Front Squat – Page 26 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Random Friday Open Gym

My calves are even more sore today, but my shoulders aren’t bad. I went in at 5:15 for open gym and did a bunch of random stuff, trying to keep any stress of my lower back.

20:00

30s Row
30s Rest

I was planning on doing 10 minutes, but Matt guilted me into 20. I’m glad he did. The first 10 weren’t too bad, but I had to fight for intensity after that.

Brent showed up and we worked together on some stuff.

6 rounds

10 DB Chest Presses (5 each side, 40# DB)
10 Weighted Push-ups (sandbag on back, which is about 35#)
10 Quarter Get-ups (5 each side, 39# KB)
10 Russian Step-ups (5 each side, 35# DBs, 18″ box)

We did the chest presses on a bench. This circuit took us somewhere between 15 and 20 minutes. We didn’t keep track of time, but kept up a steady pace and didn’t take breaks.

Matt noticed we had a lot of pushing movements there, so suggested we do some pulling and maybe GHDs. I tried a GHD sit-up, but it was too much for my back so I did hip extensions instead.

5 rounds

10 Hip Extensions
10 Pull-ups

No time again here as we didn’t do this for intensity. Brent headed over to do some rowing so I jumped on the squat rack in between sets with Cora.

3 sets

8 Front Squats (130#)

Why not 10 reps each set? Because the bar was starting to cut off my air supply. 🙂

Solid work for a Friday night, being the 4th day in a row at the gym. No WOD tomorrow for me. I need to start taking more rest days and probably should try getting into a 3 on 1 off schedule. I may go for a run or bike ride if it doesn’t rain.

Push (Press) It Real Good

I was planning to hit up the 8pm tonight, but decided to go to the 7pm in case I felt like staying after for a bit and doing some extra work, which we can do during the 8pm. Shoulders are sore from yesterday.

Warm-up

4 rounds

15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Squat Jumps

Strength

Find a 2 rep max for Push Press

Started off at 5 reps of the 45# bar. Then did 2 reps at each of 85#, 105#, 125#, 145#, 165#, and 175#. The last time I tried a max push press was at the end of March when I got 145#. That’s a 30# PR with 2 reps.

WOD

10:00

Odd minutes: 7 Power Cleans (100#)
Even minutes: 7 Front Squats (100#)

Take 1 minute off to add weight

10:00

Odd minutes: 5 Power Cleans (120#)
Even minutes: 5 Front Squats (120#)

Take 1 minute off to add weight

10:00

Odd minutes: 3 Power Cleans (140#)
Even minutes: 3 Front Squats (140#)

After a couple of reps into that first minute of power cleans I didn’t think I could keep going. My back was really feeling it. I realized I was pulling too much too early with my back, so I slowed down the deadlift portion of the clean and then exploded with the weight once I got above my knees. It really helped a lot and I didn’t feel a problem with my back until after the we were done.

We ended up doing 5 more power cleans with each weight that what you would see here because we didn’t have racks, so everything was off the floor. I really liked this one. It was over 30 minutes, but there was less than 30s of work during each minute. Just enough time to recover before starting on the reps of the next movement.

I’m heading off to San Francisco early tomorrow morning and won’t be back until late on Monday night. Hopefully I’ll find some time to workout at the hotel.

I’m Exhausted

I should have taken a day off somewhere during the week. I just got home from Survival Fitness where I attended the 4:15p class and stayed another hour for open gym. I’m exhausted and could really tell towards the end of the 2 hours. Finally I forced myself to leave. At least I’m out-of-town for the weekend so I can’t get in any WODs. I think all of the squatting we did this week really took a toll on my body too. I’ve never gone 6 days in a row before and now I know why.

Warm-up

100 V-ups
Every minute on the minute, do 5 box jumps (24″), except to start the first minute.

We didn’t do many box jumps this week, so I was glad to see them here, even if it didn’t end up being very many. I think I finished in the 6th(?) minute, but don’t remember for sure.

As we were waiting for everyone to finish, I jumped on the bar and got my first muscle-up! Did it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Next up, the rings. I actually just got a set of the wood rings from Rogue Fitness to use while I’m vacationing for 10 days and then I can hang them in my garage when I get back.

WOD

EMOM: 4 Burpees (start with 4 right away)

50 PVC Front Squats
30 SDLHP (88# KB)
50 PVC OHS
30 1-arm Push Presses (each arm) (45# DB)
50 PVC Back Squats
30 Ring Rows

I finished in 17:28, so I did 68 burpees. Front squats with a PVC pipe were kind of weird because there was no weight there to keep the wrists in place and help the elbows get up. Oh yeah, 150 more squats for the week! I wanted to get in some heavy front or back squats at open gym, but not with how much squatting we had already done for the week.

Finisher

5 rounds

150m Sprint (rectangle in the parking lot)
2m Rest

My sprints were all 21-22 seconds, which is pretty good considering the corners are pretty scary running in the parking lot. I felt really good doing the sprints.

Open Gym

I did some deadlifting to start. The plan was to do a 5×5 after the light warm-up set.

10x 135#
5x 225#
5x 275#
5x 305#
1x 325#

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I increased the weight so much there. I had to set the bar down after the 3rd rep at 305# before knocking out the last two. Then at 325# I had to shut it down after one. I was starting to feel it in my back and got light-headed after I walked away from the bar. At least I got in some heavy deadlifting, but I should have been smarter about it.

Then Casey A. was doing some snatch balances, so I jumped in with him. We did some with the 45# bar and some with 65#. After that we did some squat snatches with 65# and 85#. I think I was doing 3-5 reps for a couple sets at each weight for both the snatch balance and the squat snatch.

Killer Medicine Ball Warm-up

Still pretty sore from Sunday’s WOD and some new soreness from doing “Cindy” yesterday. I can really feel all of those push-ups. I don’t remember the last time I was this sore to be honest.

Warm-up

30 yards down and back

Zombie Kicks
High Knees
Butt Kicks
Power Skips

5 rounds with 20# MB

1m OH Lunges
1m Sit-ups
1m Front Squats
1m Diamond Push-ups (on ball)
1m OH Squats
1m Rest

The MB work was a real arm and shoulder killer. It got the legs nice and loose for the WOD too.

WOD

20-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2

Burpees
Goblet Squats (50# KB)

The burpees were much harder than usual due to doing 186 chest-to-ground push-ups yesterday and about 60 MB diamond push-ups in the warm-up. All sets of burpees were done unbroken, but I had to break each round of goblet squats into 2 sets until I got to the round of 10 when I went unbroken the rest of the way. I finished in 15:08.

Strength

5×5 Weighted Pull-ups
Take 2 minutes of rest after each set and try to increase the weight each set.

For my sets I used 8#, 10#, 12#, 15#, and 15#. I might have even come up just short on the 5th rep in the last set, so I’m glad I didn’t try to increase to 20# which would have been the next jump. I actually stayed after class to finish this off because there was a 15 minute gap before the next class started. I know I need the work to increase my strength. This is a huge improvement over the last time I did weighted pull-ups and used 12# for the last 3 sets.

Partner Ladder

I really hated taking yesterday off, but my body needed it after 5 days in a row. I did get out and walk 18 holes of golf, so that was some active recovery. My legs were actually a little sore today, maybe lingering from all of the previous WODs building up.

Warm-up

5 rounds

12 Ring Rows
12 Plyo Push-ups

One minute per station, so you rest for the remainder of the minute once your set is done. Ring rows are still a weakness of mine. I was able to do all of the plyo push-ups unbroken though.

WOD

Partner Ladder

1 -> 10 Burpees
2 -> 20 KBS
1 -> 10 Pull-ups
2 -> 20 Wall Balls
1000m Run

One partner works at a time, while the other rests. Using burpees as an example, partner A does 1 rep, partner B does 1, partner A does 2, partner B does 2, and so on until both have done the set of 10. For the KBS and Wall Balls, rep counts increase by 2 each time, so it would be 2, 4, 6, … up to 20. I was partnered with Kinde, one of the top women at the gym. Since she had just done 150 pull-ups yesterday, Matt had her do thrusters with 30# DBs, which was so much worse.

I used a 55# KB for the swings and a 20# MB for wall balls. The only thing I didn’t complete unbroken was the set of 20 KBS, which I broke down into sets of 12 and 8. I felt bad for Kinde because she wasn’t getting much rest and then when we got to the run she was having a hard time breathing. She hung on and pushed through it. We finished in 44:27.

I had a tape grip for my right hand to do pull-ups and it really saved me. Last night I trimmed off the loose skin from a big popped blister, so it’s still pretty raw. I was really happy to be able to do all of my pull-up sets unbroken today and my wall balls are like night and day compared to where I was a few weeks ago. This Paleo Challenge is really paying off!

Strength

Front Squats

5x 135#
5x 155#
5x 175#
3x 195#
1x 215#

Hitting 215# ties my PR. I hadn’t done front squats in three and a half months, so I’m happy with that after all of the wall balls in today’s WOD. I went for a 2nd rep at 215#, but my legs were toast and I had to dump it. Next time.

Update: When I got home, I rested a bit and then did day 2 of the Armstrong Pull-up Program (PDF). I’m hoping to increase my pull-up strength at a faster pace than what I’m getting from the WODs. I’ve been consistently adding 1 or 2 reps to my maximum rep strict set each month, but I want it to increase faster. I did the first pull-up session last night, so this morning was the first time I did the push-up part of the program.

Bought the Iron Gym Extreme, because the pull-up stand I have in my garage sucks

Be Careful

We had to call 911 today. A guy stopped in to talk to someone, jumped on the pull-up bar, and fell off after the first pull-up. He landed on his head and neck area. I didn’t see it happen because I was facing the other way, but there was quick reaction by some nurses in the class to run over and stabilize him. He was out cold for 10 seconds or so, but then was alert, responsive, and could move his extremities. I bet he’s going to be sore for a few days, but hopefully everything else is fine.

On another note, I’ve now been doing CrossFit for 6 months! Half a fucking year. Amazing! That’s twice as long as any other exercise program I’ve ever done. I still love it as much, if not more, than day 1.

Warm-up

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

MB Power Clean & Presses
Burpees

I used a 20# MB and completed this in 6:16, by going pretty much non-stop.

WOD

50 Russian KBS
21 Sit-ups
21 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
18 Sit-ups
18 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
15 Sit-ups
15 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
12 Sit-ups
12 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
9 Sit-ups
9 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
6 Sit-ups
6 HR Push-ups
50 Russian KBS
3 Sit-ups
3 HR Push-ups

That’s 350 KBS in total. I did the first set unbroken, then started the rest of the rounds off with 25 unbroken and usually broke down the last 25 into 15 and 10. Sit-ups were all unbroken, but I broke the HR push-ups down into 2 sets during the rounds of 18 and 15. I used a 55# KB for the swings and finished in 20:10.

Strength

I started to do front squats by warming up with 135#. It was during that set of 5 reps when the accident happened and the class was done after that.

My shoulders and upper back were a little…

My shoulders and upper back were a little tight this morning and my right ass cheek still has a twitch if I move in just the right position. Spent a lot of time yesterday taking care of my hands. They still sting like a bitch if touched in the right way. Today was test day at CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up
90s – 60s – 30s

DUs
Sit-ups

I think I’m getting worse at DUs, not better. I couldn’t even string a couple together. Doesn’t help that I had to hold the handles differently, but that’s no excuse.

Strength
Front Squat: 1RM Test

5 Reps at 50% of goal
3 Reps at 75%
1 Rep at 80%
1 Rep at 85-90%
1RM (do a 6th set if this was easy enough)

Whenever we get to tests like these, I still have no clue what to shoot for. Luckily I match up pretty well with one of the other guys, Greg, that comes to the same classes I do. We usually share a rack and do similar weights. The most I’ve done on the front squat was 145# four times, so I was thinking 180ish in the back of my mind. Started off with 95# for 5 reps, then jumped up to 145# for 3 reps and 175# for one rep. The 175# felt easy and I was already near to my clueless goal, so I kept going with the flow. We added 10s on each side to get up to 195# and it was still pretty easy. For the final set at 1RM we used 215#. It was a bit of a struggle in the middle, but I kept pushing and got the weight up. Booyah! I love this stuff.

WOD
Work Capacity Test
4 Sets

30s Row
30s Rest

I was able to stay consistent with each set, rowing 151m, 152m, 150m, and 145m for a total of 598m. The rowing was a little tough on the hands as I could feel it touching the bare skin. I stopped at the store for some athletic tape and cushion tape so I can wrap them up a bit for tomorrow.

Scared out of my mind and excited

I was a little sore this morning in my shoulders, which I’m guessing is from the ring dips yesterday. I did end up walking 18 holes of golf yesterday on a pretty tough walking course, so it was a good slow-paced calorie burner. Last night when I looked at the WOD for today I was scared out of my mind and excited at the same time. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve done CrossFit.

Warm-up

2x Band Work
- 15 Baby side steps each way
- 10 Press
2x
- PVC Bergener warm-up
- PVC Shoulder mobility

Strength

4 sets

Clean 1.1.1.1 (10 rest between each rep)
30s Rest
Max HSPU
2m Rest

For the cleans I did 95#, 115#, 135#, 135# and it was all I could handle at the end. I think I’m still lacking the technique to get that explosive movement with my legs and hips to get the bar up and floating. I’m also still too slow getting under the bar and with my elbows. This was the first time I tried real HSPUs. I was able to get up on the wall without a problem and I used 3 ABMATs under my head. It wasn’t a very far movement, but it was a good place to start. Next time I think I can try with 2 ABMATs instead. I was able to do 9 in a row one of the sets.

WOD
3 Rounds

15 Deadlifts
12 Hang Power Cleans
9 Front Squats
6 Jerks

Wow! Now you can see what I was afraid of. I was trying to decide on 95# or 105# and was glad I went with 95#. Hanging on to that weight through all of the reps and moves is exhausting. At the same time, you don’t want to put the weight down because you have to use that much more energy to get the bar back up and continue where you left off. I tried to keep my breaks really short and push myself. It paid off because I was the first person in the class to finish in a time of 11:45! Of course it’s all relative, but I felt pretty good about it. One of the girls that does competitions was in our class today and she used ~~17.5#~~ 5# more than me, so that puts me back in my place real fast. She’s just a little thing too. (I forgot that most women use a lighter and shorter bar, so now I don’t feel quite as bad about my weak ass.)

It was my first time wearing the Inov-8 Bare-XF 210 and they felt great. They feel considerably lighter than the Inov-8 F-Lite 230’s I have been using and I can really feel my feet in these shoes. I’m glad I made the purchase. We didn’t have any type of run in today’s workout, so we’ll see how they feel in short runs before I can make a full recommendation.