something about going heavy on sundays messes with my numbers too. had new pr on press but utterly crappy on squats and deads (today was wod was CFT). ugh.
WoD
Rest day.
Had the day off work today, so I went to shoot some hoops with friends. To my great surprise, I found that I was able to jump and touch the rim! It's not exactly an amazing accomplishment (I'm about 5'11"), but when I tried it last summer, I was coming up 3-4" short. Nothing like some CF for a nice improvement in my vertical jump. My next goal is to actually be able to grab onto the rim, for which I probably need another 2-3".
Skill/Gymnastics
After basketball, we laid around on a baseball field in the sun and I practiced my handstand. I'm much better at walking around on my hands now, but seem to have gotten worse at holding a static handstand. I also attempted a straddle planche and was able to hold an ugly one for about 2 seconds. My knees were a bit bent and my back wasn't perfectly straight, but I'm still counting it
GTG
Burpee challenge: 53 (1x13, 4x10)
Strength/Power
OH Squat: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3
Power snatch: 95x2, 135x2, 145x2, 155x1, 160x1 (PR), 165x1 (PR)
I think my pull-up injury, which affects the muscles around the back of my rotator cuff, is causing my shoulders to be really tight these days. This is making it hard to maintain any sort of shoulder stability in the OH squat, so I'm unable to make progress. Until this injury gets a little better (I have a chiro/ART appt tomorrow), I'm just going to try to maintain my existing strength. As for power snatch, I had a great day. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that I've been setting PR's in my o-lifts and yesterday saw an increase in my vertical jump. I'm definitely more confident in my technique and am hoping I can continue making progress on the way to a 1xBW snatch.
Metcon
"Barbara"
Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Rest precisely three minutes between each round.
Round 1: 2:51 (PR)
Round 2: 3:04
Round 3: 3:34
Round 4: 3:47
Round 5: 3:43
Total: 16:59 (PR)
Well, the good news is that I again shattered my PR on Barbara. My previous best single round was 3:20, which I managed to beat on the first two rounds today. I also shaved about 1:15 from my previous best total (it's also 6:25 faster than the first time I ever did Barbara). Part of this is due to improved conditioning - my air squats were much faster this time around - but some is also due to the fact that I actually anchored my feet on sit-ups this time around. This definitely let me get through them much faster, but the faster cycle comes at the cost of a lot of endurance. The fatigue on sit-ups was the primary reason I slowed down quite a bit in the final 3 rounds. I'm still amazed there are CFers who can bang out sub 2:00 rounds in this workout, but I'm pleased with my times today and hopefully will improve even more on them in the future.
The bad news is that Barbara again left me feeling like absolute crap for a while after the workout. I was dizzy, light headed and my vision was a little off (oddly bright) for some 20 minutes after I finished. This happened the last 2 times I did Barbara, although today was quite a bit worse than before. Few other CF workouts leave me feeling quite this crappy, not even other long ones like Murph and the Filthy Fifty. It seems that the special interval nature of Barabara (with built in rest periods) wreaks havoc on me for a little while.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 54+ (4x14)
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 260x5, 260x16
OH press: 115x3, 145x3, 175x2xF
Damn, Barbara messed me up last night. I definitely did not recover from it, my biceps/abs/quads/hamstrings/chest were all sore and I was dragging ass all day long today. I really should've skipped today's workout, but I'm a stubborn bastard and tried to plow through it anyway, with nothing but crap results to show for it. I tried to do a 20 rep set with 260 but it felt incredibly heavy, even on the first few reps. Every rep after number 8 or so, I heard my body screaming for me to rack the weight. Unfortunately, there was no one at the gym to yell at me to keep going, and after rep 16, I pussied out and racked it. I'm quite disappointed with myself, but my body was just not up to that kind of strain today. OH press sucked similarly, and I failed on the 3rd rep of 175. I'll try the same weight one more time next week, but if I still can't get it, I think I'll deload slightly and switch to 5 rep sets.
Metcon
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
Row 250 meters
Sumo deadlift highpull 95 pounds, 21 reps
Pull-ups 15 reps
Subbed one 35lb dumbbell swing for each 10 meters of rowing (ie 25 swings per round).
Rounds completed: 4 full rounds + 25 swings + 14 reps of SDHP
Skill/Gymnastics
Tuck planche: 1 minute total hold
0:20, 0:18, 0:14, 0:10
GTG
Burpee challenge: 55+ (3x20).
Originally posted by: brikis98
Tuesday, May 26
Strength/Power
OH Squat: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3
Power snatch: 95x2, 135x2, 145x2, 155x1, 160x1 (PR), 165x1 (PR)
I think my pull-up injury, which affects the muscles around the back of my rotator cuff, is causing my shoulders to be really tight these days. This is making it hard to maintain any sort of shoulder stability in the OH squat, so I'm unable to make progress. Until this injury gets a little better (I have a chiro/ART appt tomorrow), I'm just going to try to maintain my existing strength. As for power snatch, I had a great day. I'm sure it's not a coincidence that I've been setting PR's in my o-lifts and yesterday saw an increase in my vertical jump. I'm definitely more confident in my technique and am hoping I can continue making progress on the way to a 1xBW snatch.
Metcon
"Barbara"
Five rounds, each for time of:
20 Pull-ups
30 Push-ups
40 Sit-ups
50 Squats
Rest precisely three minutes between each round.
Round 1: 2:51 (PR)
Round 2: 3:04
Round 3: 3:34
Round 4: 3:47
Round 5: 3:43
Total: 16:59 (PR)
Well, the good news is that I again shattered my PR on Barbara. My previous best single round was 3:20, which I managed to beat on the first two rounds today. I also shaved about 1:15 from my previous best total (it's also 6:25 faster than the first time I ever did Barbara). Part of this is due to improved conditioning - my air squats were much faster this time around - but some is also due to the fact that I actually anchored my feet on sit-ups this time around. This definitely let me get through them much faster, but the faster cycle comes at the cost of a lot of endurance. The fatigue on sit-ups was the primary reason I slowed down quite a bit in the final 3 rounds. I'm still amazed there are CFers who can bang out sub 2:00 rounds in this workout, but I'm pleased with my times today and hopefully will improve even more on them in the future.
The bad news is that Barbara again left me feeling like absolute crap for a while after the workout. I was dizzy, light headed and my vision was a little off (oddly bright) for some 20 minutes after I finished. This happened the last 2 times I did Barbara, although today was quite a bit worse than before. Few other CF workouts leave me feeling quite this crappy, not even other long ones like Murph and the Filthy Fifty. It seems that the special interval nature of Barabara (with built in rest periods) wreaks havoc on me for a little while.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 54+ (4x14)
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
Never done a WOD before and I did Barb - light yeserday for 4 rounds and wanted to die.
Originally posted by: IcebergSlim
I didn't read your whole thread so maybe you already explained it but where doyou get your daily routine from ...I can figure out where the WOD comes from but where do you get the different categories strength/power, metcon etc...
WoD
Extra rest day.
After yesterday's lackluster performance, I got the feeling that I'm entering overtraining territory and decided to take an extra day off today. I think I've pushed the recovery abilities of my body to the max with this strength/power hybrid, so some extra rest is definitely in order. Looking back through my workout logs, in the ~6 weeks that I've been doing this hybrid routine, I've accomplished the following:
Deadlift (5rm): +20lbs
Squat (5rm): +30lbs
Squat (20 reps): +50lbs
OH Press (3rm): +15lbs
Power clean (1rm): +10lbs
Bench press (3rm) +10lbs
OH squat (5rm): +20lbs
Power snatch (1rm): +30lbs
I also set PR's on every metcon workout that was a repeat. It added up to about 11 metcon PR's in all, including Fran, Barbara, 1 mile run, 5k run, Tabata Something Else, Elizabeth, Helen, and Cindy. Overall, I'm fairly happy with the results. Of course, I'll be even happier if I can repeat them again over the next 6 weeks
GTG
Burpee challenge: 56+ (3x20)
WoD
Rest day.
Played some basketball today and jammed my ring finger. Hurt pretty bad for a while and swelled up, but feels a lot better now. Hopefully this won't interfere with my workouts.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 57+ (3x20).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 245x5, 295x5, 325x3xF
Bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 255x3, 285x3
Damn it, I just cannot get the 4th and 5th rep of 325. I think it's really a mental block at this point rather than a strength issue. I'm going to switch to sets of 3 on the squat and try for 335x3 next week just to change things up. As for bench, I'm still making progress despite doing it only once every two weeks or so. I wish my squat numbers went up as easily.
Metcon
Run (3) three 300 yard shuttles. Rest 5 minutes between shuttles. 300 yard shuttle runs are completed with (6) six 50 yard sprints. The objective is the change of direction; the ability to accelerate, decelerate into the turn, plant at the line and explode into a sprint.
Round 1: timer malfunction
Round 2: 0:58
Round 3: 0:58
These things were absolutely brutal. My hamstrings and lungs were crying for mercy and I'm frankly amazed I made it under 1 minute for the final round. I had my girlfriend time me and the stopwatch didn't work properly on the first round, which is a shame as it was by far my fastest (0:55 or faster would be my guess).
Skill/Gymanstics
Went to play some basketball after my workout, so didn't really have time for skill/gymnastics work, although with how bad I am at BBall, I guess I could call it skill work
GTG
Burpee challenge: 58+ (3x20)
Strength/Power
I was supposed to do deadlifts today, but I jammed my finger playing basketball on Friday, and it's still not 100%. It feels more or less ok, but I didn't think it was quite up to 375lb deadlifts yet. Moreover, my metcon included lighter deadlifts and kb swings, so I figured my PC would get plenty of work as is.
Metcon
21, 15, 9 reps of:
Deadlift 225 lbs
Kettle Bell Swing 2 Pood
I forgot my soccer socks today and just 11 reps into the first set of deadlifts, I tore open my shin. It started to bleed quite a bit, so I had to stop and go clean it up. It took a while to stop and I figured any more reps of deadlift would tear it up again, so I had to skip the metcon as well. I ended up doing all 45 KB swings (actually, I subbed 70lb dumbbell swings) as quick as I could, which definitely got my heart rate up there, but is just not the same. I think I'll re-do this workout at some point in the future.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 59+ (4x15).
Strength/Power
OH Squat: 95x5, 135x5, 165x3xF
Power snatch: 95x2, 135x2, 155x1, 155xF, 155x1, 165xF, 165xF
I've been going to the chiro to get ART for my pull-up injury and it seems like my shoulders are finally loosening up. While this definitely helped with the OH squat today, I now have a new issue: my wrists hurt. Not sure if I accidentally used too wide of a grip or if it's just a fluke, but I found even 95lbs to be quite uncomfortable and could only tolerate it for 3 reps with 165lbs. My wrists feel just fine now, so I'm hoping it was a one time thing and that I'll finally get 165x5 next time. As for the power snatch, my form wasn't very clean today. Something about the transition from the first pull to the second pull was off - either I ended up out of position at the end of the first pull or was starting the second pull too early (or both). The snatch is becoming one of my favorite lifts - I love how fast it is - but man, it is a very technically difficult exercise.
Metcon
4 rounds for time:
15 Power Snatches 95lbs
250 Meter Row.
Subbed 25 reps of 35lb dumbbell swings per round for rowing.
Time: 15:08
Fun workout, although compared to the times on crossfitfootball.com, I was pretty damn slow. I did all the DB swings in straight sets and I think the time was comparable to rowing 250m, so it must've been the power snatches. I broke up each round into 3-4 sets of 4-5 reps and thought I went through it reasonably quick, but I guess I'll have to be much faster next time. On a side note, I find that lowering the weight down after a snatch to setup for the next rep is really uncomfortable on my shoulders and back and tears up my hands.
Skill/Gymnastics
Did some plyometrics work, including standing broad jumps and some high jumps (trying to touch the ceiling at work). I really need to get a more organized routine for this so I can set some goals and measure progress.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 61+ (3x21).
I've decided to not do any other GTG at least until the burpee challenge is over. I've struggled to recover from the workouts lately, so I'm trying to cut down on volume wherever I can. It's a shame, as I definitely saw improvements in my fitness from it, but at this point I think it would be counter-productive. Man, I'm going to be glad when this burpee challenge is finally done.
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 260x20
OH press: 115x3, 145x3, 175x2xF
Good lord, the 260x20 was the single hardest set of any exercise I have ever done. I desperately wanted to rack the weight after rep 16, but a small voice in my head forced me to keep going. I found that if I just started doing the squat, I had plenty of strength to do each and every rep - in other words, this was as much of a mental challenge as a physical one. I was very relieved when I finally finished and am now dreading 265x20 next week. As for OH press, it's clear that I have stalled. I just cannot get the 3rd rep of 175. I guess next time I'll drop down in weight and switch to sets of 5 and see if I can break through this plateau.
Metcon
"J.T."
21-15-9 reps of:
Handstand push-ups
Ring dips
Push-ups
Time: 16:32
The HSPU's were, as usual, my weak point in this workout. I got through them fairly fast in the first round, banging out 3 quick sets of 7. However, I felt like I had gained 100lbs by round 2. I was going to try for 3 sets of 5 in the round and almost had to laugh when I could only squeeze out 2 reps in the first set. After that, I did all the HSPU's in rounds 2 and 3 in sets of 2-3 which took a bloody long time. I wish I could do some GTG for my HSPU's, but I just don't have the time or recovery capacity.
Skill/Gymnastics
Straddle front lever: 1 minute total hold.
0:18, 0:17, 0:15, 0:12
GTG
Burpee challenge: 62+ (3x21).
WoD
Rest day.
I went to my gf's graduation today, so I'm moving my rest day from Friday to today.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 63 (3x21).
Originally posted by: conorvansmack
When you do HSPUs, are you holding a free handstand or are your feet against something? I've never tried them, but I'm curious since I'm sort of confined to the house for a while.
Yup. I'm still learning the balance for a free standing handstand and am nowhere near doing a free standing handstand push-up. Therefore, I do them against a wall, which is still a hell of a workout.Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Originally posted by: conorvansmack
When you do HSPUs, are you holding a free handstand or are your feet against something? I've never tried them, but I'm curious since I'm sort of confined to the house for a while.
They're almost always done against a wall, especially when it's for time.
Strength/Power
Power clean: 135x3, 185x2, 205x2, 225x2, 235xF, 235x1, 245xF, 245x1, 250xF, 250xF
I think I'm getting too lazy and slow with my stomping & racking in the power clean. Almost all the reps I missed today had plenty of height, but I just did not get myself under them quick enough. The first miss with 250 (which would've been a new PR) was especially upsetting, as it actually hit my clavicle, but I just didn't get my elbows around in time to rack it. Perhaps consciously trying to stomp my feet harder/louder will get me to do the 3rd pull faster?
Metcon
For time, 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 reps of:
Power Clean @ 75% of body weight
Pull Ups
Weighed in at 186lbs this morning, so I used 140lbs for the power cleans.
Time: 10:29
Another fun CF Football workout. Power cleans were light & fast. Pull-ups suffered a bit because (a) my grip actually started to fatigue and (b) my pull-up injury is still bothering me. The latter has gotten much better since I've started going to the chiro again, but I think it'll need another couple sessions before it's back to 100%.
Skill/Gymnastics
L-sit: 1 minute total hold.
0:19, 0:17, 0:14, 0:10
My l-sit has gotten noticeably weaker. Part of this might be due to not doing GTG sit-ups anymore, but I'm also pretty sure that my legs have gotten quite a bit heavier. Ever since I started doing this strength/power hybrid, and especially the 20 rep squats, my quads, hamstrings and calves have all gotten noticeably bigger. I imagine that every extra pound is quite magnified by the lever of the legs.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 64+ (3x22).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 305x3, 335x2xF
Well, 335lbs is the most I've ever squatted in my life. Even back when I weighed 223lbs, the most I had squatted was 325x4. I hesitate to call 335 a PR, as I certainly could've done it back then, but it's a nice milestone anyway. Having said all that, I'm not sure going up in weight and switching to sets of 3 was a good decision. I was not happy with my form on the last set and I wasn't even close with getting the 3rd rep. I'll try once more next week, but if it fails, I think a deload might be in order.
Metcon
8 rounds for time:
* 40 yard sprints
*Rest 30 seconds between sprints
*Run at 90-100% effort on all sprints
Unfortunately, no one was available to time me, and there's no good way to time yourself on such short sprints. I used a wristwatch to make sure I rested exactly 30 seconds between each sprint and ran at 90-100% effort on each one, but I don't know how long each one took. Still, I really enjoyed the workout and I definitely want to incorporate more sprinting into my training. I've always been a slowpoke, so building some speed would be nice.
Skill/Gymnastics
Handstand skill work
I've gotten much much better at walking around on my hands, but still can't hold a freestanding handstand for more than a few seconds. I guess I just need more practice.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 65+ (3x22).
Diet
Thought I'd toss a note in here about my diet: I've been really slacking in this department lately. Due to my interview trip, countless birthdays this time of year, gf's graduation and all sorts of other events, I've been eating at restaurants way too much. I don't think it's a coincidence that I've stalled on a few lifts the last couple weeks and have been performing worse than I am capable of on metcons. I think once I can get back to my normal diet, I'll see my performance go up again.
WoD
Rest day.
Had another b-day to go to today, so I'm taking my rest day today and will do my workout tomorrow. Of course, it meant eating at a restaurant again, which means my diet is still utter crap.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 66 (3x22).
Strength/Power
Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 375x5
My technique felt much better today and combined with yesterday's extra rest, the weight was absolutely flying up on deadlifts. Given the bar speed on all 5 reps of 375, I think I'll try for 385x5 next time. On a side note, I only managed 3 reps with double overhand grip on 315 before switching to hook grip. So, while my grip strength is still crappy, it's at least slowly improving.
Metcon
For time:
225 pound Deadlift, 21 reps
Run 800 meters
225 pound Deadlift, 15 reps
Run 800 meters
225 pound Deadlift, 9 reps
Run 800 meters
Ran on a treadmill.
Time: 15:30
I absolutely flew through the deadlifts on this one but for some reason, the running was extremely tough today. I ran the first 800 at 10mph, but it honestly felt like I was really going 15mph and I could only muster 8mph for the last two 800's.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 67+ (3x23).
WoD
Rest day. It's my b-day and I'm going out to dinner tonight with the family, so I won't have time for a workout.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 68+ (3x23).
Strength/Power
OH squat: 95x5, 135x3, 155x1, 175x1, 185xF, 185x1 (PR)
Power snatch: 95x2, 135x2, 155x2, 160xF, 160x1, 165xF, 165xF
Woot, I finally got a bodyweight overhead squat! My shoulder mobility has largely returned since the pull-up injury and although I missed on the first try, I was able to really tighten my core, lock my shoulders and get it on the second try. Unfortunately, my wrists are still hurting and I'm not sure why. The pain is bearable and goes away in seconds, but is still a bit worrisome.
Metcon
For time, 12, 9, 6 reps of:
Overhead Squat 135 lbs
Burpee Pull Ups
Time: 8:30
Awesome workout - a great mix of skill elements, strength and endurance. I did the burpee pull-ups in very tall half-rack, similar to the one in this picture, but w/o the o-lift platform. Each rep took a long time as it involved: dropping to the floor, doing a push-up, jumping back to a squat, jumping 1 foot to reach the pull-up bars, doing a pull-up, dropping back down, backing up a few steps to avoid a metal support beam on the ground, and then starting the next rep. I broke up the OH squats 10/2, 5/4, 6.
Skill/Gymnastics
Pistols: 5 reps per leg, 1 set with a 10lb dumbbell for counterbalance and 2 sets with a 5lb dumbbell for counterbalance.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 69+ (2x23 + 27 burpee pull-ups in metcon).