Tag: Back Squat

Keep it Solid

Thursday is not my favorite morning of the week. At least not until squats are over because it’s Super Squats day. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.28 km).

Coffee Squats

Back Squat

  • 20×45#
  • 10×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×225#
  • 20×245#

Went up 20# from last week. My drive up and back positioning felt really good. I’m the most excited about being about to keep that solid back through all of the reps. 25 days in the books.

Over to CFi for the 9am.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 2x 15/15 Band Side Steps
  • 15 Toe Touches (last 7 reach up too)

Strength

Romanian Deadlift

  • 8×45#
  • 4×135#
  • 4×205#
  • 4×255#
  • 4×285#
  • 4×305#

I felt something pull on the left side of my middle back on the first rep with 305#. WTF! Tightened up and was able to do the other 3 reps. Better just be a little muscle tweak or I’ll be so pissed at myself. I’ve been working so hard to be smart with all of the squats and it couldn’t be going any better. If a stupid RDL messes me up…grrrr.

Conditioning

  • Run 1 Mile

Nice and easy. Did it in 9:13. When did I get so bad at running?

  • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Burpees
  • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Air Squats
  • 30 DU

Steady pace. Had 2 misses on dubs, after 7s and after 3s. Finished in 9:10. Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap and got out of there.

Almost Back

Third night in a row I was in bed by 10. That’s some kind of record. My HRV shot up from 85 to 111 though; that’s how you recover! In for the 9am class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 100 Walking Lunges
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Zombie Kicks
  • Squat Broad Jumps

Strength

Back Squat

  • 20×45#
  • 8×135#
  • 6×185#
  • 4×225#
  • 3×265#
  • 2×295#
  • 2×315#
  • 2×325#
  • 2×335#

We did 5 push-ups after each set of squats, though I forgot to do them after the empty bar set, so it was 40 total. I’ve done 340# for a triple, so nearly back to normal loads. Positioning felt solid through every lift. I’d say I’m actually in a better place with my squats than I ever have been before. I’m paying a lot of attention to quality reps and it’s paying off. That was day 23 of squatting every day.

2014-05-05-back-squat-potentials

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 40 Sit-ups
  • 5 Rounds
    • 8 Thrusters (95#)
    • 16 American KBS (53#)
  • Cash-out: 40 Sit-ups

We did this one exactly 3 months ago when it took me 9:34. Today I shortened up my rest between movements and pushed through. Everything unbroken with a steady pace. Sit-ups still pretty slow. Finished in 9:05 for a 29 second improvement.

Midline

Weighted Planks

  • 4 sets 45s (55#)
  • 1 set 1:00 (55#)

So much sweat!

Lunge University

  • 150 Weighted Lunges (33#)

Threw an empty women’s bar on my back and knocked them out without stopping. Finished in 6:50.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap and called it a day.

3 Weeks In

My HRV was down to 88 this morning from 100 yesterday. Hmmmm… I was pretty exhausted after being out in the sun walking 9 holes, but that still doesn’t seem right. Had some good weight on the bar for back squats, but overall the day wasn’t very intense. Readings like that keep me doubting the usefulness of HRV.

Out to the garage after 8am. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.23km).

Coffee Squats

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

  • 45#
  • 135#
  • 185#
  • 225#
  • 245#
  • 265#
  • 280#

I put the belt on for the last two sets. Not only trying to go heavier through each day of this thing, but also trying to go a little longer without the belt too, to help build up the core muscles more. Last week I did 265# for this, so was a nice jump. Felt pretty heavy in the early sets. Just 15# shy of the most I’ve managed for this complex. That makes 21 days in a row.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 12 Incline DB Bench Press
  • 12 JM Press

I put the bench at 60° and used 40-45-50-50# for the incline bench work. Used 45-55-60-65# for the JM presses. Both felt heavier than last week. Maybe I’m still feeling the effects of “Cindy” from Thursday.

Not too long after this I started to feel shitty. Maybe that’s why my HRV was low this morning. Since Thursday night I’ve been feeling like allergies are hitting me, though I haven’t had any problems in a couple of years. If it wasn’t Sunday I think I might have stayed home and took a nap instead.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 1,000m Row
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Band Pass-thrus

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 MU

Was curious how this would go with the way I was feeling. Made every set without a problem. YAY!

Strength

5 Sets

  • 12 Pendlay Rows (95#)
  • 5 Evil Wheels

Conditioning

“Kelly”
5 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 30 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Only done this once before. It was a 32:22 almost 3 years ago. Warmest day of the year (so far) is a good day to do a long workout right? This was so bad. I started out with a sub 2:00 first 400 and knew that was too fast. I didn’t rebound any box jumps, but never stopped either. Did mostly step-downs, but some jump downs in the later rounds. Wall balls were two sets of 15 until I went 18-12 in the last round. Should have just went for all 30.

When I got in from my 3rd run the music had stopped. Bluetooth still showed connected but no sound. I think it took me close to 2 minutes to get it going again. The official clock time was 30:59 when I finished, but I’ll be conservative and only knock a minute off for a 29:59 since the rest helped me in a way too. Wish I would have felt closer to 100% today, but it’s still a PR.

Walked 200m, sat on my ass to recover, and then did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Back Over 3

Convinced Kevin to squat with me at CFi this morning. I had to bribe him with Nutella donuts and coffee.

I warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

Jumping Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×75#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 5×135#

Fun way to warm-up.

Back Squats

  • 3×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×255#
  • 3×285#
  • 3×305#
  • 3×315#

First time I’ve had 300+ on the bar in over 3 months. Felt pretty good.

Weather is so nice that almost nobody showed up for class today. Must be doing yard work and other fun activities. I did Crossover Symmetry Activation to get my shoulders ready.

Weightlifting

  • 5 Hang Muscle Snatches (45#)
  • 5 Snatch Presses (45#)
  • 5 OHS (45#)

Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + OHS

  • 75#
  • 75#
  • 95#
  • 95#
  • 115#
  • 115#
  • 135#
  • 135#
  • 155#

Used straps after 95# to save my grip some. Hang snatches felt weird today.

Conditioning

600-400-200m

  • Row
  • Run

Pulled the rowers outside to soak up some extra vitamin D. Not a crazy pace, but got the heart rate up and worked up a nice sweat. Didn’t even run a clock, which was relaxing.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap and headed home. Going out to golf my first holes of the year this afternoon.

Two Wheel Super

Tired this morning. Probably because I knew what was coming. Thursday is not my favorite morning. Warmed up with 3:00 Air Dyne (1.48km).

Coffee Squats

Back Squat

  • 20×45#
  • 10×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×195#
  • 20×225#

Wore the belt. Wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, but it’s always a fight no matter what is on the bar. I thought I was taking a video, but evidently I set the GoPro for pictures instead of video so didn’t get anything. Did all the work in about 20 minutes this morning since I got a late start.

I was regretting those Super Squats after Kevin posted the CrossFit Intuition WOD.

cfi-04-30-2015-wod

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 10 Air Squats
  • Hamstring Stretching

Strength

Deadlift

  • 10×45# (slow reps)
  • 5×155#
  • 5×245#
  • 4x5x295#
  • AMRAP 295# (15)

Nice back bump and started to feel a burn in my hamstrings with that max rep set.

Skill

Everyone else rushed through the strength work, so I only did 2 sets of dubs, getting 95 and 43.

Conditioning

“Cindy”
20:00 AMRAP

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

Yeah…was not looking forward to all the squats after super squatting this morning. I haven’t done a full Cindy in 2.5 years. Had a nice steady pace, making sure not to go out too hot and red line in the first 5 minutes. Push-ups were solid until the last 4-5 rounds when I had to pause once in each set. The air squats actually felt pretty good, but did start to burn pretty bad at the end. I set a PR by almost 2 full rounds and I’m 20+ pounds heavier now. Got through 22 rounds plus 5 pull-ups. Should have dropped for a few push-ups but I had enough.

Walked 200m and then did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Playoff Hangover

red-wings-24-years-towelGot home late from the Red Wings playoff game last night. My HRV somehow recovered up to a 102 this morning from the 93. Not really sure I buy into the whole HRV thing because that was shitty food, beers, and not great sleep. Doesn’t add up to great recovery if you ask me.

Out in the garage at 8:30. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.35km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Back Squats (1s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×245#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×285#

Yeah buddy! That woke my ass up. 🙂 I’ve never done any pause squat with that much, even for one rep.

Around 5 I took a little break from work.

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • P90X YogaX (30 minutes until the first break)
  • Crossover Symmetry Plyometric

2 Weeks of Squatting Every Day

I keep getting up earlier than usual and I’m not too happy about it. My upper body seems a little tight this morning from the 84 pull-ups. Didn’t rush out to the garage this morning since I have a lot more time to work with on Sunday mornings.

Switched it up with 100 Walking Lunges (20# vest) for my warm-up. It took me 4:30 to do them.

Coffee Squats

2 Front + 5 Back

  • 45#
  • 135#
  • 175#
  • 205#
  • 225#
  • 245#
  • 265#

Up 30 pounds over what I did last Sunday for this complex. This is the most weight I’ve had on the bar yet and it’s still well below the 295# I’ve done for this combo before.

That completes 14 days in a row at the squat rack. I’ll keep slowly increasing the weights and over the next two weeks I’ll hopefully be back to typical squatting loads. I’ve really been enjoying the morning squats as a way to kick off my day. Haven’t noticed any additional fatigue from them and don’t think they’ve been affecting my other training negatively. If anything they are probably helping. Don’t think I’ve mentioned the stretching routine recently, but I’ve been continuing to do it at least once a day, except when I do the 90 minute yoga workout.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 10 Incline DB Bench Press (45°, 40-45-50-50# DBs)
  • 10 JM Press (45-65-65-65#)

Going to try adding in some bench press accessory work on the weekends to see if it’ll help getting to 300#. Holy Shit! The JM Press is no fucking joke. There are a couple of variations out there. I used what looked to be the hardest one and I’m pretty sure I got that right. Wow!

I hope that didn’t smoke me too much for today’s workout. Super Sunday at noon…

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 1,500m Row (6:36)
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • C&J
    • 4×45#
    • 2×95#
    • 2×135#

Weightlifting

E2M 20:00

  • 2 C&J

Started with 155# and went up 10# each time, finishing at 245#. I think I wore the belt starting at 215#. Took my time with that last round, to make both reps. I squatted most of the reps but powered a few of the early ones when I wasn’t thinking. Last few rounds got rough. The cleans aren’t really a big deal for me, but I’m pumped to have made all of the jerks. We took about 5-10 minutes plus before starting the next part.

Conditioning

With a running clock, @ 0:00…
5:00 AMRAP

  • 5 MU
  • 10 Cleans (155#)

This is event 1 of the 2015 Masters Qualifier. Wanted to do some muscle-ups this weekend and this looked like a fun one to try. Was scared how this would go after all those heavy cleans, but it was just fine. I broke the MU into 3-2 every round and did relaxed singles for the cleans. Finished 2 rounds plus 5 muscle-ups and 2 cleans. It was fun doing some MU in a workout again.

I called on the group for some movements to make up the next two parts and then I came up with the rep schemes and how to split up the 4 movements.

@ 10:00…

  • 30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 30 Push-ups
  • 30 Russian KBS (70#)

Wall balls and kettlebell swings were unbroken. I did the push-ups in 3 sets of 10. Finished in 2:50.

@ 20:00…

  • 150m Walking Lunges

I was excited when someone picked lunges and knew I had to put them solo. Finish the workout with a little Lunge University. 🙂 We went outside since it was a nice afternoon. I programmed it as 100 walking lunges, but after about 50 steps I went to chase Michelle down for extra credit since she was doing a lap. I don’t usually do them stepping through, but did to catch up and it’s so much faster doing them like that, but so much extra burn too. Finished in 4:03. I stopped counting the reps after deciding to go for the lap distance instead, but should have been about 150.

Midline

  • 60 Quarter Get-ups

Used a 53# KB and split this up into 10 reps per side at a time.

Knocked out Crossover Symmetry Plyometric before heading home. Kind of wanted to skip it, but was already feeling my shoulders smoked so I knew I should do it.

An hour or so later at home I am wrecked!

Closing in on a Power 200

My HRV recovered back up to 109 this morning and my resting heart rate was down 10 beats to 43. When the HRV was in the orange on Thursday morning, I should have probably held back a little in the workout that day. Active recovery to the rescue! I was up earlier than normal so chilled with my coffee before hitting the garage. Warmed up with 3 minutes on the Ski Erg (616 meters).

Coffee Squats

Pause Back Squats (5s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×155#
  • 3×175#
  • 3×195#
  • 3×215#
  • 3×235#
  • 3×255#

I only planned on hitting 235#, but it was feeling so good I had to go another set. I first put 245# on the bar, but bumped changed my mind before going and was glad I did. Felt good!

Then to CFi for the 10am class.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 5 Hang Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Snatch Press (45#)

Power Snatch

  • 3×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 3×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×175#
  • 1×185#
  • 1×195# (PR)

Knew I wanted to go for that PR today when I saw snatch work on the board. Felt solid.

Conditioning

14 Rounds (Partner)

  • 12 Burpees
  • 12 Air Squats
  • 12 Pull-ups

Killed it with Bryan by going 6-6-12-6-6 every round. We picked up the pace in the last 2 rounds to finish at 13:51. Great workout and was nice to be able to knock out quick air squats.

Midline

2x with a partner (20#)

  • 10 Chest MB Passes
  • 10 OH MB Passes
  • 10/10 Side MB Passes
  • 10 Up MB Passes

Before heading home I did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap for those shoulders.

Get Up and Do The Work

Late workout last night throws me off with sleep and recovery, though I guess the two are largely related. Didn’t want to get out to the garage this morning, but I did.

Coffee Squats

Back Squats

  • 20×45#
  • 10×135#
  • 10×155#
  • 10×175#
  • 20×195#

Didn’t even warm-up today. Jumped right in. Felt better than expected. That’s 20# heavier than the set of Super Squats I did last week.

Lunge University

  • 200 Walking Lunges (20# vest)

No stopping allowed. Finished in 7:50.

Then in for the 9am class at CrossFit Intuition.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 900m Row
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 6×155#
    • 6×245#

Strength & Skill

10:00 EMOM (alternating)

  • 6 Deadlifts (245#)
  • 10 T2B

Damn that felt heavy. Wore a belt to protect my back.

Conditioning

12-10-8-6-4-2

  • HSPU
  • Burpee Box Jump Overs (24″)

Gotta manage that handstand push-up fatigue. Went 6-6, 4-3-3, 3-3-2, 3-3, 2-2, and 2 on the wall. Finished at 9:59.

Midline

4 Rounds NFT

  • 2/2 Turkish Get-ups (44#)
  • 12 Russian Twists (44#)

Need these TGUs for my shoulders.

Cool Down

  • 2,000m Row (8:57.3)
  • Crossover Symmetry Plyometric

You Got It, Chief

Still feeling some soreness from the pull-ups, but shoulders seem fine after all that pressing volume last night. Maybe the DOMS hasn’t kicked in yet. I hit the quad with the TENS unit before going to the 9am class. It was a packed house this morning.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Jumping Jacks
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 10 Lunges
  • 10 Air Squats

Strength

Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 6×135#
  • 6×165#
  • 6×195#
  • 6×215#
  • 6×235#
  • 6×255#

Got to relax at home this morning since it’s squat day in class. Used a belt for the last set. Felt solid.

Conditioning

“The Chief”
5 Cycles

  • 3:00 AMRAP
    • 3 Power Cleans (135#)
    • 6 Push-ups
    • 9 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Rest

* Restart the AMRAP for each cycle

I did 5+1, 4+16, 4+16, 4+9, and 4+9 (23+15 total). Did the majority of the cleans going straight back to the floor instead of coming back to the thighs. My air squats are soooo slow. Need to bump up the volume on them so I can handle quicker reps and be ready to crush “Murph” this year.

The only other time I’ve done this was in November of 2012 and I’m pretty sure we didn’t restart every cycle. I managed 21+12 total then with 115#.

Midline

4:00 Plank (hands)

Class was doing Tabata, so I went for a hold the entire time. Had big puddles of sweat under my hands when it was over. Didn’t think I’d make it through today, especially at the halfway point.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 15 Reverse Hyper (210-260-300-320#)
  • 10 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20-20-25-25#)

Got this done after class and took my time. Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap before heading home.