Sunday Mass

In for an early Sunday at 9am because we’re heading to the Adventure Park to climb the trees again. I started off with Crossover Symmetry Activation and some stretching.

Warm-up

  • 10×45# Shoulder Press
  • 2 Kneeling Jumps
  • 5×95# Jerk
  • 1 Kneeling Jump (4″)
  • 2×125# Jerk
  • 1 Kneeling Jump (7″)
  • 2×155# Jerk
  • 1 Kneeling Jump (10.25″)
  • 2×185# Jerk

XWOD

  • 2-2-2-2-2 Jerks (205#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2 Kneeling Jumps
    • 2s: 10.25″
    • 1s: 13.25″

Felt pretty good on most of the jerks.

Strength/Accessory

  • 5×45# Good Morning
  • 5×95# Good Morning
  • 5×135# Good Morning
  • 5×165# Good Morning
  • 15 Push-ups
  • 5×175# Good Morning
  • 15 Push-ups
  • 5×185# Good Morning
  • 15 Push-ups
  • 5×185# Good Morning
  • 15 Push-ups
  • 5×195# Good Morning
  • 15 Push-ups

Focused on explosive drive back up out of the bottom in the good mornings to work the hamstrings more. I can feel a big difference when I engage my glutes and hamstrings to initiate the movement. All push-ups were unbroken sets.

Gymnastics

EMOM 10:00

  • 7 C2B Pull-ups

Did pretty good with the butterfly considering I’d never done more than 4 chest to bar in a row with it. Got several rounds unbroken without losing my kip. Have started to develop a bruise and broken blood vessels under my right pec where I contact the bar. I think maybe I should work on hitting higher, which should be less work. I feel like I’d smash my face though.

Thruster Attack

3 Rounds

  • 5:00 Tabata
    • 20s Thrusters (35#)
    • 10s Rest
  • 2:30 Rest

Damn that was tough this week!

Shoulder Pump

My hammies are feeling tight from squatting the last couple of days I think. In for the 9am class at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Bar Hangs
  • 3 Rounds of “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups (strict)
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • Deadlifts
    • 4×155#
    • 4×245#
    • 4×315#

XWOD

7 Rounds

  • 4 Deadlifts (345#)
  • 1 Broad Jump

Bumped up the weight 10# from last week which was 8×3. No issues with the back.

Strength/Skill

8:00 EMOM

  • 6 Thrusters (135#)

The thruster attack plan is working pretty well. Wasn’t easy but not terrible either.

Conditioning

“Helen”
3 Rounds

  • 400m Run
  • 21 American KBS (53#)
  • 12 Pull-ups

First run was about 2 minutes! Yuck. Need to be faster than that. All swings were unbroken and pull-ups were 12, 7-5, and 8-4. Finished in 10:04. I think thrusters destroyed my shoulders a bit. I couldn’t even touch my shoulders after the workout that’s how pumped up they were. Not even close to my PR time of 9:30, the only other time I did “Helen” over 2 years ago. Don’t remember what we did for the runs then, but maybe it was really short (or at least I’ll tell myself that to feel better). The bottom line is I need to push myself more when running in a metcon.

Afternoon garage time just before 4pm. Warmed up with an easy 3 minutes on the Air Dyne for 1.24km.

5 Rounds

  • 1:20
    • 15 C2D Push-ups
    • Air Dyne
  • 1:00 Rest

Was able to do the push-ups unbroken every round and couldn’t believe it. Gave me pretty much exactly 1 minute on the Air Dyne each round by the time I got on it. Distances were 0.7, 0.75, 0.74, 0.74, and 0.74 km.

Walked a half mile to cool down.

Paying Off

I’m very surprised that my legs work today. Usually after doing “Karen” I can barely walk for 3 days, so was sure that the 260 training bar thrusters would be worse. In for the 9am class at CFi. I didn’t really warm up much today other than a 2:00 squat hold.

Strength

  • 10×45# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-ups
  • 5×135# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 5×185# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×225# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×235# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×245# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×255# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×265# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups
  • 6×275# Back Squats
  • 5 Push-Ups

Taking it easy so I don’t tweak my back again. Focused on not bottoming out with a butt wink. Did nice and controlled descents on the push-ups with an explode up, trying to keep a vertical forearm.

Midline

10-20-30-20-10

  • Sit-ups
  • Russian Twists (35# KB)

Not for time, but all done unbroken.

Conditioning

21-15-9

  • Deadlifts (225#)
  • Over the Bar Burpees

Did my deadlifts in 12-9, 9-6, and 9. Didn’t stop on the burpees and had a little let to push on the last round. Finished in 4:41. If I were to do it again I think I’d go for the round of 15 unbroken.

Jumped on the rower for an easy 10 minutes and covered 2,045 meters.

Hit the garage in the afternoon to use the Ski Erg. Warmed up with 1,000 meters in 4:52 and then I hit the interval workout I did on the first day I got the machine, which wasn’t much more than a month ago. I didn’t just beat my times on everything, I destroyed them.

Max effort intervals

  • 60m (0:12)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 60m (0:12)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 100m (0:19.7)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 100m (0:19.3)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:29)
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:28.4)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 150m (0:28.2)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 200m (0:37.2)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 500m (1:45)

Although this is programmed as a continuous series of intervals, it really should be treated as 2 sections. The 1st 3 intervals (2×60, 2×100, 1×150) and the 2nd 3 intervals (1×150, 1×200, 1×500). The 1st intervals are short and very explosive efforts that will recruit your fast twitch muscle fibers. The 2nd 3 intervals are all gearing up to that final 500m max effort. The final 3 intervals are focused on creating endurance while your fast twitch fibers are fatigued.

Set PRs on every interval and if the distance repeated, I beat it again! I’ll keep track of the 100, 200, and 500 on the PR page. The first time I did this, it absolutely smoked my arms, but I didn’t get any of that today. Hopefully the improvement is a combination of hard work over the last month and improved technique, not just the latter. Walked a half mile to cool down.

Gimpy Calf

Yesterday I played 18 holes of golf (rode in a cart) in the morning and did DDP YRG Diamond Cutter at night. Body felt pretty beat up all day. My low back felt pretty tight last night when I’d wake up and roll over in bed. In for the 9am at CFi.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Squat Hold
  • Rapid Toe Touches
  • Zombie Kicks
  • Inch Worms w/ Cobra
  • 5 Deadlifts (155#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (245#)
  • 3 Deadlifts (315#)
  • Couple of jump course runs

XWOD

  • 3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3 Deadlifts (335#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 PVC Jump Course

We had about 6 different PVC heights setup. I tried to get through them all each time, but would often miss the last one once during the double rounds because my spacing was off. I tweaked my left calf on the last jump in the 6th round of the course so didn’t jump again after that. Same area where it was really tight last week. Hopefully nothing serious.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Push-ups
  • 15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Kept everything unbroken with an extra breath or two between movements. Finished 5 rounds plus 5 push-ups, 15 wall balls, and 3 swings.

Midline

4 Rounds

  • 20s Hollow Hold
  • 20s Rest
  • 20s Plank
  • 20s Rest

Strength

Since we switched it up with deadlifts today I needed to get in my shoulder press since I’d already taken 2 days off from last doing them on Saturday. Stayed after class for week 2 day 2 of my 2nd Smolov Jr. cycle.

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×115#
  • 7x5x127.5#

Little rough after the shoulder work in the WOD. Made it through though.

Kevin had me do a bunch of mobility and SMR work on that left calf. Ouch!

Went out in the garage for an afternoon session around 3. Started with an easy 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg in 5:19 and then rested about 4 minutes.

E2M 30:00

  • 250m Ski Erg

The original plan was to go as long as I could without the time getting over 1:00. I quickly realized that could take all night so I settled on 12 rounds. Got there and said I need the push so did 15. I’d say if your speed starts to drop a couple of seconds, stop anywhere after 10 of these. My splits were 58.6, 58.2, 58.1, 58.1, 58.2, 58.6, 58.2, 58.4, 58.4, 58.4, 58.2, 58.2, 58.1, 58.2, and 56.6. So I had two at 58.6 and all of the rest were 58.1-58.4, with the exception of the 15th, where I pushed through to the end. My shorts and socks were soaked all the way through. Gets hot and humid in the closed garage.

I did a real slow 5:00 on the Air Dyne to cool down since it had started raining outside. Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Narrow Grip

My left calf is still sore, I have some tightness in my low back and neck, and traps are definitely sore. Went out to the garage around 9:30.

30:00 Air Dyne (AD2) @ Z1

Went 11.52 km, keeping RPM between 45 and 50. After doing a little reading on zone 1 training, I’d been going a little hard previously.

Headed to workout with Kevin at 3:30. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation and then we did a little yoga to loosen up.

OHS

  • 5×45#
  • 3×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 3x60kg
  • 1x70kg
  • 1x80kg
  • 1x85kg
  • 1x90kg
  • 1x95kg
  • Fx100kg (PR attempt)
  • 5x2x60kg (narrow with pinkies on mark)

I don’t think I’ve done a heavy OHS in 2014. Could tell working up too. Made 95kg, which I’ll call 210# with the collars on. Just five pounds below my old PR, so I’ll take it for the day. I didn’t try the PR again because I could tell my low back wasn’t having it. Still tight. We dropped down and I figured I’d try them with a narrower grip. Not too bad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qhLVH7TUS0

Gymnastics

EMOM 10:00

  • 6 C2B Pull-ups

Up from 5 last week. Kept losing the kip after the 4th rep again, but tried a few things that helped it here and there. Still needs work.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

  • 10 Weighted Pistols (26# KB)
  • 20 American KBS (53#)

Pistols were tough. Mostly broke them up into 6-4. I should have stuck to the 18# since today was the first time I’ve ever tried a weighted pistol. Did all of the KBS unbroken and finished in 10:30. After picking myself up off the ground I walked about 200m. Got home and put in a little more work.

30-20-10

  • Push-up
  • GHD Sit-up

Took me 4:41. Push-ups help up surprisingly well. The GHDs got horrible though.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap to call it a weekend.

All Push

Massage was great yesterday. Definitely needed one. The outside of my left calf is sore! Headed out to the garage around 8:30 this morning.

Warm-up

  • 500m Ski Erg

Went at about 70%, in 2:25.

SkiErg Intervals

3 Rounds

  • 6 Rounds
    • 30s @ 100%
    • 30s Rest
  • 3:00 Rest (total, don’t rest the 30s extra after the 6th)
  • Round 1 meters: 134-137-135-134-132-134
  • Round 2 meters: 140-138-135-134-135-133
  • Round 3 meters: 137-136-135-135-132-133

Damn! That was a battle. Just enough rest to let you go hard again. I picked up some extra technique stuff from an old video on the CrossFit Journal showing to go up on the toes during the recovery phase, which gives your body more room to drop. Seemed to work and I’m getting more comfortable with the rhythm of the machine. Was holding 1:45-1:50 once I got the flywheel going on each interval.

Walked 0.45 miles around the block for a cool down.

Went over to CFi around 11. I did Crossover Symmetry Activation to get started. Then started warming up with shoulder presses and seated box jumps for the XWOD. Did 10×45#, 6×95#, and 6×115# shoulder presses. Also 2×24″, 2×32″, 2×35.5″, 1×38″, and 1×42″ seated box jumps.

2014-08-10-seated-box-jumpXWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Shoulder Press (120#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Seated Box Jumps
    • 2s: 42″
    • 1s: 45.5″

 

Weightlifting

E90S 15:00 (10 sets)

  • 2 Squat Cleans

I went 165-175-185-195-205-215-220-225-235-245. Reps were TnG through 195# and then I dropped the bar between reps. Was thinking to go up by 5# at a time after 215# but after 2 little jumps, I went for broke with two 10# jumps to finish. My max clean is 260# so that felt pretty good to hit 245# for a double at the end of that work.

Conditioning

21-11

  • Handstand Push-ups
  • Ring Dips
  • Push-ups

The plan started out as doing “J.T.” but after the round of 21 we made an executive decision to adjust. Everything was pretty much down to singles by that point and we wanted to be able to use our arms at the Adventure Park tonight. My time was 9:52.

Midline

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Grabbed some sushi after.

2014-08-09-sushi

Setting a Baseline

We didn’t get to do the Adventure Park in the trees yesterday because there was thunder in the area. Knees are feeling the squatting from cleans yesterday but already better than they felt last night. Headed over to CFi at noon. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

“Baseline”

  • 500m Row
  • 40 Air Squats
  • 30 Sit-ups
  • 20 Push-ups
  • 10 Pull-ups

I’ve always wanted to try this. Did the row in about 1:50 or slightly under and then unbroken on all of the movements to finish in 4:33. I need to work on faster air squats.

EMOM 10:00

  • 5 C2B Pull-ups

Had originally planned muscle-ups, but don’t work the chest to bar pull-ups enough. Did each round unbroken.

Snatch

  • 45# Position Work
  • 3×75# Muscle Snatch + OHS
  • 3×95# Power Snatch + OHS
  • 3×115# Snatch
  • 2×130# Snatch
  • E30S 10:00
    • 145# Power Snatch
    • 145# OHS

The every 30 second complex at the end got bad pretty early. After 4 I wanted to shorten it in half. Wouldn’t let myself though and made it all the way through. A lot of work on the wrists!

20:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Strict Ring Dips
  • 6 Deadlifts (135#)
  • 9 Weighted Step-ups/downs (40# sandbag)
  • 12 Russian KBS (53#)
  • 50m Sled Drag (25m down and back, 38# sled + 135#)

Wanted a longer workout where I could just keep moving. I wasn’t rushing anything, but kept everything unbroken. Finished 7 rounds plus 3 dips and 6 deadlifts. Walked about 400m after.

8 Rounds

  • 15s Hollow Rocks
  • 15s Rest

Managed to get 14-13-13-14-13-13-13-14 on the reps.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap (blue/purple).

At night I did DDP YRG Below the Belt.

Chilly

Got up to Long Lake yesterday for a week with the family. The only thing I did all day was:

MAX Reps Push-ups – 52

Beats the 42 I did two years ago, which surprised me!

This morning I got up and went for a run:

  • 5:00 Warm-up
  • 14x
    • 0:15 @ 85-90%
    • 1:45 slow
  • Cool down until 4 miles total
  • Walk about 0.5 miles

2014-07-27-run

5×100 Band pulls (red)

8 Rounds (Reverse Tabata)

  • 10s Push-ups
  • 20s Rest

Scored 10-10-10-10-10-8-7-7 for a total of 72. Need to be able to do all 10s.

Plus One Muscle-up

My hamstrings are spicy! Thrusters always seem to get me. Headed over to Bay City Survival Fitness at 1pm and started with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Snatches

  • 45# Positions
  • 3×75#
  • 3×95#
  • 2×115#
  • 2×135#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • 2x1x175#
  • 1-F-1 x185#

Was only planning on 4 singles with 175, but the first two felt good so I went for 185. I’ll take 2/3 over 90%.

E2M 10:00

  • 4 MU

Four unbroken is a new PR and I did it 5 times!

A few hours later I headed out to the garage. Hit the CS Activation again to prep my shoulders for 200 reps.

“Angie”

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

I hadn’t done this benchmark in over 2 years and I can always use the bodyweight work. It sucked, but I managed a 59 second PR with a time of 22:42 at a bodyweight 17 pounds heavier. Started out doing 5 pull-ups at a time and resting 10 seconds, but couldn’t keep that up and had to switch to alternating between 3s and 2s. Got through the pull-ups in about 8 and a half minutes. Push-ups pretty much went the same way except I wasn’t looking at the clock for pacing early on. I think it took me about 7 minutes (give or take) to knock out the push-ups. Sit-ups were slow, but didn’t stop. The air squats were so much harder than I was expecting. Every time I tried to speed up and knock out some fast ones I got a horrible burn in my quads. Even at the end, in the last 10 reps, I couldn’t speed through them. So nasty!

I hope Kevin doesn’t program anything pull-up related after 59 C2B, 20 muscle-ups, and 100 pull-ups this weekend.

Took about 10 minutes to catch my breath then got on the Air Dyne (AD2) for 15:00 at about 55%. Got 220 calories. Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometrics.

Mini Cindy

Still feeling the effects of “Annie” on my core. Have been getting solid sleep lately and starting eating clean last Friday. Dropped 6 pounds already, down to 194#. I’d love to get back to under 190, which is golden for my conditioning.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Dynamic Toe Touches
  • 5 Inch Worms to Cobra
  • Zombie Kicks
  • 6×155# Deadlifts
  • 2 Box Jumps (30″)
  • 6×245# Deadlifts
  • 1 Box Jump (36″)

XWOD

  • 6-6-6-6-6-6 Deadlifts (335#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Box Jumps
    • 2s: 36″
    • 1s: 40″

Should have pushed it higher in weight and box height.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 3:00 “Cindy”
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Push-ups
    • 15 Air Squats
  • 1:30 Rest

We started each 3:00 where we left off the last one. I got exactly 4 rounds the first time through, 3 rounds plus 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 8 air squats the next time, and finally 7 air squats, 3 rounds, and 5 pull-ups. Push-ups started to go at the end of the second 3 minutes. They always get me.

We jogged an easy mile right after.

Another afternoon workout in the garage. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

3 Rounds

  • MAX Strict HSPU

I got 7-7-5. According to my records, over 2 years ago I got 10, but I tip the scales 20 pounds heavier these days. Not like I don’t know that overhead pressing is a weakness of mine though.

3 Rounds

  • MAX L-Sit on parallettes

Also a weakness. Not even true l-sits, but my feet were off the ground. I managed 14-21-15 seconds.

2,000m SkiErg

The fun part! First time trying long distance for time. From some rough comparisons with rowing I figured a pace of 2:10/500m would be a good place to start. That went out the window 5 seconds in after a 2:06-ish felt pretty good. I finished in 8:26.2 with 500m splits of 2:07.1, 2:07.0, 2:07.4, and 2:04.7 with a stroke rate of 35 for each split, so very consistent. I picked up the pace in the last 150m, which seemed like it should have gotten me more than a few seconds! Something to shoot for next time I guess.

4 Rounds

  • 30s Hollow Hold on hands/feet
  • 30s Rest

Wow! These were a bitch after the other stuff. They seemed pretty easy when I did them at SF before.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.