Push Press – Page 16 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Push Pressin’

I went in to the 9am, which isn’t much recovery from 7pm last night, but I have a bunch of stuff going on later today. Rest day tomorrow, but I’ll probably go golfing in the morning.

Warm-up

2 rounds, 10:00 limit

50 Jumping Jacks
40 Air Squats
30 PVC Pass-thrus
20 Leg Raises
10 Burpees

I didn’t make it through the 10 burpees at the end.

Strength

Find 1RM for Push Press. Shoot for 7 attempts with 2 minutes of rest between each.

5 @ 45#
5 @ 95#
1 @ 120#
1 @ 130#
1 @ 145#
1 @ 155#
1 @ 165#
1 @ 175#
1 @ 185#
1 @ 190#

The best I had done before was 2 reps at 175#. I did more sets than I was supposed to but I didn’t think I would get that high, so my planning for the early weights was off. I really got a good dip and drive with the legs and 190# went up pretty easily. Always good to leave a bit in the tank for next time on a 1RM max. It’s better than failing on a rep.

WOD

10:00 AMRAP

1-Arm Snatches (45# DB)

I was doing 5 reps with each arm before switching. Started off well, but kind of hit a wall in the middle. Ended up with 155 reps. Probably should have gone with 40# and kept a higher intensity.

Finisher

7 rounds

10 Kroc Rows (60# DB, 5 each side)
10 V-ups

Nice finisher to work the midline and get in some more strength work.

Turning the Tables

It was great to rest up yesterday. I did walk 18 holes of golf in the morning. Back to it for the 9am class this morning. My back is feeling better after a few days of the standing desk and the massage on Tuesday. I have another massage and adjustment this afternoon.

Warm-up

4 rounds

15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Jump Squats

Midline

We partnered up to do 200 AbMat sit-ups. One person held a plank and the other knocked out reps. I was doing sets of 30 on my turns so got 120 sit-ups.

WOD

3 rounds

1m Push Presses (30# DBs)
1m Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
1m Jingle Jangles
1m Burpees
1m SDLHP (53# KB)
1m Rest

Push presses and SDLHP were I got most of my reps each round. My rounds were 122, 107, and 104 for a 333 total. Fight Gone Bad style WODs are always ass kickers because it’s like 3 rounds of 5 mini AMRAPs.

Finisher

Prowler Suicides

After class, I stuck around to help out with a group of high school varsity soccer guys. We put them through the same workout. It was a lot of fun and nice to put someone else through the pain for a change. Makes me look forward to getting my CrossFit Level 1 Certification even more now.

12.3 Revisited

While icing yesterday morning after the chiropractor’s office, I got a little frostbite. Ouch!

Warm-up

30-20-10

Star Jumps
PVC OHS

WOD

18:00 AMRAP

15 Box Jumps (24″)
12 Push Presses (115#)
9 T2B

Look familiar? This was CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.3. It was March 9th when I did it for the Open. Back then I got 5 rounds plus 15 box jumps and 6 push presses. Five months later I improved by more than a round, getting 6 rounds plus 15 box jumps and 7 push presses.

My weakness was still the 115# weight for push presses. I did better on push presses because I was able to rebound off the ground on the majority of the box jumps and I split T2B up into sets of 5 and 4 most of the way.

Finisher

1 Mile Run

Didn’t take much of a rest and then went out for a mile run with a few other people. The run wasn’t going to break any speed records because we were pretty whooped from the WOD. We didn’t even keep track of time.

Push (Press) It Real Good

I was planning to hit up the 8pm tonight, but decided to go to the 7pm in case I felt like staying after for a bit and doing some extra work, which we can do during the 8pm. Shoulders are sore from yesterday.

Warm-up

4 rounds

15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Squat Jumps

Strength

Find a 2 rep max for Push Press

Started off at 5 reps of the 45# bar. Then did 2 reps at each of 85#, 105#, 125#, 145#, 165#, and 175#. The last time I tried a max push press was at the end of March when I got 145#. That’s a 30# PR with 2 reps.

WOD

10:00

Odd minutes: 7 Power Cleans (100#)
Even minutes: 7 Front Squats (100#)

Take 1 minute off to add weight

10:00

Odd minutes: 5 Power Cleans (120#)
Even minutes: 5 Front Squats (120#)

Take 1 minute off to add weight

10:00

Odd minutes: 3 Power Cleans (140#)
Even minutes: 3 Front Squats (140#)

After a couple of reps into that first minute of power cleans I didn’t think I could keep going. My back was really feeling it. I realized I was pulling too much too early with my back, so I slowed down the deadlift portion of the clean and then exploded with the weight once I got above my knees. It really helped a lot and I didn’t feel a problem with my back until after the we were done.

We ended up doing 5 more power cleans with each weight that what you would see here because we didn’t have racks, so everything was off the floor. I really liked this one. It was over 30 minutes, but there was less than 30s of work during each minute. Just enough time to recover before starting on the reps of the next movement.

I’m heading off to San Francisco early tomorrow morning and won’t be back until late on Monday night. Hopefully I’ll find some time to workout at the hotel.

Sunday is Not a Day of Rest

I went to bed later than normal, so didn’t wake up quite as early as I have been. Still had time to get in my first WOD of the day before my brother and Mom woke up though. I can feel the effects of the weighted step-ups from last night already, so as the day goes on and in to tomorrow it should be interesting.

Warm-up

5 rounds

1m Plank
1m Bottom Squat Hold

WOD

50 reps of each

DUs
Plank Push-ups
Star Jumps
T2B (on rings)
SDLHP (50# KB)
Walking Lunges
V-ups
Push Presses (35# DBs)
KBS (50# KB)
HR Push-ups
DUs

I set a new PR by doing the first 15 T2B unbroken with kipping. The rings on the tree worked out really well. After the first 15 I did them 5 at a time. Push Presses were done in 5 sets of 10, KBS in sets of 20, 15, and 15, and I tried to stick to sets of 10 for the HR Push-ups, but that broke down a bit after 30 reps. My total time was 30:31, but it would have been under 30 had I not turned a single knot into a double when I picked up the rope and tried to fix it. I wasted over 30 seconds getting those out. Ugh!

I’ve been doing a lot of WODs in the 10 minute range, so it was good to get in a long chipper like this. After I get a late breakfast I’ll probably head out for a trip on the kayak and then I plan to do the Hero WOD “Brenton” later today.

Got Home Early, Couldn’t Help It

Today, the family headed up to the Upper Peninsula for the day. That’s why I had done the run early in the morning. I really didn’t plan on getting in a WOD, but we got back to the cottage before 9, so I figured I might as well take advantage of the daylight.

Warm-up

50 Jumping Jacks
50 Butt Kicks
50 High Knees
50 Mountain Climbers

WOD

10:00 AMRAP

12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Cleans
6 Push Presses

I used a set of 50# DBs, which was much tougher than I expected. The hang cleans were brutal and the only part I couldn’t do unbroken. I finished 3 rounds plus 12 deadlifts and 9 cleans in the 10 minutes, but then did the extra 6 push presses as well.

Finisher

30 Weighted Step-ups (24″ and 50# DBs)

I didn’t do this for time because once in a while it’s nice not be thinking about the clock. Going this heavy and that high is much more about the strength element anyway. I alternated legs each rep and broke it down into 5 sets of 6 reps. I originally was going to go for 50 reps not knowing how hard it would be. I could really feel my back compensating in the last two sets so I pulled the plug at 30 reps before I hurt something. I had done Russian Step-ups quite some time ago, but believe I used 30# or 35# DBs. There was no way I was trying to add in the Russian element today with the 50s.

Sunday Garage WOD

I went to visit some friends for the weekend and did some golfing while there. I filled my face at P.F. Chang’s last night with a bowl of egg drop soup, one of the chicken lettuce wraps, an entire Ahi Tuna appetizer (my friend ate one slice of the Tuna), all of my Honey Shrimp with Candied Walnuts entrée with brown rice, nearly half of the Great Wall of Chocolate, and several drinks. On the ride home today I stopped for a medium blizzard at Dairy Queen and then had Taco Bell for dinner. So I was feeling pretty guilty about my bad choices, especially the ones today. After watching Tiger pull out another win I made up a quick workout.

5 rounds

700m Run (around the block)
5 Push Presses (50# DBs)
20 Sit-ups

I finished in 21:49. My goal was sub-20 when I started out because I came into the garage just after the 3:00 mark after the first run. If I hadn’t taken a quick water break after every run I think I could have been pretty close to 20 minutes. This wasn’t anything crazy but enough to get my heart rate up for a while and burn a few calories. The fifties were pretty heavy, but doable. I’m going to try to use them quite a bit when I go on my 10 day vacation starting Wednesday.

I’m Exhausted

I should have taken a day off somewhere during the week. I just got home from Survival Fitness where I attended the 4:15p class and stayed another hour for open gym. I’m exhausted and could really tell towards the end of the 2 hours. Finally I forced myself to leave. At least I’m out-of-town for the weekend so I can’t get in any WODs. I think all of the squatting we did this week really took a toll on my body too. I’ve never gone 6 days in a row before and now I know why.

Warm-up

100 V-ups
Every minute on the minute, do 5 box jumps (24″), except to start the first minute.

We didn’t do many box jumps this week, so I was glad to see them here, even if it didn’t end up being very many. I think I finished in the 6th(?) minute, but don’t remember for sure.

As we were waiting for everyone to finish, I jumped on the bar and got my first muscle-up! Did it again to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. Next up, the rings. I actually just got a set of the wood rings from Rogue Fitness to use while I’m vacationing for 10 days and then I can hang them in my garage when I get back.

WOD

EMOM: 4 Burpees (start with 4 right away)

50 PVC Front Squats
30 SDLHP (88# KB)
50 PVC OHS
30 1-arm Push Presses (each arm) (45# DB)
50 PVC Back Squats
30 Ring Rows

I finished in 17:28, so I did 68 burpees. Front squats with a PVC pipe were kind of weird because there was no weight there to keep the wrists in place and help the elbows get up. Oh yeah, 150 more squats for the week! I wanted to get in some heavy front or back squats at open gym, but not with how much squatting we had already done for the week.

Finisher

5 rounds

150m Sprint (rectangle in the parking lot)
2m Rest

My sprints were all 21-22 seconds, which is pretty good considering the corners are pretty scary running in the parking lot. I felt really good doing the sprints.

Open Gym

I did some deadlifting to start. The plan was to do a 5×5 after the light warm-up set.

10x 135#
5x 225#
5x 275#
5x 305#
1x 325#

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I increased the weight so much there. I had to set the bar down after the 3rd rep at 305# before knocking out the last two. Then at 325# I had to shut it down after one. I was starting to feel it in my back and got light-headed after I walked away from the bar. At least I got in some heavy deadlifting, but I should have been smarter about it.

Then Casey A. was doing some snatch balances, so I jumped in with him. We did some with the 45# bar and some with 65#. After that we did some squat snatches with 65# and 85#. I think I was doing 3-5 reps for a couple sets at each weight for both the snatch balance and the squat snatch.

Working Off That Pizza

As promised, I ordered pizza today. I also ordered a Cinnapie, which I don’t think was my best idea.

Today’s benchmark WOD for the Paleo Challenge was a good test, but I didn’t feel overworked due to all of the rest time. Since I took a rest day yesterday and will be out-of-town all weekend, I went back to the gym at 8pm for some extra work.

I warmed up with an easy 500m run and some shoulder stretching with the bands. Then I did 3 Cleans + Push Presses on the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes with 135#. I worked on DUs here and there a bit, getting one streak of 37 in a row. I did 3 sets of 15 KBS with the 62# KB. The first two sets were on the top of consecutive minutes and the 3rd set was after taking an extra minute off. I jumped on the bar and attempted some MUs, sort of getting up there once, but with a bit of help from my leg on the support 4×4. Doesn’t count.

It’s time to finish the last 3 pieces of pizza and the last 3rd of the Mountain Dew. The Cinnapie was gone hours ago. 🙂

Fifties on Sunday

Yesterday while watching golf, I downloaded a bunch of Survival Fitness videos from Facebook and compiled them into a movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_wUDCe7vj8

My body is pretty freaking sore all over. I haven’t felt like this in a couple of months, so I can tell the WODs have been great and the extra work I’m putting in is paying off . Yesterday I mentioned my tailbone was really sore. Well, it’s more than that. I have two quarter-sized floor burn marks on the sides of my tailbone. No wonder in hurts to sit down! Sorry, no pictures. 😉

Do you ever get bruises in CrossFit and have no idea where they came from? I have one under my right arm and a matching one under my armpit almost all the way to my back. Weird.

I did the push-ups of Armstrong Pull-up Program when I got out of bed this morning. It’s a nice way to start the day. I went in to the noon class today and it was packed with 20 people. Since class was so big we had to skip around during the movements, but it all worked out.

Warm-up

5 rounds

1m Deep Squat Hold
1m Mountain Climbers

I was stiffer than usual from the squat holds and 1 minute is a long time to do mountain climbers in a row, so I had to take 2-3 short breaks for them each round.

WOD

50 of each

DUs
Burpees
MB Snatches (20#)
Push Presses (30# DBs)
Wall Balls (20#)
K2E
Walking Lunges
KBS (53#)
Jumping Pull-ups
Box Jumps (24″)

It was ordered different on the board, but this is the order I ended up doing. I finished in 32:01. Most people did tuck jumps, but I was able to string together a few DUs before we started, so I went with DUs and completed them in 4 sets. I think I need to start practicing them again.

Later tonight I’ll do the nightly pull-ups and then it’s 2 days off from Armstrong Pull-ups. Tomorrow will also be a day off from CrossFit, which I’m really looking forward to. I will get out and walk 18 holes of golf.

Update: I just couldn’t stand sitting around later in the evening even though I went out and walked 9 holes of golf after lunch. I had to lace up the shoes and go out for a run, so I did a 5 minute warm-up, Tabata sprints, and a 5 minute cool down. In 14:14 I covered a total of 1.73 miles.