snatch

Like Butta

Got up and was laced up by 8. Went 2.01 miles in 19:06. I don’t really enjoy the morning runs like I enjoyed getting up and squatting every morning. I definitely felt like I was still sleeping out there.

Gym at 6 after an appointment at the chiro, which I’m not sure I need anymore. My back has been good to go. Warmed up with 100 walking lunges.

Back Squat

10×45#
8×135#
5×225#
5x5x265#

Tried to focus on driving up with the back again. Didn’t wear a belt for any sets. Now that my squat is back and everything is feeling good, it’s time for some structure. First day of a Rippletoe squat program.

No B.S. Bench Press

10×45#
4×135#
4×185#
4×215#
3x4x235#

That’s a PR for a set of 4 and then 2 more sets of the same. Doubles next week and then max out. Will probably take a little break from bench since I have a couple of weeks of vacation coming up next month.

3×45#
3×95#
2×135#
155#
165#
175#
185#
190#
195#
200#
205#

I took 8 minutes to warm up through the 175#, rested 2 minutes, and then did the last 5 lifts going every 2 minutes to simulate what we’ll be doing on Saturday. Didn’t lift with the weightlifting bars or bumpers either. Lifts felt smooth and everything was locked in solid. No misses. Wasn’t afraid of the weight at all like I was last week. Most I’ve put up since the 210# PR in October. Looking forward to seeing what I can do on Saturday with the adrenaline pumping.

Accessory

5 Rounds NFT

10 Reverse Hypers (210#)
10 GHD Sit-ups
5 Strict C2B Pull-ups

Seemed like I hadn’t done a strict pull-up in months since I’m always hitting muscle-ups.

On the 12th Day of Running

Not a great night of sleep, but HRV went from a red 89 to green 107. I actually felt better yesterday. Rained out for golf today so I went it to lift with Alex at 5:30. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation, bottom squat holds, and a lot more empty bar snatch work than usual.

Snatch

2x2x40kg
2x2x50kg
2x60kg
2x70kg
2x75kg
1x80kg
1x85kg
1x88kg
2 misses 92kg
1x92kg

I wasn’t feeling crisp from the get go. Either the 85 or 88 was pretty forward, so I stopped my descent, pulled the bar back and it ended up being a power snatch. I was in my head on the attempts with 92, I think because it just wasn’t feeling as good as it has been. I’ve been hitting 90 no problem. Committed and the bar locked into place nice and smooth after a nice rest. Stopped on the success. That’s about 203#, which I think is the most I’ve done since setting my PR of 210# in October. Four workout days in a row could have something to do with how I felt too.

Pause Back Squat

5x20kg
5x70kg
5x90kg
5x105kg
3x120kg
3x130kg
3x135kg

Just a short pause in the hole to make it harder. Tried out some adjustments I picked up from a video with Ed Coan. Could really feel a difference. Squatting kilos seems so weird because I don’t know the jumps or have a good feel for what’s on the bar. Reps felt solid. I wore the belt for the last two sets. That was almost 298# for the final set, so I’m happy with that.

Run Every Day

Got home and headed out for my run. Rain had stopped earlier in the day, though I did get a little mist when I was starting out. It was a great temperature for running. Around a mile and a half my stomach was not agreeing with the protein shake I drank during squats. I was actually feeling pretty good before that too. Once I hit the stoplight I decided to walk home from there. Ran 2.13 miles in 20:32 and walked about 3/5 of a mile.

Hips Don’t Lie

It has to be the running that is making my hips feel like they are. Could probably use some stretching. They don’t hurt or anything bad, but definitely something new. HRV dropped into the orange again this morning from the combination of that tough workout yesterday morning and the evening run. Wednesday isn’t typically very intense though, so I should recover. I’ve dropped 4 pounds in 4 days after getting back to eating the Paleo meals. Feeling better already.

Run Every Day

Got up and went 1.71 miles in 16:23. 10 days in to this June running experiment. I still don’t enjoy it.

Got to Intuition after 6 for the Wednesday night session. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and a 1,000m Row. Didn’t feel the hips as the day went on. Maybe it’s mostly a morning thing.

No B.S. Bench Press – Cycle 2 Week 7

10×45#
5×135#
5×185#
5×215#
3x5x230# (PR)
AMRAP 205# – 13 reps

Used a very short pause on the first three sets. I went 5# over the recommendation for the working sets as I did in the first cycle as well. So that’s a PR set three times and then I beat my AMRAP set by a rep as well. Got ugly on the final 2 reps of the working set, but made it.

Power Snatch + Squat Snatch

20kg
40kg
60kg
70kg
75kg
80kg
83kg
85kg

Got a little mental on the squat snatch with 85. I hit my right knee on the way up and then was up on my left toe, but had the bar locked in place solid so was able to hold on. The most I’d done for a squat double was 80 before hitting that. All of the power reps felt really solid. Hopefully can put up a nice PR next Saturday.

OHS

3x70kg
2x80kg

I haven’t hit heavy OHS in well over a year, so figured I’d try. Each time I do this, I can’t keep it stable and start to feel it in my low back. Same fucking thing today. I’ll have to take a video or have somebody watch me next time. So after missing the 3rd rep with 80 I shut that down; no need to hurt my back.

10:00 EMOM

2 Power Clean & Push Jerks (205#)

Class had 8 minutes of 2 programmed today, with increasing weight. Those are always fun and it’s been awhile since I’ve done something like that. After the OHS fail, I saw a loaded bar already out, so decided to hit it. After 8 I said fuck it and made it 10 rounds. I wasn’t standing up any of the cleans, right into the push jerk without a re-dip, so I guess they were what Catalyst might call Power Clean Jerks (no “&” in there). I actually thought I was using 195# for some reason and noticed it was 10# more when putting everything away. Bonus!

Midline

10-20-30-20-10

Sit-up
Russian Twist (53#)

Jumped in with the class on this. Went unbroken in 4:45. The round of 30 twists sucked balls!

Time to Squat Heavy Again

Got to the gym at about 9am and knocked out 100 walking lunges to warm-up.

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
3×225#
3×265#
3×295#
3×320#
3×340#
3×345# (PR match)

My first rep with 340 was ugly from not concentrating and it through off the entire set. Made me scared then. I was going to hit the same weight again, but added 5# at the last minute and glad I did. Felt better with more focus. Really wanted to hit 350 or 355 but today wasn’t that day. Felt good to be back under a heavy barbell!

Accessory

5 Super Sets

12 Incline DB Bench Press (60° – 40# DBs each set)
12 JM Press (45-55-60-65-70#)

Since there weren’t heavier dumbbells to increase to and I didn’t want to use kettlebells, I tried to be explosive on my incline reps. The JM presses actually felt pretty good today, even being second with that fatigue. Must be working. My bench sets sure seem to agree.

Snatch

2x20kg
2x40kg
2x60kg
2x70kg
2x75kg
2x80kg

Other than a rep with 60 being forward that I had to pull in, the lifts felt solid today. Don’t think I’ve done a double with that much before.

Conditioning

Partner A: Run 200m
Partner B: Work on 20 rounds of
- 5 Burpees
- 10 American KBS (53#)
- 15 Air Squats

Paired up with Bryan and everyone did the work outside in the sun. We basically just did a round per run and paced it out that way. So essentially we each did 10 rounds. Finished in 21:50.

Played some half-court basketball and shot around for about 90 minutes.

Run Every Day

Didn’t feel like it at all, but laced up the shoes and ran a mile before the Belmont came on.

Don’t Miss

I need to get my eating back on track, which has been terrible for almost a week now. I can feel a big difference throughout the day. Was out running at around 8am.

Run Every Day

Went 1.89 miles in 17:55 with an average heart rate of 132 and 174 steps/min. Wore a sweatshirt, which is better than it being 90 I suppose. Over 7 miles already this month.

The usual Wednesday night at the gym. Warmed up with Crossover Symmetry Activation and three sets of 50 unbroken double unders.

No B.S. Bench Press

10×45#
5×135#
3×185#
3×215#
3x3x235#

Did mostly short pause reps on those first two sets. Was week 6 of my second cycle of the program. In both cycles I’ve gone an extra 5# in this week over the recommended base weight + 20-25#. Seemed like I could have gone even more tonight.

Snatch

2x2x40kg
2x50kg
2x60kg
2x65kg
2x70kg
2x75kg
1x80kg
1x85kg
3x1x90kg

Going to be doing a max snatch in a couple of weeks at a team competition. Time to start hammering it. No misses, but didn’t feel fast or powerful. I guess that should be expected at 95%.

Gymnastics

Alex was doing some muscle-ups, so I did some too. Total of 11 reps with sets of 3-3-2-3.

7 Weeks of Squats

Had everyone warm-up with 100 walking lunges today since it’s been so beneficial for me.

Squat Every Day

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

45#
135#
205#
245#
275#
295#
315# (PR)

That ends 7 complete weeks of squatting every day. 49 days! Planned to go 310# for 5# over last week but bumped to 315# and I don’t think it was a great idea. Tweaked my SI joint on the very last rep. Fuck! Made it all the way through 7 weeks with the back feeling great and on the last rep gets me. Hopefully won’t be anything serious. Chiro Dan was just to roll it out a bunch and get some movement in there. The 315# is 20# more than I had done for this complex when I started this “program” or whatever you want to call it, since I was making things up as I went. 315# used to be my max front squat too.

Squatting every day sure was interesting and I think it paid off for me big time. Lifting more than 300,000 pounds over the 7 weeks. These last two weeks were fucking heavy with PRs on 14 of the last 15 days and a Murph PR on that other day. More than ready for a deload!

Gymnastics

I was planning to do some muscle-ups but not with the way my back was feeling. I did 4 sets of 5 strict ring dips every 30 seconds. Then thought that was dumb with 100 push-ups coming up. So I did a 1:30 plank, rested 30 seconds, and did a 1 minute plank.

Conditioning

1,000m Run
100 Push-ups
10 Snatches (135#)

Went hard on the running, finishing at 3:38. Caught my breath a little and then starting doing sets of 5 push-ups at a time. Somewhere around 60-70 I had to cut back to 3s and 4s. Did all singles on the snatches but was pretty quick to get back on the bar. Finished in 9:29.

Almost Done

In to the gym at 9am for a squat session. Warmed up with 100 walking lunges.

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135#
4×225#
4×265#
4×290#
4×310#
4×325#
4×340# (PR)

Reps felt really good even though my legs are feeling trashed. Last set was a grind, but solid. I’m thrilled with the improvements I’m seeing in my squat positions. Didn’t have any forward lean at all when it got heavy. Ankles, knees, and leg muscles really starting to feel all of the volume though. One more day!

Didn’t have time to get in my bench accessory work so took the rest before class started.

Weightlifting

Worked on snatch stuff with complexes. Combination of 3 position pause snatch deadlifts, snatch pulls, power snatches, and an OHS here and there. Weights were 45-75-95-115-125-147#.

Conditioning

21-15-9
- Deadlifts (225#)
- Push Press (95#)
75 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

It was “Diane” but I just got stitches out of my head on Thursday so bouncing on my head isn’t a good idea yet. The push presses were a good substitute and that weight allowed me to go unbroken with some hurt. A heavier weight would have been more comparable to HSPU, but that’s ok. I did the deadlifts unbroken too. Finished the 9s in 4:10. Going into the wall balls was a bit of a surprise with dead arms. I did 3 reps and dropped the ball to rest. Got to 10, then lets of 10 until finishing with 13-12. Total time was 9:49, which is pretty damn slow for wall balls.

Memorial Weekend

Got a bunch of yard work done this morning. Actually feeling a little beat up today in my hips and upper body. Pretty sure the upper body is from using kettlebells for those incline bench presses.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
500m Row
Bottom Squat Hold

Strength

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

45#
135#
205#
245#
270#
290#
305# (PR)

Didn’t feel like I had it in me today as I was working up. Had to fight for that final set. First back squat I wasn’t concentrating and it was ugly. Got focused and gutted out the remaining reps. Ends the 6th week of everyday squats.

Warmup up with 45#, 95#, and 135# and did a few swings to make sure the 70 would be good to use.

Conditioning

30:00 EMOM (alt)

1st: 1 Snatch + 1 OHS (155#)
2nd: 10 Sit-ups
3rd: 15 Russian KBS (70#)

Nice and easy just to get in some work. Didn’t want anything crazy with “Murph” tomorrow. Was able to focus on solid snatches and overhead squats with just one rep of each.

After cooling off I did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap.

Quad Sets

I’ve switched up my mobility work the last few days. I think all of the squatting and lunging is doing a lot for my legs and back on its own. After doing the same stretches for a month it’s time for change. I’ve been following Kelly Starrett’s 14-Day Mobility Challenge | 7 Green Lights (linked to day 1). After the 14 days are up, I’ll probably choose an area to focus on for a few weeks, using some of the stuff learned from the videos. Shoulders will probably be where I head.

Slow moving this morning. Didn’t get out to the garage until about 8:30. Warmed up with 1,000 meters on the Ski Erg (4:44.2).

Coffee Squats

I actually finished my coffee before heading out, but close enough.

2 Front Squats + 5 Back Squats

45#
135#
185#

My back was tight and there was fatigue in my legs. Definitely think I’m feeling those pause squats from yesterday and the work done in the metcon. With back squat volume coming with Super Sunday it was time to adjust my plan for the morning. I always superset the upper body work I’ve been doing on Sundays, so today I turned it into a quad set!

5 Sets

2 Front Squats (225#)
5 Back Squats (225#)
12 Incline DB Bench Press (45°, 40-45-45-50-50#)
12 JM Press (45-55-55-65-65#)

That worked up a hell of a sweat. Might be interesting to alternate between legs and upper body in a quad set like that. Did not wear a belt at all.

Today was the first time since I’ve been squatting every day I felt I should scale back the plan. Seems like a good way to close out day 28. Well, not really with squats for the day, with more coming in the afternoon.

Nobody showed up today! Not a single person, other than Alex, but he was weightlifting.

Warm-up

Crossover Symmetry Activation
1,000m Row (4:09.5)
Bottom Squat Hold
10 Snatch Press (20kg)

Gymnastics & Weightlifting

24:00 EMOM (alt)

3 MU
1 Snatch

That was a really fun EMOM. Didn’t feel in danger of missing any of the muscle-ups. I started with 40 kilos and went up 5 kg every round through. All makes through 90 and then missed the final rep at 95. I had it too, just a little forward and I was able to hold it there for a second, trying to pull it back. Pretty excited about that and ready to test our a max when I’m fresh. I did take some extra time, threw another kilogram on the bar and made 2 PR attempts. Got them overhead no problem, but just didn’t have enough left in my shoulders.

Conditioning

6 Rounds

4x Shuttle Run (40′)
10 Back Squats (135#, no rack)

Sucked even worse than I was expecting. My legs didn’t want to move when I took off running after a few rounds. All sets unbroken and really busted ass in the final round to make sure I got under 6 minutes. Took me 5:53.

I jumped on the Air Dyne for 10:00 just to move after that and in hopes that it’ll help me not get sore. Went 3.02 miles.

Midline

4 Sets

5 Strict T2B
3/3 Turkish Get-ups (44#)

Really took my time today and didn’t leave until after 2. Did Crossover Symmetry Recovery to finish off.

Back Over 3

Convinced Kevin to squat with me at CFi this morning. I had to bribe him with Nutella donuts and coffee.

I warmed up with 50 walking lunges.

Coffee Squats

Jumping Back Squats

10×45#
5×75#
5×95#
5×115#
5×135#

Fun way to warm-up.

Back Squats

3×185#
3×225#
3×255#
3×285#
3×305#
3×315#

First time I’ve had 300+ on the bar in over 3 months. Felt pretty good.

Weather is so nice that almost nobody showed up for class today. Must be doing yard work and other fun activities. I did Crossover Symmetry Activation to get my shoulders ready.

Weightlifting

5 Hang Muscle Snatches (45#)
5 Snatch Presses (45#)
5 OHS (45#)

Power Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + OHS

75#
75#
95#
95#
115#
115#
135#
135#
155#

Used straps after 95# to save my grip some. Hang snatches felt weird today.

Conditioning

600-400-200m

Pulled the rowers outside to soak up some extra vitamin D. Not a crazy pace, but got the heart rate up and worked up a nice sweat. Didn’t even run a clock, which was relaxing.

Did Crossover Symmetry Iron Scap and headed home. Going out to golf my first holes of the year this afternoon.