Tag: Toes to Bar

Quads on Fire

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf and then got one of those massive headaches from the sun and heat. It was in the 90s and I guess I didn’t drink enough water out there. So my garage gym still isn’t all set back up with the GHD yet. In at 10am this morning and feeling great after 9.5 hours of sleep.

Warm-up

1000m Row

Strength

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 105# (70%)
  • 3 @ 120# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 140# (90%)

I have a bit of the right elbow problem on shoulder presses too and that right elbow is also the one that gets sore after snatches or OHS most of the time. Hmmm. I got 6 reps @ 140# for an estimated max of 167.5#.

Deadlift – 5/3/1 Cycle 2 Week 2

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 295# (70%)
  • 3 @ 335# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 375# (90%)

Crushed the deadlifts today with the day off yesterday. 10 reps for an estimated max of 499. BOOM!!

3 Rounds NFT

  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, forward)
  • 8 Front Rack Walking Lunges (135#, backward)
  • 8 Chin-ups

I didn’t put the bar down on the lunges and my heart was racing after all 16 lunges.

WOD

5 4:00 Rounds

  • 6 T2B
  • 1:30 Air Dyne
  • Rest

I made a point not to go out too fast on the first round. Went 31-33-34-34-32 calories. I focused on keeping the speed at over 22mph. This is much worse than Air Dyne Hell because you hurt for longer.

Recovery-ish Night

After Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, normally I’d make today a rest day, but I have a golf outing tomorrow that take up most of the day. I walked 18 holes of golf in the morning and then went in to open gym at night.

Warm-up

3:00 Air Dyne

WOD

10 Rounds NFT

  • 45m Sled Drag (forward)
  • 5 T2B
  • 45m Sled Pull (backward)
  • 5 T2B

The load was 250# for the first 5 rounds and then 275# for the last 5 rounds. All T2B were unbroken for a total of 100 today. Didn’t really get the heart rate up so was a good recovery type workout.

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.

Double 5/3/1 Day

Yesterday I walked 18 holes of golf in the morning and took the rest of the day off. Really needed it. In at 10am this morning to train with Kevin and Ellen.

Warm-up

Ran 450m and felt really good.

Strength

Doubling up on the 5/3/1. Going to try and squeeze 3 weeks into 2, since I’m heading out of town the next week and can use that as my deload.

5/3/1 Shoulder Press (cycle 1 week 1)

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 95# (65%)
  • 5 @ 110# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 125# (85%)

I got 8 reps on the last set, which is kind of disappointing. It estimates my max at 158#, which is below my PR of 165#.

5/3/1 Back Squats (cycle 1 week 1)

  • 5 @ 115# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 190# (65#)
  • 5 @ 220# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 250# (85%)

I was thinking about trying to hit it as Super Squats and go for 20 reps since I’d done 245# for 20 before I got sick. Went by feel though and cut it off at 12 reps because I could feel my form getting ugly. It estimates my max at 349#, which I think is high since I haven’t put 25# on my back squat in the last 6-8 weeks. Once you get past 8 or so reps, the max rep calculators seem to be off. Happy with the work though.

Accessory

4 Rounds NFT

  • 10 Front Rack Lunges (135#)
  • 5 Strict T2B
  • 10 Pullovers (60# DB)

I did everything unbroken and went from one lunge right into the next one without putting my feet together. Our T2B weren’t exactly strict, but we weren’t kipping was the key point I guess.

WOD

4 Rounds

  • 10 Push Presses (35# DBs)
  • 90s Air Dyne
  • 2:00 Rest

I sped through the push presses each round. My calories were 35-30-30-33. The AD6 is so much different (harder) than the AD2 I have. World’s of difference. There is no way I could do 300 FY on the AD6 and it was easy on the AD2.

Morning Air Dyne

Golfed with a buddy yesterday, so took a rest day.

Conditioning

Did 20 minutes on the Air Dyne at about 9am. RPM was steady at an average of 72. Never saw a number lower than 69 or higher than 74. Totaled 520 calories and 11.41km. Felt good!

Went to Survival Fitness at 8pm for open gym and worked out with Brent.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • 2 Rounds
    • “Cindy” round (strict and quality reps)
    • 3/3 Turkish Get-ups (35# KB)

Strength

Super Squats! I warmed up with 8 @ 45#, 5 @ 135#, 3 @ 185#, and 3 @ 215#. Then I used 245# for the set of 20, up 20# since starting 2 weeks ago. That first week was definitely the hardest though. Really taxing today on the breathing. A couple of hours later I’m feeling tight in my lower back and my neck.

Then I did 3 sets of 20 pullovers with a 60# DB to stretch out the ribs, with the added benefit of working on my chest.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Ring Push-ups
  • 10 T2B
  • 10 Weighted Step-ups (24″ box, 45# DBs)

Originally planned for 5 rounds, but decided to keep it shorter after the super squats which are pretty taxing. Right before we upped to 20 step-ups too, but as soon as we got into them, I quickly made the executive decision that was a bad idea because of the big box. I finished in 4:59. Was able to do all of the push-ups and T2B unbroken, but had to break up the 2nd set of step-ups into 6-4 because of grip, but then powered through the last round. Could barely squeeze my water bottle after.

Central East Regionals Week

Heading down to Columbus on Thursday to watch the Central East Regionals this weekend. It’s going to be so much fun!

Walked 18 holes of golf on Sunday afternoon and yesterday morning. Feeling refreshed today. Went in at 10.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (f-b, s-s)
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Gymnastics

12:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Strict Deficit HSPU on 35# bumpers
  • Evens: 7 Strict Pull-ups

First time doing strict HSPU on 35s and survived all 6 rounds! That might be the most strict pull-ups I’ve ever done in a day too.

Strength

Back Squats

  • 8 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 185#
  • 5 sets of 8 @ 225#

Wanted to try something with a little higher volume and this definitely did the trick. 225# is about 70% of my 1RM.

Core

3 Rounds

  • 10 Ab Roll-outs / Evil Wheels (on knees)
  • 10 T2B

Not for time. Aimed for good quality on the roll-outs and did all sets of T2B unbroken.

Conditioning

10 Rounds

  • 50m High Prowler Sprint
  • 50m Low Prowler Sprint

Used the wooden prowler and loaded it up with four 45# bumpers.

From the Blocks

Went in at 10:30 to do some Olympic lifting work.

Warm-up

  • 300m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • 10/10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S)

OLY

Kevin had some of his jerk blocks in, so I used them to do hang snatches and cleans. It was great work and made some progress in reaching extension, especially in the snatch.

Snatch

I did a double at 95#, 2 singles at 95#, 2 singles at 105#, 6 singles at 115#, and 3 singles at 125#. Triple extension was feeling the best it ever has. Here’s a video of one of the 125# lifts. I get too high off the ground, but everything else is a big improvement.

Clean

I did 2 doubles at 135#, 3 doubles at 155#, and then 6 singles at 175#. Didn’t feel as good as the snatches, that’s for sure. I have a bigger tendency to cave my knees in on the clean and wasn’t getting the greatest hip extension. Here’s a lift at 175#.

Really took my time on the lifts and probably spent more than an hour working them. Need to do this more often.

Headed back around 6:30pm to open gym for some extra work.

Strength

Seated Good Mornings

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 115#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 155#

Not so sure these were a good idea today, but oh well.

WOD

7:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Push-ups
  • 10 Pistols
  • 10 T2B

Quick little metcon to throw in a few things we haven’t worked in over a week. The pistols were brutal, especially without wearing my OLY shoes. My quads were on fire after round 1. I finished 5 complete rounds and then got 6 push-ups.

Heavy Duty

Feeling pretty good after the 30 minute AMRAP yesterday. Went in at 8pm for Open Gym to do the following gem I concocted. Brent did it all with me and then Kevin joined us for the WOD when he was done coaching the class.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • PVC Pass-thrus

Strength

Back Squats

Week #5 of the squat program. Things are getting heavy! I warmed up with 5@95#, 5@135#, and 3@185#.

  • 6 @ 220#
  • 6 @ 235#
  • 6 @ 250#
  • 4 @ 265#
  • 3 @ 280#
  • 6 @ 235#

The 6 reps at 250# might have been the toughest part of this and I was wondering how in the world I was going to get the next two sets done, but they were actually easier.

Push Press

5×5 @ 165# and then did MAX reps on the 5th set, getting 7.

These felt really heavy, especially with my calves getting more sore from 153 box jumps yesterday. Glad we picked this weight though.

WOD

21-15-9

  • Row calories
  • Goblet Squats (53# KB)
  • T2B

Went out a little too hot on the rower and had to back off. Never set the KB done during my goblet squats. Kept my T2B around sets of 6 so I didn’t rip. Finished in 6:57. Pretty good WOD where you could keep pushing the whole way. Got a little rest during the T2B before jumping back up.

Throwdown Thursday

Another competition day. Feeling a little off, due to diet. I’ve been eating like shit and need to clean it up. In late for the 8pm class to throw down with Brent.

Warm-up

  • 30s Band pass-thrus
  • 30s Leg Swings (Both sides, F-B, S-S)
  • 30s Air Squats
  • 30s HR Push-ups
  • 30s Mountain Climbers
  • 30s Jumping Jacks

I’m not sure that’s entirely right, but it was a dynamic warm-up.

WOD

CrossFit Games Open WOD 12.3

18:00 AMRAP

  • 15 Box Jumps (24″)
  • 12 Shoulder to OH (115#)
  • 9 T2B

I have to admit, this was never my favorite, even though it has box jumps in it. The shoulder to overheads have always given me trouble at that weight in a long WOD. I got 5+21 last year in the Open and 6+22 back in August. This would be a good test of how far my upper body strength has come.

My box jumps weren’t that great today. My calves were a bit rusty, maybe from the snatch pulls we did yesterday. I was able to do push jerks as 7-5 every single round, which is huge for me. I had to break them up into 3 or 4 sets pretty early on both times I’ve done this before. I had a few rounds of unbroken T2B and then went with a lot of 6-3 or similar. Finished with 8+17!!

I’m supposed to get front squats done today but am beat after that one. I’ll do them tomorrow when I’m fresh.

Some Firsts

In at 10am this morning.

Warm-up

Did a 500m Row.

Strength

Bench Press

Going for a 1RM today since it’s been ages and I wanted to see where I was at. 10 @ 45#, 5 @ 135#, 3 @ 185#, 1 @ 215#, and then failed on two different attempts at 235# to match my PR. My left arm was not having any trouble, but my right was way behind and couldn’t catch up. Then I dropped down for 5 @ 185#. On these, my right arm was still trailing behind. Kevin noticed my elbow was a lot more flared out then the left, putting me in a bad position. Something to work on.

Disappointing bench day. I haven’t PR’d a lift in a couple of weeks and need that rush of beating a record soon!

Snatch Pulls

6 x 2 @ 185#

First time using lifting straps. The first set felt super heavy and awkward getting used to the straps, but it got much easier as the sets went on and the pulls felt pretty good. I still have a hitch where I kind of stop and almost dip back down in my Olympic lifts. Need to fix that.

Pendlay Rows

Something new to try out. Not exactly sure we were doing them right, but they felt like they were working something. Did 5 reps each at 95#, 105#, 115#, 125#, and 135#.

We were close…

WOD

18:00 AMRAP

  • 50 DU
  • 40 Air Squats
  • 30 Push-ups
  • 20 T2B
  • 10 HSPU

Much harder than I imagined because you hit muscle fatigue in so many of the movements. I was 10 HSPU short of completed 3 full rounds, so 2 + 140. Lot’s of resting in this to give the muscles time to recover and keep from hitting failure until that last round.