Starting 21s

Decided to exercise at home today because I planned to do some accessory stuff anyway and then I could sub a bunch in the metcon. Was pretty nice in the garage after I warmed it up for 2 hours.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Airdyne
  • 10 Goblet Squats (53#)
  • 10 Sumo KB Deadlifts (53#)

I came up with my own warm-up, which was much simpler and shorter. Something felt weird in my knees on the squats but maybe it was because I had my knee sleeves on.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 14 Bar-facing Burpees
  • 1:00 Plank
  • 30s Double DB OH Hold (40# DBs)
  • 30s Hollow Hold
  • 20 Hand-to-hand Kettlebell Swings (53#)
  • 1:00 Rest

At the gym this was programmed with a 200m run to start each round but running inside sucks. That’s part of the reason I stayed home. I replaced the run with the burpees because we haven’t done any of the bar-facing variety in months, which is not good with the Open in 2 weeks. I was feeling good with the movement this summer, so I should easily be able to pick my technique back up. I put in the overhead hold instead of a bar hang since I’ve been doing plenty of gymnastics bar work and my hands are feeling all of the bar muscle-ups I did yesterday. I also replaced 10/10 single arm swings with the H2H version.

My burpees felt really good and I got faster each round. I didn’t have the greatest setup for them due to the garage floor being a bit of a mess in the winter, but I made it work. On paper the original version of this workout looked like active recovery, but I was working hard! The static work in a metcon is interesting and rare, but it was a really nice change of pace and far from a walk in the park. My round times were 3:51, 3:42, 3:40, 3:38, and 3:31. BOOM! The only real places to go faster in this workout are the burpees and transitions, so 20 seconds is a lot.

BTW, every time I do a double overhead hold I underestimate it. Glad I didn’t try to use 50 pounders.

Strength

dbs-for-21sDumbbell Curl – 21s

  • Top half of curls
  • Bottom half of curls
  • Full range of motion

I mentioned doing a variation of this on Saturday with my buddy Mo. Found a big weakness for me so I’m going to try to hit them once a week. T Nation has a great article with some other variations and uses of the method. I’m so used to counting to ten for light stuff that I went well past the 7 reps in the first round. Started light, but it’s a start.

  • 10-10-10 @ 10#
  • 7-7-7 @ 15#
  • 7-7-7 @ 20#

Tabata HR Push-ups

Went 13-12-10-10-9-8-8-8 for 78 total reps.

Failure to Break

Had planned an active recovery day yesterday, but when I woke up I could tell right away it should be a rest day. Even though the pump session on Saturday wasn’t intense it worked some muscles I don’t give much attention. I was due for a rest day because my last one was the 26th. I’ll do active recovery on Saturday this week.

Big ice storm last night, but roads were clear enough to make it to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

Line Drills

  • High Knees
  • Butt Kickers
  • Karaokes
  • Single Leg Hops Forward
  • Single Leg Hops Backward
  • Bunny Hops
  • Burpee Broad Jumps

20s Work / 20s Rest

  • Single Unders
  • Backward Singles
  • 10s/10s Single Leg
  • Alternating Legs Singles
  • 2 Singles + 1 DU
  • 1 Single + 1 DU
  • DU

I don’t get how people can practice alternating from singles to doubles. The rhythm is completely different and fucks you up.

Weightlifting

  • 5 High Hang Snatch High Pulls (45#)
  • 5 High Hang Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Above Knee Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Above Knee Power Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Below Knee Power Snatch (45#)
  • Power Snatch (work up to moderate/heavy set of 5)
    • 75#
    • 95
    • 115
    • 135
    • 155

Did those sets of power snatches all touch-n-go. Felt good and would have gone for more if we didn’t have so many snatches coming up.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 2-4-6-8-10… Power Snatch (95#)
  • 20 Double Unders

Went unbroken through 6, then 2×4, 2×5, 3×4, 5-5-4, and 4×4 I think. My thumbs felt ready to fall off. I missed two dubs in a round and only did two rounds unbroken I think. So many misses! Finished the 16 snatches and 17 double unders.

Butt Stuff

3 Sets

  • 20/20 Single Leg Hip Thrusts
  • 1:00 Glute Bridge Hold

Feel the burn!

Gymnastics

8:00 EMOM

  • 5 Bar Muscle-ups

Like some of the other stuff I’ve been doing my goal was to go until I had to break a set and that would be my last one. Well… I was able to stay unbroken and stopped there before my hands tore open. Part of me really wanted to get in two more for that 50 total reps, but I think I made the smart move. Took grips off after 3 or 4 rounds because they were bunching up too much and the straps were pulling on my wrists.

This establishes both 30 reps and 40 reps for time, which were 5:17 and 7:16. Feeling really good about my gymnastics endurance! I still haven’t attempted more than 6 unbroken bar muscle-ups, which I could obviously crush now. Maybe I’ll hit a max set in a week or two.

Midline

At 9pm I got the brilliant idea to do 100 sit-ups and this was barely an hour after I ate dinner. Was able to set a 9 second PR by doing it in 2:30.

Kip It

My biceps started to get sore yesterday afternoon. I may have to start doing 21s every week.

Warm-up

8:00 EMOM

  • Min 1: 6 cal Row + Air Squat Hold
  • Min 2: 6 cal Row + Active Bar Hang
  • Min 3: 6 cal Row + Air Squats
  • Min 4: 6 cal Row + Ring Rows
  • Min 5: 6 cal Row + Step Ups
  • Min 6: 6 cal Row + Jumping Pull Ups
  • Min 7: 6 cal Row + Box Jumps
  • Min 8: 6 cal Row + Kipping Swings

Then we did some band mobility on our hips and front rack.

Strength

10:00 EMOM – Front Squats

  • 3×95
  • 3×115
  • 3×135
  • 3×155
  • 3×165
  • 5x3x175

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 10 Front Squats (135#)
  • 15 Pull-ups (Gymnastic Kip)
  • 20 Box Jumps (24″)

Each round started with a squat clean and obviously never dropped the bar. It was fun being forced to use a regular kip today, which allowed me to go unbroken for each set. I jumped down (no rebound though) on the 1st and 3rd round of box jumps. Should have done round two as well, but I slacked off. Probably shouldn’t have taken extra breathers in between movements or at least not as long as I was. Finished in 7:08.

Skill

Worked on my handstand balance and walking for about 10 minutes.

Sore Shoulders

Forgot that I posted about weeks 3-4 of my calorie counting yesterday.

My bis and tris seemed to feel fine from yesterday. Until I got in to today’s work.

Strength

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95
  • 6×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×195
  • 3×215
  • 3×225
  • 3×235

Definitely started to feel some of the fatigue from Friday and Saturday as I got deeper in to the sets. Happy to hit that because it was back on July 31st I barely got 235 for a single!

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 C2B Pull-ups
  • 5 Hang Squat Cleans (115#)
  • 5 Push Jerks (115#)

I warmed up with 45 and 95 pounds. Did the chest-to-bars in 2×5 each round. My first round was under a minute and I knew that wouldn’t last. Shoulders really felt the fatigue in the 2nd or 3rd round. Made it through 5+6.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 10 Hollow Rocks
  • 10 V-ups
  • 10 Tuck-ups
  • 10s Hollow Hold
  • 1:00 Rest

Haven’t done our favorite ab workout in months so I thought it would be a good test after all of the higher volume stuff we’ve been doing on Sundays. My last round wasn’t pretty, but I finally completed all 4 rounds without breaking it up. My time was 6:08.

Skill

Spent some time working on my balance and handstand walk practice.

155 Grace

I’m feeling good after yesterday. Weather is warming up too. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

4:00 AMRAP

  • 20 Jumping Jacks
  • 20s Dual KB Hollow Flutter Kicks (26#)
  • 5 Dual KB Deadlift (26#)
  • 5 Dual KB Hang Clean (26#)

Weightlifting

Tabata Mashup

  • Clean Deadlift
  • Elbow Punches
  • Muscle Clean and Press
  • Muscle Clean and Press
  • Power Clean and Push Press
  • Power Clean and Push Press
  • Power Clean and Jerk
  • Power Clean and Jerk

All with an empty bar.

3 TnG Power Clean & Jerk

  • 95#
  • 115
  • 135
  • 155
  • 175

I guess nothing said they had to be touch-n-go reps, but I wanted to save it for the workout.

Conditioning

“Grace”

  • 30 C&J (155#)

I’ve done it Rx with 135# plenty of times with a best of 1:57. I’ve also done it with 185# in 6:59. Have been wanting to give 155# a try, so today was the day. I thought I could go sub 3:30 with an outside shot at 3:00.

I was hoping to start out with five doubles and I was able to before switching to singles. Really had to start getting a wide landing and drop under the jerks more than I’d like in the second half. Finished at 3:15 so right in the middle of my goal range. Got a bad case of the burning lungs from that one!

Skill

Practiced handstand walking for a little bit, but wasn’t feeling the greatest being upside down.

Conditioning 2

After sitting at home for almost an hour I decided to do a little more since the rower is still sitting in my living room.

4 Sets

  • 500m Row
  • 1:00 Rest

Went as hard as I could on the first one then I slowly recovered a little more with each interval. Almost 10 seconds off my PR pace but I wasn’t expecting much after Grace. I couldn’t stand looking at the level 30 BTWB was giving me for a 500m workout due to some intervals we did a couple of months ago. At least I get a 71 out of this.

  • 1:32.4
  • 1:53.8
  • 1:53.0
  • 1:50.9

Have I mentioned how much I love having this rower? 🙂

 

30 Muscle-ups!!

Another frigid day in Michigan. Left the house for the first time in about 43 hours by going to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 2 Rounds
    • 15 Jumping Jacks
    • 10 Groiners
    • 10/10 Arm Circles (Front/Back)
    • 10 OHS (15#)
    • 5 Broad Jumps
  • 3 Sets (45-75-75#)
    • 1 Snatch Deadlift
    • 2 Hang Power Snatch
    • 1 OHS
    • 1 Hang Squat Snatch
  • 5 Snatch Grip Deadlifts (75#)
  • 5 Snatch Pull (75#)
  • 5 High Hang Muscle Snatches (75#)
  • 5 Overhead Squats (75#)
  • 5 Hang Power Snatches (75#)
  • 5 Hang Squat Snatches (75#)

NCFit programming really likes the extended warm-ups!

Conditioning

15:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 7 Hang Squat Snatches (95#)
  • 25 Sit-ups
  • 15 cal Row

Felt really good again. I took the bar back down to my knees in the hang on each rep instead of trying to bounce because I like to hit my hips on the snatch. Took about 25 seconds each round. I was getting my sit-ups done in about 39 seconds, which seems much faster than I’ve ever done them. Might have to test 100 reps for time and/or Annie soon. I tried to stay around 1,500 cal/hour for the first four rounds and then went all out at 2,000+ for the last one.

Gymnastics

We had plenty of time left in the hour, but I planned to stay and get in volume work anyway.

E45S – 10 Sets

  • 3 Muscle-ups

After how good the eight sets of four felt in Sunday’s workout I was hopeful I could make it through all 10 sets. I’ve only ever done a 10 minute EMOM of 3 reps and it always got challenging near the end. Made every round unbroken and finished with 35 seconds left on that last round, so that’s a 30 muscle-ups time of 6:55. I’m pumped!! I think this is another example of how some things are much easier weighing 20 pounds less.

This is where the fitness level rankings on BTWB fail though. It gives me a level 68 for this effort because it’s only comparing my time to everyone who has entered a score for the workout. There are twice as many Rx scores as modified on BTWB, which is nowhere near representative of the CrossFit population. I bet less than 10% of CrossFitters can complete 30 muscle-ups, so the level should be up in the 90s, not a bullshit 68. 🤷🏻‍♂️

Recovery Row

My legs got really heavy last night from the workout but seem pretty good today. Yesterday’s workout was so similar to “Kelly” that I looked it up and was surprised to see I was actually counting macros for 5 months when I last did it. My goals back then were 270g of carbs, 90g of fat, and 200g of protein, compared to the 220-70-200 I’m doing now. That’s a big difference of 380 calories a day. I must have been basing my goals on a higher level of activity from the first edition of Renaissance Diet.

Just before 1pm I jumped on the rower.

Active Recovery

30:00 Row

At around the 20 minute mark I started to feel my ass, so I can’t imagine sitting in that seat for a marathon row. Did 6,863 meters. Always feels good to get negative splits.

Thirties

Now it’s brutally cold after getting all of the snow. Plows came through a few hours before I had to leave for the gym so I was able to get out and go to the 4pm class. My forearms are tight today from holding the handles on the snow blower!

Warm-up

“Roxanne” by The Police

  • On “Roxanne” do an air squat
  • On “Red light” do a burpee

It turned into air squat burpees during two long stretches of the song and you couldn’t keep up.

8:00 AMRAP

  • Duck Walk (30′)
  • 20 Groiners
  • 10 Box Step-ups (24″)

Didn’t really need another warm-up after the first part and surely didn’t need to tax the legs more with plenty to come. Got through 2 rounds, the walk and the groiners.

Strength

I did a set of 6×95# before starting. No reason to get crazy when we were supposed to take the first five minutes to work up and then stick to a weight for the last five minutes.

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 Back Squats
    • 135#
    • 155
    • 175
    • 185
    • 195
    • 5 sets 205

Felt ok and was plenty with so much leg volume coming up. Didn’t wear a belt at all.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 30 cal Assault Bike
  • 30 Box Jumps (24″)

I’ve been asking for punishment by choosing the bike lately, especially in a leg dominant workout like this. My goal was to keep every set of wall balls unbroken. That’s not something I have ever tried for sets this large during my CrossFit history that I can remember. Surprisingly it wasn’t bad at all. I think I’ve found a relaxing pace on wall balls. I was money on hitting at/above the target today too. First round on the bike was around 62 RPM and the next two were around 58. People on the rowers were obviously kicking my ass. I never stopped on the box jumps and in the third round I jumped down (no rebound) instead of stepping down. Finished in 16:26.

I’m feeling good lately! Is it the weight I’ve lost, the macro counting, the increased water, or some combination?

Gymnastics

Stayed after for some volume and skill work.

6:00 EMOM

  • 10 T2B

I put on my grips and chalked them up. I did five rounds of 10 unbroken and then 7-1-1-1.

10-15:00

  • HS Walk Practice

My shoulders were pretty shot from the wall balls and toes to bars, but I felt really good with my balance and keeping my feet off the wall went I got up to it. Didn’t have much room with the class back squatting to work on many steps in to the wall.

Row out the Storm

Big storm dumping up to a foot of snow on us today. Good time to use my new rower, which I posted about over on nick.blog.

Conditioning

img_219815:00 AMRAP

  • 250m Row
  • 25 Push-ups

Picked this from the BTWB bodyweight fitness level workouts and thought it seemed familiar. Turns out back in October 2013 I saw it on CrossFit.com and did it, getting 6 rounds plus 126 meters.

I looked at my 5k record pace and thought it would be good to hold something slightly faster, so I wanted to be around 1:50/500m. That was no problem, so I started picking it up in the last 2-3 rounds. All of my push-ups were 5×5 except for an unbroken set at the end. Crushed my old score by getting 7 rounds, the row, and 14 push-ups today.

Midline

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 10s Rest

Started with 20 for two rounds, then stopped the next five rounds at 15 reps, and held on for 17 at the end. Burn! 132 total reps. Didn’t realize it, but that’s a PR by 13 reps!