Tag: Double Under

Annie’s Evil Twin

After the workout at the box today, I hand-washed my Envoy and mowed the lawn. Not having showered yet, I was sitting around, wondering what else I would do for the day. For some reason, doing another WOD sounded like a good idea. I thought about doing “Annie” again since I did it last weekend, liked it, and I can always use the DU practice. I thought about doing some DB cleans on the minute every minute. After moving my KB and adjustable DBs from the basement up into the garage I noticed the multi-use stand I have. It rarely gets used because I don’t workout at home. The lift bulb went off and I came up with a variation of Annie.

  • 50-40-30-20-10 DUs
  • 25-20-15-10-5 Leg Lifts

I used the stand to hold myself up, where my forearms were resting on the padding, my hands held the upright bars, and my elbows were bent at 90 degree angles.

As good as I was last weekend with DUs, I was just as bad today. I’m not sure if it had something to do with the mats I have in the garage or if I was just too tired. I don’t think I strung together 15 in a row the entire time. I did a couple of sets of 10 here or there for the leg lifts, but pretty much stuck to sets of 5. My time was 13:02. Compare that to an 8:26 Annie to get an idea just how bad I was with the rope.

I think I’m due for a shower!

Smooth Double Unders

No surprise my legs are sore today after the last two WODs. This morning I drove up to Rogers City to visit the family for the weekend, so I have very limited workout equipment.

Warm-up

Went for a 2.62 mile run in 22:59. Pace was nice and steady throughout the run.

Strength

3 rounds:

  • MAX Push-ups
  • 1m Plank
  • 2m Rest

I set a new PR for unbroken push-ups in the 1st round with 40, then did 25 and 20. The planks were tougher than normal because it was right after push-ups which already work a lot of the same muscles.

WOD

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DUs
  • Sit-ups

I haven’t done DUs more than a couple of times since I left Phoenix, but wanted to test myself in something today. “Annie” seemed like a good one because it doesn’t require any special equipment other than the jump rope I keep in my vehicle and it would be a good chance to practice them.

My time was 8:26. I did the best DUs I’ve ever done! The set of 30 was completely unbroken and there were only a couple of streaks where I didn’t string together at least 10 in a row. For the sit-ups I sat on a towel with my feet flat on the ground. I laid back until my shoulder blades hit the ground and sat up until I could touch the top of my shoes without reaching too much.

Buh Bye CrossFit Full Strength

Today was my last workout at CrossFit Full Strength in Phoenix, AZ. I’m starting the drive back to Saginaw, MI later today after I pack and clean the apartment. I’m going to miss everyone here. It’s been a lot of fun making new friends and hanging out with the crew from the box. I’ve learned a ton of new movements and techniques. My strength has progressed more than I could have imagined over 3 months. Hopefully I’ll be back soon.

My hands are beat up from the last few days of pull-ups, T2B, and death by deadlifts. Oh look, more pull-ups today! Two off days are going to feel great.

Yesterday I went in for one last session at the chiropractor. He was able to get in and adjust my neck so much easier than even last Friday.

Warm-up

  • 90s-60s-30s
    • Sit-ups
    • Plank
  • 20 Supermans

Strength

4 Sets

  • 3-5 Shoulder Presses, 2-0-X-1 tempo
  • 90s Rest
  • 2-3 Weighted Pull-ups, 2-1-X-0 tempo
  • 90s Rest

I did a couple of warm-up sets today, starting with the bar for 8 reps and then 75# for 5 reps. Started with 95# for the working sets and moved up to 105#, 115#, and 125# for the full 5 reps each time. Last time we did this I was only able to get 125# up 3 times, so good progress there. I used an 18# KB for the first set of weighted pull-ups and did 5 reps because that’s what we usually do. I should pay more attention sometimes. Switched to a 25# KB the rest of the way and was able to stay in the 2-3 reps.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 30s Rest
  • 15 KBS
  • 30s Rest
  • 20 DUs
  • 30s Rest

Not a timed WOD today, other than the rest periods, which was weird. I used a 62# KB for the swings and did well on pull-ups and DUs. No new tears on my hands and I did all 10 kipping pull-ups in a row on the last round.

I’ll be back in a few days. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it in to Survival Fitness on Saturday if I get home at a decent hour on Friday night. I know I’ll need the workout after 3 days of driving.

Back on the Jump Rope

I was exhausted yesterday afternoon and throughout the night. Made it an early night and got a ton of sleep. Today I’m sore from a combination of Saturday’s track workout and all of the burpees yesterday.

I got to the box a bit early and worked on muscle-up technique for 5-10 minutes. I’m getting closer.

Warm-up

  • 800m Run
  • 5 minute Clean warm-up

Strength

6 Sets

  • 1.1.1 Clean & Jerk (10 sec between reps)
  • 2-3m Rest

Used 95#, 115#, 125#, 135#, 145#, and 155# for my sets. The last rep or two were pretty ugly.

WOD

  • 750m Row
  • 25 T2B
  • 75 DUs
  • 500m Row
  • 20 T2B
  • 50 DUs
  • 250m Row
  • 15 T2B
  • 25 DUs

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I did any jump roping, but I didn’t want to skip out on today’s workout so I did it. I tried to concentrate on keeping my head back in a good position instead of chicken-necking. I was successful until I towards the end when I got really exhausted. I could feel my neck coming forward at that point. My row was really slow and sluggish today and T2B were rough on my hands. Yesterday I developed a blister on one of my fingers from pull-ups and it popped during the OLY class. Of Course T2B ripped it wide open today. That’s a lot of reps on the bar. I was last in class by quite a bit with a time of 20:58. I thought it was going to be a good day when I ripped off 27 DUs right off the bat the first set, but it was not to be after that.

Suicide Sprints

Final scores are in after the 4th workout of the CrossFit Games Open. Thanks to a good showing I made a big jump up to 1,241st out of 1,733 in the South West region and 17,235th out of 24,995 in the world, which puts me right around beating 30% of the mean in each, way above my goal of 10%. One workout remaining. I bet we’ll see deadlifts paired with one other movement.

Warm-up

5m Mini flight simulator (5-10-15-20-25-30-25-20-15-10-5 unbroken DUs)

I was only able to get up to 15 unbroken. My DU headache started about 1:30 in to the 5 minutes and I still have a bit of it 30 minutes after the workout. I may go see a chiropractor about my neck. Since I started having a little soreness there I haven’t been able to crack my neck, which I’ve always done. Maybe (hopefully) I just have a little alignment issue causing these problems.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 8-10 DB Push Press, 2-0-X-1 tempo
  • 45s Rest
  • MAX Dips
  • 3m Rest

I started with 35# DBs for the first two sets, then went 40#, 45#, and 50#, with 10 reps each round. The 50s were definitely my limit at the end. I used the rings for dips and was able to do 8, 7, 8, 7, and 5 dips for a total of 35.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 20 yard Suicide Sprint (10y down and back)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 1m Rest

My kind of WOD. Splits for each round were within a 1 second difference. The one minute of rest was enough to catch my breath and keep going at full throttle. Finished in 6:32.

Now we wait for the final workout of the CrossFit Games Open to be announced…

2012 CrossFit Games Open Workout 12.4

After the third workout of the Open I was 1,526th out of 1,930 in the South West region and 21,310th out of 28,234. My goal is to finish ahead of 10% of the men and I’m in the 20-25% range (I don’t feel like doing exact calculations right now). I’m really happy with that so far. Since I’m heading out of town for the weekend I needed to hit the next workout this morning.

Open Workout 12.4

12m AMRAP

  • 150 Wall balls (20lbs to 10′ target)
  • 90 DUs
  • 30 Muscle-ups

That’s a full “Karen” WOD followed by DUs and muscle-ups!

I guess it’s a good thing I got a band-assisted muscle-up yesterday since I’ve never done any muscle-up before. My goal was to finish the wall balls and DUs and get at least one muscle-up. I was close to getting a strict one yesterday before class started. I knew a key for this workout was going to be limiting no-reps with the wall balls. Make every rep count or else it’s just wasted energy and time.

I warmed up with a 400m row and got into it. The first minute went well and I got through 30 wall balls. Ahead of the 20-25 pace I was shooting for. Somewhere in the next minute or two things really slowed down though. I finished wall balls around 9:00, leaving me 3:00 to get through DUs and maybe a muscle-up. One week ago there would have been no chance of getting through the DUs, but practicing 5-10 minutes each day has paid off. I was a little worried when I only had 25 DUs after the 10:00 mark, but I picked up the pace towards the end and finished them with 10-15 seconds on the clock. Time for one hurried muscle-up attempt. Haha! Nothing left in the gas tank. Shoulders and arms were fried from the wall balls.

Final tally was 240 reps, which I think it going to a pretty common score in this workout. I’ll take it. I’m happy I at least had time to make an attempt at a muscle-up. I rowed a slow 1k as a cool down.

I’m on vacation for the next week and hitting the road to Las Vegas in a bit. I’m looking forward to a few days of rest and relaxation before coming back on Sunday night. I’ll be back to the box on Monday morning to work off what I gain in Sin City.

Always Something New

I’ve been working out at CrossFit Full Strength for two and a half months now and I still end up doing some movement or new stretch I’ve never done at least once or twice a week. “Constantly varied” is exactly right when it comes to CrossFit. My legs are sore from back squats and particularly my inner thighs. Feels so good though!

Last night I did a bit of DU practice and I’m able to string together streaks consistently now. I don’t even start with singles first, which I think has helped. Start spinning that rope, but don’t jump for the first time until the rope is about to reach your feet and then start the fast wrist action and get right into doubles. Once again though, the headache came on while doing them. I’ve been doing some neck mobility a couple of times a day to try and loosen things up.

Warm-up

  • 2x
    • PVC Shoulder Mobility
    • 10 PVC OHS
    • 3 Groiners (each leg)
  • 400m Run

Strength

5 Sets

  • 8-10 DB Russian Step-ups (each leg)
  • 15s Rest
  • 30-45s Side Planks (each side)
  • 45s Rest

Russian step-ups are something new to me. I used a 24 inch box and 30# DBs, while doing 10 per leg in each set. I’m going to be feeling those for a few days. For the side planks I went a full 45 seconds on each side. You wouldn’t think it, but this work got me dripping with sweat.

Update: An hour and a half later I can barely walk. The Russian step-ups really worked the hamstrings.

WOD

12m AMRAP

  • 6 HSPUs
  • 9 Ring Dips
  • 12 HR Push-ups

Push, push, and push some more. This WOD was all about fatigue in the push motion. After the first round there wasn’t much left in the tank. More time was spending resting than working, but I was still out of breath at the end. For the HSPU sI used 2 AbMats because I die quickly using 1 and I knew it was going to be an issue with 2. The ring dips and HR push-ups were Rx. After round 1 I had to do a lot of kipping on the HSPUs. At the end I managed to get through 3 rounds plus 3 HSPUs.

Open workout 12.4 gets announced later today and I’m going to do it tomorrow morning because I’m driving up to Las Vegas for the weekend right after. My prediction is that we’ll see deadlifts, DUs, and a body weight movement such as HSPUs, HR Push-ups, or muscle-ups. But… I’m hoping I’m wrong on those last 3 because of today’s WOD.

Speaking of muscle-ups… I’ve been toying around with them a bit before and after classes this week. Today we set a rack with a band around the dip bars right under the rings. I stood on the band, got my false grip on the rings and completed an assisted muscle-up on my second attempt! I was done there though because of how dead my shoulders were from the WOD. I’m going to have these down before I head back to Michigan.

Kipping Pull-ups Without a Hand Rip

My shoulders and wrists are pretty sore from doing OH squats yesterday. Everything else is feeling good though. My hand is healing faster than the last time I ripped, but this one wasn’t as deep either.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 20 Band walks (each direction)
  • 15 Band Presses
  • 15s Rhomboid Stretch
  • 15s Samson Stretch
  • 3 Hand Walks

Strength

4 Sets

  • 4-6 Shoulder Presses, 1-1-X-1 tempo
  • 90s Rest
  • 20 DB Walking Lunges
  • 90s Rest

I wasn’t sure how the shoulder presses would go since I just did a bunch of OHS yesterday. Warmed up with the bar and then did 6 reps each at 95#, 105#, and 115#. I had previously done 123# twice, but got 3 reps in today. The sets really felt good. For the walking lunges I used 40# DBs.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • MAX Pull-ups
  • TBD Broad Jumps

Complete 30 total reps each round. So, if you do 20 pull-ups on your first set, you must do 10 broad jumps before returning to the pull-up bar.If you can easily perform more than 30 consecutive pull-ups, drop on 29 and do your 1 broad jump before returning to the bar for your second round of max reps pull-ups.

I used tape grips on my hands and tried to grip the bar more in my fingers instead of my palms. It worked because I don’t have any new rips. I do have a little blister that formed under the knuckle on my left ring finger. My rounds of pull-ups came out to be 11, 9, 7, 8, and 8. Eleven is a new kipping PR! If I don’t kick my legs back so far when I get tired I think I could string together more. After the first round of pull-ups I’m 95% sure I started counting broad jumps from 0 so I did 30 of them. I was wondering why everyone finished so far ahead of me on that set. My total time for the WOD was 6:22.

After class I started to get an understanding of how to do a muscle-up, but I was dead from the pull-ups so there was no chance of it happening. When I got back home I pulled out the jump rope for a few quick attempts at DUs. Easily was stringing together some small streaks. Just wanted to make sure I don’t lose it.

Lotsa DUs

My entire body is still sore from the open workout. Olympic lifting class was switched from 4pm on Sundays to noon, which works out much better for planning out the day. I can get up at my usual time and either go for a hike or hit the 9am class. Then there is enough time to get breakfast and run an errand or two. After the Olympic class I can get in a round of twilight golf. Perfect!

Today I went to the 9am class because a nice cardio blaster was scheduled in the programming and it would take care of my DU practice for the day.

3 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 100 DUs
  • 400m Run

I finished in 22:13. I was able to do a lot 10+ DU streaks and overall it was the best I’ve done DUs in a WOD. All of the practice is paying off. When I do so many DUs I start to get a headache though. This has been happening even when I practice them. After some Google-ing it seems to be an issue with head position, which would make sense because my neck seems to be getting tighter and tighter from CrossFit. I’ll have to find something from the MobilityWOD to help loosen it up.

John is starting to run the Olympic lifting class more open so everyone can choose what they want to work on. I chose to start with overhead squats because of my strength weakness there and I’ve always felt tipsy holding that weight overhead so long. I did some warm-up rounds with the bar and then started working my way up with 75#, 95#, 105#, and 115# for 4-5 reps. 115# was a new PR and it felt good, so I went for one last round with 125# and knocked out 3 reps. I’m going to have to buy some wrist straps because I could really feel it as the weight got heavier.

The other gals had moved on to split jerks so I worked on those as well. I didn’t get up to anything too heavy. Mainly worked with the bar, 75#, 95#, and 115# to focus on technique. My leg positions in the split are getting better. Still only 3 people showed up today. I can’t believe more people don’t want to take advantage of this class.

While we were working on our Olympic stuff, the gym owner, Gayle did the open workout again and did nearly 2 more rounds than her first attempt. She was flying through it. Pretty amazing to watch!