Had my monthly Chiro appointment and then went to the gym. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.
Weightlifting
Snatch Balance + OHS
2x2x45#
2×75
2×95
115
135
155
175
185
195
Figured maybe these will help me get the bar back into the slot. I suck at them though and get scared when they get heavy. 185 went ok, but 195 was pretty much a push press, stop, and then squat it. Maybe I should just get to 175-185 and stay there until they get more and more comfortable.
Sprint
500m Row
Been over 6 months since I did one for time and my rowing and leg strength have improved a lot since then. Was holding a 1:20/500m pace for 250+ meters, then ran straight into a wall with under 150 meters left. The hot start allowed me to hold on for a 1.3 second PR with a time of 1:23.5.
Rested 10-15 minutes.
Conditioning
10 Rounds
2 Squat Cleans (185#)
6 GHD Sit-ups
Alex started out with me and we just swapped movements, which meant a few seconds of rest waiting for the GHD. His back was bothering him so he stopped in the 3rd round and I was able to move between the movements without resting. Did all of the cleans touch-n-go. Didn’t run a clock so no idea how long it took.
Surprisingly I felt fine after the 125 push press reps from the other night. Don’t sense any improvement in my left shoulder. Planned on going to 9am but woke up in the night with a headache, so I slept in. Got to the gym at 3:30 to get in the pull-up work before class.
Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 2 Day 3
Warm-up: 3 Rounds
10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
5/5 Bar Taps (tight/dynamic)
Substituted the bar taps in for wall walks and skin the cat due to my shoulder which doesn’t feel good with either of those.
Test Your Max
Max C2B Pull-ups
2:00 Rest
4 Sets
60% of Max set
2:00 Rest
I got 23 today, which is another PR by a rep! I actually had counted 24 when I did the set, but had video and it was only 23. Shit. So my drop sets were 14. I did the first set unbroken and then 10-1-1-1-1 for the other 3 sets. Didn’t realize it until after class, but I have a decent blister on my thumb and one on a palm.
Strength Accessory: 3 Sets
10 Strict T2B
20 GHD Heel Drives
Cut back to 3 so I’d have a little rest time before class and because I didn’t want to fatigue my back too much going into squats. It was a great warm-up actually.
Strength – Front Squat
6×45#
6×155
3×205
3×235
3×255
3×275
3×295
3×305
No issues; felt good.
Conditioning
10->1
Box Jump (24″)
Power Clean (115#)
S2OH (115#)
I switched to step-ups with the round of 8 and my back still got a little cramped up by the end. For every set through 5 I dropped the bar with 1 clean to go so I could finish it off going into the overheads which were all unbroken. At the round of 4 and below I didn’t put the bar down. Should have done that starting at 5 though. Did mostly push jerks but some push presses mixed in. Finished in 9:32.
Midline
Class was doing Tabata planks, so I usually go for a max hold. Didn’t have it today though due to my back being lit up. Stopped at 2:30 (hands).
Jason had the bright idea to try “Linda” today. Not sure why I agreed. I guess I’ve been on a benchmark kick lately and figured it was the final workout of the year. Made sure to load up on carbs last night, get to bed early, and even set my alarm so I’d get up and eat some oatmeal this morning before getting to the gym at 9.
Warm-up
Crossover Symmetry Activation
10 GHD Heel Drives
Bench Press
5×45#
5×115
3×165
3×195
Squat Clean
5×45#
3×95
3×135
3×145
Deadlift
5×45#
3×155
3×265
3×295
I wasn’t planning on doing cleans touch-n-go but something in my head got me doing them that way in the warm-up. Definitely put on the belt for the 295# deadlift and kept it on through the workout, usually loosening it during bench press so I could breath better.
“Linda”
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlift @ 1.5x bodyweight (315#)
Bench press @ 1x bodyweight (210#)
Clean (squat) @ 0.75x bodyweight (157.5#)
I started out 4-3-3 for the deadlift and bench press, then did combinations of as many threes and twos until the single at the end. I grabbed the bar for the cleans and did 3 tng to start then 7 singles. After that I didn’t do a single until the final rep. All threes and twos there though I did the set of 4 unbroken. With having to rest so much between bench press sets I had the lungs to string the cleans together. I’m not sure it was really any faster than singles because I’d take a nice little break between sets. There is a lot of resting in this workout. Finished in 31:42. I’m not looking forward to how my body is going to feel for the next few days.
The alternative name “Three Bars of Death” is much more fitting for this benchmark.
As long as that took, I think it took longer to get everything set, warm-up, and then clean-up took forever. Happy New Year!
My hands ached bad when I woke up. I wasn’t paying attention to walking down the steps because I was so focused on it and ended up falling on my ass and slid down 3 stairs. That woke me up! My legs were a little wobbly too. Didn’t think I did much yesterday.
Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.
Strength – Bench Press
5×45#
5×95
5×135
5×165
5×185
5×205
5×215
5×225
5×235
5×240
Really had no idea what to expect here. The chart we have said a 5RM for 270 would be 236, so this was about right for my 275. Not sure I could have got all 5 with another 5# on the bar.
Conditioning
“Klepto” – 4 Rounds
27 Box Jumps (24″)
20 Burpees
11 Squat Cleans (145#)
I jumped without rebounds in round 1. After doing the first 2 squat cleans, I could feel my back would never hold up with box jumps, so I did step-ups for the other 3 rounds. Burpees were the rest and just kept moving. Cleans were all singles, but back on the bar quick. Was through 2 rounds at exactly 9:00 and finished everything at 18:29.
Going to start going with shorter met-cons on Sunday going forward to build that intensity up. Should have a solid base after all of the rowing and the last month of long Sunday workouts.
Midline / Shoulders
50 reps – 1/4 Get-ups (53#)
Originally programmed Turkish, but legs were smoked from the workout and didn’t feel like standing up. Broke it up into 10 each arm and then 15 each arm.
My legs were surprisingly tired this morning. The squats I did yesterday were nothing crazy. Went to the gym at 10am.
Skill WOD Hustle & Flow Week 4 Day 2
Warm-up
3 sets
10 Pass-thrus
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Arch Ups
10 Narrow Grip OHS (45#)
10s Bottom of Dip Hold
10 Bridge Rocks
Skill
4 Sets
Freestanding HS Hold practice
16 Shoulder Taps (heels to wall)
20 Shotguns (Shoot to hollow)
Best week of the 4 for these shoulder taps. Didn’t fall off the wall once during the 4 sets. I think I figured out how to shift my hips better with the butt facing the wall.
Skill Test
3 Sets: 4 Deficit Strict HSPU (3.5″)
Lowered down from last week’s 4 inches so I could hopefully get 4 each set. Wasn’t easy but did it. I set the plates further from the wall after watching Spealler’s tips video this morning. Felt better that way.
Strength Accessory
3 sets
10 Seated DB Press (40# DBs)
10 Parallette Push-ups (feet on 16″ box)
30s GHD Hollow Hold
The presses have been pretty easy so I added 2 more reps this week. I guess I could have tried using 44# KBs. Also increased the box height under my feet. I really tried to get as low as possible in the bottom of those push-ups to feel the stretch.
5:00 AMRAP
1-2-3-4-5…
Burpees
HSPU
I had to have miscounted last week. I think I did the round of 4 twice because there is no way my score should have been that much of a decrease from the previous 2 weeks. Kipping felt much butter with the plates further from the wall. I finished the round of 6s and got 5 burpees, a PR by 6 total reps over the first week. First time Yes! Got a second wind after that success. I was pretty disappointed last week.
I am not sad to see the last day of this workout. Has been my least favorite of the 3.
Took a solid 30 minute rest, but did 10×45# and 5×95# hang power cleans to warm-up for…
Conditioning
“Nasty Girls” – 3 Rounds
50 Air Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
I’ve been wanting to try this one out for a long time. Since I’m heading out of town for a couple days today sounded like a great day for it. Get in a metcon involving a barbell and get in some muscle-ups with a full 2+ days to recover before the final workout of this Skill WOD cycle.
The air squats are so damn slow. Tried not to get my heart rate up too high going into the muscle-ups. I went 4-3, 4-2-1, and 4-2-1 on MU. Cleans were 5-5, 5-5, and 10. Took me 10:46. Next time I give this a go I’d try to speed up the 2nd and 3rd round of squats and I’d do all of the cleans unbroken for sure. I broke up those first two sets trying to save my pull a bit for the muscle-ups but with the long break during squats I don’t think it matters. I also think without having done an hour of handstand push-up work I’d be able to get the muscle-ups in 4-3 each round.
This video is a classic. The sport has come a long way.
Feeling a little sore in my shoulder areas from the lifting yesterday. Legs and back seem good though.
With the release of 2016 Games season we know it’s now 66 days until the first Open workout announcement. Long metcons this Sunday and text, then will probably transition into more skill based work and higher intensity conditioning pieces. Maybe I’ll bring back some of the thruster program.
Warm-up
Bottom Squat Hold
Shoulder Stretching
Strength / Weightlifting
25:00 to work up to a heavy set of the complex of a squat clean + thruster + push jerk. So that’s essentially 2 squats and 2 shoulder to overheads in there.
45#
95
2 sets 135
165
185
205
215
225
235
240
Had 245# in my mind going in to this. Having done a 250# thruster and a 255# push jerk before I’m pretty happy with the 240# with this combination. When I brought the bar back down into the front rack for the jerk on my last set I felt it a bit in my back.
Conditioning
“McGhee” – 30:00 AMRAP
5 Deadlifts (275#)
13 Push-ups
9 Box Jumps (24″)
I’d only done this once before. It was over 2.5 years ago and I got exactly 17 rounds. After feeling my back during the lifts I knew I wanted to wear the belt and figured it would help pace me a bit with having to loosen and tighten it each round. Worked out well. I did all of the deadlifts unbroken, went 5-4-4 on push-ups until the final round where I tried to go through them faster, and did all jumps on the box, but no rebounding. Had 10 rounds in just before the 15 minute mark and ended up with 19 rounds plus the deadlifts, push-ups, and 3 box jumps. Nearly kept the same pace in the 2nd half of the workout. It would make a huge difference if I could do the push-ups in 2 sets throughout.
Even got a little “Fran-lung” from this for about 30 minutes after. Back help up during the deadlifts and box jumps but I can tell it’s going to be sore and tight for the next couple of days.
Yesterday my hands ached from the ring work. Got a great night of sleep and felt good this morning.
Warm-up
Bottom Squat Hold
Shoulder Stretching
Power Cleans
5×45#
5×95#
3×135#
Conditioning
CrossFit Open Workout 11.5 – 20:00 AMRAP
5 Power Cleans (145#)
10 T2B
15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
There were only 2 Open workouts I haven’t done and this was one of them, so now only 11.4 is left to try. Did all singles on the cleans, toes to bar were 4-3-3 every round except an unbroken 7 to finish, and unbroken every round for wall balls (hurt). Saw that around 10 rounds was the 90th percentile on BTWB and was ahead of that pace through 5 rounds, but slowing down. Started to take some 5-10 second breathers in between movements through the second half of the workout, which cost me. Ended up with 9 rounds plus the cleans and 7 of the T2B. Probably could have gone 5-5 on the T2B and saved a lot of time. Grinder of a workout though.
Midline
6 Sets
4 Good Mornings
4 Evil Wheels
Did 2 sets with each weight of 145-155-165#. Tried out something new for the evil wheels and I liked it. Makes it more like the ab roller devices, adding a stability element since the plate wants to roll one to the sides a little.
Skill Conditioning
8 Rounds (Tabata)
20s Double Unders
10s Rest
Had 2 misses, but managed a new PR (by 6 reps) with 286 dubs. Three hundo should be possible if I can get rid of the misses.
Came back from Rogers City this afternoon so I could lift with Alex. Didn’t do much to warm-up other than some bottom squat hold.
Back Squat
10x20kg
5×70 (pauses)
5×100 (pauses)
3×110 (pauses)
3×120 (pauses)
3×130
3×140
3×150
3×155
Just a short second long pause in the hole on those early sets. Lifting kilos I don’t always know what I have on the bar. Quickly got up to the heaviest I’ve had on the bar in a long time. I haven’t had over 305# on my back since July when I did 340 for a single and then a week later tweaked my back during warm-ups. Been a long road back.
The triple at almost 342 pounds is about 3# shy of a 3RM PR. I’ve done 4×340# and 3×345#. I almost stopped after the triple at 150kg but figured I could make one more set with a small jump. Felt good. For a split second after that, I thought about doing some singles like Alex was doing, but I’ll save it for another day. Let my body adjust and build off today.
Split Jerks (behind the neck)
I’ve never really done any substantial weight with theses, but they felt really good once we got going. Bar goes up so smooth. I actually realized I could hold back on my drive because the bar was ending up crashing down on me when I put so much into it.
5x20kg
5×40
3×50
2×70
2×80
2×85
2x2x90
2×95
2×100
2×105
Hang Cleans
5x20kg
5×50
2×55
2×60
2×70
2×80
4x2x85
2×90
These are brutal on the thumbs when you use the Eleiko bar. When you bring the bar back down for the 2nd rep it feels like your thumbs are going to rip off. My second rep in the second set with 85 was rough, but I focused more on my technique and they felt solid after that.
Push Press
5x50kg
5×60
5×70
5×75
5×80
5×85
5×90
Pushed the gas pedal here. 198# on that last set is a PR for a set of 5. All the way up until that set I was taking one rep right into the next one. Surprised me actually after all that other work. Had been lifting 2 hours at this point.
Solid day! It’s a good push for me to lift with Alex.
My quads felt pretty smoked last night after the workout. In for the 9am class.
Warm-up
2×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
2 Rounds
15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Toe Touches
15s Hip Circles
Strength: Deadlift
10x20kg
6x70kg
3x110kg
3x130kg
8:00 EMOM
3x150kg
Conditioning
10:00 AMRAP
30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
20 Push-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans (115#)
Went 18-12 on wall balls, all sets of 5 for push-ups, and unbroken on the cleans. Went 24 unbroken wall balls at the end to finish with 3+24.
Midline
6 Sets
30s Weighted Plank
1:00 Rest
Used 45-70-70-90-90-100#.
Accessory
4 Sets
12 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)
6 Strict C2B Pull-ups
Planned to do 6 sets, but when I got into that 4th one my upper abs were burning way too much. I fought through them. Didn’t think the planks were that bad, but evidently combined with the other stuff it was some great work.
Today marks the 4 year anniversary since I started doing CrossFit. Changed my life!
Was up late playing Halo 5 last night. First time I’ve done that playing videos games in a few years. Made it for the 10am class. Weighed in before class for the challenge since the party is tonight. On my scale at home, I went from 16.3% to 13.4% body fat and 208.7 to 198.7 pounds. At the gym I think I went from 20% to 17.5%, but that’s with using it on the “normal” setting instead of “athlete” to make it consistent across the board for everyone.
I definitely feel a lot better and have said for a long time that 195-200 is a better weight for me to carry around. That body fat % still seems high though.
Warm-up
Bottom Squat Hold
Ring Hang Stretch
Good Mornings
Presses
OHS
Conditioning
5 Rounds
5 Hang Power Cleans (95#)
5 Front Squats (95#)
5 Push Presses (95#)
5 Back Squats (95#)
5 Burpees over the bar
Went unbroken and took a few breaths between sets that I probably didn’t need to. Finished in 6:39.
16:00 AMRAP
Partners share reps and run together.
40 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
20 Burpees
200m Run
Weston and I went sets of 10 wall balls and caught the person’s last throw off the way to save time. Went 5s on the burpees. we were in our 5th run when time ran out but finished with a solid pace on the last run, so probably about 16:20-16:30 or so.
Picked up Papa John’s on the way home from the gym. 🙂
Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs 