Tag: Weighted Lunge

Leg Day

Still sore in the legs from Tuesday and now sore in the core and upper body from yesterday. In at 10am.

Warm-up

  • PVC OHS and pass-thrus
  • 450m Run

Strength

5/3/1 Deadlifts – Cycle 2 Week 1

  • 5 @ 165# (40% of training max – warm)
  • 5 @ 210# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 250# (60% – warm)
  • 5 @ 270# (65%)
  • 5 @ 315# (75%)
  • 5+ @ 355# (85%)

Felt really solid. Focusing on being more explosive with my legs and hip drive is helping a lot. I did 10 reps at 355# for an estimated max of 472#.

Did this following ladder after the snatches. Not for time. Go through once until failure and then start over from 1 and do it to failure again.

  • 1 Strict Chin-up, 2 Strict Ring Dips, 3 Sit-ups holding 10# plate behind head
  • 2-4-6
  • 3-6-9
  • …

I got 5 + 15 and 3 + 10.

OLY

Warmed up with 45# snatch position drills, wearing wrist straps, for 7-8 minutes.

E20S 2:00

  • 95# Snatch

3:00 Rest

E30S 3:00

  • 125# Snatch

3:00 Rest

EMOM 3:00

  • 135# Snatch

The 125# snatches felt really good. I started jumping forward a little on the 135# snatches though and wasn’t hitting quite as good on the hips. Better than I ever have hit though and it’s my first try at 135# so I might stick to this for the next session before going up another 10#.

WOD

3 Rounds

  • 10 Backwards Front Rack Walking Lunges (155#, no rack)
  • 10 OHS (75#)

Yuck! Those backwards lunges were brutal at 155# and I’m glad I didn’t go with 95# for the OHS. Originally thought about doing 5 rounds, but legs were thrashed from the deadlifts and snatches. Finished in 5:47.

Long and Brutal

Legs still pretty sore. In at 9am to get lifts done before doing a long team WOD in class at 10.

I warmed up with a 500m row and some PVC pass-thrus.

5/3/1 Shoulder Press – Cycle 1 Week 2

  • 5 @ 60# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 75# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 90# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 105# (70%)
  • 3 @ 120# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 135# (90%)

Felt better than the first “wee”. I managed to get 7 reps at 135#, which puts my estimated max at 166#, over my current PR.

5/3/1 Back Squat – Cycle 1 Week 2

  • 5 @ 115# (40% of Training Max – warm)
  • 5 @ 145# (50% – warm)
  • 3 @ 175# (60% – warm)
  • 3 @ 205# (70%)
  • 3 @ 235# (80%)
  • 3+ @ 265# (90%)

Oh boy! I felt horrible going down on that first warm-up set. Only managed to get 4 reps at 265# before dumping the bar. Too much leg work packed into 8 days to get in 2 5/3/1 cycles and it showed. Won’t be hitting strength again until Tuesday and only one strength lift per day, so it should be a better week next week for the 3rd week and then a deload after.

In class, we did a brutal teams WOD in honor of the CrossFit games going on. I teamed up with Brent and Kevin. The events were one right after the other, so keep moving.

Event 1: “Road Grater”

Barbell/Plate carry one mile (Guys: 45# bar, two 45# plates; Ladies 30# bar, two 35# plates)
One member must carry the bar and the other two must carry a plate. Members can switch implements at any time.

We took about 13:10 (forgot to look at the clock) and got smoked by Ron, Matt, and Ryan who did it in 10:35.

Event 2: “Hippie Hop”

Load weights on barbell. Each member must complete 50 lateral hops over the bar while the other two members hold the bar. The holders can hold the bar at any height but cannot set it down until the 50 hops are completed. Penalty for letting the bar touch the ground was 10 reps.

This was easy. We had 2 guys lay on their side on the ground and set the bar on our hips. The 50 hops were like a rest period for me and I knocked them out like nothing. We started our comeback here, crushing it in 2:42 to finish at an overall time of 15:52.

Event 3: “Rack of Ribs”

Unload the barbell and complete as a team: 200 Burpee plate jumps and 100 front rack empty bar lunges. Here’s how it works: Two members do the burpee plate jumps, while the 3rd member does the front rack lunges. Every member has to go rep for rep, so one lunge, two burpee plate jumps (one each member with the plate) at a time. Teams can switch out the lungers and the burpee plate jumpers whenever they feel like it with no penalty.

We switched out the lunger every 11 reps, which worked well because it still meant doing 22 burpees in a row. We almost complete caught up here, finishing in 8:46 for an overall time of 24:38.

Event 4: “Ron Morse Mile”

Stop at each turn and complete the following, every member must do this:

  • Turn 1: 50 Air Squats
  • Turn 2: 75 Air squats
  • Turn 3: 50 Push-ups (chest to deck)
  • Turn 4: 75 Push-ups

Suck fest, especially that many push-ups at the end of this WOD. We did 5 at a time with breaks and it worked well. Took us 20:17 to finish the mile for a total time of 44:55 to take down the best time in the last 3 events and the overall. It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.

I did a really slow 10:00 on the Air Dyne after for a cool down to flush things out.

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.

300 FY

Legs are tired from the last couple of days.

Got on the Air Dyne around 9am. There is a test to see if you can do 300 calories in less than 10 minutes called 300 FY (“Fuck You”) and since I was already planning to do a steady 10:00 @ 76-78rpm I figured I’d give it a shot. I hit 299 calories early in the week without even trying.

I kept above 76rpm 99% of the time and even got up in the low 80s here and there. Totaled 319 calories and 3.9 miles.

Out in the garage around noon because it was raining out. I didn’t find out until yesterday that the garage was unlocked or I would have been lifting in there on the flat floor all week. Oh well, I guess I was preparing for the unknown.

Push Press

  • 5 @ 95#
  • 5 @ 105#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 5 @ 145#
  • ME @ 165# (got 8)
  • 3 x 10 @ 105#

They felt pretty solid today. Not much, if anything, left in the tank on the max effort set.

More Strength

5 Rounds NFT 135# (don’t drop the bar)

  • 6 hang power cleans
  • 4 front squats
  • 8 back loaded walking lunges

Wow was I breathing hard after each round of this. Forgot how bad barbell complexes can be. I’d actually planned higher reps and some good mornings too but it was scary trying the first rep with my back so sweaty so I canceled them and adjusted everything.

4 Rounds NFT 53#KB

  • 10/10 side bends
  • 12 Goblet squats
  • 10/10 single leg RDLs

When you concentrate on doing the side bends correctly they really burn! I don’t ever remember goblet squats being so easy.

Solid week of workouts on vacation and a great way to come back after being sick for two weeks. I’m just going to relax the rest of the day and then I head back home in the morning.

Strongman Circuit

In at 10:30 this morning.

Warm-up

5-10 minutes of DU work

Strength

10:00 EMOM

  • Odds: 5 Weighted Pull-ups
  • Evens: 5 Weighted Dips

I used 25-25-25-25-30 for the pull-ups and 30-30-30-35-40 for the dips. Both are big improvements!

WOD

Brad setup a strongman circuit that was a lot of fun. It involved:

  • Tire Flips
  • High Prowler Push
  • Low Prowler Push
  • Sled Drag
  • Double barbell Farmer’s Carry
  • Sandbag Bearhug walk or lunge

strongman-circuit

We did each thing about 25m and then ran a lap around the parking lot. Did the circuit 4 times. What a killer!

Squats & Presses

My body is feeling a little beat up today, but planned to rest tomorrow anyway, so might as well hit it hard. Matt, Cora, Kevin, and I trained at 10:30am.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • Back squat and shoulder press warm-up with light weights

Strength

Second week of the squat program, so while everyone did the 5 sets of 3 back squats around 90%, I did 4 sets of 8 with increasing weight.

10:00 EMOM MOFO

  • Evens: 3 Back Squats (90% of 1RM)
  • Odds: 3 Shoulder Presses (90% of 1RM)

I did my first 3 sets of back squats on time, took off the 4th round of back squats to rest for my heaviest set, and finished it on the 5th round. I had to do 8 reps each set, using 185, 205, 220, and 235. Pretty rough. On shoulder presses, 90% calls for 145#, but I don’t think that would be possible for me, so I used 135# for the first 4 sets and 140# for my final set.

Strength WOD

This one comes from some of the CrossFit Level 1 Seminar Staff. They absolutely crushed it. I think Khalipa did it in 4:17.

For time:

  • 10 Shoulder Presses
  • 15 OHS
  • 20 Push Presses
  • 25 Front Squats
  • 30 Push Jerks
  • 35 Back Squats

Rx is 115/75 for this one. My time was 14:03. Great barbell work there.

Conditioning WOD

Just keep moving in this one.

12:00 AMRAP

  • 10 Jingle Jangles
  • 10 V-ups
  • 10 HR Push-ups
  • 10 OH Walking Lunges (45/25)

I completed 7 full rounds, 10 jingle jangles, 10 v-ups, and 1 push-up for 7+21.

Finisher

Tabata Mash-up

  • Ring L-sit
  • Ball Slams (15#)

I did knee tuck sits each round.

Took us about an hour and 40 minutes to complete everything today. I have a feeling the legs are going to be wrecked for a couple of days.

The Grizzly Bear Complex

Earlier this week I came up with a great idea to combine the Bear Complex with a Curtis P and add an OHS. I decided to call it the Grizzly Bear Complex. It goes like this…

Perform 10 touch-n-go doubles of the following complex.

  • Clean
  • Front Squat
  • Lunge
  • Lunge
  • Shoulder to Overhead
  • Back Squat
  • Shoulder to Overhead
  • Overhead Squat

Notes:

  • Rest 90 seconds to 2 minutes between each set.
  • Start with a light load. Increase the weight each set. The last 3 sets should be hard!
  • Combining movements is allowed. For example you can do a squat clean and a back squat thruster.
  • It works well to switch to a wide snatch grip before the back squat so that you can do a thruster and go right into the OHS.
  • After the OHS on the first rep you may want to drop to the back so you can switch to a clean width grip. Then do a short press just to get the bar over your head and back to the front rack, ready to go into the TnG for rep 2

I was able to round-up Kevin and Jason to give it a go at 8pm. I warmed up with a 500m row and some DU.

My goal was to be able to hit for some heavy OHS, 175# or more. Boy was I underestimating how tough this would get. I started at 75# and went up 10# each set. When I got to 135# in the 7th set, it took everything I had to keep control of the OHS, especially on the 2nd rep. I stuck with 135# for the 8th and 9th and then managed to get 140# on my last set.

I wasn’t sure how the lunges would feel, but they weren’t really too bad. I felt like I got stuck on a couple towards the end, but I think it was more from not concentrating on them than it was from the weight. The OHS was definitely the limiting factor, especially after holding on to that bar for so long. Great complex though and I’ll definitely be willing to try it again some time.

Brent got held up with kids, but showed up as were just finishing our last few sets. Then we did some work with Kevin’s new wheelbarrow drive sled from Again Faster. First we did 5 sets of a 50′ rope pull followed by a 50′ high prowler push. I think we had it loaded with 135# for the first 3 or 4 sets and then added another 45#. After that we converted it into the “wheelbarrow” did 5 down and backs of close to 100m total. At the end of 5 trips I think we had about 400# stacked on it. To finish things off we loaded it with 180# of plates and did a 50′ high prowler push with a low push back. On the 5th set we added another 45#.

Then we ended with a beer. All in all, a fun Friday night.

Above Rx

My legs are pretty beat up from the tempo work this week. That was some heavy lifting! Took a longer rest and went in at 5:15pm tonight. The WOD didn’t look too bad and no strength work so I was kind of looking forward to an easier day. I should have known better!

Warm-up

  • 5/5 World’s Greatest Stretch
  • 2/2 10s Samson Stretch
  • 1/1 minute Hip Flexor Stetch
  • 2×3/3 Turkish Get-ups

The hip flexor stretch was new and pretty rough. For the Turkish Get-ups I used a 35# KB and then a 40# KB.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 40 DU (unbroken)
  • 30 Chest-to-deck Push-ups
  • 20 OH Walking Lunges (45# Plate)
  • 10 Ring Dips

That’s the Rx+ version of the WOD Gayle challenged us to do. It ups the DU to unbroken, push-ups to chest-to-deck, walking lunges to weighted OH lunges, and dips on a box or rack to ring dips. Shit the bed! So much for an easier day. I knew the push-ups would be absolutely brutal and of course they were after the 2nd round. I messed up a few times on my DU early in a round, but was solid with them until messing up at 33 in the 5th round. I think I let out an F-bomb. I pushed through the walking lunges as much as I could and then the ring dips were pretty brutal for me today. Finished in 22:36.

Being forced to do unbroken DU in WODs has dramatically improved them for me though. You concentrate so much more because you don’t want to do the work all over again.

All Legs

My hamstrings and triceps and still pretty sore from Sunday. Maybe I shouldn’t have done those extra 300 air squats that night. Took some extra rest today since tempo back squats were on the menu and hit up the 5:15pm class.

Warm-up

  • 500m Row
  • 3/3 World’s Greatest Stretch
  • 2 Rounds
    • 10 Inch Worms
    • 10 Leg Swings (F-B, S-S, each leg)
    • 10 Flamingos (each leg)

Strength

5×5 Back Squats with 3-2-X-1 Tempo

These are never easy. Entirely different ball game from regular squats. I focused on good form through each rep and keeping everything tight by holding my breath until the ascent out of the hole. Used 135#, 165#, 185#, 205#, and 215#. Don’t think I could have gone heavier either. Felt solid in my lifts even though it’s nowhere near the 255# I used for a normal 5 reps recently.

WOD

  • 20 Hang Power Cleans (155#)
  • 30 Box Jumps (30″)
  • 40 OH Weighted Walking Lunges (45# plate)
  • 50 Wall Balls (20#, 10′ target)

Phew! I went 10-5-5 on the cleans, unbroken 30 on the box jumps (but not rebounding), 17-15-8 on the lunges, and 5 sets of 10 for wall balls. Finished in 9:06, one of the top Rx times of the day, but am pissed at myself for the finish. I know my wall balls are a weakness and I pussed out by doing sets of 10. I should have pushed harder for bigger sets, especially starting out.

Finisher

So to punish myself and get in some extra work, I strapped on the 20# weight vest when I got home and did 100 unbroken weighted air squats. They were pretty ugly since my legs were fried, but I did them. Took me 2:29.

I Can Do Butterfly Pull-ups!

Last night while watching TV I knocked out 5 sets of 60 air squats. I didn’t time them or the rest periods. Tried to go as fast as I could for each set and still use good form. I could start to feel fatigue setting in at the end of the 3rd set. I had plans to improve my speed and endurance for air squats and wall balls starting at the beginning of the year. I figured it couldn’t hurt my thrusters either. Then I never put time into it other than workouts in Hawaii, where I had limited equipment anyway. No better time than now with the Open just two and a half weeks away. I’m going to do my best to can get in some fast squat work 2-3 times a week for at least the next few weeks. I could do Tabata squats, minute on/off, throw on the 20# weight vest, and come up with other interesting twists to vary the work. I’m looking forward to see what kind of improvement I can make.

My shoulder area is pretty sore from yesterday and I’m feeling all those air squats in my knees since I did them barefoot on hard tile flooring. I got up and went to the 9am. Another day of 3 WODs with a 10 minute cap on each one and a running 30:00 clock. I’ve really liked this style each time we did it.

Right arm after yesterday's 100 ring push-ups
Right arm after yesterday’s 100 ring push-ups

Warm-up

  • 3m Jump Rope
  • 100 Mountain Climbers
  • 80 Bicycles
  • 30 Supine Knees to Elbows
  • 40 Russian Twists (no weight)
  • 1m Plank

Long warm-up. I made it all 3 minutes on the jump rope without a single miss.

30:00 running clock with a 10:00 limit on each WOD. Finish early and rest until the next 10 minutes start.

WODs

20130218-103022.jpg

  • 21-15-9 Deadlifts (185#)
  • 75 DUs

Not much of a problem here, although deadlift reps did slow down in the last two sets. My double unders were pretty good. Finished in 5:26.

21-15-9

  • American KBS (70#)
  • Row (calories)

Worked on better form for my American swings, especially with the heavy weight. Tried to keep a steady pace during the first two rows so I wouldn’t burn out and then went hard in the last one. Time was 5:02.

  • 21 Pull-ups
  • 400m Run
  • 15 Pull-ups
  • 400m Run
  • 9 Pull-ups

Emily told me to go with butterfly pull-ups for this WOD. I wasn’t convinced I should, but you gotta go for it at some point. I made it through the entire WOD with them and got into a rhythm here and there. Definitely could feel less effort getting up over the bar. Need to keep working on them now and they’ll improve. Took me 7:14 to finish this one.