Back Squat

First Amanda

First time I’ve been able to make it for a Saturday class in nearly 2 months I think.

Warm-up

PVC Pass-thrus
PVC Good Mornings
Air Squats
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength: 2 Front Squats + 3 Back Squats

45#
135#
205#
235#
3 sets @ 255#

Nothing crazy compared to what I’ve done in the past. Solid positioning though.

Conditioning

“Amanda”

9-7-5

Muscle-ups
Squat Snatches (135#)

Went 3-3-3, 3-2-2, 2-F-1-1-1 on the muscle-ups. That first round of snatches felt like it took forever; I kept wondering if I missed counting some reps. With the extra rest I had to take during the round of 5 muscle-ups I was able to speed through the final snatches. Snatches were singles the entire way though. Finished in 9:26. My first try at Amanda last December was with a 10 minute cap and I still had 4 snatches left so this was a nice PR even though I haven’t been doing many MU or snatches lately.

Out in the garage around 6pm.

OHS: 33X3 Tempo

3×45#
3×65#
3×85#
3×95#
3×105#
3×115#
3×125#
3×135#
3×145#

Started with the jerk grip again and slowly moved hands wider through the sets until I was touching the ends on the final set. Pretty unstable in those first few sets due to the grip width. Shaky at the end due to the time under tension and the load, but 10# heavier than last week with more sets.

Accessory & Aerobic

5 Sets

10 Decline DB Bench Press (50# DBs)
4:00 Air Dyne (AD2) in Z1

Figured I might as well combine these two to save time instead of sitting around doing nothing between the press sets. Wore the HRM to keep track and make sure I stayed in zone 1. Can you tell where I was pressing? 😉

2015-08-29-hr

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

3-Part Metcon

Got a solid night of sleep, which I needed after that rowing workout.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
2×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold
Agility Ladder Drills
Hang Power Snatch
- 5×45#
- 3×75#
- 3×95#

Conditioning

200m Run
10 Hang Power Snatch (115#)
5 Bar Muscle-ups
4:00 Rest
20 Back Squats (115#)
400m Run
20 Back Squats (115#)
4:00 Rest
5 Bar Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Snatch (115#)
200m Run

Couple of sprint type sections sandwiched around a little grind with the squats. I went 6-4 on both sets of snatches but looking back wish I would have held on to the bar. 3-2 the first time with the MU, then all 5 unbroken in the final part. Squats were unbroken both sets. My work times were 2:16 – 3:47 – 2:25 so I finished everything at 16:28 on the clock. The rest was long enough to allow for a good push going into each part.

Accessory

2 Rounds NFT

200m Farmer’s Carry (25# bumper in each hand)
50 OH Walking Lunges (50#)

I had to stop for a quick break at about 150m each time on the carry. Did the lunges in 2 sets of 25 both times. I really tried to pull my shoulders down and back holding those plates overhead. Should help with my stability.

Midline

8 Rounds

20s Banana Rolls
20s Rest

You have to picture Tony Horton saying “Superman…. ba-NANA” in your head when you do these. Didn’t feel much fatigue in the core doing these, but rolling around did put some pressure on the hips.

So Sore

My legs have been so fucking sore yesterday and today. Sunday hit me hard and the 107 wall balls yesterday didn’t help.

Warm-up

3×10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold
Hip, hamstring, calf, and ankle stretching

Strength

Pause Back Squats (2s in hole)

5×45#
5×115#
5×185#
2×225#
EMOM 10:00 – 2×245#

Good grind. Having been squatting much in the last month after a pretty good back tweak on vacation.

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

1 Curtis P (95#)
2 Snatch
3 OHS
4 T2B

Not sure why, but I’ve always remembered a Curtis P being a squat clean so that’s what I did. Most results I’ve found through Google and a video from SealFit show power clean so I guess that’s what I’ll do in the future. Shit, some results even said it was a hang power clean. So who is right?

This felt pretty rough at the beginning with my legs so tight. I dropped the bar after the Curtis P since I had to reset my hand position anyway. Snatches right into OHS unbroken each round. Started out as a sub 1:00 pace, started to fall off, but then with 1:30 left I turned it on to catch up and get exactly 8 rounds. Had about 7 seconds after dropping off the bar, but that’s not enough time to get to the bar and complete a Curtis P, so I assumed the rest position.

100m Sprint
Walk back to recover

Again, pretty tight in the first sprint, but felt pretty good after that. My shoes felt a little odd after wearing lifters for about 40 minutes.

Rest day tomorrow to golf!

Pegged

bryan-peg-board Bryan came over to try out the peg board and hit a garage workout. We got up a few times. It’s definitely a lot harder than it looks and you can feel it using all kinds of different muscles. I did warm-up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Strength

Back Squat

10×45#
8×135#
6×185#
4×205#
10x3x225#

We did the 225# sets rapid fire, going one after the other with little rest.

Conditioning

4 Rounds each, rest while partner goes

12 Ski Erg calories
10 Power Snatch (95#)

Tried to keep a pretty steady pace on the Ski Erg and was close to 1,200 calories/hour which is what I usually go for on the rower when doing something like 30 calories to start a workout. My goal was to do all of the snatches unbroken. It hurt, but I did it. The rest time was just enough to be able to go hard again. We finished in about 11:10.

I did a whole bunch of peg board pull up sets throughout the day. I would either do a set of 8 or 5/5 with one arm at a higher peg and probably did 4 sets of each.

Stopped at the gym in the evening to do a rowing test that didn’t go very well.

Row 20:00 for distance

I figured I’d be able to keep a 1:55 pace which I did in my recent 5k PR. Nope!

Midline

8 Rounds

20s Hollow Rocks
15s Rest

Managed to go the whole way and got 120 reps.

Tweaked, Again

Betting getting a lot more sleep this week, though it’s not easy to stay comfortable on a tiny bed. Went to the Bay Athletic Club this morning to get in some squats. Nice facility in the hospital in Alpena.

10×45#
5×135#
5×215#
1×255#

Fuck! Tweaked my back on the next rep with 255#. Not even heavy weight. Pissed me off. I’ve been doing 5×5 with more than 255# and no belt either. The bar was a larger diameter than I’m used to but I doubt that really made a difference. I’d been so careful over the last few months too and then to tweak it with something like this doesn’t make sense. Injuries rarely do though. Guess I’ll be putting the squat program on hold.

Accessory

6 Sets

8/8 Kroc Rows (45-55-60-65-70-70#)
10 DB Shoulder Press (35-45-50-50-50-50#)

Had these planned and was still able to do them. Shoulder press with two 50s got tough.

Goblet Squats

10×50#
10×60#
10×70#
10×80#
10×90#
10×95#

Still wanted to get some leg work in if I could. With the weight out in front it took the load off my back and I didn’t feel it when I made sure to be very precise with my technique.

Gymnastics

5 Sets

5 Strict Pull-ups
8 Strict Bar Dips

Don’t do those enough.

I went out and walked 9 on the golf course going to loosen things up. The back definitely affected my swing.

After going to a movie theater with my 4-year-old niece, I needed to blow of some steam.

Pushing Death

Death by Chest to Deck Push-ups.

Got 18+18 and barely got in that 18th rep, so didn’t game it to skip out on the 20th round. 2 rep PR from over 2.5 years ago at a much lighter bodyweight. Racking up the push-ups this week. That’s 189 more.

Oh yeah, done with a drink at my side.

Bench It Out

Vacation! Need to get back on a better sleep routine. The only time I’ve ever taken a break this long from work is over the holidays.

Out in the garage around 9 before packing and heading up north. Warmed up with an easy 5:00 Air Dyne.

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
5×205#
5×245#
5x5x280#

Start of week 4. Felt really good.

2015-07-11-back-squats

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

5 Bench Press (115#)
10 GHD Sit-ups
5 Power Snatch (95#)
5 Ring Rows (feet on 18″ box)

Almost 4 years and I don’t think I’ve ever done a workout with bench press in it. Wanted to pick stuff that I won’t be able to do this week. Went unbroken on everything and ended up with 8 rounds plus bench, GHDs, and 3 of the snatches. Was able to keep a pretty consistent pace throughout. Helps that there is that bit of built-in rest getting setup for these movements and walking around the garage from station to station.

After a rest I jumped back on the bench for a big set. Wasn’t sure how far I’d be able to go. Around 20 I started feeling it on my wrists. Stopped it at 30×115#.

Can’t Single

Only 2 more days of work after tonight (trying to finish up some stuff before I go on vacation). Can’t wait! Did a little bottom squat hold to warm-up, but dove right under the squat rack.

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
5×205#
3×255#
1×295#
1×320#
6x1x340#

That ends week 3. Glad I decided to use the program as a template and just standardize on 5# jumps each week with the 5×5 and 2.5# with the 6×1. Those singles are a grind. Tried to go every 3 minutes today.

Moved over to a platform. Shoulder presses of 10x20kg, 5x40kg, and 3x60kg. Then a C&J with 70-80-85kg.

1 C&J EMOM until fail

I started with 90kg and added 2kg every minute. The jerks started feeling heavy a lot sooner than I expected. I hadn’t done the conversions so had no idea what was on the bar. I made it through the 10th and then missed the jerk in the 11th minute with 110kg on the bar. I had already decided I wasn’t going to make it because I didn’t even move my right foot forward. Did the conversion and now it all made sense, since it was 242.55#.

What was confusing is that in my head I was thinking I’d be starting around 185# with greens on the bar, but I had reds on, not blues! So it was over 198# in the first minute. Dummy!

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

50 Jump Rope (singles)
15 Wall Balls (14#, 10′)
10 Pull-ups

I asked Michelle to come up with something short for me. The only stipulation was that I didn’t want a barbell since I’d just done all that heavy lifting. She came up with this little gem based off the Open scaled workout with singles and wall balls.

It was like I had never touched a jump rope. Could not get any type of rhythm with the rope and for a long time I was jumping twice for every turn of the rope, just the opposite of dubs. My body wanted to do double unders so bad that I couldn’t get the timing of the single spin down. The wall balls were a piece of cake, but fun to do so light. No danger of having to break up a set. I did the pull-ups all unbroken but they started to feel tough at the end. Finished 4 rounds plus 29 jumps. It was fun to do something different like that.

Rowing 4th

Yesterday was my first complete rest day after going 81 days in a row! It was 49 days of squats, 30 days of running, and a couple of days on top of that. Some days were just an easy 1 mile run, but still. It felt good to not do anything. I went to the driving range in the afternoon to work on my golf swing. This morning my HRV was up to 114, the highest reading I’ve ever had! A little surprising because I haven’t slept worth a shit most of the week.

Went to the gym at 10am.

Warm-up

Bottom Squat Hold
50 Walking Lunges

Strength

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
5×205#
5×245#
5x5x275#

First day of week 3. Tried to focus on locking in all of my back and driving up out of the hole. Rested about 3 minutes between working sets. Tried to do one rep right after the other with just a slight pause at the top.

Conditioning

12:00 EMOM alternating

2 C&J (185#)
4 Muscle-ups

I did a full squat and split the jerks. Tried not to pull with my arms on the cleans and drive under the bar on the jerks.

Bryan was working out with me and had to take off. I rested 20 minutes and then jumped on the rower.

Row 5k

I’ve been meaning to give this a shot for the last few months, but it didn’t seem like a great idea during all of the squats and then I was getting plenty of aerobic work with all of the running.

I wanted to stay under a 1:55/500m average and possibly go sub-19 for my time. I’ve tried this only once I think, going 19:34 on October 25, 2013. I held the average pace without much trouble, with about a 0.3-0.4s cushion. Stroke rate was too high for the first 2,000 meters, but then I settled in to a rhythm. Started to pick it up in the last 2 minutes. Got a nice 36 second PR at 18:58.5. Whenever I do this again, I think it’ll pay off to lower that stroke rate from the start.

2015-jul-4-5k-row

Another 10

Busy week at work with a big launch. Got to the gym for last bench night in a while. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

No B.S. Bench Press

Last week of the 2nd cycle. That means MAX OUT!

10×45#
5×135#
3×185#
2×215#
1×235#
1×250#
1×262.5#
270# (PR)
275# (PR)

Yeah! That’s another 10# making it 25# total in the 20 weeks. On the way to three hundy. Seems pretty far away still, but much closer than at 250 where I started. I felt the last 3 reps in my abs, which has never happened before.

Took more time than planned, but to be expected when taking time for PR reps. So didn’t have time to do any weightlifting since I wanted to get in the squats to finish week 2

Back Squat

5×135#
5×205#
3×255#
1×295#
1×320#
6x1x337.5#

Alex squatted with me. Took longer between sets than going E2M like last week. Was still a grind.

Snail’s Pace

Run Every Day

I did not want to run this morning, but with a chance of rain all day starting around 10, I figured I better get it in. Didn’t wear headphones and went super slow. 1.7 miles in 20:14, almost a 12:00 pace. Even with that run my average pace over the last week was still a big improvement.

Went in before the 10am class with Kevin. Warmed up with 100 walking lunges.

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
5×205#
5×245#
5x5x270#

I did the 45# and 135# without shoes on, then put on my lifters. Didn’t wear a belt at all since it was light weight and it’ll help to strengthen my back. This was the start of 2nd week of the Rippletoe program.

Did a bit of empty bar work to warm-up when class started.

3-position Snatch Deadlift

3x40kg
3x60kg
3x80kg
3x85kg

Rough on the hook grip with the Eleiko bar. I had to stop and let go between reps on the last 2 sets.

Panda Pull

2x60kg
2x65kg
2x70kg
2x75kg

Not as hard on the grip, but I feel awkward doing these.

Snatch

3x40kg
2x60kg
1x75kg
1x80kg
1x85kg
1x90kg

The first reps felt like a feather after doing those pulls. Everything felt smooth.

Conditioning

With a partner…

Buy-in: 8 Rounds (4 each)
- 40′ OH Plate Carry (35-45-45-45#)
- 40′ Run
Start Clock…
- 4 Rounds
  - 16 HSPU
  - 16 Ring Dips
  - 16 Pull-ups
- 2,000m Row

* We had 1:00 to complete our buy-in round, then 10 seconds before partner started their round.

I was partnered with Kevin. We started with 8-8 in the first round for everything, then went 4-4-4-4 for HSPU in rounds 2-3 and 4-3-6-3 in round 4 since he was dying. Last 3 rounds of dips were 4-4-4-4 and pull-ups stayed at 8-8 the whole way. We switched every 500 meters on the rower and finished in 15:30.

I wore the new Nano 5 and they felt really good.