Tag: burpee

My First 300+ Pound Lift!

I ran out of a post-workout supplement I’d been using and I can really tell the difference in my recovery over the last week. I’ve had more soreness and for longer. I’ll have to stock back up when I get home. Didn’t sleep the greatest last night, but went to bed early enough to get a solid night of rest.

Warm-up

2x

  • 250m Row
  • 3 World’s Greatest Stretch (each leg)
  • 10 Leg Swings (each leg and direction)
  • 10 Flamingos (each leg)
  • 10 Burpees

Strength

  • 3-2-1-3-2-1 Deadlift
  • 2-3m Rest

We moved some serious weight today, starting with the strength work. I warmed up with 6 reps at 135# and 3 reps at 225#. I made sure to rest a full 3 minutes between each set. My working sets were:

  • 3x 255#
  • 2x 275#
  • 1x 295#
  • 3x 275#
  • 2x 295#
  • 1x 315#

I had never attempted more than 290# before, but had done it for a set of 5 so I knew I could PR today. 315# was pretty heavy.

WOD

Every minute on the minute for 10m:

  • 3 Deadlifts (85% of heavy single)
  • 6 HR Push-ups

Holy shit balls! For 85% of 315# I went with 265#. A total of 30 fucking reps with very little rest. Not quite sure how I was able to get through every round. I’m already feeling it. The next few days are going to be sore city and sitting in a car for close to 30 hours won’t help.

Sunday Funday

Yesterday after walking 18 holes of golf I had to rush home, shower, and get out to a restaurant for happy hour and dinner with a bunch of my CrossFit friends. Great fun! Such a good group of people. It’s going to be hard to leave this year, but I’m heading home to my close friends and another great group of folks at the gym there.

Since we started dinner before 5pm yesterday, I was in bed around midnight with enough time to recover enough to hit the 9am this morning. Getting out of bed was rough though. I couldn’t believe how sore I was from the interval workout at the track. After moving around a bit and eating a banana I felt better and decided it would do me good to get in for a tough workout.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 3 World’s Greatest Stretch (each leg)
  • 10-15 of each
    • V Sit-ups
    • PVC Pass thrus
    • Air squats

WODs

Teams of Three. For both portions, team members will cycle through full rounds one at a time, with only one member working at any one time. The goal is to move as quickly as possible, thus minimizing your partners’ rest periods and racking up as many rounds as possible.

Since class was small (imagine that after a night of drinking!) most of us paired up for teams of two instead of three.

15m AMRAP

  • 3 Deadlifts
  • 6 HSPU
  • 9 Box Jumps

Deadlifts were done with 225#, I used 2 AbMats for the HSPUs, and jumped on to some stacked up tires that were taller than 24 inches. I was able to complete all rounds unbroken, which is why I went with 2 AbMats instead of 1. At a team, my partner Adam and I completed 15 rounds plus 3 deadlifts. I went first in this AMRAP. Teams of 2 was actually perfect here and we kept a steady pace of 1 minute rounds. With 3 people I think our rest period would have been too long.

After finishing the first WOD, I was feeling so much better than when I woke up. I’m glad I decided to make it in to class instead of going back to bed or going for a hike.

We rested for 5 minutes before hitting the second WOD.

15m AMRAP

  • 5 Pull-ups
  • 10 Burpees

I went second in this AMRAP because Adam is better at pull-ups than I am. In the end it didn’t matter because we each completed 9 rounds for a total of 18. That’s 45 pull-ups and 90 burpees each. This WOD would have been much better with a team of 3. My kipping pull-ups are getting much better because I’m able to feel when I get out of control and dial in the swing. I’m also getting better at adjusting my grip on the bar.

After the workout I headed to Total Wine & More to pick up some beer. CrossFit Full Strength has started to call today Sunday Funday because everyone is encouraged to bring a 6-pack of beer for after the noon OLY class. Last week was the first one and it was fun.

Olympic Lifting Class

After a snatch warm-up progression with the PVC pipe we worked on our snatch technique by doing a power snatch followed by a full snatch. I worked up to 105# I think.

Next we got out the racks and worked on the drop snatch with overhead squat. I got up to 125# there. Tried 135# once, but I had the weight too far forward and my feet were too wide.

I wasn’t quite all there and felt weak during the OLY work today, but it was good to get a final session in with Johnny.

PR Twice

Another great night of sleep, so I’m feeling great.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2x
    • 10 Groiners (5 each leg)
    • 10 Supermans
    • 10 PVC Sit-ups
    • 10 KBS

I used a 35# KB for the warm-up swings.

Strength

3-2-1-3-2-1 Back Squats with 2-3m rest between sets

Sort of a weird rep/set scheme, but it actually worked out really well. Warmed up with 6 reps of just the bar and then 6 reps at 135#. For working sets I used 185# (3), 195# (2), 205# (1), 195# (3), 215# (2), and 230# (1). The 230# was a PR and we had time left so I went for 240# and got another PR. Squats felt great today. As the weight got heavy I made sure to take a deep breath and hold it until the bottom of the squat. I always forget to focus on that and it really helped to keep everything tight and ready for the way back up.

WOD

10m AMRAP

  • 5 Burpee Pull-ups
  • 10 KBS
  • 15 DB Walking Lunges

No hiding out in this WOD. Everything was pretty intense. The pull-ups weren’t too bad because it was mostly a jump from the burpee. I used a 62# KB for the swings and held 45# DBs for the lunges. I was able to finish 4 rounds plus 5 burpee pull-ups, 10 KBS, and 10 of the DB walking lunges.

Only one week left in Phoenix after today and then it’s back to Michigan. I’m going to miss the 9am crew at CrossFit Full Strength!

Suicide Sprints

Final scores are in after the 4th workout of the CrossFit Games Open. Thanks to a good showing I made a big jump up to 1,241st out of 1,733 in the South West region and 17,235th out of 24,995 in the world, which puts me right around beating 30% of the mean in each, way above my goal of 10%. One workout remaining. I bet we’ll see deadlifts paired with one other movement.

Warm-up

5m Mini flight simulator (5-10-15-20-25-30-25-20-15-10-5 unbroken DUs)

I was only able to get up to 15 unbroken. My DU headache started about 1:30 in to the 5 minutes and I still have a bit of it 30 minutes after the workout. I may go see a chiropractor about my neck. Since I started having a little soreness there I haven’t been able to crack my neck, which I’ve always done. Maybe (hopefully) I just have a little alignment issue causing these problems.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 8-10 DB Push Press, 2-0-X-1 tempo
  • 45s Rest
  • MAX Dips
  • 3m Rest

I started with 35# DBs for the first two sets, then went 40#, 45#, and 50#, with 10 reps each round. The 50s were definitely my limit at the end. I used the rings for dips and was able to do 8, 7, 8, 7, and 5 dips for a total of 35.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 20 yard Suicide Sprint (10y down and back)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 1m Rest

My kind of WOD. Splits for each round were within a 1 second difference. The one minute of rest was enough to catch my breath and keep going at full throttle. Finished in 6:32.

Now we wait for the final workout of the CrossFit Games Open to be announced…

Maybe My Favorite WOD

Feeling good this morning.

Warm-up

  • 600m Run
  • 2x
    • 3 World’s Greatest Stretch (each side)
    • 10 Burpees

I got a little headache during the warm-up. I wonder if the pre-workout drink I started taking has something to do with it.

Strength

4 Sets

  • 2-3 Back Squat, 3-0-X-1 tempo
  • 20s Rest
  • 15 KBS
  • 3m Rest

Did one warm-up set of back squats at 135#. Then used 185#, 200#, 210#, and 220# for the working sets and was able to get 3 reps each set. For the first time I didn’t feel like I was tipping forward when I started to come up. 3 reps at 220# beats my previous best of 1 rep there. I used the 70# KB for the first time today. It was an ass kicker, but I got through each set unbroken.

WOD

4 Rounds, 2m each round, 2m rest between rounds

  • 250m Row
  • MAX Squat Cleans with remaining time

This might be my favorite WOD I’ve done since starting CrossFit. Going straight from the row to squat cleans was a killer on the quads. I finished the row in less than a minute each round and then used 115# on the bar. Knocked out 7, 6, 5, and 6 squat cleans during the rounds. I should have been able to get 6 in round 3 as well, but I gave up on myself with 6 seconds left on the clock. Should have been just enough time for one last rep. I made sure not to let that happen again in the last round.

2012 CrossFit Games Open Workout 12.1

Last night I was patiently waiting for the CrossFit Games site to release the first Open workout. I get so excited about competing, going on golf trips, and shit like this. I was very happy to see the first WOD didn’t involve heavy weights.

Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of: Burpees

One thing most people aren’t used to for burpees is you have to put a target 6 inches above your reach and touch it with both hands on each rep. This is for judging online videos and so everyone is held to the same standards. I got to the box about a half hour before the 9am class since it was open gym from 8-9 and I could get the workout done and stay for class.

Warm-up

I did a slow 400m row.

I had never done a huge set of burpees so I wasn’t sure what I was capable of. My goal was to get 100, which averages out to 15 per minute. I started out fast, trying to get to the ground as fast as I could. I was right around 20 after 1 minute. Ahead of pace. From there it was burpee hell. I only stopped for a second or two here and there and tried to keep a steady past the rest of the way. I think I picked back up in the final minute and managed to get 92. Shy of 100, but I’m happy with that.

I am now a CrossFit Games athlete! 🙂

Warm-up?

Since I just finished 7 minutes of burpees I skipped most of the warm-up, but jumped in at the end for Tabata sit-ups.

Strength

4 Sets

  • 20 Walking Lunge (steps)
  • 60s Rest

I used 50# DBs in each hand. It was plenty of weight.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 5 Power Cleans
  • 10 Burpees

Just what I needed, more fucking burpees! I swapped them out and did 15 ring rows each round instead. Set a new PR for cleans by using 145#. Finished in a time of 10:46.

Fitting way to end a tough week of workouts. Now I’m out of the box until Monday because I have a work conference and workshops Friday through Sunday. I may get up early and do Tabata sprints on Saturday or Sunday though.

Deadlift Week

My upper body is a sore this morning from the snatching we did yesterday. I was awake about an hour earlier than normal thinking about some work stuff got out of bed and accomplished a few things before I headed in to the box.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Shoulder Pass-thrus
    • 10 PVC Pull-throughs (laying on ground, pull legs through and extend again)
    • 10 NPU Burpees
    • 30s Wall Handstand

We usually have the option to run or row in the warm-up so I’ve been switching it up to rowing lately since I had always done the run. I stayed in the handstand closer to 40s because I could use the strength there.

Strength

3 Sets

  • 8-10 Weighted Push-ups, 2-0-X-1 tempo
  • 60s Rest
  • 15 KBS
  • 60s Rest

First time doing weighted push-ups for me. I started off with a 35# plate on my back and did 10 reps, then 45# for 10 reps, and finally 55# for 9 reps. For the KBS I used 53#, 53#, and 62#.

WOD

15m AMRAP

  • 9 Deadlifts
  • 12 HR Push-ups
  • 15 Box Jumps

Must be deadlift week or something. The Rx was 185# and I wanted to go with it, so I did. We all knew HR push-ups were going to be a bitch since we had already killed those muscles. I used a 24in box for box jumps. For the WOD I completed 7 rounds plus 9 deadlifts.

I was trying to keep good form throughout, but could feel it slipping away as I got further and further along. 8 sets of 9 is a lot of deadlifting 185# pounds. In fact that’s moving 13,320 pounds over the 15 minutes. I sure hope the first Open WOD doesn’t have any deadlifts, because I’m doing it tomorrow morning. I guess I’ll find out tonight when they announce the workout.

Partner Up

I ate kind of shitty the last couple of days and my body is letting me know by not getting quality sleep, having less energy, craving more junk, etc. Ugh!

On Thursday I ended up going out and walking 11 holes of twilight golf and spent a good hour+ at the range yesterday working on my swing. Tee times were later today so I was able to make it in for a WOD. The weekends usually have some type of team or partner WOD, which is fun.

Warm-up

  • 150 Sit-up variation reps (switch as you want)
  • Plank competition
  • 3 Sets of 2 Turkish Get-ups (each side)

Since we had 15 people in class, we went across the room, each person counting to 10. I tried to do regular sit-ups most of the time, but switched to some bicycles and flutter kicks. I think I made it to the final 5 in the plank competition at just shy of 2 minutes and 50 seconds. My core was shaking so bad at the end. For the Turkish Get-ups I used a 35# KB for the first 2 sets and then a 40# DB for the last set. Bumping up 5# really makes you concentrate on that shoulder stability.

WOD

Form teams of 2, switch each exercise
10 rounds

  • 10 Thrusters
  • 10 Burpees
  • 400m Run

It’s a little confusing when you look at it. This helps:
Partner A performs 10 thrusters; Partner B performs 10 burpees; Partner A runs 400 Meters; Partner B performs 10 thrusters; etc…
Each person is doing each exercise a total of 5 times over the course of the workout. In 2 rounds, each partner ends up doing everything once.

I partnered up with a couple of guys (team of 3 since there was an add number of people in class) that are new to the gym, but in really good shape. We used 95# for the thrusters which was absolutely brutal in rounds 3-5 so I had to split up the set into 6 and 4 reps. I was hating the choice of weight during the WOD, but after it’s done I’m glad I used it. I think we finished 3rd out of all the teams in a time of 31:03.

50 thrusters, 50 burpees, and 1.25 miles of running is a pretty good way to start the weekend! Time to rush and get out to the golf course.

My hands are healing a little Only soreness…

My hands are healing a little. Only soreness I can remember this morning is that twitch in my right ass cheek again. Today was a double WOD day.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2 rounds
    • 15 Air Squats
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 5 Pull-ups (strict)
  • PVC Bergener Warm-up
  • PVC Jerk Transfer Skills

I wish we did more push-ups to build up that strength.

Strength
12:00, every minute on the minute

  • 1 Clean
  • 2 Split Jerks

I started out with 95# and ended up with 125# for the last 3 sets.

WOD #1
3m AMRAP

  • 5 Push Press
  • 10 KBS

I used 105# for the push press and 62# for the KBS and both were all I could handle at the end. I was able to do 3 rounds plus 1 more push press.

We took a 4 minute rest before going to the second WOD.

WOD #2
3m AMRAP

  • 5 Burpees
  • 10 Pull-ups

Because of my hands I had to do ring rows, which were challenging enough as it is. I finished 3 rounds plus 5 burpees and 3 more ring rows. You wouldn’t think a couple of 3 minute workouts would be that bad, but just like any other WOD, they really surprise you. My shoulders are already sore from all that work, so it’s a good thing tomorrow is a rest day.

For about the last week I’ve figured out…

For about the last week I’ve figured out a sleep schedule and have been sticking to it. I’m getting over 8 hours of sleep almost every night and it feels great. Sleep is the one thing I’ve never had on any type of schedule. I’ve always stayed up until whenever and got up when I needed to, but now I’m making myself get to bed around 11pm and I usually roll out of bed around 8am since I go to the 9am CrossFit class 4-5 days a week.

Since I started CrossFit over 3 months ago, I’ve lost 11 pounds and my body fat % has dropped 5 points. I’m now consistently weighing in just under 180 pounds with around 16.5% body fat. When I started a goal was to get to 175 pounds and I’ve had a goal for the last few years to see my abs. Those are still goals and I’m chipping away at them.

This morning my legs felt a little tired from the hike and walking 18 holes of golf. They quickly warmed up though. I should know better than to call a WOD “simple” as I did last night when I looked ahead.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 DU Practice
  • Should band stretches
  • 2x
    • 7 Burpees
    • 7 Pull-ups

I was hoping to get in some DU practice today so I was happy to see it in the warm-up. I had one decent streak of 12 or 13 in a row, but other than that it was a struggle to get 2 or 3 in a row. I think I need to go back to single-single-double for awhile because I had less than 60 DUs during the 5 minutes which is pathetic. I did strict pull-ups (not all 7 unbroken), except for the final one which needed a kip.

WOD
4 rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 10 Dips
  • 20 HR Push-ups

This doesn’t look bad when you see it on the board, but it was brutal on the arms. I started off trying ring dips for the first time ever. Those are tough! Having to keep your body steady adds a whole new element to a dip. In the first round I did all 10 dips on the rings. I can’t remember if I did all 10 in the 2nd round as well or if I split it up with doing dips on the rack. In the 3rd round I know I split with 5 dips on rings and 5 on the rack. Then in the 4th round I tried to do a ring dip and it wasn’t happening so I did all 10 on the rack.

This was the first time doing dips on a rack in CrossFit for me as well. I’ve done them that way years ago, but never in a WOD. After doing dips, my arms were shot and the hand release push-ups were a killer. I’d start off going 2 or 3 in a row but quickly had to do one at a time and I had to cheat a lot to even get pushed up.

The running didn’t bother me at all. I always seem to start out pretty fast in a first round run, but when we get inside and start on other things, I start falling behind people. I finished the WOD in 20:31. It was definitely a good way to start a Sunday. Now I’m off to play some golf before the Super Bowl starts.