Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown – 1st Place

Competed at the 3rd Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown, held at CrossFit Worthy in Mount Pleasant today. Teamed up with Michelle, Casey, and Breanne. We brought home first place!

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Tons of fun!

Event 1: Clean & Jerk Ladder

Each team had a bar and enough weight to total 250#. You started with the 45# bar and each person had to lift each weight, increasing by 5 or 10# each lift. Team order stayed the same, but once you missed a lift, you were done.

Michelle set a PR with 135#, then Breanne was out after making a 155# PR. Casey and I had hoped to finish and our timing couldn’t have gone any better. We both finished off the ladder by making 250# PRs, the only team to have 2 guys finish. We took first place in the event!

Event 2: WOD Relay

Each team member completed:
2 Rounds

  • 10 Plate Burpees
  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 6 Clusters (65/95#)

We rocked this one too, taking 3rd place.

Event 3: Run, Row, DU

  • Run 800m as a team
  • Each team member must complete a 300m row, while 2 other members hold a plank, and one rests
  • One attempt at a max unbroken set of DU in a 1:00 time window. Each rep, subtracts a second from overall time

We took 2nd place on this event, only getting beat out by a team that had 4 people just kill the DU. I hit a set of 55 and was pretty happy with that.

We ended up with 6 total points, second had 11, and two other teams tied with 12 points. Long day, with a lot of time out in the sun, but it was a blast.

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More Super Squats

I went golfing this morning and then went in to open gym at about 5:30pm.

Warm-up

5-10 minutes of DU work. I got a streak of 65 and some others over 40.

Strength

Back Squats

Warmed up with 45#, 135#, and 185# for 5 reps each. Last week I did 225# for a set of 20 and originally was just going to try 230# this week, but figured I might as well make it tough so went for 235#. It actually felt easier than last week and I didn’t get that pass-out feeling. Maybe I can try 245# next week!

Pullovers

I did 3 sets of 20 with a 60# DB and they were tough.

WOD

Row 5k

Kept a consistent pace at 20s/m and right around 2:05-2:10 per 500m. Finished in 21:13.8 by upping the pace a bit in the last 1,000m. Good aerobic work heading into the weekend and the competition on Sunday.

Ready for Sunday

I was worried I’d wake up and barely be able to move today. My body was pretty trashed yesterday after the strongman circuit. Also surprised I didn’t get sore from the 140+ wall balls after 10 sets of 3 back squats. Something must be working. In at 10am today.

Warm-up

5:00-10:00 DU

Strength

Bench press today. Warmed up with 5 @ 135#, 3 @ 185#, and 2 @ 205#. Then did seven singles with 225#, resting about 60-90 seconds between each one. Right arm was still going out on some of them, but I got every rep in. Haven’t benched that much since I set my 235# PR back last year.

Olympic Lifting

Did the jerk footwork drill for a while and then went into some jerk balances with 95#. Did about 4 sets of 2 and then a set of 4 I think. Moved to C&J from there, doing 4 doubles with 135# and a double with 185#. Legs feeling fatigued from the last two days.

WOD

Wanted to try out the 2nd event for the competition this Sunday to get a feel for the pace of it.

3 Rounds

  • 10 Plate Burpees
  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 6 Clusters (95#)

I kept a steady pace through each round, right at about 1:30 per round. Finished in 4:29. Could probably go a little faster in competition, but felt like solid work. Everything was unbroken, but I did drop the bar after 3 clusters in the last round; didn’t stop though.

Kind of a lighterย  and less intense day, but it was needed. Took my time and was there almost 2 hours.

Strongman Circuit

In at 10:30 this morning.

Warm-up

5-10 minutes of DU work

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Weighted Pull-ups
  • Evens: 5 Weighted Dips

I used 25-25-25-25-30 for the pull-ups and 30-30-30-35-40 for the dips. Both are big improvements!

WOD

Brad setup a strongman circuit that was a lot of fun. It involved:

  • Tire Flips
  • High Prowler Push
  • Low Prowler Push
  • Sled Drag
  • Double barbell Farmer’s Carry
  • Sandbag Bearhug walk or lunge

strongman-circuit

We did each thing about 25m and then ran a lap around the parking lot. Did the circuit 4 times. What a killer!

Wall Balls Have Become My Bitch

Feeling good. Had a rest day yesterday after a big volume weekend. Walked 18 holes of golf for some active recovery though. In at 10am today.

Warm-up

5:00-10:00 DU Practice

Strength

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 3 @ 255#
  • 3 @ 275#
  • 3 @ 295# (PR)
  • 3 x 3 @ 265#

The idea was to work up to a heavy triple in 5 sets and then take 90% and do a 3×3. Was seeing stars after the set of 295# and then the next 3 sets were not easy.

Push Jerks

  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 205# (PR)
  • 3 x 3 @ 185#

Same thing as back squats, work up to a triple and then 3×3 at 90% of that.

Set 3 reps PRs for both movements, after just hitting 285# for 3 last week on the back squat. ๐Ÿ™‚

Core

5 Sets

  • 30s Weighted Plank
  • 30-40s Rest (switch with partner)

Worked with Brad. Stacked plates on our backs. Used 25-45-70-70-95 for the weight. Pretty brutal there in those last three sets, but concentrated on keeping everything tight and focused breathing. Figured this would be good work leading up to the competition this weekend which has us doing a bunch of planks while other teammates are rowing.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 2:00 for 250m Row & then MAX Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 2:00 Rest

Felt pretty solid here. Was able to keep a pretty consistent pace on my rows and did unbroken wall balls every round. I got 30-30-29-26-26. Wall balls used to be a weakness, but now they don’t bother me at all. Usually my legs would start to give out, but it was my lungs that wanted to quit today. Whenever I wanted to stop I told myself I couldn’t have more than 15-20 seconds left and just kept pushing.

Greek Fest Recovery

20130616-123932.jpgHad a bunch of people over last night and went to Greek Fest down the street from my house. Good times, but tired this morning even though I slept in. Went at 11am to get my sweat on.

Warm-up

Tabata of choice. I picked DU to work on them for next weekend.

WOD

  • 50 Front Squats (95#)
  • 50 Sit-ups
  • 50 Thrusters (95#)
  • 50 HR Push-ups
  • 50 Upright Rows (95#)
  • 50 50m Runs

All about pacing in this one. Finished in 32:28 with runs taking about 12 minutes, which isn’t surprising since it was about a mile and a half.

Extra Credit

If we finished early we could work on anything we wanted. So I did 2 sets of 5 wall walks and then some double unders.

Around 7pm I went out to the Soap Box Derby in Buena Vista to run some hill sprints. Jogged a lap around and up the track to warm-up and then did the side hill 10 times up and walked down each time.

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Two and a Half Hours

Had a well-deserved rest day yesterday and walked 18 holes on the golf course, playing one of my best rounds ever. Went in at 2:30pm today for some open gym time.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • 3:00 DU
  • PVC Pass-thrus

XWOD

5:00 EMOM

  • 3 Hang Snatches (95#)

Working on speed of getting under it and warming up the CNS.

Olympic Lifting

Did the jerk footwork drill for a few minutes.

Split Jerks

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#

Again, working on speed and really driving down under the bar.

Then Casey and I decided to try out part of the lifting WOD from the team competition we’re doing next Sunday. We did an I go, you go for 5:00, increasing the weight by 10# each set for clean and jerks. Started at 135# and got up to 225# just under the time limit. No misses and had to change our own weight, so will be fun to see how fast we can get the girls done and then on to us. Maybe we can get up to the 250#, which is the max weight we’ll have for the workout. Will be fun!

Strength

  • Back Squats: 20 @ 225#
  • Pullovers: 2 x 20 @ 45# DB and 20 @ 60# DB

Little something from the Super Squats program. Pretty brutal taking a 10 rep weight and trying to go for 20. Was not easy and thought I was going to pass out on those squats.

Did some more DU, getting a streak of 73 before my rope hit the Air Dyne behind me! I wanted to get that 100.

WOD

Ladder, not for time. Go through once until failure and then start over from 1 and do it to failure again.

  • 1 Strict Chin-up, 2 Strict Ring Dips, 3 Sit-ups holding 10# plate
  • 2-4-6
  • 3-6-9

I got through the 5th round plus 6 chin-ups and 6 of the dips and then only got through round 3 plus 4 chin-ups and 6 dips. Not as intense an a normal metcon but great strength work and still got the heart pumping.

Solid 2.5 hours in the box. ๐Ÿ™‚

Workin’ the Clean & Jerk

Needed to work on the C&J but especially the split jerk since I haven’t done them in a while and there is a ladder in the competition next weekend. In at 10am.

Olympic Lifting

5:00 Jerk Footwork Drill

First time doing this and I think it really helped me get a feel for it.

I also did some jerk drills with an empty bar holding it at eye level, up on the toes, then jerking from there.

Jerk Balance

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#

Felt pretty fast and solid getting under the bar.

Clean Deadlifts

Just a few to warm up.

  • 2 @ 135#
  • 2 @ 155#
  • 2 @ 175#

Clean & Jerk

  • 2 @ 175#
  • 4 sets of 2 @ 185#
  • 1 @ 205#
  • 1 @ 215#
  • 1 @ 225#
  • 1 @ 230# (PR)
  • 1 @ 235# (PR)
  • 1 @ 245# (PR)

I took my time on the doubles, probably resting 2-3 minutes between each set. Then I was going to go EMOM for the singles, planning for 5 lifts. But after hitting 215# I figured it was a good idea to slow down a bit and test my limit. The lifts actually got easier the higher I went. After setting 2 easy PRs I said what the hell and jumped 10# for a final attempt. The clean was so much easier than the 250# I cleaned a couple of weeks ago for a PR.

WOD

2 Rounds

  • 50 DU
  • 300m Run

Wanted a little short one because we’d already been there over an hour and a half. Went 3-47 on DU in the first round, but missed a bunch in the second round and then had Michelle out in front of me, so I sprinted trying to catch up. Finished in 3:37.

Epic Session

My hamstrings are pretty sore from doing the RDLs yesterday. Need to do those more often and pay more attention to the hamstrings. Went it an 10:30 this morning and we had a big group. Best session we’ve ever had.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • 2:00 Jump Rope
  • Stretching

XWOD / OLY

7:00 EMOM

  • 3 Explosive Squat Snatches (95#)

Felt great and really tried to drop under the bar fast.

Strength

OHS

  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 145#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 180# (PR)
  • 3 @ 190# (PR)

Booyah! I just had set a 3RM with 175# about a week and half ago.

Close Grip Bench Press

  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 205#
  • 3 @ 215#

Still fighting that right arm flaring out, but when I keep it in, it’s money. Matches my 3RM for regular grip bench press, so maybe I’m back on the upward swing.

WOD

Wanted to try the 100s workout from Regionals, but not quite for that long, so we dropped the reps to 50s. Still brutal.

  • 50 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 50 C2B Pull-ups
  • 50 Pistols
  • 50 Alternating One-Arm DB Snatches (60# DB)

Did the wall balls as 25-25 without a problem and then did 5 C2B at a time through 20, with one 4 and the rest 3s. Tried to get 6-10 pistols at a time and started doing the foot hold to keep myself from tapping the foot on the ground. Worked well for the first time trying that. Then survived through the snatches. They used 70# at Regionals. My time was 16:28 and I feel pretty good about it, but Froning did 100 reps of each with a heavier dumbbell in just over 19 minutes. Think about how sick that it!

Off to get a massage!

Work Your Back Side

Feeling great after the workout yesterday. In at 10am this morning and trained with Michelle and Kevin.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 2 x 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 10 RDL (225#)
  • Evens: 5 Pendlay Rows (145#)

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 3 Deadlifts (345#)
  • 5 Over-the-bar Burpees
  • 7 HSPU

The deadlifts were brutal. Had to drop each rep. Finished in 6:54.

Core

5 Rounds (NFT)

  • 10 Floor Wipers (45# DBs)
  • 10 Hollow Rocks

My upper abs were on fire in those last couple rounds of hollow rocks. Hadn’t done floor wipers in a really long time, so was nice to do them for a change.

Finisher

10:00 Row trying to keep a 20s/m pace.

Unfortunately I was pretty much keeping a 18s/m pace. Good way to finish a good workout.