Bench Press

Weak Shoulder Wednesday

Woke up with a bit of a headache that didn’t go away through the 9am class. Little sore in the low back.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

20 PVC pass-thrus (partial range behind the back because of shoulder pain)
20 Zombie Kicks
20 Russian KBS (44# KB)

Strength

DB Bench Press

10×30#
10×35#
10×40#
10×45#
3x10x60#

Shoulder press was programmed, but I couldn’t even do it with a PVC pipe without shoulder pain.

Accessory

12:00 EMOM

Odds: 30s Handstand Hold
Evens: 10 Pistols

Again, had to substitute handstand holds for the programmed strict HSPU. I got up as close to the wall as I could to be able to get into a better hollow body position. Then I’d keep as little heel on the wall or completely take my heels off the wall as long as I could. Getting better at holding the position.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

20 Power Cleans (115#)
20 Burpees

Put in the power cleans instead of single-arm DB snatches. Power cleans were much more of a suck fest I think, due to grip issues. I tried to keep to sets of 5 as much as I could but did some singles, doubles, and triples in the 2nd half of the workout. Finished in 17:53.

Midline

2 MAX effort Planks

I did one for 47 seconds and one for 49 seconds with minutes of rest in between. Tough without much rest after the metcon.

Another visit to the chiropractor this afternoon and it might be the last one. With the TENS unit I can do a lot of therapy on my own.

14.2 gets announced tomorrow. My prediction is a 12:00 AMRAP of 10 Deadlifts (185/125), 15 Over the bar burpees, 20 Wall Balls with a second idea of 20 Wall Balls and 20 Burpee Box Overs.

Shoulder Impingement Confirmed

I was at Midland Chiropractic Sports Rehab for 80 minutes yesterday. Shoulder impingement just like I thought and maybe a bulging disc. Did a bunch of e-stim on the shoulder and low back. Put me on a spinal decompression table for about 15 minutes, and did some stretching too. Going back Wednesday, Monday, Wednesday, and then we’ll re-evaluate where things are at. So, I’m staying away from overhead movements, which sucks, but it just hurts way too much and isn’t worth hurting things further.

In for the 9am class and then stayed after to help Matt hang up a couple sets of rings for muscle-ups.

Warm-up

6:00 to stretch out shoulders and do some HR Push-ups.

Strength

Bench Press

10×45#
5×95#
7x5x135#

Can’t do shoulder press, so bench it was. Nothing crazy with the shoulder. Could feel a little pressure so didn’t want to go any heavier.

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

Burpees (6″ target)
EMOM 5 Deadlifts (205#)

* Workout starts with wall balls. At the one minute mark (and every minute after) complete 5 deadlifts.

I got 18 burpees in the first minute, 8 or 9 per minute, and then 11 in the final minute to total 73 burpees in addition to the 30 deadlifts. Glad the deadlifts didn’t bother my back.

Midline

3 Rounds NFT

20 Russian twists (53#)
30s Plank

My back was starting to hurt on the other side from the twists, so I cut myself off after 3 rounds. I don’t need any new injuries to start.

Tomato, Tamata, Tabata

Woke up early again, this time with a headache. So skipped out on the 9am and went to 4:15pm instead.

Warm-up

2 Rounds NFT

20 PVC pass-thrus
20 Band pulls (purple)
10 Burpees
20/20 Arm Circles (Forward & Back)

Strength

5×5 Bench Press @ 70-80%

10×45#
5×135#
5×180#
5×180#
5×185#
5×190#
5×195#

Felt solid. Started the first set 10# higher than 3 weeks ago.

Conditioning

Tabata DU
1:00 Rest
Tabata T2B
1:00 Rest
Tabata Box Jumps (24″)
1:00 Rest
Tabata Row (cals)
1:00 Rest
Tabata Alternating DB Snatch (60#)

Fun workout! 212 double unders, 51 toes to bar, 77 box jumps, 65 rowing calories, and 44 snatches. I did 10-7-7 T2B and then started to fall apart. I have a blister forming on a finger from the dumbbell AMRAPs yesterday, which didn’t help with holding on to the bar. Snatches were by far the worst so I’m glad I had them last.

Midline

10:00 EMOM

30s Plank

Needed that! I stayed in to open gym and did them. Did a few MU transitions on the low rings too.

Quad City

I guess I’m just getting old or getting used to the early bed times. 9am for the 5th day this week. Feeling good though.

Warm-up

“Whip It!”
Play the song by Devo. Do jumping jacks throughout and then a burpee each time they say “whip it” during the song. Be careful not to mistake “whip”, which they say on its own several times. We were definitely warmed up after this.

Strength

Bench Press 5×1 @ 90%+

10×45#
5×135#
3×185#
1×205#
1×215#
1×225#
1×235#

Davy, Shaun, Matt, and I rotated through on the same bench. Ran out of time, but I think we were all pretty much done at the end there. Just 5# shy of my PR, so I’m happy with that. Didn’t have my right arm lagging behind like I used to, but my right elbow issue went away in the last couple of months too, so maybe it was related. My left arm actually was a bit behind on that last lift today.

Accessory

12:00 EMOM

Odds: MAX unbroken strict ring dips
Evens: MAX unbroken strict pull-ups

Went 15-10-6-7-5-5 on dips and 9-5-5-5-5-4 on pull-ups. Pathetic numbers for pull-ups.

Conditioning

21-15-9

OHS (95#)
OH Lunges (95#, total reps – not each leg)

Fuck! Fuck! Looking at this I figured wrists would be a limiting factor, but that was the least of my worries during the workout. I did the first 21 OHS unbroken with my shoulders shaking all over the place for the last 5 reps, and holy shit was that a mistake. I’ve never felt a burning in my quads during a metcon like this one. I’d get down into a toes squat to rest when taking breaks and that even felt horrible. Brutal brutal workout. I managed to power through the sets of 9 unbroken with a short break between movements and finished in 9:25.

Midline

7:00 EMOM

12 V-Ups

Good core burn in the last 2-3 rounds.

Better Already

Day 2 doing the 9am.

Warm-up

10 HR Push-ups
20 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
10/10 Leg Swings (S-S, F-B)
10 Burpees

Strength

5×5 Bench Press @ 70-80%

10×45#
5×95#
5×135#
5×170#
5×180#
5×185#
5×190#
5×195#

Little struggle with the last set. Not sure I could have done 200#.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

4×3 C2B Pull-ups
3×3 Deadlifts (165#)
3×2 Hang Power Cleans (165#)
3 Shoulder to Overhead (165#)

Interesting twist with the sets. We could hang on to the bar from movement to movement, but couldn’t do more than the assigned number of reps per exercise at a time. I felt better in this workout than yesterday. Did all push jerks and strung them together in the last two round instead of stopping in the rack after each rep. Finished in 12:32.

Extra

2×5/5 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)

Went in for open gym around 5:30 for a row workout from NCLab.

500m Moderate
Rest 1:00
4 rounds
- 300m Hard
- 200m Easy
- 100m Sprint
- Rest 1:30
500m Moderate
4 rounds
- 300m Hard
- 200m Easy
- 100m Sprint
- Rest 1:30
500m Moderate

That adds up to 6,300m. The most I’ve ever rowed was 5,000m in a day, which is pretty terrible when doing it for time. I reset the computer on the rower a bunch of times so I didn’t have to keep track of the rollover meters going into a new round.

Row Pacing Template

Sprint: sub-2000m PR pace (Faster than 1:47/500m)
Hard: 2000m PR pace + 0-5sec (1:47-1:52)
Moderate: 2000m PR pace + 10-15sec (1:57-2:02)
Easy: 2000m PR pace + 25-30sec (2:12-2:17)

The hardest part might have been going slow enough during the easy pace. I was under 1:40 for all of the sprints I think and really went close to 100% on some of them. Fun little workout.

Jumped on the Air Dyne (AD6) to do a 1:00 test, but fucked it up because we started with the timers at 0:06 and I forgot to keep going up to 1:06. Still managed to rack up 34 calories even though I slowed down a ton even before stopping early at 1:00. Will try it again next week and should be able to get over 40. I was still shaking from the row actually before doing this.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 2 Day 5

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Hit up the garage gym around noon.

Warm-up

5:00 Jump Rope and DU
45# Snatch Positions

First try using my new 9’4″ Rx Jump Rope (1″ shorter than I’ve been using since this summer) and I nailed 100 unbroken DU! Finally hit the century mark! 🙂 Reeled off a set of 73 the next try.

Muscle Snatch

2×75#
2x2x85#
3x2x95#
2×105#

Muscle Clean

3×105#
2x3x125#
3x3x135#

Power Snatch from above the knee (Demo Video)

2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
1×155#

These felt really good! I’ve never tried 155# from a hang position before and it was easy. I think I might have done 145# from blocks with the bar starting at the knees, but not a power snatch.

Power Clean from above the knee (Demo Video)

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
1×205#

Not as good as the snatches, at least in terms of feel.

Back Squat

2×205#
2×240#
2×270#
2×290#
2x2x305#

Grinder in those last two sets. Doesn’t look as bad on video as it felt when doing the reps.

GHR

4x with only bodyweight
2×4 holding 5# plate
4x holding 10# plate
4x holding 15# plate

Either I finally figured out how to do GHRs or my hamstrings have gotten significantly stronger in the last two weeks from all of the lifting. I could barely do 5 reps without holding any weight before.

Took a quick shower and headed over to Survival Fitness for open gym.

Conditioning

Warmed up on bench press with:

10×45#
5×95#
3×135#

Then jumped into this workout:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Bench Press (165#)
4 C2B Pull-ups

Going unbroken for the set of 10 was a mistake. I think I went 5-4, 3-3-2, 4-3, 3-3, 3-2, 2-2, 3, 2, and 1 on the rest of the bench press sets. Managed to do all sets of C2B unbroken which was the goal. Would have been doubtful to do had I chosen 5 reps instead of 4. Took me 10:47 to finish because of so many breaks in the bench press. This wasn’t part of the 60 Day Challenge programming, but since there no jerks today, I was feeling good, and tomorrow is a rest day I added in the extra work.

12 Rounds

20s Row for calories
10s Active rest (keep the flywheel moving)

As you can see below I screwed up on the 4th work interval, so made so to go for 13 total intervals. Didn’t feel like I pushed hard enough, but that was a solid 3 hours of work.

The program called for “Establish Max Height Box Jump” but I have a mental block that prevents me from making an attempt once I get to a certain height. So I tested my vertical jump instead. On concrete, with no step it was 24″ and taking a step into it with one foot I could get 26″. I wish I could remember what it was back in high school.

Week 2 is in the books, so that’s about 25% done with the challenge. Can’t wait to see what the programming for week 3 looks like.

Had Been Sick Since Tuesday

I felt exhausted and sore all over after Tuesday’s workout. Didn’t add up and later in the day I realized I was getting sick. Finally started feeling better today and was able to lift again. Did a session out in the garage with Kevin.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne
Various Snatch Warm-up Exercises

OLY

Snatches

2 @ 75#
2 @ 95#
2 @ 115#
2 @ 135#
2 @ 145#
2 @ 155#
2 @ 135#
2 @ 145#
2 @ 155# (missed the first one)
2 @ 135#
2 @ 145#
2 @ 155#

Some of the early sets of 135 and up felt a little slow and weird. Figured out it was because I was thinking too much, causing things to slow down. When I just went for the lift and took my mind out of it, everything felt much faster.

Snatch Deadlifts

2 @ 155#
2 @ 175#
2 @ 195#
2 @ 205#

I’m able to keep a good knees out position with these. Sooner or later it has to start transferring to the snatch, where I still dive in the knees on the rebend.

Strength

10 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 155#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 175#
5 @ 185#
5 @ 195#
5 @ 205#
5 @ 210#
5 @ 215#
5 @ 220#

I started using the slingshot with the 165# set I think.

3 Rounds NFT

5 GHR
5 Hip Extensions (10# plate)
1 Back Extension

First time doing the slow back extension. Really lit up the back.

Tomorrow I’ll be starting the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. It’ll be weird to give up control of my programming.

Curls for Girls

Got a massage yesterday and rested. Wasn’t feeling that great early in the week so figured I’d take a step back.

Went in around 11am today and did some stuff with Matt.

Warm-up

2:00 Air Dyne

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlifts

3 @ 105#
3 @ 115#
3 @ 125#

Barbell Complex

2 Hang Power Cleans
2 Front Squats
2 Push Jerks

Originally was going to do 5 sets, but added two more: 135-145-155-165-175-185-195 Worked up a good sweat.

Strength

Did a quick set of 5 front squats with 225# since the legs got pretty warmed up with the complex.

A) Front squat: 4 x 4 @ 255-255-245-245, 1 x 15 @ 155, immediately to
B) 4 x 6 jumping back squat with bar (45#) from ATG, rest as needed

How this works is you do a set of front squats and then immediately do the jumping back squats. Since there are 5 different sets of front squats, you start and end with them. I rested about 2:30 before starting the next set of front squats.

EMOM 14:00

Odds: 12 DB Bench Press (45# DBs)
Evens: 10 Barbell Curls (45#)

My biceps are weak!

After a few hours I headed out to the garage.

Conditioning

5 Rounds NFT, but keep moving

1:00 Air Dyne (AD2)
10 GHD Sit-ups

Racked up 234 calories on the AD.

Langford Squat Couplets

In at 10am. Feeling spicy in the back and shoulders.

Warm-up

Jump Rope and DU for about 3 minutes.

Squats

Warmed up with 5 front squats @ 45# and 5 back squats at 45#, then into doing Langford Squat Couplets, which are 2 front squats, rack it, immediately into 5 back squats with the same weight.

2/5 @ 95#
2/5 @ 135#
2/5 @ 185#
2/5 @ 225#
2/5 @ 255#
2/5 @ 275#
2/5 @ 285#

Was hoping to hit 275# when I started, so really happy with 285#.

EMOM 10:00

10 DB Bench Presses (45# DBs)

Felt pretty good and right arm wasn’t lagging behind. Didn’t think I’d be able to stick with the 45s all the way, but wasn’t too bad.

3 Rounds NFT

5 Box Jumps (32″)
10 T2B

I haven’t done box jumps since before the knee issue, so was good to test it out.

Got on the rower and did an easy 15 minutes for 3,365m, holding about a 2:10 pace.

The squats were a challenge, but overall a pretty light session. No need to kill myself after just training 13 hours ago though.

Rapid Fire Squats with 285#

Went to open gym tonight to train with Brent.

Warm-up

500m Row
45# Clean Position Work
95# Clean Position Work

Power Cleans

3 @ 125#
3 @ 155#
2 @ 185#
1 @ 215#
1 @ 225#
1 @ 235#
F @ 245#

I gave up on that last one before I even started. Would have been a power clear PR. My clean feels terrible compared to my snatch.

Strength

Back Squats

5 @ 135#
5 @ 185#
3 @ 225#
2 @ 255#
10 x 2 @ 285# (rapid fire!)

Brent and I went pretty much one right after the other for those last 10 sets. Finished just under 9:00. Last few sets were a big struggle for me to get the 2nd rep.

Bench Press

5 @ 135#
3 @ 165#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 205#
3 @ 215#
2-F @ 225#
3 @ 205#

Getting better, but right arm was still the failure on 3rd rep at 225#. Don’t think I’ve ever done more than 1 at that weight though.

WOD

5:00 AMRAP

15 Ball Slams (15#)
25 DU
10 Pull-ups

Everything unbroken for 3+42, 8 pull-ups shy of 4 complete rounds. Haven’t done any double unders in weeks, so stoked to have done all 4 sets unbroken. The pull-ups weren’t bad either. Ball slams were terrible in that last round. Triceps were smoked from bench press.