Tag: Front Squat

Ups and Downs

Was in Cleveland last night for a wedding. We got up early and made it back to my place around noon. Had pushed back Super Sunday to 1pm to give me enough time to make it home.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 1,000m Row
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Strength + Explosive

  • 2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats
  • Rest 30s
  • 1 Broad Jump
  • Rest ~2:00

Went 45-135-185-225-255-280-300# for a 5# PR. Felt really good squatting. Didn’t pull out the tape measure for the jumps so no idea how far they were.

Conditioning

“Fran”
21-15-9

  • Thrusters (95#)
  • Pull-ups

I pretty much called it in on this one during the first set of pull-ups when I broke it up to 11-10. Barely any sleep, 4 hours in the car, and just wasn’t feeling great this morning. I really fell apart going 5-5-5 on the 15 thrusters with way too much rest between picking the bar back up. Then 9-6 pull-ups and unbroken 9s to finish in 4:44. Not even close to my 3:30 best. Rested while second group went.

At an easy pace…

  • 1 Mile Run
  • 100 Walking Lunges
  • 1 Mile Run

It took 25:10 with some walking around in the gym during the transitions in and out of lunging. First mile was about 8:55 and second one was about 9:35 (I had RunKeeper going the whole time). Nobody else ran the second mile with me, but I made myself do it since I didn’t push on Fran. I need the extra running anyway.

She Always Gets Me

Up early again, but slept pretty well and was in bed early. Boy was I wrong about “Annie” not affecting my abs this time around. I should have known better. She always gets me! My core is sore pretty much from top to bottom, with the top and bottom being a lot more sore than the middle. Might have a little to do with the max plank from yesterday too, but probably a lot to do with not being used to anchored sit-ups when we do butterflied legs all the time.

Warmed up with 100 walking lunges and out to the garage around 7.

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (3s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×255#
  • E30S 4:00 – 1×275#

The every 30 second work was harder than Super Squats. No question about it. After a couple of reps the breathing was heavy and there really isn’t enough recovery time for the breathing to slow once it gets going. That final rep was the most I’ve had to grind any rep since starting this Squat Every Day “plan” (I’m pretty much wingin’ it and making shit up as I go). I’m not sure I could have gone another 30 seconds for a next rep so glad I picked 4 instead of 5 minutes. I didn’t put the belt on until the singles today. Day 33 complete!

Was supposed to golf but it was raining all morning and chilly. That does not add up to Nick being on the golf course. Warmed up later and was perfect for a run. Went an easy 3.1 miles in 30:06.

Annie Are You OK

Legs felt a little weird this morning getting out of bed. Maybe a result of smashing my knees yesterday. Out in the garage just after 7:30 and warmed up with 3:00 Air Dyne (1.38km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (5s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 2×225#
  • 2×245#
  • 2×265#
  • 2×275#

I don’t have anything insightful to say, though do I ever? Was hard breathing in the hole on that last rep so started to lose position coming up.

Lunge University

  • 200 Weighted Walking Lunges (40# vest)

An extra 20# came yesterday for my weight vest, so had to try it out today. Damn that thing is heavy now. Took me 9:47.

I had an appointment at the chiropractor before hitting the gym tonight. Only going once a month now since my back has been doing well. When I got to the gym I did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then jumped into one of my favorite girls since I haven’t done her yet this year.

Conditioning

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DU
  • Sit-ups

I knew I was doing well when I felt good at the end of the 50 sit-ups. Didn’t miss any dubs and finished in 5:59, for a 29 second PR! Did anchored sit-ups with some DBs over my feet.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×205#
  • 5x3x225#

Felt strong.

Tall Cleans

  • 5×45#
  • 2x5x95#
  • 2x5x115#
  • 2x3x135#
  • 2x3x155#
  • 3×165#
  • 2×175#
  • 2×185#
  • 2×195#
  • 2x2x205#

Workin’ on that speed under. Rough on those last 3 sets. I didn’t realize how many sets I was doing at the time.

Push Press

  • 3×135#
  • 3×146#
  • 3×157#
  • 3×168#
  • 3×179#
  • 3×190#
  • 3×201#
  • 3×212# (PR)

I missed out on PP triples that CFi did Monday so they fit in well today, especially since I did sets of 5s a week ago. I had 45# plates on and then just kept making 5 kilogram jumps. Felt a little fatigue from the bench press, but I’m liking overloading the upper body with two pressing movements on Wednesday. Need to start putting some work into my jerk though. Gotta keep those shoulders working well, so did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Hold For Ten

Feeling pretty good this morning. Always a little stiff in the mornings, but I’ve come to accept that as normal now. Seven days in a row with my HRV being 101+ and all green. In the garage at 7:30. Warmed up with 3:00 Air Dyne (1.37km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (10s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 2×225#
  • 1×245#
  • 1×255#
  • 1×265#
  • 1×275#

Start of week 5, day 29. First time trying a 10 second pause. Holy shit! That’s the heaviest I’ve done for any type of pause front squat. If you can get out of the hole after a long pause, you can stand up your clean.

Lunge University

12:00 AMRAP

  • Weighted Walking Lunges (20# vest)

Did about 240 steps. Kind of lost count, but was able to calculate from steps/min rate, steps per lap (around gym), and number of extra steps over a full lap.

Wanted to move in the late afternoon and here’s the beauty of tracking HRV; since my HRV was up at 106, I could afford to get in a little more work on what would normally be my rest day.

Conditioning

Ski Erg

  • 500m @ 75% of 500m PR
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 2,000m @ 100%

Came out to a 2:20 pace for the 500m. Finished in 2:18.9. I’d never really done a 2k for time on the ski machine. My best split was while going for 3,000 meters if that tells you anything. I started out with a 2:00/500m pace and figured I’d evaluate after 500m. Still felt right at 1,000m, but then with 500 left I knew I could pick it up a bit. Finishing time was 7:53.4 for a 26.2 second PR.

  

Quad Sets

I’ve switched up my mobility work the last few days. I think all of the squatting and lunging is doing a lot for my legs and back on its own. After doing the same stretches for a month it’s time for change. I’ve been following Kelly Starrett’s 14-Day Mobility Challenge | 7 Green Lights (linked to day 1). After the 14 days are up, I’ll probably choose an area to focus on for a few weeks, using some of the stuff learned from the videos. Shoulders will probably be where I head.

Slow moving this morning. Didn’t get out to the garage until about 8:30. Warmed up with 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg (4:44.2).

Coffee Squats

I actually finished my coffee before heading out, but close enough.

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

  • 45#
  • 135#
  • 185#

My back was tight and there was fatigue in my legs. Definitely think I’m feeling those pause squats from yesterday and the work done in the metcon. With back squat volume coming with Super Sunday it was time to adjust my plan for the morning. I always superset the upper body work I’ve been doing on Sundays, so today I turned it into a quad set!

IMG_59025 Sets

  • 2 Front Squats (225#)
  • 5 Back Squats (225#)
  • 12 Incline DB Bench Press (45°, 40-45-45-50-50#)
  • 12 JM Press (45-55-55-65-65#)

That worked up a hell of a sweat. Might be interesting to alternate between legs and upper body in a quad set like that. Did not wear a belt at all.

Today was the first time since I’ve been squatting every day I felt I should scale back the plan. Seems like a good way to close out day 28. Well, not really with squats for the day, with more coming in the afternoon.

Nobody showed up today! Not a single person, other than Alex, but he was weightlifting.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 1,000m Row (4:09.5)
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 10 Snatch Press (20kg)

Gymnastics & Weightlifting

24:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 3 MU
  • 1 Snatch

That was a really fun EMOM. Didn’t feel in danger of missing any of the muscle-ups. I started with 40 kilos and went up 5 kg every round through. All makes through 90 and then missed the final rep at 95. I had it too, just a little forward and I was able to hold it there for a second, trying to pull it back. Pretty excited about that and ready to test our a max when I’m fresh. I did take some extra time, threw another kilogram on the bar and made 2 PR attempts. Got them overhead no problem, but just didn’t have enough left in my shoulders.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 4x Shuttle Run (40′)
  • 10 Back Squats (135#, no rack)

Sucked even worse than I was expecting. My legs didn’t want to move when I took off running after a few rounds. All sets unbroken and really busted ass in the final round to make sure I got under 6 minutes. Took me 5:53.

I jumped on the Air Dyne for 10:00 just to move after that and in hopes that it’ll help me not get sore. Went 3.02 miles.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 5 Strict T2B
  • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (44#)

Really took my time today and didn’t leave until after 2. Did Crossover Symmetry Recovery to finish off.

Double Fronts

Felt that back strain(?) all of yesterday (though not bad) and still there this morning. Pretty warm and I haven’t turned on the wall A/C unit yet, so could have slept better. HRV has been over 100 the last few days though. I actually set the alarm this morning so I had time to get in my squats and eat before heading to the golf course. Still didn’t give myself enough time though.

Warmed up with a 3:00 Air Dyne (1.39 km).

Coffee Squats

Front Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 2×225#
  • 2×255#
  • 2×275#
  • 2×285#
  • 2×295#
  • 2×305#

Well, I was kind of expecting to have to cut it back and just make it a light day with the back tweak. It felt fine, so I pushed the pedal a little. Had planned on 275-290-300, then cut back to 275-285-295, and it felt good so I went for one more jump. Only 5# short of my PR for a double. Not a very good camera angle, but neither rep appears to get too slow and I stayed upright throughout. Happy! 🙂 26th day of squatting.

Walked 18 holes of golf. First time out for a full round and temps got up into the 80s. I was whooped by the time we were done.

Two Dozen

Pretty early to bed again last night, was up by 7, and in the garage by 7:30. Warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×225#
  • 6:00 EMOM
    • 4x3x255#
    • 2x3x265#

Wanted to kind of take it “easy” today, but usually an EMOM like this is anything but easy. I was going to use 255# the whole way, but when I got done with the 4th set I went straight for the 5# plates and threw them on. Maybe not the best idea because in that 5th set I felt a pull in my upper back from holding the rack position. Same area that I tweaked a couple of weeks ago. Took a couple of hours before I really felt it last time, so will see how it feels this afternoon.

24 days of squats…check!

Lunge University

  • 200 Weighted Walking Lunges (20# vest)

Relaxed pace since my heart rate was already up from the EMOM work. Finished in 9:29.

IMG_5894

Damn I look like death in that picture. Can you tell I just rolled out of bed? Done by 8am. How did you start your day?

Was able to get tennis stadium tickets for all 3 days of the CrossFit Games when they went on sale today. So excited!!

Got to the gym at 6pm. Hit Crossover Symmetry Activation and then jumped on the rower.

Conditioning

8 Rounds

  • 1:30 Row @ 1:48-1:50/500m
  • 1:00 Rest

Meter counts were 412-413-414-415-415-414-413-413. Not hard, just putting in work.

No B.S. Bench Press

Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 10×45#
  • 4×135#
  • 4×165#
  • 4×195#
  • 6x4x215#

Feeling solid. I cycled my reps pretty quickly.

Weightlifting

I did some warm-up with the empty bar.

Power Clean + Hang Power Clean

  • 3×1 50kg
  • 60kg
  • 70kg

Clean + Hang Clean

  • 2×1 80kg
  • 2×1 90kg
  • 2×1 95kg
  • 100kg

Started squatting all of these. Got rough at 95+.

Push Press

  • 5×135#
  • 5×155#
  • 5×175#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×195#

Felt brutal. Looked back and I did the same working sets back in January. Here I thought that might be a PR for a set of 5. I would have gone 5# heavier! 🙂 Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Week 4 Begins

Allergies were really hitting me last night. I did get up the energy to mow the lawn several hours after the workout, but I was exhausted. In bed by 10 two nights in a row. We got a little rain overnight so hopefully that gets a lot of the pollen out of the air and cools off my sinuses.

HRV is down more, to 85 this morning. With the combination of Kelly and not feeling great, I’m surprised it didn’t drop even lower. I have a weird soreness in my upper abs this morning, which had cramped up on me in the last round yesterday. Oh yeah, evil wheels are probably to blame for that.

Out in the garage at about 8 and warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.29 km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (1s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×205#
  • 5×225#
  • 5×245#

Put in the reps. Didn’t push it today, but will start pushing some weight the rest of the week.

In the afternoon I did yoga, following the YRG Double Black Diamond video. Diamond Dallas isn’t the greatest voice for yoga and he rushes through too many of the moves if you ask me, but it’s a nice alternative to the P90X YogaX. It was my first time doing this video from the series and it was about 65 minutes.

3 Weeks In

My HRV was down to 88 this morning from 100 yesterday. Hmmmm… I was pretty exhausted after being out in the sun walking 9 holes, but that still doesn’t seem right. Had some good weight on the bar for back squats, but overall the day wasn’t very intense. Readings like that keep me doubting the usefulness of HRV.

Out to the garage after 8am. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.23km).

Coffee Squats

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

  • 45#
  • 135#
  • 185#
  • 225#
  • 245#
  • 265#
  • 280#

I put the belt on for the last two sets. Not only trying to go heavier through each day of this thing, but also trying to go a little longer without the belt too, to help build up the core muscles more. Last week I did 265# for this, so was a nice jump. Felt pretty heavy in the early sets. Just 15# shy of the most I’ve managed for this complex. That makes 21 days in a row.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 12 Incline DB Bench Press
  • 12 JM Press

I put the bench at 60° and used 40-45-50-50# for the incline bench work. Used 45-55-60-65# for the JM presses. Both felt heavier than last week. Maybe I’m still feeling the effects of “Cindy” from Thursday.

Not too long after this I started to feel shitty. Maybe that’s why my HRV was low this morning. Since Thursday night I’ve been feeling like allergies are hitting me, though I haven’t had any problems in a couple of years. If it wasn’t Sunday I think I might have stayed home and took a nap instead.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 1,000m Row
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Band Pass-thrus

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 MU

Was curious how this would go with the way I was feeling. Made every set without a problem. YAY!

Strength

5 Sets

  • 12 Pendlay Rows (95#)
  • 5 Evil Wheels

Conditioning

“Kelly”
5 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 30 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Only done this once before. It was a 32:22 almost 3 years ago. Warmest day of the year (so far) is a good day to do a long workout right? This was so bad. I started out with a sub 2:00 first 400 and knew that was too fast. I didn’t rebound any box jumps, but never stopped either. Did mostly step-downs, but some jump downs in the later rounds. Wall balls were two sets of 15 until I went 18-12 in the last round. Should have just went for all 30.

When I got in from my 3rd run the music had stopped. Bluetooth still showed connected but no sound. I think it took me close to 2 minutes to get it going again. The official clock time was 30:59 when I finished, but I’ll be conservative and only knock a minute off for a 29:59 since the rest helped me in a way too. Wish I would have felt closer to 100% today, but it’s still a PR.

Walked 200m, sat on my ass to recover, and then did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Cindy Aftermath

Damn Cindy, I forgot how you make the body feel. So many reps! Was up late to see the Avengers but still managed 7 hours of sleep. Feeling pretty beat this morning though and the HRV proves my body is telling the truth this morning. 87 is the lowest HRV I’ve had yet.

IMG_5865

Didn’t get out to the garage until 9am today. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.25km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (3s in the hole)

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 2×195#
  • 2×215#
  • 2×235#
  • 2×245#
  • 2×255#

I instantly feel 10x better after that. Body is awake now.

Straight up out of the hole with no bouncy-bounce.

I was planning to get out for my first round of golf, but I’ll wait until the weekend when I feel fresher and it’s going to be in the 70s all weekend anyway.

The weather has finally turned, hopefully for good now. Went to the gym at night for some recovery work.

Sled Drag

  • 0.5 miles – 25# sled + 135# – 11:41
  • Few minute rest
  • 0.5 miles – 25# sled + 90# – 10:13

Class was outside finishing up the last part of their workout so I joined in for some.

  • 2x200m Farmer’s Carry (70# & 62# KBs)
  • 200m OH Walk (45# plate with both arms up)