Upside Down Work

Read about my new folding wall mounted rack.

The usual open gym at noon.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Pistols
  • 5/5 Single Arm DB Hang Clean & Jerk (50#)
  • 10 C2B Pull-ups

My pistols were shaky and in the last couple of rounds I started grabbing my foot on some of the reps. I switched arms on the way down for the C&J. Every round of chest to bars was 4-3-3 and didn’t wear any grips. Finished 5+11.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 8/8 Single Arm/Leg KB Deadlifts (62#)
  • 8/8 Bottoms Up KB Press (26#)

Midline

5 sets (Holding 5# plates)

  • 10 Hollow Rocks
  • 10 Scissor Toe Touches (alternate arm/leg)
  • Roll
  • 10s Superman hold (straight arms!)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnojfV5j5jl/

Could go with a shorter rest period. Took me 6:57.

Skill

We were done really early so did some handstand drills. Put my feet up on a box and walked around it with my hands. The 24″ side isn’t high enough for me, so the 30″ allows me to get my hips up over my shoulders more, though I think I was still short of it.

Then I put a big band around high J-cups on the rack so I could kick up and work on finding the balance point. This one really helped. After getting a feel I’d place my hands further away from the rig, working on finding the handstand position without hitting the band. Then I went to the wall and eventually tried handstand walking a few steps into the wall. Big progress is one session. My wrists were getting sore, so that was enough.

Racked

Had a minor procedure done yesterday to remove another cyst from my head, so I rested. Spent most of today finally putting the new Titan Fitness folding rack up in the garage. I should have a post on nick.blog about it tomorrow. Finished around 4pm and got into the gym’s Friday workout, with a modification to sub the Ski Erg since I don’t have a rower.

Warm-up

  • 1:30 Ski Erg
  • 10x
    • Inchworm
    • 2 Push-ups
  • 1:30 Ski Erg
  • 20 PVC Passes

Strength

  • 10 Shoulder Press (45#)
  • 5 Shoulder Press (75#)
  • 5 Shoulder Press (95#)
  • 5 Shoulder Press (105#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 5 Shoulder Press (115#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 3 Shoulder Press (130#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 3 Shoulder Press (140#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 1 Shoulder Press (150#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 1 Shoulder Press (160#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 1 Shoulder Press (165#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups

Added one extra single above the programmed rep scheme. That was my heaviest press of 2018. I decided to do chin-ups instead of pull-ups because it’s been far too long since I did some. They felt much easier. Sure was nice to have a rack for lifting, though shoulder press would be just fine off jerk blocks.

Conditioning

2k Ski Erg

I would much rather have done 2,000 meters on the rower at the gym. My time to beat for skiing is 7:39.6, so my goal was to hold a sub 1:55/500m pace. I did it for the first quarter of the race, but fell off quick after that. I bumped the damper up to around 5 after noticing it was near 3, so I wonder if that affected me. Or I just didn’t have it today. Finished in 7:49.2.

2018-11-10-ski-2k.jpg

Ten Triples

Not feeling anything from yesterday’s workout. Mowed up the leaves in the yard around noon today. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 1:00 Row
  • 30s/30s Lizard Stretch
  • 1:00 Row
  • 45s Wrist Stretch
  • 1:00 Row
  • 10 Goblet Squats (44#)

Strength

Front Squat

  • 6×95#
  • 6×135
  • 10x3x165

Programmed to be at 70% so this was probably a little low considering my estimated may back squat right now would be around 300 and this would only be 70% of 235. Good enough. Supposed to be 1:00 rest between sets but I was trying to go closer to EMOM.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 15 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
  • 15 Burpees

Wasn’t even going to attempt going unbroken. My goal was 9-6 each round, which I was able to do. The second and third round were a fight to hold on. I kept getting lower in the hang in order to use my legs more and not my back. Started dropping under the bar more too and slowed down the cycle rate. Burpees felt pretty good. Finished in 4:45.

Keep Pace

Yesterday had heavy deadlifts, but after back squats Sunday and squat snatches on Monday my back needed to recover. Plus it would have been 4 days in a row, so I welcomed the rest day. Went at 4pm today.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 20 cal Row
  • 20 Jump Rope
  • 20 DU

Conditioning

E4M for 40:00

  • 20 cal Row
  • 15 Burpees
  • 40 DU

Two months ago we did 15 cal, 15 burpees, and 30 double unders every 3 minutes for 30:00. I killed it with all of my rounds between 1:59 and 2:02, not missing a double under. With more rest and not much more work, my goal was to push the rower a little more with > 1,400 cal/hour the whole way. If my double under were on point, I was hoping for rounds of 2:20.

I’d say my average pace on the rower was between 1,400 and 1,450 through every round. My burpees were at a nice steady pace that didn’t change much. In the 8th round I tripped on the rope before my first rep and missed at 24 reps. Every other round was unbroken.

My times were 2:10-2:13-2:15-2:11-2:13-2:13-2:12-2:17-2:13-2:11. I didn’t transition between movements well in the 3rd round and then that 8th round was obviously going to be my slowest with the DU misses. Other than that everything was within a few second window again. These workouts really force you to keep pushing your pace and the 10 round grind can get to your head.

Goes by the Toes

My shoulders are tight and my legs are tired from the workout yesterday. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 5 Rounds
    • 30s Row
    • 30s Rest
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • 10 Overhead Squats (PVC)
  • 10 High Pulls (45#)
  • 10 Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 10 Overhead Squats (45#)

Weightlifting

Squat Snatch

  • 10×45#
  • 3×75
  • 3×95
  • 2×115
  • 2×135
  • 1×145
  • 1×155
  • 1×165
  • 1×175
  • 1×185
  • 4 misses @ 190

Was hoping to get up near 200 today, but hit the same number as last week. Just couldn’t get the bar locked in place overhead when I got under it. Could definitely feel the roughness in my shoulders from yesterday and then after I start missing, I could feel by back extending.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 1 Power Snatch (155#)
  • 10 T2B
  • 10 Push-ups

The snatch was programmed to be at 75%, which would come out to be just under 140 and way too light for me doing singles, so I went with 155, which would be 75% of 205. It was a good choice. This workout is all about your toes to bars and I was able to hold 2×5 through round 8. I was trying to rush at the end so had to do 5-3-2 in round 9 and then quick singles in round 10. Didn’t wear any grips today. Push-ups were no issue and all unbroken. Finished with a score of 9+7.

I’m pumped about doing 96 toes to bars in 10 minutes, which never would have been possible two months ago. Before the workout, Weston asked how many rounds and I jokingly said 10. My first round was done at 43 seconds and then I fell in to a pace of about 1:00 per round for the next four or five before fading.

Forgot a Set of Twelve

Thought about doing gyms programming before I hit the road on Friday, but rested instead. Got to it today in the garage after getting home.

Warm-up

Went 3:00 Ski Erg for about 680 meters.

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 5×115
  • 5×165
  • 5×205
  • 5×235
  • 5×255
  • 5×265

I put on the belt for 235 and above. Was close to failure on those last two sets. I completely spaced out and forgot to do 12×195 (75% of heaviest) at the end. Saw it in the list after I had already put the jerk blocks away and unloaded the bar. Probably enough struggle for my back today.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 8 C&J (135#)
  • 12 Pull-ups

I warmed up my clean and jerks with 5×45, 3×95, and 2×115. Did a few pull-ups too.

This was programmed as 6 muscle-ups, which I haven’t been able to add back to my repertoire yet. I don’t have a place to do them at home anyway. I can’t do chest-to-bar pull-ups at home either, so it was scaled to pull-ups for me.

I did all singles with the barbell and 3×4 for my pull-ups, without wearing any grips. Finished in 9:49. Today was my first test of the mat setup and it worked great for the metcon. I really need to get my new rack on the wall though because squatting off the blocks is getting really old. I stacked up a couple of plates on the blocks today so I didn’t have to do a half squat to get the bar off of them.

Free For a Reason

The workout at the gym is long cardio with core cash-out, so I decided to make my own version and stay home. Out in the garage at 1pm.

Warm-up

  • 400m Ski Erg

Didn’t really plan a warm-up, but I was going to use the treadmill for the workout and when I hopped on it, it slowed right down from my weight. I guess that’s why I got it for free! Seemed like the motor might just be having a hard time keeping up under load, which could be bearings or any number of things. Will have to fix it soon so I can get in some running throughout the winter. Hopefully it’s an easy fix.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 400m Ski Erg
  • 1:30 Airdyne
  • 25 Burpees

My pace on the ski erg was < 2:15 / 500m and on the Airdyne I kept pretty steady around 72 RPM, which came out to about 42 calories or 0.55 miles. My burpees felt consistent throughout and were definitely the movement that raised my heart rate the most. Finished at 31:16, which was what I was looking for over 30 minutes.

Midline

4 Rounds

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

First two rounds unbroken and then 2 breaks in each of the last two rounds. Finished in 6:32.

Three Centuries

Definitely feeling my shoulders from yesterday’s workout. Went to the 4pm class. Pretty sure it’s colder in the gym than it is outside.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 30s Assault Bike (Easy)
  • 30s Assault Bike (Hard)
  • 10/10 Single Leg/Arm KB Deadlifts (44#)
  • 30s Handstand Hold

Strength

Deadlift

  • 6×45#
  • 6×135
  • 6×185
  • 3×225
  • 3×255
  • 3×285
  • 4x3x305

I put the belt on for 285+ I think. Just feels weird moving the weight. I’m not sure if I’m just scared of what. Still able to keep a neutral grip without any issues. Nice to build up that grip strength at the same time, which I’m sure has some carryover to the gymnastics stuff on the bar.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 HSPU
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1:00 cal Row
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1:00 DU
  • 1:00 Rest

I went 10-10-5, 4×5, and 4×5 on the handstand push-ups. I started off pulling over 1,700 cal/hr on the rower, quickly realized that would be too fast, and backed off to an average of 1,500-1,550 the rest of the way. Ended up with 25 calories each round. My only miss on the rope was after my first two reps, so I ended up with 108, 110, and 111 double unders! It’s been a while since I did a hundred unbroken dubs, so doing it three times felt great. Made for consistent rounds of 158, 155, and 156 to total 469 reps.

Hold On

My glutes are a little sore from the lunges. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Dead Hang
  • Shoulder Stretch
  • 5 Rounds on the Rower (went about 1,250 meters)
    • 30s Easy
    • 30s Hard
  • 10 Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 10 Overhead Squats (45#)
  • 10 Snatch Balance (45#)
  • 10 Snatch (45#)

Weightlifting

Squat Snatch

  • 10×45#
  • 3×75
  • 3×95
  • 2×115
  • 1×135
  • 1×145
  • 1×155
  • 1×165
  • 1×170
  • 1×175
  • 1×180
  • 1×185

As I got to 170+ I really started thinking about punching the bar in to position. My only miss of the day was the first attempt at 180, but I got it on the next try. Last time I snatched 185 in the squat was during 17.3 over a year and a half ago! Shoulders and back are still getting used to the weight. With my last few attempts I had to make sure I was stable in the hole before standing up.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 5 T2B
  • 5 Pull-ups
  • 5 Bar Muscle-ups
  • 250m Row
  • 1:00 Rest

I thought this was going to get nasty and it ended up going much better than expected. My bar work has improved more in the last 1-2 months than it ever has. I’m still not attempting butterfly pull-ups, which would speed things up too. Coming off the bar between movements allowed me to stay unbroken when I was up there. I rested a little extra before the bar MU and was able to hit every set of 5. Coasted a bit on the rower in the 1:55-1:58/500m pace range for the first 4 and then kicked it in for the final pulling a low 1:40-ish pace. I finished at 14:16 with rounds times of 1:58, 1:59, 2:04, 2:04, and 2:11.