Pacing with Stroke Rate

Got to the gym early so I could get in some rowing.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
  • 250m Row

I actually checked the drag factor on the rower for the first time today. Super easy too. It was at 123 where I usually set the damper (just below 5).

Row: Pacing & Engine

  • Interval 1
    • 4:00 at 20 s/m
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 2
    • 2:00 at 20
    • 2:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
    • 2:00 at 26
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 3
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
    • 2:00 at 26
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 4
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 1:00 at 24
    • 1:00 at 26
    • 1:00 at 28

That was actually really fun. Sure didn’t feel like I spent 30 minutes rowing because I was locked in on trying to keep the stroke rate and a corresponding pace. My goal was 2:02/500m and then with each increase of 2 strokes per minute the pace should drop 2 seconds.
rowing-wod-week2-session1

Total of 8,023 meters when including the warm-up. Couldn’t be happier with how that turned out for a first attempt at pacing through stroke rate. I did Crossover Symmetry Recovery before leaving the gym.

I finished up the reverse hyper after making some adjustments. Upgraded to a 1″ pipe to support the weight, which is much sturdier than the 3/4″ I had at first and I’m using in the back to support the platform. It was nice that I already had the platform created from before. All I did to it was cut the notches where it sits on the pipes, screwed in some PVC for handles, and spray glued on padding (3/4″ puzzle mat + yoga mat). Pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Rogue’s rack attached reverse hyper runs about $600 and bolts on. This sucker was less than $100 and is easy to put up and take down.

Back at the gym for the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

  • PVC pass-thrus
  • Shoulder stretching
  • PVC OHS
  • Hamstring stretching

Strength

Push Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×175#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×195#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×215# (PR)

Put the belt on starting with 175#. Rested about 2-2:30 between sets. Beat my old triple by 3#.

Conditioning

10 Cycles (continue AMRAP)

  • 45s AMRAP
    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 15s Rest

That 15 seconds was just enough to keep pushing the gas. After getting 1 round plus an extra rep for the first few rounds that turned into my goal for the rest of the way. Kept at it and then got 1+3 extra reps in the final round for a total of 10 rounds plus 12 reps.

Lil’ GHD “Annie”

  • 50-40-30-20-10 Double Unders
  • 25-20-15-10-5 GHD Sit-ups

Last time I did this it was 7:11. Didn’t feel like I was cruising today, but crushed it with a 6:04. I split up the first 3 rounds of GHDs into 15-10, 12-8, and 9-6. Maybe my rest was shorter for those breaks. All dubs were unbroken.

Slacker Week

Had planned to get in some exercise last night, but I was tired from getting up at 5:30 to head up for a golf fundraiser that I play in every year. So it was 2 rest days in a row and a pretty light week for me. Back feels good though.

Got to the gym early for the Sunday workout and warmed up with 3x12x210# Reverse Hypers and Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Midline

10 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 20s Rest

Got 16 for the first 7 rounds, then 14s for a 154 total. Everyone was complaining about starting with these, but you gotta switch things up and I know a few would have left if they were at the end.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 21 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 12 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 3 Muscle-ups

This one was fun. Michelle and I shared a box so alternated the jumps and it worked out well. Couldn’t rebound, but that’s fine. Meant going into the MU a little less fatigued. Hips were pretty shot after the deadlifts and box jumps, so had to really go for it with the hips. Did everything unbroken in 5:03.

E90S 15:00 (10x)

  • 50y Sprint

Have done this a few times recently now. Now that hard, but good for ya.

Accessory

2 Rounds NFT

  • 150m Farmer’s Carry (25# bumper in each hand)
  • 150m OH Plate Walk (50# – 2×25#)

Brutal on the grip. Didn’t stop except between movements.

I did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap. Shoulders haven’t been bothering me, but these back tweaks have taught me that I need to be better about this stuff so I don’t get hurt instead of only bothering to make time after I get hurt.

Felt pretty good and got a little inspired by Bryan lunging 400 meters while we did the accessory work, so I stopped at the track on the way home.

400m Walking Lunges

Actually counted out my steps today. It took me 334 steps and I was done in 12:01, which is a 42 second PR.

2015-08-09-after-400m-lunge

Now I will attempt to build a revers hyper attachment for my rig so I can get traction for my back more often than at the gym.

New Bar

Walked 18 on the course yesterday and had an adjustment at the chiro. My hips were shifted with the left being lower. Could have been what caused the tweak to my left low back area. Hasn’t affected sleep at least so not as bad as the last tweak. Time to start hitting the Reverse Hyper every day I can. May build one for at home to use inside my rack.

Went in to the gym at 5:30. Warmed up with 3 sets of 10 on the RH with 210#.

OHS

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×175#

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row (calories)
  • 1:00 Ball Slams (20#)
  • 1:00 Push Press (40# DBs)
  • 1:00 Knees to Elbows
  • 1:00 Rest

Subbed out wall balls for K2E and used dumbbells for a change of pace with the push presses, which got super hard. I did 20 cals on the rower each time and went unbroken on ball slams, which is why I decided to use the 20 instead of 25#. Got a total of 85-81-81 reps, so stayed consistent each round.

Accessory & Midline

5 Sets

  • 25/25m Sled Drag (25# + 180#)
  • 1:30 Plank

Walked into the gym, started the clock and right back out after time was up each round.

2 Sets

  • 20 Reverse Hypers (210#)

Nice back pump there. After doing some e-stim before going to the gym the area that’s bothering me almost feels like a bruise to the touch. Different than what has happened any other time. Will need to keep an eye on it.

Arrived home to see my new toy delivered in the driveway. Had ordered the Yoke Bar from EliteFTS almost 2 months ago when they ran an awesome special on it. I’d been wanting one so couldn’t pass it up. Will have to try it out Saturday night.

bars

Seriously?

Walked 18 holes yesterday and it was a quick round since the course wasn’t letting carts out. I was about the only person out there. Was pretty sore in many places, so it was good recovery. Got to the gym early this morning to do a couple more rowing tests. Warmed up with an easy 500m first.

Row

  • 3:00 for distance at <= 24 s/m
  • Rest 10:00
  • 250m for time

I’ve never paid much attention to my stroke rate, so that was an interesting challenge. I was able to keep it pretty steady with only one 30 second section missing. Managed 888 meters with an average of 23s/m and a 1:41.3/500m pace. Compare that to my 1,000m PR of 3:11.2 where I averaged 1:35.6 but at 33s/m. When I went to get up I felt my low back was really tight. The 250 meters was a good push and was just a half second off my PR time, getting 40.9.

IMG_6415

Could really feel my back getting off after the time trial. What the fuck?!?

Strength

Push Press

  • 6×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 6×115#
  • 6×135#
  • 6×155#
  • 6×175#

I put on my belt for 115# and above. Was ok, but not the greatest on the back so didn’t push the weight. Coming in my goal was 195# which I’ve done for a set of 5 before.

Figured I shouldn’t do some of the other stuff programmed for class so I did 3 sets of 10 Reverse Hypers with 210#.

Conditioning

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Air Dyne (AD2)
  • 10s Rest

Something I could do that wouldn’t put any stress on my back and still get me sweat on. Racked up 133 calories and 1.17 miles.

Station Laps

Woke with a nice headache after drinking a couple of root beer ales last night. Light weight!

Super Sunday was at a track across the street from the gym today.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • Agility Ladder Drills

We probably did 6-8 different drills two times each. It was over 80 out so was already working up a sweat.

Conditioning

40:00+ AMRAP with Partner

  • 200m – 30 Walking Lunges + Run
  • 100m Run + 15 Tuck Jumps
  • 100m Run Backwards + 15 Push-ups
  • 4x Sandbag Carry up/down bleachers

Each part was I go, you go, so rested about half of the time. Each of the teams was staying pretty close together through the entire thing, which was cool. We were at 37-38 minutes so finished out one more lap. Bryan and I got our 6 rounds in at about 44:47.

Not use to something that long, especially outside in the sun. My car said it was 87° when I was pulling out of the lot. I still had my headache too.

Pegged

bryan-peg-boardBryan came over to try out the peg board and hit a garage workout. We got up a few times. It’s definitely a lot harder than it looks and you can feel it using all kinds of different muscles. I did warm-up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 8×135#
  • 6×185#
  • 4×205#
  • 10x3x225#

We did the 225# sets rapid fire, going one after the other with little rest.

Conditioning

4 Rounds each, rest while partner goes

  • 12 Ski Erg calories
  • 10 Power Snatch (95#)

Tried to keep a pretty steady pace on the Ski Erg and was close to 1,200 calories/hour which is what I usually go for on the rower when doing something like 30 calories to start a workout. My goal was to do all of the snatches unbroken. It hurt, but I did it. The rest time was just enough to be able to go hard again. We finished in about 11:10.

I did a whole bunch of peg board pull up sets throughout the day. I would either do a set of 8 or 5/5 with one arm at a higher peg and probably did 4 sets of each.

Stopped at the gym in the evening to do a rowing test that didn’t go very well.

Row 20:00 for distance

I figured I’d be able to keep a 1:55 pace which I did in my recent 5k PR. Nope!

image

Midline

8 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Managed to go the whole way and got 120 reps.

DIY Projects

Didn’t make it to the gym yesterday. After not doing anything while gone to the Games, two days in a row was a good feel. We weren’t golfing today so I knew I could make it in for a workout. Yesterday I did build an agility ladder though.

agility-ladder

I got started building a climbing peg board as well and finished it today, though I still need to sand out the holes because the pegs don’t fit everywhere. Both projects were a lot more work than I expected.

peg-board

Made it in for the 4:30 class. I have been feeling pretty sore from the pull-ups the other day and all of the hole drilling and screw driving hasn’t helped.

Warm-up

  • 10 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 20 OH Lunges (holding PVC)

Strength

Press From Split

  • 8×45#
  • 4×95#
  • 4×115#
  • 4×125#
  • 4×135#

Couldn’t find a stable position in that last set.

Split Jerk

  • 2×135#
  • 2×175#
  • 2×185#
  • 2×195#
  • 2×205#

Put on the belt with 175# I think. Felt pretty good. Not heavy.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 30 Sit-ups
    • Deadlift (225#)
    • Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
  • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
  • Cash-out 30 Sit-ups

Wasn’t sure how I’d hold up with that many deadlifts. Decided not to wear a belt because I didn’t want to mess with it between movements. Was able to go unbroken on all movements. Finished in 8:28.

Midline

4 Rounds NFT

  • 20 Russian Twists (53#)
  • 15s L-sit (knees up)

Cindy Intervals

Was up late reading stupid comments from people about the Games. Don’t read the comments!

Went to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

  • Bear Crawls
  • Inch Worms
  • Mountain Climbers

Strength

Deadlift

  • 5×155#
  • 5×245#
  • 5×265#
  • 5×285#
  • 5×285#
  • 5×305#
  • 5×305#
  • 5×305#

Gotta get that back healed up so didn’t go heavy. Felt pretty easy. Wore the belt with 265# and beyond.

Conditioning

4 Cycles

  • 3:00 AMRAP (of “Cindy”)
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Rest

Went out hot. Got 4+5 but fell off fast in each successive round with 3+22, 3+7, and 2+26. Air squats started to slow down in the 2nd cycle and then push-ups had to start being broken up in the 3rd cycle.

Accessory

8:00 EMOM

  • 1/1 Turkish Get-ups

I used a 35# KB for 5 rounds and then a 44# for the final 3.

Home From the Games

What an awesome time at the CrossFit Games! I’d definitely make the trip again.

2015-CrossFit-Games

Haven’t done anything since last Wednesday morning before flying out. Slept in this morning, so made it for the 4:30 class.

Strength

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×172.5#
  • F @ 177.5# (PR attempt)
  • 1×175# (PR match)

I’ll take it! Missed lower than this a couple of weeks ago or maybe it was even last week.

Accessory

5 Sets

  • 8 Ring Rows (Feet on box)
  • 5 Ring Dips (strict)
  • 20 Russian KBS (53-62-70-70-70#)

Sweating my ass off!

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Clusters (75#)
  • 8 Push-ups
  • 30 DU

Kept it light so I could keep them unbroken. Still got winded like crazy. Finished 6 rounds plus 5 more reps.