Tag: Monster Walk

Busy Day!!

Last night I found a new mat to use for HSPU.

Ran around to multiple Meijer stores this morning because they all got in a shipment of rubber coated hex dumbbells overnight. I was able to get pairs of 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35! Returning the other sets back to my uncle for the price I paid him so he can make $$ with his home gym business. Now I just need to find 10, 40, and 45s.

One of the 50s won’t even fit now on the rack now. I need to make some type of platform to put on that top row to bump it up higher and to have a taller lip because the 50 pounder almost slides right over it.

I walked 18 holes this morning and then out in the garage at 5. Getting in a workout today since vacation at the cottage (my days off already started) starts tomorrow. I’ll be driving north and settling in, so it will be a rest day.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 BikeErg (5,181m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 160′ Monster Walk

Weightlifting

Split Jerks

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95
  • 5×145
  • 3×185
  • 3×205
  • 3×225
  • 3×235

Felt good. Didn’t use a belt and it was nice to get out the jerk blocks. Here is a video of the final set. I had no idea my abs looked like this!

Conditioning

20-18-16-14-12-10-12-14-16-18-20 (I Go You Go)

  • Weighted Plyo Lunges (35# DBs, 5# DBs)

It’s been almost two months since we retested this. Brandi had worn an 8# vest and it took us 8:43. She’s been improving a lot with this stuff and bumped it up to five pound dumbbells today. We switched with her going first and holy shit going second is a whole different world of hurt. I think I broke up the 16-18-20 because I was dying. We smoked our time, finishing in 7:21. She’s going to use eight pounders next time.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 12/12 Side Plank Bounces
  • 12 Parallette Shoot Throughs
  • 8/8 Hanging Oblique Raises
  • 50m Farmer Carry (handles, 118#)

More nasty core work. Those carries were really bad after hanging from the bar. I’m really loving the handles though.

Where Did Time Go?

I finished the flooring on Sunday afternoon, painted the trim throughout the day, and installed the trim yesterday morning. Walked 18 holes on the golf course. I still need to get more sleep, but I’m feeling good today. Worked out at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,571m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster walks
  • 160′ Monster walks
  • 5 Devil Presses (25# DBs)
  • 3 Devil Presses (40#)
  • 10 Kip Swings
  • 2 Devil Presses (40#)

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 5 Devil Press (25/40# DBs)
  • 20 T2B
  • 5 Devil Press
  • 2:00 Rest

I was hoping to do 12-8 toes to bar every round. I did for three and knew I wouldn’t make the last so I went for three sets and that failed. I had to end up going 8-6 and six quick singles to get through. My times were 1:34, 1:32, 1:33, and 1:46. Faster than I was thinking when I wrote this workout, but glad I did the two minutes of rest because it allowed the T2B to come back some. That was a good one. I did wear my grips through the entire workout and taped my thumbs for the dumbbells.

Strength

4 Sets

  • 12/12 Single Leg RDL w/ foot on wall (70# KB)
  • 12/12 Weighted Single Leg Step Downs (15″, 40# DB)

Will have to remember this superset. It blew up my glutes!

3 Sets

  • 20/20 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (pulses, lighter – 45+30#)
  • 10/10/10 Weighted Calf Raises (3 position – out-neutral-in, 45# DBs)

Another good pairing. Those pulses really burn at the light weight and I didn’t expect them to affect the calf raises as much as they did.

We were already at almost 90 minutes and needed to drop off my truck so we skipped the ab work today.

Like “The Chief”

Yesterday I walked 9 holes in the rain before we called it quits. My body was feeling pretty good and I think getting more sleep again is helping with my recovery this week. Out in the garage at 3:30 today.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 Row (771m)
  • 160’ Monster Walks
  • 160’ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 5 Muscle Snatches (45#)
  • 5 Muscle Snatches (75#)
  • 8 Power Cleans (80#)

Weightlifting

  • 5:00 EMOM
    • 2 Power Snatch (95-105-115-125-135)
  • 5:00 EMOM
    • 1 Power Snatch (155-175-195-195-195)

Originally I planned on going up 10# every set with the singles and still ending at 195#. It felt solid with 155 so I jumped and then jumped again. This way I got to 195 two sets early, with the option to go heavier if I was feeling it. I wasn’t. My legs were super wide in the catch at 195 so I stayed there.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 3:00 AMRAP
    • 4 Power Cleans (115/80#)
    • 8 Push-ups
    • 12 Plyo Lunges
  • 1:00 Rest

*Restart every AMRAP at the top

I designed this one based on “The Chief” since I wanted to ease in to high rep lifting with a little lighter weight. I got halfway through round one and time seemed to be crawling so I knew I was in for a world of hurt even though I purposely started a little slow. Then I went a little too fast and shit really hit me in round four. My scores were 4+12, 4+17, 4+14, 4+9, 4+4. Really hot and humid today. Would like to retest this one in cooler weather.

On the shorter side for our session today, but that was pretty brutal. I went down in to the back reset position a couple of times after the workout just to help myself recover and hopefully not lead to a tweak.

Not Going Faster in this Repeater

My upper body was pretty sore yesterday and my upper back definitely still is. My hands just ached this morning. Yesterday was the last day of my four day weekend and I walked 18 holes of golf. Worked on the new office a little in the morning and then for a few hours after I got home. It was a busy four days and my weight was under 193 this morning, so I need to build back up to the 195-198 zone. Today we worked out at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,113m)
  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,510m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 8 Kossack Squats

Strength

E4M – 4 Sets

  • 1:30 Banded March (green, 30# MB, 1x bear hug, 3x front rack)
  • 16 Goblet Kossack Squats (40# DB in front rack)

4 Sets

  • 10/10 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (1@115, 3@125#)
  • 10/10/10 Three Position Calf Raises (40# DBs, out-neutral-in)

These were both good supersets!

Conditioning

15-12-9

  • Over the Box Jumps (24″)
  • Strict HSPU

5:00 Rest & Repeat

I was hoping to get through in three sets and I did the first time by doing 6-5-4, 5-4-3, 4-3-2 to finish in 5:19. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain that a second time so during the rest I came up with a four set plan. I went 4-4-4-3, 3-3-3-3, 3-2-2-2 and I was on the brink of failure a lot. Finished in 6:17. Just not a #repeater workout you’re going to get faster on after the first cycle through. Happy with the way that turned out though.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 20 Jack Knife DB Pullover (25#)
  • 12/12 Plank w/ Tricep Kickback (20#)
  • 24 alt DB Leg Drops (25#)
  • 12/12 Banded Partner Rotations/Holds (2x red, 1x blue)

Some new stuff that was rough. Those banded rotations/holds are still the worst movement though.

18.2 Redemption

Out in the garage at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,535m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 20 Air Squats

Conditioning

CrossFit Games Open 18.2: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10

  • DB Squats (50/35# DBs)
  • Bar-facing Burpees (w/ jump back and up)

This was one of my most hated Open workouts. It seemed so simple on paper; 55 squats and 55 burpees. For whatever reason it destroyed me though and I got a very disappointing time of 9:44. I’ve been wanting to redo it for a long time. I found a nice rhythm with the burpees. When I jumped up out of the bottom I didn’t try to do too much and was ok with taking two short steps and then jumping over the bar. I think this really helped to pace me out. After the front squats didn’t feel very good yesterday I was worried. These squats felt great and I got faster and faster with them. At the end I busted ass through the final 10 burpees and finished in 7:50!!!! I’m so happy with that. I was surprised at how good I was feeling through the second half of the workout and even when I got done. Still not a great time compared to scores around the world but a huge improvement for me and I feel like I could push the pace more. I really didn’t know how hard to go early on because something like that can hit you out of nowhere (and did in 2018!).

Strength / Accessory

Warmed up bench press with 8×45, 8×95, and 8×125#.

4 Sets

  • 8 Bench Press (155#)
  • 8 DB Chest Fly (35#)
  • 8 Bench Press (155#)

Being smart with choosing my weight today instead of going for it in the early sets. Wanted to be able to have something left for shoulder presses. That’s a decrease on the bench and in increase on the fly. Every time I got to the second bench it was a fight.

3 Sets

  • 5 Shoulder Press (115-125-135#)
  • 12 Lateral Raises (15# DBs)

Shoulders were tired!

4 Sets

  • 20s Ski Erg Triceps
  • 12 OH Cable Tricep Extensions (35#, rope)

This was so hard after the first set. We weren’t taking much more rest than letting the other person do their set.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 12 Knee-ins (5# ankle weights)
  • 12/12 Side Plank Bounces/Pulses
  • 24 alt Weighted V-ups (5# ankle weights)
  • 12/12 Partner Banded Rotations

Another great ab workout. Those ankle weights were a good purchase.

Leg Burn

I was off work yesterday but instead of golfing I used a steamer and removed wallpaper in a room I’m turning in to my office. Workout out at 3:30 today.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,087m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 3 Power Snatches (45#)
  • 6 Front Squats (45#)
  • 9 Deadlifts (45#)
  • 3 Power Snatches (95#)
  • 6 Front Squats (95#)
  • 3 Power Snatches (115#)

Conditioning

  • 3 Rounds
    • 3 Power Snatches (145#)
    • 6 Burpee Box Jumps (30″)
  • 4 Rounds
    • 6 Front Squats (145#)
    • 12 T2B
  • 5 Rounds
    • 9 Deadlifts (145#)
    • 27 DU

This is the first workout I can find where B and I started training together for Super Sundays. Yesterday’s rest day would have marked six years since. We had wanted to redo it before CrossFit Whip left the location where we started the Sundays back at CrossFit Intuition, but my back had been bothering me then. So we did it near the anniversary. Back in 2014 this took me 15:37. Today I did it in 12:58 without really doing much barbell work in metcons and this was a lot of fucking barbell. I did all singles with the snatches and two sets of 6 for the toes to bars. I think I missed one double under.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 10/10 Single Leg RDL w/ foot on wall (70# KB)
  • 10/10 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (pulses, 3@105, 1@115, 1@125#)

Those are both really solid movements for hitting the affected muscles.

3 Sets

  • 10/10/10 Weighted Calf Raises (3 position out-neutral-in, 35# DBs)
  • 10/10 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (24”, 45# DB on shoulder)

These were effective as well!

Pick Things Up

Walked 18 holes yesterday in the heat. Over the last three holes my left calf really started to bother me and I was limping on it the rest of the day. It feels better today.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,078m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 20 PVC Passes
  • 10 C&J (45#)
  • 5 C&J (95#)
  • 3 C&J (115#)

Weightlifting

  • 5:00 EMOM
    • 2 C&J (135-145-155-165-175#)
  • 5:00 EMOM
    • 1 C&J (195-205-225-235-245#)

In May I did a 10:00 EMOM of 3×155 power cleans, back in December I did 3×225 power cleans in a workout, and in September I did a power clean and push jerk with 245. I hadn’t lifted heavy in a very long time, but I’ve been wanting to for months. Today was finally the day.

The lifts felt pretty good overall, doing power cleans and push jerks for ever rep. I stopped doing touch-n-go with the doubles because I could feel it coming down for the second rep. Then I could feel some of the heavier jerks a bit. Having the 55# plates on the bar was really fucking up my math. After reviewing video I screwed up the second single, which I’d planned to be 215. But I guess I course corrected for the next weight. Thrilled to hit those weights after not lifting heavy all of 2020 so far due to my back issues.

Strength / Conditioning

4 Cycles

  • 3 Sets (each, I Go You Go)
    • 16 Plyo Lunges (30# DBs)
  • 1:00 Rest

Last time I used 35# for two cycles and 20# for two cycles. We think Brandi wore a vest for two rounds and then took it off. We finished in 12:56 that day. I was hoping I’d be able to survive with 30# the whole way today and barely did. B wore the 8# vest the entire time. Our splits were 1:45, 1:45, 1:47, and 1:51 for a time of 10:08. So a harder version and we crushed our time. Those are pretty consistent splits too! I had to rest a few seconds extra before picking up the dumbbells for that last set or I wasn’t going to make it unbroken.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Hollow Hold
  • 1:00 Russian Twists
  • 1:00 Leg Raises
  • 30s/30s Side Plank
  • 1:00 Prayer Crunches
  • 1:00 Rest

I based this off an old warm-up I’d done at Survival Fitness in 2012. I wasn’t thinking when I put the hollow hold back to back with twists. Oww! I held that first hollow for the entire minute to see if I could and I paid for it the rest of the way.

Then it was cookie time with a shake for post workout recovery. Everything from Phat Ash Bakes is amazing!

Real Dumbbells

Feels like my body is recovering from the weekend. On Sunday I finished my new weight plate storage rack and did more reorganizing. I need to update the Garage Gym page on this site. Here’s a picture of the main area for now.

Yesterday I walked 18 holes and it was pretty hot. Going to be 85-90+ for the next week with no signs of rain. Worked out a 4 today.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Ski Erg (1,098m)
  • 30 PVC Passes
  • Moved shelving units to basement 😂
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 160′ Monster Walk
  • 10 Landmine Lunges (45#)
  • 10 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (45#)

Strength

4 Sets

  • 8/8 Landmine Lunges
  • 8/8 Landmine Curtsy Lunges

I used 85-95-105-115#. Kind of awkward with the barbell to hold the position and when you switch to the other side. The curtsy lunges fired up the ass right away though. This came from Ryan Fischer.

Conditioning

2 Rounds

  • 20 DB Hang Snatch (alt, 50/35#)
  • 30 K2E
  • 20 DB Hang Snatch
  • 3:00 Rest

I really wanted to do 5×6 for the knees to elbows, but I went for 12-10-8 and made it both rounds. In the first round I didn’t rotate my grips out of the way, which made the hang snatches tougher to deal with. My times were 2:53 and 2:42. I’m always happy to get faster in these! It’s so nice to have real dumbbells for this stuff.

Midline

3 Sets

  • 8/8 Weighted Hanging Oblique Raises (5# ankles weights)
  • 16 alt Weighted Hanging Single Leg Raises (5# ankles weights)
  • 8/8 Hip Abducted Evil Wheels
  • 20 Weighted Hollow Flutter Kicks (5# ankles weights)

All wearing the five pound ankle weights. My grip was shot after the first set.

A Decade of Use

My legs are tired and my hands ache. Out in the garage at 10am.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 Airdyne (192 cals, 4.94 km)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks

Strength

5 Sets

  • 8 Front Squats
  • 16 Kossack Squats

I used 45-95-115-115-115# for the front squats and unweighted Kossacks. Keeping it light to go easy on my back, especially after so much sandbag work yesterday.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 12 Goblet Curtsy Lunges (35#)
  • 8 Burpees
  • 6/6 Reverse Lunge Step-ups (24”, 35#)
  • 8 HSPU

Took a couple rounds to get the hang of the reverse lunge step-up. Got it from Ibex and you lunge and step up with the same leg. The opposite knee drives up over the box and you hold the weight on the same side as that knee drive. Produces a lot of quad burn. I messed up and did 8/8 on the first round of reverse lunge step-ups. 😦

This was a good little workout, but could be bumped up to a 6-8 rounder with slightly heavier weight. I was able to turn up the pace in the second half of the workout and finished with 3+31 (was stepping up on that final rep of the movement.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 30s Handstand Hold
  • 15s Rest
  • 30s alt Weighted V-ups (25# DB)
  • 15s Rest
  • 30s OH Side Bends (25# DB)
  • 15s Rest
  • 30s Hollow Hold
  • 15s Rest

I got 12-14-14-16 on the V-ups and 18 each time on the bends. I was worried about the long hollow holds, but did them all unbroken.

After lunch I sold my adjustable dumbbells, since I no longer have a use for them. Got $350 and I had paid $300 new about a decade ago. The market for fitness equipment is wild right now!

Heavy Ankles

Yesterday I walked 18 holes. My lats starting getting sore and I realized we hadn’t done pull-ups since Memorial Day! Lats are triceps are sore today too. Out in the garage at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,076m)
  • 160′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 160′ Monster Walks
  • 20 Monster Squats
  • 2 Sets
    • 20 Lateral Hops
    • 10 Tuck Jumps
  • Calf Stretching
  • 10 Shoulder Press (45#)

Strength

4 Sets

  • 12/12 Single Leg RDL with foot on wall (53# KB)
  • 10/10 Weighted Step Downs (15”, 40# DB)

Nice little combo.

Conditioning

  • 4:00 AMRAP
    • 30 Double Unders
    • 10 Push Jerks (95/65#)
  • 4:00 Rest & Repeat

I had no idea how this would go when I created it and was worried about so much focus on the calves. That’s why I had a bunch of calf stuff in my warm-up. I started out a little conservative, getting 4+36 with one miss on the rope. Felt good, but I suspected the push jerks would start to add up in the second go. Went out faster though and tried to hold on, with 5+3 and two misses on the rope. My push jerks were definitely getting close to failure in rounds 4-5. Really happy with how that one turned out.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 10 Hanging Leg Raises (5# ankle weights)
  • 10 Pike-ups (5# ankle weights)
  • 15/15 Mountain Climbers (5# ankle weights, feet elevated)
  • 10/10 Partner Banded Rotations/Holds (red)

I wore my new five pound ankle weights through the entire thing. Just gross.