Romanian Deadlift – Page 4 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

From Your Knees

Felt a little tight when I woke up this morning. Went to the 9am class and I’m off work for the day to attend a wedding near Detroit.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
2 Sets
- 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
- 15 Reverse Hypers (210#)
3 Sets
- Banded shoulder stretch
- 15s OHS Hold (45#)
- 5 Burpees
2 Kneeling Jumps (4″)
6 RDLs (45#)
2 Kneeling Jumps (8″)
6 RDLs (155#)

Went closer with my grip on each OHS hold.

XWOD

E2M

6-6-6-6-6-6 RDL (225#)
2-1-2-1-2-1 Kneeling Box Jump (2 x 12″ & 1 x 13.75″)

Been far too long since we did some of this stuff. Was nervous with the jumps but made them all. Double overhand grip is a lot tougher with that extra 40# on the bar. Tried one set with a hook grip, which sucked.

Conditioning

E5M – 5 Rounds

200m Run
10 OHS (95#)
20 GHD Sit-ups

Fast runs since there was plenty of time to recover. Was taking about 45 seconds each time to get into the gym and run across to where my bar was. Snatched into the first rep each round. First few rounds were done in about 2:15, but was closer to 2:40 in the final round because the GHDs got slow. I came up with this last night and it worked pretty well. Nice to do some faster runs.

Accessory

3 Sets

12/12 Kroc Rows (53#)

Not enough time in class, but Ashley was staying after to do these, so I did too. Otherwise I probably would have skipped out on them even though I really need them.

Heading to Regionals

My ass is sore from the split squats and the air squats probably contributed too.

Warm-up

3 Sets
- 30s Jump Rope
- 10 Zombie Kicks
- 5 Scap Pull-ups
10 RDL (45#)
10 RDL (135#)

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

12 RDL (185#, standing on 55# competition plates)
8 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

My grip was starting to fail but I held on for every rep of every set. Have been doing them all with a double overhand to get in the extra grip work. Makes it extra hard when I add in the bonus sit-ups like this, but I had to get in my reps for the week with no other time left to do them.

And that’s a wrap on big strength sets! I enjoyed the lighter loads, but they got pretty nasty these final two weeks. I think we are going to do a little transition next week with our strength work due to Memorial Day and Murph being tough, but then we’ll start putting some weight back on the bar in our next cycle. Looking forward to some smaller sets and heavier weights!

Conditioning

20:00 AMRAP

5 Back Squats (115#, no rack)
10 Push-ups
15 Box Jumps (24″)

We hadn’t done much longer stuff in a couple of weeks so we changed the workout from what we had planned. It was a good grind. Kept moving, did all push-ups unbroken, and did all box jumps with step downs. Was able to pick up the pace in the last 3 minutes and finished with 11 rounds plus the 5 squats and 4 push-ups.

I’ll get in a little ROMWOD action before leaving town this afternoon. Heading to Columbus to watch the Central Regional! Then back Sunday evening in time for Memorial Day “Murph” on Monday.

“Cindy” Cycles

Walked 18 holes yesterday and did a long ROMWOD. I think I was feeling those Bulgarian Split Squats in my legs and hips.

Out in the garage today before lunch to get in some work I missed yesterday at the gym.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
3 Sets
- 1:00 Air Dyne
- 10 OHS (45#, close grip)

Amazing how much easier those close grip overhead squats get after the initial set. My shoulders really open up.

Conditioning

6 Cycles

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

6-cindy-3min-cycles Each cycle starts fresh with the pull-ups.

Still no butterfly pull-ups for me so all regular kips. All go in the first 3 minutes with quick squat cycling. Squats slowed a bit in cycle 2, and then push-ups also started to slow mid 3rd cycle. Scores were 4+5, 4+1, 3+26, 3+17, 3+15, and 3+15. Comes to a total of 126 pull-ups, 240 push-ups, and 313 squats. #volume

I got a little blood blister on my left hand near the crease of the pinky and it popped. Didn’t even noticed until a rest period when I felt blood dripping down my fingers. Was no issue continuing since it wasn’t a rip and wasn’t going to get any worse; just meant I kept leaving blood on the bar. Whoops!

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

11 RDL (185#, standing on 55# competition plates)

My back was feeling pretty tight after these so decided to skip the GHD work I had planned. I’ll get in some midline tomorrow. That was enough reps for one day anyway!

ROMWOD tonight.

A Half Cindy

My outer pecs and lats are definitely sore from the last couple of days. Might as well hit them again with a half Cindy! Got in a little early before the 9am class for my prehab/rehab stuff.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
2 Sets
- 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
- 10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
3 Sets
- 10 Rapid Toe Touches
- 20 Hollow Rocks
- 50s Bottom Squat Hold
RDL
- 10×45#
- 10×135#

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

10 RDL (185#)
8 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

I did my Romanian deadlifts while standing on 55# competition plates today since I’ve been getting to the ground with a lot of my reps lately. Actually even got to the ground on some in the late rounds. By adding in these GHDs I really work up a sweat and the work rest ends up being pretty much exactly 1:1.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP of “Cindy”
- 5 Pull-ups
- 10 Push-ups
- 15 Air Squats
1 Mile Run

My body didn’t know what the hell it was doing on the bar. A lot of the reps were some type of hybrid between a shortened regular kip and a butterfly, or maybe even a little bit of a strict pull-up at times too. Push-ups started to slow around round 8. Air squats were surprisingly pretty good and didn’t slow down too much that I noticed. Even had enough to speed up in the 11th and 12th round. I ended up with 11 full rounds, the pull-ups, push-ups, and 4 of the squats.

No extra rest so I took off running when the clock went off. The first half mile was rough but then I settled in and felt much better on the way back. Took exactly 9:00 according to Garmin, but the import into RunKeeper has a decreased distance and time for some reason. I don’t believe the HR data though, which says I averaged only 112 bpm. Maybe because I was already so sweaty from the half Cindy it was having a hard time reading my wrist.

My best full Cindy is 22+5, so probably would have been close to that with 10 more minutes. I’m sure the last 2 days of upper body volume is part of why push-ups started to slow so early. Hopefully can build up some more endurance there over the next couple weeks.

Forced myself to get in Crossover Symmetry Plyo before I left the gym.

Went out to the garage before dinner and jumped on the Air Dyne for 30 minutes, going 9.25 miles. Just a recovery type page. My heart rate was pretty stable right around 100 bpm the entire time.

I’ll do ROMWOD tonight and it’ll mark exactly a month straight without missing a day. Really enjoying it and seeing solid results.

Lift Like A Woman

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf for the first time this year. The app I use to track my game said it was about 6.25 miles. My back likes to act up sometimes on the course, probably from all of the twisting and how hard I swing. I did a ROMWOD before heading to bed.

This morning I was planning to do some light snatches every 30 seconds to get in reps. Then they announced a couple of Regional workouts and the snatch ladder looked fun, but at the women’s weights!

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
2 Sets
- 5s of StrongFit Tricep & Bicep Openers (10#)
- 10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
Snatch
- 3×45#
- 3×95#
- 3×115#

Weightlifting Conditioning

2016 Regional Event #1 (women’s weights)

Squat Snatch

10×135# by 2:00
8×145# by 4:00
6×155# by 6:00
4×165# by 8:00
2×175# by 11:00

With the one miss at 165# it took me 9:11. I was taking my sweet ole time changing the weights because I needed the breather. I had about 30 seconds to spare after the first 3 weights, but the miss set me back on the 4th. I was happy to finish and make all of the time splits. Can’t wait to see a bunch of fit women destroy this!

Here is Rich doing the workout in 6:09. Looks so easy.

Needless to say, I skipped the class warm-up and tried to catch my breath.

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

9 RDL (185#)
8 GHD Sit-ups (20#)

Was feeling tired from the snatches, so I only did 8 reps on the GHD. Warmed up with 9×45# and 6×135# I think. I’m getting low on the RDLs right away now with my hamstring flexibility improvements. Maybe need to start standing on plate.

Gymnastics

8:00 EMOM

7 Ring Rows (feet elevated)

Conditioining

2 Mile Run

Knew it wasn’t going to be anywhere near my PR time, but I felt much better than I have during the slow 3 mile runs I’ve been doing. I wouldn’t call it anything near a 100% effort either. Took me 17:07 with mile splits of 8:43 & 8:24. My average heart rate was 156 compared to sub-130 on my slow runs. Just gotta keep running and it’ll improve.

I’ll do some ROMWOD tonight.

Hammies are Stretching

Knocked out a ROMWOD during the day. After watching the StrongFit video and trying his test yesterday, found out that my left arm doesn’t reach back nearly as far as my right. Guess which shoulder has issues? Been waiting for him to release his bicep openers which are supposed to help address this problem, so I decided to make an educated guess at the what they are (based on the test and the tricep openers). So at least it’s something to do and try to solve the issue until the official video comes out. I could definitely feel the tightness in positions so hope I’m in the ballpark. Went to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
3 Sets
- 10 PVC Pass-thrus
- 20 Push-ups
- 10 Band Pull-aparts (green)

Strength

E2M – 6 Sets

8 RDL (185#)
10 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (20#)

I’m getting to the ground earlier in my reps each week. I think it’s due to the combination of this being the 4th week of RDLs as well as doing ROMWOD each day. Excited to see how much I can improve those hamstrings because they have always been really tight.

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

9 Toes to Rings
6 Burpees OTB
3 Power Snatches (115#)

Switched it up by using the rings today instead of the bar. It’s much different. My hips don’t die and I use the swing a lot more, compared to the bicycle type kip I use on the bar. So I was able to go unbroken the entire way. All snatches were touch-n-go as well. Finished 9 rounds exactly.

Gymnastics

Did a max handstand hold facing the wall, but my shoulder was not feeling very good so I came down at 1:45 and didn’t do the other 2 sets. I put in something else for fun…

4 Sets

30s Overhead Hold (Bamboo bar with 2×26# & 2×18# KBs)

Minty

My outer pecs are sore, but I started feeling it yesterday morning so maybe it was from the front rack carry on Sunday. In for 9am again.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
3 Sets
- 10 Goblet Squats (44#)
- 15 Hollow Rocks
- 150m Row

I actually got on the Air Dyne for 2 of the sets and went about 30-35 seconds.

Strength & Gymnastics

E2M – 5 Sets

9 RDL (165#)
30s HS Hold

Did a little extra credit by adding the handstand holds.

5:00 EMOM

8 Ring Rows (feet elevated)

Shoulder still doesn’t like strict pull-ups so I went with the ring rows. Not easy.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

200m Run
15 American Kettlebell Swings (53#)
10 Ring Dips

I always start out running too fast and then slow down a ton. Swings were no issue going unbroken. Haven’t done ring dips in a long time, which were the limiter (along with the run) in this workout. Started 5-5 for 2 sets, then 5-3-2, then 2 sets of 4-3-3, and maybe 6-4 on the last set. Finished in 13:58.

Did Crossover Symmetry Recovery before leaving the gym and will hit some ROMWOD tonight.

In the evening I decided to hit a max set of unbroken push-ups since Kill Cliff is doing a fundraiser and donating 10¢ per rep to the Navy Seal Foundation.

I could feel the ring dips from this morning in my shoulders right away. Managed to knock out 55 reps before stopping, only 5 shy of my best.

Grinding 20

Went in for the 4:30 class. Did 2 sets of my own warm-up first.

Warm-up

2 Sets
- Tricep Openers (10#)
- 20 Shoulder Taps
Bar Hang/Stretching
3 Sets
- 10 PVC Pass-thrus
- 20 Push-ups
- 10 Band Pull-aparts (green)
- 20 Mountain Climbers
Romanian Deadlift
- 8×45#
- 8×135#

Unbroken push-ups each round.

Strength

E2M – 5 Sets

8 RDL (165#)

Conditioning

20:00 AMRAP

50 DU
40 Russian KBS (70#)
30 Ball Slams (25#)
20 Burpees
10 Goblet Squats (70#)

Grinder. I did 3 rounds plus the dubs and 4 kettlebell swings. I did the first round of dubs unbroken, then 3-47, and a lot of misses in the next 2 sets. Swings were 24-16 for 2 rounds and then 26-14. Ball slams were 18-12 for 2 rounds and then unbroken in round 3. Tried to keep a slow and steady pace on the burpees. Unbroken on the goblets each time. First round was done in about 5:20, so slowed considerably after that.

Baby It

Yesterday I started doing all kinds of hip impingement corrective exercises and banded distractions. Seems to be helping. Hamstrings and quads are still pretty damn sore, so I’m hoping it’s just something minor causing the hip pain. One more day in the garage so I don’t aggravate the hip.

Warm-up

3:00 Ski Erg (645m)
Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bench Press
- 5×45#
- 5×95
- 5×135

Strength & Accessory

E3M – 5 Sets

10 Bench Press (165#)
10/10 Curls (alternating, 20# DB)

Wouldn’t have wanted to go any heavier on the bench.

E3M – 5 Sets

10 Romanian Deadlift (135#)
10 Pullovers (50# DB)

Can go heavier on the RDLs.

Conditioning – Ski Erg

4x
- 20s Sprint
- 2:40 Rest
5:00 Active Rest (after the last 2:40)
4x
- 20s Sprint
- 2:40 Rest

I got this Anaerobic Alactic Endurance workout from an OPEX template. Took me a few rounds to find a rhythm on the Skier, especially trying to get the pace up as fast as possible. In the first 4 rounds I thought it was too easy, but by the last two it was starting to get harder to hold pace and take longer to recover. I walked around the garage during the active rest period. My meters were 107-111-114-114 and 115-116-115-114. Briefly got down to 1:20/500m a couple of times.

Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

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.