Sled Drag – Page 5 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Too Much?

I walked 18 holes of golf yesterday morning and was pretty exhausted most of the rest of the day. No idea why. I got in an hour nap and was in bed early to get 9 hours of sleep. In at 10am this morning.

Warm-up

450m Run
100m Sled Drag (160#)
25/25 Band Walks (Red)
10/10 Flamingos
10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 1 Week 3

5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
5 @ 205# (50%)
3 @ 245# (60%)
5 @ 305# (75%)
3 @ 350# (85%)
1+ @ 390# (95%)

To beat my previous best estimated 1RM I needed 7 reps and I ended up getting 8 for a new estimate of 493#!! Probably still quite a bit higher than my real max, but I’ll take it. I might have pushed a little too much though, because I felt something in rep 5 or 6 and then in rep 8. Hopefully it was nothing, but low back was pretty sore almost immediately, although it did hold up in the WOD.

Kroc Rows

3 Sets of 15/15 with a 53# KB

Actually did these after the WOD, but wanted to group them up here in the strength section.

WOD

3 Rounds

20 Deadlifts (135#)
15 Back Squats (135#)
10 Push Jerks (135#)

First longer barbell complex in a while and it showed. Took me 11:37 to finish. I went 19-1, 10-9-1, and 14-5-1 on the deadlifts, back squats all “unbroken” (never dropped the bar), and 5-5, 6-4, and 6-4 on the push jerks. If we hadn’t just done heavy deadlifts I would have been able to get them all unbroken each round I think. I was starting to feel pretty rough trying to recover after this.

Finisher

“Air Dyne Hell”
10 Rounds

15s at 100% (20s at 100% on the last round)
1:45 Rest

Kevin and I got 273 calories, down from our last time with 287. No idea how we managed that before!

I got home and thought I was going to pass out for the next 20-30 minutes. Slamming a lemonade helped right away though. I think that might have been too much intensity after the heavy deadlifts.

I went back at 6 since my legs were already feeling the morning session and my back was pretty lit up. Figured it would be good to flush things out a bit.

0.5 Mile Sled Drag (forward) with 115#

“Annie”
50-40-30-20-10

DU
Sit-ups

Smashed my old PR of 7:41 with a 7:08. I missed my first DU on the sets of 50 and 40, but otherwise did them with 50, 2-38, 30, 20, 10. Could have been sub 7 without those misses, but I have no idea how people do sit-ups so damn fast. I never stopped moving.

0.5 Mile Sled Drag (backwards) with 115#

Ugh, backwards is so hard on the hip flexors. I wanted to stop after 2 of 6 laps, but kept on truckin’.

Randomness

Feeling beat up today after 3 big strength lifts yesterday. No golf this morning, so I went in at 10am for some low intensity, low impact recovery work.

Rowed a 500m, did 3:00 on the Air Dyne, and did some mobility stuff.

We set up a circuit with 285# on the sled, 180# on the prowler, and an 80# sandbag. For 30 minutes rotated around doing various sled drags (forward, forward low with straps between legs, and backwards with ass low), rope pull the prowler while sitting on the ground and then push the prowler back, and a shoulder carry walk with the sandbag. The sled and prowler were about 50 feet each direction and the weighted walk was about 50m down and back.

2 Rounds of the MB Passes

10 Passes
10 OH Passes
10/10 Side passes
10 Straight up passes

Feeling better after moving around.

Some Hills

Lot’s going on today. Headed to Survival Fitness earlier than the normal 10am so I could drag the sled, get in a workout, and be out of there by 11am.

Warm-up

0.56 mile slid drag with 135# in 14:45. Needed this because my ass and hamstrings are beat up from yesterday.

Strength

Weighted Chin-ups

3 @ 20#
3 @ 25#
3 @ 25#
3 @ 30#
3 @ 35#

Probably could have gone up 5# each set instead of spending 2 sets at 25#.

Weighted Push-ups

8 @ 45#
8 @ 55#
8 @ 55#
8 @ 55#

Got really tough on the last reps of the last two sets.

Weighted Planks

30s @ 70#
30s @ 80#
30s @ 90#
30s @ 90#

Had to really fight to keep my core from dropping. Heavy!

WOD

7 Rounds

7 HSPU
7 K2E
21 DU (Unbroken)

I did this one back in February out in Phoenix in a time of 10:48, with some HSPU failing at the end. I hadn’t missed at all on DU then though. Today I missed one set of DU after 14 and another set after 16. Still getting used to the lighter Rx cable I think. My HSPU were much better though, so I finished in 9:55! Solid improvement in 5 months.

I had a 90 minute massage in the afternoon that was great.

In the evening I went out to the soap box derby with Kevin and Ellen to run some hill sprints. Warmed up with a jog around the track which is probably 600-700m.

10 Rounds

Hill Sprint (About 150 paces)
Slow walk back down to recover

Walked a lap for a cool down. Not too long after, my hamstrings were tightening up already. Deadlifting should be fun in the morning.

PR Fails

My left calf is tight, either from push presses on Friday or all of the double unders yesterday. Went to the gym at 2 with Kevin and Ellen.

Warm-up

DU
3:00 Air Dyne

Knocked out a streak of 81 DU in a row. Thought maybe it was the day I finally join the century club, but it was not to be.

Strength

Bench Press – 5/3/1 Cycle 1 Week 1

5 @ 85# (40% of training max – warm)
5 @ 105# (50% – warm)
3 @ 125# (60% – warm)
5 @ 135# (65%)
5 @ 160# (75%)
5+ @ 180# (85%)

* Used the Reactive Sling Shot for the working sets.

Still trying to force that right elbow to stay in, but in the last set it still kept leaking out. The Sling Shot is a pretty weird feeling. I got 13 reps with 180#, which I’m pretty damn happy about.

Weighted Dips

Did 3 sets of 8 with 30# hanging from a belt.

Olympic Lifting

Snatch

Kevin helped me with my setup and some drilling to work on meeting the bar with my hips. Worked on this for awhile with a 45# loaded training bar. Then started going at snatches.

2 @ 95# (power snatches)
115#
135#
145#
155#
165#
3 Failed attempts @ 175# (PR)

I had 175 on my first two. Just didn’t lock out my arms when I received it, but get under it and down to the bottom of the squat without a problem. On the 2nd attempt I had the weight there and in the hole, but then started losing it backwards, saved it, then lost it forward. Third attempt was pretty poor. Hit 165# easy though, which is only the 2nd time I’ve made it. I’ll get 175# next time.

Clean & Jerk

155# (power clean)
185#
215#
245#
2 Failed attempts @ 260# (PR)

I got the weight much higher than needed and got my right elbow under the bar really fast. My left just didn’t want to get under for some reason and so I lost it in the hole. It was pretty scary too since one arm was under and one wasn’t, I couldn’t bail on it safely. Bounced off my right knee a bit, which is sore and stiff now. My second attempt I didn’t commit because the first was in my head too much. Glad I got the 245# without much trouble though, which is only 5# below my max.

Conditioning

0.5 Mile Sled Drag (135#)

Felt really good. I put the sled straps through the belt I use for weighted dips and pull-ups, which was much better than looping the thing over or through my shoulders.

“Rest” Day

My legs are smoked from yesterday. Slept in for once and I really needed it. Making today a lighter day.

Went out on the road a little after 9am. Warmed up with a 0.3 mile jog.

10x

100 yard hill sprint
Walk back

That was fun! I paced it out twice so the distance should be pretty close. Then I walked 0.3 miles back to the cottage.

Got out the sled at 8:30. Went 1.04 miles in 28:59 with 115# of weight. I started out walking forward, the switched to walking backwards after a quarter mile and switched every quarter mile. Longest sled work so far. Wasn’t 135# but felt good.

Playground as a Box

Drive over to Hinks School a little before 8am to beat the heat.

For a warmup I did a 400m run, band pass-thrus, Band pull aparts, and band walks with a red band.

Then I was going to do a bunch of muscle-ups and try stringing 2 together. But on my first try at a double a had an awkward fall out forward and got scared to commit after that. Only managed to do 3 total MU. Just not my day for them.

10:00 EMOM

Odds: 5 Fat bar chin-ups (strict)
Evens: 10 Bar dips (feet on ground)

“Brenton”
5 rounds

Bear crawl 100 feet
Standing broad-jump, 100 feet.
Do three Burpees after every five broad-jumps.

Did this in a field next to the school and measured out 100 feet with a tape measure. Was starting to heat up so hurried to get it over with. Finished in 9:23, besting the 10:16 from a year ago. Big difference being able to go 100 feet straight Instead of looping back and forth on 25 feet. I only had to do 6 burpees each round.

This was the first WOD where I felt normal since the Tough Mudder.

Around 3pm I jumped on the Air Dyne for some intervals. Warmed up with 5:00 easy first. This is another form of MAP.

10 Rounds

30s @ 90-95%
30s @ 50%

At high intensity I was going 90+ rpm and 45-50 at low intensity. Racked up 286 calories and 3.5 miles.

After golfing 9 holes with Dad (we ride due to heat), I went out for a sled drag after 8pm. Only loaded 125# because the 10# bumpers were on the bar and I didn’t feel like messing with it. Went 0.58 miles in 17:03 with only a short water break at the turnaround point. Was much easier than a couple days ago.

Air Dyne for Breakfast and Sled for Dinner

Sleeping better each night because the night sweats are slowly disappearing.

Started the morning with “Air Dyne Hell” at about 8:20.

5:00 warmup
10 Rounds
- 15s @ 100%
- 1:45 Rest
5:00 cool down

Did 419 cal and went 4.45 miles. The AD2 seems much easier or has a different way of counting calories because I did about 230cal by myself in the interval portion and Kevin and I combined only got in the 280s on the AD6.

Worked on some snatching before lunch.
30:00 E3M

High hang snatch
Hang snatch
High hang snatch
Hang snatch

Had 95# loaded on the bar and used lifting straps to stay connected. I’ve always had a lot of trouble meeting my hips from the hang, but I hit every single rep today! Here’s a video of the last set.

Before dinner it was time for more sweating.

10 Rounds NFT

10 Deadlifts (185#)
50m Sprint
50m Walk back

After every two rounds I took an extra little break to drink some water. Solid little WOD.

A few minutes after I went out for a sled drag. Loaded it up with standard 135#, going 0.68 miles in 19:03. I paused RunKeeper at the turnaround point but didn’t pause during the two breaks on the way back. Not going to lie…that was rough! Didn’t help that I was actually going a little uphill on the way back.

Open Gym Friday

Headed in at 5:15pm today for a long spaced out session. Feeling pretty good after the last few days.

Warm-up

450m Run
PVC pass-thrus
DU

I got streaks of 40+, 70+, and 60+. Ordered the thinner cable from Rx, so I’m excited to see if it fatigues my shoulders less.

Conditioning

Easy 20:00 row. My pace was between 2:15 and 2:20/500m pretty much the whole way and about 20spm. Made it 4,420 meters and felt good.

Olympic Lifting

Warmed up with some C&J at 135#.

5:00 EMOM

Squat C&J (185#)

Rest 3:00

5:00 EMOM

Squat C&J (205#)

I was planning to do another round with 225#, but at the end of the 205# reps I could tell I was starting to hit a wall. Just not anywhere close to being back to myself yet, so I shut it down there and did a couple sets of back squats.

Strength

Back Squats

2 Sets of 5 with 205#

Strongman / Road Work

Laura, Brent, Kevin, Ellen, Casey, and I did a big circuit. Just kept moving, nothing too intense.

2 Rounds

150m Sled Drag (135#)
Plank (while partner does sled drag)
150m Wheelbarrow Push (200# first round, 230# second round)
10/10 DB Curls
150m Prowler Walk (210#)
Grip Twist with a 5# plate hanging on it

We paired up the push/pull with a stationary movement and paired up in teams. Each team did both movements in the pairing and then rotated to the next spot. Took us about 30 minutes to finish