Tag: Box Jump

My 33rd

The left side of my back is still swollen from landing on it in a basketball game on Sunday. Doesn’t exactly feel the greatest either. Today is my 33rd birthday and Matt decided to start a new tradition at Survival Fitness for birthdays instead of doing birthday WODs. You have to do your age in burpees at the beginning of class while everyone else watches. I knocked out my 33 in 1:10. Booyah! I even got the first 10 in 18 seconds which is a new best as far as I know. Got to skip the warm-up because I couldn’t breathe and was pretty warmed up. 🙂

Strength

5×3 Zercher Squats

I used 135#, 155#, 175#, 195#, and 225#. Last set didn’t feel the greatest with my back issue, but got it done.

WOD

EMOM do 5 Burpees (except the first minute, where you got to do reps of the WOD)

  • 100 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 100 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 100 Goblet Squats (53#)

I was flying until I got to the goblet squats. Was a minute ahead of the best pace of the day after box jumps and was done in less than 9 minutes with enough time to get 3 goblet squats in. From there I just died. It was a struggle to finish and I got done in 17:56. It was taking me around 22 or 23 seconds to knock out the burpees towards the end, that’s how dead I was. We were allowed to take an entire minute off if we wanted and I probably should have to rest up and come back strong, but I really wanted to keep going. I didn’t feel very good (sicky) after this one was over.

Lot’s of stuff that did some work on the back, so it’ll be interesting to see how I feel tomorrow.

How About Some Deadlifts?

Was thinking maybe I’d take the day off, but felt good when I woke up, so went to 9am.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 20 Russian KBS (30# KB)
  • 6 Burpees

The swings were so easy so I concentrated completely on the hip drive.

Strength

5×3 Deficit (3″) Deadlifts

Warmed up with 10 @ 135# and then used 225#, 295#, 325#, 345#, and 365# for my working sets. Solid.

WOD

12:00 EMOM

  • 5 Deadlifts (255# – use 70% of 3RM)
  • 7 V-ups

Holy shit did that 255# get heavy. It was hard to get the first rep going in the last 4 or 5 rounds. Powered through the v-ups without much trouble, but took my time on them in the final minute.

255lb-deadlifts

Finisher

30-20-10

  • Box Jumps (24″)
  • HR Push-ups

Didn’t take more than a minute or two of rest after the WOD and “jumped” right into this. Started out without rebounding, but then saw Cora rebounding so I had to step it up. Couldn’t let her beat me in my strength, especially since she probably has the upper hand in the push-ups.

Open Gym Friday

It’s been awhile since I did an open gym session at Survival Fitness. First I started with a WOD they did on Wednesday, which I had missed out on.

21-15-9

  • Box Jumps (24″)
  • HR Push-ups
  • T2B

The box jumps were easy and all done unbroken with rebounding off the ground. Hand release push-ups went better than expected, but I had to take some breaks in the rounds of 15 and 9. I set a new PR with 21 unbroken toes to bar, but that ended up hurting me. I couldn’t string them together very well for the next 2 rounds because my hips wouldn’t snap shut. They were one at a time in the round of 9. Finished in a time of 5:07, but was hoping to go sub 5. Great little WOD though.

8:00 AMRAP

  • 20 Push Presses (75#)
  • 20 OHS (75#)

I got 2 full rounds plus 20 push presses and 11 overhead squats, which is 3 reps shy of when I did it a couple of months ago in San Diego. I screwed up in round 2 though and for some reason started doing back squats, so lost valuable time and reps there. This is a great shoulder burner.

8 Rounds

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 10 Pullovers (45# DB)
  • 20 DUs

Didn’t do this for time, more to get in some midline work and some random DU practice.

Road Work Circuit

I’m feeling pretty good after yesterday’s WOD and then the explosive training we did at night. Little sore in a lot of places, but nothing bad. Went to the 11am today and 14 of us were there to get our sweat on.

Warm-up

Matt called this a road work circuit, with the goal being to keep your heart rate in the 130-150 range, but work hard enough to get a sweat on.

5 Rounds

  • 1m Russian KBS (40# KB)
  • 1m Lateral Step Overs (12″ box)
  • 1m Air Squats
  • 1m Jump Rope
  • 1m Jingle Jangles
  • 1m Rest

It was kind of hard not to push the pace, but at the same time nice to work at a steady pace. I started out a little slow and my heart rate was less than 130, so I stepped it up a bit and each round it went up progressively, while still staying below the high-end of the range. Solid long “warm-up” that would be harder than most fitness classes out there.

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

  • 12 Box Jumps (32″)
  • 6 Thrusters (75#)
  • 6 Burpees

This is actually based off the hero WOD “Rahoi” but due to space and box availability we had to switch it up. We don’t have the room for bar-facing burpees so we just did normal ones and our supply of 24″ boxes ran out quick so I went with the 32″ box. Since my box was so high, I scaled the thruster weight down from 95# to try to even it out a bit. You can’t really even out those box jumps though. The level of concentration and effort needed to keep jumping on that box is so much more than a 24″. The jump down off the box is really taxing too. Thrusters were probably too easy at 75# so it’s time to start stepping up my game on those. I was able to do 5 complete rounds plus 12 box jumps, 6 thrusters, and 3 of the burpees for a 5 + 21 score.

Head Recovery

I got up for the 9am and was feeling light-headed and nauseous after having my coffee + protein. I’d blame it on Vicodin, but I hadn’t taken one since just after midnight. Luckily I felt better after eating some fruit.

Warm-up

Tabata Mash-up

  • Burpees
  • Lateral Hops

Strength

5×3 Floor Press

Today’s sets were:

  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 205#
  • 2 @ 205#

Fought hard to get that last rep, just couldn’t get it past the halfway point. Tops my 5 @ 195# from last week though.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 250m Run
  • 30 HR Push-ups
  • 30 Box Jumps (24″)

Felt good. As I would expect, the push-ups slowed me down a lot. I started out with a set of 10 each round and then continued with sets of 5 until my 30 were completed. Box jumps were unbroken throughout except where I lost balance up top and couldn’t rebound off the ground properly or if I missed my jump which happened a few times. I finished in 19:51.

Time for some food so I can take a Vicodin to relieve this head pain!

Garage Epicness

I went over to Kevin’s tonight to do some bench pressing. With CrossFitters it always turns into more than planned. I wanted to do a 5×5 on the bench and ended up doing:

  • 10 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 155#
  • 5 @ 175#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 195#
  • 3 @ 205#

A week and a half ago I set my 1RM PR of 215# after not having benched in 5 years. Today I put up 205# three times!

We started screwing around with some of the other stuff Kevin had in his garage. I’ve wanted to go for a max height box jump for quite some time now and never did it. He has a 30″ box and just built some platforms for box squats and deficit deadlifts, so we stacked them up and it came out to 44″. I couldn’t get myself to even attempt it so we started with the 34″. I’ve done 32″ an Survival Fitness so that wasn’t a big deal, but helped to build confidence. Swapped boxes to get up to 40″ and got up there without much trouble. Finally got to the 44″ which wasn’t bad either. We couldn’t stand all the way up though because the garage isn’t high enough.

So of course we had to throw a WOD together! We only used the 40″ height though, which is plenty high enough for reps.

5:00 AMRAP

  • 4 Box Jumps (40″)
  • 5 Burpees
  • 6 GHD Sit-ups

I got through exactly 5 rounds. The box jumps get a little scary towards the end as you get tired.

After resting a bit, I jumped on his rings and knocked out a strict muscle-up like it was nothing. No idea where that came from but it was the first time I’ve ever done a strict one! I tried a couple more times and couldn’t get it again. Not even sure how the first one happened after doing ring dips this morning.

Epic night for a garage WOD!

Strap a Kettlebell to my Back

I’m pretty programmed now to wake up right around 7:30 each morning without an alarm. This is perfect timing to get a bite to eat and hit the 9am class. I even had some time to use the rumble roller this morning, which I’ve been trying to use whenever I watch TV.

Warm-up / Strength

20:00 EOMOTM

  • Odds: 8 Side Bends on each side (71# KB)
  • Evens: 30s Plank

WOD

  • 100 HR Push-ups
  • 21-15-9
    • Box Jumps (24″)
    • KBS (53#)
  • Run 10 laps of 150m holding KB (53#)

I smashed my PR for the 100 hand release push-ups by doing it in 5:46. My previous best was 6:21 just over a month ago. One thing I focused on today was not getting too big of sets early on. I started out with a set of 15, then 10, and then 5s the rest of the way. That really helped to have some gas left in the tank for the 2nd 50. Box jumps and KBS were no big deal.

All the “fun” was at the end with the weighted run. The best way to hold the KB is to use both hands and hold it by the handle behind your neck. It’s probably not real great for your neck and spine, but it’s really the only way to be able to run. We ran nearly a mile! After the 5th lap I couldn’t feel my hands and arms anymore. I wanted to put the kettlebell down so bad but knew it would be so much harder to get going, so I powered through the best I could. Total time for the WOD was 20:30. Even with the cool weather, I had sweat flying everywhere because I had to work so hard to keep that KB in place. Hopefully this transfers well to the 800m run with 25 pounds I’ll have to do next weekend in the competition.

Finisher

  • 100 DUs

Started out with a string of 29 in a row. It was hard to keep that rope spinning fast enough with fried shoulders and arms from the KB run. I finished in 1:45.

Strength in the Garage Gym

A couple of days ago I did the dynamic effort method of training on the bench press, so today I wanted to try it with box squats.

  • 2 sets of 2 @ 45#
  • 2 @ 95#
  • 2 @ 115#
  • 2 @ 135#
  • 2 @ 155#
  • 8 sets of 2 @ 165#

It was definitely a new feeling and variation on the back squat. Get down to hit the box/bench and then try to explode back up.

Strict Paleo Really Works

My legs are almost back to normal, but my upper abs are still sore today. Not sure that I’ve mentioned it in a post yet this week, but on Monday I went back to eating strict Paleo. I have a competition on October 7th so I want to go in as the best Nick I can. I’m competing in the beginner’s division, so hopefully I can be competitive. As a result of the diet changes, I’m feeling the results in only a few days.

Warm-up

Tabata Mash-up

  • Plank
  • Bicycles

I could really feel these in my sore upper abs. Definitely helped loosen them up though.

Strength

Take 90 second of rest between each set.

Side Bends, 3×12 (each side)

  • 62# KB
  • 71# KB
  • 80# KB

Russian KBS, 3×12

  • 71# KB
  • 80# KB
  • 88# KB

WOD

  • 21-18-15-12-9 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 21-18-15-12-9 Burpees
  • 5-4-3-2-1 Renegade Man Makers (40# DBs)

In case you’re confused on how that WOD works, there are 5 rounds. In round 1 you do 21 box jumps, 21 burpees, and 5 renegade man makers. Then in round 2 all the reps decrease to the next number.

I finished in 12:12. Box jumps and burpees were all done unbroken. Renegade man makers were a little slower with some very short breaks, because DAMN! if you’ve ever done them you know how much they crush your soul.

Finisher

  • 50 Suitcase Deadlifts (88# KB)

Done for quality and weight. I took the heaviest KB we have and knocked them out by doing 5 per side at a time.

800 Meter Sandwich

Feeling pretty good this morning. My legs are fine and I wasn’t tired getting up at 5:20am. Went in to CrossFit Pacific Beach again for the 6am class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 10 Samson Stretches
  • 10 Inchworms
  • 10 Zombie Kicks
  • 10 Air Squats
  • 10 Skater Plyos

We also did a little more stretching. I liked doing a bottom squat hold while putting all of the weight over one heel to stretch out that ankle and calf.

Agility

Ladder drills

These were quick but fun.

WOD #1

  • 800m Run
  • 40-30-20-10
    • KBS (53# KB)
    • Box Jumps (24″)
  • 800m Run

As you probably know, I love box jumps. I’m not used to doing that many American KBS, but I tried to keep to big sets and never did less than 10 in a row. Box jumps were nearly all unbroken. The last 800m sucked ass. I finished with a good time of 16:40.

Then it was back to the hotel to lead the last day of the Automattic Bootcamp at 7:30am.

Warm-up #2

50m

  • High Knees
  • Bear Crawls
  • Zombie Kicks

WOD #2

Partners

  • 50 Broad Jumps
  • 80 HR Push-ups
  • 100 Lunges
  • 80 Tuck Jumps
  • 50 V-ups

I was kind of a 3rd partner in this, so it wasn’t bad. Seemed like people really liked the Bootcamp throughout the week.

Getting Better at Thrusters

My abs are a little sore today, but not really any more than yesterday, which is surprising. We really blasted them on Monday and Tuesday. I walked 18 holes of golf this morning and went to the 7pm class.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 3 Push Presses
  • 1-2m Rest

I warmed up with a set of 8 at 45# and a set of 5 at 95#. For my working sets I used 115#, 135#, 145#, 160#, and 170#. Had some left in the tank for next time too.

Accessory

3 Sets

  • MAX Ring Push-ups
  • 90s Rest

I knocked out sets of 28, 15, and 9 (I think). Honestly can’t remember the last set.

WOD

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

  • Thrusters (35# DBs)
  • Box Jump (28″)
  • 150m Run (length of run is the same each round)

Thrusters actually felt pretty good today. I think learning to properly scale my weights is really helping out. I did each set without putting down the DBs. The 28″ box was a bigger deal than expected. I finished in 13:50.

Finisher

DU Tabata

I did pretty good with me DUs today. Got quite a few unbroken strings of around 20.