Tag: Hand Release Push-up

Long and Heavy

This morning when I woke up everything was sore. Everything. Maybe it was the way I slept or maybe I’m recovering faster and faster, because a few hours later I was feeling just fine. I skipped doing a workout out at the lake, which let me pack up and drive home so I could hit open gym at Survival Fitness. I was really looking forward to some heavy barbell work after being away on vacation with only dumbbells to work with.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2 rounds
    • 10 PVC Pass-thrus
    • 10 PVC OHS

Strength

Deadlifts

  • 10x 135#
  • 5x 225#
  • 5x 255#
  • 5x 285#
  • 5x 305#
  • 3x 325#

Deadlifting felt good. My grip gave out on the last set so I was only able to get 3 reps. I think that’s more than I’ve ever done for 3 reps, so no complaints.

Power Cleans
* Every minute on the minute for 5 minutes I did the associated number of reps with a weight. After 5 minutes I took about 2 minutes while I changed weights and recovered a bit before starting on the heavier weight for the next 5 minutes.

  • 7x 115#
  • 4x 135#
  • 2x 155#
  • 2x 165#

I’ve never done anything quite like this so it was an experiment. After completing my reps, I had about 30 seconds left in most of the minutes, with slightly more when I got to the last two weight with only 2 reps each. A few months ago 165# was my clean PR and here I am doing it for reps!

WOD

4 rounds

  • 25 HR Push-ups
  • 25 Wall Balls (10′ with 20# MB)
  • 25 Sit-ups
  • 25 Box Jumps (24″)

My plan for this morning was to do “Angie” and I was still thinking about doing it at open gym, maybe with a modification like you see here to turn it into 4 rounds of 25 reps each instead of 100 straight of each movement. After doing the deadlifts and the cleans, my hands were is rough shape and I was close to having some blisters and rips, so it was an easy decision to skip pull-ups.

I decided to substitute wall balls for air squats since I hadn’t done any while away on vacation. Instead of pull-ups I threw in box jumps thinking it would be my rest station. After killing my legs with deadlifts and cleans it was rough to jump. I couldn’t rebound at all.

I completed the WOD in 23:01. Nearly 2 solid hours of work and a great way to come back to town.

Sprints

Thought about making today a rest day, but I’ll make that tomorrow instead. My shoulder area is pretty sore today and I have a decent bruise on my left bicep from the ring strap when I failed on a muscle-up yesterday.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 easy run
  • Tabata Sprints
  • 7:30 easy run

I really like doing the Tabata sprints and they are great work. I should get back to doing them once a week.

WOD #1

10 rounds

  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 40 yard Sprint
  • Walk back

Due to the walking, I didn’t think it made sense to time this. All of the push-ups were done unbroken and I ran all out on the sprints. The area where I did my sprints was a slight incline in the yard, so uneven terrain, which was a nice change from running on pavement.

WOD #2

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DUs
  • Sit-ups

My time was 9:37, far from my 8:26 best. My DUs were not the greatest and I was really feeling the sit-ups. Didn’t take any breaks, so the time was really disappointing.

Sunday is Not a Day of Rest

I went to bed later than normal, so didn’t wake up quite as early as I have been. Still had time to get in my first WOD of the day before my brother and Mom woke up though. I can feel the effects of the weighted step-ups from last night already, so as the day goes on and in to tomorrow it should be interesting.

Warm-up

5 rounds

  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Bottom Squat Hold

WOD

50 reps of each

  • DUs
  • Plank Push-ups
  • Star Jumps
  • T2B (on rings)
  • SDLHP (50# KB)
  • Walking Lunges
  • V-ups
  • Push Presses (35# DBs)
  • KBS (50# KB)
  • HR Push-ups
  • DUs

I set a new PR by doing the first 15 T2B unbroken with kipping. The rings on the tree worked out really well. After the first 15 I did them 5 at a time. Push Presses were done in 5 sets of 10, KBS in sets of 20, 15, and 15, and I tried to stick to sets of 10 for the HR Push-ups, but that broke down a bit after 30 reps. My total time was 30:31, but it would have been under 30 had I not turned a single knot into a double when I picked up the rope and tried to fix it. I wasted over 30 seconds getting those out. Ugh!

I’ve been doing a lot of WODs in the 10 minute range, so it was good to get in a long chipper like this. After I get a late breakfast I’ll probably head out for a trip on the kayak and then I plan to do the Hero WOD “Brenton” later today.

135 Deadlifts

A new Paleo Challenge is starting today at Survival Fitness, but I’m not doing this one because I’m going on vacation, my body fat isn’t going to drop enough to be helpful to a team, and I don’t want to eat that strict anymore. I do still eat Paleo and am working out how to maintain my body composition, while also being able to build more muscle.

So we did a type of benchmark workout today.

Warm-up

50-40-30-20-10

  • Air Squats
  • Sit-ups

Time limit of 10 minutes and he said he didn’t want anyone to finish this. It’s just some movements to get the body ready for the WOD. I got through the 50s and 40s and did some of the 30 air squats.

WOD

10 Rounds (15:00 time cap)

  • 15 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 15 HR Push-ups

I was going to go with the Rx 185#, but Matt quickly talked me out of it when he showed that the top dawg in the gym barely finished this workout Rx. So I dropped down to 155# and I still didn’t get done. I was able to get in 9 full rounds as the buzzer went off on the clock, so had one round to go. That’s 135 reps of each, which is a ton of deadlifting.

On the board this WOD didn’t look too bad, but combined with the over 90 degree temperature and humidity it took a lot out of you. I know I’m going to be feeling it in my back for a few days.

We could have chosen a workout with 1-arm DB snatches, burpees, box jumps, and sprints, but I’m not going to have any barbell work for 10 days so I chose to do the deadlift WOD. I already have a DB snatch workout planned for the next week at some point. One more day at the gym before I’m outta here!

Five Station Warm-up

I’m pretty sore from the long run yesterday, most of which is in my calves. I attended the 7pm class today. It was a hot and humid night. I thought I might stick around and do some strength work after class, but decided against it after sweating so much.

Warm-up

3 rounds

  • 1m Box Jumps (Big Tire)
  • 1m Star Jumps
  • 1m Hang Cleans (85#)
  • 1m Russian KBS (62#)
  • 1m Mountain Climbers
  • 1m Rest

If you did the Hope workout or have done Fight Gone Bad, this format should be familiar. I really enjoyed the hang cleans, but it was tougher than I expected to keep going for the entire minute with what was a relatively light weight. I didn’t count reps since this was only a warm-up.

WOD

10 rounds

  • 15 HR Push-ups
  • 100m Run (sprint)
  • 90s Rest

For the 100m sprints we ran 50m down and then back. I finished in 19:12. I tried to jump out of the gates too quickly and as a result, tweaked my left calf. It was pretty tight for the 2nd and 3rd sprints, but then it loosened up. I was able to do all of the push-ups unbroken, but as the rounds went on the 10th through 15th reps got slower and slower.

Finisher

150 Air Squats with 5 burpees after every 25 squats (except the last 25). I didn’t check the clock when I started, so no idea how long this took.

2 Hours of CrossFit

Was up early this morning to play a practice round in preparation for the Saginaw District Golf Tournament Qualifier, which is this Sunday. Yes, I knocked out the Armstrong push-ups bright and early to start my day.

My pair of Reebok CrossFit Nano 2.0 arrived today in time to use them for my workout. I’m very pleased with them as a CrossFit shoe.

I attended the 4:15 class and planned on staying after for open gym to work on a bunch of stuff and beat up my body.

Warm-up

  • 100-75-50-25 Squats
  • 50-40-30-20 HR Push-ups

I’m not sure you can really call this a warm-up, because it took longer than the WOD. I finished in 17:22.

WOD

21-15-9

  • Goblet Squats (88# KB)
  • Burpees
  • Pull-ups
  • Sit-ups

I went as heavy as I could for the goblet squats by using the largest KB in the gym and for each round I broke them up into 2 sets. They completely wiped me out for burpees, which I did extremely slow compared to my normal pace. My time was 12:45.

Finisher

Death by Box Jumps

  • 1st minute: 2 box jumps
  • 2nd minute: 4 box jumps
  • … increas by 2 each minute

Go big or go home right? I used the 32″ box for the first time, which wasn’t too bad. I just had to take my time a little more and make sure I got a good jump in. I made it up to the round of 14, which I finished a few seconds before the minute was over. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make 16 with such a short rest, so I shut it down there. Using the bigger boxes more often will make the 24″ box seem so easy.

After class I rested for a bit as some people started showing up for open gym.

WOD #2

Mini “Diane”
12-9-6

  • Deadlifts (225#)
  • HSPUs

I did strict HSPUs as long as I could, then added a kip, then added an AbMat, then added a kip with the AbMat. My time was 4:49. When I think how fast the elite men and women are doing a “Diane” compared to my mini, it’s sick. They’re in a different solar system.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 3x 175#
  • 3x 195#
  • 3x 195#
  • 3x 195#

I was feeling pretty beat after 250 air squats and the goblet squats, but it was nice to get in some moderate weight squatting for the week.

After that I decided to knock out my Armstrong Pull-ups for the day. It was 3 sets with a normal grip, 3 sets with a close (hands 0-4 inches apart) chin-up grip, and 3 sets with a wide grip. Each set was 3 reps with 60 seconds of rest in between sets. The pull-ups felt really good today.

Then I pulled out the jump rope and did some DUs. With the new rope it was nothing to knock out 10+ in a row on each attempt. It spins so effortlessly. Somehow somebody brought up muscle ups, so I tried a few on the bar. I almost had it a couple of times and I’m confident I can get it next time when I haven’t worked out for 2 hours already. 🙂

I’m fucking beat, but it was all worth it. Time to relax for the night. Tomorrow is CrossFit for Hope, which looks like a killer WOD. I’m looking forward to the snatches, which I haven’t done in quite some time.

Prowler Sprints

I wasn’t feeling all that motivated today when I was deciding which class to attend tonight. I’m not sure if the busy day with multiple WODs yesterday or walking 18 holes of golf this morning took a lot out of me. I ended up going to the 5:30pm class and felt fine once I got moving.

Warm-up

3 rounds

  • 1m MB Russian Twists
  • 1m MB V-ups
  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Bicycles
  • 1m “Mystery”
  • 1m Rest

I used a 20# MB for Russian twists and V-ups. Each round, the “Mystery Move” changed; first we did side planks, then flutter kicks, and ended with prayer crunches. I was really feeling a burn during this ab circuit due to the leg lifts I did yesterday.

WOD

50 reps of each

  • Air Squats
  • Burpees
  • Box Jumps
  • KBS (Russian)
  • Close-grip HR Push-ups
  • Plyo Lunges
  • Pull-ups
  • Sit-ups

I used a 24″ box and a 53# KB. Since I flew through everything, I did full sit-ups to make it harder. I finished in 23:22 and then did 12 reps on the GHD as a bonus.

The close-grip HR push-ups were a bit awkward because you have to keep the hands far enough apart that you can lift them off the ground when your chest is laying down. Pull-ups felt really good and my kip is getting dialed in. I need to learn those butterfly pull-ups soon.

Strength

10 Sets

  • High grip Prowler sprint
  • Low grip Prowler sprint
  • Rest

Finally I got to use the Prowler! I probably won’t be too excited when I feel the effects tomorrow. Stayed after class a bit to finish these. The Prowler was loaded with 180# of weights so I’m guessing over 200# total. The distance was probably 25-30 yards each way. The high grip wasn’t too bad, but the low grip took everything I had to get the Prowler moving, was much slower pushing, and got harder each time. Here’s a video of Casey and I. I’m shown first pushing it back to our starting line.

Walk it Out

Feeling nearly back to 100% today after getting in the workout yesterday and a good night’s sleep last night.

Warm-up

3 rounds:

  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Bicycles
  • 1m Leg Hold
  • 1m Side Plank (30s each side)
  • 1m Mountain Climbers
  • 1m Rest

WOD

7 rounds, decrease pull-ups and push-ups by 3 each round, so 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3

  • 100 ft Walking Lunges with DBs
  • 21 Pull-ups
  • 21 HR Push-ups

Total work:

  • About 210 lunges
  • 84 Pull-ups
  • 84 HR Push-ups

I used 35# DBs for the lunges. Whipped through them in round 1, but that caught up to me real quick and I had to take a rest during the rest of the rounds. I started off touching my knees to the ground on each lunge, which turned out to be a mistake because it ends up being a lot of pounding on the knee. I could really feel it as I got into rounds 5 and 6 so I only tried to get down as far as I could without hitting the ground. My total time was 23:42.

I’m getting better and better at pull-ups and (knock on wood) I haven’t ripped a hand wide open in quite some time with kipping pull-ups. A big part of that is learning when not to push too far and get off the bar to take a short rest. I need to learn how to do butterfly pull-ups now.

Strength

Walking sled pulls with three 45# plates on the sled.

Did a down and back holding a chain between our legs. The length was about 30-35 feet in each direction. I think I did 5 or 6 rounds, but didn’t keep track. This was my first time doing anything with a sled. It didn’t feel too bad for a while, but as the rounds went on I could really feel it. Then I got home and could feel it even more!

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.

Bring Some More

After not getting a ton of sleep for a few nights in a row, I finally got to bed early enough for a solid rest. My legs are sore from the 4 mile run and walking 18 holes of golf yesterday, so I went to a night class at 4:15p today.

Warm-up

5 rounds

  • 20s Mountain Climbers
  • 20s Air Squats (low and slow)
  • 20s Inch Worm

A nice little warm-up to get the blood flowing.

WOD #1

5 rounds

  • 21 KBS
  • 15 HR Push-ups
  • 9 T2B

I used a 55# KB for the swings. I’m starting to get a better kip with the T2B, but have a hard time getting it started without a big swing after the first rep. I think the max I could get in a row was 5 before my grip started to fail. I finished in 12:21.

WOD #2

50-40-30-20-10

  • Star Jumps
  • Sit-ups

Compared to jumping jacks, star jumps are on a completely different level. I was able to do all rounds of sit-ups unbroken. Finished in 8:16.

Strength

5×5 Deadlift

There was still time left in class, so some of us started on some deadlifts. We actually ended up doing 6 sets. The weights were 135#, 225#, 265#, 285#, 290#, and 300#. Felt pretty good, especially considering I set my 1 rep max at 315# a few weeks ago.

That may be the most work I’ve done in one workout, but I felt great today and absolutely killed it.