Back to Classes

I’m hitting up classes again for a couple of weeks for a change of pace. Went to 9am today.

Warm-up

  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • PVC Snatch position work

Olympic Lifting

10:00 to work up to heavy power snatch for the day.

  • 45# – Position work and progressions
  • 95# x 3
  • 115# x 2
  • 125#
  • 135#
  • 145#
  • 155#

Felt damn good today. Took about 70% of that heavy power snatch for the following…

EMOM 10:00

  • 3 TnG Power Snatch (105#)
  • 3 Strict Chin-ups

Again felt solid on all 30 and didn’t have trouble with the chin-ups.

Strength

Did 5 x 105# and 3 x 185# back squats to get the muscle firing.

EMOM 10:00

  • Odds: 5 Back Squats @ ~80% (225# 235# 235# 245# 255#)
  • Evens: MAX DB Strict Press (45# DBs)

The back squats were tough, but I think my body responds better to this type of volume. Torso was pretty damn good today but could feel it drifting forward at the end. I did 10/10/8/6/5 on the presses. This was also really tough on the cardio.

WOD

8:00 AMRAP (Partner)

    • Prowler Sprint – 25m High, 25m Low (180#)
    • Weighted Plank (45#)

Keep switching between each with your partner. Not easy after the squats and you couldn’t catch your breath on the planks.

I stayed after and did 5:00 on the Air Dyne for a cool down and then 0.46 miles of sled drag with 115#.

Grace-Off

Last day of our group’s golf tournament this morning, so I walked 18 holes. With the humidity lately this has been fatiguing me more than expected. Went in around 7:30 for open gym.

Warm-up

3-4:00 of DU practice

I reeled off a nice streak of 71 right off the bat and then got a bunch in the 30s. I need to get better at being able to do long streaks when I lose some breath and I want to hit that 100 so bad!

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 2 Week 3

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 115# (75%)
  • 3 @ 130# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 145# (95%)

I went for it and couldn’t even get one rep. Wow. Took a minute to regroup but was only able to get 2 reps. What the fuck is going on with some of my lifts? Last week I did 6 @ 140# and now this bullshit? Puts my estimated max at 154.5#, well below my 165# PR.

Snatch Press

  • 10 @ 45#
  • 10 @ 75#
  • 10 @ 85#

WOD

Warmed up clean and jerks with 45# x 3, 95# x 3, 115# x 3, and 135# for one.

“Grace”

  • 30 C&J (135#)

I’ve been wanting to Rx this bitch for a long time. Brent came in to throwdown with me. My last “Grace” attempt was 125# back in November, which I did in 4:16. Only took me 3:03 today and I probably lost 10-15 seconds with the damn collars. Somewhere between 15 and 20 I was wondering why it was so hard to get my right arm up. I finally looked at the bar and the 45# bumper was nearly off the bar. Ugh!

Felt pretty good though, I stupidly dropped the bar after 3 reps because something just didn’t feel right and then I started doing singles after 9. I wasn’t resting between reps though, I was actually catching the bar on the bounce and resetting right away. Hanging on and controlling to the ground was just taking too much energy out of me and I knew I couldn’t sustain it. I was predicting a time around 3:00 the other day talking to Matt, so I’m pretty happy with that.

Finisher

3 Rounds NFT

  • 5 Strict Deficit HSPU (15# Bumpers)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 1:00 Air Dyne

The HSPU were a struggle to complete, but not surprising seeing how my shoulder press sucked today.

Quads on Fire

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf and then got one of those massive headaches from the sun and heat. It was in the 90s and I guess I didn’t drink enough water out there. So my garage gym still isn’t all set back up with the GHD yet. In at 10am this morning and feeling great after 9.5 hours of sleep.

Warm-up

1000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 105# (70%)
  • 3 @ 120# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 140# (90%)

I have a bit of the right elbow problem on shoulder presses too and that right elbow is also the one that gets sore after snatches or OHS most of the time. Hmmm. I got 6 reps @ 140# for an estimated max of 167.5#.

Deadlift – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 295# (70%)
  • 3 @ 335# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 375# (90%)

Crushed the deadlifts today with the day off yesterday. 10 reps for an estimated max of 499. BOOM!!

3 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, forward)
  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, backward)
  • 8 Chin-ups

I didn’t put the bar down on the lunges and my heart was racing after all 16 lunges.

WOD

5 4:00 Rounds

  • 6 T2B
  • 1:30 Air Dyne
  • Rest

I made a point not to go out too fast on the first round. Went 31-33-34-34-32 calories. I focused on keeping the speed at over 22mph. This is much worse than Air Dyne Hell because you hurt for longer.

Leg Day

Still sore in the legs from Tuesday and now sore in the core and upper body from yesterday. In at 10am.

Warm-up

  • PVC OHS and pass-thrus
  • 450m Run

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 2 Week 1

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 270# (65%)
  • 5 @ 315# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 355# (85%)

Felt really solid. Focusing on being more explosive with my legs and hip drive is helping a lot. I did 10 reps at 355# for an estimated max of 472#.

Did this following ladder after the snatches. Not for time. Go through once until failure and then start over from 1 and do it to failure again.

  • 1 Strict Chin-up, 2 Strict Ring Dips, 3 Sit-ups holding 10# plate behind head
  • 2-4-6
  • 3-6-9

I got 5 + 15 and 3 + 10.

OLY

Warmed up with 45# snatch position drills, wearing wrist straps, for 7-8 minutes.

E20S 2:00

  • 95# Snatch

3:00 Rest

E30S 3:00

  • 125# Snatch

3:00 Rest

EMOM 3:00

  • 135# Snatch

The 125# snatches felt really good. I started jumping forward a little on the 135# snatches though and wasn’t hitting quite as good on the hips. Better than I ever have hit though and it’s my first try at 135# so I might stick to this for the next session before going up another 10#.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Backwards Front Rack Walking Lunges (155#, no rack)
  • 10 OHS (75#)

Yuck! Those backwards lunges were brutal at 155# and I’m glad I didn’t go with 95# for the OHS. Originally thought about doing 5 rounds, but legs were thrashed from the deadlifts and snatches. Finished in 5:47.

Solo Session

My abs are sore from deadlifts and “Annie” on Tuesday, otherwise feeling good. Trained at 10am, but all alone today.

Warm-up

  • 600m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 115# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 220# (75%)
  • 3 @ 250# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 280# (95%)

Squats felt better than Saturday. Recovery is crucial and hit the legs way too much last week. I stopped after 3 reps at 280# because the last one was a slow rep and I didn’t want to push it with nobody else there to spot or help me if something happened. On that last set it was the first time I’ve ever felt my hamstrings engage like that. Pretty cool! The 3 @ 280# puts my estimated max at 307.5#, which is low but I’m ok with that for this week, considering the situation.

5 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Font Rack Walking Lunges (155#)
  • 5 RDLs (205#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups

Felt really good. On my chin-ups I really tried to accelerate during the 2nd half and got my chin way above the bar.

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Olympic Lifting

10:00 of Snatch Position Work with 45# training bar

It didn’t feel as good as yesterday overall, but I did get some really good hip pops in there. My timing seemed really off. Maybe it had to do with my legs being fatigued from the strength work.

WOD

4 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 2:00 Rest

Went all out on the first 500 and set a new PR with 1:34.4. Obviously couldn’t maintain that but kept consistent on the next 3 with 1:44.9, 1:45.5, and 1:44.6. I need more of this stuff because I was really dying. Jason Khalipa rowed a 6:31 2k in the Games and I couldn’t even hit that with two minutes of rest between each 500m.

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While tearing out a stump, the landscaping crew snapped an AT&T line that went right though the stump. So without Internet, I headed back to the box at 6pm for open gym. Warmed up with about 3:00 on the Air Dyne.

OHS

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 4 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • F @ 180#
  • F @ 180#

I was actually going to do 5 with 135# but lost it in the bottom of the last rep. I should have known right there it wasn’t going to be good. My abs are still wrecked from the deadlifts and “Annie” so I think that may have been a big part of it. This is 2 OHS sessions in a row that have been terrible though, with the last one being while I was still recovering from the Tough Mudder Crud.

Did a 1.02 mile sled drag with 115# in 26:14. Switched directions 3 times I think and took a minute or so to help Ellen strap up a sled.

5/3/1 Begins

Was up early and got back to Saginaw around 11am. In to the gym this afternoon with Kevin to train. I read 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd Edition) last week and loved it. Decided to start my first cycle of 5/3/1 today. Really looking forward to see how it works. I like having a program where I don’t have to guess what weights to lift; give me percentages and reps and I’ll do the work and trust the program.

Warm-up

I got a new, lighter/thinner cable for my Rx Jump Rope and tried it out as the warm-up for today. Got a streak of 73 in a row right off the bat. I was hitting the ground a lot with the cable though, which I haven’t been doing with the cable that is one step higher. This would prove to be a big difference when fatigued.

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 1 Week 1

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 205# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 245# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 265# (65%)
  • 5 @ 305# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 350# (85%)

I got 9 reps at 350 before stopping because my grip had been failing since the 5th rep and I could start to feel my low back giving out. Wendler says leave a little in the tank, so I did.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 7 Strict Chin-ups
  • Evens: Snatch Grip Deadlifts (135#)

I should have had the straps on right away, but didn’t until the 2nd round of snatch grip deadlifts. So I only got 4 in the first round, then 6 in the 2nd, and 8 in the last 3 rounds. Was really a struggle in the last two rounds of chin-ups. Working on the snatch grip deadlifts and hitting the hips hopefully will help me out with my full snatches.

WOD

30:00 AMRAP

  • 500m Row
  • 400m Run
  • 100 DU
  • 10 Ring Rows
  • 10 Ring Push-ups
  • 20 Air Squats

Figured we’d do a long WOD, which I haven’t done in at least a month. Kevin smoked me right out of the gate because he kicks my ass on the rower. I couldn’t catch back up. My DU kind of sucked and I think the new cable got me. Felt like it was hitting the ground so much it would either bounce up or lose shape. I could rarely recover from nicking it and I actually got whipped quite a few times, which hasn’t happened to me in who knows how long. Tried Kevin’s cable which looks to be 2 inches shorter after the WOD and I seemed to do better with it. So maybe with the lighter weight it just spins that much different that I need to chop off that much length. Or maybe I just need to get used to it.

Anyway…I finished 3 full rounds and was about 100m through the run in the 4th when the time ran out. I kept going though and completed everything in the round, so it was about a 35 or 36 minute AMRAP for me. 🙂 Had to split up every set of ring rows, but got all of the ring push-ups and air squats unbroken.

Playground as a Box

Drive over to Hinks School a little before 8am to beat the heat.

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For a warmup I did a 400m run, band pass-thrus, Band pull aparts, and band walks with a red band.

Then I was going to do a bunch of muscle-ups and try stringing 2 together. But on my first try at a double a had an awkward fall out forward and got scared to commit after that. Only managed to do 3 total MU. Just not my day for them.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Fat bar chin-ups (strict)
  • Evens: 10 Bar dips (feet on ground)

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“Brenton”
5 rounds

  • Bear crawl 100 feet
  • Standing broad-jump, 100 feet.
    Do three Burpees after every five broad-jumps.

Did this in a field next to the school and measured out 100 feet with a tape measure. Was starting to heat up so hurried to get it over with. Finished in 9:23, besting the 10:16 from a year ago. Big difference being able to go 100 feet straight Instead of looping back and forth on 25 feet. I only had to do 6 burpees each round.

This was the first WOD where I felt normal since the Tough Mudder.

Around 3pm I jumped on the Air Dyne for some intervals. Warmed up with 5:00 easy first. This is another form of MAP.

10 Rounds

  • 30s @ 90-95%
  • 30s @ 50%

At high intensity I was going 90+ rpm and 45-50 at low intensity. Racked up 286 calories and 3.5 miles.

After golfing 9 holes with Dad (we ride due to heat), I went out for a sled drag after 8pm. Only loaded 125# because the 10# bumpers were on the bar and I didn’t feel like messing with it. Went 0.58 miles in 17:03 with only a short water break at the turnaround point. Was much easier than a couple days ago.

Two and a Half Hours

Had a well-deserved rest day yesterday and walked 18 holes on the golf course, playing one of my best rounds ever. Went in at 2:30pm today for some open gym time.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • 3:00 DU
  • PVC Pass-thrus

XWOD

5:00 EMOM

  • 3 Hang Snatches (95#)

Working on speed of getting under it and warming up the CNS.

Olympic Lifting

Did the jerk footwork drill for a few minutes.

Split Jerks

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#

Again, working on speed and really driving down under the bar.

Then Casey and I decided to try out part of the lifting WOD from the team competition we’re doing next Sunday. We did an I go, you go for 5:00, increasing the weight by 10# each set for clean and jerks. Started at 135# and got up to 225# just under the time limit. No misses and had to change our own weight, so will be fun to see how fast we can get the girls done and then on to us. Maybe we can get up to the 250#, which is the max weight we’ll have for the workout. Will be fun!

Strength

  • Back Squats: 20 @ 225#
  • Pullovers: 2 x 20 @ 45# DB and 20 @ 60# DB

Little something from the Super Squats program. Pretty brutal taking a 10 rep weight and trying to go for 20. Was not easy and thought I was going to pass out on those squats.

Did some more DU, getting a streak of 73 before my rope hit the Air Dyne behind me! I wanted to get that 100.

WOD

Ladder, not for time. Go through once until failure and then start over from 1 and do it to failure again.

  • 1 Strict Chin-up, 2 Strict Ring Dips, 3 Sit-ups holding 10# plate
  • 2-4-6
  • 3-6-9

I got through the 5th round plus 6 chin-ups and 6 of the dips and then only got through round 3 plus 4 chin-ups and 6 dips. Not as intense an a normal metcon but great strength work and still got the heart pumping.

Solid 2.5 hours in the box. 🙂

What Do You Get When You Cross a Burpee With a Pull-up?

My lats are a bit sore from the C2B pull-ups earlier in the week and all of the upper body work we did yesterday. Went in for the 9am class this morning.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 30s PVC Pass-thrus
  • 30s PVC OHS

Strength

5×3 OHS

I missed out of the 5×5 last week because I was resting for the competition. It’s been awhile since I’ve done any overhead squatting, so I was excited for this. I warmed up with a set of 5 using just the 45# bar and then my working sets were at 85#, 95#, 105#, 125#, and 135#. That last set was pretty shaky, but I managed. I set my 1RM at 145# about a month ago, so it felt good to get in 3 reps at 135#.

WOD

100 Burpee Pull-ups (aka GI Jane)

This is harder than it looks. Not quite as cardio taxing as doing 100 straight burpees, but the jumping adds another dimension. The bar was at a height where I could grab on to it flat-footed. I’ve seen videos where they recommend using a bar that is 1 foot above your reach. We don’t have anything like that and that doesn’t sound like fun either. I finished in 9:50.

Finisher

5 Sets

  • 10 Quarter Get-ups (each side)
  • 90s Rest

I started off with the 44# KB in the first set, but barely got in all 10 reps on my left arm, so I dropped down to a 39# KB for the last 4 sets. I also knocked out 5 close grip dead hang chin-ups to work on some strength.