Tabata Thrusters

Really needed the rest day yesterday. Was up early do go play in a golf scramble. Kind of a shitty day since we had to use all of our rain gear. I was exhausted when I got home.

Got up early this morning, put on the weight vest and headed out for a brisk walk before eating or drinking anything. It was 3.06 miles in 44:05 with the additional 20# strapped to me.

Over to CFi at 12:30 to train with Kevin. Got started with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then did some warm-up sets of shoulder press with 5×45#, 5×95#, and 5×115#. Did a few single muscle-ups and some swinging on the rings too.

XWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Shoulder Press (127.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Muscle-ups
    • 2s: Kipping Muscle-ups
    • 1s: Weighted Kipping Muscle-up

First time trying a weighted muscle-up. Failed with 20#, then failed with 10#, and made it with 10# on the last one. Shoulder press was the biggest struggle I’ve had out of any day in the 2 cycles. I may have to reevaluate my plan for these last 3 days. I should have been fresh after the rest day yesterday, but even the muscle-ups felt sluggish in my shoulders.

Gymnastics

E30S 11:00

  • 3 C2B Pull-ups

Was planning to go for 4 every 30 seconds for 8:00 as a step up from 60 total reps doing 6 EMOM 10:00 last week, but after the XWOD I decided to adjust. Went the extra minute to get more volume in. Started doing butterfly chest-to-bar for the first time. Had a kipping one mixed in here and there, but was over 90% butterfly. I’ve never been able to string them together before today. Making GAINZ in many areas lately.

Experimenting

16:00 Tabata (32 Rounds)

  • 20s Thrusters (15#)
  • 10s Rest

Trying out something new. This was all about building an aerobic base for thrusters, which will continue to be built on. The goal is not to go balls to the wall, but slow, controlled, and consistent. I got 8 reps every round and went for it, getting 12 on the final round, which comes to a total of 260 thrusters! Not hard or terrible, but pretty boring. I’m a little worried how bad the DOMS is going to be.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 500m Row
  • 3 Rounds
    • 5 Snatches (95#)
    • 10 T2B
    • 15 Ring Push-ups

Pulled around 1:45-1:48 on the row. Did all TnG snatches, 5-5, 5-5, and 5-3-2 on T2B, 5-5-5, 6-5-4, and 6-5-4 on the ring push-ups. Finished in 7:13.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 20 GHD Sit-ups

All under 2 hours.

Narrow Grip

My left calf is still sore, I have some tightness in my low back and neck, and traps are definitely sore. Went out to the garage around 9:30.

30:00 Air Dyne (AD2) @ Z1

Went 11.52 km, keeping RPM between 45 and 50. After doing a little reading on zone 1 training, I’d been going a little hard previously.

Headed to workout with Kevin at 3:30. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then we did a little yoga to loosen up.

OHS

  • 5×45#
  • 3×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 3x60kg
  • 1x70kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x85kg
  • 1x90kg
  • 1x95kg
  • Fx100kg (PR attempt)
  • 5x2x60kg (narrow with pinkies on mark)

I don’t think I’ve done a heavy OHS in 2014. Could tell working up too. Made 95kg, which I’ll call 210# with the collars on. Just five pounds below my old PR, so I’ll take it for the day. I didn’t try the PR again because I could tell my low back wasn’t having it. Still tight. We dropped down and I figured I’d try them with a narrower grip. Not too bad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qhLVH7TUS0

Gymnastics

EMOM 10:00

  • 6 C2B Pull-ups

Up from 5 last week. Kept losing the kip after the 4th rep again, but tried a few things that helped it here and there. Still needs work.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 10 Weighted Pistols (26# KB)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Pistols were tough. Mostly broke them up into 6-4. I should have stuck to the 18# since today was the first time I’ve ever tried a weighted pistol. Did all of the KBS unbroken and finished in 10:30. After picking myself up off the ground I walked about 200m. Got home and put in a little more work.

30-20-10

  • Push-up
  • GHD Sit-up

Took me 4:41. Push-ups help up surprisingly well. The GHDs got horrible though.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap to call it a weekend.

Setting a Baseline

We didn’t get to do the Adventure Park in the trees yesterday because there was thunder in the area. Knees are feeling the squatting from cleans yesterday but already better than they felt last night. Headed over to CFi at noon. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

“Baseline”

  • 500m Row
  • 40 Air Squats
  • 30 Sit-ups
  • 20 Push-ups
  • 10 Pull-ups

I’ve always wanted to try this. Did the row in about 1:50 or slightly under and then unbroken on all of the movements to finish in 4:33. I need to work on faster air squats.

EMOM 10:00

  • 5 C2B Pull-ups

Had originally planned muscle-ups, but don’t work the chest to bar pull-ups enough. Did each round unbroken.

Snatch

  • 45# Position Work
  • 3×75# Muscle Snatch + OHS
  • 3×95# Power Snatch + OHS
  • 3×115# Snatch
  • 2×130# Snatch
  • E30S 10:00
    • 145# Power Snatch
    • 145# OHS

The every 30 second complex at the end got bad pretty early. After 4 I wanted to shorten it in half. Wouldn’t let myself though and made it all the way through. A lot of work on the wrists!

20:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Strict Ring Dips
  • 6 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 9 Weighted Step-ups/downs (40# sandbag)
  • 12 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 50m Sled Drag (25m down and back, 38# sled + 135#)

Wanted a longer workout where I could just keep moving. I wasn’t rushing anything, but kept everything unbroken. Finished 7 rounds plus 3 dips and 6 deadlifts. Walked about 400m after.

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Managed to get 14-13-13-14-13-13-13-14 on the reps.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap (blue/purple).

At night I did DDP YRG Below the Belt.

Double Sunday

Feeling good after yesterday. Went to the 11am class at Survival Fitness.

2 Rounds

  • 1:00 Plank
  • 1:00/1:00 Side Planks
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1:00 Dead Hang
  • 1:00 Bottom Squat Hold
  • 1:00 Jumping Jacks

I did a quick drop after 35 seconds of dead hang and jumped right back up to regrip. No need to rip my hands open with pull-ups and deadlifts planned for tonight.

20:00 Partner AMRAP

  • 12 Sit-ups
  • 12 SDLHP (53# KB)
  • 12 Squat Jumps
  • 6 Burpees
  • 250m Run

Partner 1 does all of the sit-ups, partner 2 does all of the SDLHP, and keep alternating each movement. Since partner 1 will be doing the run in the first round, the 2nd time through the movements will be switched for each person.

I paired up with Joe and we kept up a solid sprint pace. We were about 130m from finishing 8 rounds.

Over to CrossFit Intuition around 5:30 for another workout. Did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then figured it was a good time to try doing a “ninja get-up” since it’s been a long time and maybe the Explosive Seminar taught me a few things. Nailed it on the first try!

Clean & Jerks

  • 2x40kg
  • 2x60kg
  • 2x70kg
  • 1x75kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x90kg
  • 1x95kg
  • 1x100kg
  • 1x105kg
  • 1x115kg
  • 1x118kg (Clean PR, missed jerk)

Used all kilo plates in the Mid Michigan Barbell Club part of the gym, which is a first for me. It’s weird not knowing exactly how much is on the bar. I’ll call that a 260# clean I guess, for a 5# PR. I had the jerk locked out, but was probably a bit forward on me. I really need to work on getting under the bar after I extend, instead of extending some more.

XWOD

Warmed up shoulder press with 5×75# and 5×95#.

  • 8x4x120# Shoulder Press
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 Explosive Push-ups

For the 2s, we did clapping push-ups and for the 1s we did a plyo push-up from the ground on to four 45# bumper plates.

Conditioning

  • 3 Rounds
    • 5 C2B Pull-ups
    • 10 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 2 Rounds (same movements and reps)
  • 1:00 Rest
  • 1 Round (same movements and reps)

I wanted to make something short and fast, but still really intense. This worked out really well. I start losing my kip on C2B after 3 or 4 and was swinging all over the place a few times. I finished 3 rounds in 1:50, 2 rounds in 1:12, and 1 in 0:27, with a total time of 6:29 on the clock.

Did 4 sets of 10 reverse hypers with a green band on the GHD. Then I did Crossover Symmetry Recovery.

C2B and American KBS Back in Action

Surprisingly I’m not all that sore from the leg killer workout yesterday. I can feel some in my upper glutes, but my scaps are more sore than anything.

Warm-up

  • CS Activation (at home)
  • Shoulder Stretching
  • Arm Circles

Strength

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×95# wide grip
  • 3×95# close grip
  • Speed Bench w/30-35s rest
    • 3x3x135# wide grip
    • 2x3x135#
    • 3x3x135# close grip
  • 8×185# close grip

First time putting any significant weight on the bar for that set of 185# and it felt pretty good. No struggle with the weight.

Conditioning

  • 20 C2B Pull-ups
  • 30 American KBS (53# KB)
  • 40 SDHP (53# KB)
  • 50 DB Push Presses (35# DBs)
  • 20 C2D Push-ups
  • 30 American KBS
  • 500m Run
  • 20 Burpees
  • 30 V-ups
  • 15 Ring Dips
  • 50 DU
  • 20 C2B Pull-ups

First time doing C2B and American KBS. My kip kept turning into a swing after about 4 reps in that first set of 20 though. Scaled down the push presses from the Rx 45# since I’m still trying to take it a little easy, especially with adding back in 2 movements in one day. Got my 50 DU unbroken, which is sweet at that point in a workout. Finished in 21:34.

Went back at 8pm for barbell club. Did CS Activation again before leaving home.

45# Snatch Position Work

  • Snatch Deadlifts
  • Muscle Snatches
  • Snatch Presses

5:00 EMOM

  • 135# Snatch w/ 3s pause in the hole
  • 2 OHS

Was supposed to go 10:00 but my wrists couldn’t take it. Not used to holding weight overhead yet.

Power Snatches

  • 2×145#
  • F-1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×175#
  • 3x1x155#
  • 1-F-1-1×165#

Feet were getting too wide, which really sucks for squatting with it. After 175# figured it was more worthwhile to drop down and work on some fixes. Also allowed me to work on keeping my arms relaxed and try not to bend my elbows early. When I don’t pull early with my arms, the bar just flies up. I nearly lost a few reps behind me.

Grabbed the empty bar and did 5 OHS with a jerk grip. Lost some mobility with the time away from OH.

Tuesday Double

Got a good night’s sleep, but a little sore from the squats. Hit up the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 20 Arm Circles
  • 20 Traffic Lights
  • 20 Behind the neck band pull downs
  • 20 PVC pass-thrus
  • 20 PVC around the worlds
  • 10 Burpees

Strength

5×3 Shoulder Press @ 80-90%

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×125#
  • 3×130#
  • 3×135#
  • 2+1×140#
  • 3×135#

Fuck! My strength numbers are down so much. I couldn’t even get 3 in a row with 140 (racked the bar for a bit and knocked out a single for 3 total reps) and was planning to go for 3 at 145# on the last set. 😦

Olympic Lifting

Every 15s for 7:00

  • 2 Clean & Jerks (115#)

Felt pretty good on these, but the second half was a battle. Finished in 5-6 seconds each time. Good work on cycling.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 4:00 AMRAP
    • 10 Thrusters (95#)
    • 10 C2B Pull-ups
  • Rest 1:00

Terrible feeling workout. My main focus here was to work on butterfly C2B through the entire thing, especially fatigued. I think the biggest set I got was 5 with a lot of 2s and 3s, but I’ve never done more than 2 in a row before. Just a brutal workout after that 7:00 of C&J already had us gassed. I got 2+14, 1+16, and 1+18. My endurance in these short go-go-go workouts is pretty bad right now. I’m decent in the mid range and longer stuff or when there is work/rest built-in. Gotta keep grinding with 3.5 weeks until the Open.

Went back in at 7 to do another NCLab rowing workout since tomorrow is a rest day.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 300m Moderate
  • 200m Hard
  • 100m Easy
  • 300m Moderate
  • 200m Sprint
  • Rest 1:30

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)

Totals out to 6,600m, which is again a new longest row distance in a day for me, especially after I did another 1,000m at 2:20-2:30 to bring my heart rate down. This one was definitely harder than the one I did on Friday.

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 5 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Lifting on short rest so I can head out of town for New Year’s Eve. Out in the garage alone again at about 10am. I’m really missing the community aspect of CrossFit lately, but going to stick with this challenge, especially if it works out adding in some of my own conditioning work to the program.

I created a page for all of the details of my garage gym. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment there or using the contact page.

Warm-up

4 Rounds NFT

  • 3 Strict Pull-ups
  • 20s Handstand Hold

Muscle Clean

  • 2×105#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×125#
  • 2x2x135#

Snatch

  • 2×100#
  • 2×120#
  • 2×140#
  • 1×150#
  • 5x1x160#

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×180#
  • 1×190#
  • 5x1x205#

Even the jerks felt pretty good today! I’ve started using a timer for my rest between sets to try to speed things up. Was doing 60-90 seconds between snatch sets and 90-120 seconds between C&J sets. Got a nice sweat on by doing that and it should help out my conditioning too.

Clean Deadlift

  • 5x3x235#

I’m going to rest tomorrow, so today is WOD 1 from the program.

Skill/Strength

12:00 EMOM

  • Odds – 10 Pistols
  • Evens – 20s Hollow Rock Hold

Took the first round to find my balance with the pistols and I also realized if I hold my leg to the outside instead of straight out it’s better for balance. Was getting the 10 done in 18-20 seconds. Getting better at the hollow rock stuff because it wasn’t too bad with these.

Conditioning

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 Bar MU / 5 C2B Pull-ups / 7 Pull-ups
  • DU for remainder of each minute

I thought about doing C2B pull-ups, but just did 50 of them a few days ago. I need work to translate into bar muscle-ups, so I tried to do really high hip to bar pull-ups with a big hip pop and strong pull. I did 3 of those each round. I got at least a streak of 20 unbroken DU each minute, with streaks of 25 most minutes. Probably averaged about 35 total DU per round. This workout wasn’t complicated but it really got the heart racing and lungs burning.

I could definitely feel that I was on short rest from the workout about 13 hours ago. Might play some hoops today with my buddy

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 4 Day 5

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting.

Work continues on the garage gym. I put a Phillips screwdriver bit through my thumb today and made a nice canyon. Won’t be hook gripping anytime soon, so it’s good this last week was max week. All that’s left to do is hang up the dry erase board and some poster type things and then clean the garage because the dust from cutting is everywhere.

A lot of stuff to get done in the programming today so I split it up into two sessions. First session started out in the garage by myself before 2 and was done just after 3.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 DU Practice
  • 45# Clean Positions

Muscle Clean

  • 3×105#
  • 2x3x115#
  • 2x3x125#

Snatch

  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×150#
  • 1×160#
  • 3x1x170#

I made the first 170# with a save in the hole, but couldn’t pull out the last two. Shoulder area is pretty beat from building ladder storage last night. Hours of work overhead!

Clean

  • 2×125#
  • 2×150#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×200#
  • 1×215#
  • 3x1x225#

Felt pretty good considering I couldn’t hook grip. The programming had clean & jerks, but since I screwed up yesterday and with beat shoulders I made an executive decision to just go with cleans today.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 5 C2B Pull-ups

Did them on the rack and it wasn’t too bad. Had to adjust my kip so that I wouldn’t hit the ground with my feet. Did all rounds unbroken though. Still need to figure out butterfly chest to bar pull-ups before the Open.

Back out in the garage at 6pm for part 2.

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting.

Back Squat

  • 20×45#
  • 2×205#
  • 2×240#
  • 2×270#
  • 2×290#
  • 2x2x305#

5 Rounds

  • 5 Reverse Hypers (green band on GHD)
  • 5 GHD Sit-ups

Had to improvise since I don’t have a Reverse Hyper machine (I might make a ghetto one to fit on the rack). They were kind of cool with the band. You could hold a bit at the top and squeeze more.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Air Dyne (AD2)
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 5/5 One-arm KBS (not alternating, 53# KB)
  • 90s Rest

The AD wrecked me to the point where I couldn’t breathe enough to knock out the push-ups. Had to take a breathing break at 5 or 6 reps and they were slow reps. My rounds were 1:54, 2:08, 1:55. I went all out on the first round of AD, which killed me. Quads were burning early in the 2nd and 3rd round. It was programmed to be 250m rows, but all I have is an AD. 1:00 is longer than 250m rows would take, but I could use the extra work. Found out from this that my conditioning isn’t the greatest, so might have to mess around with adding some more here and there over the second half of the program.

Week 4 is done! Added 15# to my total so far, with a lot of room for improvement in the C&J.

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.

IMG_3865

IMG_3869The 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.