Tag: row

Shouldering Sunday

Yesterday was a much-needed rest day, but got up early and golfed 18 holes in a cart, then had a 90 minute massage in the afternoon. Got a solid 10 hours of sleep last night. Headed over to Kevin’s at 11.

Warm-up

  • 4:00 Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Olympic Lifting

Snatches

Did doubles with 10-15 seconds between each rep.

  • 95-115-135-145-155-160

I missed on the 2nd attempt at 160 and then went again for what felt like my best attempt of them all.

Block Snatches (mid-thigh)

I did a double of snatch + OHS, again taking 10-15 seconds between each rep.

  • 95-105-115-125-135

Felt a lot more explosive off the blocks then I did from the floor. Didn’t try to get super heavy here, even though I’ve done 145# before.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 5 x 135#
  • 5 x 160#
  • 5 x 190#
  • 5 x 225#
  • 3 x 260#
  • 8 x 190#

Squats felt great today. No forward lean and legs were steady.

Incline Bench Press

  • 8 x 45#
  • 8 x 95#
  • 8 x 115#
  • 8 x 115#
  • 5 x 125#

We had the bench set at a pretty aggressive incline. Hopefully these will help out with both my shoulder press and regular bench press.

Incline Bench Press w/ Earthquake Bar

  • 8 x 50#
  • 10 x 60#
  • 5 x 70#
  • 10 x 70#

First tried to go with a 35# KB on each side of the bar, but I was all over the place and racked it after 1 rep. Dropped to lower KBs and got a lot more comfortable with it, allowing me to knock out a big set with the 35s at the end.

Core

During halftime of the Lions game I went out to the garage.

4 Rounds NFT

  • 15 GHD Sit-ups
  • 15 Back Extensions
  • 10 T2B

I had to drop off the bar after 9 in round 3 of the T2B and then the last round did them 6-3-1, but everything else was unbroken. Haven’t used my pull-up bar in a long time and it’s a lot different feel compared to the bars at Survival Fitness.

Conditioning

Went over to the track at Heritage around 7:15 to run some sprints with Michelle. Jogged 800m to warm-up and then walked 600m to cool down.

E2M 20:00

  • 100m Sprint

Hamstrings on fire!

A PR Morning

Took a rest day yesterday and walked 18 holes of golf. Woke up today feeling more beat up than I should. In at 10am to test my deadlift.

Warm-up

3:00 Row

Olympic Lifting

Snatches

  • 45# Position Work for 5:00
  • 95# x 2
  • 115# x 2
  • 135# E30S 3:00
  • 155#
  • 165#
  • 175# (PR)

My snatch is feeling really good lately. I was planning to do 135# for 5:00 but it was feeling good so I stopped and started bumping up the weight. That was a 10# PR. Looking forward to trying more.

Strength

Deadlift

  • 185# x 8, rest 2
  • 275# x 5, rest 2
  • 325# x 3, rest 3
  • 375# x 1, rest 3
  • 425# x 1, rest 10
  • 475# x 1 (PR), rest 12
  • 500# x 1 (PR)

My old PR was 455# in April, so this was a big jump. The 425# lift hit me hard for some reason, even though I’ve pulled it for 3 several times before. I saw sweating and light-headed, so took a long rest before the 475# attempt. If Kevin and Matt weren’t there pushing me I was going to go for 485# or so next, so I’m glad they talked me into the 500# attempt.

Back to Survival Fitness at 5pm for a class.

Warm-up

  • 30 Air Squats
  • 20 PVC Pass-thrus
  • 30 PVC OHS

Strength

Front Squats

  • 5 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 145#
  • 5 @ 165#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 185#

Kept it light and fast. Didn’t need any more heavy weights after the morning session.

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Strict HSPU
  • Evens: 8 Box Jumps (32″)

The HSPU felt good today. Probably should have done a deficit, but I already put in a lot of work and had an idea of how bad the WOD was going to be, so I backed off a bit.

WOD

  • 30 Hang Squat Cleans (95#)
  • 30 Push-ups
  • 30 Thrusters (95#)
  • 30 T2B
  • 30 OHS (95#)
  • 30 Burpees
  • 30 Shoulder to OH (95#)

The burpees were horrible. Slowest ever! Finished in 19:12.

Row and Run Intervals

Feeling really beat up today, which shouldn’t be surprising after 4 days in a row. Heading out-of-town tomorrow for a bachelor party, so will be a weekend of rest. In at 10am to finish out the 2nd 5/3/1 cycle.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

5/3/1 Bench Press – Cycle 2 Week 3

  • 5 @ 85# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 110# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 130# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 160# (75%)
  • 3 @ 185# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 205# (95%)

Only 3 reps and the last one was an ugly struggle. Estimated max of 225.5#.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 110# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 165# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 205# (75%)
  • 3 @ 235# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 260# (95%)

Right in that sweet spot of 5 or 6 reps again, with 5 reps today. Estimated max of 303#, which should be pretty accurate. Tried to cycle the reps a little faster in the early sets and keep an upright torso, although I started to hunch over in that last set.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 250m Row
  • 150m Run
  • 2:00 Rest

I didn’t realize we were resting after each round, so I had paced my first round. My rounds were 1:28/1:16/1:16/1:15/1:16 and my rower splits were 49.7/47.2/49.6/49.3/48.9. After the first two rounds I stopped stropping in my feet and although it slowed down my pace, it was better overall because I was able to jump right out and get on my run. After the final run, my time was 14:31 (including the 8:00 of rest). Really liking this interval stuff for conditioning.

My Squats Suck

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf in the morning and was exhausted most of the day. It was a long day on Sunday helping out and watching the competition. Needed a rest day anyway after 4 in a row. In at 10am this morning.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Olympic Lifting

Started with 7:00 of Snatch Position Drills with 45# on the training bar. Focused on my setup in addition to meeting my hips. Then I started doing snatch singles and resting as needed.

  • 3 singles with 95#
  • Single, miss 2 singles with 115# (first one flew up so fast I almost caught it standing fully upright, so tried to adjust on the 2nd and bar was too far forward when I received it)
  • 2 singles with 135#
  • 2 singles with 145#
  • 1 and 3 fails with 155# (I started thinking too much and then wasn’t committing to the lift)
  • Fail and single at 135# to stop on a make

Felt good up until 155#. Feeling fatigued still this morning though.

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squats – Cycle 2 Week 3

  • 5 @ 120# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 150# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 180# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 225# (75%)
  • 3 @ 255# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 285# (95%)

My squat has been disappointing for the last few weeks, but last week Kevin noticed I was really bent over, so I concentrated on that today and did much better at it. But my squats still sucked. I got 3 reps at 285# before stopping. Waited a few more minutes and did 285# again for 2 reps. I was able to do 295# for three a long time ago. My squat has been shitty ever since Tough Mudder. Maybe I’ll go back to Super Squats which is what I was doing before I got sick for 2+ weeks. Something needs to change. I was planning to test my max next week but that is definitely not happening because it’ll just be disappointing to have gone down.

WOD

E4MOM 16:00 (4 rounds)

  • 250m Row
  • 25 Wall Balls

I tried setting the damper to low 4 on the rower today and it felt pretty good. I think I’ll keep experimenting with it. I did all of the wall balls unbroken and finished the combo in under 2:00 each round so had just over 2 minutes of rest before the next round.

Jumped on the GHD when I got home.

Finisher

5 Rounds NFT

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups
  • 10 Back Extensions

Quads on Fire

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf and then got one of those massive headaches from the sun and heat. It was in the 90s and I guess I didn’t drink enough water out there. So my garage gym still isn’t all set back up with the GHD yet. In at 10am this morning and feeling great after 9.5 hours of sleep.

Warm-up

1000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 105# (70%)
  • 3 @ 120# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 140# (90%)

I have a bit of the right elbow problem on shoulder presses too and that right elbow is also the one that gets sore after snatches or OHS most of the time. Hmmm. I got 6 reps @ 140# for an estimated max of 167.5#.

Deadlift – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 295# (70%)
  • 3 @ 335# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 375# (90%)

Crushed the deadlifts today with the day off yesterday. 10 reps for an estimated max of 499. BOOM!!

3 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, forward)
  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, backward)
  • 8 Chin-ups

I didn’t put the bar down on the lunges and my heart was racing after all 16 lunges.

WOD

5 4:00 Rounds

  • 6 T2B
  • 1:30 Air Dyne
  • Rest

I made a point not to go out too fast on the first round. Went 31-33-34-34-32 calories. I focused on keeping the speed at over 22mph. This is much worse than Air Dyne Hell because you hurt for longer.

Too Far Forward

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

Olympic Lifting

  • 7:00 45# Snatch Position Drills
  • 2:00 Rest
  • E20S 2:00 95# Snatch
  • 3:00 Rest
  • E30S 3:00 125# Snatch
  • 3:00 Rest
  • EMOM 5:00 145# Snatch

Movin’ on up! Felt good at 145#. I missed my first attempt in the final minute due to lack of concentration, but stepped right back up and nailed it. As long as it keeps feeling good, 2 more sessions and I’ll be at my max snatch weight of 165#.

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squat – Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 120# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 150# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 180# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 210# (70%)
  • 3 @ 240# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 270# (90%)

Warming up felt good, especially since I was already warm from the squat snatches. 270# felt super heavy lifting off the rack though. I got 5 reps for an estimated max of 314.5#, below my actual max of 325#. Afterwards Kevin mentioned that I’m really leaning forward on my back squats. Now it makes sense why I’ve been struggling so much. Will have to work on fixing that next back squat session.

Pullovers

Did a couple of quick sets while waiting for Matt. 2 Sets of 20 with a 45# DB.

WOD

10 Rounds

  • 150m Run
  • 7 OHS (75#)

Scaled down the OHS from 95# so I could do them all unbroken and not have the WOD take forever. Finished in 11:27.

Finisher

Slow 8:00 on the rower.

5/3/1 Cycle 2

Walked 18 holes yesterday and recovered from the Sweat & Steel team competition at CrossFit Deviate on Sunday. In at 10am this morning. First day back in the box after the week in Vancouver to deload. Was really looking forward to lifting today.

Warm-up

Did a 450m run and not much else.

Strength

Back Squats – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 1

  • 5 @ 120# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 150# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 180# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 195# (65#)
  • 5 @ 225# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 255# (85%)

I wasn’t feeling that great during the last set and started to get to the “dark place” way too early. Felt my left side lagging behind on some of the reps. Managed to knock out 9 before I had to dump the bar on the 10th. Disappointing because in week one of the first cycle I did 12 at 250#. I seem to be going backwards with my squat since that week. I figured I’d be able to hit it hard after not squatting for a week. Maybe the pistols from the competition had me fatigued or maybe I’m not using the bounce enough. Something is definitely whacked!

Olympic Lifting

I warmed up with about 5 minutes of snatch position work with 45# on the training bar.

3:00 EMOM

  • 3 Snatches (95#)

3:00 Rest

3:00 EMOM

  • 2 Snatches (115#)

3:00 Rest

3:00 EMOM

  • 1 Snatches (125#)

Last time I did 5 minutes of the first two and was hitting good positions, so stepped it up a notch and tried 125# today. Felt pretty solid. I’m going to continue building up slow each session like this to make sure I’m really enforcing the change. Next thing I need to work on is not throwing my head back so violently. I tried to stay focused on a spot on the wall today during some reps and it actually felt better overall. All reps were squat snatches.

WOD

8 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 30s Rest

I tried to really push my pace and was able to stay very consistent, within 10 meters for every interval. Stroke rate seems too high though.

20130813-121731.jpg

I actually felt a little out of sorts today. Not sure why with a light week and then a rest day yesterday.

Later at night I loaded up the sled with a total of 160# and went for a walk in the neighborhood. It was 0.84 miles in 22:23. The streets here are absolutely terrible for dragging a sled around.

Sweat & Steel 2013

Went down to CrossFit Deviate in Rochester for a 6 person team competition with Casey, Kevin, Michelle, Breanne, and Katy.

Event 1

Follow the leader style:

  • 25 Burpee Pull-Ups (8’/7′)
  • 500 Meter Row
  • 25 Wall Balls (30#/20#) ball must hit the black line (10′)

Not too bad for us guys since we could all jump most of the way up on the pull-up. The gals really struggled with the wall balls. I did mine in 10-10-5 because I had plenty of time. We finished at exactly 18:00 (the time cap) and were 7th out of 16 teams in the open division.

Event 2

3×3 Min AMRAP

  • 3:00 AMRAP Shoulder-to-Overhead (135#/95#)
  • 1:00 rest to change plates
  • 3:00 AMRAP Clean (185#/115#)
  • 1:00 rest to change plates
  • 3:00 AMRAP Deadlift (275#/185#)

You paired up a guy and a girl for each movement. Kevin and Michelle did out SH to OH, Casey and Breanne on the cleans, and Katy and I on deadlifts. We crushed this one finishing 5th. I did all of my deadlifts in sets of 5s until the end where I did a set of 9. I completed something like 45 reps in the 3 minutes!

Event 3 & 4

Completed as one 16 Min event, but scored independently.

4:00 AMRAP

  • 6 Muscle-Ups (3 each) One male and one female

I did the 3 MU and them Michelle attempted for the next 3 minutes to get her first one. Hurt us not having a girl who could do any. Tied for last with 3 other teams that also didn’t have a female with MU.

12:00 to find Max Weight Front Squat (remaining 4 members)

Everyone set or tied a PR but we finished down in the pack on this one as well in 10th or 11th I think. Somehow despite these two workouts we managed to stay in 9th place and get into event 5 for the top 10 teams.

Event 5

For Time – 12:00 Time cap

  • 90 HSPU
  • 90 C2B Pull-ups
  • 90 Pistols
  • 90 T2B

Teams were divided into 3 men and 3 women, with the men completing 2 of the movements and the women completing the other 2. Our guys did HSPU and pistols, which was different from most teams, but we had to because our girls would have died on HSPU and their pistols would have been way too slow. This hurt us because even though they got through the C2B, they were slow. We were the first team in our heat off of the wall by quite a bit, but quickly fell behind in the C2B. Our ladies got done withe 37 of the T2B before time ran out. We held on to 9th place, even moving up a bit in the points.

It was a really fun team event and I couldn’t believe we were in 6th place after the first two events against some top-level teams. I knew of at least 3 teams that went to Regionals and several other competitors went as individuals.

Heading to Vancouver

My abs are still a little sore, which tells me I’m not doing enough sit-ups. Next week I’m in Vancouver for work and it’ll be all running and body weight stuff, so I’ll make sure to get in a bunch. Trained at 3pm for a couple of hours. Hit the barbell hard since it’ll be a week without it.

Warm-up

1,000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 110# (75%)
  • 3 @ 125# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 140# (95%)

Knocked out 5 reps on the last set for an estimated max of 163#, which is just under my 165# PR.

5/3/1 Front Squats – Cycle 1 Week 2

I wanted to get in an extra squat session for the week so decided to just pick this even though I hadn’t done week 1.

  • 5 @ 105# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 135# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 160# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 185# (70%)
  • 3 @ 210# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 240# (90%)

Trying to do a big set of front squats isn’t the easiest because it get’s really hard to breathe with the bar there for so long. I managed 6 reps, putting my estimated max at 287.5#, shy of my 295# PR. Felt good to get in some more squats for the week though.

Olympic Lifting

Trying to put a lot of time into snatches. Kevin’s help with some position stuff to work on meeting the bar with my hips and it’s really paying off.

Did about 10 minutes of position work with 45# on the training bar.

5:00 EMOM

  • 3 Snatches (95#)

Rested for 5:00.

5:00 EMOM

  • 2 Snatches (115#)

Felt great at 95#, so I wanted to see if I could keep it going with more weight. I was able to! I was getting such explosion behind some of them the bar got so high that I didn’t even have to drop under it and I ended up doing a power snatch. I did have one miss on the 2nd set, but stepped right up and ripped off two makes. I think I hit the hips on every rep in both EMOMs, which is probably more times hitting my hips than total before today. Need to keep doing this. Here’s one of the 115# lifts…

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 150m Run
  • 20 Pull-ups
  • 5 Curtis P (95#)

Wore the gymnastics grips to protect my hand. Felt pretty good. I split pull-ups down to 14-6, 10-6-4, and 10-6-4. Definitely need to add in more high rep pull-up sets. Finished in 9:06.

Solo Session

My abs are sore from deadlifts and “Annie” on Tuesday, otherwise feeling good. Trained at 10am, but all alone today.

Warm-up

  • 600m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 3:00 Air Dyne
  • Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

5/3/1 Back Squats – Cycle 1 Week 3

  • 5 @ 115# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 220# (75%)
  • 3 @ 250# (85%)
  • 1+ @ 280# (95%)

Squats felt better than Saturday. Recovery is crucial and hit the legs way too much last week. I stopped after 3 reps at 280# because the last one was a slow rep and I didn’t want to push it with nobody else there to spot or help me if something happened. On that last set it was the first time I’ve ever felt my hamstrings engage like that. Pretty cool! The 3 @ 280# puts my estimated max at 307.5#, which is low but I’m ok with that for this week, considering the situation.

5 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Font Rack Walking Lunges (155#)
  • 5 RDLs (205#)
  • 5 Strict Chin-ups

Felt really good. On my chin-ups I really tried to accelerate during the 2nd half and got my chin way above the bar.

20130801-121042.jpg

Olympic Lifting

10:00 of Snatch Position Work with 45# training bar

It didn’t feel as good as yesterday overall, but I did get some really good hip pops in there. My timing seemed really off. Maybe it had to do with my legs being fatigued from the strength work.

WOD

4 Rounds

  • 500m Row
  • 2:00 Rest

Went all out on the first 500 and set a new PR with 1:34.4. Obviously couldn’t maintain that but kept consistent on the next 3 with 1:44.9, 1:45.5, and 1:44.6. I need more of this stuff because I was really dying. Jason Khalipa rowed a 6:31 2k in the Games and I couldn’t even hit that with two minutes of rest between each 500m.

20130801-121050.jpg

While tearing out a stump, the landscaping crew snapped an AT&T line that went right though the stump. So without Internet, I headed back to the box at 6pm for open gym. Warmed up with about 3:00 on the Air Dyne.

OHS

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 4 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • F @ 180#
  • F @ 180#

I was actually going to do 5 with 135# but lost it in the bottom of the last rep. I should have known right there it wasn’t going to be good. My abs are still wrecked from the deadlifts and “Annie” so I think that may have been a big part of it. This is 2 OHS sessions in a row that have been terrible though, with the last one being while I was still recovering from the Tough Mudder Crud.

Did a 1.02 mile sled drag with 115# in 26:14. Switched directions 3 times I think and took a minute or so to help Ellen strap up a sled.