Tag: row

Back From Miami

Was busy with the wedding all day Saturday and then was hungover and traveled home yesterday. So I only had the hour long run since Wednesday and wasn’t sure how I’d feel today. Took a nap after lunch and went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Assault Bike (22 cals)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • 10 Good Mornings
    • 10 Air Squats
    • 5 HR Push-ups
  • 5 Power Snatches (45#)

Weightlifting / Conditioning

E2M – 8 Rounds

  • 200m Row
  • 2 Power Snatches

Rowed at a 1:35/500m average through each round and went 75, 95, 115, 125, 135, 145, 155, and 165# with all touch-n-go reps.

Conditioning

  • 50-40-30-20-10 DB Hang Power Snatch (50#, alt)
  • 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 50 Double Unders

The Rx was regular dumbbell snatches from the floor, but I wasn’t about to do 150 of those and blow up my back. They were hard enough from the hang. The weight on the wall balls was 30#, but the normal weight is just fine, with no rest for the shoulders in this workout. I went 20-15-15, 20-20, 15-15, 20, and 10 on the snatches. I missed a double under in 2 or 3 rounds. Finished just under the time cap at 14:59.

Max Chins

Last night my legs were really tired from the squats. Woke up with my upper body being sore again. Out in the garage before lunch.

Year of the Engine – Time Trial

20:00 Airdyne

Started fast for a minute, settled in to 80 RPM, and picked up the pace over the last four minutes. I could average a quicker pace through this whole thing next time. Did 685 cals and 12.99 km, which is 0.05 km better than last month.

Went to the gym at 4pm

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Echo Bike (25 cals)
  • 3 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • 10 Good Mornings (45#)
    • 5 Ring Rows
    • 10 Air Squats

Strength

5 Sets

  • MAX Strict Chin-ups
  • 10 DB Bench Press (60#)
  • 2:00 Rest

Was planning to do this work before or after class to keep the gains going until I can bench again next week. Decided to do it in place of the 3RM snatch that was programmed. Again, not risking getting hurt before I leave for the wedding in the morning. I got 16-10-8-8-8 for the chin-ups.

Conditioning

  • 60 cal Row
  • 30 T2B
  • 20 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 10 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 5 Muscle-ups
  • 10 Deadlifts
  • 20 Wall Balls
  • 30 T2B
  • 60 cal Row

I did 10×45# and 5×135# deadlift to warm-up. The workout was 40 calories on the bike, but I did enough of that today, so subbed in the 60 calorie rows. I scaled the deadlifts back from 225# to be cautious. First T2B were done in 3×10, wall balls were 2×10 both times because I was weak sauce after all of those squats yesterday and I needed some air. I did 2×5 on both sets of deadlifts, unbroken muscles, and 6×5 on the second 30 T2B. Finished in 16:16, I think, but it may have been in the 16:40s.

Not the Chief

Yesterday was a rest day, except for shoveling the driveway twice. Way too fucking early for this much snow! My shoulders, and in general my upper body, still feel smoked. I stepped on the scale this morning for the first time in awhile and was at 202 pounds. Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

40:00 Airdyne
** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36

The last time I did one of these engine workouts was last Wednesday! Accidentally sprinted at 28:00 instead of 30, so also brought up the final one from 36 to 34. Got 1,092 calories and 23.22 km. Before this, 20.54 km is the most I’d done for 40 minutes.

Went to the gym for the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Dead Hang
  • 3 Sets
    • 15 Reverse Hyper (50#)
    • Hip Stretch
  • 2:00 Row (530m)
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 PVC Passes
    • World’s Greatest Stretch
    • 10 Air Squats
    • Front Rack Stretch

Strength

5 Sets

  • 5/5 Single Arm Front Rack KB Squat (35-44-53-53-53#)
  • 10/10 Single Leg Glute Bridges

I did these instead of tempo back squats and barbell hip thrusts. Trying not to get hurt before I head to Miami for a wedding.

Conditioning

“Hanging Chief” – 5 Cycles

  • 3:00 AMRAP
    • 3 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
    • 6 Push-ups
    • 9 Air Squats
  • 1:00 Rest

**Restart each cycle from the beginning of the AMRAP

When the gym workout said it was a climbing version of “The Chief” benchmark, I didn’t even look back to verify the movements were correct and it turns out the power cleans are supposed to be from the floor. Last time I did it, I got 5+3 or 5+2 every round. Turns out that’s a power clean from the floor though, not the hang and explains why I was so much faster today. I went out hot and was done with 2 rounds in about 45 seconds! Was worried I made a horrible mistake getting 6+9 in that first cycle. In my head I was comparing to the real version with cleans from the floor, which are slower! My pace did fall off some due to the squats and me being worried I’d crash and burn, but I was able to make a come back when I knew I could get through the last two cycles. Final scores were 6+9, 6+3, 5+14, 6, and 6+6. Total of 99 hang cleans, 189 push-ups, and 266 squats!

All Strict

Another shitty Friday night of sleep. I’m glad the Open is over! I was out of bed around 6:30 and my body actually felt pretty good, so I decided to go to the 9am class. I miss the partner workouts and today seemed like a manageable amount of barbell reps. My shoulders and upper back were feeling a little tight in the morning.

Warm-up

  • Stretching
  • PVC Passes
  • 2:00 Echo Bike (20 cals)
  • 10 Power Clean (45#)
  • 5 Power Clean (95#)

Conditioning

Partner Workout

  • 5 Rounds
    • 10 Power Cleans (135#)
    • 20 Burpees Over The Bar
    • 30 cal Row
  • Rest, then start at 20:00
  • 5 Rounds
    • 10 Deadlifts (225#)
    • 20 HSPU (strict for me)
    • 30 cal Row

I paired up with Tom and we split the reps down the middle, which worked well. I pretty much did muscle cleans every round. We finished the first part at exactly 14:00 and the second part took us 12:43. I was able to do all five sets of 10 handstand push-ups strict, unbroken, and fast!

My legs felt pretty heavy after sitting around to recover. I took a 45 minute nap after lunch.

Strength

Since Kevin is heading to Florida tomorrow for his wedding week and I wouldn’t want to skip a whole week, we benched in the afternoon. Gotta keep the momentum going. After the workouts last night and this morning, I wasn’t sure I’d have much in the tank. My upper back was starting to feel pretty sore by this time.

Bench Press

  • 2x6x45#
  • 6×135
  • 4×185
  • 2×215
  • 2x4x245
  • 2x4x250
  • 2x2x265

The program called for 4×4 @ 240-245 pounds. In the last cycle I did 4x4x240. I was surprised how well this went, even getting a new 4RM with the 250# sets. Added the doubles for extra volume and since I won’t bench heavy again until at least next Monday.

20.5

On Wednesday night my hands were aching from gripping that damn Zeus rope! Rest day yesterday. At the gym for 4pm, but I didn’t end up going until 5:20.

Warm-up

Not the greatest warm-up to be honest. I didn’t end up going until the 4th heat, so any of the warming up I had done was out the window by then. 🤷🏻‍♂️

CrossFit Games Open Workout 20.5

Partition the reps and movements any way you want – 20:00 time cap

  • 40 Muscle-ups
  • 80 cal Row
  • 120 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

So easy to overthink this workout, which I was doing all night and morning. I had about five different plans before I finally decided on:

  • 2 rounds of 4 MU + 12 WB
  • 8 rounds of 2-2 MU + 12 WB
  • 80 calories

Rowing is my strength so it seemed like a good idea to save it for when I was tired. It also eliminates all of the transitions in and out of the rower. This strategy had similarities with how I did the 150 WB + 75 T2B workout last month. That workout took me 10:52, so with the lower reps and higher skilled MU, I’d be thrilled heading to the rower anywhere close to that time.

At the gym I decided I’d only do 4 unbroken muscle-ups for the first round. I ended up doing 4 MU + 12 WB and then 4 rounds of 2-2 MU + 12 WB. Was at 5:50 there and dying, so I jumped on the rower for 10 cals because I needed rest! Then 2-2-12-10. Then 3 rounds of 2-12-2-10 and a 2-12-2 before finishing on the rower. The muscle-ups were much easier after the rower compared to after the wall balls. I was having a hard time pulling 1,000 cal/hr through those first 50 calories, which is never a hard pace for me. I was able to pick up the pace to get the final 30 calories done in about 90 seconds. Time of 18:57. I went to a dark place in the last couple of minutes on that one and it took a long time to get up off the ground. My mid-back was pretty tight almost immediately after.

If I ever do this workout again (no redo) I think I’ll try 8 rounds of 3-15-2-10 which was my original plan last night. Casey used it and finished in 17:17. Or 2 rounds of 2-2-12 while fresh and then 8 rounds of 2-12-2-10 might work well. Or 4-4 Muscle-ups and then 8 Rounds of 2-15-2-10 with the idea being to get 10 muscle-ups knockout out while fresh. I think I was placing too much emphasis on the rower, which isn’t going to “win” this workout and can be used as recovery while still accumulating reps.

I’m going to keep coming back and updating this post with other good strategy ideas that could work for me.

  • 4-4 MU, 12x 10 WB + 2 MU, 4x 15 cal + 2 MU, 20 cal
  • 4-4 MU, 8x 2 MU + 10 WB + 2 MU + 10 cal, 40 WB

  • 4 Cycles of 5x 2MU + 6 WB, then 20 cal

 

Dead Rower

Went out to the garage to row during lunch and my rower wasn’t working again. Hopefully it’s just the cable. Concept 2 sells the entire cable and sensor assembly, so I ordered a new one for less than $30 after shipping and tax. I went to the gym early before class to get this in.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

12 Rounds

  • 45s Row
  • 1:15 Rest

I set the drag factor to 120 on the rower. Four months ago I averaged a 1:34.9 pace for this workout. Today I wondered how long I could hold a 1:33/500m pace and it turns out the entire workout! After three intervals I actually thought about speeding up, but figured I’d wait a few more rounds. A couple later I was happy with that decision because I was starting to struggle. Got 242 meters every round for 59 total meters more than the last time.

2019-10-23-row

Maybe I need to start being more aggressive with the paces I pick. If you look back, my s/m were all 32 and higher the last time. Maybe something to do with the lower drag factor or the little bit of squatting I’ve been doing is getting my leg strength back.

According to WHOOP, my average heart rate for this workout was 6 lower than last time, even though my highest HR during the workout was the same both times. I’m able to recover so much better now.

Accessory

5 Rounds

  • 10 Ring Rows
  • 20 HR Push-ups

Before I knew I was going in to row I planned to do this after class. Since my body was warmed up I moved this up and skipped the class warm-up. I did all 5s for both movements, though the push-up sets got really slow with some pausing. Finished in 7:22. Pump city!

Weightlifting

Power Snatch

  • 5×45#
  • 5×75
  • 5×95
  • 10:00 EMOM
    • 3×115

I did all singles. I was trying to work on my early arm bend and dropping under the bar. I could feel my back a little bit. This was supposed to lead right into a 10:00 EMOM of power cleans. I had 165# on the bar, did my first rep, and my back did not feel good when I caught it. I did the other two reps which didn’t feel any better, stripped my bar, and skipped the other nine minutes.

Conditioning

21-15-9

  • DB Push Presses (50# DBs)
  • Jump Over Box (24#)

The workout was deadlifts and tall box jumps, but I wanted something easier on my back so I came up with this. I was surprised to get every round of push presses unbroken, with the second half of the 15 and 9 being fights. Clearing the box is so much more demanding than regular box jumps, but I kept moving on them. Finished in 4:37.

I hope my back recovers for 20.3 on Friday or Castro doesn’t give us a heavy barbell this week.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-T1oWJLvEkXJM6unXrTFa40P8sEgwRI3o-qc0/

Rocket Bike

My legs have gotten pretty sore from the wall balls and probably some from the squats yesterday as well. With rowing in today’s workout at the gym I thought I’d switch things up and do intervals on the bike. Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

18 Rounds

  • 45s Airdyne
  • 45s Rest

Was doing around 90 RPM through the first 9 or 10 rounds and then started to pick it up and was doing 95-97 by the end. Total of 652 calories and 9.77 km.

Loaded up my GHD in the truck, hauled it across town, and unloaded it for a friend who bought it. It’s nice to get more space back in the garage. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

  • 3 Sets
    • 15 Reverse Hypers (50#)
  • 2:00 Echo Bike (22 cals)
  • 3 Rounds
    • 8 PVC Good Mornings
    • 5 Ring Rows
    • World’s Greatest Stretch
    • 10 PVC Passes
  • Deadlift
    • 10×45#
    • 5×135
    • 5×185
    • 5×225

Conditioning

E4M – 5 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 5 Deadlifts (245#)

I belted up for the deadlifts to be safe and used a neutral grip for every set. Going in my plan was to row around a 1:43 pace, but I was feeling good. I did 1:41.5, 1:41.5, 1:41.0, 1:40.0, and 1:37.5. Didn’t really screw around getting to the bar and wasting time before lifting either. I’m loving how well I’m able to recover now in a workout with rest like this.

Since the rower felt great, I checked the drag factor afterwards and it was at 114, so maybe I should lower mine even more at home.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Plank
  • 20 Russian Twists (30# MB)
  • 10 Barbell Sit-Ups (45#)
  • 1:00 Rest

This took around 2:05-2:10 per round.

Technology Troubles

I’m a little sore from 20.1. Suprisingly, the worst of it is in my glutes. I woke up with the decision not to redo it. At the end of the day my score doesn’t matter for anything. One. And. Done. I’m already feeling good about it. 🙂 I was out in the garage around 10:30am for rowing intervals, but the computer wasn’t working so I had to pull a switcheroo.

Year of the Engine – Polarized

34:00 Airdyne
** Endurance pace with 7s sprint @ 6, 12, 18, 24, 30

After the third sprint I pulled a wheelie to scootch the front of the bike over and the computer fucking reset! During some of the sprints the front of the bike tends to drift over towards my treadmill and I didn’t want to end up with the handles getting too close. I took the numbers from 16 minutes to estimate totals of 1,015 calories and 20.5 km.

As I was sitting down and updating notes, I accidentally deleted my entire Workouts note, where I plan about a week ahead and have a lot of workout ideas saved. Undo on iOS didn’t work and there is no revision history in Bear. Fuck! I checked both laptops and they’d already synced across the updated empty note. The best I could do was restore an old copy, which had the majority of what I need. I should stay away from computers the rest of the weekend.

During the day I cut up a dead tree that fell two weeks ago and hauled the wood over to a friend’s house. There were some pretty good weighted carries hauling logs to the truck! I got to the gym just before 6pm to use the rower.

Row Tests

  • 100m
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 100m
  • 2:00 Rest
  • 250m

I got 15.8, 15.6, and 39.7. Only 0.1 seconds shy of matching my PR for 100 meters. I had set the drag factor to 130 to start and then for the second 100 I moved the damper from around 5.5 up to 7. I moved it back down for the 250, which was 1.4 seconds slower than my PR. Not too bad with these weak ass legs.

2019-10-12-row-tests

BTWB’s stupid 6 month history always screws my Fitness Level score, so I’ve been wanting to hit a few of these tests to get it back up to realistic levels. I really hate that they count interval work as a PR attempt, which is using 1:47.3 as my recent best 500m time, only good for a level 18! Come on bro, that’s about the pace I hold when doing 500m repeats in a metcon. The 1k row wasn’t a test effort either.

Photo Oct 12, 2019 at 61127 PM

Anyway, that served as a good warm-up for the short intervals.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

15 Rounds

  • 20s Row
  • 40s Rest

I got 114-116 meters every round. Still had pretty good power left in my legs after the test rows.

 

Since it was a quick workout and I made the drive out, I figured I might as well do some other stuff.

Strength / Gymnastics / Conditioning

  • E2M – 5 Rounds
    • 2 Weighted Pull-ups (30#)
    • 5 Strict Handstand Push-ups
    • 50 Double Unders
  • E2M – 3 Rounds
    • 3 Weighted Pull-ups (30#)
    • 7 Strict Handstand Push-ups
    • 50 Double Unders
  • E2M – 2 Rounds
    • 4 Weighted Pull-ups (30#)
    • 10 Strict Handstand Push-ups
    • 50 Double Unders

The plan was do do 10 rounds of 2-5-50, but it was too easy and I was getting 1:10 of rest each round. Then it was still too easy. Finally it was almost too hard. I missed a double under in round 1, 6, and 7. Then in round 9 after 30+ dubs it was like I’d never done a double under before or the rope was possessed. I missed 4 or 5 times and my rest was down to about 25 seconds! Doing those two sets of 10 strict handstand push-ups was a good challenge. 66 total strict HSPU and I made sure to get an exaggerated lockout on every rep as prep if they come up during the Open again.

Tomorrow I’ll have to see what’s up with my rower’s monitor. I remembered that I can swap with the Ski Erg to see if the problem is with the monitor or somewhere else.

On to the Next Cycle

My legs are fucking sore! Out in the garage during lunch.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

12 Rounds

  • 1:30 Row
  • 1:00 Rest

On August 20th I averaged a 1:45.3 pace for this same workoutand the results were not good on the BTWB leaderboard. I think I should be going much faster for this, so my goal today was 1:40-1:41/500m. I did 1:40.8 for 446 meters every round. That’s a 226 total meter improvement from the last time.

2019-10-09-row

Kevin came over around 4pm.

No B.S. Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 6×115
  • 4×145
  • 4×185
  • 2×215
  • 2×235
  • 2×255
  • 2×260
  • 1×260 (fail 2nd)
  • 1×260
  • 2x1x265

Was supposed to do 4×2 @ 265-275#, but that didn’t happen. With all the struggles lately I’ve completely lost all confidence on the bench. I have a long way to go to get 300 this year. Fresh start with this next cycle, so I’m going to try some other things:

  • Be more conservative with the weights in the program to keep speed through reps and not struggle so much.
  • Lift 2-3 doubles or singles after the working sets each week to get used to heavier weight.
  • Accessories on another day to target chest, back, and triceps.
  • More protein.

Accessory / Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 5 Strict C2B Chin-ups (fat bar)
  • 10 Goblet Squats (50#)
  • 10 Banded Tricep Push Downs (green band with Fat Gripz)
  • 5/5 Single Leg Lateral Step-ups (30”)

I did 3-2 and then all singles with a drop from the top for the chin-ups. Sped up the squats and step-ups over the last 3-4 rounds. Finished in 20:08.

Coastin’

I got a solid night of sleep and am off work today for a weekend trip to Cedar Point. Out in the garage around 10am.

Year of the Engine – Rocket Race

6 Rounds

  • 2:00 Row
  • 3:00 Rest

A month ago I did 8 rounds of 2 on 2 off with a 1:41.9 average, so I was shooting for 1:39-1:40 today with the longer rest and fewer rounds. Hit it right on the money with an average pace of 1:39.5/500m for 602-603 meters every round. Needed one more meter!

2019-10-04-row

I mowed the lawn and ran some errands before heading to Ohio.