Tag: Russian Twist

Grinding Smolov Jr.

Headed in early before the 9am so I could finish up week 2 of Smolov Jr. shoulder presses.

Shoulder Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 3×115#
  • 10x3x137.5#

Felt rough from the get-go, but I made it through every set. Rushed in and started right away too without any other type of warm-up. Was only taking about 90 seconds of rest between sets so I could finish before class started. The final week should be interesting. I think I’ll bump up the weights a bit over the recommended. My shoulders are feeling strong!

Warm-up

3 Rounds NFT

  • 300m Row
  • 15 Reverse Hypers on GHD

I worked up quite the sweat!

Warmed up deadlifts with 4×155#, 4×245#, and 4×315#.

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4 Deadlifts (365#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Explosive movement
    • 2s: Split Jumps (2 each leg, sandbag on back)
    • 1s: Kneeling Jump (10.25″ – 45-45-25 HG bumpers stacked)

Haven’t done any heavy deadlifts for volume in quite some time. Felt really good!

Conditioning

5 Rounds (Tabata style)

  • 20s Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 10s Rest
  • 20s Sit-ups
  • 10s Rest

I did 10 wall balls and 11 sit-ups each round.

Midline

3 Round NFT

  • 20 Russian Twists (53# KB)
  • 45s Plank

After class I stayed to do some extra work. Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap with the blue bands for heavy and yellow for light. Burn baby!

4 Rounds NFT

  • 15 GHD Sit-ups
  • 15 Back Extensions

Focused on being as explosive as possible for both movements, which got me breathing pretty damn heavy. Took solid rest between rounds to recover.

In the evening I went for a walk. 3.22 miles in 48:29. During the summers my conditioning is always the best, which I attribute in large part to walking so much on the golf course. Felt like some fresh air tonight and the walk was perfect.

Explosive Training with Ryan Moody

Today Kevin and I went over to 989 CrossFit in Midland for The Explosive Seminar with 9-time world record holder, Ryan Moody.

ryan-moody

http://vimeo.com/56433138

We learned a ton and hot a lot of fun. Can’t wait to put some of the stuff into practice and watch results. Here are some of my highlights from the day.

The seated box jump was huge for me. I’ve had this mental battle with high box jumps for quite some time. I fear getting injured even though I know I can jump plenty high enough for a lot more than I’ve done. Ryan taught us a cool mental technique to get out of our mind, which allowed me to get that 47.5″ on my first try when I’ve never been able to even attempt anything higher than 44″ from standing. The kneeling jump stuff was a lot of fun. Oh, by the way, I’ve never done a single seated box jump in my life before today.

box-jumping

I was feeling inspired from the day, so got in some good work in the garage.

Box Squats

I used one of my 12″ jerk blocks as the box. Warmed up with 5×45# and 5×135#.

E50S for 12 sets

  • 2 Box Squats for speed (155#)

E2M for 4 sets

  • 5 Good Mornings (175#)

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 GHR
  • 12 Russian Twists (53# KB)

I used the clock for everything, not as a form of intensity, but as a way to manage rest periods so that I wouldn’t take all day. Did the GHRs unweighted since I struggled with them so much on Monday with Kevin. These did plenty for me until I can build back up.

Smolov for Breakfast

My knees are looking forward to the end of Smolov! Out in the garage around 9:30 by myself for week 3 day 2.

Back Squats

  • 20×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×255#
  • 4x7x285#
  • 5×285#
  • 3×285#

Damnit! On the 5th rep in the last set I didn’t even attempt to bounce out. I went down into the squat and just sat there. Good thing I was inside the squat rack for an easy dismount. I stripped the weights, got the bar racked, reloaded it and did a set of 3 for an extra rep. Two more days to go and they look terrible.

I did a set of 20×40# DB pullovers after to stretch out my chest. All of the heavy breathing really works those muscles.

Showered up and headed to Survival Fitness for Sunday Fun Day.

10-20-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists x2 (30# KB)
  • Sit-ups
  • V-ups

Started to feel that burn at the top of the pyramid. Used to do ab circuits like this all the time at SF. Back squats are paying off in many ways because I was the first one done by a mile.

5 Rounds

  • 500m Run
  • 20 Burpees

Didn’t try to keep up with people who took off hot on the first lap. Figured I could reel them in over the workout by channeling my inner Rich Froning. I never stopped during any round of burpees and that was a difference maker. Controlled and steady. Running fell off in the last 2 rounds, but I haven’t been doing much cardio, so I’m ok with it. Finished at 19:59.

Recovery Cards

My legs are trashed from the last few days. Was actually glad to see a deck of cards programmed for today.

Warm-up

About 6:00 on our own. I focused on some bottom squat holds and shoulder stretching for the most part.

Conditioning

“Deck of Cards”

Suits:

  • ♣ – Air Squats
  • ♠ – AbMat Sit-ups
  • ♦ – 2x Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • ♥ – Burpees

Ranks:

  • Ace – 20 Reps
  • King, Queen, Jack – 10 Reps
  • 10 through 2 – face value
  • Joker – Same movement as last card, but double the reps

I substituted in the Russian Twists for American KBS because of my shoulder. Kept a nice steady pace and was lucky on my jokers, but I did get 4 hearts in a row at one point for 33 burpees. Finished in 26:11 and got home early. Rest day and chiropractor tomorrow. Hopefully the shoulder will be ready to go this weekend for whatever 14.3 brings.

Shoulder Impingement Confirmed

hanging-ringsI was at Midland Chiropractic Sports Rehab for 80 minutes yesterday. Shoulder impingement just like I thought and maybe a bulging disc. Did a bunch of e-stim on the shoulder and low back. Put me on a spinal decompression table for about 15 minutes, and did some stretching too. Going back Wednesday, Monday, Wednesday, and then we’ll re-evaluate where things are at. So, I’m staying away from overhead movements, which sucks, but it just hurts way too much and isn’t worth hurting things further.

In for the 9am class and then stayed after to help Matt hang up a couple sets of rings for muscle-ups.

Warm-up

6:00 to stretch out shoulders and do some HR Push-ups.

Strength

Bench Press

  • 10×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 7x5x135#

Can’t do shoulder press, so bench it was. Nothing crazy with the shoulder. Could feel a little pressure so didn’t want to go any heavier.

Conditioning

7:00 AMRAP

  • Burpees (6″ target)
  • EMOM 5 Deadlifts (205#)

* Workout starts with wall balls. At the one minute mark (and every minute after) complete 5 deadlifts.

I got 18 burpees in the first minute, 8 or 9 per minute, and then 11 in the final minute to total 73 burpees in addition to the 30 deadlifts. Glad the deadlifts didn’t bother my back.

Midline

3 Rounds NFT

  • 20 Russian twists (53#)
  • 30s Plank

My back was starting to hurt on the other side from the twists, so I cut myself off after 3 rounds. I don’t need any new injuries to start.

“Nancy Grace”

Went golfing and walked 18 holes yesterday for the first time since getting back from Arizona. Was nice to have a day away from the gym. Went in at 10am this morning and trained with Kevin, Monica, and Kinde.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 2 Rounds of “Cindy” with strict pull-ups

Strength

The end of squat week 5, one more to go. Front squats today. Warmed up with 5 @ 95# and 3 @ 135#.

  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 @ 200#
  • 4 @ 215#
  • 4 @ 230
  • 3 @ 240
  • 5 @ 200

Felt really solid today.

Midline

3 Rounds

  • 10 Evil Wheels
  • 20s Ring L-sit (knees up)
  • 30 Russian Twists (35# KB)

Brutal!

OLY

6:00 EMOM

  • 1 Hang Snatch (95#)
  • 2 Snatch Balance (95#)

I missed on the first snatch, but felt pretty good with my technique after that.

WOD

“Nancy Grace”
5 Rounds

  • 15 OHS (95#)
  • 6 C&J (95#)
  • 400m Run

One benchmark girl isn’t enough, right? Pretty rough on the wrists after the previous work. Did 10-5 each round on OHS and had to fight for it. All C&J were unbroken. Running got progressively slower. Finished in 20:42.

Rested Wednesday

Needed that day off yesterday. Worked out at 10:30 today. Kevin and I split off and did our own thing.

Warm-up

“Russian Twist Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

  • DU
  • Russian Twists (35# KB)

My DU were not the greatest, but finished in 5:03. Did another set of 40 unbroken DU a couple of minutes after finishing.

Strength

10:00 E2M

  • 5 HSPU
  • 5 Ring Dips
  • 5 Pull-ups

All movements are done strict, moving as fast as possible between them. On the last set, MAX out each movement. Finished each of the first 4 rounds in about 40-45 seconds, so had over a minute to rest. This combination was much tougher than expected. I got 5-6-5 in my last set and it was a struggle!

Warmed up a little more with some lighter clean and jerks.

WOD

5 Rounds (205#)

  • 5 Deadlifts
  • 3 Power Cleans
  • 1 Jerk
  • 10 Pull-ups

Rough. The 3rd power clean every round was pretty ugly and the jerk was by far the hardest part of the whole thing. Starting off with those 5 deadlifts wiped me out more than expected. Was shooting for this to take about 10 minutes and I fell just under, with a time of 9:57.

Finisher

We loaded up the 90# prowler sled with four 45# plates. Did 4 rounds of 25m high down and low back, then finished with a 40m low down and high back. Rested 1-2 minutes between each round.

Float Like a Butterfly

I’m feeling pretty good today, considering how wrecked I was last night. I’m a little sore in a bunch of different areas, but nothing too bad. Went in for the 4:15.

Warm-up

  • 2m Jump Rope
  • 2 Rounds
    • 40 Mountain Climbers
    • 20 Russian Twists (35# KB)
    • 20 Air Squats

WOD

  • 800-600-400-200m Run
  • 15 Pull-ups
  • 15 HR Push-ups
  • 15 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target

This was a lot tougher than I expected. I went out hard on the 800m run to work on my conditioning and then really tried to work on my butterfly for the pull-ups. First set was a little rough, but I went 9-6, 10-5, and 10-5 in the last three sets. Had never done more than 7 in a row before today and I only stopped each time because of fatigue, not because of rhythm. I focused on keeping my kick going, kept a tighter kick, and kept my feet together. Tried to just power through the push-ups, but they were the slowest part for me. Did each round of wall balls unbroken. Finished in 18:39.

That was a nice recovery WOD after a tough workout for 13.2 yesterday. Back to hitting it hard tomorrow for 2 hours of work.

Unfinished Business

Enjoying my vacation, so I lazed around all day. Didn’t even get dressed until 6, so went to the 8pm class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 1m V-ups
  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Bicycles
  • 1m Flutter Kicks
  • 1m Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • 1m Rest

This was a doosey! It’s been awhile since it was this hard to hold a 1 minute plank, but I did it each round. I didn’t realize how sore my hamstrings were until those bicycles. I guess the abs got a good workout yesterday with the Zercher squats.

Strength

5×3 Floor Press

My shoulders are still feeling a little weird from the hour of Insanity with the weight vest and my back is still messed up, so I wasn’t sure how this would go. Went 135#, 155#, 175#, 195#, and 215# for 3 reps each. That was my goal for the day. Since we had plenty of time, Brent decided to go for one more set and hit his, so I said “what the hell” even though 215# was far from easy. Loaded up 225# (my previous 1RM) and squeezed out the 3rd rep. That’s even better than my bench press 3RM, so I’m convinced I have a distinct disadvantage in the bench because of my long arms.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 30 HR Push-ups
  • 20 Kroc Rows (60# DB, 10 each arm)
  • 10 Ring Dips

I can’t remember the last time I failed to finish a WOD. I wasn’t really expecting to have a 16 minute time cap either since some of the times on the board were over that. I’m going along thinking I might be able to get it done under 20:00 and Cari says we only have 1 minute left! I finished 5 rounds and 5 of the push-ups. Arms were just fried from doing 6 sets of floor press. I figured the push-ups would kill me, and they sure did. After round 1 I was struggling to do 5 at a time. I also know I was in trouble when I couldn’t even do the first 10 ring dips unbroken. But I didn’t have to resort to using a band at all, so that’s good. I think there were only 6 or 7 people all day that finished this one.

Feeling, Bad to Good

I got up early for a Saturday. I think it was before 7:30. Didn’t feel good all morning as I lazed in front of the TV. Seriously thought about staying home from the gym, but went to 10am anyway.

Warm-up

50 Rounds

  • 2 Russian KBS (40# KB)
  • Goblet Squat (40# KB)

It took a few reps to get used to releasing the KB after the 2nd swing and catching it for the goblet, then throwing it back in the air after the goblet to go into the next swings.

WOD

  • 100 Jump Squats
  • 25 “Gladiator” Man Makers (25# DBs)
    • Row, Push-up, T, Row, Push-up, T, Stand, Clean, Press
  • 50 Burpees

Those jump squats to start are deceptively difficult. I was feeling the burn in my legs at 30 reps. Broke the gladiator man makers down in to 5 sets of 5 by using a popsicle stick for every 5th rep so I didn’t lose count. When a movement is as complicated as these were, counting always gets hard. Having to move the stick provided a nice little break in there. The last 10 reps were difficult, with the T (twist your torso and reach the DB straight up to the sky) being the hardest part. Once I got to the burpees I knew the end was in sight and knocked them out unbroken. I flew through the last 5 as fast as possible for that extra little push.

I think my time was 17:34. It wasn’t the heaviest use of DBs, but I couldn’t have gone any heavier with that type of intensity, so I’ll take my top time of the class. It’s been awhile since I’ve knocked out a WOD like this, so I think my conditioning is coming back up. And to think I wasn’t feeling well before getting to the gym.

Finisher

10-20-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • AbMat Sit-ups
  • Weighted V-ups (20# DB)

Ugh, this ab circuit Kevin made up a couple of weeks ago is horrible, mostly because of the weighted v-ups. It was especially bad today because our abs were fatigued from the plank position held for most of the WOD.

Hopefully I feel up for some rowing later tonight.