Front Squat

Spending Some Time on Cleans

Slept in until 10am this morning. I don’t think I’ve done that all year. Guess my body needed the rest. Did training in the garage today by myself starting around 4pm.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

OLY

Time to finally start working on the cleans again. I’ve neglected them for too long.

10:00 65# Clean Position Work
2:00 E30S: 2 x 95#
2:00 E20S: 1 x 135#
EMOM: Started with 155# and did one rep every minute, increasing by 10# each time. Stopped at 235#.

Had to really save my elbows with 235# and sat in the hole for a few seconds before standing up. Figured that was a good place to end it.

Strength

Front Squats

1 Set E3M

5 x 135#
5 x 185#
3 x 225#
3 x 235#
3 x 245#
3 x 255#
3 x 265#
3 x 225#
3 x 235#
3 x 245#

I felt parts of my legs I’ve never felt before in the squats. Maybe it was all of the cleans I’d already done. A lot of volume! My legs are toast.

Incline Bench Press

10 x 95#
10 x 105#
10 x 115#
6 x 125#
6 x 135#
3 x 145# (F on 4th)

Since I’m such a pussy with my upper body, I’m able to incline bench by myself because I can easily stand up with the weight in the rack position, like I had to do after a failed attempt at a 4th rep with 145#.

WOD

4 Rounds

10 GHD Sit-ups
20 Russian KBS (70# KB)
50 DU

Finished in 9:03 and then an easy 5:00 cool down on the Air Dyne.

The Best I’ve Visited

Back to CrossFit Santa Cruz at 7am this morning. This has been the best box and coach I’ve ever been to and it’s not even close. Danielle is the owner and was there both mornings. You can tell she’s been doing this for a long time because she was noticing things from all different people way across the gym and yelling out fixes or improvements we could do. All of the athletes went out of their way to introduce themselves to us as well; very friendly box and environment.

Warm-up

Plate shrugs
Hip Stretches
Deep Squat Hip stretches holding plate out in front

Really like some of the thing they did for warm-up the last two days, which I’ve never done before.

Strength

3 Rounds

MAX Handstand Hold (face-in, palm 8″ from the wall)
2 x 3 Front Squats (focusing on technique, practice perfect reps)

I got 1:00, 1:10, and 1:17 on the handstand hold. Really hard to keep everything tight and off the wall except for the toes. Rough on the wrists. Front squats were light with 95#, 115#, and 135#.

WOD

5 Rounds

20 KBS (53# KB)
10 Burpees (6″ target)
200m Run

Tried to keep a steady pace since it was going to be over 10 minutes. She got on me about stopping in the bottom of my KBS, instead of anticipating it and getting right into that hip pop, which really helped with efficiency and to keep my reps unbroken. Finished in 12:56.

Making Use of the Hotel Dumbbells

Up early again. Usually works better for me not completely changing over to the 3 hour time difference as long as I can get to bed at a reasonable time.

Warm-up

4:00 of fast walking and slow running on the treadmill

Strength

3 Sets

10/10 Curls
10 Shoulder Presses
10 Front Squats

I used 30s, 35s, and 40s.

3 Sets

10/10 Kroc Rows
10 Incline Bench Press
10 Weighted Lunges (holding each DB at sides)

Used 45s, 50s, and 50s.

WOD

5 Rounds

20s Sprint on treadmill @ 3.0 incline & 8.5 speed
10 Goblet Squats (50# DB)

Probably could have pushed the pace up on the treadmill. Good little WOD though. I was going to head outside for some hill sprints on the little hill in front of the hotel but then I realized I could use the incline on the treadmill and get it done sooner.

Early Morning in the Garage

Flying out to San Fran, so got up before 7 for a workout in the garage.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Strength

10 x 45#
5 x 95#
5 x 135#
5 x 185#
3 x 225#
2 x 255#
2 x 275#
1 x 285#
5 x 205#

Push Press

5 x 95#
5 x 115#
3 x 135#
1 x 165#
1 x 185#
1 x 195# (PR)
1 x 205# (PR)
1 x 215# (PR)
5 x 135#

I hadn’t done a 1RM with the push press since last August! Nice 25# PR.

WOD

Buy-in: 20 GHD Sit-ups
5:00 Air Dyne
Cash-out: : 20 GHD Sit-ups

177 calories and 3.31km on the Air Dyne. First GHDs unbroken, then 12-8 to finish.

Air Dyne with Empty Bar Front Squats

Feeling a little beat up today. Did heavy squats 5 times this week with a 10# PR in both the back and front variations. Quick little recovery workout in the garage around 10am.

4 Rounds NFT, but keep moving

5:00 Air Dyne
10 Front Squats (45#)

Just something to keep get a little sweat on and loosen everything up. Getting a massage this afternoon and then have a team competition tomorrow.

Squat Every Damn Day

Before heading out to CrossFit at the box I lifted a little in the garage. Did a quick 3:00 on the Air Dyne to get the blood pumping.

Front Squats

10 @ 45#
5 @ 95#
5 @ 135#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 215#
1 @ 235#
1 @ 255#
1 @ 275#
1 @ 285#
1 @ 295#
1 @ 305# (PR)
3×3 @ 215#

Back-to-back PRs with squats, back and front. Excited my squats are back!

Headed over to Survival Fitness for the 5pm…

Olympic Lifting

15:00

Work up to a MAX muscle clean & push jerk for the day

We started with a PVC and worked our way up to a MAX muscle clean and push jerk for the day. This also served as our warm-up. I got up to 175# and stopped there because the clean was a struggle to get up the last bit without dropping under it. Felt like I was hitting higher on my legs just due to my snatch work.

Gymnastics

12:00 time cap, NFT but keep moving

15s L-sit/L-hang
1->10 Strict Ring Dips

I finished with about 10 seconds left.

WOD

10:00 AMRAP

Buy-in: 50 American KB Swing (53# KB)
15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 11′ target)
30 DU

I went extra today and threw up to 11′ since we have to in the competition on Sunday. Good WOD. Did the KBS 30-20 to save my hands from ripping and prevent hitting the red line. Did all of the wall balls unbroken and finished 4+36.

3 AMRAP Suckfest

Went to the 6pm class.

Warm-up

30 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
30 PVC OHS
20 Zombie Kicks

Strength

Front Squats

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 225#
3 @ 245#
3 @ 275#

Felt solid.

3 Sets

12 Front Rack Lunges (135#)
12 Good Mornings (Black band)
60s Rest

Wow, those GMs lit up the low back!

WOD

5:00 AMRAP

10 Hang power cleans (135#)
10 Burpees

Rest 3:00

5:00 AMRAP

10 Push Presses (115#)
10 T2B

Rest 3:00

5:00 AMRAP

10 Thrusters (95#)
10 C2B Pull-ups

We paired up and just switched back and forth between movements, so maybe got a little extra rest here or there depending on the movements. I was paired up with Matt, so didn’t really get extra rest except for waiting on him on the first set or two of burpees. I did 3+12, 3+6, and 2+11. That sucked!

Finisher

Stayed after and pulled the sled with 115# total for 1/2 mile in 9:46.

Monday Morning

Went to the 9am class.

Warm-up

300m Run (before class started)
4 Rounds
- 15s Air Squats
- 15s Zombie Kicks
- 15s PVC Pass-thrus
- 15s Jumping Jacks

Strength

Front Squats

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 195#
5 @ 225#
5 @ 245#

Squats felt good for the 2nd consecutive day. Didn’t try to get crazy and stayed below my 260 5RM from a couple of weeks ago.

3 Rounds NFT

12 Lunges (135#)
12 RDL(135#)
Rest 60s

Good burn with little rest.

WOD

20:00 Time Cap

10 OHS (135#)
10 Box jumps overs (24″)
10 Thrusters (135#)
20 Power cleans (135#)
10 T2B
10 Burpee C2B Pull-ups
10 T2B
20 Power cleans (135#)
10 Thrusters (135#)
10 Box jumps overs (24″)
10 OHS (135#)

This is why it’s good for me to go to classes now and then. We rarely program this much barbell work in our WODs and ever more rare at this time domain. I decided to go Rx even though I knew it would suck. Finished in plenty of time at 19:56. LOL!

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.

Row and Run Intervals

Feeling really beat up today, which shouldn’t be surprising after 4 days in a row. Heading out-of-town tomorrow for a bachelor party, so will be a weekend of rest. In at 10am to finish out the 2nd 5/3/1 cycle.

Warm-up

400m Run
PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

5/3/1 Bench Press – Cycle 2 Week 3

5 @ 85# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 110# (50% – warm)
3 @ 130# (60% – warm)
5 @ 160# (75%)
3 @ 185# (85%)
1+ @ 205# (95%)

Only 3 reps and the last one was an ugly struggle. Estimated max of 225.5#.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

5 @ 110# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
3 @ 165# (60% – warm)
5 @ 205# (75%)
3 @ 235# (85%)
1+ @ 260# (95%)

Right in that sweet spot of 5 or 6 reps again, with 5 reps today. Estimated max of 303#, which should be pretty accurate. Tried to cycle the reps a little faster in the early sets and keep an upright torso, although I started to hunch over in that last set.

WOD

5 Rounds

250m Row
150m Run
2:00 Rest

I didn’t realize we were resting after each round, so I had paced my first round. My rounds were 1:28/1:16/1:16/1:15/1:16 and my rower splits were 49.7/47.2/49.6/49.3/48.9. After the first two rounds I stopped stropping in my feet and although it slowed down my pace, it was better overall because I was able to jump right out and get on my run. After the final run, my time was 14:31 (including the 8:00 of rest). Really liking this interval stuff for conditioning.