Tag: Hollow Rock

Hello 2017

Happy New Year!

I took a lot more rest days in 2016, even during the 3 months sabbatical from work. Each blue square on the calendar below means I worked out that day.

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Compare to the 2015 calendar and it’s quite a different story. Last year I went nearly 3 months straight without taking a complete rest day! I was doing active recovery once or twice a week though. In the final two months of 2016 I took a step back and I think it was good. It’s easy for my addictive traits to come out and put too much into my workouts, when it should be about staying healthy and having fun. Here’s to continuing that balance in 2017.

When I was making Kodiak Cakes for breakfast I got a text asking me to workout. I was planning to hit my thrusters and maybe some Ski intervals in the garage, so that sounded like a better plan. Headed to the gym at 2 and there ended up being a whole crew there. Warmed up with some bottom squat hold and 6 thrusters with 45#.

Thruster Attack Week 8 Workout 1

  • 4 Cycles
    • 3 rounds
      • 20s Thrusters (65#)
      • 10s Rest
    • 30s Rest

I stuck with 9 reps per round like I’ve been doing. Felt better than last week even though it was the same total number of rounds and reps, with less rest time. I swear by this program.

Partner Workout

25:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Broad Jump
  • 20 Bicycle Crunches or Hollow Rocks (alt each round)
  • 10 Russian KBS (70#)
  • 5 Push-up + Row + Row (40# DBs)

Do a round and then rest while your partner goes. I made it through 10 times and Jason had 3 or 4 reps left in his 10th. Was fun to throw together some things we don’t do very often. Good sweat to kick off 2017.

Not Even An Hour

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Shoulder Stretching
  • Ladder Footwork Drills
  • 5 Power Snatch (45#)
  • 3 Power Snatch (75#)

Getting better at some of the drills. One leg is definitely dominant.

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Power Snatch (75#)
  • 10 Bar-facing Burpees

Unbroken every round on the snatches. Getting the hang of my new bar-facing burpee steps better and better each time I do them. Dare I say I’m starting to enjoy them? First round was done in just over a minute, which I knew wasn’t sustainable, but I think is good for me instead of always pacing so much. Good to push the gas more. Finished 5 Rounds plus the 10 snatches.

Skill & Midline

  • 4 Tabata DU
  • 40s Rest
  • 4 Tabata Supermans
  • 40s Rest
  • 4 Tabata DU
  • 40s Rest
  • 4 Tabata Hollow Rocks

Basically just 1 Tabata round off between movements. Never missed a double under and think the Zeus rope is really helping with shoulder fatigue. I got 149 dubs, 44 Supermans, 150 dubs, and 72 hollow rocks.

Overhead Stability / Carry

  • 600m OH Single-arm KB Carry (44#)

Increase in distance, so went lighter. Switched arms about every 100 meters.

We finished in less than an hour today. Will get in a 21 min ROMWOD at some point.

Running For Aerobic Capacity

Soreness is ramping up again after yesterday’s workouts. Really glad I’ve decided to cut back on the squat sets or I’d be in a real world of hurt. Headed to the track around 9:30am. Warmed up with a 400m jog.

Aerobic Capacity

  • 1,000m at moderate pace (4:43 target, 4:56.7 actual)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 400m at fast pace (1:42 target, 1:37.1 actual)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 700m at moderate pace (3:18 target, 3:13.4 actual)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 300m at fast pace (1:17 target, 1:11.2 actual)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 600m at moderate pace (2:50 target, 2:47.6 actual)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 200m at fast pace (0:51 target, 0:47.5 actual)

I was pissed I missed the target on the first interval. I was checking my pace through the first few 100s but stopped looking and slowed too much. Made sure to get under the rest of the targets. Not bad and only 2 miles of volume. Walked 400 meters and headed home.

Sinuses started acting up shortly after the track. Took a little nap during the day and headed to the gym around 5pm for week 1 day 4.  Did some bottom squat hold but got right into it.

Hang Power Clean + Front Squat

  • 3x20kg
  • 3×40
  • 3×60
  • 3×70
  • 3×75
  • 3×79
  • 3×84
  • 3×87
  • 3×90

Was getting rough on my thumbs since I was using the Eleiko bar. I taped them up at some point. Put on my belt for the last couple of sets I think, but didn’t wear knee sleeves today since not much squatting to do.

Clean Deadlifts

  • 5x100kg
  • 5×115
  • 6x5x130

The six working sets were assigned at 80% of an estimated 1 rep max quality clean deadlift. Say what? I have no idea, so I figured I’d go with 100% of my max clean. I used a hook grip on the warm-up sets and 3 of the working sets, then switched to straps for the final 3 sets because my thumbs were taking a beating.

Pause Split Jerks

  • 2x20kg
  • 2×40
  • 2×60
  • 2×70
  • 2×79
  • 2×84
  • 2×89
  • 4x2x93

Assigned 6 doubles at 60-70%, which I was able to do. Maybe slightly off since I used kilos and converted during the workout since I already had my loads planned out in pounds. There was a 2 second pause in the dip and supposed to be 2 seconds in head tilt, but I paused it the split instead. Chad mentions this head tilt quite a bit, but it felt odd when I tried on Monday with shoulder press. Maybe I’ll have to give it another go next week or look up a video to make sure I’m thinking correctly what he’s asking for. These jerks felt heavier than they should have.

Accessory

5 Sets

  • 10/10 Side Bends (53# KB)
  • 20 Hollow Rocks
  • 30 Zeus DU

Took my sweet time as I had been the entire lifting session. Was able to do every set of Zeus dubs unbroken. Not sure how many more than 30 I can do at this point because the handles are really starting to slide in the last few reps. With my regular RPM dub rope I can easily adjust my hand position and not lose a beat, but it feels like letting go of any grip pressure with the Zeus will be a disaster.

I’ll get in a 23 minute ROMWOD yet tonight after dinner. Getting up early to play in a charity golf scramble since I have a bit of a drive to get there.

Applegate Island

Chilly day yesterday, but I did get out for 18 holes. Ride in a cat since it was also missing.

Finally calm today, though a little chilly in the morning, but wanted to go out to an island using the kayak we bought for Dad. Went all the way around the island and back, which ended up being 2.13 miles and took 37:40.
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Surprised my arms and back didn’t get tired. Didn’t stop except to remove the sweatshirt from under the life vest.

Wanted to hit the legs in the afternoon.

5 Rounds

  • 20 Air squats
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 10 Lunges
  • 10 Hollow Rocks

5 Rounds

  • 20 Lunges
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 10 Air squats
  • 10 Hollow Rocks

It was supposed to be 10 rounds but I caught myself at about 15 lunges to start round 6 so flip-flopped the movements for the second 5 rounds. Go with the flow! Good mix of stuff. Took me 15:41.

Cruisin’

Woke up with tired legs from playing a bunch of Slammo/Spikeball last night.

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

  • 10 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 80′ Bear Crawl
  • 10 Walking Lunges

Conditioning

  • 800m Run
  • 40 Push-ups
  • 20 C&J (95#)
  • 400m Run
  • 20 C&J (95#)
  • 40 Push-ups
  • 800m Run

Took exactly 16:00. I went 15-10-8-7 on the first round of push-ups, 10-5-5 on both sets of clean and jerks, and 4×10 on the last round of push-ups, with the final 10 being very slow. Was mostly on cruise control.

Midline

6 Rounds (Tabata)

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Side Plank (R)
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Side Plank (L)
  • 10s Rest

I think I was able to get 18 hollow rocks each time, but they started to burn after 3 sets. Side planks were no issue.

2:00 AMRAP

  • Air Squats

Pretty steady pace of 10 reps every 15 seconds. Finished with 81, which is not very good by BTWB rankings.

Felt like doing something in the evening so I tested out this week’s shoulder press strength work for Intuition. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Shoulder Press – E3M

  • 9×45#
  • 6×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×105#
  • 3×125#
  • 3×145#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×162.5#

Pretty close on the rounding of 60-70-80-85-90% based off a 180 pound estimated max. I paused for a second on my chest with 125-145-155 and maybe even 105 (can’t remember), effectively making each rep a first rep. Caused the final set to be harder than it should have been, considering I did 3×170 earlier this year.

DT Struggles

Legs felt tired last night after the running workout. Felt pretty good this morning though.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2 Sets
    • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
    • 10 Reverse Hypers (140#)
  • 3 Sets
    • 5 Ring Rows
    • 5 Clean Thrusters (45#)
    • 30 Double Unders

Conditioning

“DT” – 5 Rounds

  • 12 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 9 Hang Power Cleans (155#)
  • 6 Push Jerks (155#)

Had been over a year and a half since I did this one. Old PR was 10:35. My plan was to try a new strategy of doing all 12 deadlifts and getting 5 cleans before dropping the bar. Then the final 4 cleans and the jerks. Followed it in the first round and it was way too fast. I think I was done at 1:07. I think the second round I did 11, 1+5, 4+6. Round 3 was the same or maybe 11, 1+4, 3, 2+6. I remember being done at about the 5 minute mark. Then the last 2 rounds were slow with too much rest. In round 4 I even dropped the bar with 2 jerks to go. Ugh! Finished at 10:02 for a 33 second PR.

The worst part for me, by far, are the hang cleans. They get so damn heavy and destroy me. Not so good when the final 2 rounds take just as long as the first 3. 😦

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 8 Pendlay Rows (115#)
  • 8 Good Mornings (115#)

Midline

6 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Rocks
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s L-hang (knees up)
  • 20s Rest

Felt the burn. I have to do hangs due to my shoulder; L-sits on the rings don’t feel so good.

These last two weeks have been horrible from a diet perspective. I’ve been getting take-out every meal. Got lazy after Murph and I’ve been busing finishing up a bunch of projects at work before I go on my sabbatical. Had been avoiding the scale, so was scared to step on it this morning, but figured I should before I go on my trip. Was very surprised to see I was still under 204#. Winning! Looking forward to getting back on track when I get home from Washington, D.C. I can tell I’m not feeling as well or recovering as well with all of the junk and who knows what my macros look like.

Vary Your Pull-ups

Morning 8am session in the garage to catch up on some of the Monday programming.

Warm-up

2 Sets

  • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (8#)
  • 10 Back Squats (45-135#)
  • 8/8 Landmine Rows (45-55#)
  • 20s L-hang (supinated grip)

Strength

E3M – 6 Sets

  • 11 Back Squats (185#)
  • 8/8 Landmine Rows (65#)

Yuck! One more week with sets of 12. I’m having to focus less on recruiting the other muscle groups in my squats as it’s starting to become automatic. Noticing a lot more explosiveness out of the hole late in the sets as I fatigue. I really like these rows a lot more than Krocs, which are easier to cheat.

Gymnastics

6 Sets

  • 20s Pull-ups
  • 30s Rest

Did them all with a regular kip and felt like I had a much better rhythm than in the half Cindy last week. Didn’t wear any grips because I need to get these hands conditioned again. My first four sets were 11 unbroken, then 7-2, and 6-3 for 62 total reps. Being forced to do a regular kip instead of always doing butterfly once you can do them is a good reminder to vary your movements.

Rested to catch my breath and then did Crossover Symmetry Plyo.

Went to the 5:30 class at CrossFit Intuition.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 3 Sets
    • 10 Goblet Squats (44#)
    • 15 Hollow Rocks
    • 150m Row

Weightlifting

2 Snatch 3-Position Deadlifts + 2 Snatches + 2 OHS

  • 45#
  • 75#
  • 95#
  • 115#

Snatches

  • 2×135#
  • 2×145#
  • 2×155#
  • 2×165#
  • 2×175#
  • 2×185#
  • 2×195#

All snatches to a full squat. The warm-up complex was done without dropping the bar. Drop and reset after each rep with the doubles. Was programmed for 6 sets so my goal was 185. It was feeling good, so I went for one more set. Huge save on the final rep with the bar way out in front of me on the left side. Shoulder work must be paying off because I never really save anything that heavy and I was able to pull it in, be patient to stabilize it, and stand it up. I think the 185 and 195 are both PRs for a squat double, but I don’t keep track of those that close so not sure.

Gymnastics

  • Max Diamond Push-ups
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 3 sets
    • @ 50% of max
    • 2:00 Rest

Got 40 and did drop sets with 20. All reps with chest touching diamond.

Conditioning

  • 10-8-6-4-2 Burpees
  • 400m Run

Did the burpees outside which makes the run a little short. Took me 10:07.

Of course I’m going to ROMWOD. 🙂

A Half Cindy

My outer pecs and lats are definitely sore from the last couple of days. Might as well hit them again with a half Cindy! Got in a little early before the 9am class for my prehab/rehab stuff.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2 Sets
    • 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
    • 10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • 3 Sets
    • 10 Rapid Toe Touches
    • 20 Hollow Rocks
    • 50s Bottom Squat Hold
  • RDL
    • 10×45#
    • 10×135#

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

  • 10 RDL (185#)
  • 8 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

I did my Romanian deadlifts while standing on 55# competition plates today since I’ve been getting to the ground with a lot of my reps lately. Actually even got to the ground on some in the late rounds. By adding in these GHDs I really work up a sweat and the work rest ends up being pretty much exactly 1:1.

Conditioning

  • 10:00 AMRAP of “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 1 Mile Run

My body didn’t know what the hell it was doing on the bar. A lot of the reps were some type of hybrid between a shortened regular kip and a butterfly, or maybe even a little bit of a strict pull-up at times too. Push-ups started to slow around round 8. Air squats were surprisingly pretty good and didn’t slow down too much that I noticed. Even had enough to speed up in the 11th and 12th round. I ended up with 11 full rounds, the pull-ups, push-ups, and 4 of the squats.

No extra rest so I took off running when the clock went off. The first half mile was rough but then I settled in and felt much better on the way back. Took exactly 9:00 according to Garmin, but the import into RunKeeper has a decreased distance and time for some reason. I don’t believe the HR data though, which says I averaged only 112 bpm. Maybe because I was already so sweaty from the half Cindy it was having a hard time reading my wrist.

My best full Cindy is 22+5, so probably would have been close to that with 10 more minutes. I’m sure the last 2 days of upper body volume is part of why push-ups started to slow so early. Hopefully can build up some more endurance there over the next couple weeks.

Forced myself to get in Crossover Symmetry Plyo before I left the gym.

Went out to the garage before dinner and jumped on the Air Dyne for 30 minutes, going 9.25 miles. Just a recovery type page. My heart rate was pretty stable right around 100 bpm the entire time.

I’ll do ROMWOD tonight and it’ll mark exactly a month straight without missing a day. Really enjoying it and seeing solid results.

A Lot of Dubs

Really didn’t want to get up after being out late for drinks, but wanted to get in my workout with a bunch of stuff to take care of at work the rest of the day. Made it to 9am though.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 3 Sets
    • 10 PVC pass thrus
    • 10 Russian KBS (44#)
    • 10 Hollow Rocks
    • 10 Supermans

Strength

5 Sets

  • 12 DB Bench Press (40#)
  • 5 Strict HSPU

Could tell I haven’t done handstand push-ups in a few weeks.

Conditioning

  • Buy-in: 200 DU
  • 10 Rounds
    • 15 Air squats
    • 10 Push-ups
  • Cash-out: 200 DU

Started with 91 unbroken I think. Took me just under 2:30 for that first set of dubs. All air squat sets were controlled and unbroken, making sure to hit full range of motion. I 8 sets of quick 5-5 push-ups and then finished with 2 unbroken sets. Moved on to double unders before the 10 minute mark and finished at 12:37. I know I started with a set of 50 and finished with 4 sets of 20, with whatever else sprinkled in the middle. Shoulders were really burning at that point so sets of 20 was all I could handle. We were going to run 600m but adjusted with the rain.

Midline

  • 60 Side Bends (44#)

I did 10 per side and swapped sides without stopping until I was done. Little extra oblique work while a few people finished up the workout.

I’ll do some ROMWOD tonight.