Tag: Handstand Hold

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 7 Day 3

2014-crossfit-gamesI’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Lifted at Kevin’s at 5 with him and Alex.

I registered for the 2014 CrossFit Games Open. Did you?

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 45# Snatch Positions

Muscle Snatch

  • 3×75#
  • 3×85#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×105#
  • 3×110#

Snatch

  • 2×100#
  • 2×120#
  • 2×140#
  • 1×150#
  • 1×160#
  • 4x1x170#

Like night and day compared to yesterday. Made everything.

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×180#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×205#
  • 4x1x215#

Had Kevin watch a lift at the end. I’m going forward out of my dip instead of straight up.

Back Squat

  • 2×205#
  • 2×240#
  • 2×270#
  • 3x2x290#

Gymnastics

5:00 EMOM

  • 5 Strict HSPU

5:00 EMOM (no rest)

  • 3 Strict HSPU

Even though the programming was for 3 the whole way, I was going to do 5 reps for all 10 rounds, but my shoulders were a little fried after lifts. I held a handstand hold for the remainder of the last minute, which was over 50s worth.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 500m Row
  • 6 Rounds
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Over the Box Jumps (27″)

Used some of Kevin’s blocks and 27″ was as close as we could get to 24″. I could use the extra work though. 🙂 Did the row in 1:51 and finished everything in 6:37. I’m not sure why, but I was expecting it to take longer. The programming had burpees instead of the box jumps, but I did burpees on Monday, so made the switch. My box jumps could have been cycled faster, but I felt pretty good on that one.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 5 Day 5

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting.

Was actually feeling pretty good today. Lifted with Alex at 3:30 again. My body lied to me…

Warm-up

  • 4x 20-30s Handstand Hold
  • PVC pass-thrus
  • Band pulls
  • 45# Snatch Positions

Muscle Snatch

  • 3×75#
  • 3×85#
  • 3×95#
  • 2x3x105#

Snatch

  • 2×105#
  • 2×120#
  • 2×140#
  • 1×150#
  • 1×160# (F)
  • 2x1x170# (M-F)
  • 2x1x165# (F-M)

Felt terrible. I haven’t had that many misses in a day this entire challenge, other than PR day. Did 2 broad jumps for distance after each of the last 4 singles.

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×180#
  • 2x1x190#

The C&J felt a little better than the snatches, but still pretty weak. We packed it in early and skipped the back squats and good mornings.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 T2B
  • 10 Ball Slams (15#)

I attempted to do the conditioning after Alex left, but I even had to change that on the fly. It was supposed to be two 4 minute AMRAPs of the above movements with a 2 minute rest in between. After 3 sets of 5 T2B I was pretty much doing singles! Finished 4 rounds in 4:45.

Time to rest up for the beginning of week 6 on Monday.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 5 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Lifting on short rest so I can head out of town for New Year’s Eve. Out in the garage alone again at about 10am. I’m really missing the community aspect of CrossFit lately, but going to stick with this challenge, especially if it works out adding in some of my own conditioning work to the program.

I created a page for all of the details of my garage gym. Let me know if you have any questions by leaving a comment there or using the contact page.

Warm-up

4 Rounds NFT

  • 3 Strict Pull-ups
  • 20s Handstand Hold

Muscle Clean

  • 2×105#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×125#
  • 2x2x135#

Snatch

  • 2×100#
  • 2×120#
  • 2×140#
  • 1×150#
  • 5x1x160#

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×180#
  • 1×190#
  • 5x1x205#

Even the jerks felt pretty good today! I’ve started using a timer for my rest between sets to try to speed things up. Was doing 60-90 seconds between snatch sets and 90-120 seconds between C&J sets. Got a nice sweat on by doing that and it should help out my conditioning too.

Clean Deadlift

  • 5x3x235#

I’m going to rest tomorrow, so today is WOD 1 from the program.

Skill/Strength

12:00 EMOM

  • Odds – 10 Pistols
  • Evens – 20s Hollow Rock Hold

Took the first round to find my balance with the pistols and I also realized if I hold my leg to the outside instead of straight out it’s better for balance. Was getting the 10 done in 18-20 seconds. Getting better at the hollow rock stuff because it wasn’t too bad with these.

Conditioning

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 Bar MU / 5 C2B Pull-ups / 7 Pull-ups
  • DU for remainder of each minute

I thought about doing C2B pull-ups, but just did 50 of them a few days ago. I need work to translate into bar muscle-ups, so I tried to do really high hip to bar pull-ups with a big hip pop and strong pull. I did 3 of those each round. I got at least a streak of 20 unbroken DU each minute, with streaks of 25 most minutes. Probably averaged about 35 total DU per round. This workout wasn’t complicated but it really got the heart racing and lungs burning.

I could definitely feel that I was on short rest from the workout about 13 hours ago. Might play some hoops today with my buddy

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 3 Day 3

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Feeling pretty good today, with nothing really sore. Out in the garage in the afternoon by myself.

Warm-up

  • 3 Rounds
    • 20s Handstand Hold
    • 5 Strict Chin-ups
    • 10s Hollow Rock Hold
  • 5×95# Push Press

Jerk Balance

  • 3×125#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×145#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×165#

Snatch

  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 4x1x165#

Felt a little off towards the end (maybe tired?) but made all of the lifts. Starting to feel more comfortable in the bottom again.

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×125#
  • 2×150#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×200#
  • 4x1x215#

Jerks felt weak again. Could have been from the jerk balances I guess. Cleans were pretty explosive.

Back Squat

  • 2×205#
  • 2×240#
  • 2×270#
  • 3x2x290#

No misses today. Tried to keep my elbows forward and explode out of the hole; no hesitation.

Conditioning

12:00 EMOM

  • Odds – 8 Pistols (alternating)
  • Evens – 20 Band Pulls (red)

Did 50 band pulls at the end. Pistols were good for not doing them in ages. Off balance here and there, but I’d already been in the squat a ton.

10:00 EMOM

  • 10 Burpees (Max reps in 10th minute)

I went 100% in the first 5 minutes (22-25 seconds), slowed to a 35-40 second pace for the next 4 minutes, and was able to get 18 burpees in the 10th. Not going to lie, this felt rough. Doing this after 2 hours of other work sure doesn’t help and I know I wasn’t all there because I have easily done 10 burpees in 19-20 seconds.

Ready for the rest day!

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 2 Day 3

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. Got everything done in the morning.

Warm-up

  • Handstand practice
  • 45# Snatch positions
  • 2 Snatches (65#)
  • 5 Snatch Presses (65#)

Tried some free-standing handstands without much success, so I kicked up to the wall and then worked on taking my feet off the wall for a few seconds at a time.

Snatch

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  • 2×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 3x1x170#

I missed 170# on the first set, so went again and missed again. I need to learn to just move on. An attempt is an attempt. I made the lift on the next two sets.

Jerk Footwork (Demo Video)

Was supposed to do these before the snatches, but I didn’t realize I skipped them until halfway through my sets. So I did some before the C&J, and mixed some in between sets.

Clean & Jerk

  • 2×125#
  • 2×150#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×200#
  • 1×215#
  • 3x1x225#

Jerks were feeling really weak today. My wrists were already getting pretty sore yesterday from all of the jerk volume. I missed the clean on my last set of the day. Just pooped right out!

Front Squat

  • 2×185#
  • 2×215#
  • 2×250#
  • 2×265#
  • 2x2x280#

I wasn’t real confident about squatting after the other lifts, but they actually felt ok after getting into a set or two. I had to dump the last rep of the day, but I got the first rep of the set. I’ll take it.

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

  • 3 Strict Pull-ups
  • 3 Strict Ring Dips

Felt good to get some of these in.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 5 Wall Climbs
  • 10 Broad Jumps (5’+)
  • 15 Sit-ups

My goal was to keep moving. The wall climbs weren’t nearly as bad as I was expecting with shoulders as dead as they were. Finished in 12:15.

Looking forward to some rest. Won’t lift next until Saturday afternoon and I’m getting a much-needed massage tomorrow.

60 Day Lifting Challenge – Week 1 Day 2

I’m doing the 60 Day Lifting Challenge from Columbus Weightlifting. In the garage before noon by myself for lifting.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Air Dyne
  • 5:00 Handstand Practice

I tried to do some free-standing handstands, which was not happening, so I did some handstand holds with my back towards the wall. After watching it on video, the attempts were pretty pathetic.

Power Snatch to Mats (Demo Video)

  • 2×45#
  • 2×75#
  • 2×95#
  • 4x2x115#

20131203-132457.jpg
I cut up some luan and duct taped the edges. Worked pretty well. I have never had a problem moving my feet out, so I don’t think this drill really does much for me except give me more practice with the lifts.

Power Clean to Mats (Demo Video)

  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 2×155#
  • 4x2x175#

Cleans

  • 2×125#
  • 2×150#
  • 2×175#
  • 1×190#
  • 5x1x200#

Clean Deadlifts (Demo Video)

  • 5x3x230#

They are programming 2 optional CrossFit pieces per week, on the day before you take a rest day. That’s what the handstand work was for in the warm-up. I had some stuff to get done for work, so I rested and went to Survival Fitness at 8pm for open gym. Brent did the workout with me.

Conditioning

  • 100 DU Buy-in
  • 10 Rounds
    • 200m Row
    • 1:1 Rest
  • 100 DU Cash-out

Cranked off 74 DU to start. I kind of ran into the wall in the middle rounds and couldn’t breathe. An hour after finishing I realized I was probably trying to keep it too close to my :30/:30 row pace, especially after the 100 DU buy-in. Didn’t think I could lose my conditioning that fast in just a week! I’m not sure how it calculated some of my rest periods as 45 seconds because they definitely were not that.

Earlier today I was questioning the need for a rest day tomorrow, but now I’m glad to have it. 🙂

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Behind The Neck Work

Nasty freezing rain last night. In at 10am with Kevin and Michelle.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Jump Rope (unbroken)
  • 45# Clean Positions Warm-up

OLY

  • 2 Clean Pulls
  • 1 Power Clean
  • 1 Front Squat

It wasn’t exactly that each time, but always at least those reps.

95-115-135-155-175-185-185-185-185

Strength

Behind the neck Split Jerks

  • 3 @ 95#
  • 3 @ 115#
  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 4 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 155#

Behind the neck Push Presses

  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 165#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 2 @ 195#
  • 2 @ 205#

I’m still really hesitant bringing heavy loads down to my back, but got more comfortable today due to the number of reps between the jerks and push presses. Felt pretty good about the weight, so decided to shoot for a front rack push press PR.

Push Press

  • 225# (PR)
  • F @ 235#
  • 230# (PR)

Beats my old 215# PR. I missed 235# because it was too far out front. Concentrated on a big leg drink and getting the bar back as fast as possible with 230#.

Gymnastics

After an hour of OH work, why not burn the shoulders some more, right? Did 3 handstand holds facing the wall with a wall walk to get in place. The goal was 1:00, but had to drop after 40 seconds on the second one. Held on for it on the 3rd though. We rested 2:00 between each one.

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.

Running in the Snow

2013-out-for-bloodThis morning I was up early and drove over to Mount Pleasant. It was supposed to be for the Out for Blood Duathlon, but due to rain, slow, and sleet they had to cancel the bike portion of the race. Much of the running and biking courses were flooded and many other parts were covered in snow and slush, making it very dangerous to be racing on bikes.

I’ve competed in this race the last two years (winning my age group for the mountain bike division both years) and the weather has always sucked, but this year was the worst. They had to rush to come up with the alternate course, but thy could have easily had someone shovel off the snowy areas of the 5k course. They also didn’t correctly map out a course because it ended up only being about 2.65 miles instead of 3.1 for a real 5k. Oh well, nobody was setting any time records with the condition of the paths and the slick wooden bridges. I finished in about 21:11 after starting out way too fast. I placed 3rd in the 26-35 year-old group for today’s run. At least I can still be competitive as the old man. 🙂

Went in to the gym at 4pm with Matt, Cora, and Kevin to do some training.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 4 Power Snatch (115#)
  • Evens: 12 Pull-ups

Got 12 unbroken butterfly pull-ups each round! I’m really finding the groove with the butterfly.

3 Rounds

  • 15 American KBS (53# KB)
  • 15 Burpees
  • 50 DU

I did the first round of DU unbroken, but started hitting the wall after that. Finished in 7:34.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 30s Handstand Hold
  • Evens: 12 T2B

I made a discovery of how to cycle my T2B a little faster. Being able to do 5×12 unbroken is a huge improvement for me.

10 Rounds

  • 15s AirDyne max effort sprint
  • 1:45 Rest

This is the worst thing I’ve done in a year and a half of CrossFit. I thought I was going to puke from the 3rd round on. We even went 20s on the last round just for fun and I could barely move in those extra 5 seconds. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that I pretty much had to crawl off of the AD after each round. Kevin and I used the same AD and we totaled 269 calories.

After that high effort, I figured it would be a good idea to get some easy rowing in. Did 6 minutes at an easy pace for just over 1,200m I think