Power It

Body is still feeling pretty good. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Echo Bike (30 cal)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • 5 Kip Swings
    • 5 Ring Rows
    • 10 Good Mornings (45#)
  • Power Snatch
    • 5×45#
    • 5×75
    • 3×95
    • 3×115

Gymnastics + Weightlifting

15:00 EMOM

  • 7 T2B
  • 1 Power Snatch

Easily did the toes to bars unbroken every round, wearing grips. Started the snatch at 135#, added five pounds every round, never missed, and finished at 205. From the first rep I was working on landing the catch in a lower position so I’d be more comfortable dropping under the heavier weights. Seemed to help some. I’ve only ever powered more than 195 once and it was in a competition in 2015. Sure feels good to rip some weight!

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 15 cal Echo Bike
  • 15 cal Row
  • 50 DU
  • 15 Deadlifts (185#)

Missed twice in the first set of dubs and then did 30-20 on purpose the next two rounds for a quick breather before deadlifts. I did 3×5, 8-7, and 3×5 for the deadlifts with no belt and they felt pretty good after all of those snatches. Finished in 11:26. Not the greatest setup for speed with the bikes and rowers all the way in the other room and having to reset the height on the seat every round and adjust the rower feet each time I’d get on.

Unexpected Terribleness

My lower body is really tight from the Monday squatting. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • 10 PVC Passes
  • Front Rack Stretch
  • 5 Hand Release Push-ups
  • 5 Air Squats

Power Cleans

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95
  • 3×135
  • 3×165

Conditioning

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 Power Cleans (185#)
  • 12 Push-ups

Went with the RX+ of 12 here over the Rx of 10. The Rx++ was 15, but that seemed like a stretch and I’ve done a lot of burpees and push-ups over the last week and a half. Rested five minutes before the next part.

10:00 EMOM

  • 14 Russian KB Swings (53#)
  • 14 Air Squats

Also did Rx+ here instead of doing 12s, however I didn’t do American swings. Rest was another 5 minutes before going on to the midline work.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 15-20s RKC Plank
  • 40-45s Plank
  • 1:00 Plate Sit-ups (45#)
  • 1:00 Rest

It was a one minute plank so figured I’d make it harder by doing the first 15-20 seconds RKC style. The plate sit-ups were the worst part of the programming by far! I managed 17-15-14 reps.

Newer 4RM

My outer pecs are sore, probably from the 100 diamond push-ups I did on Sunday. Out in the garage by 4pm with Kevin.

Bench Press

  • 2x6x45#
  • 6×135
  • 3×185
  • 2×215
  • 2×230
  • 4×245
  • 4×250
  • 4×255
  • 2×265
  • 2×270
  • 1×275

This turned out to be a lot of sets when adding the extra doubles or singles after the working sets. In the last cycle I did 240-245-240 for my working sets. Today sets another new 4RM, beating the 250# I set a few weeks ago. If I had gotten 2×275 that would have matched my 2RM, but I didn’t even attempt the second rep. The doubles with 265 and 270 are better than the 260 I was able to get in the final week of last cycle. Curious to see what I can get for 4×2 next week.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 15 Banded Tricep Press-downs (Fat Gripz)
  • 10 Pendlay Rows (115#)

After standing up for the first set of pull-downs, I kneeled for the rest and they were still pretty easy. The rows felt easy as well.

Bigger T2B Sets

I got over 9 hours of sleep last night, but not enough of the correct type due to having a few beers to end my holiday vacation.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Row (550m)
  • 2 Rounds
    • World’s Greatest Stretch
    • 10 Air Squats
    • 10 PVC Passes

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 6×115
  • 3×165
  • 2×205
  • 2×235
  • 2×255
  • 20×185

It’s going to be Super Squats Monday for the month. I have to be smart about it though. I haven’t had 255 on my back since last December, but it felt pretty good. Figured I’d start pretty conservative for the 20 reps, but even that wasn’t easy. Far cry from my best of 20×285!

Conditioning

15:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 5 Front Squats (165#, from ground)
  • 15 cal Echo Bike
  • 15 T2B

I wore a belt and grips the entire time. I went 8-7 on every round of toes to bars, which is a big win. The bike got real nasty, but I got the 15 calories one each time.

Good Day for a Ski…Erg

On Friday my forearms were sore from all of the swings. I really needed the rest day yesterday after doing some kind of workout 12 days straight. Last night I drove home late from up north because of storms rolling in overnight. No heading to the gym today due to the ice storm and then snow on top of it. Went out to the garage around 11am.

Conditioning

15 Rounds

  • 30s Ski Erg
  • 1:00 Rest

It was snowing, so I might as well ski, right? I didn’t bother to heat up the garage, so wore a hat, gloves, and bundled up. Was stripping things off by the end though. You can really see the effect of no warm-up, where I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold the pace I went at for the first interval. I’m also not used to the ski erg, which I haven’t used in months and it’s easy to forget how much tougher it is to get up to speed compared to the rower. Settled in on a pretty solid pace.

Accessory

5 Rounds

  • 25 Band Pull Aparts (red)
  • 20 Diamond Push-ups
  • 2:00 Rest

Was controlled on the pull aparts and kept tension on the band. Did 2×10 push-ups every round, though the second ten got tough in round 3. Finished in 13:15.

Midline

Might as well start on some of the back isolation/stability stuff.

3 Sets

  • 10 Curl-ups w/ 2s hold

3 Sets, 2 Sets, 1 Set

  • 20s Side Plank
  • 10s Rest

Do three sets on one side and then three on the other side, rest 1:00, then do two sets per side, rest 1:00, and finally one set per side.

5 Sets

  • 20s RKC Plank
  • 1:00 Rest

During an RKC plank you are trying to create as much tension through the midline and posterior chain as you can be contracting all of those muscles. These get really hard.

Three Years of the Sissy Test

Third year in a row doing this on Thanksgiving. Started at 10:15am.

Sissy Test

  • 25->1 Burpees
  • 1->25 Russian KBS (53/35#)

Previous results and my time from today:

• 41:38 – 2012/04/19

• 38:16 – 2012/11/22

• 43:34 – 2017/11/23

• 39:32 – 2018/11/22

• 41:07 – 2019/11/28

I did all jump back and jump up on the burpees. Split the 22-23 swings in two sets and the 24-25 in three because there was so much sweat and my forearms were blowing up.

Settle In

Went to the 9am class.

Warm-up

3 Sets

  • 15 Reverse Hypers (50#)
  • 5 Scap Pull-ups

4 Rounds

  • 10 Jumping Jacks
  • World’s Greatest stretch
  • 6 Lunges
  • 6 Air Squats
  • 10 PVC Passes
  • 10 PVC Good Mornings

Strength

  • 8/8 Back Rack Reverse Lunge
  • 8/8 Single Leg KB RDL
  • 2:00 Rest

I did 45-75-95-105-115-125-135# for the lunges. On the RDLs I did one set with a 44# KB and then 6 sets with 53#.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 10 Front Squats (75#)
  • 8 T2B

I went 4-4 toes to bars for nine rounds and then unbroken to finish at 10:04. Could I have gone unbroken the entire way? I doubt it. This one really hit those hip flexors!

Stayed after class for this little gem.

45:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 40s cal Echo Bike
  • 40s Cal Row
  • 30s Target Burpees

That might be the longest EMOM I’ve ever done. You kind of settle in on a pace about halfway through.

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When I’m in the heart of the Sissy Test tomorrow I may wish I hadn’t done all of these burpees! Now I’m heading up north for the weekend.

More Bench PRs

Most of my soreness from Sunday is gone already. Out in the garage around 4pm. I jumped on the Airdyne for 5:00 and did 104 calories for 2.57 km.

Bench Press

  • 2x8x45#
  • 5×135
  • 3×185
  • 2×205
  • 2×225
  • 5×245
  • 5×245
  • 5×250
  • MAX @ 225 (10)

Last cycle was a failure when I could only get 4×240 and had to drop to 235 for 2×5. Three weeks ago I did 4×5 with 235-235-240-245. My previous 5RM was 245, so getting it twice and then beating it was great. The 10×225 was one rep better than three weeks ago, for another PR.

Accessory

5 Sets

  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups (fat bar)
  • 10/10 Kroc Rows (53#)

I stayed on the bar and went through the descent on every pull-up, compared to dropping from the top and doing single pull-ups like I normally do. I felt strong.

Get Out All of the Gear

Around 9pm last night I started falling asleep and my body was feeling completely wrecked. Crawled in bed around 10 and got some solid recovery. My glutes are pretty damn sore and my upper back started to get sore through the day. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Row (34 cals)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 Air Squats
    • 10 DB Shoulder Press (20#)

Strength

2 Front Squats + 2 Jerks

  • 45# (5 reps of each)
  • 95 (5 reps of each)
  • 135
  • 165
  • 185
  • 205
  • 225
  • 235

I haven’t front squatted that weight in almost two years, when I did 2×245 on December 14, 2017. It felt pretty good, all things considered. I did all push jerks except for the last set where I split jerked both reps. I think I started wearing my belt with 165. I also had knee sleeves on just because I’d want them for the lunges.

Conditioning

17:00 AMRAP

  • Buy-in: 5 Rounds
    • 10 Thrusters (95#)
    • 15 Pull-ups
    • 30 Double Unders
  • AMRAP in remaining time…
    • 10 Front Rack Lunges (95#)
    • 15 Russian KBS (70#)
    • 30 Double Unders

I broke the thrusters 5-5 from the start, hoping to keep my heart rate down, and did 5-5-5 on all pull-ups. My first round was just under 2:00 and round two was right at 4:00, but then I started resting way too much between movements. I think I was on the AMRAP right around the 13:00 mark, so I averaged three minutes for each of the last three rounds! Missed 3 double unders all together I think. Got through 2+10 of the AMRAP.