Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

C2B and American KBS Back in Action

Surprisingly I’m not all that sore from the leg killer workout yesterday. I can feel some in my upper glutes, but my scaps are more sore than anything.

Warm-up

CS Activation (at home)
Shoulder Stretching
Arm Circles

Strength

Bench Press

10×45#
3×95#
3×95# wide grip
3×95# close grip
Speed Bench w/30-35s rest
- 3x3x135# wide grip
- 2x3x135#
- 3x3x135# close grip
8×185# close grip

First time putting any significant weight on the bar for that set of 185# and it felt pretty good. No struggle with the weight.

Conditioning

20 C2B Pull-ups
30 American KBS (53# KB)
40 SDHP (53# KB)
50 DB Push Presses (35# DBs)
20 C2D Push-ups
30 American KBS
500m Run
20 Burpees
30 V-ups
15 Ring Dips
50 DU
20 C2B Pull-ups

First time doing C2B and American KBS. My kip kept turning into a swing after about 4 reps in that first set of 20 though. Scaled down the push presses from the Rx 45# since I’m still trying to take it a little easy, especially with adding back in 2 movements in one day. Got my 50 DU unbroken, which is sweet at that point in a workout. Finished in 21:34.

Went back at 8pm for barbell club. Did CS Activation again before leaving home.

45# Snatch Position Work

Snatch Deadlifts
Muscle Snatches
Snatch Presses

5:00 EMOM

135# Snatch w/ 3s pause in the hole
2 OHS

Was supposed to go 10:00 but my wrists couldn’t take it. Not used to holding weight overhead yet.

Power Snatches

2×145#
F-1×155#
1×165#
1×175#
3x1x155#
1-F-1-1×165#

Feet were getting too wide, which really sucks for squatting with it. After 175# figured it was more worthwhile to drop down and work on some fixes. Also allowed me to work on keeping my arms relaxed and try not to bend my elbows early. When I don’t pull early with my arms, the bar just flies up. I nearly lost a few reps behind me.

Grabbed the empty bar and did 5 OHS with a jerk grip. Lost some mobility with the time away from OH.

No Golf Monday

Not enough guys to golf this morning, so was able to get to the 9am class. No issues with the shoulder after the 180 one-arm snatches yesterday, so that’s good.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation (at home)
Leg Swings
Hurdlers
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

Box Squats (14″ box)

10×45#
3×135#
3×225#
3×245#
3×255#
3×265#
3×275#
3×285#

I don’t think I’ve ever done these right before today, which is why I always felt so much knee pressure with the wide stance. Matt corrected me right away today and it was completely different. I was afraid I was going to miss the box though.

Accessory

KB Drag – 84 feet

2×88#
3×108# (53# + 55#)

I was sweating like I’d done a 10 minute metcon already!

Conditioning

3 Rounds

15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
20 Pistols
25 Banded Good Mornings (black)
30 Box Jumps (24″)

Pistols felt extremely tough today. No rhythm. I broke up the GMs into 10-10-5, 15-10, 15-10. Didn’t do any rebounding on the box jumps. Finished in 17:13. Didn’t feel like pushing too hard for some reason.

Walked a lap, did a bottom squat hold, and then did Crossover Symmetry Recovery when I got home.

Old School Sundays

Sundays at Survival Fitness have turned into old school days, back to before we had any good barbells. There were 23 people in class today! I was read to go after only back squats Friday and no workout yesterday.

Midline

8 Rounds – Tabata Mash-up

20s Ring L-sit
10s Rest
20s Hollow Rocks
10s Rest
20s Ab Wheel Rollout (“Evil Wheel”)
10s Rest
20s Plank
10s Rest

I’m not sure why, but even the first round of hollow rocks was killing me. I would only get 4-5 rocks in at a time and eventually had to switch to doing them with my hands at my sides so that I wasn’t resting most of the 20 seconds. Everyone was complaining about the ab wheels, but I could have done those all day long.

6 Rounds

250m Run
120m Waiter’s Walk (35# DB OH)
30 1-Arm DB Snatch (alternating, 35# DB)

There was no way in hell I was going to attempt this with the 45# DB. Single-arm snatches may have been what caused my shoulder impingement to begin with. The 35# DB allowed me to go unbroken each round. I switched arms each quarter of the way on the waiter’s walk so that I didn’t fatigue the shoulders too much. Finished in 23:37.

Did some shoulder stretching and a squat hold after class. When I got home I made sure to get in the Crossover Symmetry Recovery after that one. Stepped up to my normal light band for the 90/90 which is the one move that I had to go lighter on because of pain, so things continue to move in the right direction.

Finished with Smolov Base

Last night I started to feel some DOMS from Wednesday’s squat session. I think walking 18 holes of golf helped this morning though. I was trying to talk myself out of finishing up the Smolov cycle today to get in another day of rest. I didn’t bitch out though. Went over to CrossFit Intuition since Alex was lifting and he could make sure I didn’t die. 🙂

Back Squats

10×45#
5×155#
3×205#
3×245#
2×275#
2×295#
10x3x315#

Doing this Smolov Base Mesocycle is one of the hardest and most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Before you start the program, you look at week 3 and think, “There is no fucking way I’ll be able to do that. I might not even make it through week 1.” You have to keep telling yourself to focus on getting through one day of squats at a time. After you finish the first week, you start to believe. I’ve done a couple of other popular squat programs and they were easy compared to Smolov. Each day is a grind like no other squat day I’ve done, with the exception of a true 20RM (Super Squats). It was great mentally too because I didn’t get to decide what to put on the bar. Here are your sets, reps, and weight. Get it done. No excuses.

My latest 3RM is 315# (which is 90% of my max) and I just knocked it out for TEN triples! About 3 months ago I failed on rep 2 going for a 305# triple. I’m excited to test my max next week.

Everyone Must Be Destroyed

Only 3 people for the 9am class this morning. Death by deadlifts must have destroyed them all yesterday, so I’m glad it was a golf and squat day for me. Pretty laid back programming today.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Leg Swings
Arm Circles
Hip Lunge Stretch
Olympic Wall Squat

I had missed out on CS for a few days. Time to start stepping up some of the band tension since my shoulder isn’t having any problems.

Cleans

45# Position Work
3×95# Hang Power Cleans
3×135# Hang Power Cleans
2×165# Hang Power Cleans
12x1x185# Hang Power Cleans w/ 30s rest

Snatches

45# Position Work
3×75# Hang Muscle Snatches
3×95# Hang Muscle Snatches
2×115# Hang Power Snatches
2×135# Hang Power Snatches
12x1x145# Hang Power Snatches w/ 30s rest

Working at about 70% for both cleans and snatches.

Conditioning

We could run, pull a sled, or row. I hadn’t been on the rower in what seems like forever, so it was an easy choice. I mixed in some double unders too.

4 Rounds NFT

500m Row @ 1:50 pace
50 DU

Was able to get all my dubs unbroken! Did a squat hold for a few minutes and then Crossover Symmetry Recovery when I got home. In a couple of weeks after I get back from a trip to Barcelona I think I’ll start mixing in some of the CS Iron Scap and Plyometric.

The Homestretch

My lats and chest are still sore from “Murph” but my legs weren’t sore at all from the 300 squats. Not really surprised with all of the squatting and squat holds I’ve been doing. Walked 18 holes of golf this morning for the first day of our golf season.

I had planned on getting the 3rd day of Smolov week 3 done today, but was debating it as the day went on. Finally decided to get it done so that I can go to SF for a class tomorrow morning. Went out to the garage around 6:30pm to do work. Squatting inside the squat rack has become a must with all of this volume.

Back Squats

20×45#
5×135#
5×205#
3×255#
3×280#
7x5x300#

Made it! Not even up to 70° today, but my shirt was soaked by the time I was done. I rested three minutes between the working sets. Did a 5:00 bottom squat hold leaning up against the jerk blocks right after. Glad I bucked up and knocked those squats out. Friday will be the final day!

Drag it Out

Little beat up and tired this morning. Headed to the gym before the 9am to pull a sled. Went 1.53 miles in 37:43 with 85# on the 25# sled. Did some of the couch stretch after. RunKeeper is not so good with that many turns in a relatively small area of the parking lot. I did 2 big laps in one direction and then 2 in the other direction. Did that 3 times for a total of 12 laps as a reference.

Smolov and golf tomorrow.

2014 Memorial Day “Murph”

My third year doing this with Survival Fitness. I was in the 9am heat.

Murph-2014-WOD

“Murph”

1 Mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Air Squats
1 Mile Run

* Break up the 100-200-300 however you want.

Definitely no weight vest for me. I don’t need to make a 40 minute workout any harder than it is. 😉 I wanted to go out conservative on the first mile this year and I sure did that. It was about an 8:20, but allowed me to get right into the middle part of the workout. Instead of going with 20 rounds of 5-10-15, I decided to go 4-8-12 this year for 25 rounds. I always die on the push-ups and that seems to allow me to continue through them. Headed out the door for the 2nd mile at 31:17, so I need to run the same pace as my first mile to beat my time from last year of 39:41. Ended up running a 9 minute mile to finish at 40:17, but I’ll take it since I haven’t been doing a lot of conditioning and recently started working my upper body again.

2014-05-26-murph-9am-heat

Over 4 heats we had close to 70 people complete “Murph” today. Time for some grilling and beering!

Smolov for Breakfast

My knees are looking forward to the end of Smolov! Out in the garage around 9:30 by myself for week 3 day 2.

Back Squats

20×45#
5×135#
5×185#
3×225#
3×255#
4x7x285#
5×285#
3×285#

Damnit! On the 5th rep in the last set I didn’t even attempt to bounce out. I went down into the squat and just sat there. Good thing I was inside the squat rack for an easy dismount. I stripped the weights, got the bar racked, reloaded it and did a set of 3 for an extra rep. Two more days to go and they look terrible.

I did a set of 20×40# DB pullovers after to stretch out my chest. All of the heavy breathing really works those muscles.

Showered up and headed to Survival Fitness for Sunday Fun Day.

10-20-30-20-10

Russian Twists x2 (30# KB)
Sit-ups
V-ups

Started to feel that burn at the top of the pyramid. Used to do ab circuits like this all the time at SF. Back squats are paying off in many ways because I was the first one done by a mile.

5 Rounds

500m Run
20 Burpees

Didn’t try to keep up with people who took off hot on the first lap. Figured I could reel them in over the workout by channeling my inner Rich Froning. I never stopped during any round of burpees and that was a difference maker. Controlled and steady. Running fell off in the last 2 rounds, but I haven’t been doing much cardio, so I’m ok with it. Finished at 19:59.

Pretending to be a Weightlifter

Walked 18 holes of golf yesterday for the first time this year. Legs needed a rest. Lifted with Alex at CrossFit Intuition today.

Did Crossover Symmetry Activation and some basic stretching to get loose.

Clean & Jerk

3×75#
3×95#
2×135#
2×155#
2×185#
1×205#
1×215#
1×225#
3x1x235#
1×245# Clean only

The 245# clean was easy, but when I dipped to go for the jerk nothing felt right and I didn’t even try to get under it; popped it off my shoulders and let it drop. Jerks were feeling pretty solid and Alex mentioned that my timing was a lot better than in the past.

Snatches

3×75# Muscle Snatch
3×95# Muscle Snatch
2×95# Power Snatch
2×115# Power Snatch
2×135#
F+1×145#
1×145#

Was not feeling the snatches today, so didn’t go far with them.

Back Squats

5×45#
5×155#
3×205#
3×245#
4x9x270#

Last week of the Smolov base cycle. These sets of 9 are straight up cardio too!