Over 2 Years Later

Well rested and feeling good. Eating better starting today to drop some weight before heading to Long Beach on the 24th. Super Sunday at 11am.

Warm-up

  • 1,000m row (4:00)
  • 2 Seated Box Jumps (24″)
  • 5 OHS (45#)
  • 2 Seated Box Jumps (30″)
  • 3 OHS (95#)
  • 2 Seated Box Jumps (34″)
  • 3 OHS (135#)
  • 2 Seated Box Jumps (38″)
  • 3 OHS (155#)
  • 2 Seated Box Jumps (41.5″)

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3 OHS
    • 165#
    • 175#
    • 185#
    • 195#
    • fail 200#
  • 2-1-2-1-2 Seated Box Jumps
    • 2s: 45″
    • 1s: 48″ (PR)

Just not tight on that last attempt. Got to the bottom and dumped the bar forward on the first rep. That was a 0.5″ PR for the two single seated box jumps.

Conditioning

CrossFit Games Open 12.2
10:00 AMRAP

  • 30 Snatches (75/45#)
  • 30 Snatches (135/75#)
  • 30 Snatches (165/100#)
  • 30+ Snatches (210/120#)

When I did this in 2012, I was only a few months into CrossFit and had never snatched more than 95#. Took me over 3 minutes of attempts to finally make one at 135#. I ended up getting 6 reps. Today I got through the first 60 reps and then 8 with 165#.

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Bar-facing Burpees
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1:00 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Rest

I got 14-14-16 on the burpees and 45-44-45 on the air squats. Such a quad burn on the squats.

Midline

3x MAX HS Hold

  • 2:00
  • 1:13
  • 1:14

Accessory

Reverse Hyper

  • 3x8x260#

Full of Grace

Enjoyed the extra hour of sleep, even though I was in bed by 11. Feeling better about myself now that I’m waking up at a decent time again. Super Sunday at 11am.

Warm-up

  • 1000m Row (4:21)
  • 2×50 Band Pulls (red)
  • 5×45# C&J
  • 5×95# C&J

Benchmark Test

“Grace”

  • 30 C&J (135#)

Last August I did a 3:03. Was hoping to get under 2:30 today. Did 10 unbroken and then all singles. Had 15 reps in at 1:00 and finished in 2:17, which is a 46 second PR! I attribute a lot of that to the Thruster Attack, but also to the combination of Kevin’s CFi programming and the extra work I do. I’ve been making huge progress the last few months.

Gymnastics

1/2 of “Tabata Something Else”

  • 4 Tabata Pull-ups
  • 4 Tabata Push-ups
  • 4 Tabata Sit-ups
  • 4 Tabata Air Squats

I did 43 pull-ups, 45 push-ups, 42 sit-ups, and 58 air squats for a total count of 188. Originally had planned on doing the full benchmark workout, but when several people showed up late to delay Grace I adjusted. At the end of the day it turned out to be a great call.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 10 Good Mornings (95#)
  • 4/4 Barbell Step-ups (95#, 20′)

Went right from the good mornings into the step-ups since the bar was already on our back. Nothing super heavy.

Monostructural Conditioning

4x

  • 250m Row
  • ~3:00 Rest

I busted ass on the first one, seeing a new low of 1:15/500m on the pace at one point. Couldn’t keep up that pace for the remaining 3. Times were 40.4, 43.3, 43.5, and 43.8. Quads and ass were burning up at the end of those last two intervals.

Nowhere for any body part to escape today. Walked out feeling pretty beat.

Year 4 Begins

Solid sleep again! I could get used to this. In for the 9am class.

3 years ago I did my first CrossFit workout and almost didn’t make it out the door. I was hooked and I love it just as much as I ever have, maybe more. CrossFit has changed my life in many great ways and I can’t see myself doing anything else.

Power Cleans

  • 5×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×175#
  • 2×195#
  • 2×215#
  • 1×225#
  • 1×235#
  • 1×245#
  • 1×255#
  • 1×265# (PR & matches my best clean)

I didn’t have any second thoughts about 245# or 255#, but add that extra 10# and it starts to get in my head. I was confident I’d hit it without much trouble, but still it was still scary. Fitting for Halloween I guess.

4 Rounds NFT

  • 8 GHD Sit-ups (14# MB)
  • 10 Reverse Hyper (210#)

20:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Power Cleans (185#)
  • 7 Push-ups
  • 9 Air Squats

Decided to go heavy as a way to pace this out. If I had used something like 95# it would have been all gas on the cleans. I did the first round pretty fast and then settled into a relaxed pace until there was about 3 minutes left on the clock when I picked up the pace. Did the air squats pretty slow, with a focus on pushing my ass back first. Finished 12 rounds and 2 more cleans for a total of 62 power cleans!

Down for the Count

Had every intention of making it to 9am this morning and was even in bed at a decent time. But didn’t wake up until almost 8. So went to 5:30 class instead.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 5 Strict Pull-ups
  • 10 Push-ups
  • 15 Air Squats

Strength

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×215#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×230#

Not too much of a struggle, but I think it was a good decision to only jump 5# for that last set. It wasn’t too long ago that I would ask for help unracking 230# for 1 and now I have no problem unracking it myself for a triple.

Gymnastics

8:00 EMOM

  • Muscle-ups

Can tell I haven’t been doing these! I got 4-4-3-2-3-2-2-2. The push away at the top seemed to wear me out more in those early rounds. I haven’t done too many reps with that method of cycling. About halfway through I switched back to reversing the dip and then dropping into the next rep. Was feeling pretty out of breath already at this point.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 1:00 Ball Slams (25#)
  • 1:00 Burpees
  • 1:00 Rest

I got 27-26-26 wall balls, 26-20-19 ball slams, and 13-14-14 burpees. Going from wall balls to ball slams was brutal. I had to take some breaks during the second and third set of slams. I was out of it after this one, feeling a little light-headed and shit.

Back at it

Still a bit tired from the trip. Knew I needed the rest day yesterday though. Went in for the 5:30pm class at CFi. Was good to be back!

Warm-up

  • Foam Rolling
  • Shoulder Stretching

Accessory

  • 100 American KBS (44#)

Did it with two sets (65-35) in 3:39.

Strength

Push Jerks

  • 5×75#
  • 3×110#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×165#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×235#

I don’t ever remember doing 235# for one even. It’s never been a lift I’ve tried to max out on. I’d done 225# before though. So getting a triple was pretty big.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 1:00 “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 HR Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Rest

We continued each round where we left off. I ended up with 14 rounds plus 1 pull-up. Push-ups got a little slow and I think I took 2 short breaks somewhere on them. Last summer I did 12 rounds of this exact same workout at SF and my score was 14+1!! I’d say that’s getting fitter. 🙂

Alex was still doing jerks and was at 235#, so I jumped in for some singles. Hit 235# again, then 245#, then 255#, all for PRs. Missed 265# because I wasn’t tight in the middle. Had the weight locked out overhead no problem. So now my push jerk and split jerk are equal. Tells you where I need some technique and confidence work.

The 240 frames per second on the iPhone 6 is pretty sweet!

Automattic CrossFit

Got up and did yoga at 7:30 this morning, let by a couple of women in the company. They did a really great job.

I setup a private Intro to CrossFit class over at CrossFit Park City for anyone in the company interested in trying it out. They did a really great job explaining CrossFit to everyone, teaching some movements and then putting us through a workout. 15 Automatticians went.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 100m Run
  • 5/5 Calf Stretches
  • 5 V-up Roll-overs

12:00 AMRAP

  • 8 Burpee over the Box Jumps (24″)
  • 12 American KBS (53#)
  • 14 Air Squats

Damn altitude! Though I do feel myself getting better as the week progresses. I got 6 rounds plus 3 burpee box overs.

After we did some of the couch stretch and pretzel quad/gluten stretch.

Automatticians at CrossFit Park City

No Excuses When Traveling

Slept better last night, finally finding a sweet spot with the temperature in my room. We are staying at the Canyons Resort, which is really nice. I’m in the Grand Summit Hotel and they have a decent fitness center, which I hit up at about 7am. No excuses while traveling; you can get in a workout anywhere. Do something!

7 Sets

  • 10 Incline DB Bench Press (45° incline, 20-25-30-35-40-45-50# DBs)
  • 10 Russian Twists (35#)

5 Rounds NFT

  • 5 Strict Wide Grip Pull-ups
  • 5 Strict Bar Dips

They had one of those dip/pull-up/push-up/ab stands, which wasn’t very stable or very tall, but it got the job done.

5 Rounds

  • 15 Push-ups
  • 20 Lunges
  • 25 Air Squats

My legs were burning something fierce during the air squats after the first round. Brutal combo with the lunges. Never really stopped moving and finished in 9:18.

Hose Off

Originally today was going to be a rest day, but since I didn’t get much done in the gym yesterday I figured I’d play it by how I felt. Was still exhausted last night at the movies from the fire truck pull, but feeling pretty good today. Went to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 30s Bottom Squat Hold
  • 20 Jumping Jacks
  • 30s Plank
  • 5 Push-ups

Strength

  • 6×155# Deadlift
  • 6×245# Deadlift
  • 6×315# Deadlift
  • 6 Rounds NFT
    • 6×345# Deadlift
    • 6/6 Side Bends (62# KB)

Keep pushing the weight/reps on the deadlifts. Little by little. 345# is the same weight I recently used for 8×3 and then 7×4. Back has still been feeling good. Chalked up after the first work set and it made a huge difference without the bar starting to slip in my hands.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 20 Air Squats
  • 30 Russian Twists (35#)
  • 40 Flutter Kicks
  • 50 DU

Too many misses (2 every round I think) on double unders. Haven’t been doing them enough and it showed. Finished in 7:05. Everything else was unbroken.

6 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row
  • 1:30 Rest

The rest time is approximate since Andrew and I were alternating on the rower. I went 310, 309, 309, 308, 310, and 319 meters. I guess I won’t row tomorrow like I was planning. Will be able to work on my jerk instead.

Shoulder Pump

My hammies are feeling tight from squatting the last couple of days I think. In for the 9am class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Bar Hangs
  • 3 Rounds of “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups (strict)
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • Deadlifts
    • 4×155#
    • 4×245#
    • 4×315#

XWOD

7 Rounds

  • 4 Deadlifts (345#)
  • 1 Broad Jump

Bumped up the weight 10# from last week which was 8×3. No issues with the back.

Strength/Skill

8:00 EMOM

  • 6 Thrusters (135#)

The thruster attack plan is working pretty well. Wasn’t easy but not terrible either.

Conditioning

“Helen”
3 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 21 American KBS (53#)
  • 12 Pull-ups

First run was about 2 minutes! Yuck. Need to be faster than that. All swings were unbroken and pull-ups were 12, 7-5, and 8-4. Finished in 10:04. I think thrusters destroyed my shoulders a bit. I couldn’t even touch my shoulders after the workout that’s how pumped up they were. Not even close to my PR time of 9:30, the only other time I did “Helen” over 2 years ago. Don’t remember what we did for the runs then, but maybe it was really short (or at least I’ll tell myself that to feel better). The bottom line is I need to push myself more when running in a metcon.

Afternoon garage time just before 4pm. Warmed up with an easy 3 minutes on the Air Dyne for 1.24km.

5 Rounds

  • 1:20
    • 15 C2D Push-ups
    • Air Dyne
  • 1:00 Rest

Was able to do the push-ups unbroken every round and couldn’t believe it. Gave me pretty much exactly 1 minute on the Air Dyne each round by the time I got on it. Distances were 0.7, 0.75, 0.74, 0.74, and 0.74 km.

Walked a half mile to cool down.

Dripping

I’ve been sleeping in lately, though going to bed later a few times too. Wasn’t planning on going to 9am this morning anyway though. Out in the garage around 11.

Warm-up

5:00 Air Dyne (AD2)

Nice easy pace for 1.94km.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 20×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×245#
  • 3×265#
  • 3x3x285#
  • 3x5x205#

Debated going for more than 285, but didn’t want to push it and tweak my back again. Also though about doing 5 sets with it, but the 3rd set started to feel weird so I dropped the weight and did some speed drop sets. No reason to push it and end up with a set back again.

Conditioning

IMG_4884Ski Erg

  • Easy 600m, including a few surges at the tempo to be used for the 400s
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 5x400m w/ 30s rest between
  • 5:00 Rest
  • 4x400m w/ 30s rest between
  • 5:00 Rest
  • 3x400m w/ 30s rest between

* Target pace is 5-8 seconds slower than a 2k pace. Works out to 2:05-2:08 for me.

I went 2:45.9 on the warmup and here are my work sets:

  • 1:40.8 – 1:41.1 – 1:40.6 – 1:40.7 – 1:40.2
  • 1:40.4 – 1:40.4 – 1:40.1 – 1:39.5
  • 1:39.8 – 1:39.6 – 1:38.5

Humid as a mother fucker in the garage, even with the door open.

Went to the 5:30 class at CFi. Was there early so did Crossover Symmetry Activation and some bottom squat holds.

Warm-up

  • Shoulder Pass-thrus
  • 30 Mountain Climbers
  • 20 Jumping Jacks
  • 10 Push-ups
  • 5×45# Shoulder Press
  • Plyo Push-up (12″)
  • 5×95# Shoulder Press
  • Plyo Push-up (14″)
  • 5×125# Shoulder Press

Pass-thrus are iffy on the shoulder again. 😦

XWOD

  • 5-5-5-5-5-5-5 Shoulder Press (137.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2 Explosive Push-ups
    • 2s: Clapping Push-ups
    • 1s: Plyo Push-up (18″)

That was 2.5# up from the 7×5 I did last week. I decided not to start another Smolov Jr. cycle since I want to cut back on the shoulder pressing a little. I’ll wing it going off recent weights.

Accessory

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 10s Rest

Never stopped during work time and caught the ball and rested leaning up against it on the wall to let my arms drop. Got 10 every round. Not in danger of having to stop at all.

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Air Squats
  • 20 American KBS (53#)
  • 30 DU

Did everything unbroken throughout. Finished 4 full rounds plus the 10 air squats and 20 swings. Didn’t have enough time to grab the rope.

Midline

3 Rounds NFT

  • 20 Russian Twists (53#)
  • 20 Sit-ups