15k

Legs still feeling smoked from that workout yesterday. I woke up to piss in the middle of the night and my left knee did not feel good. Threw on an Ace wrap for the wrest of the night and seemed to be ok when I woke up. Went in for the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Bottom Squat Hold
  • 3 Rounds
    • 5 Strict Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats

Strength: Front Squats

  • 10×45#
  • 6×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×215#
  • 3×235#
  • 3×255#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×285#

Felt good. Wore a belt for the last 3 or 4 sets.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 40 Double Unders
  • 5 Thrusters (95#)
  • 5 Push Press (95#)

Took a little breather between the rope and bar. Kept all barbell reps unbroken. Finished 7 rounds + 38 dubs.

6 sets

  • 30s Row
  • Rest as needed

Was still out of breath from the metcon in the first round so slowly ramped up each set. My meters were 154-161-165-169-174-179.

Wasn’t sure if I’d end up going back in the evening to finished out rowing for the week, but I did.

Rowing WOD Week 16 Session 2

  • 3 Rounds
    • 300 Calorie Row
    • 4:00 Rest
  • 5:00 Rest
  • 10 Rounds
    • 3 Burpees over the Rower
    • 1 Calorie Row

The plan I wrote on the board was to go at 19-21-23 s/m and try for 950-980-1010 cal/hour. I stuck with the stroke rates, but after setting on the rower for nearly 20 minutes straight, the 2nd and 3rd round just couldn’t pick up the pace as much as I hoped for.

Rounds

  1. 18:51 @ 19 s/m for 4,637 meters at a pace of 954 cal/hr
  2. 18:30 @ 21 s/m for 4,595 meters at a pace of 971 cal/hr
  3. 18:20 @ 23 s/m for 4,571 meters at a pace of 980 cal/hr

The 10 round transition practice is dumb if you ask me. Unless you’re a high level competitor it’s not worth it. But I did it anyway. There is no good way to setup the rower for rounds with that, so I basically just did 3 pulls each time so that I wouldn’t could the rollover calorie or two you get from the previous round. I kind of lost track of rounds so might have done some extra. Who knows? Who cares? Not me. Time was 4:13 and monitor said 453 meters, but that’s 10 rounds of rollover.

I wasn’t too excited when there was rowing programmed this morning knowing what I had in store tonight or tomorrow. Ended up being over 15,000 meters total for the day. Surprisingly I feel pretty good.

Next week is supposed to be the last week of this cycle and then I’m going to be done with the rowing. Will be shifting a focus to gymnastics work leading up to the Open. Endurance with chest-to-bar pull-ups and handstand push-ups hurt me in 2 of the workouts in the 2015 Open

Running Singles

Up at 6am again. WTF! Went to the 9am class.

Midline & Shoulder Warm-up

6 Rounds

  • 20s L-hang (bar)
  • 10s Rest

Done with bent knees held up, of course.

Strength

10:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 8 Push Press (115#)
  • 20s Handstand Hold

Not as hard as I was expecting. I tried to take my feet off the wall some during the holds. 135# would have been a better challenge.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

  • 50 Jump Rope
  • 30 Russian KB Swings (53#)
  • 20 Shoulder Taps
  • 10 Pistols

I did my jump ropes like running with one foot per jump. Much easier to keep a rhythm going than I’ve been able to do with single unders on both feet recently. Shoulder taps got tough, but never came off the wall. Would like pistols to be a lot faster. Finished 5 rounds plus 50-30-20-4.

1:30 AMRAP

  • Row for calories

Really didn’t feel like doing this. Got 47 cals. I think it would have been a 500m in the low 1:30s if I remember right. Really started losing power at about 30 cals.

Stayed after everyone left for a little extra work.

Accessory

E90S 15:00 (alt)

  • 10 Deficit RDL (155#, 4″)
  • 10 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

I had planned single leg RDLs, but saw the little platform sitting out and got this new idea. Glad I did because it worked great. Ended up giving me about a minute of rest between movements.

Halloween – Year 4

Today marks the 4 year anniversary since I started doing CrossFit. Changed my life!

Was up late playing Halo 5 last night. First time I’ve done that playing videos games in a few years. Made it for the 10am class. Weighed in before class for the challenge since the party is tonight. On my scale at home, I went from 16.3% to 13.4% body fat and 208.7 to 198.7 pounds. At the gym I think I went from 20% to 17.5%, but that’s with using it on the “normal” setting instead of “athlete” to make it consistent across the board for everyone.


I definitely feel a lot better and have said for a long time that 195-200 is a better weight for me to carry around. That body fat % still seems high though.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Ring Hang Stretch
  • Good Mornings
  • Presses
  • OHS

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 5 Hang Power Cleans (95#)
  • 5 Front Squats (95#)
  • 5 Push Presses (95#)
  • 5 Back Squats (95#)
  • 5 Burpees over the bar

Went unbroken and took a few breaths between sets that I probably didn’t need to. Finished in 6:39.

16:00 AMRAP

Partners share reps and run together.

  • 40 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 20 Burpees
  • 200m Run

Weston and I went sets of 10 wall balls and caught the person’s last throw off the way to save time. Went 5s on the burpees. we were in our 5th run when time ran out but finished with a solid pace on the last run, so probably about 16:20-16:30 or so.

Picked up Papa John’s on the way home from the gym. 🙂

Grip Width

In for the 9am this morning. Was looking forward to getting in a “normal” workout after the first 3 days of this week.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Shoulder Hang Stretching
  • Banded Shoulder OH Stretch
  • Overhead Squat
    • 4×45#
    • 4×75#
    • 4×95#
    • 4×115#

Did the OHS with my progressing grip width. Getting better and better.

Strength & Gymnastics

12:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 4 OHS (135#)
  • 6 Strict Ring Dips

The last knurl ring was in between my middle and ring fingers, which is probably about halfway between my jerk and snatch grips. I know I wouldn’t have been able to do 6 sets like that a month or two ago.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 3 Curtis P (75#)
  • 6 Push Press (75#)
  • 10 Lateral Bar Hops

Kept it light so I could try to go unbroken. Made it, but another 10 or 20# would have definitely meant breaking at some point with the barbell. Lateral hops were a quick rest from holding the weight. Finished in 3:56.

3 Rounds NFT

  • 30/30m Prowler Sprint (High, 135#)
  • 200m Run

Went lighter than usual and tried to keep it explosive.

Wall Meet Face

Didn’t feel like a very good night of sleep again, probably something to do with the change it diet yesterday. Made it to the gym early to get in the first rowing session of the week before 9am. Didn’t have time for a warm-up though.

Row

4x

  • 500m
  • 1:00 Rest

This is supposed to be a good estimation of 2k potential by adding up the row time plus another 10-15 seconds. With that in mind, I set an aggressive goal of 1:37. Made the first two intervals at 1:36.4 but hit the wall hard at the end of the 3rd, and then had nothing left in the 4th. Averaged a 1:38.7 which would still work out to a solid potential PR. Rank of 95 on BTWB for this workout so good shit.

rowing-wod-w7s1.png

Update: I actually forgot that I tried an increased drag factor. I can’t remember exactly what it was, but pretty sure it was something between 135-140. I’m sure that had something to do with how much I was destroyed by the end. Going to try sticking around 132-133 for this next phase and see how it goes.

My legs were smoked and I was out of it for the entire class. Tried to get in some solid work though.

Strength: 3 Shoulder Press + 3 Push Press

  • 45#
  • 65#
  • 95#
  • 105#
  • 115#
  • 125#
  • 135#

Took it slow and easy.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 5 Good Mornings
  • 5 Pendlay Rows (Supinated Grip)

Went with 115-135-155-155# for the good mornings and 135-155-165-175# for the rows.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 5 Curtis P (45#)
  • 10 Wall Ball (14#, 10′)
  • 75 Jump Rope

Scale city! My goal was to just move because I knew I didn’t have any intensity left in my tank. Yep, those are singles on the jump rope, which are not easy. Can’t keep a rhythm at fatigue. I had to break them up into a lot of sets after the first round. Went unbroken on the other two movements though and just tried to keep moving even though it was slow. Took me 14:34.

Gold Star

Had taken the day off work to play our end of the year golf tournament. We only got through 7 holes before storms rolled in and it rained all day. So back home and worked out in the garage before 5pm.

Warm-up

  • 3×10 Reverse Hyper (180#)

Was pretty easy to setup and take down my contraption.

Strength: Safety Bar Squats

  • 10×65#
  • 6×135#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×245#
  • 3×255#
  • 3×265#
  • 3×275#
  • 3×285#
  • 3×295#

Lifting shoes but no belt. Second to last rep was a struggle so I started thinking too much and made my final rep pretty squirrely.

Warmed up for the metcon with 5 shoulder press + 5 overhead squats with 45# and 95#.

Conditioning

  • 10 Shoulder Presses (115#)
  • 15 OHS
  • 20 Push Presses
  • 25 Front Squats
  • 30 Push Jerks
  • 35 Back Squats

Same bar and load for each movement. One of my favorites to come back to because it tests you in many different ways. I’ve done it three times now, getting better each time.

  1. 4/15/13 – 14:03
  2. 7/21/14 – 13:34
  3. 9/3/15 – 10:33

Over a 3 minute improvement in the last year! I went 7 shoulder press, 3 presses then on to my back and in to 9 overhead squats, and then finished the last 6 OHS. Push presses were done 9-6-5, front squats 10-10-5, push jerks with 3 sets of 10, and didn’t put the bar down for the 35 back squats. Tried not to rest too much when I dropped the bar in between sets.

Jumped on the Air Dyne for a very easy 10 minutes to flush out the legs.

Check out some CrossFit elite doing this one…

Match Game

Went to bed early so I could get a solid 8+ hours and actually woke up even later than I’d like. Walked into the gym a couple of minutes late for 9am.

Warm-up

  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Shoulder stretching

Strength – Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 1×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 1×170#
  • 1×175# (PR match)

I thought I missed 175 last month but it was actually a PR attempt at 177.5 that I missed. Grrr! Now I’m mad I didn’t look before so I could attempt that PR again today.

Apparently we were supposed to do push press max though. I thought it was odd we maxed out 2 months in a row on this.

Conditioning

  • 10:00 AMRAP
    • 12 Burpees
    • 4 Bear Complex (95#)
  • 4:00 Rest
  • 6:00 AMRAP
    • 8 Deadlifts (95#)
    • 20 Sit-ups

A grind for those 10 minutes. I started out at a comfortable pace and dropped every rep of the bear knowing it was on the long side for those two movements. Finished 5 rounds plus 12 burpees. Thought about increasing the weight for the deadlifts even though it was programmed to use the same weight. Don’t really ever do super light deadlifts, so I stuck with it. It was pretty much a sit-up workout. Started to feel my upper abs in the 4th round. Finished 6 rounds plus 6 deadlifts.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Air Dyne
  • 12 Reverse Hyper (210#)

Row: Pacing & Engine

  • Interval 1
    • 3:00 @ 20 s/m
    • 3:00 @ 22
    • 2:00 @ 24
    • 2:00 @ 26
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Interval 2
    • 2:00 @ 22
    • 2:00 @ 24
    • 2:00 @ 26
    • 2:00 @ 28
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Interval 3
    • 3:00 @ 24
    • 3:00 @ 26
    • 1:00 @ 28
    • 1:00 @ Max speed with full length rowing

Week 4 begins. I figured even with the higher intensity I’d try to increase my pace/500m a little over what I’ve been doing for the corresponding stroke rates during these sessions. Worked out well. Total of 6,715 meters for the session and 21 extra meters on the 2nd interval compared to the same 8 minute breakdown last week, though it was 3rd then. Really happy with how I was able to nail the stroke rates and keep right around a 2 second change for every 2s/m.

rowing-wod-w4s1

Strength: Push Press

Was nice and warmed up so I jumped in with Weston.

  • 5×115#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×155#
  • 1×175#
  • 1×195#
  • 1×215#
  • 1×230#
  • 1×245# (PR)

There, got that PR for the day! 🙂 Normally I don’t like to make such big jumps towards the end, but it worked out for this.

Return to Row

In for the 9am this morning.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)

Strength

2 Shoulder Press + 2 Push Press + 2 Push Jerk

  • 45#
  • 75#
  • 115#
  • 135#
  • 145#
  • 150#
  • 160#

Wish I would have gone 155-165# or had a few more minutes.

Warmed up squat cleans after that with 115-155-185-205# doubles.

10:00 EMOM

  • 2 Squat Cleans (225#)

Wore a belt for these. Got spicy real quick! Like 2nd round quick. Another 5-10# and I probably would have been failing at some point.

Conditioning

4 Rounds

  • 10 American Kettlebell Swings (70#)
  • 10 OH Walking Lunges (53#)
  • 400m Run

My rounds were 2:55 – 3:05 – 3:10 – 2:55 for a 12:05 total. So slow on the runs. Holding the one KB overhead for lunges was something I’m not used to.

Felt good, so I headed back to the gym in the evening to get in my rowing workout.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • 1:00 Air Dyne

Row: Pacing & Engine

  • Interval 1
    • 5:00 @ 20 s/m
    • 4:00 @ 22
    • 3:00 @ 24
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Interval 2
    • 3:00 @ 22
    • 2:00 @ 24
    • 2:00 @ 26
    • 1:00 @ 28
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Interval 3
    • 2:00 @ 22
    • 2:00 @ 24
    • 2:00 @ 26
    • 2:00 @ 28

Again, like last week, the idea is to change the pace 2 seconds per 500m for every 2 strokes per minute. I was shooting to start at around 2:02 for 20s/m. Racked up 7,111 meters for the session. Not bad hitting the right stroke rates and changes of pace, but I’m not sure if I’m pushing myself enough.

rowing-wod-w3s1

Pacing with Stroke Rate

Got to the gym early so I could get in some rowing.

Warm-up

2 Rounds

  • 10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
  • 250m Row

I actually checked the drag factor on the rower for the first time today. Super easy too. It was at 123 where I usually set the damper (just below 5).

Row: Pacing & Engine

  • Interval 1
    • 4:00 at 20 s/m
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 2
    • 2:00 at 20
    • 2:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
    • 2:00 at 26
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 3
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 2:00 at 24
    • 2:00 at 26
  • 4:00 Rest
  • Interval 4
    • 3:00 at 22
    • 1:00 at 24
    • 1:00 at 26
    • 1:00 at 28

That was actually really fun. Sure didn’t feel like I spent 30 minutes rowing because I was locked in on trying to keep the stroke rate and a corresponding pace. My goal was 2:02/500m and then with each increase of 2 strokes per minute the pace should drop 2 seconds.
rowing-wod-week2-session1

Total of 8,023 meters when including the warm-up. Couldn’t be happier with how that turned out for a first attempt at pacing through stroke rate. I did Crossover Symmetry Recovery before leaving the gym.

I finished up the reverse hyper after making some adjustments. Upgraded to a 1″ pipe to support the weight, which is much sturdier than the 3/4″ I had at first and I’m using in the back to support the platform. It was nice that I already had the platform created from before. All I did to it was cut the notches where it sits on the pipes, screwed in some PVC for handles, and spray glued on padding (3/4″ puzzle mat + yoga mat). Pretty happy with the way it turned out.

Rogue’s rack attached reverse hyper runs about $600 and bolts on. This sucker was less than $100 and is easy to put up and take down.

Back at the gym for the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

  • PVC pass-thrus
  • Shoulder stretching
  • PVC OHS
  • Hamstring stretching

Strength

Push Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 3×135#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×175#
  • 3×185#
  • 3×195#
  • 3×205#
  • 3×215# (PR)

Put the belt on starting with 175#. Rested about 2-2:30 between sets. Beat my old triple by 3#.

Conditioning

10 Cycles (continue AMRAP)

  • 45s AMRAP
    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 15s Rest

That 15 seconds was just enough to keep pushing the gas. After getting 1 round plus an extra rep for the first few rounds that turned into my goal for the rest of the way. Kept at it and then got 1+3 extra reps in the final round for a total of 10 rounds plus 12 reps.

Lil’ GHD “Annie”

  • 50-40-30-20-10 Double Unders
  • 25-20-15-10-5 GHD Sit-ups

Last time I did this it was 7:11. Didn’t feel like I was cruising today, but crushed it with a 6:04. I split up the first 3 rounds of GHDs into 15-10, 12-8, and 9-6. Maybe my rest was shorter for those breaks. All dubs were unbroken.

New Bar

Walked 18 on the course yesterday and had an adjustment at the chiro. My hips were shifted with the left being lower. Could have been what caused the tweak to my left low back area. Hasn’t affected sleep at least so not as bad as the last tweak. Time to start hitting the Reverse Hyper every day I can. May build one for at home to use inside my rack.

Went in to the gym at 5:30. Warmed up with 3 sets of 10 on the RH with 210#.

OHS

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 5×135#
  • 3×155#
  • 3×175#

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row (calories)
  • 1:00 Ball Slams (20#)
  • 1:00 Push Press (40# DBs)
  • 1:00 Knees to Elbows
  • 1:00 Rest

Subbed out wall balls for K2E and used dumbbells for a change of pace with the push presses, which got super hard. I did 20 cals on the rower each time and went unbroken on ball slams, which is why I decided to use the 20 instead of 25#. Got a total of 85-81-81 reps, so stayed consistent each round.

Accessory & Midline

5 Sets

  • 25/25m Sled Drag (25# + 180#)
  • 1:30 Plank

Walked into the gym, started the clock and right back out after time was up each round.

2 Sets

  • 20 Reverse Hypers (210#)

Nice back pump there. After doing some e-stim before going to the gym the area that’s bothering me almost feels like a bruise to the touch. Different than what has happened any other time. Will need to keep an eye on it.

Arrived home to see my new toy delivered in the driveway. Had ordered the Yoke Bar from EliteFTS almost 2 months ago when they ran an awesome special on it. I’d been wanting one so couldn’t pass it up. Will have to try it out Saturday night.

bars