Wall Ball – Page 4 – Nick Momrik's Fitness Logs

Thirties

Now it’s brutally cold after getting all of the snow. Plows came through a few hours before I had to leave for the gym so I was able to get out and go to the 4pm class. My forearms are tight today from holding the handles on the snow blower!

Warm-up

“Roxanne” by The Police

On “Roxanne” do an air squat
On “Red light” do a burpee

It turned into air squat burpees during two long stretches of the song and you couldn’t keep up.

8:00 AMRAP

Duck Walk (30′)
20 Groiners
10 Box Step-ups (24″)

Didn’t really need another warm-up after the first part and surely didn’t need to tax the legs more with plenty to come. Got through 2 rounds, the walk and the groiners.

Strength

I did a set of 6×95# before starting. No reason to get crazy when we were supposed to take the first five minutes to work up and then stick to a weight for the last five minutes.

10:00 EMOM

3 Back Squats
- 135#
- 155
- 175
- 185
- 195
- 5 sets 205

Felt ok and was plenty with so much leg volume coming up. Didn’t wear a belt at all.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

30 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
30 cal Assault Bike
30 Box Jumps (24″)

I’ve been asking for punishment by choosing the bike lately, especially in a leg dominant workout like this. My goal was to keep every set of wall balls unbroken. That’s not something I have ever tried for sets this large during my CrossFit history that I can remember. Surprisingly it wasn’t bad at all. I think I’ve found a relaxing pace on wall balls. I was money on hitting at/above the target today too. First round on the bike was around 62 RPM and the next two were around 58. People on the rowers were obviously kicking my ass. I never stopped on the box jumps and in the third round I jumped down (no rebound) instead of stepping down. Finished in 16:26.

I’m feeling good lately! Is it the weight I’ve lost, the macro counting, the increased water, or some combination?

Gymnastics

Stayed after for some volume and skill work.

6:00 EMOM

10 T2B

I put on my grips and chalked them up. I did five rounds of 10 unbroken and then 7-1-1-1.

10-15:00

HS Walk Practice

My shoulders were pretty shot from the wall balls and toes to bars, but I felt really good with my balance and keeping my feet off the wall went I got up to it. Didn’t have much room with the class back squatting to work on many steps in to the wall.

Finish with Isabel

Last night my legs felt heavy going up and down stairs. Today my upper and middle abs are sore. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

9:00 EMOM (alt)

2x – 3 Wall Balls + 3 Burpees
Row
2x – 3 Snatch DL + 3 Muscle Snatch (45#)

Then I did 3×95# and 3×115# power snatches.

Conditioning

5:00 AMRAP
- Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
2:00 Rest
5:00 AMRAP
- cal Row
2:00 Rest
5:00 AMRAP
- Power Snatch (135#)

Started with three sets of 25 and was feeling good. Planned to go to 15s next, but got math screwed up in my head and stopped after 10 reps at 85. So then I did 15 to get to 100 and looked at the clock. Took an extra breath knowing I would have to hold on to the buzzer. Got through 17 more for 117 total wall balls. I might have been able to keep going with a fourth set of 25. Makes a big difference being 20 pounds lighter than when I last did Karen almost 2 years ago. I definitely need to clean up the height on some of my throws though.

I thought I’d be able to hold a pace better on the rower, but after starting out > 1,100 cal/hour I slowly drifted down to around 950, before picking it back up in the final minute. Racked up 83 calories.

I thought it would be pretty cool if I could do “Isabel” after the other 10 minutes of work. Even though I was seeing stars with every rep through the first five I was on a good pace through 10 reps. The weight was getting heavy, but I kept picking it back up and really tried to generate power through my hips. Definitely did singles the entire way. With about a minute remaining I realized I still had a shot, but I had to really get back on the bar after each rep in the final 40 seconds. Got number 30 with about three seconds to spare and collapsed to the floor. I immediately got the taste of blood in my mouth, which I don’t ever remember before.

230 total reps!

Accessory

3 Sets

10 Romanian Deadlifts (135#)
40 Glute Bridges

Big 11.5 PR

My legs were actually heavy last night and this morning from the cardio I did. Made Kodiak Cakes this morning to load up on carbs for the long metcon today.

Strength

Bench Press

10×45#
10×95
5×135
5×165
5×185
5×195
5×205
5×210
5×215

An improvement over the last 5×5 in October.

Conditioning

Open 11.5
20:00 AMRAP

5 Power Cleans (145/100#)
10 T2B
15 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

The Open is right around the corner, so it’s time to start pushing the conditioning. I’ve only attempted this workout once and it was three years ago. I got through 9+12 then by doing 4-3-3 on all of the toes to bars, so my goal was 10+ rounds for today.

I got out ahead of a 2:00 pace early and gave myself over a minute to play with after 4 rounds I think. Then I seemed to hold a 2:00 pace for several rounds, before starting to trail in the last couple of rounds. I did all single power cleans again. T2B were all 5-5 and I played around with my technique. If I keep my legs tighter and really get my shoulders through in the kip they are so much smoother. I made myself zone out on the wall balls to keep every round unbroken.

Finished with 10+9 for almost a full round PR. Chalk up another 2019 PR! Amazing how the body can keep improving at 39 years old when it’s healthy. The score of 309 ranks in the 94th percentile for all men on BTWB. I don’t push like that very often. Was doing a good job of not resting much at all between movements.

Fightin’

I’m pretty sore from yesterday. My hamstrings, glutes, low back (still tight), and I think my upper rhomboids are all feeling it. Went to the 4pm class.

Warm-up

8:00 EMOM

Row
Air squat
Row
Step-up
Row
Burpee
Row
Shoulder Press (45#)

Conditioning

“Fight Gone Bad” – 3 Rounds

Wall-balls (20#, 10′)
Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (75#)
Box Jumps (20″)
Push Presses (75#)
cal Row
1:00 Rest

I got 291 (with a 24″ box) the only time I’ve done this. That day I did 109-92-90 with 32-24-23 wall balls. Today I did 106-103-96 with 28-28-27 (I think) wall balls. Never dropped the ball today. I was very slow and deliberate on the SDLHP, a dumb movement. I know I could improve my score quite a bit if I busted them out, but it’s not worth it. Too easy to injure a shoulder with this movement and especially with how tight my back has been too. I pretty much stopped and reset on the ground with every single rep. Box jumps felt good and I kept the same pace through every round. Push presses were where I racked up the most reps, but that third round got really hard. I think I got about 15 cals on the first two rows and then pushed it for 17 at the end. I’ll take the 14 rep PR for my 3rd of 2019 already!

Posterior Chain

3 Sets

10 Glute Bridges
15s Glute Bridge Hold
10 Glute Bridges
15s Glute Bridge Hold
10 Glute Bridges
15s Glute Bridge Hold

I wasn’t reading right and thought we only had to do 30 total reps, so I went pretty slow to start out. After I got done with the 30 and people who started before me were still going I realized my mistake. Went much faster for the other two sets but the damage had been done. My glutes were on fire! Being sore didn’t help.

It’s All Back

Woke up on Sunday with a headache from the gym’s Christmas party so it turned out to be a rest weekend. Good thing with today’s workout.

Warm-up

4 Sets

20s Bottom of Push-up Hold (2″ off floor)
10s Rest
20s Superman Hold
10s Rest

Strength

Back Squat

10×45#
5×115
5×165
5×205
5×225
5x5x245

The working sets were programmed at 75%, so rounded down when basing off the 335 pound max. Didn’t want to blow up too much with 90 wall balls coming up. Felt better than the 6x4x265 last week and a nice jump over the 5x5x245 from a few weeks ago.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

30 Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
25 American KBS (53#)
20 C2B Pull-ups

The Rx weight was 70 pounds, but not for this guy. Every round I went 3×10 wall balls, 15-10 kettlebell swings, and 4×5 chest-to-bars. First time trying butterfly again for C2B and it felt great, so I used it the whole way. I guess that is the last thing to come back since I just got my muscle-ups back. My rep schemes worked well and I was surprised to keep hitting sets of 5 on the rig. Usually I can’t keep up that large of sets for C2B and especially not with the butterfly kip. Finished in 13:24.

Started getting a headache within minutes and several other people did as well. With those 3 movements your head is continually moving up and down, so maybe that did it. Tough workout!

Leg Day

Was too nice not to golf yesterday, especially when the 12 day forecast doesn’t show anything above 55 degrees. I did ride in a cart though since it was probably the last weekday golf of the year. Went to the 5pm class tonight.

Warm-up

400m Run
2 Rounds
- 20 Air Squats
- 15 Good Mornings (PVC)
- 10/10 Lateral Step-ups (30″)

Strength

Back Squat

10×45#
10×95
5×135
5×185
5×215
3x5x235

Squatting still just feels so weird. I think part of my is scared and part doesn’t know what the weights should feel like. The working sets were far tough but ok. Slowly working my way back and increasing that potential max…

Conditioning

4 Rounds

20 Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
15 Dumbbell Box Step Overs (40# DBs, 24″)
Rest 1:30

Ewww! My round times were 1:54 – 1:56 – 2:03 – 1:51 for a final time of 12:14.

Safe is Strong

My workout schedule is a bit messed up with the gym + golf day yesterday, so have to be careful not to overdo things. I did the shoulder rehab work in my garage before I went to the 4pm class.

Active Life – Bulletproof Shoulders 8

Warm-up

10 Push-up Shoulder Taps
10 PVC Passes

Odd this wasn’t 2-3 rounds.

4 Sets (each arm)

6 Single Arm High Pull (35#)
45s Rest between arms

Warm-up

1:00 Assault Bike
20 Air Squats
1:00 Assault Bike
1:00 World’s Greatest Stretch (each side)

Strength

Back Squat

10×45#
5×135
5×185
3×215
1×235
2x3x215
5×195
10×185

The single was supposed to be at 90%, but I really have no clue what I can squat now. I just know it has to be under 300, so I calculated my numbers off 265. Start light since I haven’t been squatting and stay safe. It was 80% for the triples, 75% for the set of 5, and 70% for the set of 10. Felt pretty good and the bar definitely felt lighter after the single.

Conditioning

4-3-2-1 Rope Climbs (13′)
20 Shoulder Taps
20 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)

Had to share the rope, so waited a lot more than I would like. I think I could have come down and gone right back up doing every set unbroken. Really enjoying the rope climbs because I can get up there so quick. Instead of doing handstand holds for my scale from walking I figured the shoulder taps would at least get me some single side work. I had 30 in my head as a rep count, but when I was approaching 20 in the first set I knew that was enough. Need to do those more often, which I used to do. I did them with my back against the wall, which I think is the harder version, though it mimics handstand walking better. Wall balls were all unbroken. Finished in 9:10.

https://twitter.com/youmuppet_/status/1007995581900447744

Muscle It

Got rained out for golf yesterday so it turned in to a rest day. I thought about going for a walk but it was fucking hot and humid.

Warm-up

400m Run
5:00 Stretching
10 Hang Muscle Clean (45#)
10 High Hang Power Clean (45#)
10 Hang Power Clean (45#)

Weightlifting

Hang Power Cleans

2x3x95#
3×125
3×145
3×165
3×185
3×195
3×205
3×215

Maybe my legs are coming back? Look like that was a PR.

Conditioning

400m Run
10 Muscle Cleans (155#)
40 Push Ups
80 Wall Ball (20#, 10′)
40 Push Ups
10 Muscle Cleans (155#)
400m Run

I had planned on scaling back to 135# but Tom was going for it, so I had to do it. Heavy cleans are my thing anyway and I’m glad I Rx’d it. Paced the first run, did all singles on the cleans. All push-ups were done in sets of 5. I started out with 3×10 wall balls and pinning the ball against the wall for a 3 breath count instead of dropping it so I could go right into my next set. Then after those first 30 I started doing sets of 5 with a drop. I’d take a step back, breathe, step in, and pick it right back up. I think it helped keep me going when my legs and arms were starting to feel some fatigue. Same 5s on the push-ups and single cleans. Tried to pick up the pace on the run but I just can’t seem to do it when I’m breathing heavy like that. I did get a side stitch on the 2nd lap though, so I must have had some push. Finished in 14:23.

Having muscle cleans in a metcon was very different. I’ve done them plenty of times for lifting work, but never fatigued like that. Had a mental challenge to it as well because you really had to make sure not to drop under the bar.

Light Wall Balls

Got a bit of a headache again a few hours after the workout on Friday night. Could have been from hitting the redline again or maybe from doing HSPU. Decided to take a rest day yesterday since I’ll go to the gym tomorrow instead of golfing. Plus it was hot and I just wanted to kick back, relax, and watch the CrossFit Games after being out-of-town to play in a golf scramble.

11-12-13…20

Wall Balls (14#, 10′)
Sit-ups

The goal was to go unbroken and it wasn’t that hard to do. Nice to go light for a change. Finished in 11:08.

Tabata Work

4 Rounds Push-ups
30s Rest
4 Tabata Double Unders
30s Rest
4 Tabata Hollow Rocks
30s Rest
4 Tabata Double Unders
30s Rest
4 Tabata Push-ups

Bit of a false start when I set my phone app to reverse tabata. Had done 13 push-ups in those 10 seconds, which obviously affected things the rest of the way after resetting and starting over. I was able to do 17-17-12-11 on the push-ups, 36-30-35-36 dubs, 23-22-22-19 hollow rocks, 36-35-29-35 dubs, and 15-15-13-10 push-ups. Looks like missing a double under costs about 5-6 reps. This was harder than the wall balls.

Accessory

Wanted to get in the 4th shoulder abduction workout which was 3×10 single arm presses. Went with something a little more challenging and added the back work.

3 Sets

10/10 Bottoms Up KB Press (26#)
10/10 Suitcase Deadlift (28kg)

Gymnastics

3×10 Kig Swings / Bar Taps
3×5 T2B

First T2B I’ve done in months. Meh.

The Don

Went to the 10am.

Warm-up

400m Run
2x
- 20 Air Squats
- 10 Pass Throughs
- 30s Dead Hang

Conditioning

“The Don” – Partner Style

66 Deadlifts (115#)
66 Box Jumps (24″)
66 American Kettlebell Swings (53#)
66 V-ups
66 Sit-ups
66 Ring Rows
66 Thrusters (55#)
66 Wall Balls (20#, 10′)
66 Burpees
66 Double Unders

Partnered with Weston. BTWB said the deadlift should have been 110, which seems like a weird weight. I had to do V-ups instead of knees to elbows and ring rows instead of pull-ups. For the deadlifts, KBS, v-ups, sit-ups, thrusters, and wall balls we each did three sets of 11. For the box jumps, ring rows, and burpees we each did 3 sets of 6 and 3 sets of 5. Dubs were a quick set of 33 each to finish at 22:25