What a Bear!

Had a needed rest day yesterday and got a massage. Back at 9am today.

Warm-up

  • 20 Air Squats
  • 20 PVC pass-thrus
  • 20/20 Leg Swings
  • 30s Deep Lunge Stretch

Strength

5×3 Front Squats @ 80-90%

  • 10×45#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×245#
  • 3×250#
  • 3×255#
  • 3×265#

Dialed back my weights a bit today. Felt pretty good.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 3 Bear Complex (135#)
  • 10 Burpees

Rest 5:00 and then do it again.

Shit! I did 3 unbroken bear complex for the first 3 rounds I think, then the first and last round the second time through. I stepped down into nearly all my burpees except maybe at the start and then the last round each time where I tried to push through to finish. 7:38 the first time and 9:20 the second time.

Back to the gym at 8pm for open gym with Brent.

E2M 10:00

  • 150m Row
  • 10 Pull-ups

Rest 10:00

E2M 10:00

  • 10 cal Air Dyne (AD6)
  • 50 DU

The combination of rowing and pull-ups was absolutely brutal after the first 2 rounds. Did pretty well with my double unders getting the second set unbroken.

Tuesday Double

Got a good night’s sleep, but a little sore from the squats. Hit up the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 20 Arm Circles
  • 20 Traffic Lights
  • 20 Behind the neck band pull downs
  • 20 PVC pass-thrus
  • 20 PVC around the worlds
  • 10 Burpees

Strength

5×3 Shoulder Press @ 80-90%

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×125#
  • 3×130#
  • 3×135#
  • 2+1×140#
  • 3×135#

Fuck! My strength numbers are down so much. I couldn’t even get 3 in a row with 140 (racked the bar for a bit and knocked out a single for 3 total reps) and was planning to go for 3 at 145# on the last set. 😦

Olympic Lifting

Every 15s for 7:00

  • 2 Clean & Jerks (115#)

Felt pretty good on these, but the second half was a battle. Finished in 5-6 seconds each time. Good work on cycling.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 4:00 AMRAP
    • 10 Thrusters (95#)
    • 10 C2B Pull-ups
  • Rest 1:00

Terrible feeling workout. My main focus here was to work on butterfly C2B through the entire thing, especially fatigued. I think the biggest set I got was 5 with a lot of 2s and 3s, but I’ve never done more than 2 in a row before. Just a brutal workout after that 7:00 of C&J already had us gassed. I got 2+14, 1+16, and 1+18. My endurance in these short go-go-go workouts is pretty bad right now. I’m decent in the mid range and longer stuff or when there is work/rest built-in. Gotta keep grinding with 3.5 weeks until the Open.

Went back in at 7 to do another NCLab rowing workout since tomorrow is a rest day.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 300m Moderate
  • 200m Hard
  • 100m Easy
  • 300m Moderate
  • 200m Sprint
  • Rest 1:30

Row Pacing Template

  • Sprint: sub-2000m PR pace (Faster than 1:47/500m)
  • Hard: 2000m PR pace + 0-5sec (1:47-1:52)
  • Moderate: 2000m PR pace + 10-15sec (1:57-2:02)
  • Easy: 2000m PR pace + 25-30sec (2:12-2:17)

Totals out to 6,600m, which is again a new longest row distance in a day for me, especially after I did another 1,000m at 2:20-2:30 to bring my heart rate down. This one was definitely harder than the one I did on Friday.

Meh Monday

Went to the 9am class again. Feeling kind of blah today after the horrible performance by Manning and the Broncos last night.

Warm-up

  • PVC Burgener Warm-up
  • 2 Rounds
    • PVC pass-thrus
    • Squat Hold w/ 2s Pause
    • Rocket Ships

Strength

5×3 Back Squats in the 80-90% range

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×235#
  • 3×275#
  • 3×280#
  • 3×285#
  • 3×295#
  • 1×305#

Ugh! Didn’t wear lifting shoes today, so not sure if that made a difference or just the increased heavy volume that I’m not used to.

Accessory

2 Rounds NFT

  • 30 Band Pulls (red)
  • 30 Band Good Mornings (black)
  • 30 Sit-ups

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

  • 3-6-9… Front Squats (115#)
  • 3-6-9… Box Jumps (24″)

Finished the round of 15 plus 10 front squats. Tried to keep a nice steady pace and not coming firing 100% out of the gate. Had too many trip ups on the box. Did unbroken front squats through 9, then 7-5, 6-5-4, and 5-5.

Worked on my bar kip for a few minutes after class. Trying to keep the legs straight and get all of the power from the hips.

Sledding in the Unplowed Streets

After 3 days in a row back to CrossFit classes and the weightlifting the night before, I was due for a rest day today. Haven’t been sore like this in months. Figured a little active recovery would be good though.

Loaded up the sled with 135# of bumper plates and pulled it around the neighborhood. 1.06 miles in 23:52, almost 4 minutes more than last time due to so much snow in the streets. We got 4-5″ yesterday and the plows haven’t been through my neighborhood yet.

I hate to say it, but I’m quite enjoying these winter sled drags. I’m sure the neighbors think I’m a nut.

I Love Parter WODs!

Went to the 10am class. Was going to rest today, but now I can rest on Super Bowl Sunday or at least just do active recovery on the Air Dyne.

Warm-up

  • PVC Burgener Warm-up
  • 4 Rounds
    • 20s Bottom Squat Hold
    • 10s Rest
    • 20s Jumping Jacks
    • 10s Rest
    • 20s Zombie Kicks
    • 10s Rest

Conditioning

3 Rounds
With a partner, one person working at a time, split up reps however you want.

  • 75 Wall Balls (10′, 20# MB)
  • 50 American KBS (71# KB)
  • 25 Burpee Box Jumps (24″)

We did our wall balls in sets of 15, KBS in sets of 10, and burpee box jumps in sets of 5 the entire way. Everything unbroken and finished in exactly 20:00. Those sets were perfect for not redlining and I had enough juice in the tank to push the throttle on my last 3 sets of burpee box jumps. I was dying after that last push, but other than that it wasn’t too bad during the workout.

Better Already

Day 2 doing the 9am.

Warm-up

  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 20 Air Squats
  • 20 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (S-S, F-B)
  • 10 Burpees

Strength

5×5 Bench Press @ 70-80%

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×170#
  • 5×180#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×190#
  • 5×195#

Little struggle with the last set. Not sure I could have done 200#.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 4×3 C2B Pull-ups
  • 3×3 Deadlifts (165#)
  • 3×2 Hang Power Cleans (165#)
  • 3 Shoulder to Overhead (165#)

Interesting twist with the sets. We could hang on to the bar from movement to movement, but couldn’t do more than the assigned number of reps per exercise at a time. I felt better in this workout than yesterday. Did all push jerks and strung them together in the last two round instead of stopping in the rack after each rep. Finished in 12:32.

Extra

  • 2×5/5 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)

Went in for open gym around 5:30 for a row workout from NCLab.

  • 500m Moderate
  • Rest 1:00
  • 4 rounds
    • 300m Hard
    • 200m Easy
    • 100m Sprint
    • Rest 1:30
  • 500m Moderate
  • 4 rounds
    • 300m Hard
    • 200m Easy
    • 100m Sprint
    • Rest 1:30
  • 500m Moderate

That adds up to 6,300m. The most I’ve ever rowed was 5,000m in a day, which is pretty terrible when doing it for time. I reset the computer on the rower a bunch of times so I didn’t have to keep track of the rollover meters going into a new round.

Row Pacing Template

  • Sprint: sub-2000m PR pace (Faster than 1:47/500m)
  • Hard: 2000m PR pace + 0-5sec (1:47-1:52)
  • Moderate: 2000m PR pace + 10-15sec (1:57-2:02)
  • Easy: 2000m PR pace + 25-30sec (2:12-2:17)

The hardest part might have been going slow enough during the easy pace. I was under 1:40 for all of the sprints I think and really went close to 100% on some of them. Fun little workout.

Jumped on the Air Dyne (AD6) to do a 1:00 test, but fucked it up because we started with the timers at 0:06 and I forgot to keep going up to 1:06. Still managed to rack up 34 calories even though I slowed down a ton even before stopping early at 1:00. Will try it again next week and should be able to get over 40. I was still shaking from the row actually before doing this.

Starting CrossFit Over Again

Woke up earlier than usual today so I could hit up the 9am class at Survival Fitness. First class in 2 months and my conditioning is in rough shape!

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 20s Burpees
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Air Squats
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s PVC pass-thrus
  • 10s Rest

Just slow burpees to get warmed up. I think I 4 each round.

Strength

Front squats for 4×5 in the 70-80% range.

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 5×215#
  • 5×225#
  • 5×235#
  • 5×250#

Felt good!

Accessory

10:00 EMOM

  • 20s L-sit (rings)

I was shaking already in round 1. Didn’t quite make it all 20 seconds the last few rounds.

Conditioning

  • 15-12-9 Thrusters (95#)
  • 21-15-9 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (95#)

My lungs! I’m definitely out of shape when it comes to moving weight. The Rx was 135# but I don’t even know if I can do one SDHP with that weight and it would have taken so much longer than the 6:00 goal. I finished in 6:36.

Gymnastics

Worked on handstand holds against the wall a bit. Tried to pull my feel off the wall for a few seconds at a time.

I’m going to start working at the standing desk in my office again today, slowly building up more time each day.

Went out to the garage around 4pm.

Conditioning

On the Air Dyne (AD2):

  • 5:00 at 55%
  • 5 Rounds
    • 0:30 at 100%
    • 2:00 at < 50%
  • 2:30 at < 50%

Yuck!

60 Day Lifting Challenge – The End

I’ve been doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting and today was my last day. Woohoo!

Turned out not to be a good week for me with testing the lifts.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 15# Snatch Positions
  • 45# Snatch Positions
  • 75# Snatch Positions

Snatch

  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×175#
  • 1×185#
  • Missed 195# 5 times

Felt good on the way up. At some point recently I’ve started jumping back too far in the clean and the snatch. When I was warming up, something happened between my left shoulder and neck. I can’t put too much pressure on it or it hurts to the touch. Not saying that’s the sole cause, but it didn’t help. I think I tweaked a few things that I didn’t realize with that pretzel clean on Monday.

Split Jerk

  • 2×115#
  • 2×145#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×205#
  • 1×225#
  • Fx245#

Mid-back on the left side was flaring up and it wouldn’t let me hold the weight at 245#. That stupid clean!!

Oh well, hopefully none of these tweaks are anything serious. Back to CrossFit classes in the morning.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 9 Day 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Alex came over and lifted at 5 with me.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 15# Clean & Jerk Positions
  • 45# Clean & Jerk Positions

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×95#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 1×185#
  • 1×210#
  • 1×230#
  • 1×240#
  • 1×250#
  • 4xFx260#

I felt well rested and the cleans were easy on the way up. I let 250# control me a bit, but still wasn’t really an issue. I gave up on the first attempt early and then after the pretzel bail out, my head was completely out of it. Got damn mental! I am getting the bar plenty high enough in my cleans. Frustrating!

Power Snatch

  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×145#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×165#

I focused on slow off the floor again and tried to keep my arms strong until hitting the power position because I usually have an early arm bend. Felt weird but pretty powerful! Here is the double at 165#.

Back Squat

  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×205#
  • 5×225#

Just a little work to get the blood flowing.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 20s Burpees
  • 10s Rest

Monday has been my Tabata burpees day, but I quit after 4 rounds of 8 today. Couldn’t stop thinking about the clean. I might rest tomorrow so that I can go for the snatch PR on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 8 Day 5

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. The end is near! Lifted at about 2pm today.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Band Stretching
  • 15# Snatch Positions
  • 45# Snatch Positions

Today I exaggerated going slow from the floor to the knees in both the snatches and cleans.

Power Snatch

  • 2x2x100#
  • 2×120#
  • 1×140#
  • 5x1x150#

Power Clean & Jerk

  • 2x2x135#
  • 2×155#
  • 1×180#
  • 5x1x190#

Glute Ham Raise

A simple 5 sets of 5, just bodyweight. No need to kill myself with anything heading into test week.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 7 T2B

Only programmed for 5, but that would have been a cakewalk. Seven was a good challenge.

Conditioning On the Air Dyne AD2

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  • 10:00 @ ~65% (70 rpm)
  • No rest, straight to
  • 8 Rounds
    • 0:30 @ 80+% (Started at 82-83 rpm, got faster through the rounds, and hit 100 in the final one)
    • 1:00 @ 50% (50-55 rpm)
  • Complete that 8th 1:00 @ 50% plus another 3:00 at the same recovery pace

Total time should be 25:00. My tally was 282 calories and a good sweat.

Now it’s time to rest for C&J max on Monday evening.