Tag: deadlift

Finally Satisfied

I’m pretty sure I displaced a rip in my back yesterday during the lifts. It’s not extremely painful or anything, but uncomfortable. Went in at 12 with the crew.

Warm-up

  • Shoulder Stretching
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 5 Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 OHS (45#)
  • 5 Squat Snatch (75#)

E3M – 6 Sets

  • 5 Squat Snatch (95#)
  • 8 Strict HSPU

I didn’t go heavy knowing what was coming next and figured it would allow me to push a higher rep count on the handstand push-ups. Picked a good number for those as each set took a bit longer, though all unbroken.

Conditioning

Warmed up with 6-4-2 @ 95#, 3-2-1 @ 115#, and 3-2-1 @ 135#.

“DT” – 5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 9 Hang Power Cleans (155#)
  • 6 S2OH (155#)

A hero workout I’ve always been disappointed with. Since it’s on the heavier side I expect to be capable of a decent time. After my recent thruster experiment in 17.5, I decided to try a new DT strategy today. Take more breaks to prevent the long breaks. I also was going to go lower on my hang cleans since it worked out well when we did the DT Chipper during Open prep workouts. I taped up my thumbs, strapped on my belt, and was ready to grind away.

Started out 6-5 deadlifts, then 1 deadlift and 4 cleans, 4 cleans, and finally 1 clean with the push jerks. Dropped the bar at 1:16. Oh boy! Seemed fast but I felt ok. Breaks were naturally longer after that and it was about 3:05 when I finished the 2nd round. I stuck to the same rep scheme and it was working well. Third round was done just under 5:00 and 4th around 7:00 I think. After dropping the bar I picked it right back up without rest to get in the 6 deadlifts. I think I still took a break after 5 more. But then I went 5 cleans instead of 4. To finish it off I went straight through the final 4 cleans and the push jerks. Finished at 8:36 for a 1:26 PR!! Finally something I’m happy with. It ranks at a level 93 on BTWB.

Midline

E2M – 5 Sets

  • 10 Crab Sliders

I skipped out on some curls and dips everyone was doing since I get enough of that in the Push Only program.

Where’s The Rest?

I spoke too soon when writing my post yesterday. A few hours later I started to feel my hips, ass, hamstrings, and quads getting sore. I knew it had to be coming after squatting some weight for the first time in weeks. Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

  • 1:00 Kang Squats (15#)
  • 1:00 Sit-ups
  • 1:00 Row
  • Deadlift
    • 8×45#
    • 8×155
    • 8×225

Strength & Gymnastics

12:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 8 Deadlifts (245#)
  • 12 T2B

Wore grips (good to know they were fine with the deadlifts too) and did all sets unbroken. Tried to remember to keep eyes on the wall instead of looking up to the bar on each rep. Also tried to keep straight legs as much as possible. Was programmed as only 6 T2B but that would have been way too easy. Almost started to fail at the end so the 12 worked out great.

Accessory – 5 Sets

  • 8 Pendlay Row (95#)
  • 10 HR Push-ups

I mentioned to Weston, “We need more rest time. I’m not used to this class workout stuff.”

Conditioning

14:00 AMRAP

  • 40 Hand-to-hand Kettlebell Swings (44#)
  • 30 Ball Slams (20#)
  • 20 Goblet Squats (44#)
  • 20 Sit-ups
  • 10 Walking Lunges

I did Russian swings in the first round but my hands were rubbing on the narrower handle so decided to switch to the H2H swings. Did every movement unbroken. Finished the sit-ups in the 3rd round. If I had done standing lunges I probably would have finished.

Late Night

E2M – 7 Sets

  • 15 HR Push-ups

Decided to bust out some more push-ups while watching videos.

A Little Load

Damn my abs are sore today from those knee raises! Back is a little tight too. Went to the 5:30 class and tried adding a little loading.

Warm-up – 3 Sets

  • 8 Toe Touches
  • 8 Strict Pull-ups
  • 8 Burpees

Strength

Double Kettlebell Deadlifts

  • 2×10 with 35# KBs
  • 2×10 with 44# KBs
  • 2×10 with 53# KBs

I wasn’t going to try doing deadlifts with the bar so this was good to get in some reps.

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Bear Complex (45#)
  • 18 Wall Ball (14#, 10′)
  • 8 Step-ups (24″)

Was thinking of substituting something but after I picked up the bar it felt fine so I went with it. Going light on wall balls is always nice. I did everything unbroken and quickly moved from one movement to the next. Finished 6 rounds, the bears, and 16 wall balls.

Quick Redo

My ass has been sore from the 55 deadlifts and my shoulders have been a bit fatigued. Had some plans to get through the wall balls quicker by doing 15-15-15-10 and not be a pussy on the rower for the redo of 17.4

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • Shoulder stretching
  • 2×10 Heel Drives
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 2x5x135
    • 5×185
    • 2x3x225
    • 3×245

Well, I did my first set of 5 reps and then tweaked my back when I picked up the bar for my next set. Shortest Open workout ever! 😦 Glad my first attempt was a PR.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 10×95
  • 8×125
  • 6×155
  • 4×185
  • 4×215
  • 4×235
  • 3×255 (PR)

Figured I could still bench since it doesn’t require moving my back. Had to gingerly lay on the bench each time. Didn’t realize it, but that was a 15# PR for a triple! Maybe I’ll do a bunch cycle or two after the Open and try to get to 300.

Conditioning

“300 FY” – 10:00 AMRAP

  • AirDyne Calories

Been a long time since I’ve tested this. Wanted to breathe hard in something since I didn’t workout yesterday and who knows how much I’ll be able to do over the next few days with this damn back. I started out at a much better pace than my previous PR and did well at holding above 80 RPMs, then picked it up in the last 60-90 seconds. Ended up with 357 calories (AD2 model), which is only 1 calorie under my best. Seemed much easier than my previous attempts.

17.4 is 16.4

This week I remembered to check the leaderboard after score validations closed. Even though I didn’t improve on my redo, 17.3 may have been my best placing ever in an Open workout. After a weak 17.1, I’ve been able to make a nice climb up the overall leaderboards with the last two workouts.

17.3 Results

  • Open Division: 19,602/167,143 (11.7%)
  • Masters 35-39 Division: 2,268/31,768 (7.1%)

Overall Placing After 3 Weeks

  • Open Division: 26,201/201,248 (13%)
  • Masters 35-39 Division: 3,282/36,980 (8.9%)

*I only count athletes who have submitted at least one score.

Many people were predicting 16.4 as the repeat workout for this year. Since it was my best workout from the 2016 Open I was happy to see Castro select it. We’ve been working a lot on HSPU and I recently improved my score on 15.4 by 9 reps, so I wanted to do a retest on this one. Even last year I felt I left some reps on the table by pacing too much.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Airdyne
  • 2×10 Heel Drives
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 5×135
    • 5×185
    • 3×225
    • 2x3x275
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Shoulder stretching

CrossFit Open Workout 17.4

13:00 AMRAP

  • 55 Deadlifts (225#)
  • 55 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 55 Row (calories)
  • 55 Handstand Push-ups

Last year I scored 192 reps, which is 27 HSPU after finishing the row at 8:34. Little bit of a strategy change this year…

  • Deadlift: 11 sets of 5 with short rests (count to 2 or 3 and go)
  • Wall Balls: 5 sets of 11 with about 10 second rests (I count to 8 and get going)
  • Row: 1,100-1,200 cal/hr
  • Handstand Push-ups: Sets of 3 with 10-15 second rests

Rests may have gotten a bit longer at the end of deadlifts, but wall balls were on pace. I needed to push on the rower as I was just under 1,000 cal/hr most of the way, which is not good. I picked it up for the last 10+ calories. Again like last year, I decided to camp out on the seat for probably a good 20-30 seconds before getting up. So much wasted time when I could have knocked out at least a set on the wall. For some dumb reason I decided to set the damper over 6, which I never row at. I usually am in the low 5 area, so not sure if that was enough to make any kind of difference.

I was done with deadlifts at 2:27, wall balls at 5:18, and rowing at 8:47. There weren’t tiebreakers except for finishing the row last year, so I only know that I was 13 seconds slower this year. Not good. 😦 When I finally got up on the wall I was having no problem with triples. Somewhere under 90 seconds I decided to do a set of 4 and it came back to bite me when I got 2 no-reps in the final minute. I didn’t have to do doubles until at the end. Even though I had less time this year, I still set a PR by 5 reps with 32 of the HSPU for a score of 197.

17-4.jpg

Deadlift Wednesday

Went to the Chiro at 5. Scheduled it after 3 weeks since it’s the Open. Will go back to about every 5 weeks now.

Warm-up

  • 2×10 RH Heel Drives
  • Dead Hang (feet on ground)

Deadlift

Supposed to be 4×4 @ 90%. Not a chance.

  • 12×45#
  • 8×155
  • 6×265
  • 4×315
  • 4×345
  • 4×375
  • 2x4x405

Conditioning

E3M – 5 Sets

  • 10 Burpees Over the Rower
  • 20 cal Row

Was supposed to be 20 cals of Assault Bike, so we threw in some burpees to get tired for the row. My first and last round were both 1:15 and the other 3 were 1:24 or better.

Chipper

  • 20 Deadlifts (275#)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 KBS (70#)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 Burpees
  • 50 DU
  • 20 C2B Pull-ups
  • 50 DU
  • 20 Box Jumps (24”)
  • 50 DU
  • 20 DB Full Cleans (50#)
  • 50 DU

Was programmed with 400m runs and I originally had the idea to do 100 DU. We decided to go with 50 instead and it was a good call since it still took me 18:01 to finish. Bryan and I shared a bar for the deadlifts and alternated every 5 reps. I did 10-10 on the KBS and 10-5-5 butterfly chest-to-bar pull-ups. When I got to the cleans he was 10 reps in so we alternated 5 reps each until he was done and then I took another rest before my final set of 5. I missed 2 dubs in round 1, got the next 3 sets unbroken and then started missing a lot in the final 2 sets after the movements that blew up my legs.

Deadlift Day

Scores are still rolling in, but the redo jumped me over 5,000 spots out of 40,000+ men in the Masters 35-39 division and much more in the Open division. My body feels so much better after that second attempt than it did after the first one.

Warm-up

  • DU
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Deadlift

Work up to 5×5 @ 75%.

  • 10×45#
  • 10×155
  • 5x2455x295
  • 5x5x325

I hadn’t done the heavy deadlifts in a few weeks after tweaking my back, so instead of going up to the prescribed 385# I stayed with the boys and did an easy 325.

Conditioning

20:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 12 cal Row
  • 15 Push-ups

Boring! Felt good though. I was keeping my cal/hr over 1,800 and pushed some rounds over 2k and even 2,200. Push-ups felt great and did every set unbroken.

For time:

  • 30 Deadlift (225#)
  • 120 DU
  • 500m Row

Adjusted from 40 cal Assault Bike and 500m run. Did 15-15 on the deadlifts and had a burn down my back side in the final 5 reps like doing those 20RM. Struggled to get going on the dubs but eventually found a rhythm. Bryan got ahead of me there and I tried to catch him on the rower by pulling a sub 1:40 pace. Finished in 4:55.

Should be nice and rested to hit 17.2 on Friday.

Ready

Quick chiro appointment before the gym.

Warm-up

  • 5 Strict Pull-ups
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 5 Strict Pull-ups
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups
  • 20 Air Squats
  • DB Squat Snatches
    • 25-35-45-50# (1 or 2 each arm at each weight)

Figured I should at least try some squat snatches. First couple felt weird because I’d never done one before. Much easier than I expected them to be. Wouldn’t mind seeing those in the Open considering how many people will have a problem doing them. Doubt Castro would pick them though.

Skipped out on 3×3 deadlifts @ 85% because I don’t want to aggravate my back going into week 1. So I did a little benching until the guys were done.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95
  • 3×135
  • 3×165
  • 3×195
  • 3×225

I started pausing each rep either with 95 or 135.

Conditioning

20:00 E2M (alt)

  • 50 DU
  • 20 Weighted Step-ups (2×20# DBs, 24″)

Missed after 44 dubs in the first set, but got the other 4 sets unbroken. Weighted step-ups were taking about 55 seconds. I really like this aerobic work each week.

3 Rounds

  • 10 Deadlifts (225#)
  • 20 Toes to Rings
  • 30 cal Row

Scaled back the deadlifts from 275# and made it my goal to go unbroken each round, which I did. Used the rings instead of bar for T2B to save my hands and switch it up. Was able to do 2 sets of 10 every round. Such a difference from the bar. Tried to keep around 1,200 cal/hr on the rower in the first 2 rounds and then picked it up in the 3rd. Finished in 10:45.

Bring on the Open!

Hero Chipper

Was not looking forward to this session, which had a version of one of my least favorite workouts.

Warm-up – 3 Rounds

  • 9 Strict HSPU
  • 12 T2B
  • 15 Air Squats

Handstand push-ups are feeling so much better, its unreal. Just a few weeks ago I was dying out doing 3×5 strict. I skipped out on the deadlift work today to let my back rest some more so I did my own thing for the warm-up and then some bench. I’ve definitely gotten used to the extra grip on the bar for toes-to-bars using my chalked up grips. I was falling off after 4 reps today when I wasn’t wearing them! Did all sets unbroken though by regripping through each set.

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 2x5x95
  • 5×135
  • 5×165
  • 5×185
  • 5×205
  • 2x5x225
  • 5×235

If I had known that was only 5 pounds shy of matching my PR for 5 I would have gone for 245.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 1:00
    • 10 cal Row
    • Max bar-facing Burpees
  • 1:00 Rest

Turned out not to be ad bad as expected. The minute of rest was really nice. I did 12-9-8-8-8-9-9-9-10-11 burpees. So many burpees lately; another 93 today.

“Chipper DT”

Ugh!! I do not do well with “DT” so was not excited to see this come up. The hang power cleans always trip me up so I was afraid of what 45 in a row would feel like.

  • 60 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 45 Hang Power Cleans
  • 30 S2OH

I did 15-15-10 and then 3 more sets (of what, I don’t remember) to finish the deadlifts. My hamstrings and low back were pretty fired up at that point. I had no idea what to try for the cleans so I experimented for my first few sets. I quickly realized that taking the bar down and bouncing it off my legs just above my knee used less explosive energy than trying to stay more upright and bounce it high off my legs. I think I mostly did sets of 4 or 5. The cleans were still the worst part but seemed much easier than even having to do the 9 at a time in regular DT. I think I mostly did 5s on the jerks. It’s all a little blurry. Finished at 11:30, which is only about 1:30 slower than my best for the actual workout. Didn’t feel nearly as bad either, even after the other work we’d done already. Kind of makes me excited to give DT a real shot now. I think I could smoke my PR. Pretty cool variation though.

Pick Things Up

Owww! Feels like I’ve been run over by a truck, especially in my shoulders and upper back. Calves, legs, low back, biceps, and hands are all sore too. Another day at the gym though. I did some bottom squat hold, hammy stretch, air squats, and shoulder stretching to get a little loose.

Deadlift

Work up to 4×4 @ 80% and then add 5-10# to last weeks 20RM.

  • 8×45#
  • 8×155
  • 4×245
  • 4×315
  • 4×355
  • 4×385
  • 4x4x405
  • 20×295

Wasn’t sure how the 80% would feel but I made fine. Slightly shy of using the % off my all-time PR, but I haven’t pulled anything near that 515 in years. I decided to take a 20 pound jump on the 20 rep today. When I picked up the first rep I couldn’t believe how light it felt, but when I got to 5 I could tell it was going to be bad. In the last 5 reps I had to take it slower to make sure I got set and didn’t pull anything. What a burn!

Conditioning

15:00 EMOM

  • 14 Calorie Row
  • 35s Airdyne
  • 40 Double Unders

We took it easy here and used it as aerobic work. It did help to loosen things back up after the heavy deads.

7:00 AMRAP

3-6-9-12…

  • Dumbbell Thrusters (50#)
  • Deadlift (155#)

Since dumbbells are coming to the Open, figured we might as well get in some practice. The workout was written with 95# thrusters, so why not make it harder?! 🙂 Took my dumbbells to the gym and will try to use them here and there when they fit our workouts. Dumbbell thrusters are just as terrible as I remember. I did 3-6-9 unbroken, then 7-5 and 6-5-4. I was feeling the burn on the set of 12 deadlifts so did those 7-5 too like a pussy. Had to hold on to the bar in my set of 15 deads and really rush the last 5 reps, but made it just before the clock went off to finish the round of 15s. Probably not a very good score but I tied Bryan for once and it was good to get in some experience with the DBs. This was nasty after already having moved so much weight on the deadlifts.