snatch

Deloading

Out in the garage after 2. Should have probably eaten lunch at some point today. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation.

Power Snatch

5×45#
3×75
3×95
2×115
EMOM
- 1×135
- 1×145
- 1×155
- 5x1x165

Decided to make them power snatches today since it’s the 4th week and a deload. Made it 8 minutes on the EMOM with the warm-ups instead of just the 5 heaviest.

Snatch Pull

3x3x185#

Back Squat

3×135#
3×185
3×225
3×265
3x3x285

Was not feeling it with the squats today. Maybe because I wasn’t all warmed up due to powering the snatches or maybe the sprints from yesterday beat me up. I could feel that left quad too. Put on the belt for the last 4 sets, but didn’t wear knees sleeves and had on Nano 5s.

Accessory

20:00 EMOM

5/5 Landmine Rows (90#)
6 Strict Chin-ups
8 Strict Ring Dips
6 Evil Wheels

Decided to finally buy a landmine attachment.

Sunday at the Bar

Out in the garage after 11. Can still feel sore quads and for about a week I’ve been feeling something in my left leg which seems to be almost exactly like what I had when I couldn’t do pistols for the better part of a year. Good news is I was able to do them the other day after this had already started. Something to keep an eye on.

jay-z-dirt

5×45#
3×75
3×95
2×115
1×135
1×145
1×155
1×165
1×175
1×185
2x1x195

Tried to shut off my brain on the last three. Always a good day when I don’t miss a snatch.

Clean & Jerk

5×45#
3×95
3×135
2×165
1×185
1×205
1×215
1×230
1×245
2x1x260

Jerks felt weak and slow.

Front Squat

3×225#
3×255
3x3x275

Good Morning

3x5x155#

Stiff low back so didn’t increase. Decided to skip any extra work since I took my time today.

That’s a wrap on 3 “weeks” of the OTM program. Week 4 is a deload week, which I’m not sure I need since I’m only doing 2-3 lifting days a week instead of getting all 5 in. I’ll take it though. Will be nice to speed through the lifts and have some more time for abs and accessory work.

129 Is For Freedom

Did make it out on the course yesterday and took a cart for a quick 12 holes (back 9 was actually closed). In to the gym before 5pm tonight.

Snatch

5x20kg
3×40
2×50
2×60
1×65
1×70
EMOM
- 5x1x75
- 5x1x80
- 5x1x85
Heavy Single
- Miss 88
- 1×88

I was forward with 65 or 70 and really pulled it in, feeling a little tweak in my back. Didn’t really affect me until I felt it in the bottom of the 88 make. Called it quits there. The singles with 85 were really shaky with some good saves. Didn’t have the feel today like I did the other day, so I was actually happy to go 100% on the EMOM.

Snatch Pull

3x3x90kg

I wore straps for the pulls and deadlifts.

Snatch Deadlift

3 Segment Snatch Deadlift (knee) + 1 Floating Snatch Deadlift

3 Sets @ 85kg

Back Squat

Spend 5 seconds on the eccentric portion of rep 1 for every set.

5x70kg
5×95
5×111
5×121
3x5x129

Little tougher this week with trying to protect my back. I put on the belt starting with 111 kilos.

Skipped the ab work and some other accessory stuff I had planned. Will give my back some rest. I’m heading out of town for the weekend anyway, so nice to get out of the gym early. Will try to do a 21 minute ROMWOD when I get up north. (Too late, so didn’t get it in.)

Unbroken MU

My shoulders are still a little sore from Saturday, but my upper back is where the real soreness is from that gymnastics work on Sunday evening. Did a 20 minute ROMWOD during lunch today. The biggest issue with going back to work has been the right side of my back gets really tight after sitting for 2 hours. In the last month and a half I’ve noticed the same thing happening during any car rides over 90 minutes. Maybe I “deconditioned” myself out of my back imbalance a bit during the 3 month sabbatical. Anyway I hope things square away soon, because it’s really making the word days drag on when I have to keep taking forced breaks more often than I’d like. Got to the gym around the start of the 4:30 class.

Snatch

5x20kg
3×40
2×50
2×60
1×65
1×70
1×75
1×80
3x1x85

I wasn’t sure how these would go with my back. In the early sets I really tried not to be too aggressive, which I think had a nice carryover to when it got heavier. Those singles at 85% felt really good.

Clean & Jerk

5x20kg
3×60
2×75
2×85
1×91
1×98
1×104
3x1x111

Solid here as well. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t wearing a belt until after the first rep with 111 kilos. Usually I like to put on the belt when I get over 200 pounds. Made a big effort to stay off my phone and keep moving from set to set after loading the bar. Not quite EMOM, should have been close most of the time.

Front Squat

3x118kg
2x3x125

I did put on the belt here, because sometimes my core gives out a little and I start to cave forward. I think I was pretty upright for every rep though.

Good Morning

5x60kg
5×70
5×75

Took just over an hour to finish all of the lifting.

Midline and Gymnastics

Decided to combine abs with some gymnastics today so it didn’t seem like I was wasting so much time. I swear the ab work takes almost as long as the lifting in this program.

5 Sets

10/10 Side Bends (70# KB)
5 Strict Ring Pull-ups

Big focus on keeping a hollow body through each pull-up.

4 Sets

25 Lying Leg Raises
6 Ring Kip Swings

I need get back to doing those swings more often and translate the high feet into my actual muscle-up, because I still do the big knee bend on my forward swing.

Two weeks of Catalyst OTM ✅

Conditioning

5-4-3-2-1

Unbroken Muscle-ups

I had the urge to do some muscle-ups, even after fatiguing my pull and swing with the other work. Originally thought of starting with 6 down to 1, but made the right call to do with 5. Finished at exactly 2:00, with having to double or triple kip my final dip. I guess my rests between sets were spot on.

F is For…

Out in the garage by 9:30 for the first day of Catalyst OTM “week” 2. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation. Wore knee sleeves since my knees were bugging me yesterday during and after class.

Snatch

5×45#
3×95
2×115
2×135
1×145
1×155
EMOM
- 5x1x162.5
- 5x1x172.5
- 5x1x182.5
Heavy Single
- 190 F
- 190 F
- 190 F

Today “F” is for fuck! Felt good during the EMOM with no misses. Was only allowing myself three misses with the heavy single. First try was forward, gave it too much and the bar was going to go behind me on the 2nd rep, and third rep was forward again.

Used straps for the pulls and deads.

Snatch Pull

3×185#
2x3x200

Snatch Deadlift

3 Segment Snatch Deadlift (knee) + 1 Floating Snatch Deadlift

175#
2 Sets @ 185

Back Squat

5 second eccentric on the 1st rep of each set.

3×185#
3×225
5×265
2x5x285

I was worried going in to these after the front squats doubles yesterday and how rough these felt last week with every set at 265. I decided to take fewer warm-up sets, made sure to get the tempo rep even on the warm-ups, and took about 4 minutes of rest between my working sets. Surprisingly these felt much easier than last week. Needed that win after feeling shitty about the heavy snatch ~~single~~ zero. Trust the program! I did wear the belt for my 3 working sets.

I will do the abs tomorrow, but should be able to get in a 22 minute ROMWOD tonight.

Week 1 of Catalyst OTM

Out in the garage after 5. Started with Crossover Symmetry Activation. No knee sleeves again today. This finished up the 5th workout of “week” 1 of the Catalyst program. I quoted “week” there because I’m spacing them out and shooting for 3, sometimes 4 lifting days a week. My body can’t handle 5 days per week and I want to continue with Aerobic Capacity as long as the weather holds up while also getting in 1 or 2 CrossFit classes.

Snatch

5×45#
3×95
2×115
2×135
1×145
1×155
1×165
3x1x175

Focusing on a more controlled pull and not pulling higher than needed felt a lot better today.

Clean & Jerk

5×45#
3×115
2×155
1×170
1×185
1×200
1×215
3x1x230

Cleans felt easy. Tried to work on getting my jerk feel back.

Front Squat

3x3x265#

After first rep of first set I wished I had the belt on. Low left side near the spine felt tight. Strapped on the belt for the other two sets and it was like night and day.

Good Morning

3x5x135#

Kept it light due to my back feeling the way it was. Actually wore the belt too for the first time doing good mornings, which I think takes away some of the training effect, but gotta stay safe on days like this.

Skipped abs because of core work yesterday in class and my sinuses were going crazy from cleaning house so I wanted to be done. Will get in a 20 min ROMWOD tonight.

Three Plus

I did get in the 20 minute ROMWOD pretty late last night and did a 19 minute one this morning. Went to the 5:30 CrossFit Intuition class.

Warm-up

2 Sets

PVC Good Mornings
20 Mountain Climbers
5 Push-ups
10 Air Squats
5/5 Monster walks (small red band around ankles)

Strength

Back Squat

6×45#
3×135
3×205
3×240
3×275
8×305

The gym is using 5/3/1, so the last of the 3 working sets was for 3+ reps. 8 reps was good enough for me with all of the squatting I get in the Catalyst program.

Conditioning

3:00 AMRAP
- 3 Power Snatches (135#)
- 7 Burpees
2:00 Rest
4:00 AMRAP
- 5 Back Squats (135#)
- 8 Burpees

I did all touch-n-go snatches and got through 4 rounds plus 2 more snatches. I was slow on my squat reps so only got through 4+4 in the second part. Would have liked to push harder on the burpees.

Midline

Class was doing sit-ups and Russian twists, but I did plenty of those last night, so substituted with…

10-20-30-20-10 Side Bends (44#)
10-15-20-15-10 Lying Leg Lifts

The side bends were split between left and right, so 5 per side on the first set, etc. In the middle of the second set of leg lifts I decided to scale back the rep counts on them since I’ll be doing ab work tomorrow again with a lifting day.

On The Minute

First day of a new lifting program. I’m going with Catalyst Athletic’s On The Minute Cycle, which I got out of the weightlifting bible. Out in the garage at 10am. Not wearing the knee sleeves today for a change.

Snatch

5×45#
3×95
2×115
1×135
1×145
15:00 EMOM
- 5x1x155
- 5x1x165
- 5x1x175

Felt good to be able to hit full lifts from the floor after the Vaughn program and all of it’s tempo/pause work. Tried to work on receiving the bar where it was and not putting more into the bar than I needed to. Haven’t recorded lifts in awhile, but had the GoPro on the ground which produced a shitty angle…

Need to keep an eye on that jumping back. Don’t want it to be too excessive.

Snatch Pull

3x3x185#

Pulls have always felt awkward to me, but for some reason they felt normal today. Wore straps. Tried to focus on leg drive and staying on my heels as long as I could.

Snatch Deadlift

3 Segment Snatch Deadlift (knee) + 1 Floating Snatch Deadlift

3 Sets @ 175#

Wore straps for these too, but easy compared to the heavier loads used in the last program, which often included more pauses or tempo.

Back Squat

E2M – 12:00

5×155#
5×205
5×235
3x5x265

I forgot I was supposed to be doing a tempo descent, so didn’t start until the 3 working sets. It was a 5 second eccentric on rep 1. I was going to go beltless, but suspected the tempo would not be fun. I was right, so I’m glad I strapped it on for the working sets.

The OTM work really sets the tone for the entire session. I was finished with all of the lifts in under an hour, which never happened in the Vaughn program. It also helps a lot that each lift leads into the next one so you don’t need to warm-up different movements.

Midline

5 Sets
- 8 Weighted GHD Sit-ups (30#)
4 Sets
- 15 Lying Leg Raise

I’m going to try to stick with their recommended ab work with each session and can easily use my GHD as part of it. All sets of one movement were completed before going to the next movement.

I am however going to cut back and just try to get in 3 lifting days per week so I can hit a few more metcons here and there. My body doesn’t respond very well to lifting 4-5 days a week.

Walked 18 holes after lunch and will hit a 21 minute ROMWOD tonight.

Not Even An Hour

Warm-up

Bottom Squat Hold
Shoulder Stretching
Ladder Footwork Drills
5 Power Snatch (45#)
3 Power Snatch (75#)

Getting better at some of the drills. One leg is definitely dominant.

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

10 Power Snatch (75#)
10 Bar-facing Burpees

Unbroken every round on the snatches. Getting the hang of my new bar-facing burpee steps better and better each time I do them. Dare I say I’m starting to enjoy them? First round was done in just over a minute, which I knew wasn’t sustainable, but I think is good for me instead of always pacing so much. Good to push the gas more. Finished 5 Rounds plus the 10 snatches.

Skill & Midline

4 Tabata DU
40s Rest
4 Tabata Supermans
40s Rest
4 Tabata DU
40s Rest
4 Tabata Hollow Rocks

Basically just 1 Tabata round off between movements. Never missed a double under and think the Zeus rope is really helping with shoulder fatigue. I got 149 dubs, 44 Supermans, 150 dubs, and 72 hollow rocks.

Overhead Stability / Carry

600m OH Single-arm KB Carry (44#)

Increase in distance, so went lighter. Switched arms about every 100 meters.

We finished in less than an hour today. Will get in a 21 min ROMWOD at some point.

Vaughn Is Complete

Did a 22 min ROMWOD this morning and then sat around on my ass most of the day. This humidity is exhausting. Got to the gym a bit after 4.

Front Squat

Pause 5 seconds on the first rep of each set.

6x20kg
6×60
4×90
2×102
6x2x111

Warming up the bar felt really heavy. Thought I’d have to go with the minimum 3 second pause. Just took some sets to get loose I guess because the working sets felt really good.

Snatch balance + OHS

2x20kg
2×33
2×40
2×50
1×60
1×68
1×74
1×80
1×85
1×89
1×92

The instructions were to go for a max today. Finally on something! The last two sets were both PRs on my snatch balance, beating the 195# I’d done previously. Glad not to have any misses, even with the extra overhead squat. Maybe could have gone heavier, but it was time to move on with a lot of reps left in the session. Maybe wore the belt starting with 74?

Snatch

3 second lift off on every rep.

3x20kg
3×40
3×50
3×60
3×70
3×75
2×80
1×80
3x1x85

I think I started dropping between reps with 60 kilos. I went for the 3rd rep in a row with 80 but was breathing pretty good already and just rushed it. Rested before making the final rep. First attempt with 85 was falling behind me. Felt pretty solid to make the final 3 singles.

Clean & Jerk

Clean with 3 second lift off and jerk with 3 second pause in split.

3x40kg
3×60
2×80
2×91
2×98
2x1x104
2x1x111

Wore the belt with 91 and over. Started to feel my back a little with the final weight.

That’s a wrap on the Vaughn program! Excited to switch it up and get back to doing some lifts without pauses or tempo. This was a really solid base program though. It took me 5 weeks and 3 days to get through, which isn’t too bad considering I had a minor back tweak that set me back and spaced the workouts out a bit more to help my body recover.

I’m going to do a few different things for the rest of this week and probably part of next week, but continue running, and then start a new lifting program middle to late next week.