Seated Shoulder Press

Sabbatical is Over

First day back to work after my three month sabbatical. The kitchen isn’t finished, but is looking pretty good! Warmed up with 10×45 and 10×95 bench.

Chest

MAX Bench Press (120/60#)

Got 41, which beats the first time through the program by 1 rep.

MAX Ring Push-ups

Did 28, which is 2 reps better.

3 Sets

10 Seated DB Shoulder Press (45#)

75 DB Bench Press (40/20#)

Went with all sets of five and tried resting the dumbbells on my chest most of the time instead of sitting up. Finished in 2:36 to beat my 2:48.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

50 alt Plank Knee-to-Elbows
50 Jump Rope
25 Air Squats
50 Mountain Climbers
25 alt Side Crunches
25 Russian Kettlebell Swings (53#)

Got through 4+50.

Super busy and productive day on Sunday with the heat, so skipped a workout. Yesterday my back was good enough to walk 18 holes and after a week away from the course. It wore me out for the day! I edged and mowed the lawn during lunch today.

Final day of the chest program and I’m over it!

Warm-up

20 PVC Passes
Bench Press
- 10×45
- 8×95
- 6×135
- 4×165
- 3×185
- 2×205

Chest

MAX Bench Press (225#)

Got nine reps, which is 1 more than Saturday and 1 short of tying my best ever.

100 HR Push-ups

I did 3s through 81 and then quick singles to finish in 5:34. Still now close to my PR, but almost 30 seconds faster than last week.

Seated Shoulder Press

3 Sets @ 3 Weights
- MAX Reps
- 3:00 Rest between sets

I did 15-13-12 with 110, 15-14–15 with 90, and 22-20-20 with 70 pounds. Decided to increase 15# per set over the last time and ended up with 905 more total pounds lifted. 💪

6 Sets

12 Double DB French Press
1:00 Rest

I was smoked, but wanted to see if I could jump up to the 25s. I barely made it through two sets and then used 20s for the last four sets.

FIN!

We really liked this program and it seemed to work well. We both put on size and got more comfortable with all the volume. Probably should have drank more protein shakes because it was so many reps, especially the Tuesday workouts. I think we’re going to start an arm program next.

About an hour after the workout we went for a 2.62 mile walk in about 45 minutes.

Max Seated Presses

Walked 18 yesterday. I’m sore as fuck from the plyo lunges, yet somehow I’ve on a seven day green recovery streak in WHOOP.

Warm-up

20 PVC Passes
Bench Press
- 10×45
- 10×95
- 6×120
- 4×140

Chest

MAX Bench Press (160/80#)

I got 30 today, which is four more than Saturday.

100 Push-ups

Figured I’d try a different strategy today so I did four and then quick threes. It didn’t work out. I finished in 3:46, which is seven seconds slower than all 5s last week, probably due to it being so many more sets to get through.

Seated Shoulder Press

3 Sets @ 3 Weights
MAX Reps
3:00 Rest between sets

16-15-12 @ 95#
18-16-16 @ 75#
22-25-25 @ 55#

I think I messed up the rest period before that 8th set and took an extra minute, which would explain how I got better after that. I was fading after every other set throughout. This is not really very fun with the shoulder press though.

6 Sets

12 Double DB French Press (20# DBs)
1:00 Rest

Mowed both lawns after dinner.

Back on the Rings

On Wednesday night my lats and outer pecs really started to get sore from Tuesday’s 75 pull-ups. Yesterday I had physical therapy at 9am and progressed to a bunch of more advanced moves. It was another good session. In the afternoon I power walked 20 minutes on the treadmill for 1.32 miles and did the PT exercises we didn’t hit at my session. Later in the evening I did second round of Steamboats and 7-5-3 of the McGill Big 3. My calves and ankles were getting sore by the end of the day.

All of that stuff is still sore today. I did my PT exercises before lunch and went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

Monster Walks (red)
Steamboats
7-5-3 Curl-up
7-5-3 Bird Dog
30 cal Echo Bike
3 Rounds
- 10 DB Shoulder Press (10#)
- 10 DB Lateral Raises (10#)
- 30 Mountain Climbers

That 30 calorie bike really gets my heart going, but it’s slowly getting easier. Took about 1:50 today.

Strength

5 Sets

6 Seated DB Shoulder Press (50#)
10 DB Front Raises (10#)

I used the smallest incline position from straight up on the bench to have a more comfortable sitting position and placed an AbMat at my lumbar spine. I also placed a small box in front of the bench so I could lift the dumbbells from there and put them back without having to strain anything that would get my back in a risky position.

Conditioning

15:00 AMRAP

6 DB Bench Press (60#)
3 Muscle-ups
10 Reverse Lunge Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

I place a box in front of the bench again. After each set of bench press I dropped the weights to the floor while still laying there. Then I got up and deadlifted them one at a time back on to the box. Was a nice little breather before the rings. The muscle-ups felt really good and I had no trouble doing every set unbroken, even after not doing any for about six weeks. The lunging wall balls were a little more challenging with the standard 20 pound ball this time, but 10 reps was manageable. I did exactly eight rounds.

Midline

McGill Big 3

7-5-3 Side Plank

Since I did the curl-ups and bird dogs before class all I had left was the side planks.

Back on the Rig

Yep, time to properly rest this right calf. I about fell down the stairs this morning. Went to the 4pm class and we’re upstairs in the CrossFit room for the first time! They still have a lot of work to do, but almost all of the rig is up and there was flooring down.

Warm-up

8×50′ Shuttle Run
3 Rounds
- 10 Jumping Jacks
- 5 Air Squats
- 10 PVC Passes
- World’s Greatest Stretch
- 10/10 Leg Swings

Accessory

5 Sets

4/4 Single Arm DB Front Squats (50#)
8 Glute Bridges (50# DB)

Nothing crazy for me as the class did back squats and the bridges (or hip thrusts).

Conditioning

Tabata

T2B
OH Single Arm Walking Lunge (50#)
Seated Shoulder Press (45#)
MB Cleans (20#)

I decided I’m going to scale all kinds of things for the next 1.5 weeks before I leave on a trip in order to let this leg and my back heal up. No explosive movements (jumping, driving up, etc.) with my legs and no barbell lifting. So then that really gives me almost a month before I’m back and hopefully can hit things hard again. Will give me a lot of time to focus on gymnastics movements, bodyweight stuff, and maybe the bike. The class programming was T2B, barbell lunges, push presses, and Sumo deadlift high pulls (all with 95#).

I definitely wore grips for the toes to bars. Weston and I couldn’t remember what we used to do for these, but thought it was 7-8. So of course we both went for eight out of the gate. I got six rounds unbroken, did 4-4 in round seven, and then 6×1 in the eighth. Might have been able to sustain seven unbroken the whole way. I did six lunges every round. I sat on a medicine ball for the shoulder presses, doing four rounds of ten and four rounds of eight. I bet I feel those presses tomorrow. Then I did seven every time for the medicine ball cleans.

I went back and looked at my history and the best I’d done for Tabata T2B was 57 reps a year ago with 6×8 and 4-5. That day I did 5×8 unbroken, 5-3, and then singles. So 62 today was a nice PR!

Was Killin’ It

Had been planning to go class yesterday, but was a bit tired during the day so made the call early to make it a rest day. Went to 10am today.

Warm-up

3×15 RH (140#)
2 Sets
- 5 Inch Worms
- High kNees
- 10 Air Squats
- 10 HR Push-ups

Strength – 4 Sets

10/10 single arm single leg RDL (62#)
5/5 OH walking lunges (62#)

Did my own version since it was programmed to de RDLs and lunges.

Conditioning

“Wall Ball Kalsu”

EMOM Buy-in: 5 Burpees
Accumulate 100 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

I made the call today that we were starting with burpees like it should be. I got 24-20-19 and then on the 15th rep of the 4th set I felt something and on #16 I got a minor back tweak. Clock was at 3:49 through 79 reps when I finished. I was killing it! Would have gotten a few more reps there and then could have finished in the next minute. I’ve done 4:50 in the version that doesn’t do the 5 burpees during that initial minute, so this would have been a nice improvement.

So I skipped out on the medicine ball sit-ups they did and figured I might as well get in my Push Only work for the weekend.

Bench Press

10×45#
10×95
6×135
3×165
3×195
3×215
4x3x230

Felt easy!!

10×45#
10×75
6×95
3×115
3×125
3×135
2x3x145

Subbed these instead of push press due to my back. Different.

Accessory

bench-on-boxes

3×24 Seated alt DB Shoulder Press (40#)
3×15/15 Pallof Press (red band)
3×12 DB Side Raises (15#)
3×12 DB Front Raises (15#)
3 Sets
- 20 Shoulder Ts (prone on elevated bench hanging over the edge, 5#)
- 3x30s Overhead Opener

I’m so used to having the combination of side raises and then bent-over side raises I didn’t realize there were front raises. There were supposed to be first, but I was already 2 sets through the side raises when I realized the program difference. I decided to superset in the overhead openers from the Performance Plus program.

Performance Plus

Handstand Shifts (video)
- 2×2
- 3×8 Scaled with feet on plate stack
3 Sets
- 1:00 HS Hold (facing)
- 1:00 Rest

😂 I tried doing the sponge shifts up on the wall but wow! I was using the eraser from the whiteboard. After 2 attempts I went for scaled, which was no walk in the park either. Instead of doing 3 max sets of handstand hold I did the intervals since I’d already worked my shoulders so much. Barely made it through the last 2 sets.

Stayed Home

Woke up this morning with no improvement in my low back. The morning is the worst part of the day though because it’s hard to get out of bed. Have been icing a few times a day to try and help. Planned to go to the class at CrossFit Intuition today, but decided to stay home so I wouldn’t try to deadlift in the programmed metcon. Went out to the garage around 5pm and warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Strength

5 Sets

10 Seated DB Press (50# DBs)
10 JM Press (60# – safety bar)

I had looked up this video but forgot how to properly set up with that bar. Oh well, I’ll fix it next time. I’m sure I still got some use out of it. Those seated presses were rough for the 10 reps.

Conditioning

Saw a neat VO2 Max workout on Aerobic Capacity this week with options for running or rowing. Easy enough to use on the Ski Erg as well, so that’s what I did.

Part 1 – 4 Sets
- 500m (@ 2k PR pace)
- 1:00 Rest
5:00 Rest
Part 2 – 4 Sets
- 125m (@ 100%)
- 15s Rest
5:00 Rest
Part 3 – 4 Sets
- 250m (see below)
- 30s Rest

The meat of this workout comes in part 3. To figure out the pace, you take the average pace from part 1, add the total time from part 2, and divide by 2. So for me it was 1:55.3 + 1:40.3 / 2 = 1:47.8.

My 500s were 1:55.3, 1:55.1, 1:55.3, and 1:55.3. I went below my best recorded 2k because I’m sure it’s not very accurate. The 125s were 24.7, 24.7, 25.5, and 25.3. Those 15 second rest periods were way too short! Finally the 250s were 53.8, 53.7, 53.7, and 53.5, all below the goal pace. I thought I might end up outside puking. This workout was much harder than I was expecting. Didn’t adjust the rest periods though maybe should have since can’t go as fast as the rower.

Finished up with 2 sets of 10 Heel Drives on the GHD.

Big Triple

Planned to get in the HSPU workout in the garage in the middle of the day, but that didn’t happen, so I did it at the gym. Going to be my last Skill WOD workout so I can rest this shoulder from muscle-ups and pull-ups.

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
10 Heel Drives
10s Handstand Hold

Mobility: 5 Sets

10s GHD Hanging Stretch

Test Your Max

Kipping Deficit Handstand Push-ups

2 @ 0.5″
2 @ 4.5
2 @ 7
4×6 @ 9 (70% of max)
Max reps at same deficit

Rest was 2:00 between those last 5 working sets. I made it through all the sets of 6 again and got an extra one to make a final set of 6 on the max set. Wore the new Reebok CrossFit Speed TR that were delivered today. The HSPU strip on the heel is really cool.

Much brighter than I expected from the pictures.

Strength Accessory: 3 Sets

8 Seated DB Press (53# KB)
20 Barbell Hollow Rocks

Not really cool with the KB, but the 40# DBs we have at the gym aren’t heavy enough. Hard to get the KB up to your shoulders from the floor in a seated position. Cut it back to 3 rounds instead of 5 so I could join Bryan in some stuff.

Skill

Warmed up snatches with touch-n-go power triples of 45-95-125-135-155 pounds. Felt great!

12:00 EMOM (alt)

3 Power Snatch
10 Pistols

Used 165# for the first 4 sets and it felt really good so I went 175 and then 185! All still touch-n-go too. I’d never even tried 175 before today. Pistols went well and were solid in these new shoes.

Conditioning

6:00 AMRAP

4 Thrusters (115#)
4 Burpee Box Jump Overs

Nasty combo. Quads had a nice burn by the end. Did 7 rounds plus the thrusters and 1 final burpee box over. Rested too much before picking up the bar each round, as usual with me.

Really happy about the new shoes. They are on par with the Nano 5. Looking forward to ordering a pair of the Nike Metcon 2 at the end of the month when they are released.

You’re Kidding Me

Feeling great other than this damn shoulder, so skipping the muscle-ups again this week.

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 3 Day 2

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
10 OHS (45#, jerk grip)
10 Bridge Rocks

Adjusted the warm-up again for my shoulder.

Mobility: 5 Sets

10s GHD Hanging Stretch/Bridge

Test Your Max

Dusty (program creator) finally got back to us on if we should scale or not. Said to go with the prescribed 70% deficit even if we have to break up sets a lot. So I went for it today.

2 @ 1.5″
2 @ 3.5
2 @ 6.5
4×6 @ 9
Max @ 9 (5 reps)

Took exactly 2:00 rest between working sets today. Didn’t have high expectations when I couldn’t even get 2 sets of 6 at 7.5″ in the first week. Blew my mind when I got the first set at 9 inches and then got the next 3 too. Almost had a 6th rep in the final (max) set. Still can’t believe it. These really make you focus on your kip, which has probably improved a lot in the previous weeks.

Strength Accessory: 5 Sets

8 Seated DB Press (50#)
20 Barbell Hollow Rocks (45#)

Maxed out my adjustable dumbbells today and finally had to struggle a little bit on these seated presses. Took me just under an hour from start to finish with the warm-up taking a solid 15 minutes or more.

Went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

Jumping Jacks
Mountain Climbers
Push-ups
Air Squats

Strength – Push Press

6×45#
6×95
6×125
6×155
6×180
6×195
6×205 (PR)

That beats the 5×198 from about a month ago. Touch-n-go reps until the last 2 sets.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

10 Wall Balls (30#, 10′)
5 Burpees

Yuck! 50% heavier is a big difference. I wouldn’t want to many more than 10 in a row. Finished in 9:48 with all rounds of wall balls unbroken.

5 Rounds

6 Plate Snatches (45#)
6 OH Lunges (alt, 45#)

Went unbroken and never put the plate down. Finished in 2:35.

That’s enough shoulders for one day!

Kipping Deficits

Feeling those lunges from Sunday and probably a little bit of the various squatting yesterday. Left shoulder is still funky. Out in the garage tonight since it was a busy day. Remember to heat the place up first. 🙂

Skill WOD “Be the Master of your Volume” Week 2 Day 2

Skipping the day 1 muscle-ups this week to see if my shoulder improves.

Warm-up: 3 Rounds

10 Pass-thrus (over & under grips)
10 Straddle V-ups
10 Back Extensions
10 Bridge Rocks

The wall walks bother my shoulder going through the middle so I put the bridge rocks in this week.

Mobility: 5 Sets

10s GHD Hanging Stretch/Bridge

Test Your Max

I didn’t feel the need to do a 1RM deficit again and eat up all that time so I did a few warm-up sets and then got right into working sets. These are all kipping handstand push-ups with a deficit.

2@1″
2@4
2@5.75
4×6@6.5
Max @ 6.5 (7 reps)

The prescription is working sets at 70% but I was lower than that last week and still had to decrease to get in the volume. Today I went another inch lower to start, which ends up putting me at 50%. Got all the working sets and an extra rep in that max set. I rested 2:15 between the working sets because I was late catching the clock on the first set so decided to stick with it. Felt much better about that! Here’s my first working set.

Strength Accessory: 5 Sets

8 Seated DB Press (45#)
20 Barbell Hollow Rocks (45#)

I have access to more dumbbell options at home so increased over the 40# I’ve been using. Found out these hollow rocks are indeed holding a barbell. Pretty interesting twist to them.

Conditioning

5 Rounds

25 Push Press (75#)
50 DU

Got this sucker from the “Light” category of the Beyond the Whiteboard Fitness Level workouts. High reps at low weight was a nice challenge for me. Cool combo with push press using a lot of calves, which also comes into play with the jump rope obviously. Then both fatigue the shoulders.

I got the new RPM handles for my jump rope and it came with a bare wire cable, so I figured I’d try it again. Yesterday was the first working trying it out and the result was very disappointing. So today I went back to the old handles that have a coated cable. Like night and day and it doesn’t hurt like a bitch if you miss. I will be swapping cables on those new handles for sure.

I only had 3 misses on dubs. Went 43-7, 8-42, 7-43, and the last two rounds unbroken! I broke up the push presses into 15-10, 2 rounds of 10-8-7, and then 15-10 the final two rounds. Finished in 10:31. I might be feeling that one for a few days.