21s – Page 3 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

My Highest WHOOP Strain

Didn’t get as much sleep as I’d like last night, but feel pretty good. More importantly I had pancakes for breakfast since it’s Sunday.

Warm-up

5:00 Assault Bike (42 cals)
Dead Hang & Shoulder Stretching

Conditioning

4:00 EMOM5 Burpees
- 5 Strict HSPU
1:00 Rest
3:00 AMRAP10 Goblet Squats (53#)
- 6 Box Jump Overs (24″)
4:00 Rest, Then Repeat

The burpees should be very fast to create fatigue going into the strict handstand push-ups. I was able to get every set of HSPU unbroken, but the last set in the first cycle was hard and then the last 2-3 sets in the 2nd cycle were a struggle. My quads got super pumped during the goblet squats. In the first cycle I was marking off rounds on the board, which just wasted time in such a short workout. Skipped that in the second cycle and did better. I did 3+12 and then exactly 4 rounds.

Accessory

3 Sets

50′ KB Dead Walk (44# KBs)
50′ KB Walking Lunges (44# KBs)
Dumbbell Curl 21s (25#)

Got some of the idea here from a T-Nation article and video.

Midline

3 Rounds

20 Hollow Rocks
50 Hollow Flutter Kicks
30 Plank Jumps
30 Russian Twists (20kg plate)
1:00 Rest

My upper abs were cramping up from the combination of hollow rocks and flutter kicks. Was able to do every movement unbroken, with my only extra break being between the rocks and kicks is the third round. Finished in 7:41.

Went golfing and played a quick 18 holes in a cart.

Engine Builder – Interval

3 Rounds

5:00 Airdyne
1:00 Rest

I wanted to shoot for 82-83 RPM and my average was probably close. I got 173-174-177 calories and went 6.09 miles or 9,800 meters.

All of the activity made for my highest strain day on WHOOP so far and since I waited so late to publish this, it won’t go up much more tonight.

Burning 4,500 calories was a good excuse to get some ice cream. 🙂

Strict EMOM

I’m still sore from Barbara. Could feel some tightness in my low back this morning that seemed to be from the reverse hypers I did yesterday. Before lunch I got on the rower in the garage.

Engine Builder – Anaerobic

5 Rounds

400m Row
5:00 Rest

To improve on a month ago my goal was a pace of 1:35/500m, which I beat without a problem. My splits were 1:15.9, 1:15.5, 1:15.3, 1:15.2, and 1:15.0. It always feels good to get negative splits and I was able to recover really well in the five minutes, which probably means I should be pushing harder for this type of workout. Supposed to go at 90-95%, but it’s hard to know what that is exactly, so maybe I’m my recovery is just improving. Averaged 1:34.2 and was 14 seconds faster overall than a month ago.

Went to the 4pm class, which was a small one today.

Warm-up

5:00 on a machine
2 Rounds
- 5 Strict Pull-ups
- 10 Hand Release Push-ups
2 Rounds
- 5 Inchworms
- 10 PVC Passes

Gymnastics Strength

10:00 EMOM

5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
5 Strict Ring Dips

Was programmed as 5 muscle-ups (same as last week), but my right shoulder is still bothering me, so I’m not doing those any time soon. Did strict pull-ups last week in this format, so tried chest to bars today. I did 3-2 for the first three rounds of pull-ups, but then did singles for the rest of the way. Dips were all unbroken.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

10 Deadlifts (155#)
20 Wall Ball (20#, 10′)

Knew I wasn’t trying the Rx 225. Thought about 185, but settled on 155 and figured I’d just be faster. Warmed up with 10×45, 5×95, and 5×125. My hamstrings started to feel tight in the 3rd set of deadlifts, but overall I felt good in this one, going unbroken on everything. Finished in 6:23.

Accessory

3 Sets

Dumbbell Curl 21s (25#)
1:00/1:00 Single Leg Stand

Did the T Nation A version again for 21s. I could really feel the stands in my glutes after doing those deadlifts.

Version A

I forgot to mention it during my San Diego trip, but we stopped at the Rx Smart Gear office because I’d been wanting to try the Alec Smith gymnastics grips. I hated them! Way too bulky, even with the extra support strap off, which pulled really bad on my wrists. It’s like they needed to have a size bigger than large. Glad I didn’t buy them online. Also tried their EVO Jump Rope and there is no way I’d pay $125 for that!

Engine Builder – Speed

10:00 AMRAP

Airdyne calories (AD2)

This workout is also known as “300 FY” because the goal on other Airdyne models is to get 300 calories. It’s really easy to do on the AD2, but still a good relative test. My previous best was 365 cals where I went out hot for 60-90 seconds and fell in to a pace. Today my plan was to hold 85 RPM and hopefully push at the end. I didn’t have much push left, but it worked beautifully to get a 15 cal PR with 380 calories! Was 4.23 miles. I did an easy five minutes to cool down for 1.42 miles.

Went to the 4pm class at CrossFit Whip.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

10 cal Row
10 PVC Passes
10 Overhead Squats (PVC)

Strength

Overhead Squat

2x5x45#
2x5x75
2x5x95

I kept a narrow grip on the bar and went with a slow controlled descent and slight pause in the hole for every rep. Wasn’t pushing the weight with my back and shoulder issues.

Conditioning

Warmed up my push jerks with 5×95 and 5×115.

E3M – 5 Rounds

20 cal Row
15 T2B
10 Push Jerks (135#)

I probably went a little hard on the first row, getting it done under 45 seconds, with 1,700+ most of the way. Each round got slower and slower but kept over 1,250 throughout. My toes to bars were 3×5 every round, wearing grips and push jerks were unbroken. My round times were about 2:00, 2:11, 2:22, 2:25, and 2:25 and I really started to feel it in round 3. Push jerks were a struggle at the end of the 4th and 5th round. These are the type of workouts I’ve really liked from the Ben Smith programming because you have to really push yourself to finish and get some rest.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

Switched it up to Version A from T Nation and wasn’t sure how it would feel so I used 20 pound dumbbells for the first set and then 25 for two more sets.

In the Yellow

I’m getting a lot of sleep, but WHOOP says I’m still not recovering to the green zone; been in the yellow every morning after 19.4 and the rowing I did on Friday. My back continues to feel better each day. My legs feel tired walking up the stairs today.

Too much I’d have to substitute at the gym again, so did everything at home.

Warm-up

3:00 Row (805m)

Engine Builder – Anaerobic

6 Rounds

45s Row
3:30 Rest

Tried to get over 2,200 cal/hr by the 5th pull and stay there. My calories were 26-27-27-27-26-26 and you can see below that I started running out of steam after the 3rd interval. This was pretty nasty.

2019-03-20-row

Looking back at my 250m PR, I pulled 45 strokes/min. I guess I need to cycle through my strokes faster.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

3 Sets 7-7-7 @ 25#

Got up to the 25s with all three sets. One more session and then I’ll switch things up. Really happy with the progress in under 2 months.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

20 Hand Release Push-ups
30 Sit-ups

Wanted something where I could keep moving but not too intense after the anaerobic work. This did the trick. I did 4×5 every round of push-ups. First set was done in 40 seconds and about 50 for round two before I started taking a little more rest between every five push-ups. Sit-ups felt good the whole way and took about a minute each round. Finished in 9:35.

Complete rest day tomorrow.

Sunday Bro Session

Good to be home and get a good night of sleep. I’m already missing the great San Diego food though. I put on almost three pounds, but that may all be water weight from so many carbs. WHOOP was saying that I burned around 4,000 or more calories most days I was out there because of all the extra walking I was doing. My recovery score is low again at 36% after no workouts yesterday, but the travel home from SD.

Strength

Bench Press

10×45#
10×95
3×135
3×175
3×205
3×225
3×240
3×250

My best triple is 255 almost exactly two years ago, so I’m happy to hit this today. If I can’t work on my lower body lifts, at least I’m getting my bench press back and can make another run at 300.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
10 Hand Release Push-ups
15 Hollow Rocks
20 Side Plank Jumps

I did all singles on the chest to bars and was surprised at how great they felt through the entire workout. Push-ups were all unbroken sets and didn’t slow down much. The side plank jumps were the gasser. This was a deceiving workout. I did 8 rounds plus 5 pull-ups.

Accessory

4 Sets

5 Jefferson Curls (45#)
10 Glute Bridges (3s hold)

New movement with the Jeffersons. Damn good stretch down the posterior chain and especially in my hamstrings at the bottom. The Oly coach out in San Diego said I might have weak glutes that result in my back tweaks, so I’ll try adding in more accessory work like this. I guess the rehab stuff I did last year had a good amount of glute work, so I’ll have to go back and look at that too.

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 20#

That lighter third set felt pretty easy now, but the next two sessions will be all with 25s before switching up to one of the alternative 21s workouts.

Engine Builder – Endurance

While watching Michigan vs. Michigan State I thought I’d add an extra cardio session since all I have planned for tomorrow is 24 minutes on the Airdyne.

24:00 Row

The plan was to hold an easy 2:05 / 500m pace and I was spot on the entire way. Finished with 366 cals – 5,760 meters.

2019-03-17-24min-row

SD

Thought about doing one of the engine builder workouts yesterday, but with my WHOOP recovery score still only up to 46% and my back feeling shitty it became a rest day. Needed it. Back in the green with 76% recovery today.

Out in the garage around 10am.

Engine Builder – Interval

5 Rounds

2:30 Airdyne (AD2)
2:00 Rest

I replaced 50 calories each interval with 2:30 since I can only see calories 1/5 of the time on the monitor. I’d have to convert 50 to some higher number anyway to account for the AD2’s quicker calorie accumulation. Last week I couldn’t hold 85 RPM for intervals of three minutes with 30 second rests, but was confident I could for this and I did. My calories were 97, 99, 98, 95, 100 and distances were 1.06, 1.06, 1.06, 1.04, 1.07 miles. It felt good to push that pace.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 20#

When I get through two sessions at all 25s I think I’ll try one of the alternate 21s workouts.

Gymnastics Strength

8 Rounds (Tabata)

20s HR Push-ups
10s Rest

Didn’t let myself rest during the work sets or I should say not any extra beyond the breath I had to start taking before pressing up. My numbers were something like 14-12-10-8-8-7-7-6 for a total of 72 reps, which is 6 fewer than a month ago. That was the first day I did 21s though and only used 10-15-20# for the three sets.

Now I’m off for San Diego. I wonder what my recovery score will look like in the morning after flying across the country and trying to sleep with the three hour time difference.

Too Aggressive

After being at 81% recovery yesterday, WHOOP says I’m down to 37% this morning with my HRV being the lowest it has recorded so far. I slept well and the intervals I did yesterday weren’t terrible, so it feels like a fluke reading. Maybe the sessions were harder on the body than I realized. Maybe my body is responding to the back tweak. Will keep an eye on things.

I had my breakfast this morning and then got started around 10am.

Warm-up

3:00 Row (750m)

Engine Builder – Max Aerobic Power

15 Rounds

40s Row
20s Rest

Three fewer than the 18 intervals of 30/30 on Wednesday, but moving 10 seconds from rest to work is a big difference. Instead of trying to get to a pace of 1:37-1:39/500m by the 5th pull I thought 1:40-1:42 would be a smart move. Turns out it was too aggressive.

I knew I was in trouble at the beginning of round 7. Started too hot in the first 6 and didn’t have any starting power left the rest of the way. Maybe that WHOOP recovery score is right!

Total of 2,868 meters and 219 calories. Averaged 191.2 meters and 1:44.6 / 500m (1,351 cal/hr) pace with a range of 198-187 meters. Intervals were 16, 16, 15, 16, 15, 15, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, and 14 calories and 197, 197, 195, 198, 194, 192, 187, 188, 188, 187, 188, 188, 189, 189, and 191 meters.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 20#
7-7-7 @ 20#

First set felt heavy, but was ok after that. My adjustable dumbbells are definitely more awkward to use than the standard hex heads at the gym.

Engine Builder – Endurance

22:00 Airdyne (AD2)

I tried to stay near 70-75% of max heart rate, which ended up being 68-70 RPM most of the way. There were some weird rises and falls in my HR though. Went 7.57 miles and 536 calories.

Kind of nice to get in two sessions right away.

My back is improving and hopefully it’s good enough for 19.3 tomorrow.

Hump Day

This right shoulder may have something going on. It feels like other times I’ve had an issue. I’m really hoping it’s a couple day thing that passes. Like other times I didn’t really do anything in a workout and I started feeling it on Monday when I only did cardio work. Maybe the cumulation of workouts Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?

I got a great night of sleep. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it, but I got one of the WHOOP bands last week and I’m really liking it. Nice to have sleep tracking again and the recovery scores and data really push me to improve these other areas of my life. Before I got out of bed I was thinking I’d wait and row before lunch, but after I got moving I felt like getting it done.

Engine Builder – Max Aerobic Power

18 Rounds

30s Row
30s Rest

Tried to get down to 1:37-1:39/500m by the 5th pull and towards the end I realized I could be using my legs better in those first pulls to get up to speed sooner. My overall average pace was 1:41.6/500m and 1,446 cal/hr, which would be 216 calories. There isn’t a way to go back and see cals for each interval, but I saw that the last one was 12 so the maths work. Meters for each interval were 148-150-148-147-147-148-147-146-145-147-147-147-147-147-147-149-148-149 to total 2,654, for an average of 147.4 and a range of 150-145.

I thought this heart rate graph was interesting in several ways.

I think I’m actually liking the cardio to start the day! Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

5:00 Machine
10 Hang Power Cleans (45#)
10 Front Squats (45#)
10 Hang Squat Cleans (45#)

Weightlifting

2 Hang Power Cleans + 1 Hang Squat Clean

Wore my lifters again and put the belt on starting with 185. Tried to drop under the heavier power cleans more instead of getting really wide with my feet like I normally do.

As I was wheeling out the Assault Bike, my back started to lock up and it felt like a tweak. I tried to stretch it and roll on the floor. Seemed good enough to do the workout and if it is a tweak I know it doesn’t gets worse after it’s already happened. I guess my body didn’t like the combination of squat snatches followed by 117 deadlifts yesterday and then the cleans today.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

6 Strict Pull-ups
10 cal Assault Bike
25 Double Unders

All single pull-ups. Obviously. I used a shorter bar than usual, got my arms in to extension and picked my feet off the ground. Did my pull-up, dropped from the top to skip the descent, and then right back on the bar for the next rep. There is no reason to do sets unless you can immediately jump on the bar and bust out every set unbroken.

I started out around 70 RPM, fell in a rhythm around 68, and then realized I could pick up the pace for the last 3 rounds. Am I getting better on the bike or was this just not a taxing workout on the lungs? Probably the latter. My dubs felt great and I never missed. Finished in 15:38.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

7-7-7 @ 25#
7-7-7 @ 20#
7-7-7 @ 20#

Tried a new route by increasing the dumbbells on the first set this session. Interesting that the end of sets two and three didn’t feel like as much of a struggle as it had been using 20s for every set.

I did some foam rolling on my back and will get on the inversion table tonight. Hopefully I wake up fine in the morning and I’m over the hump. Fingers crossed that this isn’t a back tweak and my shoulder feels better too!

Side Plank Jumps are Better

My nutrition wasn’t great last night and I was up late, so I’m feeling tired today.

Strength

Bench Press

10×45#
6×95
3×135
3×165
3×195
3×215
3×230
3×240
3×245

Only 10 pounds shy of matching my best triple, so at least I’m getting some of my strength back in my upper body. Wish I had tried 250 instead of 245 for that last set.

Helped with plate changing and cheering on some 19.2 attempts, so 25+ minutes before the metcon.

Conditioning

2 Cycles

3:00 AMRAP (continue reps in the 2nd cycle)5 Bar Muscle-ups
- 20 Reverse Lunges (50# DBs)
2:00 Rest

Wore my grips and was able to do all sets of bar muscle-ups unbroken. The lunges got rough and I was surprised how nasty that first three minutes was. I got 2 + 11 in the first cycle and finished with 4 + 21. In the second cycle I was playing around with looking back towards the ceiling in my kip, which it felt like kept me patient in the pull. Something that needs more testing for sure.

Midline

4 Rounds

20 Hollow Rocks
20 Side Plank Jumps (alt)
50 Hollow Flutter Kicks
10/10 Wood Choppers (30#)

I like these plank jumps to the side a lot better. Finished in 9:01.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

3 Sets 7-7-7 @ 20#

The end of the 2nd and 3rd sets got tough. Will I be able to bump up to 25# for one set next time? Maybe I should try increasing the weight on the first set instead of the last one.

Several hours later I went out to the garage…

Engine Builder – Speed

3 Rounds

5:00 Airdyne (AD2)
2:00 Rest

Based on my best 10 minutes for cals I figured 85 RPM would be a good pace for this. Turns out that was too hot for today. My legs felt heavy from the lunges. I tallied 175, 167, and 174 calories. Happy with the comeback on the final one. You can see from my heart rate that I didn’t push the second interval. Weak sauce!

I really need to fix my custom Airdyne monitor so I can keep an eye an all of the numbers at once.

Dead Shoulders

Feeling a little rough from yesterday, especially my shoulders. My legs are nearly recovered from Sunday. We got snow last night and this morning, so I shoveled the driveway for a half hour today. Made it to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

5 Inch Worms
5 Snatch Grip (Behind the neck) Press
5 Snatch Grip (Behind the neck) Press in a Quarter Squat
5 Snatch Grip (Behind the neck) Sots Press
5 Squat Jumps
5/5 Cossack Squat
5 Hang Muscle Snatch
5 Hang Power Snatch

All with 45#.

Weightlifting

10:00 EMOM – Hang Power Snatch

3×65#
3×85
3×105
3×125
6x3x135

Didn’t feel like pushing it today with so many snatches coming up and my shoulders beat up from muscle-ups.

Conditioning

6:00 AMRAP
- 30s Airdyne (AD2)
- 6 Hang Power Snatch (95#)
3:00 Rest
6:00 AMRAP
- 30s Airdyne (AD2)
- 6 Hang Power Snatch (75#)

It was programmed as 10 calories on the bike, but the Assault Bike was taken so I figured 30 seconds on the Airdyne would be good. The monitor was unplugged for some reason, but I kept a pace similar to what I’ve been doing at home on my recovery days, about 75 RPM. I scaled the loading down from 115-95 so I could cruise with the barbell. In the second AMRAP I didn’t even dip the bar back down to the hang position and went right from the bounce. I got exactly 6 rounds and then exactly 7.

Really glad I scaled back on the loading today. I was able to keep moving through the workout and no reason to chance an injury during Open season.

Accessory

Dumbbell Curls – 21s

3 Sets of 7-7-7 @ 20#

Felt easier than Sunday with 15-20-20. Maybe my biceps are growing.

Skill

Stayed for more handstand walking but wasn’t feeling as good with it today, probably due to fatigued shoulders. I did make it past 10 feet several times and out to a new PR of 18 feet. Getting started seems to be my biggest struggle.

Looking forward to seeing what is announced for 19.2 tomorrow night.