Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Back to Work in 2016

Back to work today after 2+ weeks off for the holidays! Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

2×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold
3 Rounds
- 30 Jumping Jacks
- 4 Inch Worm Push-ups
- 15 Ball Slams (30#)

Was warm after that!

Strength – Back Squat

6×45#
6×155
3×205
3×255
3×285
3×305
3×325
3×345

Didn’t feel as solid in my leg drive as the 350 triple last week. Back was fine though. Would have liked to try for 355 coming into today but I don’t think I would have gotten it and didn’t have time anyway.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

300m Row
20 Russian Kettlebell Swings (53#)
20 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
20 Sit-ups
2:00 Rest

I didn’t notice that he increased the rest from 1:00 due to the size of class and the number of rowers available, so I thought I was getting a bunch of extra rest. Turned out to be pretty close to 2:00 each round. My rounds were 3:43, 3:56, 3:59, and 3:40 which included a nice walk across the gym after getting off the rower. Rests were 2:03, 1:50, and 2:26. I guess that extra rest helped my last round because it was my fastest even though it was my slowest row. I did transition right into each movement though instead of taking a couple extra breaths so that helped.

Stuck around and did a partner workout with Bryan, Michelle, and Weston. We did it I-go-U-go with each movement for quick work and short rest.

60-40-20 Double Unders
15-12-9 Toes through Rings
15-12-9 Overhead Squats (75#)

I missed a lot on dubs. Too heavy to get myself off the ground? 🙂 The other movements were unbroken. We decided to go light on the OHS for a change and so we could speed through them. Took Bryan and I 7:17 and they were only 10 seconds behind us.

Finally Over Linda

I planned to do the chest to bar pull-up workout yesterday but I woke up and NO! I was still feeling the effects of Linda and needed a day off. I don’t know how I hit those lifts on Friday. Woke up this morning feeling much better and recovered. Incorporated the pull-up workout into Super Sunday.

Warm-up – 3 Rounds

10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
3 Wall Walks
10s Ring Hang Skin the Cat

When I passed through part of the skin the cat my left shoulder did not feel good. I’m going to skip the muscle-up workout this week to rest it.

Gymnastics

1 Set of MAX C2B Pull-ups
4 sets at 60% with 2:00 rest

Got 22 for a 2 rep PR! I’ll take a 10% gain after the first cycle of Skill WOD. Then my drop sets were 13. I got the first set unbroken, then 10-9-10 unbroken with singles to finish those sets out. Not sure I’ve ever done that much C2B volume in one day.

Accessory – 6 Sets

4 Good Mornings
8 Lunges

Went 95-125-135-145-155-165# and was feeling a little rough after.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

6 Snatches (115#)
6 Burpees OTB
1:00 Rest

Picked up a second wind after getting into this beauty. My rounds were roughly 32-28-29-31-29-29 seconds to finish at 7:58 on the clock. All snatch sets were unbroken.

Midline – 5 Sets

10 T2B (strict)
20 GHD Heel Drives

This was the strength accessory from the 3rd day of skill WOD. My shoulder wasn’t having toes to bars so I did a scaled version laying on the ground holding the rig with the small orange band around my feet (anchored to a DB) and simulating a strict T2B movement that way.

Really liking the heel drives from this program. Nice change up from weighted reverse hypers to keep my low back healthy and these are also a good chance to practice straight legs up into the arch position, with a squeeze in the glutes.

Hello 2016

Last year was a pretty solid year in my training. Still getting stronger every year. I had to pull back on my goal to hit a 400 pound squat in 2015 after several back tweaks, but after I stepped back and slowed down, I’m progressing nicely and will get there eventually. No rush. I also wanted to get to a 300 pound bench press at one point, but stopped working on it after gaining 25# on the lift from two 10 week cycles.

2015 was another solid year of consistently spending time in the gym. Here’s an image that shows each day of the year and my workouts. Some pretty long streaks in there, but other than when I squatted 49 days in a row, the long consecutive day streaks were always due to active recovery. I’ve learned to take my rest.

Feeling beat from Linda, but in at 2pm to lift with Alex and Bryan. Didn’t expect anything special. Did 2 sets of 10 GHD heel drives and a couple sets of the empty bar snatch warm-up (5 muscle snatches, 5 behind the neck snatch presses, 5 overhead squats) I like.

Snatch

3x40kg
3×50
2×60
F-2 @ 70
2×75
1×79
1×82
F-1 @ 85
1×88
F-1 @ 90
F-F-1 @ 92

The front of my shoulders are still feeling pretty damn weird after Monday’s muscle-ups. The miss at 70 was just a lapse in concentration. Later misses were usually due to the bar being too forward. The Max at 90 had a great turnover and felt like the best lift of the day. Really had to fight and be patient in the hole with the make at 92, which was over 94% of my max C&J.

Clean & Jerk

Started with 5 cleans + 5 jerks with the empty bar.

2x50kg
2×70
2×80
1×90
1×100
1×105
1×110
1×115
1×118

I could feel really tight in my low back on some of the snatches and also when catching the cleans. Not a pain, but definitely know I did a ton of heavy deadlifts yesterday. Didn’t want to push it anymore than the 118. The guys said I was getting under the bar super high. Rode everything down into the squat though. It’s amazing that I don’t even think twice about the jerks anymore. I used to get a little scared at 235+ pounds. Here I hit 260+ without a problem, which is over 94% of my max as well. Really wasn’t expecting that with either lift today.

Back Squat

3×135#
3×185
3×205
3×255
3×275
3×295

Good enough for the day. Didn’t want to risk anything with my back already feeling rough.

nyf-ginger-ale — Hope this is half as good as the Root Beer Ale.

Why Did I Agree To This?

Jason had the bright idea to try “Linda” today. Not sure why I agreed. I guess I’ve been on a benchmark kick lately and figured it was the final workout of the year. Made sure to load up on carbs last night, get to bed early, and even set my alarm so I’d get up and eat some oatmeal this morning before getting to the gym at 9.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
10 GHD Heel Drives
Bench Press
- 5×45#
- 5×115
- 3×165
- 3×195
Squat Clean
- 5×45#
- 3×95
- 3×135
- 3×145
Deadlift
- 5×45#
- 3×155
- 3×265
- 3×295

I wasn’t planning on doing cleans touch-n-go but something in my head got me doing them that way in the warm-up. Definitely put on the belt for the 295# deadlift and kept it on through the workout, usually loosening it during bench press so I could breath better.

“Linda”

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Deadlift @ 1.5x bodyweight (315#)
Bench press @ 1x bodyweight (210#)
Clean (squat) @ 0.75x bodyweight (157.5#)

I started out 4-3-3 for the deadlift and bench press, then did combinations of as many threes and twos until the single at the end. I grabbed the bar for the cleans and did 3 tng to start then 7 singles. After that I didn’t do a single until the final rep. All threes and twos there though I did the set of 4 unbroken. With having to rest so much between bench press sets I had the lungs to string the cleans together. I’m not sure it was really any faster than singles because I’d take a nice little break between sets. There is a lot of resting in this workout. Finished in 31:42. I’m not looking forward to how my body is going to feel for the next few days.

The alternative name “Three Bars of Death” is much more fitting for this benchmark.

As long as that took, I think it took longer to get everything set, warm-up, and then clean-up took forever. Happy New Year!

Shoulder Ow!

My shoulders are still wrecked from the combination of bench on Sunday and the muscle-up work on Monday. Needed a full rest day yesterday but got in some exercise clearing the driveway.

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 1 Day 2

Warm-up: 3 Rounds for quality

10 Pass-thrus
10 Pass-thrus (under grip)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
3 Wall Walks
10s Handstand Hold

Mobility: 5 Sets

10s GHD Hanging Stretch

Test Your Max

Find MAX deficit Kipping HSPU

1″
5.25
8.5
10.75
13
Miss 15

At 10.75 inches I started to hit my shoulders on the plates. Widened the plates after that but still ran into them. When I got to 15 it was pretty awkward. Will need to look around to see what people do for big depths. It’s pretty intimidating even looking at the stack of plates.

4 sets of 6 kipping at 70% deficit

6 @ 7.5″ (2×45# + 25#)
5 @ 7.5″
6 @ 5.25″ (2×45#)
6 @ 5.25″

Use 70% he says. haha I knew that wouldn’t fly and I still had to decrease my depth even more.

Max reps at same deficit

Managed 6 again @ 5.25 inches. Barely missed a 7th rep.

Strength Accessory: 5 Sets

8 Seated DB Press (40#)
20 Hollow Rocks

Got out the PVC pipe after the 1st set and held it for the other 4 sets of hollow rocks. I felt like it kept my arms in check and created better awareness.

I finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap before leaving the gym.

I had planned on deadlifting in the afternoon, but with some new plans to do “Linda” tomorrow I decided that wasn’t a good idea anymore. Still wanted to get in some other work, so out to the garage in the afternoon. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Accessory

6 Sets

8/8 Kroc Rows (50#)

It was nice using a 50 pound dumbbell compared to the 70 pound kettlebell I use at CFi. Was able to really focus on the right muscles and do a little pause at the top.

Conditioning

“Jeremy” – 21-15-9

Overhead Squat (95#)
Burpee

Rough in the cold garage. My toes were actually losing feeling by the time I got done working out. I guess I should have turned on the heater.

Took me 5:53 which isn’t a very good time. I did the OHS in sets of 21, 9-6, and 9. Should have pushed through in that second round. I need to get a lot better at my cycle speed with them too. I was struggling with my breath on the burpees. Maybe it was the hoodie I wore trough the first 2 rounds. This extra 10 pounds I’m carrying doesn’t help either. Definitely some weaknesses to improve on.

Almost 10, but Sub 40

Coached this morning and then got in my workout after class. Starting the new cycle of gymnastics work.

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 1 Day 1

Warm-up – 3 Rounds for quality

10 Pass-thrus
10 Bridge Rocks
10 GHD Heel Drives
3 Inchworm Push-ups
10′ Crab Walk (forward & back)

Mobility – 5 Sets

10s Bottom of Ring Dip Hold
1 Skin the Cat (2s pause in hang)

Test Your Max

1 Set of MAX MU
4 Sets @ 60% with 2:00 Rest

Got 9 and barely missed the 10th. Rounded to 5 for the drop sets. Made each set but the last two were close to missing; caught in a super low dip.

Strength Accessory – 5 Sets

5 Strict Ring Dips
5 Ice Cream Makers (banded)

Used the black band. Those were interesting. In the 4th set of ring dips something really weird started to happen in my left shoulder and bicep and then I couldn’t lift my arm until I moved it all around. Nothing like that has ever happened before.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

250m Row
2:00 Rest

Been wanting that sub-40 and got it. Went 39.7, 41.1, and 42.2. Boy do I start to hit a wall in the 2nd half of the rows after that first attempt. Legs start to burn hard, hamstrings feel like they are cramping up, and just can’t push like I want to. I decided on 3 sets before starting, but almost called it quits after setting the PR. Glad I gutted it out.

Headed back to the gym at 4pm. Warmed up with 3 sets of 8 Reverse Hypers using 210#.

Strength – Back Squat

10×45#
6×135
3×225
3×255
3×285
3×315
3×335
3×350 (PR)

Wore my belt for the last 3 sets. My goal heading in was to get 350 and it was solid. A few weeks ago doing a double with 353 got loose, so really happy. Most 1 rep max calculator formulas put me at over 370 now. Getting there!

Midline

100 Sit-ups

Been awhile. Was on a solid pace but the last 30 reps got rough. Managed a 1 second PR with 2:58.

Wanted to get in a solid day of work with a storm coming through. I do not plan on leaving the house tomorrow except to take out the trash. Will probably do some active recovery.

Quad Burner

My hands ached bad when I woke up. I wasn’t paying attention to walking down the steps because I was so focused on it and ended up falling on my ass and slid down 3 stairs. That woke me up! My legs were a little wobbly too. Didn’t think I did much yesterday.

Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Strength – Bench Press

5×45#
5×95
5×135
5×165
5×185
5×205
5×215
5×225
5×235
5×240

Really had no idea what to expect here. The chart we have said a 5RM for 270 would be 236, so this was about right for my 275. Not sure I could have got all 5 with another 5# on the bar.

Conditioning

“Klepto” – 4 Rounds

27 Box Jumps (24″)
20 Burpees
11 Squat Cleans (145#)

I jumped without rebounds in round 1. After doing the first 2 squat cleans, I could feel my back would never hold up with box jumps, so I did step-ups for the other 3 rounds. Burpees were the rest and just kept moving. Cleans were all singles, but back on the bar quick. Was through 2 rounds at exactly 9:00 and finished everything at 18:29.

Going to start going with shorter met-cons on Sunday going forward to build that intensity up. Should have a solid base after all of the rowing and the last month of long Sunday workouts.

Midline / Shoulders

50 reps – 1/4 Get-ups (53#)

Originally programmed Turkish, but legs were smoked from the workout and didn’t feel like standing up. Broke it up into 10 each arm and then 15 each arm.

36 Years

Woke up a year older. Wiser too, of course. 😉 Opened up the gym from 4-6 after coming back from up north.

Skill WOD (Hustle & Flow) Week 4 Day 3

Warm-up

3 sets

5 Bar Work
(Hold and pause 2 sec at each position with no form breaks and no momentum)
- Dead Hang
- Lat Active Hollow
- Tight Arch
1 Skin the Cat
10 Straddle V-ups
10s GHD Hanging Bridge Stretch

Skill A – 4 Supersets

1 Ring Swing + Pull-up w/ swing + MU
2 Box Hip Kip Drill
3 Banded Hip Drill

Felt solid

Skill Test – 3 sets

1 rep of complex is:

MU + 2 Strict Ring Dips (after the MU dip lockout)

First two sets are 3 reps of the complex and then the 3rd set is for max reps. I only got 5 reps on the max set.

Strength Accessory – 3 sets

3 Lower to Hold Front Lever on Box

Felt harder on the grip this week.

Bonus Complex

Set 1: 3 Strict Ring Pull-up + 3 Toes to Rings + 4 MU
Set 2: 3+3+5
Sets 3+: Keep adding 1 MU until failure

I was looking forward to this stuff today, thinking I was well rested. Didn’t have it though. Maybe those curls and skull crushers from the other day had me or maybe the 2.5 hour drive played a role.

Put on me leather grips at this point. I only managed 3 muscle-ups in the first set and 1 in the second set. I took a quick rest after that 2nd set and got back on the rings to try to knock out some muscle-ups and didn’t have any. Called it quits right there on the gymnastics.

I had one terrible day in this cycle for each of the 3 movements, pull-ups, handstand push-ups, and muscle-ups. New cycle starting on Monday.

Weightlifting

Warmed up with 2 empty bar sets of 3 muscle snatch + 3 behind the neck snatch presses + 3 overhead squats.

Tall Snatches

2x3x40kg
3×45
3×50
3×55
2×60, missed 3rd rep
2×65
2 misses x70

I should have actually missed the first try at 70 behind me, but I am not used to that and pulled it back to the front. I need to do these more often. Felt like I was dropping quick, but need to get comfortable catching the bar that low and staying tight.

Conditioning

Warmed up with an easy 2:00 row for 507 meters.

5 Rounds

100m Row
1:00 rest

Wanted to set a new PR and get in a time for my BTWB fitness level ranking since it’s been almost a year. I killed my previous best 16.0 with a 15.5 on the first try. Then beat the 16.0 four more times with 15.7, 15.7, 15.8, and 15.9! I couldn’t believe it. I tried a different damper setting almost every round and even tried shortening my stroke on the final interval.

Good way to end the training session and a nice birthday surprise.

All The Pumps

Up at my parents for a few days. Legs feel a little tired this morning. Worked out around 10:30.

Strength / Midline

8 Rounds
- 20s Alternating Bicep Curl (15# DB)
- 10s Rest
1:00 Rest
8 Rounds
- 20s Superman Hold
- 10s Rest
1:00 Rest
8 Rounds
- 20s Dumbbell Skull Crushers (15# DBs)
- 10s Rest

Arms were really pumped up after this. Low back had a nice pump too. Work the hollow positions a lot, but I think the arch/superman gets overlooked. Need to improve flexibility for the back swing of kipping movements.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP (“300 FY”)

Air Dyne (calories)

Dad had a AD2 just like mine so it’s nice to be able to compare numbers. Didn’t realize it had been over 2 years since I did this. Beat my old 342 calories with 358. Started out too hot but it’s hard to know without being able to see your RPMs until you’re about 25 seconds in to the workout. Scaled it back to 80-81 and tired to hold that. Started picking it up with 90 seconds left and then pushed hard in the final minute. You start to feel the burn in the first 2 minutes but you just have to keep telling yourself it’s not going to feel any worse and you can hold on to your pace.

Quads are so pumped up after this. I did an easy 5 minutes back on the bike after I caught my breath for 1.26 miles. Now I feel good that I’ve got in some exercise and I can rest for the next 2 days. Merry Christmas!!

Get Nasty With The Girls

My legs were surprisingly tired this morning. The squats I did yesterday were nothing crazy. Went to the gym at 10am.

Skill WOD Hustle & Flow Week 4 Day 2

Warm-up

3 sets

10 Pass-thrus
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Arch Ups
10 Narrow Grip OHS (45#)
10s Bottom of Dip Hold
10 Bridge Rocks

Skill

4 Sets

Freestanding HS Hold practice
16 Shoulder Taps (heels to wall)
20 Shotguns (Shoot to hollow)

Best week of the 4 for these shoulder taps. Didn’t fall off the wall once during the 4 sets. I think I figured out how to shift my hips better with the butt facing the wall.

Skill Test

3 Sets: 4 Deficit Strict HSPU (3.5″)

Lowered down from last week’s 4 inches so I could hopefully get 4 each set. Wasn’t easy but did it. I set the plates further from the wall after watching Spealler’s tips video this morning. Felt better that way.

Strength Accessory

3 sets

10 Seated DB Press (40# DBs)
10 Parallette Push-ups (feet on 16″ box)
30s GHD Hollow Hold

The presses have been pretty easy so I added 2 more reps this week. I guess I could have tried using 44# KBs. Also increased the box height under my feet. I really tried to get as low as possible in the bottom of those push-ups to feel the stretch.

5:00 AMRAP

1-2-3-4-5…

Burpees
HSPU

I had to have miscounted last week. I think I did the round of 4 twice because there is no way my score should have been that much of a decrease from the previous 2 weeks. Kipping felt much butter with the plates further from the wall. I finished the round of 6s and got 5 burpees, a PR by 6 total reps over the first week. First time Yes! Got a second wind after that success. I was pretty disappointed last week.

I am not sad to see the last day of this workout. Has been my least favorite of the 3.

Took a solid 30 minute rest, but did 10×45# and 5×95# hang power cleans to warm-up for…

Conditioning

“Nasty Girls” – 3 Rounds

50 Air Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#)

I’ve been wanting to try this one out for a long time. Since I’m heading out of town for a couple days today sounded like a great day for it. Get in a metcon involving a barbell and get in some muscle-ups with a full 2+ days to recover before the final workout of this Skill WOD cycle.

The air squats are so damn slow. Tried not to get my heart rate up too high going into the muscle-ups. I went 4-3, 4-2-1, and 4-2-1 on MU. Cleans were 5-5, 5-5, and 10. Took me 10:46. Next time I give this a go I’d try to speed up the 2nd and 3rd round of squats and I’d do all of the cleans unbroken for sure. I broke up those first two sets trying to save my pull a bit for the muscle-ups but with the long break during squats I don’t think it matters. I also think without having done an hour of handstand push-up work I’d be able to get the muscle-ups in 4-3 each round.

This video is a classic. The sport has come a long way.