The day after a CrossFit competition is always an unknown. It’s hard to predict how your body is going to respond to the challenges you put it through in the heat of competing. I’m feeling good today considering I did 4 high intensity WODs yesterday. My rib cage must be a little bruised up from the plate run because I can feel it sore there. Other than that I feel a little tight in some places, but nothing is sore like the partner competition I did this summer. Went in for the 5:30pm class.
Warm-up
4 Tabata Rounds
Mountain Climbers
Air Squats
Strength
5×5 Wide Stance Low Box Squats (14″ box)
These were not my friend and I’m already feeling them in my knees. I think the super wide stance may not be the best for taller guys, but I’ll have to do some research on that. My working sets were:
5 @ 135#
5 @ 155#
5 @ 175#
5 @ 175#
5 @ 175#
WOD
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Burpee Box Jumps (24″)
Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
2m Rest
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
Goblet Squats (48# KB)
Over the Box Jumps (24″)
My legs got a lot of work in the competition and then the box squats kind of finished them off before this WOD. I found it hard to jump on the 24″ box today, especially when I got to the over the box jumps. The 24″ box is never an issue for me. I finished in 17:31.
I went out and walked 18 holes of golf this afternoon and am feeling good after not doing a WOD yesterday. Went in for the 7pm class.
Warm-up
5 rounds
10 PVC Pass-thrus
30s Bottom Squat Hold
I mixed in some PVC Around-the-Worlds for some of the pass-thrus to help get my shoulders warmed up.
Strength
5×3 Shoulder Press
I was really disappointed in my performance with the 5×5 last week, so I was in it to win it tonight. I did a set of 10 at 45# and a set of 5 at 95# to get warmed up. For my working sets I used 105#, 115#, 125#, 135#, and 145# with no missed reps. BOOM! My previous PR was 140# and I got 3 reps at 145# today, so I have no idea why last week sucked.
WOD
5 rounds
3:00 AMRAP
3 Burpees
6 MB Cleans (20#)
9 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
1m Rest
Start each round where you ended the last round, which will most likely be in the middle of the cycle. This makes counting easier, as long as you can remember where you leave off. I did exactly 17 rounds with 1 second to spare. One minute is not a lot of rest time between these rounds and all that squatting really adds up.
Finisher
Death by Jingle Jangles (by 3s)
What’s a Jingle Jangle you ask? They are basically short sprints from side to side in the gym, which is about 16 feet wide. So for this “Death by” style, in the first minute you have to get side to side 3 times, then 6 times the next minute, and increase by 3 each minute. For the first 5 minutes it’s all walking to save energy, but then I had to start picking up the pace. I got through the round of 30, which is the 10th minute, and then got 21 of the 33 in the 11th minute, which in a new gym record.
I haven’t been this sore since the competition a few months ago. Who would have thought doing gymnastics (specifically back tuck flip progressions) for an hour could beat up on your body this much. I’m sure Sunday’s WOD and the work I did yesterday have a little to do with it as well. I’ve been using the rumble roller a few times a day and it’s painful as hell! My IT bands have never felt like this before.
I’m getting a hot stone massage this afternoon and making tomorrow a rest day so I figured I better get in to the 9am today for a WOD.
Warm-up
100 Butt Kicks
100 High Knees
50 Jumping Jacks
50 Zombie Kicks
25 Lateral Hops (left)
25 Lateral Hops (right)
Strength
Weighted Pull-ups, 5×5
5 @ 8#
5 @ 10#
5 @ 12#
5 @ 15#
5 @ 15#
I was able to complete each set today!
WOD
20:00 AMRAP
5 Burpees
10 Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
15 AbMat Sit-ups
Remind you of the benchmark girl “Cindy” a bit? Same style but tougher in the long run. My strategy was to keep an even pace so I didn’t burn out early. Twenty minutes is a long time. I went unbroken right up until the end of the WOD and even had a little in the tank to speed through my burpees in the last couple of rounds. Finished 14 rounds plus 5 burpees and 5 wall balls. That comes to 75 burpees, 145 wall balls, and 210 sit-ups!
Finisher
7:00 AMRAP
150m 1-arm Farmer’s Carry (53# KB)
I completed 6 laps (I think! Lost track on the 2nd or 3rd lap) and was about 30m away from finishing the 7th lap. Never had to stop and switched hands around the halfway point of each lap.
So much for 3 on 1 off. I saw this WOD and really wanted to do it because I need the work with weighted pull-ups and the push-up reps. Tomorrow is a better day to take off for me anyway because I have the 2nd round of a golf tournament in the morning.
Warm-up
10:00 EOMOTM
7 KBS
12 Wall Balls
The goal was to pick a heavier KB each round. I used 48#, 53#, 62#, 71#, and 80#. That’s the first time I’ve ever swung the 80 pounder; hadn’t even done Russian swings that heavy yet. It felt pretty good. The wall balls were a good way to loosen up after all of the squat work yesterday.
Strength
5 Sets
5-8 Weighted Pull-ups
These were one of the reasons I wanted to come in today. Kind of disappointed with how I did.
8 @ 8#
7 @ 10#
5 @ 12#
4 @ 12#
3 @ 15#, plus a long negative on the last rep
WOD #1
5:00 AMRAP
3 Plyo Push-ups
6 Burpees
9 HR Push-ups
This AMRAP was the other reason I wanted to come in. I need to increase my push-up strength and capacity. Lots of push-up movements here, so no break for the arms. I did 4 rounds plus 11 reps in the next round.
We rested 3 minutes before doing another WOD.
WOD #2
7:00 AMRAP
7 Thrusters (35# DBs)
7 Box Jumps (24″)
The Rx for men was 40# DBs and I grabbed them for about 10 seconds. After thinking about the WOD, I realized I would die so I swapped them for the 35 pounders and I’m so glad I did. In the first round I thought the 35# DBs were even going to be too heavy, but I stuck with it and did each round without putting down the weights. I really had to focus on the hip drive to get those suckers up overhead. The thrusters really wiped me out and negated my box jump advantage. I managed to get 6 rounds and 5 more thrusters.
Finisher
10:00
Hold the L-Sit as long as possible
30 Russian Twists (30# KB)
I did the L-Sit on the rings to get that extra work on my upper body and I think it’s harder on the core as well. I was able to hold for about 25-30 seconds each time and surprisingly it was my arms that kept giving out. All of the Russian twists were done unbroken each round. I did 5 total rounds.
I’m glad I went in today because it allowed me to work on some weaknesses. I could tell I wasn’t all-in for today though; definitely not my best effort. Golfing the 2nd round of a tournament with the group of guys I play with in the morning, so it works out better for me to make tomorrow a rest day.
Today I got to make up the WOD for Survival Fitness since Matt and Cora are out-of-town camping. I taught the 11am and then worked out with the noon class.
Warm-up
5 rounds
15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Jump Squats
Nice easy warm-up to get the blood flowing.
WOD
Partner Ladder
10->15 Burpees
5->10 Ring Dips
10->15 Wall Balls
5->10 T2B
500m Sandbag Run
* One partner working at a time for the reps. For example, partner A does 10 burpees, partner B does 10 burpees, partner A does 11, partner B does 11, and keep going until both have done the round of 15 reps.
Since we had an odd number of people in class, I teamed up with Marisol and Brian for a team of 3. Brian and I worked at the same time as partner A and Marisol was our partner B. It’s gotta be tough teaming up with two guys and getting shorter rest periods, but Marisol did awesome.
I did Rx ring dips through the round of 7. Then in round 8 I think I did 4 Rx and 4 with a purple band. In the round of 9 I maybe got 3 Rx and then in the round of 10 it was all with the band. I was really hitting a good rhythm with the T2B today and only had to break up the last 2 rounds so I didn’t rip my hands. When I finished the run, the clock read 29:40. I was a bit ahead of Brian and Marisol, so I’m not sure what our official team time would have been. I’m really happy with how this WOD turned out. I was planning for the top teams to be around 30 minutes which was pretty close.
Finisher
3 rounds
1m Plank
1m Russian Twists (35# KB)
1m Table Top (30s each side)
1m Rest
Not going to lie, this sucked after the WOD. Even the planks were hard to get through.
It was great to rest up yesterday. I did walk 18 holes of golf in the morning. Back to it for the 9am class this morning. My back is feeling better after a few days of the standing desk and the massage on Tuesday. I have another massage and adjustment this afternoon.
Warm-up
4 rounds
15s Jumping Jacks
15s Air Squats
15s Mountain Climbers
15s Jump Squats
Midline
We partnered up to do 200 AbMat sit-ups. One person held a plank and the other knocked out reps. I was doing sets of 30 on my turns so got 120 sit-ups.
WOD
3 rounds
1m Push Presses (30# DBs)
1m Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
1m Jingle Jangles
1m Burpees
1m SDLHP (53# KB)
1m Rest
Push presses and SDLHP were I got most of my reps each round. My rounds were 122, 107, and 104 for a 333 total. Fight Gone Bad style WODs are always ass kickers because it’s like 3 rounds of 5 mini AMRAPs.
Finisher
Prowler Suicides
After class, I stuck around to help out with a group of high school varsity soccer guys. We put them through the same workout. It was a lot of fun and nice to put someone else through the pain for a change. Makes me look forward to getting my CrossFit Level 1 Certification even more now.
Yesterday I finally bought a couple of lacrosse balls and taped them together. I’ve been rolling on them while watching TV at different times throughout the day to try to loosen up my back muscles and speed up the healing process.
Warm-up
10 rounds
150m Sprint
30s Rest
Loved this one. Definitely one of my strengths.
WOD
Death by Wall Balls
I got through the round of 19 and then 14 reps of round 20. I had to take a short break in the round of 19 and that pretty much ended me right there.
Finisher
Prowler sprints loaded with 95#. Pretty light weight, but allowed me to go faster. I got in two high sprints and two low ones.
I went back to the chiropractor today and he showed me the x-rays. I have some weird curves going on in my spine due to sitting all day for work. Might be time to look at setting up a standing desk. Sore in my calves today, probably from all of the push presses last night. Shoulder soreness is definitely from push presses and I bet they’ll be even more sore tomorrow after today’s WOD.
Warm-up
10 Russian KBS (53# KB) each round before the Wall Ball set
I started out slow and steady, which quickly put me behind a lot of people. But I never rested and ended up finishing first in the class with a time of 6:15.
WOD
“Garrett”
Three rounds
75 Air Squats
25 Ring HSPU
25 L-Pull-ups
Anyone that can do this WOD as prescribed is a fucking beast.
I’ve never attempted a ring HSPU and don’t have plans to try one. I started off doing HSPU with no assistance and got about 10 in each round before adding an AbMat under my head. I did mostly kipping HSPU, except for 4 or 5 strict ones at the beginning of each round. I did a few L-Pull-ups in the first two rounds, but quickly resorted to strict dead-hangs. After about 10 or 12 of those per round I added a purple band to finish out the 25. My total time was 32:44.
Finisher
1m Side Plank (L)
1m Side Plank (R)
1m Plank
This was supposed to be 3 rounds, but there wasn’t enough time so I only got in the one.
On Saturday night I did the Warrior Dash for the first time. It was a lot of fun doing the obstacles. As I had expected, the run wasn’t bad at all. Now I need to step it up and try a Tough Mudder. Then on Sunday and Monday I went on a little golfing trip up to northern Michigan. It was nice to have a couple of rest days away from the WODs.
Warm-up
5 rounds
1m AbMat Sit-ups
1m Russian Twists (30# KB)
1m Plank
1m V-ups
1m Table Top (30s each side)
1m Rest
I could still feel the GHD work that I did on Friday night. This was the first time doing table tops and wow are they tough.
WOD
1m Wall Balls
3 rounds
100m Run
5 KB Snatches (L)
5 OH KB Lunges (L)
5 KB Snatches (R)
5 OH KB Lunges (R)
100m Run
1m Wall Balls
Kind of a weird WOD with the minute of wall balls at the beginning and at the end of the WOD, especially when everyone had to keep track of their own minute at the end. I got 29 wall balls that first minute and 25 at the end in the last minute. Total time for the WOD was 8:40, using a 53# KB for all of the snatches and lunges.
Finisher
100 HR Push-ups
My push-up endurance sucks. I think I started off with a set of 15 and then a set of 10, but after that it was 5s for a while and then whatever I could do. It took me 7:48 to finish off the 100.
Yesterday, Survival Fitness held the first Summer Open. It was a team event with one male and one female per team. It was a great event with 28 teams competing.
It was the first time I’ve competed in any event like this. The workouts were tough, but fun and rewarding. It was a great experience and very inspiring to watch the top teams. I could barely roll out of bed this morning and it’s a struggle to walk around the house. Even my fingers are sore.
All smiles before WOD #1
WOD #1
10:00 AMRAP (Clean/Deadlift – HR Push-up ladder)
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-?
Men
Clean 135#
HR Push-up
Women
Deadlift 135#
HR Push-up
Man will do 1 clean with 135# and then 1 HR push-up, then…
Woman will do 1 deadlift with 135# and then 1 HR push-up, then…
Man will do 2 cleans with 135# and then 2 HR push-ups, then…
Woman will do 2 deadlifts with 135# and then 2 HR push-ups
etc.
This was going to be our weakest workout because of the weight. If we got to the round of 10 I figured it would be good for us. We completed the 10th round and I got in 3 more cleans before time ran out. We placed 24th in the workout. My back has been wrecked for about a week and it’s even worse after this one. I have some pretty good soreness in the lower part of my back. I need to get myself on video to see if there is something I’m doing wrong with my cleans to cause the lower back issues.
The woman had it relatively easy in this one and you could really tell by the fact that the men immediately collapsed to the ground when the 10 minutes was up.
WOD #2
Partner A: 100 burpees, then tag off and…
Partner B: “Karen”
If you don’t know what “Karen” is, she’s one of the benchmark WODs:
150 Wall Ball Shots for time
Women: 16# ball, 8′ target
Men: 20# ball, 10′ target
The teams decided who is partner A and who is partner B. This workout had a 14 minute time cap and if your team didn’t finish, each rep not completed adds 1 second to your time for scoring.
Both parts of this are gassers. My partner did burpees and I did the wall balls. My PR for “Karen” is 8:51, but I knew I could do much better. As a best case scenario I was hoping my partner would complete her part under 7 minutes, giving me about 7 minutes to take a shot. She finished up just under 7 minutes and I managed to get 141 wall balls in the 7 remaining minutes. Only 9 more reps and we would have finished! The WOD was our best placing (18th) of the day. My quads and glutes are on fire today from all of the wall balls.
WOD #3
“Isometric Chipper”
15:00 AMRAP
Part 1:
60 1 arm d-bell snatch (alternate arms each rep) (45#/30#)
Other partner holds a hand stand against the wall
Part 2:
50 Goblet squats (45#/30#)
Other partner does a bottom squat hold
Part 3:
40 AbMat sit-ups
Other partner must hold a plank
Part 4:
30 K2E
Other partner does a bent knee L-hang
Part 5:
20 ring rows
Other partner holds their chin above the bar
One partner will perform the isometric hold, while the other chips away at the reps. As many switches can be made as needed. No reps are be counted if the partner breaks the isometric hold.
This was one of the most brutal workouts I’ve ever done. The isometric holds crush your soul. I was shooting to get through one round if we could. We got through the circuit once and got done with 40 more snatches, notching us a 22nd place finish in the workout. Nearly every team struggled with the ring row and chin-up hold combination at the end of the circuit because there was nothing left in the tank.
Today I’m feeling a lot of this one in my abs and especially in my upper back and shoulder area from the handstand holds. My partner had a hard time getting up on the wall, so I had to do the majority of the hand stand holds. The goblet squats most definitely contributed to the sore quads and ass I have today.
Overall we finished 25th out of 28 teams and I couldn’t be happier. My partner in the competition only started doing CrossFit about 2 months ago. I didn’t compete with any visions of placing high. I know I can’t stay with the top guys, but I enjoy the challenge and pushing myself.
In addition to these 3 workouts, the top 4 teams then did:
WOD #4
In 7:00:
Flip a 325# tire 50 yards down and 50 yards back in the parking lot.
With the remaining time, each partner then does over the box jumps (at the same time) using their own 24″ box
Score is total number of over the box jumps when you add both teammates reps together.
WOD #5
“Double DB Fran”
42-30-18
Thrusters (45#/30# DBs)
Pull-ups
With only one partner working at a time they have to do 42 thrusters, then 42 pull-ups, then 30 of each, and finally 18 of each. The team can split up the block of reps for a movement however they want but they most be completed before switching movements.
For anyone that doesn’t know, “Fran” is the most well-known CrossFit benchmark. When you ask someone their “Fran” time it’s the equivalent of asking a weightlifter how much he bench presses. In a normal “Fran” you do 21-15-9 using a 95# barbell for guys and a 65# barbell for the gals. Top athletes can finish this in under 3 minutes, but it’s an all-out sprint. My PR for DB “Fran” is 9:05, which is not very good.
Moment of the Day
My favorite moment of the day was during the 5th WOD. The male on the second place team (going into the WOD) hurt his ankle in the 4th WOD so he was only able to do a few of the thrusters. That left his partner doing nearly all of the thrusters and him doing nearly all of the pull-ups. If you’ve ever done thrusters you can already begin to imagine the suck.
Many of us have done “Fran” but we’re talking 42-30-18 here! Not 21-15-9. You could see the woman on the edge of tears each time she had to drop the DBs. The guy’s hands were tore up and bleeding all over. They were several minutes past the times of the other 3 teams in the finals and could have called it quits taking 4th in the WOD no matter what. But they dug deep, we all cheered them on, and they finished. You’ll never see anything like that in another sport. We are CrossFitters.
Judging
Four of us guys that competed ended up judging the final two events to give all of the other volunteers a break. It was kind of stressful to be in such an important role. Luckily it’s pretty easy to judge the most elite of the group because their form in usually dialed in.
After Hours
After the awards ceremony and most people went home, about 10 or 15 of us stuck around cleaning up a bit, finishing off a keg and a bunch of beer in the fridge. A couple of people that didn’t compete actually did some drinking WODs! I think I got home around 10:30. It was a long day, but worth every minute.
Photos
Here are a bunch of photos I’ve downloaded from Facebook. As folks upload more photos I’ll update the gallery here.
Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs 