Tag: Back Squat

Barbell Complex

Up and at ’em for the 9am today. I’m sore from Saturday’s death by pull-ups and from bench pressing yesterday. We are stepping away from strength for the week to recover and confuse the body. Good timing since it’s Thanksgiving week. My cardio and endurance has been a bit lacking, so this is a good chance to kick it back up a notch.

Warm-up

21-15-9

  • Squat Jumps
  • HR Push-ups
  • Leg Raises

WOD

30:00 Partner AMRAP (alternating rounds)

  • 5 Deadlifts
  • 5 Bent Rows
  • 5 Hang Power Cleans
  • 5 Back Squats
  • 5 Good Mornings

I was paired up with Kevin and we had 115# on the bar. He had to bow out, switching to a lighter bar and slowing down around 10 minutes, so I switched to doing a round every other minute on the minute. I think I had 4 rounds in during the partner portion and then I worked the last two minutes in a row to end up with a total of 14 rounds plus 5 deadlifts, 5 bent rows, and 5 hang power cleans. It may have only been 13 full rounds because I’m not sure where we made the switch.

After the first couple of rounds I fell into a rhythm and was consistently getting 55 second rounds. I had never done a good morning in my life so that took some time getting used to. I smoked through the hang power cleans early on, but in those last few rounds it was a struggle to get that bar up. I’m left feeling sick after this WOD, that’s for sure.

Finisher

3:00 AMRAP of Burpees

I got 48 of them, with 16 in each minute I think, so pretty consistent. Not bad with only a few minutes of rest after the WOD.

Back That Squat Up, and Let Me See What You Got

My neck and upper back are a little sore from the back tuck spill I took yesterday. Chest a bit sore from bench pressing last night too. Feeling kind of refreshed after taking a couple of days off from CrossFit though. Went in to the 5:30pm class.

Warm-up

4 Rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Jump Squats

Strength

1RM Back Squat

I was pretty excited for this since I haven’t done it since March. It was 235# back then. A couple of weeks ago I did 255# on 14″ box squats so was confident I could smash that today. Mission accomplished.

  • 8 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 1 @ 225#
  • 1 @ 255#
  • 1 @ 275#
  • 1 @ 285#

WOD

100 Back Squats at 40% of 1RM (115#)
* Each time you drop the bar add 10 more reps.

I dropped the bar after 62 reps because my left hand was going numb. I was holding the bar with my arms wrapped around it and resting on the plates. I think I cut off blood flood or a nerve was pinched. My hand is actually still tingling. I dropped the bar again after my 90th rep. So that put me at needing 120 reps in total. I got the last 30 without dropping the bar to finish them off. Total time was 10:52 for 120 reps.

I’ve never felt like I was going to pass out during a WOD until this one. I think it was probably because of holding the bar on my back for so long it was restricting blood flow up or something. Not the greatest feeling, but a hell of a WOD to finish.

Finisher

50-40-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • AbMat Sit-ups

Another first was feeling like I was going to throw up while doing sit-ups. You don’t think about how much your abs have to work to do those heavy back squats and then 120 more back squats. Great way to finish though.

Competition WOD Test

I’d already worked out 4 days in a row, but screw it, let’s make it 5. I didn’t want to miss strength squat day at the gym since I don’t have a rack to do squats at home yet.

Before lunch I went out to the garage to test one of the competition workouts.

WOD #1

5 rounds

  • 5 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 10 Hand Release Burpees

The pull to get the first rep on each round of deadlifts was tougher than I expected and I could gain some time by repping them out faster. I did a time of 4:28 without any warm-up at all. Warmed up and pushing it, I think I can break under 4 minutes in the competition. It was good to try this out and see how it feels.

I went in to the 5:30pm class so I had a little more time to rest from yesterday’s WOD and I’m glad I did, because it was a lot of the same movements.

Warm-up

4 rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Jump Squats

Strength

5×3 Front Squats

Coming out of last week only getting 2 out of 5 reps at 215#, my goal was to get all 3 reps at that weight this today. Counting the warm-up sets, here is what I did:

  • 8 @ 45#
  • 6 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 215#

After doing 95 front squats with 95# in the Deck of Cards WOD yesterday, I’ll take today’s effort. I don’t think I could have gotten 220# up for all 3 reps, but maybe. 215# is still my PR for the front squat, so 3 reps is more than I’ve done. I should be able to set a solid PR on my 1RM next week.

WOD

30 rounds

  • Power Clean
  • Front Squat
  • Push Press
  • Back Squat
  • Push Press

There’s something consisting of these movements called the Bear Complex, which is 7 rounds through without stopping. We did 30 rounds of the cycle instead and we were allowed to combine elements. For instance, we could do a squat clean thruster to take care of the first 3 movements and then a back squat thruster for the last two. This made it a lot easier.

Since I did most of these movements on their own yesterday, I wanted to go light today and try to fly through it. I loaded the bar with 85#. It turned out to be too easy and I finished in 6:43. So then I went up to 95# and knocked out another 10 reps. With the weight I used, I really liked these, but I probably wouldn’t say the same thing if I had gone a lot heavier.

Finisher

  • 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 T2B
  • 30s Side Plank (one side each round, switch sides for the next round)

I did all of the T2B unbroken, but ripped my right pinky on the middle portion of my finger. First time I’ve ever ripped anything there.

The weather is supposed to be great tomorrow so I plan to go golfing and will definitely be taking a rest day from CrossFit.

WOD at CrossFit PB and an Automattic Bootcamp

I’m trying to stay on Eastern time for the most part this week because it allows me to get up in the morning and workout before work stuff starts. I got up at 5am this morning and went to the 6am class at CrossFit PB. There was 7 of is class which I thought was surprising for so early.

Warm-up

2 rounds

  • 5 Front Squats (45#)
  • 10 V-ups
  • 20 DUs
  • Samson Stretch

We also did some PVC work and stretching before getting started.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 195#
  • 6 @ 215#

The idea here was to warm up for a few sets. Then do 2 sets at about 65% of 1RM. For the last set use 85% of 1RM and do max reps. I didn’t do any strict calculations, but I think my weight choices worked out pretty well.

Thrusters
Do a few sets of 3 to get warm for the WOD. I did 45#, 65#, and 95#.

WOD

  • 12-9-6 Thrusters (115#)
  • 24-18-12 T2B

I picked a pretty perfect weight on the thrusters and broke each round into 2 sets. Did well stringing T2B together in round 1, but my hips were shot in the 2nd and 3rd rounds so it was tough to get a kip going. At the end I was actually only doing 1 or 2 at a time. Finished in 8:02.

I rushed back to the hotel where I was putting on a Bootcamp for my coworkers at 7:30am. I skipped the warm-up, but did the rest with them.

WOD #2

8:00 AMRAP

  • 5 HR Push-ups
  • 10 Sit-ups
  • 15 Air Squats

We did this on the wet grass outside the hotel. Not the greatest of locations, but hey, this is CrossFit and we have to be ready for the unknown. I managed to get 7 rounds plus the 5 push-ups.

Finisher

2 rounds

  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Side Plank (30s each side)
  • 1m Rest

I think the Bootcamp went pretty well and ended almost exactly after 30 minutes like I had planned.

Disappointed With My First 100 Burpees Test

Abs are a little sore from yesterday’s WOD and I can just imagine what they’ll feel like tomorrow.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 3 Back Squats
  • 1-2m Rest

I warmed up with a set of 8 using just the bar and then a set of 5 using 115#. I only managed to get in 4 working sets because everyone else was somehow done before I was even done with my 4th set and there was no time. I guess they must not have done warm-up sets. For my working sets I used 155#, 185#, 205#, and 215#. Easy stuff considering I got up to 220# for a set of 5 last week. Pretty bummed I didn’t have time to get in my last set.

3 Sets

  • 20 Weighted Step-ups (40# DBs, 18″ box)
  • 1m Rest

I had to rush through because I was way behind the rest of the class.

3 Sets

  • 20 Weighted Sit-ups
  • 1m Rest

Another rush job here. I felt pretty dumb actually. I used a 62# KB for the first set and then 35# DBs for the last two sets.

WOD

On less than a minute of rest (I was out of breath from trying to rush through my sit-ups) I had to jump right into the WOD and my performance showed it.

  • 100 Burpees

This is actually the first time I’ve done 100 burpees for time, which is surprising considering I’ve been doing CrossFit for over 10 months now. I knew it was going to be a grind when I barely got through 20 in the first minute. I knocked out my 50th rep before taking a rest, but then took 2 more short breaks after that. My finishing time was 6:44, which is extremely disappointing. In 5 minutes of burpees I knocked out 93 just about 2 months ago and didn’t need to take any breaks then. Under 6 minutes should have been easy, with a shot at breaking 5:30. 😦

Finisher

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 V-ups
  • 30s Boat

Let’s kill those abs some more! This got really hard after the first round or two. I think I got through 5 rounds plus the 10 V-ups. I was going for quality more than quantity here.

Just not my day the way the schedule of class worked out. Didn’t get up to a heavy enough weight for back squats and wasn’t rested enough to put in a good effort during the WOD. The problems really comes down to packing too much in the strength portion. We could have combined two of the movements so we would alternate back and forth between the step-ups and sit-ups for example. That would have saved a few minutes.

Squat and Squat Some More

Today I was sore from the combination of thrusters on Saturday and wall balls yesterday. Also sore from yesterday’s ring dips. Just sore enough in those areas to know something is working. I walked 18 holes of golf this morning and then went to the 7pm class.

Strength

5 sets

  • 5 Back Squats
  • 2m Rest

Warmed up with a set of 8 using just the bar. My working sets were:

  • 135#
  • 165#
  • 185#
  • 210#
  • 220#

No failures on any of the reps, but I need to get better at consistent weight increases. That was pretty wild. I haven’t done a 1RM since the end of March, which was 240#, so the next time we do that I’ll knock it out of the park.

Accessory

3 sets

  • 12 Bulgarian Split Squats (each leg)

For the first set we didn’t use any weight. I used a 35# KB for the second set and a 48# KB for the third set. I’m not sure why we didn’t hold 2 DBs for these.

WOD

7:00 AMRAP

  • Turkish Get-up (first half, the get-up part only)
  • 3 1-Arm Snatches
  • 3 1-Arm OHS
  • Turkish Get-up (second half, the get down part only)

Each time through the series is one rep and you must alternate arms after each rep. I used a 35# DB and completed 13 reps. The 1-Arm OHS may be one of the oddest movements I’ve done in a WOD. The balance seems impossible unless you get a super wide stance. I kept getting up on my toes at points and it was a struggle to get proper depth.

Finisher

10 Prowler Sprints

The prowler was loaded with two 45# plates and we used the heavier (wooden) one. Each sprint was about 25 yards one way with the high handles and then 25 yards back with the low handles. For the last couple of sprints it was only Michelle and I, so very little rest.

Lots of squatting today, which I need. I’m excited to see Matt is serious about putting a dedicated strength section into weekday classes. I’ve been getting stronger, but not at the pace I was seeing over the 3 months when I was out in Phoenix last winter.

One Card at a Time

Still a little sore today, but I’m finally on the tail end of it. Well, except for my lower back that is. I walked 18 holes of golf this morning and then headed in at 7pm tonight so I could stay after for the 8pm open gym time.

Warm-up

750m Run

WOD


Deck of Cards

Reps

  • 2-10 = Face value
  • Jack = 11
  • Queen = 12
  • King = 13
  • Ace = 14

Movements

  • Joker = Run 500m
  • Hearts = Burpees
  • Diamonds = 4 Mountain Climbers
  • Spades = Thrusters (60#)
  • Clubs = Ring Rows

I haven’t done a deck of cards in a really long time. We were allowed to substitute any movements out for something we are weak at or needed to work on. Originally clubs were one-arm snatches, which I like, but figured they are not a good idea with my back. So I put in the ring rows. I thought I was using 75# for the thrusters but after we got going I realized I had the women’s bar. Oh well, 50# was plenty with that many thrusters.

There was a 40:00 time limit. When time ran out I had just started on my first burpee of the King and then had 5 more cards to go.

Strength

  • Back Squats
  • 5 HSPU
  • Rest 2-3m

For the back squats I did:

  • 5x 135#
  • 3x 185#
  • 2x 205#
  • 1x 225#
  • 1x 235#

I was hoping to set a PR today, but when I did that rep at 235# I could really feel it in my back as I came out of the bottom. I had to shut it down after that. I was pretty fatigued from all of the Thrusters in the WOD too I guess. HSPU felt really good and I was able to do each set of 5 unbroken without resorting to using any AbMats.

I’m Exhausted

I should have taken a day off somewhere during the week. I just got home from Survival Fitness where I attended the 4:15p class and stayed another hour for open gym. I’m exhausted and could really tell towards the end of the 2 hours. Finally I forced myself to leave. At least I’m out-of-town for the weekend so I can’t get in any WODs. I think all of the squatting we did this week really took a toll on my body too. I’ve never gone 6 days in a row before and now I know why.

Warm-up

100 V-ups
Every minute on the minute, do 5 box jumps (24″), except to start the first minute.

We didn’t do many box jumps this week, so I was glad to see them here, even if it didn’t end up being very many. I think I finished in the 6th(?) minute, but don’t remember for sure.

As we were waiting for everyone to finish, I jumped on the bar and got my first muscle-up! Did it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Next up, the rings. I actually just got a set of the wood rings from Rogue Fitness to use while I’m vacationing for 10 days and then I can hang them in my garage when I get back.

WOD

EMOM: 4 Burpees (start with 4 right away)

  • 50 PVC Front Squats
  • 30 SDLHP (88# KB)
  • 50 PVC OHS
  • 30 1-arm Push Presses (each arm) (45# DB)
  • 50 PVC Back Squats
  • 30 Ring Rows

 

I finished in 17:28, so I did 68 burpees. Front squats with a PVC pipe were kind of weird because there was no weight there to keep the wrists in place and help the elbows get up. Oh yeah, 150 more squats for the week! I wanted to get in some heavy front or back squats at open gym, but not with how much squatting we had already done for the week.

Finisher

5 rounds

  • 150m Sprint (rectangle in the parking lot)
  • 2m Rest

My sprints were all 21-22 seconds, which is pretty good considering the corners are pretty scary running in the parking lot. I felt really good doing the sprints.

Open Gym

I did some deadlifting to start. The plan was to do a 5×5 after the light warm-up set.

  • 10x 135#
  • 5x 225#
  • 5x 275#
  • 5x 305#
  • 1x 325#

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I increased the weight so much there. I had to set the bar down after the 3rd rep at 305# before knocking out the last two. Then at 325# I had to shut it down after one. I was starting to feel it in my back and got light-headed after I walked away from the bar. At least I got in some heavy deadlifting, but I should have been smarter about it.

Then Casey A. was doing some snatch balances, so I jumped in with him. We did some with the 45# bar and some with 65#. After that we did some squat snatches with 65# and 85#. I think I was doing 3-5 reps for a couple sets at each weight for both the snatch balance and the squat snatch.

2 Hours of CrossFit

Was up early this morning to play a practice round in preparation for the Saginaw District Golf Tournament Qualifier, which is this Sunday. Yes, I knocked out the Armstrong push-ups bright and early to start my day.

My pair of Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 arrived today in time to use them for my workout. I’m very pleased with them as a CrossFit shoe.

I attended the 4:15 class and planned on staying after for open gym to work on a bunch of stuff and beat up my body.

Warm-up

  • 100-75-50-25 Squats
  • 50-40-30-20 HR Push-ups

I’m not sure you can really call this a warm-up, because it took longer than the WOD. I finished in 17:22.

WOD

21-15-9

  • Goblet Squats (88# KB)
  • Burpees
  • Pull-ups
  • Sit-ups

I went as heavy as I could for the goblet squats by using the largest KB in the gym and for each round I broke them up into 2 sets. They completely wiped me out for burpees, which I did extremely slow compared to my normal pace. My time was 12:45.

Finisher

Death by Box Jumps

  • 1st minute: 2 box jumps
  • 2nd minute: 4 box jumps
  • … increas by 2 each minute

Go big or go home right? I used the 32″ box for the first time, which wasn’t too bad. I just had to take my time a little more and make sure I got a good jump in. I made it up to the round of 14, which I finished a few seconds before the minute was over. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make 16 with such a short rest, so I shut it down there. Using the bigger boxes more often will make the 24″ box seem so easy.

After class I rested for a bit as some people started showing up for open gym.

WOD #2

Mini “Diane”
12-9-6

  • Deadlifts (225#)
  • HSPUs

I did strict HSPUs as long as I could, then added a kip, then added an AbMat, then added a kip with the AbMat. My time was 4:49. When I think how fast the elite men and women are doing a “Diane” compared to my mini, it’s sick. They’re in a different solar system.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 3x 175#
  • 3x 195#
  • 3x 195#
  • 3x 195#

I was feeling pretty beat after 250 air squats and the goblet squats, but it was nice to get in some moderate weight squatting for the week.

After that I decided to knock out my Armstrong Pull-ups for the day. It was 3 sets with a normal grip, 3 sets with a close (hands 0-4 inches apart) chin-up grip, and 3 sets with a wide grip. Each set was 3 reps with 60 seconds of rest in between sets. The pull-ups felt really good today.

Then I pulled out the jump rope and did some DUs. With the new rope it was nothing to knock out 10+ in a row on each attempt. It spins so effortlessly. Somehow somebody brought up muscle ups, so I tried a few on the bar. I almost had it a couple of times and I’m confident I can get it next time when I haven’t worked out for 2 hours already. 🙂

I’m fucking beat, but it was all worth it. Time to relax for the night. Tomorrow is CrossFit for Hope, which looks like a killer WOD. I’m looking forward to the snatches, which I haven’t done in quite some time.

A Quad Burning Warm-up

I woke up feeling fantastic and couldn’t wait to get in for a WOD.

Warm-up

5 rounds

  • 1m Walking lunges
  • 1m Bear crawl

OMG! Talk about a quad burner.

WOD

5 rounds

  • 21 Ring dips
  • 21 Burpees

Throughout the entire WOD I had to break the ring dips up into multiple sets because I fatigue out so fast. Most rounds were broken into 3 sets of ring dips. I got through the first 21 ring dips and 4 or 5 into the next round before I had to start using a small purple band for assistance. Burpees weren’t exactly fast, but I stuck with them and completed each round unbroken. My time was 18:52.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 3 Back Squats

It’s been nearly 2 months since I did back squats and set a 1RM at 240#, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I started off light with 135# as a warm-up set, then went 175# and 215#. That third set wasn’t the easiest so I only went to 225# for the 4th. I figured I could get 1 or 2 reps at 235# but I managed to get all 3, which is a big improvement. You can build strength without doing strength specific lifting.

Here’s a big tip for you all that I always forget about, but remembered before my last set. When you’re getting ready to descend in your squat, take a deep breath. Hold that until you’re on the way back up and then exhale as you drive up. This really helps keep your core steady and makes sure you can breathe during the hard part of the lift. There is no doubt in my mind I wouldn’t have gotten all 3 reps if I didn’t do this.