickbacks (25#)
- 10 Barbell Curls (65#)

Those working sets were tough!

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

10 Rounds

1:30 Airdyne
1:30 Rest

Doing another Rocket Race on the bike to keep the stress off my back. I wanted to keep 90 RPM for these and was right around there throughout. Ended with 683 calories and 10.73 km.

I’m out for 20.3

My back felt much better after the run yesterday. Since Wednesday it was feeling like something was out of place, so maybe it was and the run shifted things around. As I was chilling last night watching TV I was getting a little excited for 20.3 and thinking I might actually be able to go for the 315 bar this year. Then I woke up this morning and my back was pinching as I moved around the house. Open gym at 10.

Warm-up

10 Reverse Hypers (50#)
12 Reverse Grip Bench Press (45#)
6 Skull Crushers (35#)
10 Reverse Hypers (50#)
6 Reverse Grip Bench Press (95#)
6 Skull Crushers (55#)
10 Reverse Hypers (50#)

Accessory

4 Sets

12 Reverse Grip Bench Press (145#)
12 Skull Crushers (65#)

That was getting rough!

Conditioning

5:30 AMRAP

25′ Walking Lunges

This was obviously not the planned workout. My back tweaked as soon as I drove up for the first burpee box get over in the real workout, so I tried again. Nope. After putting my shit away I lunged for the last 5:30 on the clock, using the course set out for the Open. Got 20 lengths of the 25 foot course.

Means I won’t be doing 20.3 tomorrow. I did Diane earlier this year so it’s not really a big deal other than I won’t have a real ranking for the Open. Disappointing though, because if I could still deadlift like I could three years ago it would be a really good workout for me. My HSPU are stronger than they were in January when I did a 5:30 Diane.

Midline

10:00 EMOM (alt)

40s Handstand Hold
20s Hollow Hold

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne

** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30

Out in the garage after 1 o’clock. Might as well do some sweating today. I got 1,032 calories and 21.43 km. Only 0.07 km from my best at this time domain, which was with one more sprint.

I’m going to order pizza and watch Tiger get win #82 tonight!

Speed & Endurance

Last night my legs were really feeling the fatigue from those two Airdyne interval workouts. I think it means I need more of that. Didn’t get a very good night of sleep. Out in the garage after 9:30.

Warm-up

3:00 Airdyne

Increased pace each minute. 94 calories and 1.85 km.

Year of the Engine – Time Trial

10:00 Airdyne

Tried to keep a consistent pace from the start with 87-90 RPM instead of going out hot for the first minute plus. My pace still faded through the middle of the workout and I didn’t have as much kick for the end. I never looked at the calories until I was finished and I felt pretty good, so I thought I had a good chance of beating 400. Not today. 393 calories and 6.91 km.

Went for a run close to 2pm.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

44:00 Run

Made it 4.55 miles and I love the consistency over the middle!

2019-10-26-run-splits

Then it was time to mow the lawn.

Double Airdyne Day

Rest day yesterday. I got blurry vision with a headache late in the afternoon and took a long nap. I also slept in this morning. My hamstrings are getting pretty sore from something.

I was really hoping we wouldn’t get something heavy for 20.3, because yesterday my back was not feeling good from Wednesday, and probably mostly from 20.2. Heavy deadlifts are better than heavy squats I guess. It definitely wouldn’t be smart for me to attempt those today, so hopefully I can recover for a Sunday go at it.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

4 Rounds

4:00 Airdyne
2:00 Rest

Out in the garage around noon. Protecting that back by not using the rower, which isn’t working anyway. I tried to keep ~85 RPM, doing 156, 158, 150, 152 calories and 2.76, 2.74, 2.67, 2.7 km.

I really need to make a v2 of the custom monitor for my AD since the first one was over complicated and stopped working with Raspbian OS updates. Being able to always see the important info (not alternating through) and on some type of stand at eye level will be a huge difference, especially for intervals like this.

It might be a good idea for me to switch things up more often like this. I’m able to get my heart rate up quite a bit higher on the rower. On the Airdyne, my legs start to burn far before I get my heart rate up.

That finishes month 8 of the program, which leaves one more month of this differentiation phase. A few hours later I was out in the garage again.

Accessory

2 Sets
- 5 Weighted Chin-ups (25#)
- 2×5 Strict Ring Dips
- 10/10 Lateral Step-ups (24”)
2 Sets
- 5 Weighted Chin-ups (30#)
- 2×5 Strict Ring Dips
- 10/10 Lateral Step-ups (24”)
1 Set
- MAX Weighted Chin-ups (35#)
- MAX Strict Ring Dips
- 10/10 Lateral Step-ups (24”)

I got 8 chin-ups, though the weight was briefly resting on the ground between each rep and 18 ring dips. Really close to my best of 21 strict ring dips, after already doing 40 reps! I decided to use a lower box than normal, doing them slower with control.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

18 Rounds

30s Airdyne
1:00 Rest

I felt my back pinch during rounds 3-4, so I hopped off, moved around a little bit, and was back on. Didn’t happen again. Held >100 RPM every round to get 549 calories and 7.12 km.

Dead Rower

Went out to the garage to row during lunch and my rower wasn’t working again. Hopefully it’s just the cable. Concept 2 sells the entire cable and sensor assembly, so I ordered a new one for less than $30 after shipping and tax. I went to the gym early before class to get this in.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

12 Rounds

45s Row
1:15 Rest

I set the drag factor to 120 on the rower. Four months ago I averaged a 1:34.9 pace for this workout. Today I wondered how long I could hold a 1:33/500m pace and it turns out the entire workout! After three intervals I actually thought about speeding up, but figured I’d wait a few more rounds. A couple later I was happy with that decision because I was starting to struggle. Got 242 meters every round for 59 total meters more than the last time.

2019-10-23-row

Maybe I need to start being more aggressive with the paces I pick. If you look back, my s/m were all 32 and higher the last time. Maybe something to do with the lower drag factor or the little bit of squatting I’ve been doing is getting my leg strength back.

According to WHOOP, my average heart rate for this workout was 6 lower than last time, even though my highest HR during the workout was the same both times. I’m able to recover so much better now.

Accessory

5 Rounds

10 Ring Rows
20 HR Push-ups

Before I knew I was going in to row I planned to do this after class. Since my body was warmed up I moved this up and skipped the class warm-up. I did all 5s for both movements, though the push-up sets got really slow with some pausing. Finished in 7:22. Pump city!

Weightlifting

Power Snatch

5×45#
5×75
5×95
10:00 EMOM
- 3×115

I did all singles. I was trying to work on my early arm bend and dropping under the bar. I could feel my back a little bit. This was supposed to lead right into a 10:00 EMOM of power cleans. I had 165# on the bar, did my first rep, and my back did not feel good when I caught it. I did the other two reps which didn’t feel any better, stripped my bar, and skipped the other nine minutes.

Conditioning

21-15-9

DB Push Presses (50# DBs)
Jump Over Box (24#)

The workout was deadlifts and tall box jumps, but I wanted something easier on my back so I came up with this. I was surprised to get every round of push presses unbroken, with the second half of the 15 and 9 being fights. Clearing the box is so much more demanding than regular box jumps, but I kept moving on them. Finished in 4:37.

I hope my back recovers for 20.3 on Friday or Castro doesn’t give us a heavy barbell this week.

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