Dominating “DT”

Went to the 9am class today since I don’t have time for a longer training session.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Star Jumps

XWOD

7:00 EMOM

  • 2 Broad Jumps
  • 2 Thrusters (45# DBs)

I was jumping over 10′ on each jump and was really explosive on the thrusters.

Strength

5×3 Deadlifts

I’ve been trying to stay away from heavy deadlifts during my squat cycle just because I don’t need to focus on improving my max. I thought about staying lighter today, but after a couple of sets, I said fuck it. Did 225#, 295#, 345#, 395#, and 425#. Matches a 3RM from a couple of months ago and it felt easier today.

WOD

“DT”
5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts
  • 9 Hang Cleans
  • 6 Shoulder to OH

The first (and only) time I went RX (155#) was back on February 15th with a time of 14:40. It hurt! Figured I could beat that today, but we had a 12:00 time cap, so I was really going to have to push it to finish. In the end, the time cap actually helped me out a lot.

In the first round I was able to pick a pace and force myself to rest so that I could last. I got 11 unbroken deadlifts to start each round, just like before. Last time around, the cleans and the push jerks were pretty horrible on me. This time around, the cleans ended up being the worst, but I was actually able to get a couple sets of 8 unbroken. I made the biggest improvement on the push jerks though, getting all 6 unbroken every round. Finished in 11:48, a PR by almost 3 minutes!

“Nancy Grace”

Went golfing and walked 18 holes yesterday for the first time since getting back from Arizona. Was nice to have a day away from the gym. Went in at 10am this morning and trained with Kevin, Monica, and Kinde.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 2 Rounds of “Cindy” with strict pull-ups

Strength

The end of squat week 5, one more to go. Front squats today. Warmed up with 5 @ 95# and 3 @ 135#.

  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 4 @ 230
  • 3 @ 240
  • 5 @ 200

Felt really solid today.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 10 Evil Wheels
  • 20s Ring L-sit (knees up)
  • 30 Russian Twists (35# KB)

Brutal!

OLY

6:00 EMOM

  • 1 Hang Snatch (95#)
  • 2 Snatch Balance (95#)

I missed on the first snatch, but felt pretty good with my technique after that.

WOD

“Nancy Grace”
5 Rounds

  • 15 OHS (95#)
  • 6 C&J (95#)
  • 400m Run

One benchmark girl isn’t enough, right? Pretty rough on the wrists after the previous work. Did 10-5 each round on OHS and had to fight for it. All C&J were unbroken. Running got progressively slower. Finished in 20:42.

On Short Rest

In at 10am on short rest after doing 8pm last night. Trained with Kevin and Monica.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus

This has become my go-to warm-up when doing our own programming. Need to start switching it up some.

Strength

10:00 EMOM

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

I went 20-25-25-30-35 on dips and 20-20-20-20-25 on pull-ups. The pull-ups were a real struggle today.

10:00 E2M

  • 4 Clean High Pulls
  • 6 Pendlay Rows

I stuck with 135# throughout and tried to work on some technique during the high pulls.

OLY

10:00 EMOM

  • High Hang Squat Clean
  • Hang Squat Clean
  • Squat Clean
  • Split Jerk

This was pretty brutal doing the 4 reps every minute. Not much rest time. I used 135# for the first set, then 145# for 4 sets, 155# for 3 sets, and finished with 2 sets at 165#.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 8 HSPU
  • 12 American KBS (53#)
  • 400m Run

Went unbroken on everything, but my running kind of sucked after the 2nd round. Finished in 12:01.

Planning to take a rest day tomorrow and go golfing as long as the weather is nice.

Heavy Duty

Feeling pretty good after the 30 minute AMRAP yesterday. Went in at 8pm for Open Gym to do the following gem I concocted. Brent did it all with me and then Kevin joined us for the WOD when he was done coaching the class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Back Squats

Week #5 of the squat program. Things are getting heavy! I warmed up with 5@95#, 5@135#, and 3@185#.

  • 6 @ 220#
  • 6 @ 235#
  • 6 @ 250#
  • 4 @ 265#
  • 3 @ 280#
  • 6 @ 235#

The 6 reps at 250# might have been the toughest part of this and I was wondering how in the world I was going to get the next two sets done, but they were actually easier.

Push Press

5×5 @ 165# and then did MAX reps on the 5th set, getting 7.

These felt really heavy, especially with my calves getting more sore from 153 box jumps yesterday. Glad we picked this weight though.

WOD

21-15-9

  • Row calories
  • Goblet Squats (53# KB)
  • T2B

Went out a little too hot on the rower and had to back off. Never set the KB done during my goblet squats. Kept my T2B around sets of 6 so I didn’t rip. Finished in 6:57. Pretty good WOD where you could keep pushing the whole way. Got a little rest during the T2B before jumping back up.

Hero WOD McGhee

Yesterday we held a competition at Survival Fitness for beginner’s and scaled athletes. I ran the computer all day taking care of the scoring. I did win the 1 minute burpee challenge with 29 reps. It was a great event and of course a bunch of us partied afterwards. I got home at 8pm and passed out until this morning. Feeling kind of rough, but went to the noon class.

Warm-up

  • 1 mile run
  • Deadlifts (5 @ 155#, 5 @ 225#, 3 @ 275#)

I wasn’t setting any PRs on my mile today so kind of just took it easy.

WOD

“McGhee”
30:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Deadlifts (275#)
  • 13 Push-ups
  • 9 Box Jumps (24″)

Brent and I paced each other on this one. We were doing our rounds in about 1:20-1:30 and rested about 20-30 seconds after each round. I wanted to get over 15 rounds without killing myself, especially with a hangover. So many reps of heavy deadlifts were going to put a toll on the back too. We finished 6 rounds in a little more than 10:00 and pretty much kept the same pace throughout. Got done with the 17th round and had about 15 seconds left on the clock, but that was enough.

I’m feeling better already.

Squats Are Getting Easier

In around 10 this morning and trained with Laura and Kinde. I came up with most of the programming for the day and Matt added the explosive work.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)
  • 2/2 World’s Greatest Stretch

XWOD

7:00 EMOM

  • 2 Sumo Deadlifts (Fast reps and reset at the bottom, no bouncing – 205#)
  • 2 Broad Jumps for distance

Was supposed to use 40% for the deadlifts, but I didn’t want to calculate so picked 205#. Should have been closer to 180# I guess, but these weren’t hard so heavier was better I think.

Strength

Finishing up week 4 of the squat program. The back squats were pretty brutal, but the front squats weren’t too bad. Lot’s of volume though. Warmed up a bit with 135#.

  • 5 @ 160#
  • 5 @ 175#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 4 @ 230#

Rested about 2 minutes between each set. I think this program is really paying off. The last two weeks look pretty brutal so we’ll see how it goes.

Olympic Lifting

7 Sets

  • Power Clean
  • Hang Power Clean
  • High Hang Power Clean
  • Rest 90s

I started at 115# and went up 10# each set, ending at 175#. Wasn’t easy there at the end, but I felt like I was staying over the bar pretty well and getting decent hip extension.

WOD

15-10-5

  • Power Clean (155#)
  • Bar-facing Burpees

I had to switch collars after about 5 reps because they kept popping open and flying all over the place. Smacked myself in the chin on a jerk about halfway through the round of 10. 155# didn’t feel too bad today. Finished in 9:20.

Finisher

Tabata Air Dyne

This was pretty terrible after all the other work. I only managed to get 72 calories.

Heating Up

In at 10am to train with Brad, Cora, Matt, Kevin, and Kinde.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Back and forth between the two movements. I didn’t quite do it EMOM style, but was pretty close to every minute.

Bench Press

  • 10 @ 45#
  • 8 @ 95#
  • 8 @ 135#
  • 4×8 @ 155#
  • 8 @ 160#

Tried to focus on keeping my right elbow in, but was still having some issues with it. Wonder if I’ve developed some typo of mobility issue. Will have to check if there is anything in Becoming a Supple Leopard about it.

Pendlay Row

  • 8 @ 115#
  • 8 @ 125#
  • 8 @ 135#
  • 8 @ 140#
  • 8 @ 145#

Doing sets of 8 got pretty heavy.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 15 HR Push-ups
  • 15 American KBS (53#)
  • 15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 15 Box Jumps (24″)

Finished in 14:21, but was able to keep a pretty steady pace through this one. Push-ups slowed me down after round 2, but I was able to do all of my wall balls and KBS unbroken. The increased heat and humidity is something we’re not used to though.

Finisher

Did 5 sets of 50m high walk and 50m low walk with a 90# prowler and 90# of bumpers on it.

Knees Out

Getting back to a schedule now that the flooring project is wrapped up. Went in at 10:30am.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Jump Rope
  • PVC pass-thrus

Olympic Lifting

Snatch Balances

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 115#
  • 2 @ 135#
  • 1 @ 155#
  • 1 @ 165#
  • F @ 175#
  • 1 @ 175#

Matched a snatch balance high I did a few months ago. Didn’t feel the greatest dropping into position today.

Snatch Technique

10:00 EMOM

  • Power Snatch (115#)
  • Snatch (115#)

Felt pretty solid here and the weight allowed me to focus on good technique. Was getting some decent triple extension and started concentrating on knees out. I’ve had a bad problem of my knees caving in with both snatches and cleans on the knee rebend. Everything felt a lot smoother when I was able to eliminate that. Receiving the bar for the squat snatches felt pretty darn good.

WOD

10 Rounds

  • 5 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 15 Sit-ups

First metcon since Friday. Finished in 13:58, doing it by myself.

Finisher

15:00 Row

Just an easy row, keeping my strokes per minute around 20. Traveled 3,280 meters.

Using My Functional Fitness

This weekend was all about home improvement projects. My Dad came down and we got a lot accomplished. Took all day Saturday to tear out a deck and two walkways. Then on Sunday we scraped up glue from a floor I removed, laid down luan, and started laying new flooring. I did a bunch more work on the floor yesterday and only have one closet to finish up. So while I had 3 rest days from CrossFit, my body got plenty of work; my knees feel like someone hit them with a baseball bat.

Ready to get back at it today. Missing Monday kind of screws up my week because I had to fit in back squats today, but I’ll adjust. Worked out in my garage around 11am.

Back Squats

Week 4 of the squat program and things are getting interesting! I warmed up with 5 @ 45# and 5@ 95# and then went right into the working sets. It was a big jump, but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy so I didn’t want to burn out by doing another warm-up set.

  • 10 @ 185#
  • 8 @ 205#
  • 6 @ 220#
  • 6 @ 235#
  • 6 @ 250#
  • 4 @ 265#

Last two sets were brutal. A couple of months ago 255# was my 5RM, so I think this program is working.

Push Presses

I knew I wanted to push press today, but had no idea what I would do. After finishing the back squats, I came up with this on the fly. Something new to try. I didn’t originally have the MAX set on there, but once I got about half way through and was feeling ok, I figured I’d give it a shot. Warmed up with 5 @ 45# and 5 @ 95#.

  • 7 @ 105#
  • 7 @ 115#
  • 7 @ 125#
  • 7 @ 135#
  • 7 @ 145#
  • MAX @ 155# (8 reps)

20130430-122043.jpg

Overall this session felt better than I expected considering the shit I put my body through the last few days. During my warm-up squats I wasn’t sure I would be able to do much because my knees were feeling pretty messed up.

Went to Survival Fitness for open gym at 8pm for a second session of the day.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Evens: 3 Weighted Pull-ups
  • Odds: 3 Weighted Dips

I used a weight belt for both, with a KB attached. For pull-ups I went 25-25-25-30-30 and should have pushed it a little higher on the last two sets. Wasn’t easy, but should have struggled more. On dips I used 25-30-35-40-53. Could have pushed more there too.

WOD

I loaded up the small sled with three 45# plates, attached some straps around my shoulders and did a bunch of long drags with it. In between, I was doing some jumps into the middle of 2 big stacked tires and exploding out of the middle for a 2nd jump right away. Not a super intense night, but I was pretty much on my own and got to try a couple of new things.

Finisher

Did some tire flips before taking off.

3 Weeks of the Squat Program

Went to open gym at 5:15 tonight.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)
  • 10/10 Flamingos
  • 10/10 Scorpions

Strength

Finishing out week 3 of the squat program with front squats. Did a few sets to warm-up and then did the prescribed 5 working sets.

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 160#
  • 5 @ 175#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 5 @ 215#

Felt pretty good, but got tougher at the end. I’m liking this squat program, but it’s about to get real interesting next week, moving up to 6 sets and starting to hit some serious loads.

OLY with XWOD

  • 3-2-2-1-1 Cleans (135-165-185-205-225)
  • 2-1-2-1-2 Kneeling Jump

Cleans felt ok, but didn’t want to push it after all of the frost squatting, when that last one at 225 wasn’t the easiest rep. I only jumped up to my feet on the kneeling jumps, but probably should have gone for broad jump distance or something.

WOD

21-15-9

  • OHS (95#)
  • Ring Dips

A few of us were originally going to do “Elizabeth” but calves are sore from all of the box jumps yesterday and then did those heavy cleans, so we switched it up to OHS instead, which we all need more of. My kipping ring dips need some practice. I finished in 6:56.

That was 4 solid days of training in a row. Will be working on projects at the house all weekend so probably won’t do any workouts. Should be well rested to hit it again on Monday.