Alarming Morning

I actually set my alarm to wake up this morning to make the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 3×15 Reverse Hypers (140#)
  • Air Squats
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 30 Mountain Climbers
  • 500m Row

Strength

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 4×205#
  • 2×245#
  • 2×265#
  • 2×285#
  • 1×305#
  • 1×315#
  • 1×325#
  • 1×335#

No pops or tweaks! That’s the most I’ve done since setting the PR in June. Hopefully it continues. I focused on pushing my butt back first and not bottoming out.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 OH Walking Lunges (45#)
  • 10 MB Cleans (20#)
  • 5 Burpees

Took me 5:11. Nice leg burn during the last two sets of medicine ball cleans.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 10s Rest

Jumped on the reverse hyper for 3x10x140# after class.

A little afternoon double in the garage. Warmed up with 5:00 on the Air Dyne, but didn’t record the distance.

6 Rounds

  • 250m Ski Erg
  • 15 GHD Sit-ups

With the Jeep in the way, having to walk around to the other side of the garage provided some nice rest in between movements. Took me 12:18 to finish. My splits on the skier were: 58.7, 57.9, 59.6, 59.4, 59.3, and 58.9. According to the monitor my time to get the sit-ups done and get back was 1:00, 1:10, 1:05, 1:10, and 1:10.

A lot of times when I workout alone in the garage I want to quit early or switch up the workout when I get uncomfortable. Glad I stuck this one out.

Shoulder Reppin’

Running the show at 9am again for Kevin, but he gets back to town today. I did 3 sets of 10 reverse hypers with 210# before class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 5 Push-ups
  • 4 Inch Worms
  • 20 Band Pulls (red)

Warmed up the shoulder press with 10×45#, 5×95#, and 3×125#.

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Shoulder Press (152.5#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1-2-1 X Push-ups
    • 2s: 18″ Plyo
    • 1s: 21.5″ Plyo

Struggle from the start with the shoulder press, especially getting that first rep going, but made it through every set. New 3RM too and for all 8 sets!

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

  • 8 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 8 OTB Burpees
  • 8 American KBS (62#)

Got exactly 6 rounds.

Midline

8 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 10s Rest

Yuck!

I finished up with 2 sets of 20 reverse wrist curls with 45#.

Pain Travels

Left calf is still really sore, but I’m able to move around on it, so that’s a good sign. Went to CFi at 9 for some lifting. Started out with Crossover Symmetry Activation and some snatch positioning with an empty bar.

Muscle Snatches

  • 2×75#
  • 2×95#
  • 2×105#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×125#

Snatches

  • 1×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×175#
  • 1×185#
  • 1×170#
  • 1×180#
  • 1×190#
  • 1×175#
  • Fx185#
  • 1×185#
  • Fx195#
  • Fx195#

Figured I’d try out some waves today. I guess I’d count the first 6 lifts as one big wave since it wasn’t a drop, so didn’t have a miss until the middle of the last wave. Getting the bar plenty high enough as usual. Called it a day after 3 misses. Glad to have hit 185 a couple of times and 190 once. Calf didn’t seem to affect anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VOykHRtLTk

Front Squats

Warmed up with 5×135# and 3×205#. Then did the following sets every 2 minutes.

  • 2×240#
  • 2×255#
  • 2×270#
  • 1×290#
  • 1×295#
  • 1×295#
  • 1×285#
  • 1×285#

Harder than it should have been, which is why I didn’t keep going with 295#. Calf didn’t hold me back here either.

Went back for the 5:30 class. My low back started acting up again this afternoon. 😦

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • 40 Mountain Climbers
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Skill

I tried a few bar muscle-ups and got up there on the first one. Need to work the skill soon like I’ve been doing on the rings.
3 Rounds NFT

  • 4 Wall Walks + 20s Handstand Hold
  • 2 Rope Climbs (13′)

Those wall walks are so deceiving. Always end up breathing hard after a couple of them.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 OHS (95#)
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 20 Sit-ups

I have my butterfly down now! No problem getting all of the pull-ups. The EMOM work on muscle-ups and chest-to-bar pull-ups must be helping a ton. Finished in 6:07 with everything unbroken. Sit-ups got slow though.

More Skill

4 x Wall Walk + Handstand Hold each time

We all did it together. He had us go for a max hold on the last one and I got around 1:30 before I bailed.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 20s Rest

The hollow holds were not easy after coming right out of a long handstand hold!

Cool Down

2k Row

Nice and easy, keeping pace under 2:10/500m. Finished in 8:28.

Gimpy Calf

Yesterday I played 18 holes of golf (rode in a cart) in the morning and did DDP YRG Diamond Cutter at night. Body felt pretty beat up all day. My low back felt pretty tight last night when I’d wake up and roll over in bed. In for the 9am at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Squat Hold
  • Rapid Toe Touches
  • Zombie Kicks
  • Inch Worms w/ Cobra
  • 5 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (245#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (315#)
  • Couple of jump course runs

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Deadlifts (335#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 PVC Jump Course

We had about 6 different PVC heights setup. I tried to get through them all each time, but would often miss the last one once during the double rounds because my spacing was off. I tweaked my left calf on the last jump in the 6th round of the course so didn’t jump again after that. Same area where it was really tight last week. Hopefully nothing serious.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Push-ups
  • 15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Kept everything unbroken with an extra breath or two between movements. Finished 5 rounds plus 5 push-ups, 15 wall balls, and 3 swings.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 20s Rest

Strength

Since we switched it up with deadlifts today I needed to get in my shoulder press since I’d already taken 2 days off from last doing them on Saturday. Stayed after class for week 2 day 2 of my 2nd Smolov Jr. cycle.

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 7x5x127.5#

Little rough after the shoulder work in the WOD. Made it through though.

Kevin had me do a bunch of mobility and SMR work on that left calf. Ouch!

Went out in the garage for an afternoon session around 3. Started with an easy 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg in 5:19 and then rested about 4 minutes.

E2M 30:00

  • 250m Ski Erg

The original plan was to go as long as I could without the time getting over 1:00. I quickly realized that could take all night so I settled on 12 rounds. Got there and said I need the push so did 15. I’d say if your speed starts to drop a couple of seconds, stop anywhere after 10 of these. My splits were 58.6, 58.2, 58.1, 58.1, 58.2, 58.6, 58.2, 58.4, 58.4, 58.4, 58.2, 58.2, 58.1, 58.2, and 56.6. So I had two at 58.6 and all of the rest were 58.1-58.4, with the exception of the 15th, where I pushed through to the end. My shorts and socks were soaked all the way through. Gets hot and humid in the closed garage.

I did a real slow 5:00 on the Air Dyne to cool down since it had started raining outside. Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Mini Cindy

Still feeling the effects of “Annie” on my core. Have been getting solid sleep lately and starting eating clean last Friday. Dropped 6 pounds already, down to 194#. I’d love to get back to under 190, which is golden for my conditioning.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Dynamic Toe Touches
  • 5 Inch Worms to Cobra
  • Zombie Kicks
  • 6×155# Deadlifts
  • 2 Box Jumps (30″)
  • 6×245# Deadlifts
  • 1 Box Jump (36″)

XWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Deadlifts (335#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Box Jumps
    • 2s: 36″
    • 1s: 40″

Should have pushed it higher in weight and box height.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 3:00 “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 1:30 Rest

We started each 3:00 where we left off the last one. I got exactly 4 rounds the first time through, 3 rounds plus 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 8 air squats the next time, and finally 7 air squats, 3 rounds, and 5 pull-ups. Push-ups started to go at the end of the second 3 minutes. They always get me.

We jogged an easy mile right after.

Another afternoon workout in the garage. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

3 Rounds

  • MAX Strict HSPU

I got 7-7-5. According to my records, over 2 years ago I got 10, but I tip the scales 20 pounds heavier these days. Not like I don’t know that overhead pressing is a weakness of mine though.

3 Rounds

  • MAX L-Sit on parallettes

Also a weakness. Not even true l-sits, but my feet were off the ground. I managed 14-21-15 seconds.

2,000m SkiErg

The fun part! First time trying long distance for time. From some rough comparisons with rowing I figured a pace of 2:10/500m would be a good place to start. That went out the window 5 seconds in after a 2:06-ish felt pretty good. I finished in 8:26.2 with 500m splits of 2:07.1, 2:07.0, 2:07.4, and 2:04.7 with a stroke rate of 35 for each split, so very consistent. I picked up the pace in the last 150m, which seemed like it should have gotten me more than a few seconds! Something to shoot for next time I guess.

4 Rounds

  • 30s Hollow Hold on hands/feet
  • 30s Rest

Wow! These were a bitch after the other stuff. They seemed pretty easy when I did them at SF before.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

Knotted Up

Woke up out of it and still wasn’t quite awake when I got to the box.

Warm-up

3 Rounds of “Cindy” NFT

  • 5 Pull-ups
  • 10 Push-ups
  • 15 Air Squats

I did all strict pull-ups and a chin-up grip for the 2nd round.

Skill

E90S 15:00 (10x)

  • Rope Climb (13′)

Really getting the “hang” of it. Noticing these are going to be really good for grip strength as well as some extra biceps and triceps work.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 12 DB Snatches (40#)
  • 14 K2E

All step downs from the box and I went 6 in a row with each arm for the snatches. Started out with 5-5-4 for K2E, but was down to 5-4-3-2 in the last couple of rounds. Finished exactly 5 rounds just as time ran out.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Russian Twists (53# KB)
  • 20s Rest

I stuck around for some extra work.

10 Rounds NFT

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions

Did each round quick, but took my time in between. Focused on explosiveness with each rep. Nice burn after the other midline stuff.

Is Spring Here?

With the forecast calling for highs around 70° Sunday and Monday I think spring may finally be here! My traps are still really sore. My weight was down to 194.3 pounds, which was surprising with all of the fried fish and beer I had yesterday for lunch. I’ve lost all of the vacation weight and more in less than 2 weeks. Onwards to 185-188 now!

2014-04-19-withings-chart

I hit a workout in the garage around 10:30.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 200m Run (20# Weight Vest)
  • 10 GHD Sit-ups (20# Weight Vest)

Damn, running really sucks with that extra weight. When I took off from the garage my body really wanted to heel strike. Kept up a pretty consistent pace and finished in 7:50.

Skill

I rested 5 minutes and then did 300 double unders for time. Took me 4:30, which is 5 seconds slower than the last time. I contacted RPM about the cable issue and they are sending me a replacement. I was able to remove the loose strand and the cable didn’t seem to act any different, so I’ll probably keep the replacement until I need it. Good start to week 3 of 1,000+ DU.

Midline

5:00 E30S

  • Hollow Hold Feet/Hands

Much harder with only that 30 seconds of rest.

Accessory

3×50 Band Pulls (Red)

Trying to get a little scap work in.

Went to Survival Fitness at 1:30 for weightlifting club.

Muscle Cleans

  • 3x3x95#

Cleans

  • 2×125#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×185#
  • 1×195#
  • 1×205#
  • 5x1x215#

Concentrated on getting the bar to the power position, which I completely missed with that hang power clean this week. Took all cleans into the full squat too so I can get comfortable dropping under the weight again. Should have taken a video or two.

Langford Couplet Squats

Do 2 front squats, rack it, and immediately do 5 back squats. I did 205-225-245-265-275. I chickened out and didn’t go for 285 on the last set like I planned. Probably a good thing though because it was rough to finish as it was.

Clean Deadlifts

  • 2x3x285#
  • 3x3x305#

Lost feeling in my left thumb on the final set. That has never happened before.

Last Page

Feeling pretty good. Upper abs were sore last night, but not really feeling much of anything anywhere on the body this morning.

Warm-up

  • Jumping Jacks
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Butt Kicks
  • Air Squats

Accessory

14:00 EMOM

  • 5x 3-Position Snatch Deadlifts (1″, knee, power, knee, 1″)
  • 30s Hollow Hold on Feet & Hands
Image from The Outlaw Way's 140416 Post
Image from The Outlaw Way’s 140416 Post

I expected the hollow holds to be much more difficult than they were. I used straps for the deads, with 115# for 3 sets, 135# for 3 sets, and 165# for the last set.

Conditioning

  • 50-40-30-20-10 Goblet Squats (35# KB)
  • 25-20-15-10-5 Box Jumps (24″)

Finished in 11:05. Hell of a leg burn. Low back pumped up too.

Midline

  • 3×20 Hip Extensions (on Roman Chair)

With that, I’ve filled up a full Field Notes with training logs. I think I started using that one last summer. Time to turn the page on a new one.

Going to see Joe, a chiropractor I know from the gym. Will see if he maybe comes up with something different to try for my shoulder. I’ve been giving it solid rest for two and a half weeks now and used it very little the 6 weeks before that. I want to be able to do all movements again! Falling behind.