Tag: row

Wall Ball Squats

Woke up again! Went to the 9am.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Ring OH Stretch
  • 10 Good Mornings (15#)
  • 10 Back Squats (15#)
  • Calf Stretch
  • 10 OHS (15#)

Strength: Overhead Squats

3-3-X-1 Tempo

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

The closer grips are feeling better and better. Empty bar with a jerk (or even closer grip) is no issue now.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 5x
    • Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
    • Goblet Squat (20#)
  • 15 Russian Kettlebell Swings (70#)
  • 30 Double Unders

The double squat wall balls (not 2-for-1s) were a little confusing. I think I did an extra squat on the 5th “rep” a few times. Kept a pretty steady pace. Missed a few times on dubs. Finished 6 rounds plus the wall ball squats and swings. Picked up the rope but didn’t have time to get any.

Accessory

5 Rounds

  • 10 Decline Push-ups (16″)
  • 6 Ring Rows

All unbroken sets and unbelievably no struggle.

Back to the gym around 6pm

Rowing WOD Week 13 Session 2 – Engine

  • 300 cals at 20s/m
  • 5:00 Rest
  • 200 cals at 22
  • 4:00 Rest
  • 100 cals at 24
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 50 cals for time

Results:

  • 18:40 – 4,616m – 962cal/hr
  • 12:14 – 3,057m – 979cal/hr
  • 5:54 – 1,509m – 1009cal/hr
  • 1:32 – 537m – 1847cal/hr

The distances all include some run off after finishing since there isn’t a way to set a calorie workout on the Concept 2. Total comes to 9,710 meters for the session. In the 50 calorie row I started out holding over 2,000cal/hr through 30 but the burn started to kick in and I was losing power. Not sure why I didn’t think to kick in for a sprint in the last 10 calories or so like I would try to in a distance sprint. Felt pretty smoked after that but would have been a decent 500m time after having spent 36+ minutes on the rower.

9am and the 3 Bears

Actually woke up this morning. Of course in a few days I’ll have to adjust timing by another hour with DST bull shit.

Warm-up

  • 3 Sets
    • 10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
    • 10 Toe Touches
  • Zombie Kicks
  • High Knees
  • Butt Kicks
  • Bar Hang
  • Deadlifts
    • 6×45#
    • 6×155#
    • 6×225#
    • 6×265#

Strength

12:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 6 Deadlifts (295#)
  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups

Turned into cardio read quick! 5 was the perfect number on those pull-ups because I was almost missing my last one each set. I touched the ground between every rep and kept a solid hollow body position.

Conditioning

6 Sets

  • 3 Bear Complex (unbroken)
  • 1:00 Rest

I started with 115# and went up 10# every set. Was pretty smooth and steady through the first 5 sets. When I got to the end I would have had 5# sitting on the sidelines so I slapped them on the bar too for a 20# jump. Shit balls! The thrusters in back and front were a struggle and I had to take a second or two to take a breath in a couple of positions. Got through though. I think it took me just under 7:00 to finish all the sets. Didn’t get much rest time with changing the plates.

6 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 4 Burpees
  • ~1:00 Rest (while someone else did their row)

I didn’t strap in my feet for the first 5 rounds and got 156-160-160-160-162 meters. Strapped in and went hard on the last one and got 176 meters, so a big difference transferring power into the machine. My burpees were pretty slow every round.

30s

Planned to get up and hit the garage in the morning, but that didn’t happen. Got to Intuition at 3:20.

Warm-up

  • 3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • Back Squats – 5×45, 5×155, 5×225
  • Shoulder Press – 5×45, 5×95, 5×115

Strength

10:00 EMOM (alt)

  • 5 Shoulder Press (125#)
  • 5 Back Squats (245#)

Can tell I haven’t been squatting much. That felt much tougher than it even should.

Rowing WOD Week 13 Session 1 – Intervals

Next phase is going to focus on rowing for CrossFit.

Part A: 15 rounds

  • 30s Row (calories)
  • 30s Rest

Strokes/minute Prescription

  • Round 1 – Rate 18
  • Round 2 – Rate 19
  • Round 3 – Rate 20
  • …
  • Round 11 – Rate 28
  • Round 12 – Rate 29
  • Rounds 13-15 – no rate cap, max effort

Screwed up and started out at 19s/m. Figured that out after a few rounds and scaled it back. It was hard to get into a rhythm with the stroke rates in such a short period of time (as you can see from the log). I forgot to keep track of calories, but using the cal/hr (and rounding down) from the log I came up with 9-9-9-10-11-11-11-12-12-12-13-14-16-16-16 for a total of 181. Those numbers seem about right.

Rest 5:00

Part B: Row 25 calories for time

I was hitting over 2,400 cal/hr and even over 2,500 for a brief moment! I don’t ever remember getting 2 cals in a pull and I did it many times. Took me about 0:39.

Hung around for a bit as the 4:30 class got going. Did 5 or 6 sets of ring swings, working on my hollow/arch positions.

The 2k

Today was the big day. Glad I rested yesterday. Still kind of sore in my legs from the 500 double unders and 100 wall balls. Got to the gym around 4:30.

Warm-up

  • 3×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • 4x150m Row (bursts, getting faster each time)

Rowing WOD Week 12 Session 2

This is it! Second phase of the program has been leading up to the big test.

  • 2,000m Row for time

During the first week we set a pacing goal based on a 500m interval workout. I went with what felt like an aggressive 1:41 pace at the time for my goal, knowing that would be a pretty big PR. After doing a 1,500m race pace simulation on October 12th, I felt confident it was possible. I stuck to the race plan that had been laid out for us and came home with an average pace of 1:40.8, a time of 6:43.3, and a PR by 18.6 seconds!

I think the fast start actually hurt me and if I had to do it again I’d dial it back more in that first 200m. When I got past the first 500 meters I was having a hard time generating enough power to stay on the 1:41. 1:42-1:43 was more of the pace I was hitting. At 1,000m I was still averaging under the goal, but it kept creeping up more and more, eventually getting up to about 1:41.3. Luckily that’s when it was time to kick it in gear for the final 300. I was able to reign it back under 1:41. Pretty stoked to make my goal. This rowing program has been awesome and I’m seeing a lot of carryover in my conditioning. Here’s a Beyond the Whiteboard chart showing my 2k rows over time.

Here’s my ranking on Concept2 for men’s 30-39 heavyweight.

concept2-2k-rank

Even though that hurt like hell and my legs are still burning 2 hours later, I’m excited to take a shot at my 1k row time now. Hell, my first 1k of that race was 3:21.1, which is only 10 seconds off my best.

Conditioning / Accessory

After recovering, Bryan and I did this little I Go You Go style workout. We didn’t use a clock but kept moving throughout.

7 Rounds (each)

  • 4 Strict HSPU
  • 7 Goblet Squats (53#)
  • 10 GHD Sit-ups

We said we’d start out shooting for 5 rounds and go from there. Was getting close to failure on the HSPU so went for 2 more rounds. We each went through an entire round and then rested while the other guy did his. Went better than expected, but was a little light-headed after the rowing.

Back in Michigan

Got home yesterday from Park City and planned on going to the 9am class. Didn’t wake up until 8:45 though. Was great to sleep with some humidity after it being so dry in Utah and in my own bed as well. I went in to CrossFit Intuition around noon.

Rowing WOD Week 12 Session 1

  • Part A – 4 rounds
    • 2,000m
    • 5:00 Rest
  • 5:00 Rest
  • Part B – 2 rounds
    • 500m
    • 3:00 Rest

The 2k rows were done at 20-22-20-22 s/m, making the 2nd two faster. Kept up with increasing the rate 1s for every stroke/minute. The 500s were set to be done at the 2k race pace. Since I started them off as the start of the race, the average pace is below my 1:41 goal, but I settled in around 1:40-1:41 after 200 meters or so.

Could definitely tell the difference being back in Michigan with so much more oxygen available. Looking forward to enjoying the effects of the altitude for the next few days or week and excited to test the 2k later this week.

Went back to the gym for the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • 2×8 Reverse Hypers (210#)

Strength: Shoulder Press

  • 8×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 4×125#
  • 2×145#
  • 1×155#
  • 1×165#
  • F – 175#
  • 1×175# (PR match)

That’s a couple times recently where I’ve matched my previous best from last November. I haven’t been consistent on a lot of my strength work though and have put a lot of focus into rowing over the last 12 weeks, so I guess keeping steady should be okay. I also held that last rep overhead for a count of 20.

Conditioning

10:00 AMRAP

  • 7 Deadlifts
  • 7 Power Cleans
  • 7 Push Jerks

I used 115# and set a goal to do unbroken rounds. I then took probably 30-40 seconds of rest after most rounds. After doing that for 6 rounds, I took a shorter rest and did the cleans in singles. Ended up with 7 rounds plus 5 deadlifts. The cleans and jerks started to get hard in those unbroken rounds. Good challenge after not touching weight other than some thrusters last week.

Midline

Weighted Planks (45#, on hands with straight arms)

  • 5 x 45s
  • 1 x 2:00

Went for broke on my last one. I was shaking like crazy. Probably had about 1:00-1:15 rest between attempts alternating with a partner.

Look What I Found!

Headed down to the fitness center this morning and was surprised to see this…

That changed plans and I got excited to knock out the second rowing workout of the week.

 Rowing WOD Week 11 Session 2: Engine

6 Rounds

  • 2,000m
  • 3:00 Rest

Start at 19 s/m and go up by one each interval. When I went to set the damper for the drag factor it was an eye opener. Much different at 7,000 feet. I ended up between 7-8 on the damper for a high 120s. The air is much different up here. Due to that, I dialed back my pace. Total time in the seat was 51:03.8.

Off to Park City

Didn’t sleep great and woke up with a headache. Coached the 9am class and got in some overhead mobility work laying on a medicine ball while holding a bar overhead on the ground. Saw it somewhere on Instagram a couple weeks ago and have done it several times now; works well.

Rowing WOD Week 11 Session 1: 2k Pacing

rowing-wod-w11s1.jpg

  • 1500m (row as first 1500m of 2k)
    • Should be falling right into the 2k pace at about 250m.
  • 15:00 Rest
  • 1000m (as middle of 2k)
    • Hold steady pace.
  • 10:00 Rest
  • 500m
    • Treat the beginning as the start of a 2k with a sprint start and then fall into rhythm.
    • Sprint out final 300m as if it was the end of the 2k.

The goal pace I picked several weeks was 1:41/500m which would give me a really big 2k PR. I wasn’t that far off and now I’m confident I can hold it through 1700m before sprinting to the finish for an even better time. Leaves me excited for the test when I get back from a week in Park City. I’ll probably catch up on session 2 of this week first though and then give myself a couple days between. I’ve continued to set the drag factor to 133 and seem to have hit a groove with it after some adjustment time.

I did organize a trip and “intro” type class at CrossFit Park City again. Last year we had 13 people attend and there are 38 signed up this year! I’ll also be doing some running and hiking during the week. Will be a good week away from the gym after a pretty brutal few days last week.

Wrapped Up

Didn’t sleep worth a shit and woke up with my wrists feeling like they had deep bruises from the velcro straps of the leather grips I wore for the T2B. That went away in the afternoon though and I actually felt pretty good. We got going around 5:30 again.

Warm-up

  • 2×8 Reverse Hyper (160#)
  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Various Clean + a few front squats (45-95-155-185-205-225-235#)

Team Series Event #7 – 20:00

  • 7-rep-max front squat (from the ground)

Having to take it from the ground added a new element. Did a clean and extra squat with 245# to see how it felt. Then knocked out all my reps with 255# and called it a day. Our entire team was done in less than 10 minutes. My back was starting to feel it during those reps and I didn’t want to get hurt with another event and a partner competition tomorrow morning. Satisfied. Our team total was 795#.

Team Series Event #6

As a relay in the order M1-M2-F1-F2, each athlete completes:

  • 30 deadlifts (185/135 lb.)
  • 30-calorie row
  • 30 overhead squats (95/65 lb.)

Bryan went first with a 4:30, I got a 4:37, Jess 6:25, and Michelle 4:23. I did 18 deadlifts, dropped to rotate my hands, and picked the bar right back up. Was averaging about 1,600 cal/hr on the rower, and did my OHS in 3 sets of 10. Those were rough from rep 1. My upper body was shaking all over the place, probably from all the work we did yesterday. Total team time of 19:55.

Doing the Team Series was a lot of fun and a good challenge. Definitely some workouts that took us out of our comfort zone and things we wouldn’t come up with. Now off early in the morning to Chesaning for the local throwdown we call the GLBRT (Great Lakes Bay Regional Throwdown).

What Head Cold?

Sunday night I would feel my sinuses started to go a little nuts. Didn’t feel great on Monday so decided to take a rest day. By 8pm I was kind of miserable. Had to take Tuesday off work because I couldn’t stare at a computer without my eyes watering like crazy and if I sat up my nose wouldn’t stop dripping. Woke up feeling much better today though. Was unsure if I should do anything but decided to go in around 5:30 and get my rowing finished for the week.

Row: Engine

2 x 6,000m with 5:00 rest

Pacing:

  • Set 1: 2000m at rate 19, 2000m at rate 20, 2000m at rate 21
  • Set 2: Repeat and try to go a little faster (no more than 0:02/500m at each level)

I set a pretty slow goal of going 2:15-2:14-2:13 on the first set and figured I’d see how I felt after that. If I wasn’t feeling good I was prepared to just head home. Ended up feeling great though so bumped it up 2 seconds for each rate on the 2nd time through.

12k in less than an hour of total time (including rest). A few weeks ago I thought rowing that far was nuts and now it’s not that big of a deal.

Cool Down

  • 3×12 Reverse Hyper (160#)
  • Rolled lower back
  • OH mobility work

Next 3 days are going to be rough with the CrossFit Team Series workouts and a local partner competition.

More Carbs, No Bonk

Got to the gym early so I could do some pre-hab. My shoulders have felt a little wonky the last couple of days.

Warm-up

  • 3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
  • Crossover Symmetry Activation
  • OH Mobility/Stretching

Strength

OHS (5-10-X-5 Tempo)

  • 45#
  • 75#
  • 95#
  • 115#
  • 135#
  • 155#
  • 175#
  • 190# (dumped after the 10s in the hole)

My shoulders were not feeling stable today, even in early sets. I did 185# last week so I had to go for more this week even though the stability didn’t seem to be there I didn’t even try to stand up with 190 because the bar was moving all over the place. Was a win just to get the 5 second descent and 10 seconds in the hole, which is still 15 seconds under tension.

Accessory

4 Sets

  • 5/5 Single Leg RDL (155#)
  • 5 Evil Wheels

Felt a little tightness in my low back on the first 2 sets. Focused more and was good to go.

Conditioning

At an 80% pace. We haven’t paced one of these in quite a long time and figured it would be good going into a tough week for me.

  • 8:00 AMRAP
    • 5 Thrusters (75#)
    • 5 Burpee Step-ups (24″)
  • 3:00 Rest
  • 8:00 AMRAP
    • 5 Pull-ups
    • 10 Russian KBS (70#)
    • 15 Plate Hops (on 45# plate)

I got exactly 8 rounds in the first and 8+4 in the second. I think. I wasn’t using chips to keep track like usual, since it was more about just going at a steady and even pace.

I kept the programming on the easy side since I was planning to head back in the afternoon to knock out the first rowing session. Busy week with the Team Series workouts and local competition on Saturday so need to get the rowing done early. Got to the gym around 6pm. Didn’t do any warm-up at all; right on the rower.

Row: 2k Pacing

5 Sets

  • 750m
  • 5:00 rest

Pacing

  • Sets 1-2: 2 splits slower than 2k pace (1:43)
  • Set 3: 1 split slower than 2k pace (1:42)
  • Set 4: 2k pace (1:41)
  • Set 5: As if it was the last 750m of a 2k race

Even though I worked out in the morning, I was hoping for a better outcome than session 1 last week, which I think was a nutrition failure. I’ve upped my carbs since then.

No bonking today! Nailed the pace in every set. I started to kick it in with about 250 meters left on that final 750m simulation and could have done so earlier. Very pleased though. I also wore my heart rate monitor for shits and giggles. Got it up to 167 in that final row.