Clean Deadlift

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 8 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Trained solo at 10:30 out in the garage.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation

Muscle Snatch

3x3x95#

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
5x1x160

Rushed the 3rd rep of 160# and missed it.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
5x1x205#

Jerks felt solid today and I was still concentrating on vertical drive out of the dip.

5x2x285#

Felt strong with these today. Seemed like I was holding my back in a better position.

Good Mornings

5×135#
5×145#
5×155#
2x5x165#

Conditioning

15:00 Air Dyne (AD2) @ 55-60%

For me, that’s staying around 60-65rpm. Knocked out exactly 300 calories.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyo.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 7 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Since it’s a light week and it looks like next week might be MAX test week, I’m making a lot of adjustments to the program this week to prepare for some solid rest heading into Monday. Lifted by myself around 10:45.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
3 rounds
- 10s L-sit on parallettes
- 4 Turkish Get-ups (alternating, 53# KB)

Not sure I’ve ever done TGU that heavy and surely not for that many reps.

Snatch from Below Knee

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
5x1x160#

Went 2/5 with 160#. Ugh! It was too far forward or I wasn’t dropping under enough for the force I was putting on the bar. They were all plenty high enough, that’s for sure. I definitely rush more and concentrate less when I snatch alone. Need to fix that. I focused on the last rep and it was solid.

Clean from Below Knee

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
5x1x205#

Cleans felt good. I never really am in risk of missing, but for a few attempts in the program where I tried something new and was thinking too much. Goes to show much more I should be able to clean I hope.

Clean Deadlift

2x2x230#

Kind of odd to only do 2 sets of 2. Must be a reason for it though.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

30s Air Dyne (~80%, AD2)
30s Rest

I kept the RPM around 90. Went a full 1:00 on the last round and finished with 256 calories.

Did the Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap to end the session.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 6 Day 4

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Alex couldn’t make it today, so out in the garage by myself at 5.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation

Not much messing around today. Get right to that loaded bar!

Muscle Clean

3x#95
3x#105
3x#115
3x#125
3x#135

Snatch

2×100#
2×120#
2×140#
1×150#
5x1x160#

I think the activation helped open up my shoulders.

Clean & Jerk

2×135#
2×155#
2×180#
1×190#
5x1x205#

Hit myself on the chin with a jerk for the first time in ages. That’ll leave a mark. Other than that, jerks feel like they are improving a lot.

Clean Deadlift

5x2x290#

Dang that’s heavy for a clean deadlift.

Ended with Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

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 1

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. I skipped day 5 of week 3. After staining the new platform on Saturday night, I woke up with a headache yesterday. The fumes got from the garage and took over the entire house. My body was feeling pretty beat from all of the work on the garage too. Then when I saw the programming for week 4 (Max Test Week!), I was glad I’d taken the day off yesterday, so I could hit it hard today before heading up to my parents for a couple of days.

Out in the garage at 10am with Alex. First day using the new platform! Still a lot of cleanup and some organizing work, but should have everything done in the garage gym by the end of the week or weekend.

Warm-up

PVC work
Various stretching
Snatch 2×75#

Snatch

2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
1×150#
1×160#
1×170#

I made a comment to Alex that the 135# double felt heavy, so I stopped thinking after that and the lifts felt good. I’m excited for max snatching on Thursday after a couple relaxing days.

Clean & Jerk

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
1×200#
1×215#
1×225#
1×240#
1×255# (PR)
Fx265#

Was supposed to hit a PR match at 250#, but I asked myself what the point was and added another 5#. Glad I did too. Jerk was pretty ugly, landing with a flat back foot and not really dropping under the bar much, but I got it. Felt tired with the 265# even though it was probably plenty high enough. Decided to take the win and move along.

Back Squat

2×205#
2×240#
2×270#
2×290#
2x2x305#

Clean Deadlift

5x2x260#

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 2 Day 2

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

Thought I’d be feeling terrible after all of the 90% work yesterday, but I feel pretty good. In at 10am to lift.

Warm-up

I did a variety of stuff with an empty 45# bar, including muscle snatches, bottom squat snatch presses, snatch presses, and shoulder presses.

Split Press

4×120#
4×125#
4×130#
2x4x135#

Didn’t feel the strongest, but an overall improvement in load from last week.

Snatch

2×95#
2×115#
2×135#
1×145#
5x1x155#

This was the first lift at 155#. My bar path is improving. Still gets away too much after meeting the hips.

2013-12-11-snatch-155-bar_path

Clean & Jerk

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
5x1x205#

This was the first lift at 205#. Finally starting to come in from the start instead of the first move of the bar being away from the body and then in.

2013-12-11-clean-n-jerk-bar path

Clean Deadlift

5x2x235#

Felt pretty good with the lifts. Could tell I was a little fatigued, but not too bad. Back to 90% lifts tomorrow!

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 1 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. In the garage before noon by myself for lifting.

Warm-up

2:00 Air Dyne
5:00 Handstand Practice

I tried to do some free-standing handstands, which was not happening, so I did some handstand holds with my back towards the wall. After watching it on video, the attempts were pretty pathetic.

Power Snatch to Mats (Demo Video)

2×45#
2×75#
2×95#
4x2x115#

I cut up some luan and duct taped the edges. Worked pretty well. I have never had a problem moving my feet out, so I don’t think this drill really does much for me except give me more practice with the lifts.

Power Clean to Mats (Demo Video)

2×115#
2×135#
2×155#
4x2x175#

Cleans

2×125#
2×150#
2×175#
1×190#
5x1x200#

Clean Deadlifts (Demo Video)

5x3x230#

They are programming 2 optional CrossFit pieces per week, on the day before you take a rest day. That’s what the handstand work was for in the warm-up. I had some stuff to get done for work, so I rested and went to Survival Fitness at 8pm for open gym. Brent did the workout with me.

Conditioning

100 DU Buy-in
10 Rounds
- 200m Row
- 1:1 Rest
100 DU Cash-out

Cranked off 74 DU to start. I kind of ran into the wall in the middle rounds and couldn’t breathe. An hour after finishing I realized I was probably trying to keep it too close to my :30/:30 row pace, especially after the 100 DU buy-in. Didn’t think I could lose my conditioning that fast in just a week! I’m not sure how it calculated some of my rest periods as 45 seconds because they definitely were not that.

Earlier today I was questioning the need for a rest day tomorrow, but now I’m glad to have it. 🙂

Cleaning up My Plate

In at 10am with Matt. Have a headache today. Cleaning up my eating starting today and trying to get back down to 195# by December.

Warm-up

1,000m Row

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlifts

2 x 3 @ 115#
2 x 3 @ 145#
3 @ 165#

High Hang Power Cleans w/o dip

3 x 2 @ 135#
2 @ 145#
2 @ 165#

Power Cleans

2 x 2 @ 165#
2 x 2 @ 185#
2 @ 205#

Strength

Back Squats

5 @ 135#
5 @ 225#
5 @ 255#
5 @ 285#
5 @ 305#

That’s a 10# PR for my 5 rep squat. Last rep was a struggle.

5 Sets NFT

5 Snatch Presses in a squat hold (45-65-70-75-80#)
20 Sit-ups

Conditioning

E2M 20:00

30s Row

So basically 10x :30/:90. After hitting the start on each interval I tried to keep a 1:25 pace. Was able to stay pretty consistent throughout.

3 Position Clean Work

In at 10am with Kevin for some light work.

Warm-up

Shoulder Stretches
PVC Pass-thrus
2:00 Air Dyne

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlifts

45# to warm-up
3 x 3 @ 75#
2 x 3 @ 105#
2 x 3 @ 135#
3 @ 155#

Working hard to try and fix my positioning. Feels a little awkward at first and I could really feel the tightness in my back throughout the series. Kevin gave me a good cue for getting shoulders, back, and knees in a good power position. From the knee, I focus on bringing the shoulders back to neutral and the knees and hips naturally move into the correct position to offset my center of gravity. It’s not glamorous or exciting work, but it should pay off big time. Here are some videos…

Strength

Tricep Band Press-downs

5 x 10 (Green band)

Front Squats

Focused on speed, explode up!

5 @ 45#
5 @ 95#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 185#
5 @ 215#

3 Hours Bro

Over to Kevin’s garage for a 3 hour training session tonight.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

OLY

3 Position Halting Clean Deadlift

2 x 3 @ 135#
3 @ 155#

High Hang Cleans (Power Position, no dip)

5 x 2 @ 135#

These two position pieces really helped my feel. My cleans have felt pretty terrible lately. Even my setup position is feeling better after forcing myself to stay over the bar, but get in a more upright position.

Warmed up the shoulders with 5 x 45# shoulder press, 5 x 45# BTN press, and 5 x 45# split jerks.

Power Clean & Jerk

2 @ 135#
5 x 1 @ 155#
5 x 1 @ 185#

Tried not to go 100% on the jerks because they felt terrible when I did and I don’t need to at these weights. Also worked on slowing down the first pull and pushing the knees out instead of having them cave in on me after the bar gets by them.

Push Presses

3 @ 155#
3 @ 165#
3 @ 175#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 190#
3 @ 195#
3 @ 200#
3 @ 205#

That’s a 20# PR on my 3RM and just 10# under the max I set about 5 weeks ago.

Gymnastics

Alternating Tabata (4 each)

Hollow Rocks
Pull-ups

Did 16-13-12-10 on the pull-ups. Didn’t drop from the bar in the first 2 rounds.

WOD

3 Rounds, Follow the leader style

500m Row
21 KBS (53#)

So we got some rest after completing the KBS each round. Pulled about a 1:46 pace for each 500 and all of the swings were unbroken.