Today, the family headed up to the Upper Peninsula for the day. That’s why I had done the run early in the morning. I really didn’t plan on getting in a WOD, but we got back to the cottage before 9, so I figured I might as well take advantage of the daylight.
Warm-up
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Butt Kicks
50 High Knees
50 Mountain Climbers
WOD
10:00 AMRAP
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Cleans
6 Push Presses
I used a set of 50# DBs, which was much tougher than I expected. The hang cleans were brutal and the only part I couldn’t do unbroken. I finished 3 rounds plus 12 deadlifts and 9 cleans in the 10 minutes, but then did the extra 6 push presses as well.
Finisher
30 Weighted Step-ups (24″ and 50# DBs)
I didn’t do this for time because once in a while it’s nice not be thinking about the clock. Going this heavy and that high is much more about the strength element anyway. I alternated legs each rep and broke it down into 5 sets of 6 reps. I originally was going to go for 50 reps not knowing how hard it would be. I could really feel my back compensating in the last two sets so I pulled the plug at 30 reps before I hurt something. I had done Russian Step-ups quite some time ago, but believe I used 30# or 35# DBs. There was no way I was trying to add in the Russian element today with the 50s.
A new Paleo Challenge is starting today at Survival Fitness, but I’m not doing this one because I’m going on vacation, my body fat isn’t going to drop enough to be helpful to a team, and I don’t want to eat that strict anymore. I do still eat Paleo and am working out how to maintain my body composition, while also being able to build more muscle.
So we did a type of benchmark workout today.
Warm-up
50-40-30-20-10
Air Squats
Sit-ups
Time limit of 10 minutes and he said he didn’t want anyone to finish this. It’s just some movements to get the body ready for the WOD. I got through the 50s and 40s and did some of the 30 air squats.
WOD
10 Rounds (15:00 time cap)
15 Deadlifts (155#)
15 HR Push-ups
I was going to go with the Rx 185#, but Matt quickly talked me out of it when he showed that the top dawg in the gym barely finished this workout Rx. So I dropped down to 155# and I still didn’t get done. I was able to get in 9 full rounds as the buzzer went off on the clock, so had one round to go. That’s 135 reps of each, which is a ton of deadlifting.
On the board this WOD didn’t look too bad, but combined with the over 90 degree temperature and humidity it took a lot out of you. I know I’m going to be feeling it in my back for a few days.
We could have chosen a workout with 1-arm DB snatches, burpees, box jumps, and sprints, but I’m not going to have any barbell work for 10 days so I chose to do the deadlift WOD. I already have a DB snatch workout planned for the next week at some point. One more day at the gym before I’m outta here!
I should have taken a day off somewhere during the week. I just got home from Survival Fitness where I attended the 4:15p class and stayed another hour for open gym. I’m exhausted and could really tell towards the end of the 2 hours. Finally I forced myself to leave. At least I’m out-of-town for the weekend so I can’t get in any WODs. I think all of the squatting we did this week really took a toll on my body too. I’ve never gone 6 days in a row before and now I know why.
Warm-up
100 V-ups
Every minute on the minute, do 5 box jumps (24″), except to start the first minute.
We didn’t do many box jumps this week, so I was glad to see them here, even if it didn’t end up being very many. I think I finished in the 6th(?) minute, but don’t remember for sure.
As we were waiting for everyone to finish, I jumped on the bar and got my first muscle-up! Did it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Next up, the rings. I actually just got a set of the wood rings from Rogue Fitness to use while I’m vacationing for 10 days and then I can hang them in my garage when I get back.
WOD
EMOM: 4 Burpees (start with 4 right away)
50 PVC Front Squats
30 SDLHP (88# KB)
50 PVC OHS
30 1-arm Push Presses (each arm) (45# DB)
50 PVC Back Squats
30 Ring Rows
I finished in 17:28, so I did 68 burpees. Front squats with a PVC pipe were kind of weird because there was no weight there to keep the wrists in place and help the elbows get up. Oh yeah, 150 more squats for the week! I wanted to get in some heavy front or back squats at open gym, but not with how much squatting we had already done for the week.
Finisher
5 rounds
150m Sprint (rectangle in the parking lot)
2m Rest
My sprints were all 21-22 seconds, which is pretty good considering the corners are pretty scary running in the parking lot. I felt really good doing the sprints.
Open Gym
I did some deadlifting to start. The plan was to do a 5×5 after the light warm-up set.
10x 135#
5x 225#
5x 275#
5x 305#
1x 325#
I’m not sure what I was thinking when I increased the weight so much there. I had to set the bar down after the 3rd rep at 305# before knocking out the last two. Then at 325# I had to shut it down after one. I was starting to feel it in my back and got light-headed after I walked away from the bar. At least I got in some heavy deadlifting, but I should have been smarter about it.
Then Casey A. was doing some snatch balances, so I jumped in with him. We did some with the 45# bar and some with 65#. After that we did some squat snatches with 65# and 85#. I think I was doing 3-5 reps for a couple sets at each weight for both the snatch balance and the squat snatch.
My body is pretty sore from Friday even though I took yesterday off from the gym. I did walk 18 holes of golf in the tournament, which was exhausting enough out in the hot sun for close to 6 hours.
Warm-up
2 rounds
10 PVC Shoulder Shrug & Roll
10 PVC Shoulder Pass-thrus
10 PVC OHS
10 Plank Push-ups
Skill Warm-up
Hang Power Cleans
5x 45#
5x 65#
5x 85#
5x 105#
5x 115#
WOD
Score is total reps performed during 3 AMRAPs.
7:00 AMRAP
10 Hang Power Cleans (115#)
10 Burpees
2:00 Rest
5:00 AMRAP
7 Deadlifts (135#)
7 Ring Dips
1:00 Rest
1:00 AMRAP
Air Squats
I really liked this WOD because we got in some barbell work and switched things up with smaller time domains where you could go all out. We paired up and one person completed the entire WOD while the other person counted. Then we switched roles.
For the first AMRAP, I did 4 rounds plus 10 hang power cleans and 8 burpees. 135# is Rx for guys, but when I saw the WOD, I figured 115# would be a good weight for me. I was right. I had to break each round of cleans up into 2 or 3 sets after that first set. Burpees were all done unbroken. If it was full power cleans I think I would have tried 135# even though I would have been much slower.
In the second AMRAP, I did 5 rounds plus 4 deadlifts. The ring dips took the most time for me because I had to break them up into small sets pretty early on. I think I did the first round unbroken, but not after that. Deadlifts at 135# is pretty easy, but we stuck to a standard of everyone adding 20# to whatever weight they used for the cleans.
To finish things off I did 45 air squats. My endurance with the air squats is starting to get better, but is still nowhere near the top dogs in the gym. So my reps were 98, 74, and 45 for a 217 total.
I think I’ll probably go for a run later to finally test out the Nike Frees.
Update: It wasn’t too much later. I figured there was no point in showering more than I had to for the day so I rested a bit and then went out for the run. Went 3.6 miles in 28:55 and was able to keep an unbelievably steady pace, which never happens for me. According to RunKeeper, my mile splits were 8:05, 8:06, and 8:06. I picked up the pace at the end and averaged a 7:47 pace for the last 3/5 of a mile. The shoes felt really good for a first run and not being used to them.
Last night I went for a 3.65 mile brisk walk to break in the Nike Free shoes and just relax. This morning I had the first round of the Saginaw District Golf Association Invitational Tournament, so walked 18 holes on the course. I shot terrible!
Warm-up
8:00 AMRAP
10 PVC Shoulder Pass-thrus
40 Lateral Hops (20 each leg)
30s Plank
I have no idea how many rounds I did. Didn’t count since it was the warm-up and the pass-thrus are not something to rush through.
WOD
4 rounds
20 Pull-ups
30 KBS (53#)
40 Box Jumps (24″)
I finished in 21:50. I’ve really been struggling with my pull-ups lately, but they came back around today. I concentrated on really snapping my hips and pushing away from the bar at the top, which I’ve been forgetting to do. For the box jumps I rebounded off the floor on well over half of the reps.
Finisher
Death by Burpees
I finished off the round of 12 with over 30 seconds left in that minute and then Cari turned off the clock for the end of class. Not exactly sure why since it was open gym right after. Would have been nice to see how far I could get, but I guess I won’t complain about doing less burpees since I did 115 of them yesterday and that’s another 78 today.
Open Gym
First thing on my agenda was to set a deadlift PR. I did the following:
10x 135#
5x 225#
5x 265#
3x 305#
1x 335# (matching PR)
1x 355# (new PR)
FAIL at 365#
1x 365# (new PR)
BAM! That’s more that twice my body weight and a 30# PR. Hell yeah!
After that I worked on snatches for a while, doing some small sets with 85#, some small sets with 105#, and a few singles at 125#. Then I moved back down to 85# and worked on the squat snatch for a while. I have no idea how many sets or reps I did of any of this. I was more concerned with working on some technique.
I was going to start some work on butterfly pull-ups, but my hands were already pretty sore from the 80 pull-ups and deadlifting. With the 2nd round of the tournament tomorrow, I need to be able to swing a golf club. So I got out the prowler instead. Loaded it up with four 45# plates and did a 30 yard (?) high push followed by a low push back. Did that 5 times, with plenty of rest in between each down and back, before my legs just couldn’t do the low push anymore.
I was ready to head home, but Casey was doing some strict shoulder presses, so I jumped in with him.
3x 85#
3x 105#
3x 105#
3x 125#
3x 125#
1x 135#
I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was a 10# PR! Looking back at my posts, I had done 125# for 5 reps, but never more than that. I mistakenly thought I had done 145#, but it was the push press. (I had to update this section of the post 4 times because I kept getting the weights wrong)
I’m spent! I got to the box just after 4 for the 4:15 class and left open gym just before 7pm. Three hours of solid work. Tomorrow is going to be a rest day for sure.
Sometimes we’ll do a birthday WOD on or near someone’s birthday. Usually it has something to do with their name and their age. Last Thursday was Chase’s birthday, but he was out-of-town, so we “celebrated” today. For the 5:30 class it was 92 degrees with 40% humidity. I think the weather contributed to a smaller class size than usual especially since it looked like the 4:15 class only had a handful of folks as well. We had 6 people show up and only one was female, which is very rare for Survival Fitness. I bet membership is 2-1 in favor of the women, but I’m not complaining about that ratio. 🙂
Yesterday I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods to try on some Nike Free running shoes if they had any is a size 14. Luckily they had just the pair I was looking for. I tried on the 4.0 v2 and absolutely loved them. They are so light, minimal, and comfortable, without being too close to a true barefoot style running shoe. I didn’t buy them right away because I wanted to check around online for color options and better pricing. I couldn’t find anything I liked better than the black/gray or a better price, so I went back today and bought them. I’m looking forward to going out for a recovery run on my next rest day.
Warm-up
Tabata Box Jumps (24″)
Tabata Deadlifts (85#)
Tabata Wall Ball Sit-ups (20# MB)
Instead of a Tabata mash-up we did all 8 rounds at a station before moving on. The deadlifts were light, but for a warm-up I could actually feel them by the end. Wall ball sit-ups were something new and really worked the abs. I’m a fan of those!
WOD
27:00 AMRAP
Chest-to-deck Push-ups
Hanging Leg Raises
Aabove the head plate lunges (10#)
SDLHP (75#)
End each round with a 150m run
Do 27 reps of each, except the run. I completed 3 full rounds, 27 push-ups, 27 leg raises, 27 lunges, and 27 SDLHP for a 3+108 score. There were about 20 seconds left on the clock and I knew I couldn’t finish the run in that time so I didn’t even make the attempt. I sort of defeated myself with the SDLHP and I’m disappointed. I should have pushed through them harder to give myself enough time to finish the run. I beat myself before I even started the first rep. Ugh!
Was up early this morning to play a practice round in preparation for the Saginaw District Golf Tournament Qualifier, which is this Sunday. Yes, I knocked out the Armstrong push-ups bright and early to start my day.
My pair of Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 arrived today in time to use them for my workout. I’m very pleased with them as a CrossFit shoe.
I attended the 4:15 class and planned on staying after for open gym to work on a bunch of stuff and beat up my body.
Warm-up
100-75-50-25 Squats
50-40-30-20 HR Push-ups
I’m not sure you can really call this a warm-up, because it took longer than the WOD. I finished in 17:22.
WOD
21-15-9
Goblet Squats (88# KB)
Burpees
Pull-ups
Sit-ups
I went as heavy as I could for the goblet squats by using the largest KB in the gym and for each round I broke them up into 2 sets. They completely wiped me out for burpees, which I did extremely slow compared to my normal pace. My time was 12:45.
Finisher
Death by Box Jumps
1st minute: 2 box jumps
2nd minute: 4 box jumps
… increas by 2 each minute
Go big or go home right? I used the 32″ box for the first time, which wasn’t too bad. I just had to take my time a little more and make sure I got a good jump in. I made it up to the round of 14, which I finished a few seconds before the minute was over. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make 16 with such a short rest, so I shut it down there. Using the bigger boxes more often will make the 24″ box seem so easy.
After class I rested for a bit as some people started showing up for open gym.
WOD #2
Mini “Diane”
12-9-6
Deadlifts (225#)
HSPUs
I did strict HSPUs as long as I could, then added a kip, then added an AbMat, then added a kip with the AbMat. My time was 4:49. When I think how fast the elite men and women are doing a “Diane” compared to my mini, it’s sick. They’re in a different solar system.
Strength
Back Squats
3x 175#
3x 195#
3x 195#
3x 195#
I was feeling pretty beat after 250 air squats and the goblet squats, but it was nice to get in some moderate weight squatting for the week.
After that I decided to knock out my Armstrong Pull-ups for the day. It was 3 sets with a normal grip, 3 sets with a close (hands 0-4 inches apart) chin-up grip, and 3 sets with a wide grip. Each set was 3 reps with 60 seconds of rest in between sets. The pull-ups felt really good today.
Then I pulled out the jump rope and did some DUs. With the new rope it was nothing to knock out 10+ in a row on each attempt. It spins so effortlessly. Somehow somebody brought up muscle ups, so I tried a few on the bar. I almost had it a couple of times and I’m confident I can get it next time when I haven’t worked out for 2 hours already. 🙂
I’m fucking beat, but it was all worth it. Time to relax for the night. Tomorrow is CrossFit for Hope, which looks like a killer WOD. I’m looking forward to the snatches, which I haven’t done in quite some time.
No golf today due to rain, so I woke up early. I wanted to eat a small breakfast and hit the 9am class. First things first though, I knocked out my 3 maximum effort sets of push-ups for the Armstrong Pull-up Program. While doing these, I’m concentrating on keeping my elbows in close because I have the tendency to let my elbows fly out during push-ups. My sets today were 35, 32, and 30 with sufficient rest in between each set.
My legs are feeling a little sore from yesterday, but that’s good. I need to do more heavy squatting. I’m sure the wall balls have something to do with it as well. I really enjoyed this video, which looks back at Regionals. Check it out.
This morning I realized I’m starting my 8th month of CrossFit. Incredible! I’ve never stuck to a fitness program for more than 3 months, but now I can’t imagine my life without CrossFit. It has changed my life in so many great ways. I’m inspired by the people sweating next to me during each WOD. This community is something special. We’re all in the box to improve our lives and push our limits.
Warm-up
50-40-30-20-10 Air Squats
50 Mountain Climbers
I could really feel the air squats today.
WOD #1
100 Alternating 1-Arm DB Snatches
100 K2E
* Every minute there is a burpee buy-in (3-beginner, 4-intermediate, 5-advanced) before you can work on the reps. I went with 5 burpees for my buy-in. You can take a minute off from burpees and reps, but then you must work the next minute. All snatches must be completed before moving on to K2E. Time limit of 30 minutes.
Matt told me to grab the 60# DB, so I obeyed. 🙂 I never would have grabbed that one on my own, but I’m glad I did. The last time we did one-arm snatches I used a 40# DB! The 60 was tough, but rewarding and will make me stronger, which is exactly what I need. I started off going 2 minutes in a row to hit 20 reps, but quickly realized that wouldn’t last. I started taking every other minute off and was getting 10 reps during a working minute. Towards the end I pushed for 12 in one set, took the last minute off, and then worked 2 minutes in a row for the last 18 reps.
I hurried to put on one of the tape grips I had ready, but ran out of tape so couldn’t secure the second one to my left hard. Nothing ripped open, but I’ll have to keep an eye on it closer now. I was able to knock out 10 K2E in a row right off the bat, but it was all downhill from there. I worked a couple of minutes in a row here and there, but otherwise took minutes off. Near the end it was really a struggle to get my legs up. I was 10 reps shy of 100 before time ran out. Total score: 190 reps in 30:00, not even counting around 100 burpees.
I headed back to the box in the evening for open gym so I could do some deadlifts. While I was there I figured I’d do a quick WOD that wasn’t too stressful on the body.
Strength
5×5 Deadlifts
Warmed up with 10 reps at 135# and then 5 at 225#. Used 275# for all 5 working sets of 5 reps. Wasn’t planning to try to set any records today, especially with the state of my hands from hanging bar work. More than anything I just wanted to move some weight, so goal accomplished.
WOD #2
50-40-30-20-10
Sit-ups
Tuck Jumps
I ordered a Revolution Rope from Again Faster and was excited to use it today, but they sent the wrong jump rope; it’s a speed rope, which I already have. I was so bummed when I opened the package. Again Faster was quick to reply, telling me to keep the speed rope as a spare and the correct rope is on its way.
My plan was to do “Annie” even with my current speed rope, but I could not string together DUs while warming up, so I did tuck jumps instead. Finished in 8:28.
When I got home, it was time for the pull-up portion of the Armstrong Pull-up Program. Now I’m spent! I may be going crazy for working out so much, one day a week like this shouldn’t kill me should it? 🙂
Did you see the Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 launched today? I ordered a pair already because I had to send in my broken Inov-8s. I was just looking earlier this week for a pair of the Nano 1.0s, but couldn’t find them in my size, which is a 14. I had a feeling the new model would be coming soon since there was no restocking going on and the Games are right around the corner. I’m glad I didn’t have to wait too long. My first choice in color, the blue, doesn’t come in my size so I went with this grey pair. Good thing I acted fast because size 14 is no longer listed!
Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0
I’m so excited! I can’t wait for these to come in.
Even though I said I was only going to get on the scale once a week, I couldn’t help myself. I’m down another pound and a half to 173.5 and body fat is now at 15.1%, which is a 0.8% drop from Monday. My goal for the challenge is to hit 14%, which means I need to average less than 0.5% per week the rest of the way. Seems doable, but it gets tougher as your body fat gets lower. I’ve had some real cravings for sweets at night this week, so it’s a good thing I don’t have any in the house.
At the gym I did a quick test with the handheld device and it showed my body fat down to 10.8%, which is good news because I was skeptical of the initial 12.3% reading it gave on day one of the Paleo challenge and is what will be used for my scoring.
I took a well-needed rest day yesterday, but did get out and walk 18 holes of golf. On Thursday morning, while laying in bed, I came up with my workout for open gym time today. Here’s a screenshot of the note I made on my iPhone. As you can see, I made a few changes
Warm-up
2 rounds
150m Run
20 Band Walk Steps each direction
10 Band Presses after each 20 steps
10 KBS
I used a 53# KB and did American swings.
Strength
3-2-1-3-2-1 Deadlifts
MAX Strict Pull-ups
2m Rest
I did 2 warm-up sets of 5 reps each with 135# and 223#. For my working sets I did 285#, 305#, 315#, 305#, 320#, 335#. My previous 1RM was 315, so I broke that several times. I also set a new PR for strict pull-ups in a row with 9. I don’t remember what I got the rest of my sets.
WOD
“Karen”
150 Wall Balls
Karen is a bitch. I did it in 8:51, which is a 9 second PR, beating when I did it as part of Open Workout 12.4. I’m disappointed with that though. I started out with 25 reps in less than a minute and was at 50 in 2 minutes and change. From there I tried to do sets of 10. As I got past 100 it was less than sets of 10. Too much resting. I just need to push through the hurt.
Ab Finisher
4 Sets
MAX L-hang or L-sit
1-2m Rest
I started out on the bar for the first one, but my hands were not feeling the greatest from heavy deadlifts, so hanging on the bar wasn’t the greatest idea. I didn’t time these, but they were better than I’ve done them in the past.
Just Because
3 Sets
MAX HSPU
2-3m Rest
The few people who came in for open gym were messing around and talking, so since the classes worked on some HSPUs today I figured I’d get in a bit. Got 10 (PR) on the first set and then 8 and 6 I think. These have come a long way since I left Phoenix. I don’t think I was even doing any Rx there. Dropping some weight helps too!
That was fun. Got to work on a bunch of stuff today.
After not getting a ton of sleep for a few nights in a row, I finally got to bed early enough for a solid rest. My legs are sore from the 4 mile run and walking 18 holes of golf yesterday, so I went to a night class at 4:15p today.
Warm-up
5 rounds
20s Mountain Climbers
20s Air Squats (low and slow)
20s Inch Worm
A nice little warm-up to get the blood flowing.
WOD #1
5 rounds
21 KBS
15 HR Push-ups
9 T2B
I used a 55# KB for the swings. I’m starting to get a better kip with the T2B, but have a hard time getting it started without a big swing after the first rep. I think the max I could get in a row was 5 before my grip started to fail. I finished in 12:21.
WOD #2
50-40-30-20-10
Star Jumps
Sit-ups
Compared to jumping jacks, star jumps are on a completely different level. I was able to do all rounds of sit-ups unbroken. Finished in 8:16.
Strength
5×5 Deadlift
There was still time left in class, so some of us started on some deadlifts. We actually ended up doing 6 sets. The weights were 135#, 225#, 265#, 285#, 290#, and 300#. Felt pretty good, especially considering I set my 1 rep max at 315# a few weeks ago.
That may be the most work I’ve done in one workout, but I felt great today and absolutely killed it.
30 Weighted Step-ups (24″ and 50# DBs)
Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs 