Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

The Worst

I hated 14.5 two years and said I’d never do it again. One of my least favorite workouts of all-time. Then Castro surprises us all and makes it the repeat for 16.5, bringing back bar-facing burpees for the second time in this Open season. With that said, I actually went in with a positive attitude about it, hoping to hit somewhere around 14:00.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
PVC Pass-thrus
GHD Heel Drives
3:00 Air Dyne
5 Thrusters (45#)

2016 CrossFit Games Open 16.5

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

Thrusters (95#)
Bar-facing Burpees

Did it in 15:12 two years ago, when did the thrusters in 8-7-6, 7-6-5, 6-5-4, 6-6, 5-4, 6, and 3. figured I could push those more this year and I easily did by doing 12-9, 10-9 (yep, did an extra rep, because math is hard during a workout and I couldn’t hear my judge), 9-6, 7-5, 9, 6, and 3. So I eliminated 4 sets+breaks and felt a million times better through the thrusters. I never stopped moving in the burpees but they got so unbearably slow. How slow? I didn’t even PR, but was 5 seconds worse with a 15:17. 😦 I was wrecked after it was over, so know I had nothing left to push any harder than I did. I can’t really think of anything I’d change. I just need more fitness. I am 8-10 pounds heavier than I was 2 years ago, so I’ll make that my excuse. haha

I did another 3:00 on the Air Dyne to cool down after I recovered some.

That’s a wrap on my 5th CrossFit Games Open. Don’t think I’m going to finish at a higher percentile than last year, which will be the first time I haven’t improved my percentile placing. I’ll do an update after scoring is finished this week. I need more fitness for that 35-39 Masters division next year! 😉

Proud to say it was a complete #OneAndDone year for all 5 workouts. I really wanted to do 16.4 again and can’t wait to try 16.3 when my shoulder is healed and I can string bar muscle-up together again.

Storm the Garage

Out in the garage with the storm coming tonight. Started at 1:35pm with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

8 Rounds

20s Parallette HS Hold
40s Rest

A lot different feel to these. Probably could have done 30 seconds but being my first time I wasn’t sure how they would go.

10:00 EMOM (alt)

20s False Grip Bar Hang
- Wrists over fat pull-up bar
- Holding Fat Gripz
- Feet on ground to lighten the load
12 Incline DB Bench Press (35#, low incline)

Starting out easy. Holding an L-sit with the wrists over the bar would be interesting to try once I can build up some strength in the false grip.

24-16-8

Weighted GHD Sit-ups (15#)
Dumbbell Snatches (50#)

Finished in 5:41.

50 Reps for time

Parallette Shoot Throughs

Not the type with a dip on one side and push-up on the other. I did extend my hips out in front on each rep though. Was not expecting these to take so long. Started with a set of 10, then some 5s before dropping to triples. Was done with 25 at 2:28 and thought about decreasing the count. Finished them all at 5:31.

Ended with Crossover Symmetry Plyo. All done at 2:31pm for sub-hour workout.

Thrust It

Finally over the soreness from 16.4. Went to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
PVC Pass-thrus
Arm Circles
Shoulder Across Chest Stretch
Air Squats
High Knees
Zombie Kicks

Strength – Shoulder Press

6×45#
6×75
6×95
6x6x115

Conditioning

10 Rounds

3 Power Cleans (135#)
5 HR Push-ups
8 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Didn’t push the pace though Bryan seemed to think I did. Finished in 9:17.

Accessory

4 Sets

5/5 Kroc Rows (53#)
5 Ring Rows

Yes! Able to do Kroc rows again without any pain in my shoulder. Kept it light though.

Lifting – Thruster

Wanted to get in some heavy-ish cleans after class in case we have a max of some sort as part of 16.5. Didn’t really want to jerk, so figured I’d thruster them.

2×185#
1×207
1×218
1×233
1×244
1×253 (PR)

The boys were already over 200 so I jumped in and worked up fast. They were combining pounds and kilos on the bar which is always confusing.

I was actually feeling more tired than I expected from the workout. 80 wall balls will get you no matter what. Made the 3# PR, so called it good even though I had been thinking about continuing with cleans after I hit a big thruster.

16.4 Still Has Me

Still sore from 16.4. Upper back is still pretty sore from the ring rows too. Those muscles have really been missing out on work so I’m glad I can get some pulling movements in again. Out in the garage at noon.

Warm-up

Bottom Squat Hold
Crossover Symmetry Activation

Strength – Back Squat

EMOM 11:00

6×45#
6×135
3×165
3×195
3×225
6x3x255

I really like this EMOM work to build up and then through the work sets, which don’t have to be near max to be effective. I used Prelepin’s Chart to pick the working load, sets, and reps. 255 pounds is slightly higher than 55-65% (if I use an estimated max of 380), so I stayed on the low end of the rep range. Quick work to train smarter.

Active Recovery

20:00 Air Dyne (AD2)

I stepped up my RPMs, keeping it at 65-67 for a total of 6.6 miles. Wore the Garmin watch and it did a better job tracking my heart rate than it has before. Was on the upper end of zone 1 and into zone 2 for the majority of the workout. I still felt fine and would have been able to hold a conversation.

Finished with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

Nasty Intervals

Ass and hammies definitely sore from 16.4. My upper back is sore from the ring rows yesterday too, but glad to be able to work those muscles again with that pulling movement.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
Empty Bar stretching and positions for thruster

Conditioning

E2M – 7 Cycles

5 Thrusters (95#)
5 Burpees over the Bar
4 Thrusters
4 Burpees over the Bar

This was much worse that the 8s every two minutes from 4 weeks ago. Going from the burpees back to the bar was gross. Those jumps over the bar really added up today and had the quads fatigued. Started out taking 37 seconds, got a couple of seconds faster, and then started hitting the wall after the 4th cycle. Was fighting to keep it under 50 seconds by the last cycle.

This was the 4th progression of this combo. Since they all started the final cycle at what would be the 12 minute mark of a running clock, the volume was all effectively in a 13 minute window, which went from 50 reps to 63 of each movement. Bring on the thrusters Castro!

Gymnastics

5 Sets

15 Stalder Leg Lifts (13″)
5 Ring Swings

I actually only got in 2 sets and then did 3 after snatching because I was helping out some people with HSPU technique for their run at 16.4 tomorrow.

Weightlifting – Snatch

2x3x95#
3×115
3×135
2×155
1×175
1×185
1×195
1×205
2x1x185

Felt really good again. Aggressive punch out. No misses on the way up again.

Sweat It Out

Wasn’t sure I’d make it to the 10am when I woke up, but I did. Couple beers do me in these days. #weaksauce Felt better after an hour and made it in. My back feels fine today but my ass and hamstrings are sore. Shoulders are a little tight too.

Strength

2 Shoulder Press
+ 2 Push Press
+ 2 Push Jerk

Felt weak for sure. Went 45-75-95-115-135-145-155#.

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

5 Push-ups
5 Power Cleans (115#)
5 Box Jumps (24″)

Cruised through at an easy pace and finished 7 rounds plus the push-ups and cleans.

Gymnastics

E30S 5:00

5 Ring Rows

Pretty excited when I tried a couple and could actually do them! Haven’t been able to any pulling like that in months with this shoulder.

Extra

1,000m Row

Easy pace. Finished just under 4:00.

Glad I made it in. Feels good to have moved and worked up a little sweat.

16.4

Was feeling pretty good about this one when it was announced. I’m fine with deadlifts, have grown to enjoy wall balls a bit, and I’ll take a rower any day.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
3:00 Air Dyne
3×10 GHD Heel Drives
Deadlifts
- 10×45#
- 5×135
- 5×185
Bar Hang

CrossFit Open Workout 16.4

13:00 AMRAP

55 Deadlifts (225#)
55 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
55 Row (calories)
55 Handstand Push-ups

split-to-cals My plan was:

Start with 10s on deadlift with 15 seconds rest. Decrease if it got bad.
Do 5 sets of 11 wall balls with 10 seconds of rest so it was similar to a Tabata.
Hit about a 1,200 cal/hr pace on the rower.
Doubles on HSPU.

I was really expecting the deadlifts to be a lot worse. I stuck to the plan and ended up with 4 sets of 10, then 8-7 to finish. Wall balls were right on plan as well with no problem. I felt more comfortable at 1,100 on the rower and kicked it in for the last 5 calories. Did 6 or so doubles on the wall and was feeling good so did a couple of triples. Then tried to do some quick singles or maybe even some doubles towards the end. Never failed a handstand push-up until the very last one I was trying to get in to beat the clock. I ended up with 27 handstand push-ups for a total rep count of 192 and a tiebreak time of 8:34. So much time to do the HSPU!!

Looking back I really think I over-paced this one. I could have gotten away with 10 second rests on the deadlifts and maybe 3 sets of 15 plus a set of 10 wall balls. I should have pushed the row to be a little uncomfortable too and got up on the wall quicker. I realistically think I could have been off the rower in under 8:00, which would give me another 2-4 HSPU probably. I really expected those deadlifts to get me a lot worse or the wall balls to add up after the deadlifts, but I didn’t have a problem with either one.

I was hoping to average 3:00 for the first 3 movements and had no trouble beating that. My rep goal was 185-195, which was in the 80-90 percentile from the early scoring, so I’m not disappointed at all. You just learn a lot the first time you do a workout. I’m already thinking next year I might just commit to doing every workout twice for a change and an interesting challenge. If they do introduce a 35-39 Masters division it would be fun to see how I rank with full effort and redoing workouts too. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I have to worry about making it into the Masters Qualifier. I’m far from that level.

One more workout this year!

3 Strikes for Annie

I can feel my back is a little aggravated from the shoulder press over-extension yesterday. Would be great if Castro doesn’t give us a max lift or heavy deadlifts this week.

Warm-up

3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
15 PVC Good Mornings
Zombie Kicks
Walking Lunges
20 Jumping Jacks
16 Mountain Climbers
5 Burpees

Strength – Deadlift

5×135#
5×205
5×255
5×275
5×305

Easy does it with the back.

Conditioning

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

Double Unders
Sit-ups

Set everything up for success with dumbbells for feet and my AbMat pad. Missed 3 times in the set of 40 double unders though. Can’t miss if I’m going to PR. Sit-ups felt really good, but too bad. Managed a 6:07, which is only 8 seconds slower than my best.

Accessory

6 Sets

10 Russian Kettlebell Swings (70#)
20 Shoulder Taps
5 Ring Swings

I threw one muscle-up in there to show Weston something and I flew up on to the rings! This swing work is going to pay off. Coming down was pretty terrible on my shoulder so no more of that.

After class got into a little extra with Bryan and Michelle…

5 Rounds

300m Row
5 Overhead Squat (135#)

I really wanted to snatch into that first OHS every round but I only did that on the first 2 (maybe the third?) because I was almost losing them. Probably should have put on the lifters for this, since they work well on the rower too. This got pretty nasty on the quads. Finished in 8:50.

Rest up tomorrow for 16.4.

Snappy Snatchy

Made it in for the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
PVC Pass-thrus
20 PVC Presses
Zombie Kicks
30 Jumping Jacks

Strength – Shoulder Press

6×45#
4×95
2×115
2×135
2×155
2×165
1×175 (matches PR, failed 2nd rep)
2×172.5 (PR)

I need to just always put on the belt when getting up there. I overextended too much trying to hit that second rep with 175. Put the belt on, dropped down and was able to grind out the PR double. I really wanted that 175 double after hitting 3×170 not too long ago!

Conditioning

8 Rounds

6 Push Presses (95#)
8 Burpees
10 GHD Sit-ups

Longer than expected, but the burpees and GHD sit-ups slow down significantly. Finished in 11:01.

Midline

6 Rounds

20s Bicycle Crunch
10s Rest
20s Plank
10s Rest

Can’t remember the last time I did those crunches. I did the planks on my hands and really tried to lean out forward to get some extra wrist work.

Weightlifting

Asked Alex if he wanted to work up to a quick snatch before he had to coach the next class. Got after it! All into the full squat.

2x3x45#
3×95
3×115
3×135
2×155
1×175
1×185
1×195
1×205
Missed 215 twice

Felt great and really snappy. Was really trying to be aggressive with the lockout because that’s where I seem to fail when it gets heavy. On the misses it definitely didn’t have the same feel. My back was feeling it a little bit from that shoulder press too and I can get loose at it gets really heavy. Any day I hit 200 or more is a good day though. Today it just happened to be enough to match my bodyweight. I was going to drop to 185 just to end on a make but I felt a little tweak in my back as I was twisting to put a couple plates away. Called it quits instead of risking it.

Get In, Get Out

My obliques are a bit sore. Wonder if it’s from hitting golf balls for an hour on Saturday. With Monday being my recovery day during the Open I’ve been missing out on squats. Feeling pretty good today so wanted to work some in.

Warm-up

1,000m Ski Erg
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength – Back Squats

EMOM

3×95#
3×115
3×135
3×155
3×175
3×195
3×215
3×235
3×255
3×275
3×295

Didn’t want to spend a ton of time so I utilized the clock. Not much time to stand around after adding the 20# each set or exchanging plates for wheels. Wanted to get to 275 and see how it felt since I wasn’t using a belt or lifters. Felt good so did one more set. Done in 11 minutes.

Conditioning – Recovery

20:00 Air Dyne (AD2)

Went 6.24 miles.