Tag: Side Bend

Rough Morning, Solid Night

Got plenty of sleep, but had a hard time getting out of bed. Made it for 9am though.

Warm-up

  • Bottom Squat Hold
  • Arm stretching
  • Band pass-thrus
  • 2 Rounds
    • 20 Mountain Climbers
    • 20 Jumping Jacks

Strength

Shoulder Press

  • 6×45#
  • 6×95#
  • 6×115#
  • 6×125#
  • 6×130#
  • 6×135#
  • 6×140#
  • 6×145#

Meh. Would have liked to get 150 or 155.

Midline

4 Sets

  • 5 Evil Wheels
  • 10/10 Side Bends (62# KB)

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

  • 50 Burpees
  • 50 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
  • 50 American KBS (53#)
  • 50 Air Squats

Settled into a pace of 15-16 burpees per minute, which got me finished around 3:15. Did my wall balls in sets of 10. Too much rest between the sets. Moved on to the swings around 6:10. Did two sets of 15 and two sets of 10. Then the air squats unbroken but slow. Had about a minute left and managed 15 burpees for 215 total reps. Not sure why, but I did not feel very good after this one; I didn’t even push hard. Maybe it’s a nutrition thing or having a hard time waking up was a sign.

Break at night to get in some work in the garage. Warmed up with an easy 5:00 on the Air Dyne for 2.63km.

Back Squat

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×185#
  • 3×225#
  • 3×255#
  • 3×275#
  • 3×295#
  • 3×315#
  • 3×330#
  • 3×340# (PR)

After 100 squats this morning I was unsure how I’d feel tonight. Wasn’t feeling very good as I worked up and even at 315#. Knew I had to change my attitude after that and just attack each rep. Could definitely feel my quad, though it obviously didn’t hold me back. Hopefully I can walk tomorrow.

Accessory

5 Rounds

  • 30s OH Holds (15# Training bar w/ 15# plates on bands)
  • 30s Rest
  • 30s Hollow Rocks
  • 30s Rest

Big difference from using the earthquake bar, but not a bad substitution. Still get some movement out of the bar and weight. Was able to go non-stop through each set of hollow rocks, which I wasn’t expecting.

Bench Sesh

Shoulders are tired from all of the push presses yesterday. Back was not happy sleeping last night. In to CFi at 4:30 today.

Strength

Bench Press

  • 5×45#
  • 5×95#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×165#
  • 5×185#
  • 5×190#
  • 5×200#
  • 5×210#
  • 5×220#

Felt good! New 5RM.

Gymnastics

4 Rounds NFT

  • 5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
  • Muscle-up
  • 5 Strict Ring Dips

Accessory

4 Rounds NFT

  • 10/10 Kroc Rows (62# KB)
  • 10/10 Side Bends (62# KB)

Conditioning

5 Rounds

  • 30s Row
  • 1:15 Rest

Went balls to the wall on the first round and was able to hold about a 1:20 pace. Distances were 182, 174 172, 168, and 171 meters. Much harder than I expected.

Hose Off

Originally today was going to be a rest day, but since I didn’t get much done in the gym yesterday I figured I’d play it by how I felt. Was still exhausted last night at the movies from the fire truck pull, but feeling pretty good today. Went to the 5:30 class.

Warm-up

3 Rounds

  • 30s Bottom Squat Hold
  • 20 Jumping Jacks
  • 30s Plank
  • 5 Push-ups

Strength

  • 6×155# Deadlift
  • 6×245# Deadlift
  • 6×315# Deadlift
  • 6 Rounds NFT
    • 6×345# Deadlift
    • 6/6 Side Bends (62# KB)

Keep pushing the weight/reps on the deadlifts. Little by little. 345# is the same weight I recently used for 8×3 and then 7×4. Back has still been feeling good. Chalked up after the first work set and it made a huge difference without the bar starting to slip in my hands.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 20 Air Squats
  • 30 Russian Twists (35#)
  • 40 Flutter Kicks
  • 50 DU

Too many misses (2 every round I think) on double unders. Haven’t been doing them enough and it showed. Finished in 7:05. Everything else was unbroken.

6 Rounds

  • 1:00 Row
  • 1:30 Rest

The rest time is approximate since Andrew and I were alternating on the rower. I went 310, 309, 309, 308, 310, and 319 meters. I guess I won’t row tomorrow like I was planning. Will be able to work on my jerk instead.

Pack It In

Upper legs are really sore from yesterday. I did a heavy sled drag at night that I’ve updated yesterday’s post with, but Louie Simmons says they don’t make you sore, so I guess it has to be from the squats and snatches I did. It was over a week since my last squatting session so maybe it was all from squats. Went in at 10am this morning and trained with Kevin. We really packed everything in and finished in well under 90 minutes.

Warm-up

  • 5:00 Air Dyne

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press (Cycle 2 Week 1)

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 100# (65%)
  • 5 @ 115# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 130# (85%)

Felt good today and I was able to get 10 reps for an estimated max of 173#. I was only able to get 8 @ 125# in the first cycle, so that’s a big step up.

3 Sets

  • 20 Pullovers (45# DB)
  • 10/10 Side Bends (62# KB)

WOD #1

10:00 EMOM

  • 10 Burpees

Did the first round in 20 seconds and got a little slower each round until about round 5 and then was able to keep pace at 25 seconds per round. We definitely don’t do enough burpees. They are great for conditioning and this is a fun little interval workout.

WOD #2

  • 100 DU
  • 50 T2B
  • 30 HSPU
  • 30 Over the Box Jumps (24″)
  • 50 Sit-ups
  • 100 DU

My hips held me back after 37 reps on the T2B, having to go to sets of 3s and 2s or I would start failing to get my feet up to the bar. I hit the wall on HSPU even though I never did a set of more than 4. Had to do singles for the last 4 reps, which was super slow. Box jumps and sit-ups were unbroken. Double unders weren’t my greatest today. Took me 18:10 to finish.

Really solid training session.

300 FY

Legs are tired from the last couple of days.

Got on the Air Dyne around 9am. There is a test to see if you can do 300 calories in less than 10 minutes called 300 FY (“Fuck You”) and since I was already planning to do a steady 10:00 @ 76-78rpm I figured I’d give it a shot. I hit 299 calories early in the week without even trying.

I kept above 76rpm 99% of the time and even got up in the low 80s here and there. Totaled 319 calories and 3.9 miles.

Out in the garage around noon because it was raining out. I didn’t find out until yesterday that the garage was unlocked or I would have been lifting in there on the flat floor all week. Oh well, I guess I was preparing for the unknown.

Push Press

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 105#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 145#
  • ME @ 165# (got 8)
  • 3 x 10 @ 105#

They felt pretty solid today. Not much, if anything, left in the tank on the max effort set.

More Strength

5 Rounds NFT 135# (don’t drop the bar)

  • 6 hang power cleans
  • 4 front squats
  • 8 back loaded walking lunges

Wow was I breathing hard after each round of this. Forgot how bad barbell complexes can be. I’d actually planned higher reps and some good mornings too but it was scary trying the first rep with my back so sweaty so I canceled them and adjusted everything.

4 Rounds NFT 53#KB

  • 10/10 side bends
  • 12 Goblet squats
  • 10/10 single leg RDLs

When you concentrate on doing the side bends correctly they really burn! I don’t ever remember goblet squats being so easy.

Solid week of workouts on vacation and a great way to come back after being sick for two weeks. I’m just going to relax the rest of the day and then I head back home in the morning.

Tabata WOD

I felt like shit all day yesterday after the workout. I’m not sure what’s going on with me lately. Either my cardio is that bad that the workouts are killing me or I’m learning to push myself harder and that’s draining everything I have. Went to the 9am today.

Warm-up

  • 50 Butt Kicks
  • 50 Jumping Jacks
  • 50 High Knees
  • 50 Zombie Kicks
  • 50 Lateral Hops
  • 50s Plank
  • 50 Bicycles
  • 50 Hip Thrusts

Really felt the hip thrusts in my ass and hamstrings.

WOD

  • Tabata – Lateral Over the Bar Burpees
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata AbMat Sit-ups
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Pistols
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Ring Dips
  • 1m Rest
  • Tabata Ring Rows

Much harder than it looks on the board. I listed them here in the order I did the WOD. I think it was good to start with the burpees and then sit-ups because I was freshest at that point. Managed 49 over the bar burpees and 91 sit-ups. Tried to do strict pistols but just wasn’t happening, so after a couple of reps I started holding a post for balance and support. Alternated legs each round and ended up with 60 reps. I went strict for the first 4 rounds of ring dips and then used a purple band the rest of the way to get a total of 49 reps. Started with straight leg ring rows and moved my feet in as they got harder. 55 reps there for a total of 304 in all.

Finisher

12:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Side Bends on each side (53# KB)
  • 10 V-ups

Once again, the WOD killed me and I was ready to be sick. Went kind of slow, but managed to get 7 rounds in.

Strap a Kettlebell to my Back

I’m pretty programmed now to wake up right around 7:30 each morning without an alarm. This is perfect timing to get a bite to eat and hit the 9am class. I even had some time to use the rumble roller this morning, which I’ve been trying to use whenever I watch TV.

Warm-up / Strength

20:00 EOMOTM

  • Odds: 8 Side Bends on each side (71# KB)
  • Evens: 30s Plank

WOD

  • 100 HR Push-ups
  • 21-15-9
    • Box Jumps (24″)
    • KBS (53#)
  • Run 10 laps of 150m holding KB (53#)

I smashed my PR for the 100 hand release push-ups by doing it in 5:46. My previous best was 6:21 just over a month ago. One thing I focused on today was not getting too big of sets early on. I started out with a set of 15, then 10, and then 5s the rest of the way. That really helped to have some gas left in the tank for the 2nd 50. Box jumps and KBS were no big deal.

All the “fun” was at the end with the weighted run. The best way to hold the KB is to use both hands and hold it by the handle behind your neck. It’s probably not real great for your neck and spine, but it’s really the only way to be able to run. We ran nearly a mile! After the 5th lap I couldn’t feel my hands and arms anymore. I wanted to put the kettlebell down so bad but knew it would be so much harder to get going, so I powered through the best I could. Total time for the WOD was 20:30. Even with the cool weather, I had sweat flying everywhere because I had to work so hard to keep that KB in place. Hopefully this transfers well to the 800m run with 25 pounds I’ll have to do next weekend in the competition.

Finisher

  • 100 DUs

Started out with a string of 29 in a row. It was hard to keep that rope spinning fast enough with fried shoulders and arms from the KB run. I finished in 1:45.

Strength in the Garage Gym

A couple of days ago I did the dynamic effort method of training on the bench press, so today I wanted to try it with box squats.

  • 2 sets of 2 @ 45#
  • 2 @ 95#
  • 2 @ 115#
  • 2 @ 135#
  • 2 @ 155#
  • 8 sets of 2 @ 165#

It was definitely a new feeling and variation on the back squat. Get down to hit the box/bench and then try to explode back up.

Strict Paleo Really Works

My legs are almost back to normal, but my upper abs are still sore today. Not sure that I’ve mentioned it in a post yet this week, but on Monday I went back to eating strict Paleo. I have a competition on October 7th so I want to go in as the best Nick I can. I’m competing in the beginner’s division, so hopefully I can be competitive. As a result of the diet changes, I’m feeling the results in only a few days.

Warm-up

Tabata Mash-up

  • Plank
  • Bicycles

I could really feel these in my sore upper abs. Definitely helped loosen them up though.

Strength

Take 90 second of rest between each set.

Side Bends, 3×12 (each side)

  • 62# KB
  • 71# KB
  • 80# KB

Russian KBS, 3×12

  • 71# KB
  • 80# KB
  • 88# KB

WOD

  • 21-18-15-12-9 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 21-18-15-12-9 Burpees
  • 5-4-3-2-1 Renegade Man Makers (40# DBs)

In case you’re confused on how that WOD works, there are 5 rounds. In round 1 you do 21 box jumps, 21 burpees, and 5 renegade man makers. Then in round 2 all the reps decrease to the next number.

I finished in 12:12. Box jumps and burpees were all done unbroken. Renegade man makers were a little slower with some very short breaks, because DAMN! if you’ve ever done them you know how much they crush your soul.

Finisher

  • 50 Suitcase Deadlifts (88# KB)

Done for quality and weight. I took the heaviest KB we have and knocked them out by doing 5 per side at a time.

Do You Like Butterflies?

This morning it was back on the Armstrong Pull-up Program after the prescribed two days off, so I banged out my 3 sets of push-ups in the morning. Walked 18 holes of golf and then worked, so I attended the 8pm class for the first time. It was a fun partner WOD.

Warm-up

2 rounds

  • 1m Plank Step-outs
  • 1m Standing Bicycle/Steam Engine
  • 1m Side Bends (35# KB)
  • 1m Russian Twist (35# KB)
  • 1m Superman Plank
  • 1m Rest

The plank step-outs and Superman planks were both new to me. I could feel both of them working right away.

WOD

We partnered up and did a ladder with 2 exercises, wall balls (20# MB) and box jumps (24″). I was teamed up with Jason, who has lost over 60 pounds since he started about 3 months ago. Amazing! Jason did 25 wall balls, while I did 25 box jumps. When we both completed our reps, we swapped exercises, but were now on 24 reps. So each time we switched, we decreased a rep. In the end I did more box jumps and Jason did more wall balls, but I think it was only a difference of 13 reps. My goal was to complete all of my sets unbroken, which I was able to do. Jason did an awesome job and we ended up setting the best time for the day with 20:09. I know you’re not supposed to compare yourself too much to everyone else, but that’s still one hell of a feeling and I can’t help by try to win everything I do.

Skills

After the WOD, I alternated between doing 10 pistols (switching legs each rep) and working on the butterfly kipping pull-up. As the sets went on, my pistols got better and better. It’s all about finding the balance points when I do them. As far as the butterfly pull-ups go, they are a work-in-progress. I started to feel some of the cycling, and got 2 in a row towards the end.

As soon as I got home I knocked out 5 max rep sets of strict pull-ups with 90 seconds of rest in between for the Armstrong program. After just doing a bunch of pull-up work at Survival Fitness, I didn’t get too many.