Tag: Bench Press

Weightlifting Without A Plan

Nothing really sore.

Run Every Day

Morning run before getting dressed or eating. Went 1.72 miles in 13:30 for a 7:52 pace. Felt pretty good for being so early.

Got to the gym for bench night before 6:30pm and warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×215#
  • 2×230#
  • 2×245#
  • 2×250#
  • 2×252.5# (PR)
  • 2×255# (PR)

9th week of the 2nd cycle. Supposed to hit four doubles at 40-50# over the base number, which would be 245-255#. In my notes for the night I hoped to hit 260#. When 245# and 250# didn’t feel awesome, I went for the small jumps on the next two sets, not even realizing it still put me in the proper range for the four working sets. Now I don’t feel as disappointed as I did during the lifts. Stupid that I would have felt bad about 2 PR sets anyway. Almost wish I had tried my original plan though and stuck with 5# jumps each set.

What I really like about this bench program is the slow progression from week to week even though the rep counts keep rotating.

bench-progress

Quiet night at the gym and I didn’t really have any plan for weightlifting. Had written down C&J ? in my notes since I’d been working on snatches the last few weeks in preparation for the competition. After heavy bench, I decided to go with power cleans. How high could I go with triples? I’d never really tried.

Power Cleans

  • 3x20kg
  • 3x40kg
  • 3x60kg
  • 3x75kg
  • 3x90kg
  • 3x96kg
  • 3x100kg
  • 3x104kg
  • 3x107kg
  • 1x111kg
  • 1x114kg

I was happy with 107 kilos (~236#). Felt like I was getting slopping with the 2nd and 3rd reps so I did a couple of singles and it was 8pm. That hour of weightlifting went by really quick. I was taking my time between sets and enjoyed it.

I love the sound the bar makes when you drop it with reds on.

Like Butta

Got up and was laced up by 8. Went 2.01 miles in 19:06. I don’t really enjoy the morning runs like I enjoyed getting up and squatting every morning. I definitely felt like I was still sleeping out there.

Gym at 6 after an appointment at the chiro, which I’m not sure I need anymore. My back has been good to go. Warmed up with 100 walking lunges.

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 8×135#
  • 5×225#
  • 5x5x265#

Tried to focus on driving up with the back again. Didn’t wear a belt for any sets. Now that my squat is back and everything is feeling good, it’s time for some structure. First day of a Rippletoe squat program.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 4×135#
  • 4×185#
  • 4×215#
  • 3x4x235#

That’s a PR for a set of 4 and then 2 more sets of the same. Doubles next week and then max out. Will probably take a little break from bench since I have a couple of weeks of vacation coming up next month.

Snatch

  • 3×45#
  • 3×95#
  • 2×135#
  • 155#
  • 165#
  • 175#
  • 185#
  • 190#
  • 195#
  • 200#
  • 205#

I took 8 minutes to warm up through the 175#, rested 2 minutes, and then did the last 5 lifts going every 2 minutes to simulate what we’ll be doing on Saturday. Didn’t lift with the weightlifting bars or bumpers either. Lifts felt smooth and everything was locked in solid. No misses. Wasn’t afraid of the weight at all like I was last week. Most I’ve put up since the 210# PR in October. Looking forward to seeing what I can do on Saturday with the adrenaline pumping.

Accessory

5 Rounds NFT

  • 10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups

Seemed like I hadn’t done a strict pull-up in months since I’m always hitting muscle-ups.

Hips Don’t Lie

IMG_5968It has to be the running that is making my hips feel like they are. Could probably use some stretching. They don’t hurt or anything bad, but definitely something new. HRV dropped into the orange again this morning from the combination of that tough workout yesterday morning and the evening run. Wednesday isn’t typically very intense though, so I should recover. I’ve dropped 4 pounds in 4 days after getting back to eating the Paleo meals. Feeling better already.

Run Every Day

Got up and went 1.71 miles in 16:23. 10 days in to this June running experiment. I still don’t enjoy it.

Got to Intuition after 6 for the Wednesday night session. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and a 1,000m Row. Didn’t feel the hips as the day went on. Maybe it’s mostly a morning thing.

No B.S. Bench Press – Cycle 2 Week 7

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×215#
  • 3x5x230# (PR)
  • AMRAP 205# – 13 reps

Used a very short pause on the first three sets. I went 5# over the recommendation for the working sets as I did in the first cycle as well. So that’s a PR set three times and then I beat my AMRAP set by a rep as well. Got ugly on the final 2 reps of the working set, but made it.

Power Snatch + Squat Snatch

  • 20kg
  • 40kg
  • 60kg
  • 70kg
  • 75kg
  • 80kg
  • 83kg
  • 85kg

Got a little mental on the squat snatch with 85. I hit my right knee on the way up and then was up on my left toe, but had the bar locked in place solid so was able to hold on. The most I’d done for a squat double was 80 before hitting that. All of the power reps felt really solid. Hopefully can put up a nice PR next Saturday.

OHS

  • 3x70kg
  • 2x80kg

I haven’t hit heavy OHS in well over a year, so figured I’d try. Each time I do this, I can’t keep it stable and start to feel it in my low back. Same fucking thing today. I’ll have to take a video or have somebody watch me next time. So after missing the 3rd rep with 80 I shut that down; no need to hurt my back.

10:00 EMOM

  • 2 Power Clean & Push Jerks (205#)

Class had 8 minutes of 2 programmed today, with increasing weight. Those are always fun and it’s been awhile since I’ve done something like that. After the OHS fail, I saw a loaded bar already out, so decided to hit it. After 8 I said fuck it and made it 10 rounds. I wasn’t standing up any of the cleans, right into the push jerk without a re-dip, so I guess they were what Catalyst might call Power Clean Jerks (no “&” in there). I actually thought I was using 195# for some reason and noticed it was 10# more when putting everything away. Bonus!

Midline

10-20-30-20-10

  • Sit-up
  • Russian Twist (53#)

Jumped in with the class on this. Went unbroken in 4:45. The round of 30 twists sucked balls!

Don’t Miss

I need to get my eating back on track, which has been terrible for almost a week now. I can feel a big difference throughout the day. Was out running at around 8am.

Run Every Day

Went 1.89 miles in 17:55 with an average heart rate of 132 and 174 steps/min. Wore a sweatshirt, which is better than it being 90 I suppose. Over 7 miles already this month.

The usual Wednesday night at the gym. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and three sets of 50 unbroken double unders.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×215#
  • 3x3x235#

Did mostly short pause reps on those first two sets. Was week 6 of my second cycle of the program. In both cycles I’ve gone an extra 5# in this week over the recommended base weight + 20-25#. Seemed like I could have gone even more tonight.

Snatch

  • 2x2x40kg
  • 2x50kg
  • 2x60kg
  • 2x65kg
  • 2x70kg
  • 2x75kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x85kg
  • 3x1x90kg

Going to be doing a max snatch in a couple of weeks at a team competition. Time to start hammering it. No misses, but didn’t feel fast or powerful. I guess that should be expected at 95%.

Gymnastics

Alex was doing some muscle-ups, so I did some too. Total of 11 reps with sets of 3-3-2-3.

PR Triple

Slept well and feel good. Out to the garage around 8:30. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.32 km).

Coffee Squats

Back Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×295#
  • 3×315#
  • 3×335#
  • 3×345# (PR)

Was definitely time to start lifting inside the squat cage to be safer since I’m alone at home. I feel like the confined space also forces you to concentrate more so that you don’t bang into the rack. I did 3×340# back in January when I was getting back into squatting frequently, but then shortly after took the 2 month break for my quad. Oh, by the way, I haven’t really noticed the quad much lately, so I think all of the squatting and lunging has helped it heal. Probably had some muscle imbalances.

I haven’t had 345# on my back since setting the 360# PR last June, so really happy with this. Was definitely heavy, but looks pretty good in the video. 45 days in, 4 to go.

Lunge University

Strapped on the vest, fired up the latest Barbell Shrugged episode on adding mass to the ass, and headed down the street. Fuck doing laps inside the closed garage. I went out down the road 130 steps and then had 120 back. It was much more “enjoyable” that way. Took me 13:09. Fifty more steps than I’ve done with the 40# and maybe even 20# too.

At the gym at 6:30 for bench and weightlifting night. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and a 500m row.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 4×135#
  • 4×175#
  • 4×205#
  • 4x4x225#

Weight felt light in the warm-up sets. I actually paused for a split second on my chest with 135# and 175#. No danger of missing any of the work sets.

Tall Snatch

  • 5×45#
  • 5×65#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×105#
  • 3×115#
  • 3×125#
  • 3×135#

Felt pretty good. Tried to get good lockouts when it was getting heavy on the last two sets. I somehow did 145# for a triple back in December. Maybe could have done the same today, but didn’t want to push it since I was starting to feel these in my low back.

Push Press

  • 5×95#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×165#
  • 3×185#
  • 2×205#
  • 2×215#
  • 2×225# (PR)

Would have liked to go one more 10# jump, but my low back was feeling tight from the snatches after squatting heavy this morning. I knew I’d start to overextend with any more on the bar.

Reverse Hyper

  • 2x20x210#

Huge back pump with that big of sets! I haven’t been doing these at all lately. Haven’t been stretching either. :-/ My back hasn’t had any issues, but I do think it’s looking forward to the end of Squat Every Day.

Did a round of Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap before leaving.

Stitched Up

Went it to the Doc for a minor procedure to remove some cysts from my head yesterday. Should probably take it a little easy today and tomorrow, but fuck that. Just can’t get it wet for 48 hours. Out squatting shortly after 7:30. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.31 km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squat (3s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×250#
  • 3×270#
  • 3×280#

Wore the belt for the last 3 sets. Felt like I was starting to break down on that last set so was a good load for the day. Really like taking the videos though because it shows it was better than it felt during the actual work. When I started this little experiment I didn’t expect to be at 38 days in a row and never thought I’d be pause squatting as much as I am. I hadn’t done any pause front squat with more than 275, so hitting 280 for a triple felt pretty boss. All aboard the Gain Train!

Had to lay down for a nap in the evening. I was feeling pretty out of it. Not sure if the squats took a lot out of me in the morning or if my body is just reacting to the surgery. I felt great this morning. Made it to the gym for bench night. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×195#
  • 4x5x215#
  • AMRAP 205# (12)

Was not feeling strong at all. Matched my AMRAP from the first week of the cycle though. Didn’t even bring my gym bag or other shoes so I wouldn’t be tempted to stick around and for weightlifting. Got in the work and got out. Tomorrow is another day.

Annie Are You OK

Legs felt a little weird this morning getting out of bed. Maybe a result of smashing my knees yesterday. Out in the garage just after 7:30 and warmed up with 3:00 Air Dyne (1.38km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (5s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 2×225#
  • 2×245#
  • 2×265#
  • 2×275#

I don’t have anything insightful to say, though do I ever? Was hard breathing in the hole on that last rep so started to lose position coming up.

Lunge University

  • 200 Weighted Walking Lunges (40# vest)

An extra 20# came yesterday for my weight vest, so had to try it out today. Damn that thing is heavy now. Took me 9:47.

I had an appointment at the chiropractor before hitting the gym tonight. Only going once a month now since my back has been doing well. When I got to the gym I did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then jumped into one of my favorite girls since I haven’t done her yet this year.

Conditioning

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DU
  • Sit-ups

I knew I was doing well when I felt good at the end of the 50 sit-ups. Didn’t miss any dubs and finished in 5:59, for a 29 second PR! Did anchored sit-ups with some DBs over my feet.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×205#
  • 5x3x225#

Felt strong.

Tall Cleans

  • 5×45#
  • 2x5x95#
  • 2x5x115#
  • 2x3x135#
  • 2x3x155#
  • 3×165#
  • 2×175#
  • 2×185#
  • 2×195#
  • 2x2x205#

Workin’ on that speed under. Rough on those last 3 sets. I didn’t realize how many sets I was doing at the time.

Push Press

  • 3×135#
  • 3×146#
  • 3×157#
  • 3×168#
  • 3×179#
  • 3×190#
  • 3×201#
  • 3×212# (PR)

I missed out on PP triples that CFi did Monday so they fit in well today, especially since I did sets of 5s a week ago. I had 45# plates on and then just kept making 5 kilogram jumps. Felt a little fatigue from the bench press, but I’m liking overloading the upper body with two pressing movements on Wednesday. Need to start putting some work into my jerk though. Gotta keep those shoulders working well, so did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Two Dozen

Pretty early to bed again last night, was up by 7, and in the garage by 7:30. Warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×225#
  • 6:00 EMOM
    • 4x3x255#
    • 2x3x265#

Wanted to kind of take it “easy” today, but usually an EMOM like this is anything but easy. I was going to use 255# the whole way, but when I got done with the 4th set I went straight for the 5# plates and threw them on. Maybe not the best idea because in that 5th set I felt a pull in my upper back from holding the rack position. Same area that I tweaked a couple of weeks ago. Took a couple of hours before I really felt it last time, so will see how it feels this afternoon.

24 days of squats…check!

Lunge University

  • 200 Weighted Walking Lunges (20# vest)

Relaxed pace since my heart rate was already up from the EMOM work. Finished in 9:29.

IMG_5894

Damn I look like death in that picture. Can you tell I just rolled out of bed? Done by 8am. How did you start your day?

Was able to get tennis stadium tickets for all 3 days of the CrossFit Games when they went on sale today. So excited!!

Got to the gym at 6pm. Hit Crossover Symmetry Activation and then jumped on the rower.

Conditioning

8 Rounds

  • 1:30 Row @ 1:48-1:50/500m
  • 1:00 Rest

Meter counts were 412-413-414-415-415-414-413-413. Not hard, just putting in work.

No B.S. Bench Press

Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 10×45#
  • 4×135#
  • 4×165#
  • 4×195#
  • 6x4x215#

Feeling solid. I cycled my reps pretty quickly.

Weightlifting

I did some warm-up with the empty bar.

Power Clean + Hang Power Clean

  • 3×1 50kg
  • 60kg
  • 70kg

Clean + Hang Clean

  • 2×1 80kg
  • 2×1 90kg
  • 2×1 95kg
  • 100kg

Started squatting all of these. Got rough at 95+.

Push Press

  • 5×135#
  • 5×155#
  • 5×175#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×195#

Felt brutal. Looked back and I did the same working sets back in January. Here I thought that might be a PR for a set of 5. I would have gone 5# heavier! 🙂 Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Lunge Sandwich

Squat day 17. Here we go. Warmed up with 100 walking lunges that took 3:58.

Coffee Squats

Front Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 6:00 EMOM
    • 2x5x225#
    • 2x3x255#
    • 2x2x275#

That was a good one. Originally I was going to use 285# for the doubles at the end but the triples were feeling rough with 255 and I wanted to be able to keep good positioning.

Strapped on the 20# weight vest and did 200 more walking lunges at a relaxed pace. Took me 9:14 but still got me sweating.

Wednesday night, so off to CFi in the evening. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then did this little number…

3 Rounds NFT

  • 75 DU
  • 10 Reverse Hypers (260#)
  • 5 Back Extensions (15#, 51X3 tempo)

Did the first two rounds of dubs unbroken and then got 49 in the last round. Those tempo back extensions create such a pump in my low back.

No B.S. Bench Press

Starting a second cycle of the program. Alex and Bryan are joining us this time around.

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5x5x205#
  • AMRAP 205# (12)

Starting up 10# over the base number from the previous cycle. It the AMRAP that’s 2 reps more than I got with the 195# last cycle. Excited to see how the extra accessory work I’m adding on Sundays helps out.

Weightlifting

Snatch Balance

  • 5x20kg
  • 2x3x40kg
  • 2x3x50kg

Bringing the weight back down doesn’t feel very good on my shoulders so probably won’t be doing that for snatch work again anytime soon.

Clean Pull + Clean + Push Jerk + Split Jerk

  • 60kg
  • 70kg
  • 80kg
  • 90kg
  • 3×1 100kg

The push jerk was an interesting twist in this complex and so was bringing it back down to the rack for the split jerk. No misses.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

How Much Ya Bench?

Okay, this morning I can feel a little fatigue in my shoulders from that shoulder press work I did Monday night. Crawled out of bed by 7am today. Might as well get in those squats early. Warmed up with a quick 3:00 on the Air Dyne (1.47km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (3s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×155#
  • 5×175#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×195#
  • 5×205#

Those last two sets sucked! I couldn’t hold a breath in the hole after the first two reps. Wore a belt for the last 3 sets to help keep tight. That’s the 10 day of squatting. Didn’t feel the quad at all in this session, but I did feel something odd on the inside of my right knee as I descended on some of the reps. Did 15 minutes of stretching after I was done.

Got to CFi at about 6pm. Did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then a little warm-up workout.

2 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 50 DU

Got a new coated cable for my RPM rope so replaced the frayed bare wire one before heading to the gym. Wanted to try it out so came up with this. I didn’t attack the rower at all; just under a 2:00/500m pace I think. Finished in 5:29. Was a little worried the coated cable would be too slow for me but it felt pretty good. Had one miss in each set and it was after 48 in the second round.

No B.S. Bench Press

Test Day!

  • 10×45#
  • 8×115#
  • 5×155#
  • 3×185#
  • 1×215#
  • 1×240#
  • 1×260# (PR)
  • 1×265# (PR)
  • F @ 270#

Damn, I thought I had that last one. Got it pretty far up and thought for sure I was going to fight through it before stalling out. That’s a 15# PR though, probably 10 of which can be directly attributed to the 9 week program. My estimated max was 255# from a set not too long before we started. New cycle starts next week. 🙂

Weightlifting Wednesday

The plan is to make 7pm class on hump day all about weightlifting. Should be fun.

  • 5 Hang Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Snatch Press (45#)
  • 5 OHS (45#)
  • 2 Snatch High Pulls, 1 Snatch
    • 3 sets @ 75#
    • 3 sets @ 95#
    • 2 sets @ 115#
  • Snatch
    • 2×135#
    • 2×145#
    • 2×155#
    • 1×165#
    • 1×175#
    • 3x1x185#

I missed one at 145# before hitting it a second time. Catches were kind of shaky with some of the heavier weights, but the final one was locked in the best of them all. I think the Crossover Symmetry has really helped with my shoulder stability because I was able to manipulate the weight overhead for some good saves.

Sprint

Felt like a quick row so went for 500m. Was killing it and then hit a wall with under 200m to go. Was able to hold on for a 0.3 second PR – 1:24.8!
500m-row

The last two times I’d done 500 meter time trial it’s been an afterthought on the way out of the gym after a long session. Maybe I should try it fresh some time. 🙂