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A PR Morning

Took a rest day yesterday and walked 18 holes of golf. Woke up today feeling more beat up than I should. In at 10am to test my deadlift.

Warm-up

3:00 Row

Olympic Lifting

Snatches

45# Position Work for 5:00
95# x 2
115# x 2
135# E30S 3:00
155#
165#
175# (PR)

My snatch is feeling really good lately. I was planning to do 135# for 5:00 but it was feeling good so I stopped and started bumping up the weight. That was a 10# PR. Looking forward to trying more.

Strength

Deadlift

185# x 8, rest 2
275# x 5, rest 2
325# x 3, rest 3
375# x 1, rest 3
425# x 1, rest 10
475# x 1 (PR), rest 12
500# x 1 (PR)

My old PR was 455# in April, so this was a big jump. The 425# lift hit me hard for some reason, even though I’ve pulled it for 3 several times before. I saw sweating and light-headed, so took a long rest before the 475# attempt. If Kevin and Matt weren’t there pushing me I was going to go for 485# or so next, so I’m glad they talked me into the 500# attempt.

Back to Survival Fitness at 5pm for a class.

Warm-up

30 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
30 PVC OHS

Strength

Front Squats

5 @ 115#
5 @ 145#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 185#
5 @ 185#

Kept it light and fast. Didn’t need any more heavy weights after the morning session.

10:00 EMOM

Odds: 5 Strict HSPU
Evens: 8 Box Jumps (32″)

The HSPU felt good today. Probably should have done a deficit, but I already put in a lot of work and had an idea of how bad the WOD was going to be, so I backed off a bit.

WOD

30 Hang Squat Cleans (95#)
30 Push-ups
30 Thrusters (95#)
30 T2B
30 OHS (95#)
30 Burpees
30 Shoulder to OH (95#)

The burpees were horrible. Slowest ever! Finished in 19:12.

Hotshots 19

Today we did the “Hotshots 19” Hero WOD.

6 Rounds

30 Air Squats
19 Power Cleans (95#)
7 Strict Pull-ups
400m Run

The Rx weight was 135# but I didn’t feel like destroying my body for the week and ruining any of my Oly progress I’ve made. 95# allowed me to keep a high intensity and still use decent form. I did all of the air squats unbroken, cleans as 11-8 (except the last round where I had a mental error and dropped the bar with 3 reps to go), and pull-ups as mostly 3-2-2. Finished in 32:41. Really glad I scaled it.

Heading to Vancouver

My abs are still a little sore, which tells me I’m not doing enough sit-ups. Next week I’m in Vancouver for work and it’ll be all running and body weight stuff, so I’ll make sure to get in a bunch. Trained at 3pm for a couple of hours. Hit the barbell hard since it’ll be a week without it.

Warm-up

1,000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 1 Week 3

5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
3 @ 110# (75%)
3 @ 125# (85%)
1+ @ 140# (95%)

Knocked out 5 reps on the last set for an estimated max of 163#, which is just under my 165# PR.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 2

I wanted to get in an extra squat session for the week so decided to just pick this even though I hadn’t done week 1.

5 @ 105# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
3 @ 160# (60% – warm)
3 @ 185# (70%)
3 @ 210# (80%)
3+ @ 240# (90%)

Trying to do a big set of front squats isn’t the easiest because it get’s really hard to breathe with the bar there for so long. I managed 6 reps, putting my estimated max at 287.5#, shy of my 295# PR. Felt good to get in some more squats for the week though.

Olympic Lifting

Trying to put a lot of time into snatches. Kevin’s help with some position stuff to work on meeting the bar with my hips and it’s really paying off.

Did about 10 minutes of position work with 45# on the training bar.

5:00 EMOM

3 Snatches (95#)

Rested for 5:00.

5:00 EMOM

2 Snatches (115#)

Felt great at 95#, so I wanted to see if I could keep it going with more weight. I was able to! I was getting such explosion behind some of them the bar got so high that I didn’t even have to drop under it and I ended up doing a power snatch. I did have one miss on the 2nd set, but stepped right up and ripped off two makes. I think I hit the hips on every rep in both EMOMs, which is probably more times hitting my hips than total before today. Need to keep doing this. Here’s one of the 115# lifts…

WOD

3 Rounds

150m Run
20 Pull-ups
5 Curtis P (95#)

Wore the gymnastics grips to protect my hand. Felt pretty good. I split pull-ups down to 14-6, 10-6-4, and 10-6-4. Definitely need to add in more high rep pull-up sets. Finished in 9:06.

300 FY

Legs are tired from the last couple of days.

Got on the Air Dyne around 9am. There is a test to see if you can do 300 calories in less than 10 minutes called 300 FY (“Fuck You”) and since I was already planning to do a steady 10:00 @ 76-78rpm I figured I’d give it a shot. I hit 299 calories early in the week without even trying.

I kept above 76rpm 99% of the time and even got up in the low 80s here and there. Totaled 319 calories and 3.9 miles.

Out in the garage around noon because it was raining out. I didn’t find out until yesterday that the garage was unlocked or I would have been lifting in there on the flat floor all week. Oh well, I guess I was preparing for the unknown.

Push Press

5 @ 95#
5 @ 105#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 145#
ME @ 165# (got 8)
3 x 10 @ 105#

They felt pretty solid today. Not much, if anything, left in the tank on the max effort set.

More Strength

5 Rounds NFT 135# (don’t drop the bar)

6 hang power cleans
4 front squats
8 back loaded walking lunges

Wow was I breathing hard after each round of this. Forgot how bad barbell complexes can be. I’d actually planned higher reps and some good mornings too but it was scary trying the first rep with my back so sweaty so I canceled them and adjusted everything.

4 Rounds NFT 53#KB

10/10 side bends
12 Goblet squats
10/10 single leg RDLs

When you concentrate on doing the side bends correctly they really burn! I don’t ever remember goblet squats being so easy.

Solid week of workouts on vacation and a great way to come back after being sick for two weeks. I’m just going to relax the rest of the day and then I head back home in the morning.

Vacation Monday

Does a vacation officially start before this first week day? I never work weekends anyway. Legs are feeling a little sluggish from yesterday. Went to bed at 10 because I was exhausted from all of the sun and 3 training sessions. Still have night sweats though.

Jumped on the AD2 just after 7am.

5:00 warmup
Reverse Tabata (8 rounds)
- 10s Sprint
- 20s Rest
5:00 cool down

My best calories for a regular Tabata was 77 and I got 107 here, which is another one in the books confirming the AD6 is much harder to rack up calories on. Nice workout for being so quick. I really like switching up interval periods. Hopefully it pays off.

Around noon I setup for the big training session of the day.

Warm-up

50m Run
50m Run backwards

20 Good Mornings (green)
20/20 band walk (red)
10 press band (red)
10 band pull aparts (red)

Strength

Shoulder Press

5 @ 75#
5 @ 85#
5 @ 95#
5 @ 105
5 @ 135
ME @ 145 (3)

WOD

A little max aerobic power (MAP) training in the hot sun. Object is to go at 80%. Three minutes of rest between each AMRAP.

3:00 AMRAP

135# Bear

3:00 AMRAP

10 Front Rack walking lunges 135#
8 OTB burpees

2 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

10 HR push-ups
15 Russian KBS 53#

3 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

6 OHS 95#
12 sit-ups

2+3

3:00 AMRAP

5 thruster 95#
10 sumo deadlift high pull 53#

2+12

Much harder than expected!

Back To It

Had an epic weekend attending the Central East Regionals in Columbus. I’ll have more to say in a few days. Went it at 5pm tonight and stayed after for some extra fun.

Warm-up

30 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
30 PVC OHS
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Butt Kicks
50 High Knees
50 Mountain Climbers

Strength

Back Squats!

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 225#
3 @ 255#
3 @ 275#
3 @ 285#

Felt solid today, especially after sitting in stadium seating and standing on concrete all weekend, plus about 10 hours of driving.

WOD

10 Rounds

2 Power Cleans (205#)
1 Push Jerk (205#)
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Air Squats

I didn’t rush myself on the cleans and jerks because I didn’t want to fail and I wanted to be able to put a little effort into technique while doing them. Started out hot with only 1:17 for the first round. Too fast. Finished in 21:07.

Finisher

Picked up a S-35E Rogue “E” Sled this weekend and put it to use today. Did some sled drags forward and backwards, starting with 135# loaded on and up to 180#. Then did some sled arm pulls.

It felt so good to workout after 3 rest days and eating all kinds of awesome food and desert and drinking plenty of beers.

A Do Work Saturday

We partied at the box last night for Casey, who is going away to be a Navy diver in just over a week. Went in to the 10am this morning.

Warm-up

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

Sit-ups
DU

First time in a year I didn’t bring my bag to the gym, so didn’t have my good rope and had to use one that was hanging on the wall, with about a foot of extra cable hanging off the one end. There was a screw-up with the clock anyway, so wouldn’t have been able to set a PR. These movements are actually in the wrong order as well.

Strength

12:00 EMOM

Odds: 8 Ring Rows
Evens: 8 Ring Dips

I’ve always been pretty terrible at ring rows, but I was able to get 8 for all 6 sets. Did all of my ring dips strict too.

WOD

4 Rounds

20 Sandbag Clean and Toss over Shoulder
10/10 Sledgehammers
150m OH Run (45# bumper)

Finished in 13:44. Had to stop about 2/3 of the way through each run because my shoulders were on fire. Other than that, didn’t stop on anything.

Finisher

Tire flips

Back at 3pm for some lifting.

Cleans

Clean + Hang Clean + High Hang Clean, with about 2:00 rest between sets. I used 115#, 125#, 135#, 145#, 155#, 165#, 175#, and 185#. ~~Last set was a new high for this complex.~~ (I’ve actually done this up to 195#, but that started at 135#. Only have done 175# with power cleans) Still not using wrist wraps or lifting shoes, and it’s actually feeling pretty good.

5:00 EMOM

2 Cleans (205#)

Rest 5 minutes.

5:00 EMOM

1 Clean (225#)

Rest 3 minutes

3:00 EMOM

1 Clean (235#)

Up until a week ago, my max clean was 230#, so it felt really good to get those rep at 235# after already having done so much cleaning.

Without thinking about how many front squats I had already done, I was going to do a 5×3 of back squats with 275#, but I got 2 reps in and had nothing in my legs, so I called it quits before I hurt myself.

Shoulder Press

5 @ 135#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 135#
5/5 @ 45# DB
5/5 @ 45# DB

The issue I’m having with a weak right arm on bench press is following me along to overhead. I switched up to DBs after the 3rd set to try to make sure each arm got work. It was a struggle to get 5 reps on the right side with the 45, but not much of an issue on the left. Weird.

Looking for More PRs

Kevin and I went to the gym at 1:00pm after classes to do some lifting. I warmed up with about a 300m run, some PVC pass-thrus, and stretching.

Cleans

2 @ 95#
2 @ 135#
2 @ 165#
1 @ 185#
1 @ 205#
1 @ 225#
1 @ 240# (PR)
F @ 250#
1 @ 250# (PR)

Hitting 240# was a 10# PR and was no problem. Then I psyched myself out on 250# and didn’t even try to get under it. Went again and nailed it, but had a pretty ugly first pull with my ass raising up a ton to start.

Bench Press

5 @ 45#
5 @ 95#
3 @ 135#
2 @ 185#
1 @ 205#
F @ 230#
F @ 230#

On both attempts at 230#, I had the bar moving good and then my right arm just hit the brakes. Weird. I can’t even get back to my 235# PR from last November. Disappointing.

Snatch

3 @ 45#
2 @ 95#
1 @ 115#
1 @ 135#
1 @ 145#
F @ 155#
F @ 155#

I should have shut it down earlier, but I was stubborn and wanted to go for it. Not trying to make excuses, but just wasn’t feeling it in the snatches at all today.

Max Test Week

Since the 6 week squat program ended last week, it’s a good week to do some max effort lifts. In at 10am with a bigger group of folks than we’ve had lately.

Warm-up

400m Run
PVC Pass-thrus
Hip flexor stretch

Strength

Back Squats

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
3 @ 225#
2 @ 275#
1 @ 300#
1 @ 320# (PR)
1 @ 315# (we messed up, thinking it was 325#)
1 @ 325# (PR)

That’s a 10# PR. I’ll take it. My ability to do more volume has really increased with the program too.

Weighted Pull-ups

5×3 E2M – I used 25#, 30#, 35#, 44#, and 49#.

OLY

I did 6 sets of 2 snatch deadlifts, using 185# with wrist straps. I really wanted to work on rising with my hips and back at the same time instead of my hips first like I tend to do in my Olympic lifts.

WOD

3 Rounds (Road Circuit, so keep a low heart rate)

1m Russian KBS (35# KB)
1m Jump Rope
1m Box Jumps, Step down (14″)
1m Air Dyne
1m Hang Clean & Press (25# DBs)
1m Ball Slams (15#)
1m Rest

Was supposed to be 5 rounds, but I was there long enough and suggested we cut it short.

From the Blocks

Went in at 10:30 to do some Olympic lifting work.

Warm-up

300m Run
PVC Pass-thrus
10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

OLY

Kevin had some of his jerk blocks in, so I used them to do hang snatches and cleans. It was great work and made some progress in reaching extension, especially in the snatch.

Snatch

I did a double at 95#, 2 singles at 95#, 2 singles at 105#, 6 singles at 115#, and 3 singles at 125#. Triple extension was feeling the best it ever has. Here’s a video of one of the 125# lifts. I get too high off the ground, but everything else is a big improvement.

I did 2 doubles at 135#, 3 doubles at 155#, and then 6 singles at 175#. Didn’t feel as good as the snatches, that’s for sure. I have a bigger tendency to cave my knees in on the clean and wasn’t getting the greatest hip extension. Here’s a lift at 175#.

Really took my time on the lifts and probably spent more than an hour working them. Need to do this more often.

Headed back around 6:30pm to open gym for some extra work.

Strength

Seated Good Mornings

5 @ 95#
5 @ 115#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 155#

Not so sure these were a good idea today, but oh well.

WOD

7:00 AMRAP

10 Push-ups
10 Pistols
10 T2B

Quick little metcon to throw in a few things we haven’t worked in over a week. The pistols were brutal, especially without wearing my OLY shoes. My quads were on fire after round 1. I finished 5 complete rounds and then got 6 push-ups.