Tag: Bench Press

Bench is Back, I Hope

Yesterday I walked 18 holes and it was nice to do a lot of moving with how sore I am from the lunges. My back was tight through a lot of the front nine in the chilly weather and it affected some swings for sure.

With my legs and ass super sore and my back being tight yesterday I’m delaying the rowing intervals until tomorrow. I think it’s been over a week since I did rowing intervals! The next rowing session is high power so it wouldn’t have been a great one to do before lifting anyways.

Year of the Engine – Speed/Threshold

30:00 Airdyne

Did 950 calories and 18.79 km, which is 20 cals and 0.19 km more than a month ago. Even though this is an all-time best for 30 minutes I’m wondering, based on heart rate, if I’m pushing hard enough. I was still in zones 2-3 the entire time, which is endurance. It was far from easy or a conversation pace though. Or maybe WHOOP’s estimate of my max heart rate is too high, causing all the zones to be wrong. For comparison, a few weeks ago in a 30 minute polarized workout with five sprints of seven seconds each, I went 18.13km and 889 calories. I’m not sure how much faster my legs can push though because they were already burning nearly the entire workout.

2019-10-22-airdyne-hr

Bench Press

  • 2x8x45#
  • 8×135
  • 4×175
  • 2×205
  • 6x4x235
  • 2×250
  • 1×260
  • 1×265

I switched up my warm-up sets to limit fatigue. Same weight I used in week 2 of the last cycle, where my notes said I thought about decreasing the weight several times. Today the working sets weren’t an issue and I didn’t even ask Kevin to spot me on those. He did spot on the heavier sets and those felt good too. Hopefully this means the accessory work is helping!

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 6×135
  • 10:00 EMOM
    • 3×155

Nothing crazy with my back still tight and legs being super sore. Speedy reps.

Chilly Run

On Sunday night I started to feel my calves getting sore from Saturday’s 500 double unders. My shoulders and arms in general were feeling beat yesterday so taking a true rest day where I didn’t do much of anything was nice. My quads got sore from the wall balls too.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

42:00 Run

It was 53 degrees when I started my run during lunch. I’m starting to feel really good during these runs and soon it’ll be too cold out. I got stopped at a light for about 30 seconds in the middle of mile 4 and then picked up the pace from there on in since my heart rate wasn’t near zone 4 yet. Went until 42:30 because of the stoppage and made it 4.29 miles. Two months ago I only ran 3.83 miles over 42 minutes and with a much higher heart rate. Here are my mile splits today:

2019-19-15-run-splits

Kevin came over around 4pm.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×185
  • 5×205
  • 4x5x225
  • MAX @ 225 – 7
  • 2×245
  • 1×255
  • 1×265

Starting this third cycle at the same base weight as the second cycle since it went so poorly. Just under two and a half months to get to 300. All three times I did a max reps set at 225 last cycle I got 7 reps and the 7th today was a struggle. The working sets were no walk in the park, but I did feel pretty beat in my shoulders and arms from the early sets. Adding in some heavier doubles and singles went well though and felt better than last week.

Back Squat

  • 8×45#
  • 8×135
  • 8×165
  • 8×195
  • 8×225
  • MAX @ 165 (12)

I liked the immediate drop set that was the class programming last week, when it was sets of three and I did 6×225 and 10×165 for two max reps sets. Decided to go for sets of 8 today and things were still feeling good, so I pushed the drop set more (not really a true max reps set). I’m hopeful I can build up my leg strength again. I may never come close to that 400# goal I had several years ago, but you never know.

On to the Next Cycle

My legs are fucking sore! Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

12 Rounds

  • 1:30 Row
  • 1:00 Rest

On August 20th I averaged a 1:45.3 pace for this same workoutand the results were not good on the BTWB leaderboard. I think I should be going much faster for this, so my goal today was 1:40-1:41/500m. I did 1:40.8 for 446 meters every round. That’s a 226 total meter improvement from the last time.

2019-10-09-row

Kevin came over around 4pm.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×115
  • 4×145
  • 4×185
  • 2×215
  • 2×235
  • 2×255
  • 2×260
  • 1×260 (fail 2nd)
  • 1×260
  • 2x1x265

Was supposed to do 4×2 @ 265-275#, but that didn’t happen. With all the struggles lately I’ve completely lost all confidence on the bench. I have a long way to go to get 300 this year. Fresh start with this next cycle, so I’m going to try some other things:

  • Be more conservative with the weights in the program to keep speed through reps and not struggle so much.
  • Lift 2-3 doubles or singles after the working sets each week to get used to heavier weight.
  • Accessories on another day to target chest, back, and triceps.
  • More protein.

Accessory / Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 5 Strict C2B Chin-ups (fat bar)
  • 10 Goblet Squats (50#)
  • 10 Banded Tricep Push Downs (green band with Fat Gripz)
  • 5/5 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (30”)

I did 3-2 and then all singles with a drop from the top for the chin-ups. Sped up the squats and step-ups over the last 3-4 rounds. Finished in 20:08.

Slow Progress

No golf today with shitty weather. Out in the garage before lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

30:00 Airdyne
** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 5, 10, 15, 20, 25

Feels like I haven’t done one of these polarized workouts in forever and just about, because it has been 2 weeks! Got 889 calories and 18.13 km.

Kevin came over in the afternoon to lift.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 4×135
  • 4×175
  • 4×205
  • 4×220
  • 4×235
  • 4×240
  • 4×245
  • 4×240

The working sets were supposed to be 3×4 @ 245-250, but with the way last week went I wanted to play it safe and err on the side of getting all four reps each set instead of going too heavy and only doing three. On the 245 set, that 4th rep may have been the longest rep I’ve ever done, but I fought it out. My right side is definitely weaker too.

I looked back at the first cycle and I did:

  • 8×45
  • 8×95
  • 4×135
  • 4×175
  • 4×205
  • 4×225
  • 3x4x240

So today had 220 and 235 compared to just 225, plus five pounds more on the middle working set. Progress I guess, but I was hoping for more over 9 weeks.

Today I noticed that Kevin’s hands were in much closer than mine. Maybe I’ve gotten too wide with my grip? Though, later in the evening I found a T Nation article and if I’m measuring correctly, I’m pretty close to the recommendation.

My Take on Frantasy Land

Had great night of sleep and didn’t wake up until ten after 8. Went to open gym at 10am.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×175
  • 5×205
  • 5×225
  • 4×240
  • 2x5x235
  • MAX @ 225 (7)

I’ve been struggling through this entire second cycle of the program. I couldn’t even hit one full set of 5 at the recommended 240-245 and then the max reps was seven again, which is what I got during the first two times of this cycle. Maybe it’s time to try benching in the evening. Or maybe I’m not eating enough. Or maybe all of the cardio is affecting my ability to get stronger.

Conditioning

  • 9-6-3
    • Thrusters (95/65#)
    • Bar Muscle-ups
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 12-9-6
    • Thrusters (75/50#)
    • C2B Pull-ups
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 15-12-9
    • Thrusters (55/40#)
    • Pull-ups

This is my take on Frantasy Land for an everyday CrossFitter. When I came up with the rep schemes I was wondering if I could go unbroken through the entire thing. Hahahaha!! I did go unbroken (very slowly) on all of the thrusters, but the dream was crushed early when I had to go 5-4 on the first muscle-ups. I went 3-3 on the 6 and did the final 3. First part took me 3:46. I almost quit the workout right there. I started with a set of 7 C2B, but after that I don’t remember. I do know I was doing a bunch of singles to end the 9 and then all of the 6. Took me 5:09! I felt better for the final couplet doing 3×5, 3×4, and 5-4 for my pull-ups. That took me 4:47 to finish. End time on the clock was 17:42. I am just not comfortable with a bunch of barbell work in a metcon right now. 😦 Stood around resting way too much in between sets and movements.

I don’t know if I’m coming down with something or what, but I wasn’t feeling great the rest of the day and skipped out on an engine workout again.

15

Still not a great night of sleep last night.

IMG_3451

Was at the gym at 10 for open gym.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 3×135
  • 3×175
  • 3×205
  • 3×225
  • 2x3x245
  • 3×250

The two week break from the program wasn’t ideal, but going from one cycle of the program to the next probably wasn’t either, so I was hoping today would be a good day under the bar. My all-time PR for a triple is 255, though I have done 275 for a double. The second set with 245 felt better, so I went for the 250 on the third set, which was sketchy. Working sets were supposed to be at 245-250, so it was a success.

Gymnastics

After doing 3×10 bar muscle-ups a few weeks ago I was curious how many I could do.

It’s funny how when you set a number in your head, often you end up right on that number. My hips weren’t giving out, but my hands were starting to slide around too much for my comfort and instead of risking a fall on my head I jumped off with 15.

Weightlifting / Conditioning

7 Rounds

  • 1:00 C&J
  • 2:00 Rest

Started with 95# and added 20# every round, so my loading was 95-115-135-155-175-195-215#. We did something like this 2-3 years ago, but I haven’t been able to find it in my logs. I decided to drop every rep and try to pick it up quickly with the light bars. Got 14-12-10-9-7-5-3, wearing my belt the entire time.

Midline

7-5-3 w/ 10 second holds

  • Curl-up
  • Side Plank
  • Bird dogs

Went and picked up pre-made meals from a local place that I’m trying out.

Then went for a run after 5pm.

Year of the Engine – Endurance

38:00 Run

The Garmin watch was reading my heart rate in zones 4-5 the entire run, which I knew wasn’t correct. My WHOOP measured it where I normally am for a run like this. Got rained on for a few minutes, which felt good. Went 3.8 miles, so I’ve kind of found a sweet spot at that 10:00/mile pace.

Time for More Metcons

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf. My hamstrings started getting sore last night.

It’s less than 3 weeks until Open Workout 20.1 gets announced, so it’s time to kick up my training a notch or 12 and do more metcons after 2 weeks of undertraining. I need to start practicing my handstand walking again too. Was out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

30:00 Airdyne
** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24

Was doing about 72-73 RPM most of the time for endurance pace. Went 811 cals and 17.36 km.

Went to the gym at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 3 sets
    • 15 Reverse Hypers (90#)
  • 400m Run
  • 2 Rounds
    • Front Rack stretch
    • Chest stretch
    • 10 Air Squats
    • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 5 Bench Press (45#)
  • 5 Power Cleans (45#)
  • 5 Bench Press (95#)
  • 3 Power Cleans (135#)
  • 5 Bench Press (135#)
  • 3 Power Cleans (165#)

Conditioning

19:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Power Cleans (185#)
  • 5 Bench Press (165#)
  • 200m Run
  • 1:30 Rest

It was on a 25 minute running clock, but by the time I got through all the warm-up sets above I was starting my first round at exactly 6:00 on the clock. So effectively a 19 minute AMRAP. I got through 7 full rounds and had 23 seconds left, with very consistent round times of 1:22, 1:27, 1:21, 1:22, 1:22, 1:19, and 1:24. I put my belt on for the cleans each round, did them touch-n-go, and then removed my belt as I moved over to the bench.

IMG_3432

10:00 AMRAP

  • 30 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 30 Double Under
  • 15 Sit-Ups

I missed once on the dubs in my third round and finished 5+30. That was a good burner with no spot to rest because the movements didn’t interfere with each other at all.

I really liked both of those workouts and felt great, considering I haven’t slept worth a shit for the last two days.

Light Barbell Work

Feeling good. Went to open gym at 10.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • 15 Reverse Hypers (90#)

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 8×95
  • 4×135
  • 4×175
  • 4×205
  • 4×225
  • 4x4x240

Still on the low end of the recommended 240-245 for the working sets. Not sure I could have added the extra five pounds to either of the last two sets even. I have to remind myself 245 is my all-time 5RM (which I matched back in May) and I did 16 reps with 240 in this workout. Things are moving in the right direction.

Conditioning

  • E2M – 5 Rounds
    • 10 Power Snatches (75#)
    • 5 Muscle-ups
  • 4:00 Rest
  • E2M – 5 Rounds
    • 10 C&J (75#)
    • 5 Handstand Push-ups

My original version of this was using 95 and 115, but I switched to 75 and 95 yesterday. I did the first 4 sets of muscle-ups unbroken with a near failure on the last rep of those. Then I finished with 3-1-1. After struggling towards the end of the first couplet, I decided to stay at 75 for the clean and jerks. I also added an extra two minutes of rest because I was not recovering fast enough. As soon as I went for my first strict HSPU I knew it was going to have to change. I did 3-2 and 5×1 strict before switching to unbroken sets of 5 kipping for the other 3 rounds. I probably could have continued with 5×1 strict, but I wanted some rest time!

Damn, that light barbell can really give you a great workout. Too many people think you need to go heavy all the time and keep adding more weight.

Midline

6-4-2 with 10 second holds

  • Curl-up
  • Side Plank
  • Bird Dog

Increased from the 5-3-1 since it had been easy. This was definitely more of a challenge, but the workout may have contributed to that.

Did a bunch of yard work, ran some errands, and then was out in the garage by 8pm

Year of the Engine – Polarized

26:00 Airdyne

** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24

Went 692 calories and 14.93 km.

Russian Annie

I slept in, but made it for open gym at 10am. I was the only one working out today!

Warm-up

3 Sets

  • 15 Reverse Hypers (90#)

Watched some videos on technique again and made some corrections to what I was doing. Felt the movement in a lot more muscles even with the lighter load.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×135
  • 5×175
  • 5×205
  • 5×220
  • 4x5x230
  • MAX @ 225 (7)

Matched my max reps from the first week of this cycle. The descent on the 7th rep felt like a really weird path and then I really struggled pressing it. Disappointing, especially since I stayed at the low end of the recommended 230-235 for the working sets. I guess another way to look at it is I was able to hit the same max reps number as 3 weeks ago with the seven previous sets all being heavier. 🤷🏻‍♂️ It’s important to remember that I’m still progressing and I have enough time to run a 3rd cycle before testing my 1RM.

2019-09-01-bench-potential-max.png

Conditioning

50-40-30-20-10

  • Double Unders
  • AbMat Sit-Ups
  • Russian KB Swings (53#)

My back is really tight so I scrapped other ideas I had for today. This was the gym’s metcon on Thursday and I’m always game for an Annie variation. I did everything unbroken in 10:39. There is a small chance I did 10 extra sit-ups in the round of 40 because one of the kids was grabbing my jump rope and I wasn’t sure if I was on 26 or 36 before I yelled at him. I’m 95% sure I did the correct number, but there is always that doubt.

No Year of the Engine workout today since tomorrow is a very leg intensive workout for Labor Day and my back could use more recovery time. I also don’t plan to have a rest day from the gym until I golf on Thursday.

Back in the Gym After a Lot of Golf

It was a fun golf weekend and then I walked 18 holes yesterday as well to play four days in a row. Should have exercised yesterday instead because I couldn’t string together good shots! Out in the garage during lunch today.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 9×45#
  • 6×95
  • 6×135
  • 3×175
  • 3×205
  • 3×225
  • 5x3x240

Haven’t got in a workout from the program since last Sunday, but did get a little benching in during a metcon least week. This second cycle doesn’t seem to be progressing as well, which may have something to do with my inconsistent training lately because of so much golfing. Today’s working sets should have been in the 240-245 range but I stuck with the low end and it was plenty difficult. I’d probably feel more confident with a spotter instead of just spotter arms on the rig.

Went to the gym at 4pm. Hadn’t been there since Thursday!

Warm-up

3 Sets

  • 10 Reverse Hypers (160#)

2 Rounds

  • 5 Strict Pull-ups
  • 10 Box Jumps (20″)
  • 15 Sit-ups
  • 20 PVC Pass Throughs

Strength

  • 5 Split Jerks
  • 5 Weighted Pull-Ups (15#)

Since it was set for 5 working sets, I did the pull-ups after the first five sets of jerks to get them out of the way. All TnG sets on the jerks where I went right in to the dip when lowering the bar. Wore my belt for 155# and up, doing 45-95-115-135-155-175-195#. Obviously could have gone heavier since I was still able to TnG them, but that was enough after bench pressing earlier.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 8 Pull-Ups
  • 8 Alt. DB Snatch (50#)
  • 8 Box Jumps (30″)

The Rx was a 70# dumbbell for the snatches, which we don’t even have and isn’t necessary unless you’re a Sanctionals type athlete.

I wore grips and didn’t use the holes so I could easily flip them around for the snatches. Was able to do every set of pull-ups unbroken. I bitched out on a set or set and a half of snatches during the first half of the AMRAP and changed hands at the ground for those. Otherwise I switched hands in the air for the rest. The box jumps were just slow because I was stepping down and then would take a step back from the box as well. Got through 8+18.

I thought about doing one of the Year of the Engine workouts in the evening, but I was tired.