OHS

190 Pound Snatch

Trained with Matt at 10am again.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne
45# Snatch Position Work (really quick)

Snatches

3 Power Snatches @ 75#
3 Power Snatches @ 95#
3 Power Snatches @ 115#
3 Power Snatches @ 135#
E30S 2:00 155# Power Snatch (4 reps)
E45S 3:00 165# Power Snatch (4 reps)
175# Power Snatches (F, 1, 1)
185# Snatch (borderline whether it could be considered a power snatch)
190# Snatch (PR – video below)
195# Snatch (F, F)

As I worked up I was focusing on the aggressive 3rd pull and forcing the lockout. The 185# attempt ended up forward on my toes, but I walked it forward coming up and saved it. Here’s the PR lift…

The 2nd attempt at 195# wasn’t too bad. Started out instead of in coming off the floor, but only a little. The bar didn’t get much outside of the line after the hip. I received the bar back behind the original line and above parallel. Just too soft and let the weight crash down on me.

Strength

3 x 135#
3 x 155#
3 x 175#
1-F x 195#

Pretty fatigued in that OH position after all of the snatches. Gotta know when to shut it down some days.

Back Squats

5 x 185#
3 x 225#
2 x 265#
2 x 295#
3 x 1 x 310#

Both Matt and I could tell our legs didn’t have a lot in them after the Air Dyne workout yesterday.

WOD

5 Rounds

15 Russian KBS OTM (62# KB)
15 Russian KBS OTM (71# KB)
15 Russian KBS OTM (80# KB)

It was taking us about 26 seconds to get the work done each minute. Solid 15 minute workout. Matt used 71-80-88.

Kettlebell Circuit

Nearly a Century of Double Unders

At Survival Fitness this morning with Matt at 10am. Conditioning focused instead of strength for a change of pace.

Warm-up

DU Practice

I got a set of 98 unbroken for a PR. Started tripping up around 95 and managed to save a few more, but couldn’t get to the century mark. So close, yet so far away. Got another set of 67.

OHS

5 x 45#
3 x 95#
3 x 135#
1 x 165#
1 x 185#
1 x 195#
1 x 205# (PR)
1 x 215# (PR)

Shoulders were shaky even with the empty bar, so I was not confident about how the day would go. Then in the set of 135# I started to feel a knot in the middle of my back on the left side, which would continue to get worse through the training session. Just goes to show that your body can still perform when not feeling your best. Really happy with the 15# PR.

Conditioning & Gymnastics

A couple of partner interval-type workouts where 1 person does a round while the other person rests.

5 Rounds each

200m Row
15 Pull-ups

Really need to get in butterfly practice since I seem to have lost them. Got all 15 unbroken to start and 10-5 in the second round. Then the pull-pull combination started to kick in.

5 Rounds each

15 cal Air Dyne
10 Ring Push-ups

Did all of the ring push-ups unbroken. We were planning to do a short sprint workout with burpees and wall balls after a longer rest, but both of us were feeling sick after these two. We decided it was a better idea to call it a day, since this was a considerable amount of hard conditioning because of the rest/work.

The Burpees

In at 9am with the day off work since I’m heading to Kalamazoo for a wedding.

Warm-up

20 PVC Pass-thrus
10 HR Push-ups
20 Air Squats
10 HR Push-ups
20 PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Bench Press

10 @ 45#
5 @ 95#
3 @ 135#
3 @ 155#
3 @ 175#
3 @ 195#
3 @ 200#

Still struggling with the right arm. 200# went up easier than 195# though when I focused on keeping the elbow in a better position.

OHS

5 @ 45#
5 @ 105#
5 @ 125#
5 @ 145#
5 @ 160#
3 @ 190#

Looks like my OHS are back. I was in the hole on the 4th rep with 190# but lost it coming up.

WOD

100 Burpees

I’ve actually been thinking about testing this one. It’s been over a year since I did a 6:44, which was actually my first time doing it. Did a 6:16 today and it didn’t feel that bad once it was over. I was shooting for something close to 20 burpees in the first minute and got 17, which I thought I could sustain. Slowed down a bit, but should have pushed harder.

Finisher

5:00 EMOM

10 T2B

Struggled on the last set.

Monday Morning

Went to the 9am class.

Warm-up

300m Run (before class started)
4 Rounds
- 15s Air Squats
- 15s Zombie Kicks
- 15s PVC Pass-thrus
- 15s Jumping Jacks

Strength

Front Squats

5 @ 45#
5 @ 135#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 195#
5 @ 225#
5 @ 245#

Squats felt good for the 2nd consecutive day. Didn’t try to get crazy and stayed below my 260 5RM from a couple of weeks ago.

3 Rounds NFT

12 Lunges (135#)
12 RDL(135#)
Rest 60s

Good burn with little rest.

WOD

20:00 Time Cap

10 OHS (135#)
10 Box jumps overs (24″)
10 Thrusters (135#)
20 Power cleans (135#)
10 T2B
10 Burpee C2B Pull-ups
10 T2B
20 Power cleans (135#)
10 Thrusters (135#)
10 Box jumps overs (24″)
10 OHS (135#)

This is why it’s good for me to go to classes now and then. We rarely program this much barbell work in our WODs and ever more rare at this time domain. I decided to go Rx even though I knew it would suck. Finished in plenty of time at 19:56. LOL!

Shouldering Sunday

Yesterday was a much-needed rest day, but got up early and golfed 18 holes in a cart, then had a 90 minute massage in the afternoon. Got a solid 10 hours of sleep last night. Headed over to Kevin’s at 11.

Warm-up

4:00 Row
PVC Pass-thrus

Olympic Lifting

Snatches

Did doubles with 10-15 seconds between each rep.

95-115-135-145-155-160

I missed on the 2nd attempt at 160 and then went again for what felt like my best attempt of them all.

Block Snatches (mid-thigh)

I did a double of snatch + OHS, again taking 10-15 seconds between each rep.

95-105-115-125-135

Felt a lot more explosive off the blocks then I did from the floor. Didn’t try to get super heavy here, even though I’ve done 145# before.

Strength

Back Squats

5 x 135#
5 x 160#
5 x 190#
5 x 225#
3 x 260#
8 x 190#

Squats felt great today. No forward lean and legs were steady.

Incline Bench Press

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
8 x 115#
8 x 115#
5 x 125#

We had the bench set at a pretty aggressive incline. Hopefully these will help out with both my shoulder press and regular bench press.

Incline Bench Press w/ Earthquake Bar

8 x 50#
10 x 60#
5 x 70#
10 x 70#

First tried to go with a 35# KB on each side of the bar, but I was all over the place and racked it after 1 rep. Dropped to lower KBs and got a lot more comfortable with it, allowing me to knock out a big set with the 35s at the end.

Core

During halftime of the Lions game I went out to the garage.

4 Rounds NFT

15 GHD Sit-ups
15 Back Extensions
10 T2B

I had to drop off the bar after 9 in round 3 of the T2B and then the last round did them 6-3-1, but everything else was unbroken. Haven’t used my pull-up bar in a long time and it’s a lot different feel compared to the bars at Survival Fitness.

Conditioning

Went over to the track at Heritage around 7:15 to run some sprints with Michelle. Jogged 800m to warm-up and then walked 600m to cool down.

E2M 20:00

100m Sprint

Hamstrings on fire!

A PR Morning

Took a rest day yesterday and walked 18 holes of golf. Woke up today feeling more beat up than I should. In at 10am to test my deadlift.

Warm-up

3:00 Row

Olympic Lifting

Snatches

45# Position Work for 5:00
95# x 2
115# x 2
135# E30S 3:00
155#
165#
175# (PR)

My snatch is feeling really good lately. I was planning to do 135# for 5:00 but it was feeling good so I stopped and started bumping up the weight. That was a 10# PR. Looking forward to trying more.

Strength

Deadlift

185# x 8, rest 2
275# x 5, rest 2
325# x 3, rest 3
375# x 1, rest 3
425# x 1, rest 10
475# x 1 (PR), rest 12
500# x 1 (PR)

My old PR was 455# in April, so this was a big jump. The 425# lift hit me hard for some reason, even though I’ve pulled it for 3 several times before. I saw sweating and light-headed, so took a long rest before the 475# attempt. If Kevin and Matt weren’t there pushing me I was going to go for 485# or so next, so I’m glad they talked me into the 500# attempt.

Back to Survival Fitness at 5pm for a class.

Warm-up

30 Air Squats
20 PVC Pass-thrus
30 PVC OHS

Strength

Front Squats

5 @ 115#
5 @ 145#
5 @ 165#
5 @ 185#
5 @ 185#

Kept it light and fast. Didn’t need any more heavy weights after the morning session.

10:00 EMOM

Odds: 5 Strict HSPU
Evens: 8 Box Jumps (32″)

The HSPU felt good today. Probably should have done a deficit, but I already put in a lot of work and had an idea of how bad the WOD was going to be, so I backed off a bit.

WOD

30 Hang Squat Cleans (95#)
30 Push-ups
30 Thrusters (95#)
30 T2B
30 OHS (95#)
30 Burpees
30 Shoulder to OH (95#)

The burpees were horrible. Slowest ever! Finished in 19:12.

Too Far Forward

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Olympic Lifting

7:00 45# Snatch Position Drills
2:00 Rest
E20S 2:00 95# Snatch
3:00 Rest
E30S 3:00 125# Snatch
3:00 Rest
EMOM 5:00 145# Snatch

Movin’ on up! Felt good at 145#. I missed my first attempt in the final minute due to lack of concentration, but stepped right back up and nailed it. As long as it keeps feeling good, 2 more sessions and I’ll be at my max snatch weight of 165#.

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squat – Cycle 2 Week 2

5 @ 120# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 150# (50% – warm)
3 @ 180# (60% – warm)
3 @ 210# (70%)
3 @ 240# (80%)
3+ @ 270# (90%)

Warming up felt good, especially since I was already warm from the squat snatches. 270# felt super heavy lifting off the rack though. I got 5 reps for an estimated max of 314.5#, below my actual max of 325#. Afterwards Kevin mentioned that I’m really leaning forward on my back squats. Now it makes sense why I’ve been struggling so much. Will have to work on fixing that next back squat session.

Pullovers

Did a couple of quick sets while waiting for Matt. 2 Sets of 20 with a 45# DB.

WOD

10 Rounds

150m Run
7 OHS (75#)

Scaled down the OHS from 95# so I could do them all unbroken and not have the WOD take forever. Finished in 11:27.

Finisher

Slow 8:00 on the rower.

Little Victories

When I rolled out of bed I was feeling beat up all over, but that went away after moving around. Maybe it was from the sprints last night.

Headed over to Kevin’s garage for some work.

Warm-up

5:00 on the Air Dyne (AD2)

Olympic Lifting

I worked of the blocks set to about mid-thigh. Was doing a series of 2-3 snatch deadlifts to get the feel of knees coming back under the bar and hips meeting the bar, with knees still bent. Then I took that into 3 snatches on the blocks.

Started light and moved up really well. 35# for multiple sets, 65# for multiple sets and then I think it was one set each of 85#, 95#, 115#, 125#, and 135#. I just started meeting the bar with 135# on Thursday and it felt better off the blocks. I like the progress!

Strength

Bench Press – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 1

5 @ 85# (40% of training max – warm)
5 @ 110# (50% – warm)
3 @ 130# (60% – warm)
5 @ 140# (65%)
5 @ 160# (75%)
5+ @ 185# (85%)

I didn’t use the Reactive Slingshot at all today. Much harder without it, but I didn’t have too much of a problem with my right arm until the end and was still able to push through the reps. I was able to get 9 reps with 185# for an estimated max of 240#. Much more realistic than when I had used the slingshot.

Reverse Hyper

3 x 10 with 120#

I should really get over there more often to do these.

Then we headed over to Survival Fitness Bay City for open gym.

Gymnastics

Worked on muscle-ups. First I wanted to see if I could do a MU without needing to 3 swings in. Was able to get them on the first swing. Then my next goal was to finally string 2 MU together and I knocked that out too! I did three doubles over the course of the work I think, but never tried for 3 in a row. I probably did about 15 total muscle-ups and was trying to help Kevin get his first one kipping. He gets plenty high enough, but doesn’t attempt to get his head through. He’ll get it soon!

WOD

“Fran”
21-15-9

Thrusters (95#)
Pull-ups

I had yet to do an Rx “Fran” which was a little embarrassing considering I’m coming up on 2 years of CrossFit. Shit, the last time I did any “Fran” was at the Level 1 Cert last year in September. I used 75# there and did it in 5:36. Did a 4:50 today without a problem. I now know that I don’t have to pace and rest as much as I did. I was worried I’d burn out on the thrusters or pull-ups by the round of 9.

Later at night I went out to the garage for some more training since I’ll be golfing tomorrow in the first round of our end of the year tournament.

Snatch Balance & OHS

Weight	Snatch Balance	OHS
45#	5	5
95#	5	5
115#	3	3
135#	2	3
155#	1	2
175#	F	–
175#	1	–
185#	F	–

I’m not sure what happened but my OHS has gone shit. I could do a 175# snatch balance back in the winter too. Weird.

Bottom Squat Snatch Presses

I figured these would help my stability overhead.

5 x 45#
5 x 55#
5 x 65#

Wow, these are ~~different~~ difficult.

Snatch Presses

MOAR!

5 x 65#
5 x 75#
5 x 85#
5 x 90#

Shit balls I’m weak in these positions.

Conditioning

I did a really easy 15 minutes on the Air Dyne.

Leg Day

Still sore in the legs from Tuesday and now sore in the core and upper body from yesterday. In at 10am.

Warm-up

PVC OHS and pass-thrus
450m Run

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 2 Week 1

5 @ 165# (40% of training max – warm)
5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
5 @ 270# (65%)
5 @ 315# (75%)
5+ @ 355# (85%)

Felt really solid. Focusing on being more explosive with my legs and hip drive is helping a lot. I did 10 reps at 355# for an estimated max of 472#.

Did this following ladder after the snatches. Not for time. Go through once until failure and then start over from 1 and do it to failure again.

1 Strict Chin-up, 2 Strict Ring Dips, 3 Sit-ups holding 10# plate behind head
2-4-6
3-6-9
…

I got 5 + 15 and 3 + 10.

OLY

Warmed up with 45# snatch position drills, wearing wrist straps, for 7-8 minutes.

E20S 2:00

95# Snatch

3:00 Rest

E30S 3:00

125# Snatch

3:00 Rest

EMOM 3:00

135# Snatch

The 125# snatches felt really good. I started jumping forward a little on the 135# snatches though and wasn’t hitting quite as good on the hips. Better than I ever have hit though and it’s my first try at 135# so I might stick to this for the next session before going up another 10#.

WOD

3 Rounds

10 Backwards Front Rack Walking Lunges (155#, no rack)
10 OHS (75#)

Yuck! Those backwards lunges were brutal at 155# and I’m glad I didn’t go with 95# for the OHS. Originally thought about doing 5 rounds, but legs were thrashed from the deadlifts and snatches. Finished in 5:47.

Solo Session

My abs are sore from deadlifts and “Annie” on Tuesday, otherwise feeling good. Trained at 10am, but all alone today.

Warm-up

600m Run
PVC Pass-thrus
3:00 Air Dyne
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

5 @ 115# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
5 @ 220# (75%)
3 @ 250# (85%)
1+ @ 280# (95%)

Squats felt better than Saturday. Recovery is crucial and hit the legs way too much last week. I stopped after 3 reps at 280# because the last one was a slow rep and I didn’t want to push it with nobody else there to spot or help me if something happened. On that last set it was the first time I’ve ever felt my hamstrings engage like that. Pretty cool! The 3 @ 280# puts my estimated max at 307.5#, which is low but I’m ok with that for this week, considering the situation.

5 Rounds NFT

8 Font Rack Walking Lunges (155#)
5 RDLs (205#)
5 Strict Chin-ups

Felt really good. On my chin-ups I really tried to accelerate during the 2nd half and got my chin way above the bar.

Olympic Lifting

10:00 of Snatch Position Work with 45# training bar

It didn’t feel as good as yesterday overall, but I did get some really good hip pops in there. My timing seemed really off. Maybe it had to do with my legs being fatigued from the strength work.

WOD

4 Rounds

500m Row
2:00 Rest

Went all out on the first 500 and set a new PR with 1:34.4. Obviously couldn’t maintain that but kept consistent on the next 3 with 1:44.9, 1:45.5, and 1:44.6. I need more of this stuff because I was really dying. Jason Khalipa rowed a 6:31 2k in the Games and I couldn’t even hit that with two minutes of rest between each 500m.

While tearing out a stump, the landscaping crew snapped an AT&T line that went right though the stump. So without Internet, I headed back to the box at 6pm for open gym. Warmed up with about 3:00 on the Air Dyne.

OHS

5 @ 95#
4 @ 135#
3 @ 155#
F @ 180#
F @ 180#

I was actually going to do 5 with 135# but lost it in the bottom of the last rep. I should have known right there it wasn’t going to be good. My abs are still wrecked from the deadlifts and “Annie” so I think that may have been a big part of it. This is 2 OHS sessions in a row that have been terrible though, with the last one being while I was still recovering from the Tough Mudder Crud.

Did a 1.02 mile sled drag with 115# in 26:14. Switched directions 3 times I think and took a minute or so to help Ellen strap up a sled.