Destroying Angie

My low back is a little tight from yesterday and my ankles are still tight from the broad jumps. In the garage at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 BikeErg (5,060m)
  • 20 PVC Passes

Conditioning

“Angie”

  • 100 Pull-ups
  • 100 Push-ups
  • 100 Sit-ups
  • 100 Air Squats

Been almost three years since I’ve done this workout. My best time was 20:40 from late 2014, at 1.5 miles above sea level in Colorado and I did 22:27 in January of 2018.

I was confident I could set a nice PR today by being more aggressive on the pull-ups and push-ups. I definitely work grips and shaved my calluses earlier. I started out doing a set of 10 pull-ups every 30 seconds and made it through 60. Then I did 5 more butterfly before switching to sets of 5 with a gymnastics kip, eventually dropping to 4s, to finish at 5:18, which was almost 2 minutes faster that when I set my PR. I did four sets of 10 push-ups and then all 5s to get done at 9:18, almost 4 minutes ahead of my PR pace! Sit-ups were kind of slow and were done at 13:03. Kept moving on the squats and was done at 16:10 for a 4:30 PR!!

Handstands

  • 2×5 Kick-ups (bad leg)
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (good leg)

Upper body was a bit tired so we didn’t do what was planned. This was enough. It’s hard being upside down and trying to balance when you’re tired!

Midline

4 Sets

  • 20/20s Weighted Side Plank (30#)
  • 20s Superman Hold
  • 10/10 Side Bends (70# KB)

No joke here!

Legs

3 Sets

  • 10/10 Single Leg RDL (foot on wall, 70# KB)
  • 10/10 Single Leg Glute Bridge (2s pause)

Pulsing

I walked 18 holes yesterday. I sold my Airdyne in the afternoon to make room for a new piece of equipment arriving in the next month. Workout at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Row (1,303m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Handstands

  • Wrist Warm-up
  • 2×1:00 Hollow Body Wall Walk
  • 2x30s Hollow Body Wall Walk
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (bad leg)
  • 2×5 Kick-ups (good leg)
  • 1:00 Wall-facing Handstand Hold

That was a lot on the shoulders!

Midline

2 Sets

  • 8/8 Partner Banded Rotations & Holds (blue)
  • 8 Evil Wheels
  • 8 Parallette Shoot Throughs
  • 8/8 Partner Banded Rotations & Holds
  • 8 Parallette Shoot Throughs
  • 8 Evil Wheels

Conditioning

10 Rounds (each) w/ Partner

  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 10 DB Bench Press (50/25#)

I warmed up with 10 bench press @ 35# and 5 kip swings. Brandi skipped her last 5 pull-ups because of a big blood blister. Adding in time for those would have put as at about 12:10 to finish, which is much faster than I was expecting. I wore grips and was able to do every set of pull-ups unbroken without a problem. The dumbbell bench started to get tough in the last three rounds.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 20/20 Landmine Curtsy Lunge Pulses (45+30#)
  • BikeErg during rest (easy pace)

It ended up being about 1:10 on the bike and I probably did around 700 meters each time. This was nasty, especially when doing pulses with the second leg. I should have alternated which leg I started with each time.

3 Sets

  • 20 Wrist Curls (12#)
  • 15 Plate Pinch Hammer Curls (10#)

As I type this all up about an hour later, my upper body is already wrecked!

All 30

My hands were aching again this morning and my legs are feeling that Friday workout a little. Out in the garage at 10am.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,511m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk
  • 3:00 Wrist Warm-up
  • 2 Sets
    • 10 Kip Swings
    • 10 Air Squats

Conditioning

“Jackie”

  • 1,000m Row
  • 50 Thrusters (45#)
  • 30 Pull-ups

Still hard to believe the first time I ever did this benchmark workout was on April 13, with a time of 7:45. I pulled a 1:50/500m pace on the rower and was extremely cautious doing thrusters since it was my first time touching a barbell in months after a back tweak and physical therapy. I struggled though 7-5 and then 2s and 3s on the pull-ups.

Today I was having a hard time slowing down at the beginning of the row because it felt so good. Ended up a little over a 1:48/500m pace when I hopped off. I knew I wasn’t going to make up significant time on the row and didn’t want it to leave me too gassed for the thrusters and pull-ups. I did very controlled thrusters and focused on breathing. My shoulders were on fire for the last 15. Finished them at 6:11 and I was hoping to be able to do 3×10 pull-ups. The first ten felt great so I decided to keep going for 15-20. Then I got to 20 and knew I could go unbroken. Finished at 6:58 for a big PR! That felt really good and there is still a lot of room for improvement with the thrusters.

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • 50 Wall-facing Handstand Sponge Shifts (3×10, 20)
  • 1:00 Handstand 45° Hollow Hold

Even after the thrusters and pull-ups, this was a huge improvement since trying the sponge shifts 15 days ago. Look at these videos…

More Conditioning

With Partner

  • 100 Burpee Box Get Overs (48/38″)

Went back and forth with Brandi, doing 10 each and then I’d pull off the 12″ block and she’d add the 2″. Then vice versa after her set. We finished in 10:46, so would have been around 10 minutes if we had 2 stacks.

Midline

4 Rounds (20s work / 15s rest)

  • Landmine Twists (45+25#, club grip)
  • Bicycles (5# ankle weights)
  • Leg Lefts (5# ankle weights)
  • Hollow Hold (5# ankle weights)

Bounce vs. Muscle It

I didn’t sleep very well last night. My abs are getting sore from yesterday. Worked out at 4pm.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,450m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

  • Wrist Warm-up
  • 2 Sets
    • 20 Banded Arm Circles
  • 3 Sets
    • 2 Handstand Split to Stacked
  • 2 Sets
    • 30s Wall-facing HS Hold

The split to stacked drill felt better than the list time, but still not nearly as good as the kick-ups last week.

Legs

4 Sets

  • 20 DB Walking Lunges (diagonal, 50# DBs)
  • 10/10 Single Leg RDL (foot on wall, 70# KB)

3 Sets

  • 12 Barbell Hip Thrusts (85#)
  • 12/12 Lateral Step-ups (50# DB, 24″)

I bet it’s been at least three years since I’ve done barbell hip thrusts.

  • 12 DB Front Squats (40# DBs)
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises
  • 12 DB Front Squats
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises
  • 12/12 Single Leg Calf Raises

I skipped the third set of squats because my back was feeling weird.

Conditioning

2 Rounds

  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 10 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
  • 15 Hang Power Snatch (75/50#)
  • 10 Box Jump Overs (24/20″)
  • 10 Pull-ups
  • 3:00 Rest

Pull-ups felt great throughout and I can really feel a huge difference when I concentrate on my hips in the kip. I did a lateral jump over the box so I wouldn’t have to keep turning around. The snatches in the first round were not great. I was trying to bounce them off the high pocket position, which was getting to me and slowing me down. The second time around I bounced them off my thighs and did sort of a muscle-ish snatch. First round was 2:00 and second was 1:50, so the snatches were much faster.

Almost Twenty

Yep, my hands are feeling the muscle-ups and carries from yesterday on top of what they’ve been feeling lately. My shoulders are feeling it as well. Workout at 9:30am this morning. Usually we do long monostructural work on chest and back day. Not today since we went long yesterday.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 SkiErg (1,078m)
  • Wrist Warm-up

Handstand Balance Breakthrough

The start of week 3 already!

We didn’t time the handstand split to stacked work, but kept alternating between us with time on the wall getting a feel for the drill. It was a new challenge for sure. Probably went 6-8 times each.

Gymnastics Test

MAX Strict Pull-ups

Haven’t tried this since May 10th when I got 17. Maybe not the best day to test after doing 56 muscle-ups last night, but I was still able to get 19! And I have the 🌲 back!!

Back & Chest

Warm-up

  • 5 Pendlay Row 45
  • 5 Bench Press 45
  • 5 Bench Press 115

3 Sets

  • 12 Pendlay Row (115#)
  • 12 Bench Press (165#)

I could definitely feel tired in the various muscles doing these sets.

3 Sets

  • 12 Seated Cable Row (120#)
  • 12/12 Static DB Bench Press (60# DBs)

Wasn’t sure about the 60s for this, but they went well. Glad I bought them.

3 Sets

  • 10 Close Grip Chin-ups
  • 10 Weighted Ring Dips (15#)

2 Sets

  • 8-10-12 Renegade Row (Right, 50-40-30#)
  • 8-10-12 Renegade Row (Right, 50-40-30#)

Nasty. Go all three dumbbells with increasing weight on one arm before repeating with the other arm. Rest 2-3 minutes and do it again.

2 Sets

  • MAX Diamond Push-ups

Did 40 and 32 reps.

Seven Triple Sevens

Warm-up

  • 5:00 BikeErg (2,484m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk

Legs

5 Sets

  • 12 alt Box Step-ups (24″, 50# DBs)
  • 18/18 Landmine Curtsy Lunge Pulses (75#)
  • 16/16 Single Leg Banded Hamstring Curls (red)

This was pretty nasty. The step-ups were heavy for me and then the pulses are just a grind. I know 75 pounds doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a good burn. My ankles are raw from the band. Need to figure out a different way to do those single leg or just do both legs.

Conditioning

Did seven reps at each of 45, 95, and 135 pounds to warm up the jerk.

7 Rounds

  • 7 Push Jerks (155#)
  • 7 Pull-ups
  • 7 Burpees

I saved this one from BTWB a couple of weeks ago. Just over a minute for round one and I could tell it was too fast. I tried to slow down my burpees to recover for each round of jerks because I knew I was losing them. I nearly failed my final three reps in the last round and they were ugly back breakers with a deeper redip to lock out the bar. Finished in 8:56. That was a good one. Pull-ups were all unbroken without a problem.

More Gym Changes

Over the long weekend here’s the gym work I did:

Worked out at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 3:00 SkiErg (697m)
  • Dead Hang

Tris & Bis

3 Sets

  • 12 EZ Bar Curls (66#)
  • 12 Tricep Push Downs (spinning bar, 71#)

3 Sets

  • 12 Seated EZ Bar OH Tricep Extensions (71#)
  • 24 alt Hammer Curls (40# DBs)

3 Sets

  • 12 Static DB Curls (25-25-30# DBs)
  • 12 Tricep Pull Downs (rope, 60#)

3 Sets

  • 10 Reverse Grip EZ Bar Curls (56-61-66#)
  • 10 Plate Hammer Curls (10#)

I had a huge bicep pump going by the end of this. I’m feeling stronger with everything. I did start doing a second protein shake each day about two weeks ago.

Conditioning

  • 6:00 AMRAP
    • 4 Strict Pull-ups
    • 8 Pistols
    • 12 Russian Twists (45# plate)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 6:00 AMRAP
    • 4 Strict HSPU
    • 8 T2B
    • 12 Plyo Lunges

These went much better than expected. Should have warmed up the legs and hips for the pistols though. After round one I pretty much did 2-2 on the pull-ups. Got through 6+3. Everything was unbroken in the second AMRAP and felt really good. Finished exactly seven rounds.

Club Grip

My pecs are a little sore. Worked out at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 8:00 BikeErg (3,856m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks
  • 80′ Monster Walks
  • 5/5 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (club grip, 45#)

Legs

5 Sets

  • 8/8 Single Leg RDL (foot on wall, 70# KB)
  • 6/6 Landmine Curtsy Lunges (club grip, 115-125-135-145-155#)

This new club grip is awesome for these!

3 Sets

  • 50m Tip Toe Farmer Carry (50# DBs)
  • 12/12 Single Leg Step Downs (15″, 50# DB)

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 Plyo Lunges (50# DBs)
  • 14 Pull-ups
  • 10 Bar-facing Burpees
  • 1:30 Rest

Another good #repeater workout. I wore my grips and easily did all pull-ups unbroken. They felt soooo good! I was even playing around with cycling my butterfly quicker. My times were 1:10 – 1:04 – 1:02 – 1:00.

Putting Band Peg to Use

My back is feeling pretty good. Worked out at 3pm.

Warm-up

  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walk
  • 80′ Monster Walk
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Dead Hang

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 cal Ski Erg
  • 10s Transition
  • 30s Strict Pull-ups
  • 2:00 Rest

I got 18 calories every round and 10-10-8 pull-ups. Never did more than a set of 4 pull-ups.

Legs

Warmed up with 10 lunges each at 45 and 95 pounds.

3 Sets

  • 20 alt Back Rack Reverse Lunges (125#)
  • 10/10 Single Leg Step Downs (15”, 50# DB)

My left leg is definitely much better with the step downs.

3 Sets

  • 12 Double DB RDLs (50# DBs)
  • 24 Banded Hamstring Curls (red)

Got to use my new band/rack pegs. 🙂

I Was the Nail

Yesterday I walked 18 holes. My ass has been sore from the back rack reverse lunges. Worked out at 4pm today.

Warm-up

  • 10:00 BikeErg (4,665m)
  • 80′ Lateral Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 80′ Monster Walks (ankles)
  • 20 PVC Passes
  • 5 Power Cleans (45#)
  • 10 Front Squats (45#)
  • 5 Push Jerks (45#)
  • 10 Kip Swings
  • 3 Power Cleans (95#)
  • 6 Front Squats (95#)
  • 3 Push Jerks (95#)
  • 6 Kip Swings

I used the black band today since the hip circle is awkward to walk with around my ankles.

Conditioning

Almost “Hammer”
5 Rounds, each round for time

  • 5 Power Cleans (135#)
  • 10 Front Squats (135#)
  • 5 Jerks (135#)
  • 20 Pull-ups
  • 1:30 Rest

Being a hero workout you have to suspect this would be bad. I underestimated it and went out too hot. My times for the first four rounds were 1:34, 1:43, 1:59, and then holy fucking shit 3:48!! I clearly died in round four. After nine reps in the final round my back popped and I was done for the day. FUCK!

I went unbroken on the barbell with 7-7-6 pull-ups for three rounds. In the fourth I did single cleans, took a break after 6 front squats, and almost missed the first jerk so I had to drop the bar and rest again. I started with four pull-ups and took so much rest between sets of twos to get the rest of the way. I thought about quitting right there and should have, which would have saved my back for another day.

I went down in to the reset position on the ground for a few minutes as has become the norm whenever this happens now. After that I was walking around and it didn’t feel bad, so hopefully I’m ok tomorrow. Skipped the ab work.