Front Squat – Page 22 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Version 2 of the Garage Gym

This morning I finished organizing and cleaning up all of my equipment. Had to make room for the new GHD.

I like how it turned out, but can’t wait to “remodel” the other side of the garage so I can get rid of everything non-gym related on this side. Maybe I should have expanded the garage with a heated addition.

Party of one in the garage around 8pm.

Warm-up

Ran 0.4 miles around the block.

Strength

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 2 Week 2

5 @ 110# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
3 @ 165# (60% – warm)
3 @ 190# (70%)
3 @ 220# (80%)
3+ @ 245# (90%)

Knocked out 6 reps on the last set for an estimated max of 293.5#, just under my PR. Again the limiting factor is being able to breathe and stay conscious in these. I guess I should try to do them faster.

3 Rounds NFT

10 Snatch Presses (75#)
20 GHD Sit-ups
5 GHR

I think I’m going to love having the GHD. I can easily get out there for 10 minutes to knock out some reps and improve these damn hips which seem to be failing a lot lately on stuff like T2B and pull-ups.

Conditioning

5:00 Air Dyne
10:00 Rest
5:00 Air Dyne

Fun! 178 calories for 3.3km the first round and 186 calories for 3.37km the 2nd round. Have I mentioned I how much I love the AD2 more than the AD6?

Front Squats & Sprints

I was up early to play in a golf outing up in Gladwin today. Rode carts, but still a long day out in the sun. Beautiful weather! Was thinking about taking a nap when I got home, but figured I’d get in some training.

Warm-up

Did a 0.45 mile run around the block.

Strength

Front Squats – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 1 (I really only did one session of front squats during the first cycle)

5 @ 110# (40% of training max – warm)
5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
3 @ 165# (60% – warm)
5 @ 180# (65#)
5 @ 205# (75%)
5+ @ 235# (85%)

Made use of the garage which I don’t do often enough. Felt pretty good considering my state. I managed to get 7 reps for an estimated max of 289.5#. The other time I did front squats of 5/3/1 I got 6 @ 240#.

Then I headed over to the track at Heritage High School for some sprints. Warmed up with a lap (400m).

20:00 EMOM

50m Sprint

Doesn’t wipe you out on the cardio side of things because it’s less than 10 seconds of work and 50+ seconds of rest. It’s a great explosive workout for the legs though and by the end I really feel it. I jogged a slow 800m to cool down.

Heading to Vancouver

My abs are still a little sore, which tells me I’m not doing enough sit-ups. Next week I’m in Vancouver for work and it’ll be all running and body weight stuff, so I’ll make sure to get in a bunch. Trained at 3pm for a couple of hours. Hit the barbell hard since it’ll be a week without it.

Warm-up

1,000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 1 Week 3

5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
3 @ 110# (75%)
3 @ 125# (85%)
1+ @ 140# (95%)

Knocked out 5 reps on the last set for an estimated max of 163#, which is just under my 165# PR.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 2

I wanted to get in an extra squat session for the week so decided to just pick this even though I hadn’t done week 1.

5 @ 105# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
3 @ 160# (60% – warm)
3 @ 185# (70%)
3 @ 210# (80%)
3+ @ 240# (90%)

Trying to do a big set of front squats isn’t the easiest because it get’s really hard to breathe with the bar there for so long. I managed 6 reps, putting my estimated max at 287.5#, shy of my 295# PR. Felt good to get in some more squats for the week though.

Olympic Lifting

Trying to put a lot of time into snatches. Kevin’s help with some position stuff to work on meeting the bar with my hips and it’s really paying off.

Did about 10 minutes of position work with 45# on the training bar.

5:00 EMOM

3 Snatches (95#)

Rested for 5:00.

5:00 EMOM

2 Snatches (115#)

Felt great at 95#, so I wanted to see if I could keep it going with more weight. I was able to! I was getting such explosion behind some of them the bar got so high that I didn’t even have to drop under it and I ended up doing a power snatch. I did have one miss on the 2nd set, but stepped right up and ripped off two makes. I think I hit the hips on every rep in both EMOMs, which is probably more times hitting my hips than total before today. Need to keep doing this. Here’s one of the 115# lifts…

WOD

3 Rounds

150m Run
20 Pull-ups
5 Curtis P (95#)

Wore the gymnastics grips to protect my hand. Felt pretty good. I split pull-ups down to 14-6, 10-6-4, and 10-6-4. Definitely need to add in more high rep pull-up sets. Finished in 9:06.

Feeling Wrecked in the Morning

Feeling pretty beat up this morning, especially in the posterior chain. Went in at 10 with Kevin and Ellen for strength lifts though.

Warm-up

5:00 Air Dyne

Strength

Bench Press – 5/3/1 Cycle 1 Week 2

5 @ 85# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 105# (50% – warm)
3 @ 125# (60% – warm)
3 @ 150# (70%)
3 @ 170# (80%)
3+ @ 190# (90%)

* Working sets completed using the Reactive Sling Shot

In the set with 170# I realized if I came a little lower on my chest I could keep my right elbow in a lot better. I think I was benching too high on my chest, which makes it hard to keep that elbow in. Went on to knock out 13 reps at 190, which is the same number I hit at 180# on Sunday! And I didn’t have a single issue with the right elbow flaring out to cause that arm to lack behind. Estimates my max at 271.5#, which is a joke, but I’m improving!

Deadlift – 5/3/1 Cycle 1 Week 2

5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 205# (50% – warm)
3 @ 245# (60% – warm)
3 @ 285# (70%)
3 @ 330# (80%)
3+ @ 370# (90%)

Felt good. Pulled 8 reps at 370# and it actually felt better than the 9 at 350# I did on Saturday. New estimated max of 467.5#.

Maybe I should lift more often when I’m not feeling great! Cut the session after those lifts because I’m going to a class this afternoon with a friend who wants to try out CrossFit. Went in at 4pm to a pretty big class.

Warm-up

30 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
10 Burpees
300m Run

Strength

Wasn’t too big on doing another big strength lift with 2 already this morning, but I can always use an extra squat session. Front squats on the menu today.

5 @ 135#
3 @ 185#
3 @ 225#
3 @ 245#
3 @ 255#

Fuck it, go big! Matches my best 3RM, but the two sets before were higher than I’ve gone before, and legs got some solid work with the hill sprints last night and deadlifts this morning. When I last did this a couple of months ago I used 155-175-195-225-255, so this is a nice improvement in overall weight moved.

3 Rounds NFT

8 Ring Dips
8 Ring Rows

I still suck at ring rows. Did all of my dips strict and unbroken though.

WOD

12 Rounds

1:00 AMRAP (continue next AMRAP where you leave off)
- 5 Pull-ups
- 10 Hand Release Push-ups
- 15 Air Squats
1:00 Rest

I was getting over a round per minute the entire way. In the 10th round I thought my hand felt a little funny on the bar. I got stuck to some old tap glue and it ripped it right open because I couldn’t slide around the bar on my butterfly. Ugh, just what I needed a few days before the Warrior Dash. I finished with 14+1 rounds, with the push-ups being my limiting factor. Probably could have gone a little faster on the air squats too, but all pull-ups were unbroken.

300 FY

Legs are tired from the last couple of days.

Got on the Air Dyne around 9am. There is a test to see if you can do 300 calories in less than 10 minutes called 300 FY (“Fuck You”) and since I was already planning to do a steady 10:00 @ 76-78rpm I figured I’d give it a shot. I hit 299 calories early in the week without even trying.

I kept above 76rpm 99% of the time and even got up in the low 80s here and there. Totaled 319 calories and 3.9 miles.

Out in the garage around noon because it was raining out. I didn’t find out until yesterday that the garage was unlocked or I would have been lifting in there on the flat floor all week. Oh well, I guess I was preparing for the unknown.

Push Press

5 @ 95#
5 @ 105#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 145#
ME @ 165# (got 8)
3 x 10 @ 105#

They felt pretty solid today. Not much, if anything, left in the tank on the max effort set.

More Strength

5 Rounds NFT 135# (don’t drop the bar)

6 hang power cleans
4 front squats
8 back loaded walking lunges

Wow was I breathing hard after each round of this. Forgot how bad barbell complexes can be. I’d actually planned higher reps and some good mornings too but it was scary trying the first rep with my back so sweaty so I canceled them and adjusted everything.

4 Rounds NFT 53#KB

10/10 side bends
12 Goblet squats
10/10 single leg RDLs

When you concentrate on doing the side bends correctly they really burn! I don’t ever remember goblet squats being so easy.

Solid week of workouts on vacation and a great way to come back after being sick for two weeks. I’m just going to relax the rest of the day and then I head back home in the morning.

Vacation Monday

Does a vacation officially start before this first week day? I never work weekends anyway. Legs are feeling a little sluggish from yesterday. Went to bed at 10 because I was exhausted from all of the sun and 3 training sessions. Still have night sweats though.

Jumped on the AD2 just after 7am.

5:00 warmup
Reverse Tabata (8 rounds)
- 10s Sprint
- 20s Rest
5:00 cool down

My best calories for a regular Tabata was 77 and I got 107 here, which is another one in the books confirming the AD6 is much harder to rack up calories on. Nice workout for being so quick. I really like switching up interval periods. Hopefully it pays off.

Around noon I setup for the big training session of the day.

Warm-up

50m Run
50m Run backwards

20 Good Mornings (green)
20/20 band walk (red)
10 press band (red)
10 band pull aparts (red)

Strength

Shoulder Press

5 @ 75#
5 @ 85#
5 @ 95#
5 @ 105
5 @ 135
ME @ 145 (3)

WOD

A little max aerobic power (MAP) training in the hot sun. Object is to go at 80%. Three minutes of rest between each AMRAP.

3:00 AMRAP

135# Bear

3:00 AMRAP

10 Front Rack walking lunges 135#
8 OTB burpees

2 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

10 HR push-ups
15 Russian KBS 53#

3 full rounds

3:00 AMRAP

6 OHS 95#
12 sit-ups

2+3

3:00 AMRAP

5 thruster 95#
10 sumo deadlift high pull 53#

2+12

Much harder than expected!

Greek Fest Recovery

Had a bunch of people over last night and went to Greek Fest down the street from my house. Good times, but tired this morning even though I slept in. Went at 11am to get my sweat on.

Warm-up

Tabata of choice. I picked DU to work on them for next weekend.

WOD

50 Front Squats (95#)
50 Sit-ups
50 Thrusters (95#)
50 HR Push-ups
50 Upright Rows (95#)
50 50m Runs

All about pacing in this one. Finished in 32:28 with runs taking about 12 minutes, which isn’t surprising since it was about a mile and a half.

Extra Credit

If we finished early we could work on anything we wanted. So I did 2 sets of 5 wall walks and then some double unders.

Around 7pm I went out to the Soap Box Derby in Buena Vista to run some hill sprints. Jogged a lap around and up the track to warm-up and then did the side hill 10 times up and walked down each time.

Sore All Over

It’s been quite awhile since I woke up feeling sore in so many places. Later today and tomorrow are going to be tough to walk I bet. Went in at 9am because I was not feeling like doing a longer workout today.

Warm-up

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

Strength

3 rep Front Squats

5 @ 45#
3 @ 135#
3 @ 155#
3 @ 175#
3 @ 195#
3 @ 225#
3 @ 255#

I wasn’t planning on going heavy, but I just couldn’t help myself once we got going. It was a bit awkward since I was paired up with Davy on a rack and he’s about a lot shorter than I am.

WOD

13:00 AMRAP

10 DB Snatches (45#)
20 Sit-ups
30 MB Cleans (20# MB)

Fuck did those MB cleans blow. My quads did not want to cooperate after the first round. I finished 2 reps shy of 4 complete rounds. Rx was only 40# for the snatches, but there were none left, so I went heavier.

Finisher

300m Row
50 Burpees

More suck, but I just kept going on my burpees and never stopped. Took me 4:52 which isn’t too bad for me considering we barely had any rest after the WOD.

PR Week

It’s been awhile since I tested most of my lifts, so might as well test as many as possible in one week right? In at 10am this morning.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne
PVC Pass-thrus

I need to start switch up my warm-ups a bit. It’s been cardio and pass-thrus most days.

Strength

Front Squats

Coming in, I was feeling good about setting a big PR.

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
3 @ 185#
2 @ 225#
1 @ 255#
1 @ 270# (PR)
1 @ 285# (PR)
1 @ 295# (PR)

BOOM! 35# PR. Felt really good too.

Overhead Squats

Was looking forward to a big jump here too. Was warmed up from the front squats so went right into singles. I did 135#, 155#, 175# (PR), 185# (PR), and 200# (PR). Another 35# PR! Hell yeah!

WOD

5 Rounds of 2:30

250m Row
10 Thrusters (95#)
10 C2B Pull-ups
Rest with whatever time is left

I did it Rx the first round, but had to drop to 5 C2B for the last 4 rounds so that I could get about 20 seconds of rest. Pretty tough one. The thrusters really sucked after I had done so much heavy squatting.

Finisher

Accumulate 2:00 of Ring L-sits. Each break, do 5 burpees. I held my knees up l-sits for 40-30-20-17-13 seconds each so did 20 burpees. I think it took me 5:38 to get this done.

This happened to be my 500th post on this training blog, so I had to make it an epic day right?

Finished the Squat Program

In at 10am. Trained with Kevin and Kinde.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Strength

Front Squats

Last session of the 6 week volume squat program. Warmed up with 5 @ 45# and 5 @ 135#.

5 @ 205#
4 @ 215#
3 @ 230#
2 @ 240#
1 @ 260#
6 @ 205#

I went a little over the prescription since loading 200# on the bar is not convenient and then also added 5# on the set of 1 so I could set an easy PR. Forget the reps and did an extra one on the last set. I’m really happy I did this program and can tell my squats are better. I’m excited to test out my maxes next week.

Bench Press

Had a disappointing showing a couple of weeks ago for 1RM bench, so needed to get back on track. I looked back to the last time I did sets of 3 and went for the same weights.

5 @ 135#
3 @ 155#
3 @ 175#
3 @ 195#
3 @ 215#
MAX @ 175# (Did 10)

The set with 215# wasn’t exactly easy today, but at least I know I can still do it. Had to really concentrate on keeping my right elbow in close today and it helped.

WOD

5-4-3-2-1 Clusters (135#)
10-8-6-4-2 OTB Burpees

This one was inspired by a WOD Briggs and Valenzuela did.

I dropped the bar every rep, but didn’t take any breaks. Took me 4:22.

Finisher

5 Sled Drags of about 100m (135#)