snatch

Hello 2016

Last year was a pretty solid year in my training. Still getting stronger every year. I had to pull back on my goal to hit a 400 pound squat in 2015 after several back tweaks, but after I stepped back and slowed down, I’m progressing nicely and will get there eventually. No rush. I also wanted to get to a 300 pound bench press at one point, but stopped working on it after gaining 25# on the lift from two 10 week cycles.

2015 was another solid year of consistently spending time in the gym. Here’s an image that shows each day of the year and my workouts. Some pretty long streaks in there, but other than when I squatted 49 days in a row, the long consecutive day streaks were always due to active recovery. I’ve learned to take my rest.

Feeling beat from Linda, but in at 2pm to lift with Alex and Bryan. Didn’t expect anything special. Did 2 sets of 10 GHD heel drives and a couple sets of the empty bar snatch warm-up (5 muscle snatches, 5 behind the neck snatch presses, 5 overhead squats) I like.

3x40kg
3×50
2×60
F-2 @ 70
2×75
1×79
1×82
F-1 @ 85
1×88
F-1 @ 90
F-F-1 @ 92

The front of my shoulders are still feeling pretty damn weird after Monday’s muscle-ups. The miss at 70 was just a lapse in concentration. Later misses were usually due to the bar being too forward. The Max at 90 had a great turnover and felt like the best lift of the day. Really had to fight and be patient in the hole with the make at 92, which was over 94% of my max C&J.

Clean & Jerk

Started with 5 cleans + 5 jerks with the empty bar.

2x50kg
2×70
2×80
1×90
1×100
1×105
1×110
1×115
1×118

I could feel really tight in my low back on some of the snatches and also when catching the cleans. Not a pain, but definitely know I did a ton of heavy deadlifts yesterday. Didn’t want to push it anymore than the 118. The guys said I was getting under the bar super high. Rode everything down into the squat though. It’s amazing that I don’t even think twice about the jerks anymore. I used to get a little scared at 235+ pounds. Here I hit 260+ without a problem, which is over 94% of my max as well. Really wasn’t expecting that with either lift today.

Back Squat

3×135#
3×185
3×205
3×255
3×275
3×295

Good enough for the day. Didn’t want to risk anything with my back already feeling rough.

nyf-ginger-ale — Hope this is half as good as the Root Beer Ale.

Use the Force

Had planned to lift with Bryan today at 10. Woke up with a headache and debated skipping out on the gym. Hauled my ass in though. Glad I did!

Warm-up

3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold (45#)
OH Mobility (45#)

Snatch

3x3x45#
2x3x95
3×115
3×125
2×140
1×150
1×160
1×170
1×180
1×185
1×190
1×200
1×210

Didn’t realize how many sets we were doing at the time. It was feeling food but nothing special. Then 200# felt great and I had been thinking to stop there but went for one more. I think I’ve only done it once and 215 once. Good place to move on with no misses.

Clean & Jerk

3×135#
3×155
2×185
1×205
1×225
1×245
1×260
1×275 (PR)

Don’t usually like to take such big jumps but now that I’ve figured out how to jerk I’m not afraid of it anymore. After nailing 260 and the jerk feeling easier than it ever had I literally said, “Fuck it!” and went for another 15# increase. I’m catching the clean so high. Haven’t missed a clean or jerk in quite some time now.

Music in the video is “Algorithm Of Desire” by Measles Mumps Rubella.

Front Squat

5×135#
3×185
2×225
2×255
1×275
1×295
1×315

Felt good. Maybe should have gone for 325 which I’ve never attempted before (even though I’ve done 320 for a double), but I’m still holding back a bit and moving up slow with the squats and deadlifts. Don’t break what’s been working. I know I’ve said it so many times, but it sure is nice to have my back healthy so I can lift big again.

Hurried home, showered, and went to Star Wars. Great movie!

Snatch After Snatch

My chest is a little tight later in the day, but otherwise not sore from the 100 bench press yesterday. Lifted with Alex tonight. Warmed up with 3×8 Reverse Hyper (210#) and then into some squats.

Back Squat

10x20kg
6×70 (pause)
5×100 (pause)
3×120 (pause)
2×130
2×140
2×150
2×155
2×160 (PR)

Haven’t had that on a bar since the day I had my PR with 360# about 1.5 years ago. Led with my butt on the second rep so it was a good place to stop and was a 2RM PR anyway. Staying patient with the gainz.

Snatch

5x20kg
3×40
3×50
2×60
2×65
2×70
2×75
1×80
1×85
Miss 88
Miss 88
1×88
Miss 90
1×70
Miss 70 (somehow hit my knee on the first pull)
1×70
1×73
1×76
1×79
1×82
1×85
1×88
1×90

Felt a lot more solid in the second wave! Great idea by Alex to drop back down and work up slower. That was a long snatch session!

Hold On

My knees are feeling a little rough after yesterday. I need to work on my knee-caving issue with the lifts. I don’t have a problem in squats, but in the rebend of the snatch/clean and the dip of the jerk they do dive in.

Warm-up

2×8 Reverse Hyper (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold
Hang Stretch
Box Jumps at 24-30-34-38″

Skill / Accessory

12:00 EMOM (alt)

5 Box Jumps (41″)
2/2 Turkish Get-ups (44#)

Felt good to get in some high box jumps.

Conditioning

All 3 parts done with a partner, alternating rounds. Weight on the bar stays the same.

5:00 AMRAP
- 3 Snatches (135#, squat)
- 3 Muscle-ups
2:30 Rest
5:00 AMRAP
- 5 Clusters (135#)
- 5 C2B Pull-ups
2:30 Rest
5:00 AMRAP
- 7 Deadlifts (135#)
- 7 Push-ups

Done with Bryan. I started the first AMRAP I didn’t get my 3rd snatch back into place on the 2nd set and lost it forward. Then same thing on another attempt. That got me fired up. Bryan missed one is his 2nd round too. Had to go 2-1 on my final set of MU. We finished 7 rounds plus a snatch.

Bryan started the 2nd AMRAP and we got 6+3, then exactly 16 total rounds in the last one. Pretty rough and a mental battle to hold on to the bar. My goal was to go unbroken with the snatches and clusters. Without that miss I would have. Had been thinking about 115# since I came up with this one but figured it would be too easy. Was right.

Midline

8 Rounds

20s L-hang
20s Rest

I alternated my grip between regular and underhand each round. Kind of held my feet up in the first round but then just knees up. My hands were on fire by the end of this after all the grip work done in the AMRAPs.

Saturday Snow

Got some sleep last night and in to the gym early this morning. Going to test out a few things before starting the gymnastics focus in another week.

Warm-up

3 Sets

10 Pass-thrus
10 Pass-thrus w/ reverse grip
10 Bar Taps
10 Bar Taps (dynamic)
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Arch Rocks

Chest-to-bar Pull-up Test

3 reps
3:00 Rest
3 reps
3:00 Rest
MAX Reps

I put on my leather gymnastics grips just to be safe. Had done 15 reps back in January so thought 20 might be a good number. I ended up getting exactly 20 and then was going to try to knock out some with a regular kip before coming off the bar. But after hanging there for a second I was done. Getting that number in your head before can really mess you up sometimes. Would I have gotten more reps had I not had that 20 number in mind? Who knows. Really happy with the 5 rep PR though.

Then I started lifting with Alex. First big session with the new kicks.

Front Squat

10x20kg
3x70kg (2s pause)
3x100kg (2s pause)
2x120kg
2x130kg

Not used to big jumps like that. Felt easy though.

Snatch

20kg warm-up
3×40
2x3x45
2×50
2×55
60
65
70
5x1x75

Was going a little slower off the ground and trying to drop under better. Didn’t feel all that great so I didn’t push the weight.

Clean & Jerk

2x2x60kg
2×70
2×80
2×90
100
105
110
2x1x115

Slow off the floor again, at least to 100 I think. Cleans felt money. Jerks weren’t too bad. Alex went a couple more jumps but I felt like that was a good place for me to stop.

Accessory

3 Sets

5 GHR
15 V-ups

Trying not to lead with my ass on the GHR. They are so hard for me though.

That was a long session!

New Lifting Shoes

Took 10-15 minutes to warm up the snatch. I did some reps with 45-75-95-115-135#.

Weightlifting

E30S 10:00

1 Snatch (155#)

Squatted every rep and had no misses. Wore my new Adidas Adipower shoes and they felt really good. After about 3 years with the Reebok CrossFit lifting shoes it was time for a real pair of lifters. They are like night and day. I was going to get a pair of Nike Romaleos, but I’m not a fan of the colors available and I found an awesome deal on these Adipowers, which I’ve had my eye on for quite some time.

Conditioning

4 Cycles

1:00 AMRAP
- 3 Hang Power Snatch (95#)
- 6 Tuck Jumps
0:30 Rest

* Continue the AMRAP where you left off each round.

I took every snatch back down to the knees for a low hang and so I could hit my hips on the way back up. Ended up with 13 rounds plus 1 snatch.

Gymnastics Strength

12:00 EMOM (alt)

5 Strict C2B Pull-ups
15 Decline Push-ups (16″)

One more set of the pull-ups than I’ve been doing. Really tried to be explosive with my pulls, especially at the end of the rep. The push-ups got pretty tough in the 5th and 6th rounds where I had to take a little pause between reps around half way through the sets.

Midline

8 Rounds

20s Hollow Rocks
10s Rest

This was a horrible idea after the push-ups. I failed to go all 20 seconds in round 2 already. Only managed 83 reps when I usually get around 120.

Liftoff

Tonight we got together to do the CrossFit Liftoff event for fun. Alex lifted, while Bryan and I did all 3 parts.

Warm-up

3×8 Reverse Hyper (140#)
Crossover Symmetry Activation
Bottom Squat Hold
Ring Hang

Snatch

3 Muscle Snatch + 3 Snatch Press + 3 OHS
- 45#
- 75#
- 95#
All full snatches unless noted
- 3×115#
- 2×135#
- 1×145#
- 1×155#
- 1×165#
- 1×175#
- 1×185#
- Fail 195#
- 1×195# Power
- 1×205# Power
- Fail 4×210#

Was feeling light going up, then 175# started to feel some of the weight off the ground. Got in my head with 195 so then powered the next rep. Powered 205# and told myself I had to drop under the rest if I wanted to be able to make some bigger numbers. Was getting under them no problem just couldn’t keep the bar back. Need to put more time into working on them.

Clean & Jerk

3×135#
2×165#
2×185#
1×205#
1×225#
1×235#
1×245#
1×255#
1×265# (PR)
1×270# (PR)

Cleans were scary. I haven’t done any big numbers in awhile other than the 255# clean during the Team Series. Back seemed to hold up well though. Jerks felt pretty good and that’s usually where my head gets me out of it. They said the bar was flying up. I’ll take the 6# PR and no misses. 🙂 Again though, need to spend more time on the lifts now that I’m healthy.

That was a fun bro sesh. Been far too long since we did that.

Conditioning

12:00 AMRAP

3 Snatch (135#)
6 C&J (135#)
9 C2B Pull-ups
54 Double Unders

Did all single snatch and clean & jerk the entire workout. Did 5-4 C2B in the first round, then 3-3-3 for 3 rounds, and convinced myself singles at the end, when I had just over 30 seconds left, would be faster. After 4 singles I finished with a triple. Wish I had tried for 3-3-3 again. Oh well. Finished with 4 rounds plus the snatches, clean & jerks, and 7 of the chest to bar pull-ups. Good workout!

Fun Garage Sesh

Slept in again. Out to the garage around 11.

Weightlifting

5 Squat Snatch + 5 Snatch Press (45#)
4 Squat Snatch + 4 Snatch Press (75#)
3 Squat Snatch + 3 Snatch Press (95#)
2 Squat Snatch (115#)
2 Squat Snatch (135#)
1 Squat Snatch (155#)
1 Squat Snatch (165#)
10:00 EMOM
- 5:00 – 1 Squat Snatch (175#)
- 5:00 – 1 Squat Snatch (185#)

Planned all 10 minutes at 175# but it was feeling pretty good, so after 3 I decided I’d bump it up for the back end. Got a little iffy on the last couple with 185#, but no misses = a good day. I miss doing stuff like this.

I wish I had set the camera better so I could get the full bar path. It looks like it gets out a few inches from the starting point, but pretty good for not working on it in months.

Conditioning – “Flight Simulator”

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

Unbroken Double Unders

I’ve been wanting to test this one out for a while since I haven’t done it in more than 2 years. Perfect day for it. Went all the way up with no misses. Started taking breaks after sets around 30 or 35. On the way back down I missed once on the 40 and twice on the 30. Cruised home with no rest when I got to 25. Finished in 9:30 which is a PR by 4:05!!

That was a fun session.

Went to the chiropractor at 5 and then to the 5:30 class at CFi.

Warm-up

Bottom Squat Hold
400m Run
PVC Pass-thrus
PVC Good Mornings
Air Squats

Strength – Deadlift

10×45#
5×155#
5×225#
3×265#
3×295#
3×325#
3×355#
3×375#
3×395#

Haven’t really pushed the weight with deadlifts in months. Wore my belt for the last 4-5 sets and figured I’d see how it felt. I survived.

Conditioning

100 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
EMOM – 5 Burpees

Also known as Wall Ball Kalsu I guess. First minute was free for all wall ballin’ this time, compared to starting with burpees back in March, when I did 5:54. My minutes ended with 28-45-62-80, so I had to bust my ass with 20 reps left in the final minute. I usually get 10 reps in a Tabata round so I knew it was possible, especially if I was already descending into the squats as the ball hit my hands. The 100th rep was in the air as time hit 5:00 so that was good enough for me. 🙂 My rep counts during burpee minutes were 2-3 reps higher than that version we did earlier in the year.

Accessory

3 Sets

14/14 Kroc Rows (70#)
14 Ring Push-ups (feet on short box since rings were up about 6-8 inches.)

14 Kroc rows at a time is rough if you’re trying to keep a solid back position. I was sweating more from these than the metcon.

Shoulder Carnage

Feeling good again today, so glad the head cold moved through quickly. In around 5:30 to get half of the Team Series workouts done.

Warm-up

3×8 Reverse Hypers (160#)
Crossover Symmetry Activation
Muscle Snatches

Team Series #5

Karen: 150 Wall Balls
Grace: 30 C&J
Diane: 21-15-9 Deadlifts & HSPU
Randy: 75 Snatches (75#)

Each person on the team does one benchmark. I got to do my first Randy. Went 15-10-10-7-8-8-5-6-6. After 25 my shoulders felt like they were going to explode. Took me 5:01 in the splits (and 4:57 by video) but sure didn’t feel like that long. Our total time was 20:49 with splits of 5:47, 8:41, and 15:48.

Team Series #8

200 toes-to-bars, while 2 teammates hold loaded barbells overhead
200 shoulder-to-overheads (135/95 lb.), while 2 teammates hang from the pull-up bar

Horrible! For T2B I think I did 4 sets of 10 and then maybe 7 and 7, maybe? Not sure. We finished those at 7:41 and literally took about a minute to peel off wraps and shit before we started on the S2OH reps. We paired up doing 5 and 5 the whole way and then switched with the hangers. Just kept moving. Hanging wasn’t a big deal, especially using a mixed grip. We finished at 17:23.

Shoulders are absolutely destroyed! Events 6 & 7 tomorrow.

Wall Ballin’

We finally were able to get in our end of the year golf tournament yesterday. Long day on the course playing 27 holes. Was pretty exhausted last night and slept in this morning, so went to the 4:30 class.

Warm-up

3×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength: Front Squats (22X0 Tempo)

6×45#
4×135#
2×185#
2×205#
2×225#
2×235#
2×245#
2×255#

Gymnastics

4 Sets

7 Ring Rows
1 Muscle-up
4 Ring Dips (strict, after MU)

Conditioning

4:00 AMRAP
- 5 Power Snatch (115#)
- 5 Burpees Over the Bar
- 10 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
2:00 Rest
2:00 AMRAP
- Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Went unbroken on all movements in the 4 minutes with touch-n-go snatches. Finished 3 rounds plus 2 more snatches. Glad I decided to go with 115 because 95 would have been too easy. Good challenge. Went with sets of 32 and 17 for the wall balls, with rep #50 in the air as time ran out, so only 49!