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Ups and Downs

Was in Cleveland last night for a wedding. We got up early and made it back to my place around noon. Had pushed back Super Sunday to 1pm to give me enough time to make it home.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
1,000m Row
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength + Explosive

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats
Rest 30s
1 Broad Jump
Rest ~2:00

Went 45-135-185-225-255-280-300# for a 5# PR. Felt really good squatting. Didn’t pull out the tape measure for the jumps so no idea how far they were.

Conditioning

“Fran”
21-15-9

Thrusters (95#)
Pull-ups

I pretty much called it in on this one during the first set of pull-ups when I broke it up to 11-10. Barely any sleep, 4 hours in the car, and just wasn’t feeling great this morning. I really fell apart going 5-5-5 on the 15 thrusters with way too much rest between picking the bar back up. Then 9-6 pull-ups and unbroken 9s to finish in 4:44. Not even close to my 3:30 best. Rested while second group went.

At an easy pace…

1 Mile Run
100 Walking Lunges
1 Mile Run

It took 25:10 with some walking around in the gym during the transitions in and out of lunging. First mile was about 8:55 and second one was about 9:35 (I had RunKeeper going the whole time). Nobody else ran the second mile with me, but I made myself do it since I didn’t push on Fran. I need the extra running anyway.

Quad Sets

I’ve switched up my mobility work the last few days. I think all of the squatting and lunging is doing a lot for my legs and back on its own. After doing the same stretches for a month it’s time for change. I’ve been following Kelly Starrett’s 14-Day Mobility Challenge | 7 Green Lights (linked to day 1). After the 14 days are up, I’ll probably choose an area to focus on for a few weeks, using some of the stuff learned from the videos. Shoulders will probably be where I head.

Slow moving this morning. Didn’t get out to the garage until about 8:30. Warmed up with 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg (4:44.2).

Coffee Squats

I actually finished my coffee before heading out, but close enough.

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

45#
135#
185#

My back was tight and there was fatigue in my legs. Definitely think I’m feeling those pause squats from yesterday and the work done in the metcon. With back squat volume coming with Super Sunday it was time to adjust my plan for the morning. I always superset the upper body work I’ve been doing on Sundays, so today I turned it into a quad set!

5 Sets

2 Front Squats (225#)
5 Back Squats (225#)
12 Incline DB Bench Press (45°, 40-45-45-50-50#)
12 JM Press (45-55-55-65-65#)

That worked up a hell of a sweat. Might be interesting to alternate between legs and upper body in a quad set like that. Did not wear a belt at all.

Today was the first time since I’ve been squatting every day I felt I should scale back the plan. Seems like a good way to close out day 28. Well, not really with squats for the day, with more coming in the afternoon.

Nobody showed up today! Not a single person, other than Alex, but he was weightlifting.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
1,000m Row (4:09.5)
Bottom Squat Hold
10 Snatch Press (20kg)

Gymnastics & Weightlifting

24:00 EMOM (alt)

3 MU
1 Snatch

That was a really fun EMOM. Didn’t feel in danger of missing any of the muscle-ups. I started with 40 kilos and went up 5 kg every round through. All makes through 90 and then missed the final rep at 95. I had it too, just a little forward and I was able to hold it there for a second, trying to pull it back. Pretty excited about that and ready to test our a max when I’m fresh. I did take some extra time, threw another kilogram on the bar and made 2 PR attempts. Got them overhead no problem, but just didn’t have enough left in my shoulders.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

4x Shuttle Run (40′)
10 Back Squats (135#, no rack)

Sucked even worse than I was expecting. My legs didn’t want to move when I took off running after a few rounds. All sets unbroken and really busted ass in the final round to make sure I got under 6 minutes. Took me 5:53.

I jumped on the Air Dyne for 10:00 just to move after that and in hopes that it’ll help me not get sore. Went 3.02 miles.

Midline

4 Sets

5 Strict T2B
3/3 Turkish Get-ups (44#)

Really took my time today and didn’t leave until after 2. Did Crossover Symmetry Recovery to finish off.

Two Dozen

Pretty early to bed again last night, was up by 7, and in the garage by 7:30. Warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

10×45#
5×135#
5×185#
5×225#
6:00 EMOM
- 4x3x255#
- 2x3x265#

Wanted to kind of take it “easy” today, but usually an EMOM like this is anything but easy. I was going to use 255# the whole way, but when I got done with the 4th set I went straight for the 5# plates and threw them on. Maybe not the best idea because in that 5th set I felt a pull in my upper back from holding the rack position. Same area that I tweaked a couple of weeks ago. Took a couple of hours before I really felt it last time, so will see how it feels this afternoon.

24 days of squats…check!

Lunge University

200 Weighted Walking Lunges (20# vest)

Relaxed pace since my heart rate was already up from the EMOM work. Finished in 9:29.

Damn I look like death in that picture. Can you tell I just rolled out of bed? Done by 8am. How did you start your day?

Was able to get tennis stadium tickets for all 3 days of the CrossFit Games when they went on sale today. So excited!!

Got to the gym at 6pm. Hit Crossover Symmetry Activation and then jumped on the rower.

Conditioning

8 Rounds

1:30 Row @ 1:48-1:50/500m
1:00 Rest

Meter counts were 412-413-414-415-415-414-413-413. Not hard, just putting in work.

No B.S. Bench Press

Cycle 2 Week 2

10×45#
4×135#
4×165#
4×195#
6x4x215#

Feeling solid. I cycled my reps pretty quickly.

Weightlifting

I did some warm-up with the empty bar.

Power Clean + Hang Power Clean

3×1 50kg
60kg
70kg

Clean + Hang Clean

2×1 80kg
2×1 90kg
2×1 95kg
100kg

Started squatting all of these. Got rough at 95+.

Push Press

5×135#
5×155#
5×175#
5×185#
5×195#

Felt brutal. Looked back and I did the same working sets back in January. Here I thought that might be a PR for a set of 5. I would have gone 5# heavier! 🙂 Finished up with Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

3 Weeks In

My HRV was down to 88 this morning from 100 yesterday. Hmmmm… I was pretty exhausted after being out in the sun walking 9 holes, but that still doesn’t seem right. Had some good weight on the bar for back squats, but overall the day wasn’t very intense. Readings like that keep me doubting the usefulness of HRV.

Out to the garage after 8am. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.23km).

Coffee Squats

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

45#
135#
185#
225#
245#
265#
280#

I put the belt on for the last two sets. Not only trying to go heavier through each day of this thing, but also trying to go a little longer without the belt too, to help build up the core muscles more. Last week I did 265# for this, so was a nice jump. Felt pretty heavy in the early sets. Just 15# shy of the most I’ve managed for this complex. That makes 21 days in a row.

Accessory

4 Sets

12 Incline DB Bench Press
12 JM Press

I put the bench at 60° and used 40-45-50-50# for the incline bench work. Used 45-55-60-65# for the JM presses. Both felt heavier than last week. Maybe I’m still feeling the effects of “Cindy” from Thursday.

Not too long after this I started to feel shitty. Maybe that’s why my HRV was low this morning. Since Thursday night I’ve been feeling like allergies are hitting me, though I haven’t had any problems in a couple of years. If it wasn’t Sunday I think I might have stayed home and took a nap instead.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
1,000m Row
Bottom Squat Hold
Band Pass-thrus

Gymnastics

10:00 EMOM

3 MU

Was curious how this would go with the way I was feeling. Made every set without a problem. YAY!

Strength

5 Sets

12 Pendlay Rows (95#)
5 Evil Wheels

Conditioning

“Kelly”
5 Rounds

400m Run
30 Box Jumps (24″)
30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Only done this once before. It was a 32:22 almost 3 years ago. Warmest day of the year (so far) is a good day to do a long workout right? This was so bad. I started out with a sub 2:00 first 400 and knew that was too fast. I didn’t rebound any box jumps, but never stopped either. Did mostly step-downs, but some jump downs in the later rounds. Wall balls were two sets of 15 until I went 18-12 in the last round. Should have just went for all 30.

When I got in from my 3rd run the music had stopped. Bluetooth still showed connected but no sound. I think it took me close to 2 minutes to get it going again. The official clock time was 30:59 when I finished, but I’ll be conservative and only knock a minute off for a 29:59 since the rest helped me in a way too. Wish I would have felt closer to 100% today, but it’s still a PR.

Walked 200m, sat on my ass to recover, and then did Crossover Symmetry Plyometric.

Back Over 3

Convinced Kevin to squat with me at CFi this morning. I had to bribe him with Nutella donuts and coffee.

I warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

Jumping Back Squats

10×45#
5×75#
5×95#
5×115#
5×135#

Fun way to warm-up.

Back Squats

3×185#
3×225#
3×255#
3×285#
3×305#
3×315#

First time I’ve had 300+ on the bar in over 3 months. Felt pretty good.

Weather is so nice that almost nobody showed up for class today. Must be doing yard work and other fun activities. I did Crossover Symmetry Activation to get my shoulders ready.

Weightlifting

5 Hang Muscle Snatches (45#)
5 Snatch Presses (45#)
5 OHS (45#)

Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + OHS

75#
75#
95#
95#
115#
115#
135#
135#
155#

Used straps after 95# to save my grip some. Hang snatches felt weird today.

Conditioning

600-400-200m

Pulled the rowers outside to soak up some extra vitamin D. Not a crazy pace, but got the heart rate up and worked up a nice sweat. Didn’t even run a clock, which was relaxing.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap and headed home. Going out to golf my first holes of the year this afternoon.

2 Weeks of Squatting Every Day

I keep getting up earlier than usual and I’m not too happy about it. My upper body seems a little tight this morning from the 84 pull-ups. Didn’t rush out to the garage this morning since I have a lot more time to work with on Sunday mornings.

Switched it up with 100 Walking Lunges (20# vest) for my warm-up. It took me 4:30 to do them.

Coffee Squats

2 Front + 5 Back

45#
135#
175#
205#
225#
245#
265#

Up 30 pounds over what I did last Sunday for this complex. This is the most weight I’ve had on the bar yet and it’s still well below the 295# I’ve done for this combo before.

That completes 14 days in a row at the squat rack. I’ll keep slowly increasing the weights and over the next two weeks I’ll hopefully be back to typical squatting loads. I’ve really been enjoying the morning squats as a way to kick off my day. Haven’t noticed any additional fatigue from them and don’t think they’ve been affecting my other training negatively. If anything they are probably helping. Don’t think I’ve mentioned the stretching routine recently, but I’ve been continuing to do it at least once a day, except when I do the 90 minute yoga workout.

Accessory

4 Sets

10 Incline DB Bench Press (45°, 40-45-50-50# DBs)
10 JM Press (45-65-65-65#)

Going to try adding in some bench press accessory work on the weekends to see if it’ll help getting to 300#. Holy Shit! The JM Press is no fucking joke. There are a couple of variations out there. I used what looked to be the hardest one and I’m pretty sure I got that right. Wow!

I hope that didn’t smoke me too much for today’s workout. Super Sunday at noon…

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
1,500m Row (6:36)
Bottom Squat Hold
C&J
- 4×45#
- 2×95#
- 2×135#

Weightlifting

E2M 20:00

2 C&J

Started with 155# and went up 10# each time, finishing at 245#. I think I wore the belt starting at 215#. Took my time with that last round, to make both reps. I squatted most of the reps but powered a few of the early ones when I wasn’t thinking. Last few rounds got rough. The cleans aren’t really a big deal for me, but I’m pumped to have made all of the jerks. We took about 5-10 minutes plus before starting the next part.

Conditioning

With a running clock, @ 0:00…
5:00 AMRAP

5 MU
10 Cleans (155#)

This is event 1 of the 2015 Masters Qualifier. Wanted to do some muscle-ups this weekend and this looked like a fun one to try. Was scared how this would go after all those heavy cleans, but it was just fine. I broke the MU into 3-2 every round and did relaxed singles for the cleans. Finished 2 rounds plus 5 muscle-ups and 2 cleans. It was fun doing some MU in a workout again.

I called on the group for some movements to make up the next two parts and then I came up with the rep schemes and how to split up the 4 movements.

@ 10:00…

30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
30 Push-ups
30 Russian KBS (70#)

Wall balls and kettlebell swings were unbroken. I did the push-ups in 3 sets of 10. Finished in 2:50.

@ 20:00…

150m Walking Lunges

I was excited when someone picked lunges and knew I had to put them solo. Finish the workout with a little Lunge University. 🙂 We went outside since it was a nice afternoon. I programmed it as 100 walking lunges, but after about 50 steps I went to chase Michelle down for extra credit since she was doing a lap. I don’t usually do them stepping through, but did to catch up and it’s so much faster doing them like that, but so much extra burn too. Finished in 4:03. I stopped counting the reps after deciding to go for the lap distance instead, but should have been about 150.

Midline

60 Quarter Get-ups

Used a 53# KB and split this up into 10 reps per side at a time.

Knocked out Crossover Symmetry Plyometric before heading home. Kind of wanted to skip it, but was already feeling my shoulders smoked so I knew I should do it.

An hour or so later at home I am wrecked!

Get Up and Do The Work

Late workout last night throws me off with sleep and recovery, though I guess the two are largely related. Didn’t want to get out to the garage this morning, but I did.

Coffee Squats

Back Squats

20×45#
10×135#
10×155#
10×175#
20×195#

Didn’t even warm-up today. Jumped right in. Felt better than expected. That’s 20# heavier than the set of Super Squats I did last week.

Lunge University

200 Walking Lunges (20# vest)

No stopping allowed. Finished in 7:50.

Then in for the 9am class at CrossFit Intuition.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
900m Row
Deadlift
- 10×45#
- 6×155#
- 6×245#

Strength & Skill

10:00 EMOM (alternating)

6 Deadlifts (245#)
10 T2B

Damn that felt heavy. Wore a belt to protect my back.

Conditioning

12-10-8-6-4-2

HSPU
Burpee Box Jump Overs (24″)

Gotta manage that handstand push-up fatigue. Went 6-6, 4-3-3, 3-3-2, 3-3, 2-2, and 2 on the wall. Finished at 9:59.

Midline

4 Rounds NFT

2/2 Turkish Get-ups (44#)
12 Russian Twists (44#)

Need these TGUs for my shoulders.

Cool Down

2,000m Row (8:57.3)
Crossover Symmetry Plyometric

How Much Ya Bench?

Okay, this morning I can feel a little fatigue in my shoulders from that shoulder press work I did Monday night. Crawled out of bed by 7am today. Might as well get in those squats early. Warmed up with a quick 3:00 on the Air Dyne (1.47km).

Coffee Squats

Pause Front Squats (3s in the hole)

10×45#
5×135#
5×155#
5×175#
5×185#
5×195#
5×205#

Those last two sets sucked! I couldn’t hold a breath in the hole after the first two reps. Wore a belt for the last 3 sets to help keep tight. That’s the 10 day of squatting. Didn’t feel the quad at all in this session, but I did feel something odd on the inside of my right knee as I descended on some of the reps. Did 15 minutes of stretching after I was done.

Got to CFi at about 6pm. Did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then a little warm-up workout.

2 Rounds

500m Row
50 DU

Got a new coated cable for my RPM rope so replaced the frayed bare wire one before heading to the gym. Wanted to try it out so came up with this. I didn’t attack the rower at all; just under a 2:00/500m pace I think. Finished in 5:29. Was a little worried the coated cable would be too slow for me but it felt pretty good. Had one miss in each set and it was after 48 in the second round.

No B.S. Bench Press

Test Day!

10×45#
8×115#
5×155#
3×185#
1×215#
1×240#
1×260# (PR)
1×265# (PR)
F @ 270#

Damn, I thought I had that last one. Got it pretty far up and thought for sure I was going to fight through it before stalling out. That’s a 15# PR though, probably 10 of which can be directly attributed to the 9 week program. My estimated max was 255# from a set not too long before we started. New cycle starts next week. 🙂

Weightlifting Wednesday

The plan is to make 7pm class on hump day all about weightlifting. Should be fun.

5 Hang Muscle Snatch (45#)
5 Snatch Press (45#)
5 OHS (45#)
2 Snatch High Pulls, 1 Snatch
- 3 sets @ 75#
- 3 sets @ 95#
- 2 sets @ 115#
Snatch
- 2×135#
- 2×145#
- 2×155#
- 1×165#
- 1×175#
- 3x1x185#

I missed one at 145# before hitting it a second time. Catches were kind of shaky with some of the heavier weights, but the final one was locked in the best of them all. I think the Crossover Symmetry has really helped with my shoulder stability because I was able to manipulate the weight overhead for some good saves.

Sprint

Felt like a quick row so went for 500m. Was killing it and then hit a wall with under 200m to go. Was able to hold on for a 0.3 second PR – 1:24.8!
500m-row

The last two times I’d done 500 meter time trial it’s been an afterthought on the way out of the gym after a long session. Maybe I should try it fresh some time. 🙂

Double Partner Work

Legs aren’t sore. It’s a miracle! Feel some tightness in my low back. Day 6 of morning squats. Warmed up with 5:00 Air Dyne (2.23km).

Coffee Squats

Back Squats (Pause 3s in the bottom)

10×45#
4×135#
4×145#
4×165#
4×185#
4×205#
4×225#

That right quad still isn’t quite right. WTF! I had planned an 185-195-205, but was feeling solid so I increased.

Went to the 10am class.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
Calf Stretches
Squat Jumps

Conditioning

5,000m Partner Row

* Switch every 500m
* Run 200m after rowing

I partnered with Jason and went first. I was done with my run at 18:02. Forgot to look at the clock when he finished us off. Was pulling about a 1:50 on my first few rows, then about 1:45 on the 4th one and low 1:40 on my last one.

42-30-18 w/ Partner

C2B Pull-ups
Thrusters (95#)

We did sets of 7s in the 42. Jason did something to his shoulder with 1 thruster left. So then I did 24 of the 30 chest-to-bar pull-ups. We went sets of 5 on the 30 thrusters, I did 14 or 15 of the 18 pull-ups, and then each did 5-4 thrusters. Finished in 10:44 but with Jason getting hurt there was a lot of extra rest time. Not sure why he tried to keep going. 😦

I walked 200m to cool down.

Accessory

5 Sets

10 GHD Sit-ups
10 Back Extensions (45#)

Finished off with Crossover Symmetry Plyometric. I’ll do some stretching tonight. Time to get some work done on the garage and clean up the yard.

All the Rowing

My ass is sore from those jumping lunges yesterday.

Finally got around to cleaning up the Thruster Attack Program and publishing it over on my main blog. Enjoy!

Headed over to CFi early today so that Kevin and I could get in our bench pressing before the 4:30 class and I could get in a rowing workout before classes, which were using the rowers today. Did Crossover Symmetry Activation and then dove right in.

1,000m moderate pace
2:00 rest
8 x 200m hard, 20s rest b/t reps
800m moderate pace
2:00 rest
6 x 200m hard, 20s rest b/t reps
600m moderate pace
2:00 rest
4 x 200m hard, 20s rest b/t reps
400m moderate pace
2:00 rest
2 x 200m hard, 20s rest b/t reps
200m moderate pace

* Hard pace = your 2000m PR pace plus 0-5sec/500m
* Moderate pace = your 2000m PR pace plus 10-12sec/500m

This one comes from Chris Hinshaw as usual. I’d like to the post, but the URL isn’t working so you’ll have to trust me. My paces were 1:45-1:50 hard and 1:55-1:57 moderate.

I was expecting this to get bad, but it wasn’t bad at all. No issue at all holding the paces. Finished in 41:03. Sure didn’t feel like I rowed 7,000 meters. I really like these type of workouts.

No B.S. Bench Press

10×45#
5×95#
5×135#
4×185#
4×205#
3x4x225#

Felt a lot better than the session last week. One more week in the program before testing a max.

Reverse Hypers

12×210#
12×260#
12×280#
12×300#
12×320#

Pretty soon I’ll be putting my back squat weight on there. Though I haven’t squatted in about 2 months so this could very well be my max squat now.

I did Crossover Symmetry Recovery before leaving. Will hit a round of back stretches tonight.