Tag: Russian Twist

Jill’s 29th

I was planning to take a rest day. Kevin asked if I wanted to help come up with WOD, so he made up the warm-up and I did the WOD. After coming up with it, I knew it looked like fun and I had to give it a try. Matt came in and partnered up with me in the 11am class.

Warm-up

10-20-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • AbMat Sit-ups
  • Weighted V-ups (20# DB)

This sucked! My midline got a good workout last night with the GHD sit-ups and pullovers, so finishing these was a struggle. Took 13 or 14 minutes.

WOD

Since it was Jill’s birthday, everything was based on her age and birthdate.

1983s (33:03) AMRAP
* Partners with one person working at a time

  • 29 Hollow Rocks
  • 29 Pull-ups
  • 29 DB Snatches (45# DB)
  • 29 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 12 Curb Runs (100m)
  • 1 High Five

We split things up pretty evenly and kept a great pace. This was the best I’ve ever done on pull-ups. I did 14-14-14-15-16 of the pull-ups and all rounds I did unbroken. The most kipping pull-ups I’d done in a row was 15 before today. We ended up with the best score of the day by getting 4 full rounds and all the way through to 21 of the wall balls. When I made up the WOD I wasn’t thinking the run would be such a big portion of it, but it was probably about half of our time for each round.

Mini Vacation

Took the next few days off work and will head up north later today. Went in for the 9am to get my WOD on.

Warm-up

50-40-30-20-10

  • Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • Flutter Kicks (x4 counts)

WOD

  • 12:00 EMOTM (do both)
    • 5 Thrusters (85#)
    • 7 Star Jumps
  • NO REST! Can start the next phase as soon as you are ready.
  • 5 Rounds
    • 9 Burpee Power Clean & Presses (85#)
    • 7 T2B
    • 5 Weighted Lunges for each leg (85#)

The thrusters weren’t as bad as expected, but the star jumps really got hard to jump in those last few minutes. I think I was completing the combo in about 21 seconds each minute. I did take a bit of rest before jumping into the next portion of the WOD. In the first two rounds I was doing the burpee power cleans one at a time, which was a waste and really sucked. In the last 3 rounds I figured out I could string them together and turn the clean and press into one motion pretty much without having to straighten my legs and then dip again. That worked better and I broke them down into 5 and 4 the rest of the way. The T2B and weighted lunges were pretty easy and like a break; all were done unbroken. My total time (with the 12:00 in there) was 30:34. Glad I went with 85# instead of the 95# Rx on this one too because it would have been hard to keep up any kind of intensity.

I walked a couple of laps around the 150m rectangle to cool down.

Kevin’s First Class

Went out to the Michigan Tap Room at Stardust last night with some of the Survival Fitness crew. Not feeling the greatest today because of the beer, but I hoped a workout would fix that. Kevin was doing the programming and teaching, so wanted to support him as well. Went in for the 11am.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 50 Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • 40 Bicycles
  • 30s Plank
  • 20 AbMat Sit-ups
  • 10 Inch Worms

Took between 14 and 15 minutes for me to finish this off. Good work for the midline.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 1m Russian KBS (53#)
  • 1m Over the Shoulder Sandbags
  • 1m Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 1m Thrusters (75#)
  • 1m Jingle Jangles
  • 1m Rest

This was a good Fight Gone Bad style WOD. My rep counts for each round were 107, 111, and 107 for a 325 total. Staying consistent is a key in a WOD like this. The bulk of my reps came in the KBS and jingle jangles, with thrusters definitely having the lowest counts.

Finisher

Death by Pull-ups (by 2s)

I finished the round of 16 and then got 17 of 18. Total of 89 pull-ups. Last time doing a “death by” for pull-ups was back in May by 3s and I got through the round of 15, which was a total of 45, so that’s quite an improvement. Really happy with how far my pull-ups have come.

Licorice Legs

In for the 9am today.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 15 AbMat Sit-ups
  • 30 Russian Twists (35# KB)

Strength

5 Sets

  • 3 Low Box Squats (12″ box, wide stance)
  • 10 RDLs
  • 2-3m Rest

For the squats I used 135#, 165#, 185#, 205#, and 215#. For the RDLs I used 135#, 155#, 185#, 205#, and 235#. Had another 10# in me for the box squats, but they felt good. Went a lot heavier than I ever have on the RDLs and they felt good too.

WOD

  • 10:00 EMOTM – 8 Front Squats (135#)
  • Death by Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target, by 2s)

It took everything I had to finish the last few rounds of squats, but I did each minute without putting the bar down. Thought about going 115#, but glad I Rx’d it and made it challenging. We didn’t have any real break between the 2 portions of the WOD, although starting out with 2 wall balls in the first minute gives you a lot of break. I got through 20 and then 15 of 22.

My legs are shot. Time to do some rumble rolling.

21-15-9 and Reverse It

Little sore in my arm pit and chest area. Not sure if that’s from the dynamic bench press work, snatches, or maybe from “Cindy”. Went in to the 9am so that I have a long rest before the 6pm OLY class on Tuesday.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 30s Bottom Squat Hold
  • 30s Jumping Jacks

Strength

5×1 Low Box Squat

Two weeks ago when we did 5×5 I used 175# on my last 3 sets because it felt terrible. Last week I narrowed my stance and got up to 215# or the 5×3. This week I went another 40# higher! Did a warm-up set of 5 at 135# and then did 185#, 205#, 225#, 245#, and 255#. That’s more than my 1RM back squat, but to be fair, I haven’t attempted a 1 rep max since March, which is way too long. I think I could have gone 265# or more today if there was more time. Hopefully that means my back squat is over 275# now (goal for the year), instead of my old 240# PR.

WOD

  • 21-15-9
    • Over the Box Jumps (24″)
    • Weighted Lunges – each leg, so 42-30-18 (35# KBs)
  • 3m Rest
  • 9-15-21
    • Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
    • Burpees

I started out with an 18″ box with a couple of 45# plates stacked on it, but the new plates are so slick they were sliding all over the place and it was not safe. Thankfully Lisa offered to switch with me since she had one of the 24″ boxes. Even with the set back in time I still finished first in the class in 14:14, which includes the 3 minutes of rest. I went unbroken in the lunges, which made up a lot of ground on everyone else. Everything else was pretty easy to do unbroken, although I did want to break up the last set of wall balls, but fought through them. First half took me 6:32 (with the time to switch boxes) and the second half took 4:42.

Finisher

  • 50-40-30-20-10 Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • 20 AbMat Sit-ups in between each round

The only set I didn’t do unbroken was the set of 40, which I broke into 2 sets of 20.

Dear Cindy, I’m Moving On

It was good taking a day off yesterday. I’m feeling refreshed, yet a little tired. My leg is pretty nasty looking and by the amount of pulling I feel on the skin when I move, I think it’s going to take a long time to fully heal. The side of my head still hurts too. Going off the Vicodin today though. Went in to the 11am class.

Warm-up

5 Rounds

  • 1m V-ups
  • 1m Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • 1m Side Plank (30s each side)
  • 1m Leg Lifts
  • 1m Bicycles

It’s been awhile since we did one of these 17 minute ab routines.

WOD

We had the choice between 4 different workouts today. There were only 3 of us in class and we all picked the same one.

“Cindy”
20:00 AMRAP

  • 5 Pull-ups
  • 10 Push-ups
  • 15 Air Squats

If you know my story, you’re aware that “Cindy” and I have a bit of a history. I got my revenge on Cindy about 4 months ago when we did it with chest to deck push-ups and I managed 18+11. Today we did a normal Cindy which doesn’t have the strict push-up standard and I got 20+6. I thought I remembered setting a goal of 20 rounds by the end of the year, but seems I set the bar high with 22 rounds as my goal! I think I can get there with a little more push. The push-ups were a bigger struggle today than I remember.

I think I can finally stop obsessing over “Cindy” and move on. There are plenty of WODs in the sea.

Finisher

10 Prowler Sprints (25y high, 25y low, 90# of plates on the light prowler)

These felt pretty easy.

Will probably get in some snatch work later today out in the garage with a couple of other people. The team competition 6 of us are doing next week had a WOD where everyone has to go for a max weight snatch and clean & jerk. I haven’t done heavy snatches since February so need to get an idea of what I can do.

Get Work Done

My upper ass is a bit sore from the lunges and deficit deadlifts. But I’m positive I’d be a lot more sore if not for using the rumble roller. Without a doubt it’s the best $70 I’ve spent in a long time. I’ve been rolling 2-3 times a day, usually when watching a little TV. I went in for the 10am class.

Warm-up / WOD

5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50

  • Russian Twists (30# KB)
  • Leg Raises
  • Bicycles
  • 30s Side Plank

Take an optional 3 minutes of rest and head directly into the second half of the workout. I exchanged kettlebells and got right into it because it’s not like this was a cardio taxing workout. It’s mainly a day about doing work.

5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50

  • Russian KBS (53#)
  • HR Push-ups

Do work. Do Work. DO WORK!

Today was all about keepin’ on. Get those reps done. This ladder adds up to 275 reps of each movement plus those 5 minutes of side planks. I finished in 55:04. Easily the longest WOD I’ve done.

San Diego Sunday

I arrived in San Diego last night for our yearly Automattic company meetup. Got up early this morning and hit up the fitness center in the hotel for a workout.

Warm-up

Did an easy 800m run on the treadmill.

WOD

  • 100 DB Hang Squat Clean Thrusters (30# DBs)
  • Every minute on the minute (except for at the beginning), do 5 burpees.

We did this a few months ago at SF from the ground instead of the hang position. Back then I took some rest minutes doing 0 clean thrusters and finished in 23:42. Today I did them from the hang starting position like the video done by Jason Khalipa where this WOD came from. Finished in 15:35 today without taking any “rest” minutes.

Finisher

  • 100 Russian Twists (25# DB)

I did these in sets of 50, 25, and 25, but didn’t time it.

4 In A Row

So much for 3 on 1 off. I saw this WOD and really wanted to do it because I need the work with weighted pull-ups and the push-up reps. Tomorrow is a better day to take off for me anyway because I have the 2nd round of a golf tournament in the morning.

Warm-up

10:00 EOMOTM

  • 7 KBS
  • 12 Wall Balls

The goal was to pick a heavier KB each round. I used 48#, 53#, 62#, 71#, and 80#. That’s the first time I’ve ever swung the 80 pounder; hadn’t even done Russian swings that heavy yet. It felt pretty good. The wall balls were a good way to loosen up after all of the squat work yesterday.

Strength

5 Sets

  • 5-8 Weighted Pull-ups

These were one of the reasons I wanted to come in today. Kind of disappointed with how I did.

  • 8 @ 8#
  • 7 @ 10#
  • 5 @ 12#
  • 4 @ 12#
  • 3 @ 15#, plus a long negative on the last rep

WOD #1

5:00 AMRAP

  • 3 Plyo Push-ups
  • 6 Burpees
  • 9 HR Push-ups

This AMRAP was the other reason I wanted to come in. I need to increase my push-up strength and capacity. Lots of push-up movements here, so no break for the arms. I did 4 rounds plus 11 reps in the next round.

We rested 3 minutes before doing another WOD.

WOD #2

7:00 AMRAP

  • 7 Thrusters (35# DBs)
  • 7 Box Jumps (24″)

The Rx for men was 40# DBs and I grabbed them for about 10 seconds. After thinking about the WOD, I realized I would die so I swapped them for the 35 pounders and I’m so glad I did. In the first round I thought the 35# DBs were even going to be too heavy, but I stuck with it and did each round without putting down the weights. I really had to focus on the hip drive to get those suckers up overhead. The thrusters really wiped me out and negated my box jump advantage. I managed to get 6 rounds and 5 more thrusters.

Finisher

10:00

  • Hold the L-Sit as long as possible
  • 30 Russian Twists (30# KB)

I did the L-Sit on the rings to get that extra work on my upper body and I think it’s harder on the core as well. I was able to hold for about 25-30 seconds each time and surprisingly it was my arms that kept giving out. All of the Russian twists were done unbroken each round. I did 5 total rounds.

I’m glad I went in today because it allowed me to work on some weaknesses. I could tell I wasn’t all-in for today though; definitely not my best effort. Golfing the 2nd round of a tournament with the group of guys I play with in the morning, so it works out better for me to make tomorrow a rest day.

A Partner Ladder

Today I got to make up the WOD for Survival Fitness since Matt and Cora are out-of-town camping. I taught the 11am and then worked out with the noon class.

Warm-up

5 rounds

  • 15s Jumping Jacks
  • 15s Air Squats
  • 15s Mountain Climbers
  • 15s Jump Squats

Nice easy warm-up to get the blood flowing.

WOD

Partner Ladder

  • 10->15 Burpees
  • 5->10 Ring Dips
  • 10->15 Wall Balls
  • 5->10 T2B
  • 500m Sandbag Run

* One partner working at a time for the reps. For example, partner A does 10 burpees, partner B does 10 burpees, partner A does 11, partner B does 11, and keep going until both have done the round of 15 reps.

Since we had an odd number of people in class, I teamed up with Marisol and Brian for a team of 3. Brian and I worked at the same time as partner A and Marisol was our partner B. It’s gotta be tough teaming up with two guys and getting shorter rest periods, but Marisol did awesome.

I did Rx ring dips through the round of 7. Then in round 8 I think I did 4 Rx and 4 with a purple band. In the round of 9 I maybe got 3 Rx and then in the round of 10 it was all with the band. I was really hitting a good rhythm with the T2B today and only had to break up the last 2 rounds so I didn’t rip my hands. When I finished the run, the clock read 29:40. I was a bit ahead of Brian and Marisol, so I’m not sure what our official team time would have been. I’m really happy with how this WOD turned out. I was planning for the top teams to be around 30 minutes which was pretty close.

Finisher

3 rounds

  • 1m Plank
  • 1m Russian Twists (35# KB)
  • 1m Table Top (30s each side)
  • 1m Rest

Not going to lie, this sucked after the WOD. Even the planks were hard to get through.