A Completely Different 12 Rounds

Yesterday I got up early to play in a golf outing. It was a long day and I didn’t feel like doing anything when I got home, so I made it a rest day. At the gym for open gym at 10am this morning.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 8×95
  • 4×135
  • 4×165
  • 2×195
  • 2×215
  • 2×235
  • 2×255
  • 3x2x260

I was hoping to push near my old 2RM of 275 as a test, but I didn’t have it today. The suggested range for the four working sets was 255-265, but I didn’t even feel good enough to try 265, because I was struggling with 260. To be honest, unracking 255 and doing the double felt sketchy as fuck for some reason. Maybe all of the dumbbell shoulder presses I did on Friday? WHOOP did have me at only 31% recovered this morning.

This completes one cycle of the program. Instead of testing a max next week I’m going straight to a second cycle, since I know I’m not capable of 300 yet. After today, I might be further away than I thought.

2019-08-04-year-of-bench-press.png
The last 12 months of bench pressing. I love the progression.

Conditioning

  • 5-4-3-2-1 Muscle-ups
  • 5-4-3-2-1 Bear Complex (135#)
  • 10-8-6-4-2 Bar-facing Burpees

I’m not sure if my muscle-ups have ever felt better in a workout, especially that first set of five. All sets were unbroken on the rings. I dropped the bar after every bear complex, which was the worst part of this workout. Looks like I haven’t done the combo since late in 2017 and my barbell conditioning is definitely lacking with how little I’ve been lifting due to injuries over the last year or two. Tried to catch my breath a little bit on the burpees, but keep moving. My first round was a little under 3:00 and I finished in 9:43. Where I could make up time would be picking the barbell back up quicker.

Midline

2 Cycles

  • 6 Rounds
    • 3 Tuck-ups
    • 3 V-ups
    • 3 Straddle-ups
    • 9 Side V-ups (alt sides each round)
  • Rest 2:00

Cruised through the first two rounds in a minute and then slowed considerably. My first cycle was done in 3:49 and my second cycle took 3:47, which is a big surprise. I think I was just a lot more consistent the second time through. With the rest it took 9:36 to get through everything.

After watching the Games, it was time to jump on the rower.

Year of the Engine – Interval

12 Rounds

  • 2:00 Row
  • 1:00 Rest

Could I hold a 1:46/500m pace? No! After getting a little over halfway through round one I made the call to cut back the pace. It’s amazing how much an extra second can change the feel on the rower. I got 562-563 meters every round.

It was hot and humid in the garage. This workout rolled past 200,000 meters since I bought the rower back in January.

Here is a neat comparison. The left chart is my heart rate from March 15th, doing 12x500m with 1:00 rests, where my average pace was 1:49.8. The right chart is today’s workout, which was a pace over three seconds faster and longer time duration since it was two minutes instead of a set 500 meters.

All in the Garage

My glutes were a little sore yesterday, but I was expecting much worse. Walked 18 holes on the course. Out in the garage at noon today.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne
** Endurance with 7s sprint @ 8, 16, 24, 32

Went 1,008 cals and 21.21km, which is slightly worse than Tuesday. I attribute it to watching the CrossFit Games today and not paying as much attention to my pace during the first half of the ride.

Conditioning

34-in-box
10 Rounds

  • 5 Strict Fat Bar C2B Pull-ups (singles)
  • 10 Squat Jumps
  • 5/5 Single Arm DB Shoulder Presses (35#)
  • 5/5 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (34″)

Rested maybe twenty minutes or so and then hit this little number. It took a few rounds to find a rhythm, especially on those high step-ups. Pumping my arms as I pushed up helped a ton. Great little session getting in a lot of accessory work with an elevated heart rate. Finished in 22:06.

All Legs and Buns

Wasn’t sure how my back would feel after yesterday, since lifts from the hang are tougher on it. Feeling good today though. Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Interval

10 Rounds

  • 1:15 Row
  • 1:15 Rest

Set a goal of 1:38/500m, thinking it might be a little aggressive. It was good though; not easy, but enough of a challenge that I had to push the last half of the workout to stay on pace. Got exactly 383 meters every round.

2019-07-31-row.JPG

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 Good Mornings (45#)
    • 10 Jumping Jacks
    • 10 Russian KBS (44#)
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 5×95
    • 5×135

Strength

E4M – 4 Sets

  • 25 cal Echo Bike
  • 5 Deadlifts (155-205-205-235#)

After doing the first bike in about a minute I realized there was no reason to go so hard with what was coming up.

Conditioning

  • EMOM – 5 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 100 Front Rack Lunges (95#)

I did 15-12-11-12-10-10-10-12-8. Early on I got messed up thinking the clock was counting down, so I think I dropped the bar for a quick rest in the first three rounds and definitely should not have. I think after 2 rounds I made a goal to get to 50 through 4 rounds and then finish out with sets of 10s. With only one round to go, I pushed it a little for that set of 12 so I’d had fewer to finish. Took me 8:30 and I was getting ass cramps shortly after.

Too Late

Yesterday I woke up with sore shoulders and tight achilles. Walked 18 holes on the golf course. Today my old body feels good (knock on wood). Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne

**Endurance with 7s sprint @ 8, 16, 24, 32

I did 1,012 cals and 21.25km. My endurance pace is feeling good on the bike lately. Maybe being able to run again is helping. This summer humidity is no fucking joke though.

Went to the gym at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • Burgener Warm-up (45#)
  • Hang Power Snatch
    • 5×75#
    • 5×95#

Weightlifting

  • 3:00 EMOM
    • 3 Hang Power Snatch (115#)
  • 3:00 EMOM
    • 2 Hang Power Snatch (135#)
  • 5:00 EMOM
    • 1 Hang Power Snatch (145-155-165-175-185#)

Missed first attempt at 185, so I let Weston go, and then I got under it for an ugly rep. Haven’t done anything heavy like that in a long time. Especially with hang reps too.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 15 cal Row
  • 5 Hang Power Cleans (increasing: 135-155-165-175-185-195…)
  • 12 Toes to Bars

My goals were to keep a 1,200 cal/hr pace on the rower and go 2×6 T2B. After having no issue keeping pace on the rower for a few rounds I finally picked up the pace to over 1,300. I had my belt ready and started using it after 155 I think. Toes to bars felt good and I probably should have cut back on the rest. I wasted a bunch of time increasing to my last weight before going over to the rower. I got on with about a minute on the clock, pushed hard through the 15 cals, tried to quickly put the belt back on as I jogged over to my bar in the other room, picked the bar up, and was dipping down as time ran out. I did the rep with 195# but it obviously didn’t count. So I got through 5 rounds plus the row.

Hold On Or Else

My pecs are still sore if I press on them. Legs feel good though. In at 10am for open gym.

Accessory

  • 3×10 Reverse Hypers (160#)

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 8×45#
  • 8×95
  • 4×135
  • 4×175
  • 4×205
  • 4×225
  • 3x4x240

Yeah! Doubles next week and then I’ll start another cycle of the program instead of testing a max.

Conditioning

  • 30 Snatches (75#)
  • 30 Thrusters
  • 30 C&J

** 100m run each time you drop the bar

This was inspired by a workout Brooke Wells did with the Buttery Bros, but I moved the thrusters from the end to the middle and added the running penalty to force large sets.

It went better than expected. I was able to do the snatches unbroken. My runs weren’t anything fast because I was trying to recover before hitting another large set. I did 20 thrusters before breaking. Then 10 thrusters plus 15 C&J because they were getting slow and my shoulders were getting tired. This allowed me to fly through the final 15 thrusters and finish in 8:01, while running three times.

Midline

4 Cycles

  • 6x Tuck-up, V-up, Straddle-up
  • 30s Rest

Got this from Kari Pearce and decided on the 30 second rest on my own since she didn’t say. At the end of the 3rd cycle it get tough and then the second half of the last cycle was a bit of a struggle. The v-ups were the hardest by far because of the increased range of motion. Only took 3:07 to complete, but it was intense.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

36:00 Run

I was hoping it would cool off in the evening, but it definitely didn’t. I headed out at 7:45pm. It was 84° when I got done. Ran 3.63 miles. Spent too much time in zone 4, so maybe I should switch my Garmin to alert me when I go out of zones 2-3 instead of concentrating on averaging under a 10:00/mile pace. The WHOOP heart rate data shows that it just keeps rising over the entire run.

Reel it the Pace

My pecs are still pretty sore to the touch, but my other sorenesses are mostly gone. Not feeling anything new from yesterday’s 150 squats, which is a surprise. Took a nap around 4:45 and then was out in the garage after 7.

Year of the Engine – Interval

4 Rounds

  • 5:00 Row
  • 1:00 Rest

During the foundation phase (first 12 weeks) of the program I held a sub 1:50/500m pace for 4x 1k with 1:00 rests and 6x 1k with 1:30 rests. Going for 5 minute intervals is an extra 1:20 of work, so I knew the 1:50/500m pace could be a challenge. I hadn’t done shit else today, so figured I might as well go for it.

I felt good during the first three rounds. In the early parts of round four I could feel my posterior chain getting tight and lose power. I significantly started to fall off pace in the middle of the round, to the point where I was seeing a 1:55 on the monitor and my average pace ballooned to 1:50.7. Luckily I had enough left to turn on the nitrous in the last 90 seconds and bring my average pace back down. My distances were 1,365 – 1,366 – 1,365 – 1,365m. It was another sweaty one, with the temperature still being above 80°.

The Right Scales

Yesterday I had sore calfs, abs, and pecs. Getting sore abs from toes to bars is a rare treat. I’m a little confused why my pecs are so sore, but maybe from doing the larger sets of T2B combined with the wall balls, because when I simulate the motion of both movements I feel it. Walked 18 holes on the golf course. Today all that stuff is still sore, plus my lats. Out in the garage at lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

33:00 Airdyne

**Endurance with 7s sprint @ 7, 14, 21, 28

Earned 946 calories over 19.65 km and probably could have filled a bucket with all of my sweat. Later I went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 15 Air Squats
  • 10 Russian KBS (44#)
  • 20 PVC Pass Throughs
  • 5 Shoulder Presses (PVC)

Strength

Push Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×125
  • 5×155
  • 5×185
  • 3×205
  • 1×220
  • 1×235
  • 1×245

I belted up for 205 and above I think, maybe even the 185. Still got it! I was hoping to hit at least 235 today and the 245 even felt good. That’s only 15 pounds under my all-time best and I haven’t been doing much heavy overhead pressing. The bench press work probably has some decent carry-over.

Midline

5 Sets

  • 10 Sit-ups

In between some of the push pressing.

Conditioning

  • 50-40-30-20-10 Front Squats (45#)
  • 50-40-30-20-10 Russian KB Swings (53#)
  • 2 Legless Rope Climbs (13′)

The Rx was 75# front squats, American swings, and 1 rope climb, with an 18 minute time cap. There was no way I was attempting Rx for 150 front squats and I figured the empty bar would challenging enough. I did my rounds as 30-20, 25-15, 18-12, 20, 10. I think I’m retired from American swings with my back, so I did the Russians all unbroken. Since I was scaling two movements I went for the Rx+ of 2 rope climbs and decided to make them harder by not using my legs since it was only 10 reps. Barely finished at 17:55. I made the right scaling decisions.

T2B to Plan

My quads are still sore and my back is a little tight from yesterday. Out in the garage at 11 to get on the bike while watching a company townhall. Figured I might as well use the time to do something while I was listening.

2019-07-24-bike-townhall

Year of the Engine – Polarized

36:00 Airdyne

** Endurance with 7s sprint @ 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30

I missed out on both of the 33 minute polarized workouts due to the FireWod substitutions last week while on vacation. This was the first time doing six sprints. It completes week 8 of the Polarization phase and week 20 overall.

I racked up 1,042 calories and 21.5 km. That felt really good after not using the Airdyne in over 2 weeks. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 20 Double Unders
  • 10 Good Mornings (45#)
  • 10 Walking Lunges
  • 4 Inch Worms

Strength

Deadlift

  • 10×45#
  • 5×125
  • 5×155
  • 5×185
  • 5×215
  • 5×245
  • 5×265
  • 5×285
  • 5×310

Used a neutral grip throughout and no belt. Felt ok. Not used to lifting weight like this.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 30 Double Unders
  • 15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 30 Double Unders
  • 15 Toes to Bars

I’ve done something similar twice before on this programming, but with pull-ups instead of T2B. Some people said they’ve done it with T2B, so I must not have gone on those days. I was close to 6 rounds on my last attempt with the pull-ups, so I was hoping to get in that ballpark. I hadn’t done a double under in about 6 weeks, since the calf injury, so this was going to be a test. My goals were to limit misses with the rope and do 8-7 T2B each round, which I knew would be the big challenge. Would have liked fewer misses with the rope, but I’ll take it after such a long break. It was a success on the bar and I’m loving the Bear KompleX Black Diamond grips, which I haven’t even had to chalk up yet! Got through 5 rounds, dubs, wall balls, and dubs for 5+75.

Triple Pull

Yesterday I already had sore quads when I rolled out of bed. Walked 18 holes on the golf course. Today at noon I was out in the garage for some rowing.

Year of the Engine – Interval

10 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row
  • 2:00 Rest

Really had no idea on a pace for this since none of the other interval work has been similar. I picked 1:35/500m based on a guy on BTWB who always beats me. My actual pace was 1:34.9 every round for 316 meters. My stroke rate was 33-34 every round and 35 on the last one. It was good to be back on the rower after not using it for over a week.

Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 3×10 Reverse Hypers (160#)
  • 400m Run
  • Burgner Warm-up
  • Power Snatch
    • 3×75#
    • 3×95#

Conditioning

E7M – 5 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 400m Row
  • 15 Pull-ups
  • 3 Power Snatches

I averaged a 1:50 pace on the rower, did 8-7 for every round of pull-ups, and went 115-125-135-145-155# for the snatches, which were all touch-n-go. With the 155, I had to stop at the hip and reset for a second. I think it’s been about 6 weeks since I’ve done a snatch, when I first strained my calf. The three pulling movements in a row was a challenge.

Brutal Twos

On Friday I woke up early to beat the heat and teed off by 8am, walking 18 holes. Yesterday I drove back to Saginaw. When I got home the heat index was 96 and rising! Due to the heat and I don’t really take many true rest days in the summer (I walk 5-6 miles on the golf course of my “rest” days) I decided not to exercise. WHOOP said I still wasn’t recovered this morning and I didn’t get enough. Went to open gym at 10am.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×165
  • 5×195
  • 5×215
  • 3x5x235
  • 12×215 (MAX)

Nice to have a spotter for a true max rep set. Beat my previous best, which was 9.

Conditioning

3 Cycles – E3M (2:00 cap on each section)

  1. 5 Rounds
    • 2 Strict Pull-ups
    • 4 Hand Release Push-ups
    • 6 Lunges
  2. 15/10 cal Echo Bike + 30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  3. AMRAP Burpee Box Get Overs (48/40″)

On the 3rd cycle, I got the final lunge done just after the 2:00 buzzer rang. The bike and wall ball combo was the worst. I had a good pace on the first round of bike, but after that cruised. Was able to do 30 unbroken wall balls for the first two, but couldn’t hold on and only managed 12-13 for the 3rd round. I did 15-13-14 burpee box get overs. Pretty brutal workout with the humidity.

After mowing the lawn in the evening (still 80+ out) and having a low WHOOP recovery score for 2 days I decided not to do rowing intervals.