Tag: Weighted Plank

Failure to Fail

Up a little earlier than normal so I could get in some work before the 9am class.

Warm-up

  • 2,000m Row – 8:13
  • 2×10 Reverse Hyper (210#)

Gymnastics

E45S

  • 2 Bar MU

I set the clock for 20 rounds and planned to go until failure, but never failed, so I did a 21st round when the clock ran out. It was about time for class to start anyway.

After that initial set in the video, I concentrated more on keeping my feet together and I’m constantly battling to trying to fight to keep the system tight.

I did some zombie kicks during warm-up of class and then deadlifts with 155-245-315 each for sets of 4. Mixed in a couple of box jumps too.

XWOD

  • 4-4-4-4-4-4 Deadlift (365#)
  • 2-1-2-1-2-1 Power Step Box Jump (2s-40.5″, 1s-44″)

I hesitated on a few jumps, which is stupid at those heights. Afraid of this damn quad!

Midline

I was behind everyone else coming from the XWOD so only did one weighted plank with 45# for 2:00 instead of the programmed stuff.

Conditioning

8:00 AMRAP

  • 8 Pull-ups
  • 8 American KBS (62#)
  • 16 Step-ups (24″)

All unbroken. Pull-ups were rough on the hands after all of the muscle-ups, but held on and no rips. Step-ups were a little rough on the quad, but I still tried to evenly distribute the reps between the legs. Did 5 full rounds plus 8 pull-ups and 6 swings. Tried to minimize my kip on the pull-ups and keep the system tight. Can always be better.

Strict Morning

Low back is still pretty spiced up from the back squats. That weight vest walk wiped me out yesterday. In bed by 10 and got over 9 hours of sleep. Out in the garage at 9am.

Conditioning

Air Dyne (AD2)

  • 17:00 @ 80% of 10:00 pace (68-70rpm)

Kept a consistent pace and went 9.34km.

Gymnastics

8 Rounds

  • 3 Strict HSPU
  • 3 Strict C2B Pull-ups
  • 3 Strict Ring Dips
  • 6 GHD Sit-ups (parallel)
  • 6 Back Extensions

Tried to pick rep counts that wouldn’t kill me and nailed them pretty well. The handstand push-ups were the only thing that were close to failing. Didn’t want to stress the back by touching the ground on the GHD sit-ups. Walked from station to station and kept moving. Finished in 13:09. Good way to get in some strict work with a decent heart rate pumping.

Had a chiropractor appointment at 4, so went to the 4:30 class after. We warmed up with some bottom squat hold, shoulder pass-thrus, PVC snatch progressions, etc.

Weightlifting

  • 5 Muscle Snatch (45#)
  • 5 Muscle Snatch (95#)
  • 3 Muscle Snatch (115#)
  • 2 Power Snatch (135#)
  • 2×2 Power Snatch (155#)

I was just not feeling it after the 135# kind of lit up my low back. Made me not commit to the lifts because I was a little scared.

6:00 EMOM

  • 3 Power Snatch

Coming to class, I planned to go with 155#, but because I felt off, I figured I’d use 135#. Started feeling good with TnG, so after 2 rounds I bumped up to 145# for the next 3 rounds, and then went 150# for the final round. All touch-n-go reps. Felt good too! Confidence can be such a weird thing with the lifts.

Conditioning

3 Rounds

  • 1:00 Sit-up
  • 1:00 Burpee
  • 1:00 Row (cal)
  • 1:00 Slam Ball (20#)
  • 1:00 Thruster (75#)
  • 1:00 Rest

I got 107-108-97 for reps. Not entirely sure that last round is correct because I kind of lost my thought process during the burpees. Felt like I might have made up some reps in the later movements, so if anything the count is low. No biggie.

Since missed out on most of the plank work, I got some it at night.

3 Rounds

  • MAX Plank Hold
  • 3:00 Rest

I did them on my hands with arms extended for a change of pace and so it would work the wrists. Went 3:15, 2:15, and 2:15. Damn, it’s a different ball game on your hand; wrists and shoulders really start to burn.

Invested

This weather is terrible for a vacation in Northern Michigan. I’m not sure if it’s really July or if it’s October!

E2M 20:00

  • 10 Weighted Burpees (20# vest)
  • 10 Weighted Sit-ups (20# vest)

So that was 100 reps of each. Did the two movements back to back and it took about 50 seconds each round. The burpees weren’t as bad as I expected and took me about 25 seconds. The sit-ups got really tough in the last few rounds.

10 Rounds

  • 1:00 Bottom Squat Hold (20# vest)
  • 15s Rest
  • 30s Weighted Plank (20# vest)
  • 15s Rest

Doing weighted squat holds was a new one for me. Planks weren’t too bad, even after all of the sit-ups.

Did DDP Yoga Energy! with my sister in the afternoon. I need to start doing this stuff regularly.

In the afternoon I put the weight vest back on and went for a 2 mile walk. As soon as I got back I did some air squats.

  • 50 Air Squats (20# vest)

Leg burn! Took me 1:08.

Training Week 1 Begins

Now that test week is over, Matt is starting a 12 or 13 week program for Survival Fitness. Looking forward to sick gainz bro! My hip flexors are sore from my low back down around my hip and up under my quads from all of those GHD sit-ups on Saturday.

Warm-up

  • Air Squats & Bottom Squat Hold
  • Zombie Kicks & Leg Swings
  • Jumping Jacks
  • Arm Circles

Strength

Back Squats 3×10 @ 65%

  • 10×45#
  • 5×135#
  • 5×205#
  • 10×235#
  • 10×245#
  • 10×260#

65% would be 228# for me, which is too light. I’ve been doing more than that already, so I went heavier on my sets.

Midline

5 Rounds

  • 1:00 Weighted Plank (25#)

We partnered up, so there was about 1:15 of rest between each round. Matt and I were placing the weight right over our lumbar area, which I imagine is the toughest spot since that’s where we hinge. If you put the weight up closer to the shoulders it should be much easier to hold.

Conditioning

21-15-9

  • 135# Squat Cleans
  • MB Push-ups

Was supposed to be a full “Elizabeth” but I think the ring dips have been bothering my shoulder, so Matt suggested the push-ups. I did all singles on the cleans and finished in 9:18.

I have a feeling legs are going to be sore for a couple of days.

In the afternoon I did a quick one in the garage.

5 Rounds NFT

  • 10 GHD Sit-ups (touch floor)
  • 20 Hip Extensions
  • 40 DU

Leaves only 400 more DU to do by Saturday for me 1,000! Dubs weren’t the greatest today. Not even one set unbroken. I was moving quick between movements, but not a rush like I’d have if I was doing it for time. Boy, was my low back pumped up starting in the 3rd round of hip extensions. Touched the floor today with the GHDs since I barely felt sore from 150 of the parallel ones the other day. May back has been feeling good, so should be able to handle it.

Back to Classes

I’m hitting up classes again for a couple of weeks for a change of pace. Went to 9am today.

Warm-up

  • PVC Pass-thrus
  • PVC Snatch position work

Olympic Lifting

10:00 to work up to heavy power snatch for the day.

  • 45# – Position work and progressions
  • 95# x 3
  • 115# x 2
  • 125#
  • 135#
  • 145#
  • 155#

Felt damn good today. Took about 70% of that heavy power snatch for the following…

EMOM 10:00

  • 3 TnG Power Snatch (105#)
  • 3 Strict Chin-ups

Again felt solid on all 30 and didn’t have trouble with the chin-ups.

Strength

Did 5 x 105# and 3 x 185# back squats to get the muscle firing.

EMOM 10:00

  • Odds: 5 Back Squats @ ~80% (225# 235# 235# 245# 255#)
  • Evens: MAX DB Strict Press (45# DBs)

The back squats were tough, but I think my body responds better to this type of volume. Torso was pretty damn good today but could feel it drifting forward at the end. I did 10/10/8/6/5 on the presses. This was also really tough on the cardio.

WOD

8:00 AMRAP (Partner)

    • Prowler Sprint – 25m High, 25m Low (180#)
    • Weighted Plank (45#)

Keep switching between each with your partner. Not easy after the squats and you couldn’t catch your breath on the planks.

I stayed after and did 5:00 on the Air Dyne for a cool down and then 0.46 miles of sled drag with 115#.

Some Hills

Lot’s going on today. Headed to Survival Fitness earlier than the normal 10am so I could drag the sled, get in a workout, and be out of there by 11am.

Warm-up

0.56 mile slid drag with 135# in 14:45. Needed this because my ass and hamstrings are beat up from yesterday.

Strength

Weighted Chin-ups

  • 3 @ 20#
  • 3 @ 25#
  • 3 @ 25#
  • 3 @ 30#
  • 3 @ 35#

Probably could have gone up 5# each set instead of spending 2 sets at 25#.

Weighted Push-ups

  • 8 @ 45#
  • 8 @ 55#
  • 8 @ 55#
  • 8 @ 55#

Got really tough on the last reps of the last two sets.

Weighted Planks

  • 30s @ 70#
  • 30s @ 80#
  • 30s @ 90#
  • 30s @ 90#

Had to really fight to keep my core from dropping. Heavy!

WOD

7 Rounds

  • 7 HSPU
  • 7 K2E
  • 21 DU (Unbroken)

I did this one back in February out in Phoenix in a time of 10:48, with some HSPU failing at the end. I hadn’t missed at all on DU then though. Today I missed one set of DU after 14 and another set after 16. Still getting used to the lighter Rx cable I think. My HSPU were much better though, so I finished in 9:55! Solid improvement in 5 months.

I had a 90 minute massage in the afternoon that was great.

In the evening I went out to the soap box derby with Kevin and Ellen to run some hill sprints. Warmed up with a jog around the track which is probably 600-700m.

10 Rounds

  • Hill Sprint (About 150 paces)
  • Slow walk back down to recover

Walked a lap for a cool down. Not too long after, my hamstrings were tightening up already. Deadlifting should be fun in the morning.

Wall Balls Have Become My Bitch

Feeling good. Had a rest day yesterday after a big volume weekend. Walked 18 holes of golf for some active recovery though. In at 10am today.

Warm-up

5:00-10:00 DU Practice

Strength

Back Squats

  • 5 @ 45#
  • 5 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 225#
  • 3 @ 255#
  • 3 @ 275#
  • 3 @ 295# (PR)
  • 3 x 3 @ 265#

The idea was to work up to a heavy triple in 5 sets and then take 90% and do a 3×3. Was seeing stars after the set of 295# and then the next 3 sets were not easy.

Push Jerks

  • 3 @ 135#
  • 3 @ 155#
  • 3 @ 175#
  • 3 @ 185#
  • 3 @ 205# (PR)
  • 3 x 3 @ 185#

Same thing as back squats, work up to a triple and then 3×3 at 90% of that.

Set 3 reps PRs for both movements, after just hitting 285# for 3 last week on the back squat. 🙂

Core

5 Sets

  • 30s Weighted Plank
  • 30-40s Rest (switch with partner)

Worked with Brad. Stacked plates on our backs. Used 25-45-70-70-95 for the weight. Pretty brutal there in those last three sets, but concentrated on keeping everything tight and focused breathing. Figured this would be good work leading up to the competition this weekend which has us doing a bunch of planks while other teammates are rowing.

WOD

5 Rounds

  • 2:00 for 250m Row & then MAX Wall Balls (20# MB, 10′ target)
  • 2:00 Rest

Felt pretty solid here. Was able to keep a pretty consistent pace on my rows and did unbroken wall balls every round. I got 30-30-29-26-26. Wall balls used to be a weakness, but now they don’t bother me at all. Usually my legs would start to give out, but it was my lungs that wanted to quit today. Whenever I wanted to stop I told myself I couldn’t have more than 15-20 seconds left and just kept pushing.

A Date with Diane in my Garage

Today’s WOD at Survival Fitness was 100 Power Cleans with 5 burpees on the minute every minute. I had already done “Grace” twice, 50 Curtiss Ps, and other cleans to get the bar in the rack position this week, so I figured it wasn’t a good idea to go in for the OLY class or the WOD. That’s ok though because it let me do some stuff I’ve been wanting to do.

Strength #1

4 Rounds

  • 5-8 Weighted Push-ups (45# plate on back)
  • 30s Weighted Plank on hands (45# plate on back)
  • 2m Rest

I was by myself, so getting the plate on my back wasn’t the easiest. After the last push-up, it was straight into the plank. I was able to get all 8 reps during each set of push-ups. Probably should have gone to exhaustion on that last set.

Strength #2

5×5 Deadlifts

I warmed up with a set of 10 @ 135# and then used 225#, 275#, 305#, 325#, and 350# for my working sets. These felt really good. It was slow getting the 350# started, but the reps weren’t a problem and my grip never felt like it was giving out. According to a 1 rep max calculator I should be able to do 394#, so maybe I’ll be ready for 400# in 2 weeks when we test it. I made sure to take 2-3 minutes of rest between each set.

WOD

mini “Diane”
12-9-6

  • Deadlifts (225#)
  • HSPUs

I did this same thing back in June in a time of 4:49, but I had to resort to using an AbMat an even kipping with the AbMat for the HSPUs. Today I didn’t use an AbMat at all and finished in 5:18. The set of 6 at the end was brutal. I had to kip one at a time and come down off the wall to rest. I’m sure the weighted pull-ups and planks didn’t exactly help with the arm exhaustion. The deadlifts weren’t a big deal, but they do fry your back a bit, making it hard to keep a good position on the wall. I broke the set of 9 into 5 and 4, but the 12 and 6 were unbroken.

It had been at least a couple of months since I’ve done any HSPUs, so it was give them some attention.

Finisher

Tabata DUs

These are no joke, especially after doing the HSPUs.