Strength/Power
Power clean: 135x5, 185x3, 205x2, 225x1, 245xF, 245xF, 205x5, 225x2
Still having trouble racking the weight. The missed reps of 245 had plenty of height, hitting my upper chest, but I just did not get under the weight in time. As the weight gets heavier, I seem to stop doing the stomp, my feet land askew (rather than in a squat stance) and my elbows don't snap up as quick as they should. I dropped down in weight to practice technique for the last couple sets, but it was still ugly with 225.
Metcon
For time:
45 Double-unders
135 pound Squat clean, 45 reps
45 Ring Dips
45 Double-unders
Time: 14:00 (PR)
45 squat cleans in a row is just cruel. I shaved a full 10 minutes off my previous time on this workout from back on August 28th.
Skill/Gymnastics
Ring work:
Ring dips from proper support position: 7, 7, 5
L-sit: 0:10, 0:09, 0:09
Inverted pull-ups: 8 (straight body), 10 (piked)
GTG
Burpee challenge: 70+ (3x24).
WoD
Rest day.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 71+ (3x24).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 265x3, 305x3, 335x3 (PR)
OH press: 120x5, 140x5, 160x5
Felt pretty strong on the squat today. Powered through the first few sets in no time and felt good about 335. The first 2 reps were very solid, and the 3rd started out well, but got stuck halfway up. I was motionless for a few seconds and eventually squeezed it out. Not pretty, but I'll count it. On OH press, I've switched back to sets of 5 and deloaded a bit. All the sets were relatively easy, although my technique was a bit ugly. I need to focus on keeping the bar closer to my face.
Metcon
Four rounds, each for time of:
800 meter run
Rest as needed between efforts.
Ran out side on an olympic track. Most runs were a bit longer than 800m as I had to stay on the outer lanes for large portions of the runs to avoid people sitting on the track.
Round 1: 2:46 (PR)
Round 2: 2:54
Round 3: 3:05
Round 4: 3:14
The 800m is a really tough distance to run. It's not really a sprint but you also never get into a groove as you might on longer runs. Anyways, these times are a huge improvement over the last time I did this workout on June 12 of last year. Back then, my fastest 800m was 3:15. Today, my slowest 800m beat that time by 1 second and my fastest by nearly 30 seconds. However, I'm convinced I could shave a few seconds off my time with better pacing. In round 1, I started too fast, slowed down a lot for the middle chunk, and then finished off in a sprint. If I could nail down a more consistent pace for the whole run, I should be able to get closer to my 2009 goal of an 800m in 2:30.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 72 (3x24).
Strength/Power
Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 385x5
I had very little time for my workout today and had to rush through all the sets with little rest in between. I did get all 5 reps of 385, but my technique was a bit sloppy, so I'm not sure if I'll go for 390 or 395 next time.
Metcon
Five rounds for time of:
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
25 Back extensions
Due to the limited time I had to workout today, I scaled this workout down to 3 rounds.
Time: 9:20
GTG
Burpee challenge: 73+ (3x25).
WoD
Rest day.
Abs are incredibly sore from GHD sit-ups.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 74+ (3x25).
Strength/Power
OH squat: 95x5, 135x5, 155x4xF
Power snatch: 95x3, 135x3, 145x3, 155x3
The OH squat was still wreaking havoc on my wrists today, even with just 95lbs, so I moved my hands inward for a narrower grip. This almost completely got rid of the pain, but the trade off is that with the slightly longer lever arm, the exercise became harder and I missed the 5th rep of 155. Still, I'd rather be limited by strength than pain tolerance, so I think this is a good trade off. Power snatch felt very solid today. The 3rd rep of 155 was pretty ugly, but given that was my 1RM a few weeks ago, I'm still pretty happy.
Metcon
"Nancy"
Five rounds for time of:
400 meter run
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps
Ran on a treadmill.
Time: 18:04
The first four rounds of this workout went very smoothly: I did the 400's at 10mph, the OH squats in unbroken sets and it all took just ~13 minutes. However, halfway through the last 400, I got a very painful stitch on my right side. I had to slow down to 3mph, walk the last 200m, rest a little bit, and then fight through the last 15 OH squats, broken into two sets (11/4). I randomly get these damn stitches in the same spot from time to time and they always screw up my workouts. Grrr.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 75 (3x25).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 265x20
I always have a small amount of apprehension before my Crossfit workouts, but with 20 rep squats, it's especially bad. I literally dread doing them because they are such a brutal and hellish experience. My back was incredibly fatigued doing this 20 rep set, much more so than my legs. Every extra second spent resting (read: panting heavily) between reps made my back ever more exhausted and actually forced me to burn through reps 15-20 faster than 10-15. I felt totally fried when I was done and it took me 10 minutes to get my breathing and heart rate back to normal.
Metcon
10 rounds for time of:
10 Pull-ups
10 Ring dips
Time: 11:00
Damn it, I've been avoiding pull-ups due to my pull-up injury, and it has really cost me. The injury is feeling better - hopefully a few more visits to the chiro will take care of it - but my pull-up stamina has gone to crap. My grip, biceps and lats all fatigued very quickly from this workout and I was breaking the pull-up sets 5/5 from round 3 onwards. Not good.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 76+ (3x26).
Strength/Power
Power clean: 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 215x3, 225x3
Went back to sets of 3 on the power clean to work on racking the weight better, but I'm still not too happy with it. I think I might actually be holding the hook grip too long, which keeps the weight closer to my palm and makes it hard to get the bar on my shoulders. Still, I think 225x3 is a new PR triple, although the third rep was pretty ugly.
Metcon
"Fight Gone Bad!"
Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)
In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.
Based on available equipment, I made my usual substitutions of thrusters with a 20lb dumbbell in each hand for wall ball and burpees for rowing.
Thrusters: 31 (PR), 25, 22
SDHP: 19 (PR), 18, 13
Box jump: 20, 19, 21 (PR)
Push press: 27 (PR), 24, 24
Burpees: 14 (PR), 12, 12
Total: 301 (PR)
True to it's name, this workout beat me senseless. After it was all done, I was just a heaving, sweaty heap on the floor for about 10 minutes. My lungs felt scorched and my shirt was completely soaked and several shades darker. Fortunately, the effort paid off, as I beat my old FGB PR from March 11 by 31 points and set PR's on each exercise as well.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 77+ (2x26 + 38 burpees during WoD)
WoD
Rest day.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 78 (3x26).
WoD
Extra rest day. A friend from out of town is visiting so I didn't have time to go to the gym.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 79+ (3x27).
WoD
Extra rest day. Friend from out of town was still here, so I again had no time for the gym. Gah. This combined with my diet going to crap because I'm eating at restaurants non-stop has not been a good combo for my fitness & bf %.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 80+ (3x27).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 340x2xF
Bench press: 135x5, 225x3, 255x3, 285x3
I really wanted to bench today but the only person that was still at work and could've spotted me was in a hurry to leave, so I really had to rush. Given the fact that I had less rest than usual between sets, the workout went ok. 315x3 had slower bar speed than usual and 340x2 was slower still. I'll try it again next time and will hopefully get all 3 reps. Bench press was pretty solid even though I haven't done it for ~3 weeks or so.
Metcon
Three rounds for time of:
Row 500 meters
21 Burpees
Run 400 meters
Subbed 50 dumbbell swings with 35lbs for rowing. Ran on a treadmill.
Time: 17:00 (PR)
Broke my old PR from April 28 by 30 seconds. Running, oddly enough, was the toughest part. I'm not sure if my POSE technique has gone bad, but the last few workouts that included ~400m runs have really kicked my ass.
Skill/Gymnastics
Straddle front lever: 1 minute total hold
0:30, 0:30
GTG
Burpee challenge: 81+. 3x27 during the day plus 3x21 in the workout.
Strength/Power
Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x1, 395x3
Not happy with the 395 set. I'm pretty sure my back was rounding and the bar speed was pretty slow, so I stopped after 3 reps. I'll try it again next time. The good news, at least, is that I got through all 5 reps of 315 with double overhand grip.
Metcon
"DT"
Five rounds for time of:
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps
Time: 18:03
This workout is a lot tougher than it looks and definitely kicked my ass. I also didn't pace myself well, doing all of round 1 in straight sets (took just 2:05) and then paying for it with really slow rounds 2 and 3.
Skill/Gymnastics
Tuck planche: 1 minute total hold
0:17, 0:15, 0:15, 0:14
As in the OH squat, it seems that wrist flexibility is really limiting me here. I don't remember it being a problem before, so something has reduced my wrist flexibility, but I'm not sure what.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 82+ (3x28).
Strength/Power
OH squat: 95x5, 135x5, 155x5
Power snatch: 95x3, 135x3, 160x1xstopped
I'm starting to become much more comfortable with the closer grip on the OH squat. Without the pain in my wrists to worry about, I'm able to just focus on keeping everything tight & locked and got through all 5 reps of 155 pretty well. On power snatch, I wanted to go for 160x3, but tore my shin open on the first rep even though I was wearing soccer socks. I never give my shins nearly enough time to heal 100% and every now and then, I end up bleeding on the bar. Oh well.
Metcon
7 rounds for time of:
7 Overhead Squats 135 lbs
7 Box Jumps 24" box
7 Clapping Push Ups
Time: 15:20
I was definitely feeling pretty fried from yesterday's huge deadlift volume and didn't push myself hard enough on this workout. The box jumps and clapping push-ups were a breeze and even the OH squats weren't too bad, all done in straight sets. However, I paused too long between sets, something I hope to remedy next time this comes up and hopefully shave a few minutes off my time.
Skill/Gymnastics
Hollow rock: 3 sets of 35 reps
Arch rock: 3 sets of 35 reps
GTG
Burpee challenge: 82+ burpees (3x28).
WoD
Rest day.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 84 (3x28).
Strength/Power
Power clean: 135x3, 205x3, 225x3, 225x2xF, 225x2xF
I'm getting really frustrated with the power clean. I think my first and second pulls are pretty decent and the bar gets plenty of height, but I just absolutely suck at getting under it and catching it. I'm slow with my elbows, I'm holding onto the bar too tight (even though I use the hook grip) and my feet stomp down in a skewed/split position, kind of like the guy in this picture. I'm not sure what the cause is: maybe I have early arm pull and am missing the shrug, as suggested in this article or maybe I just need to practice the landing position by doing squat cleans. I wish I had an o-lifting coach.
Metcon
Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups
I used my usual estimate of 3.5-4.0 feet per lunge and did 28 lunges per round.
Time: 9:15 (PR).
This is one of the few CF workouts I've been able to do 100% non-stop: all exercises in straight sets and no rest in between sets. The result was that I beat my old time on this workout by 1:44. The only challenging part was that I had to do the lunges in the tiny gym at work, where I could take no more than 8 lunges in any direction without hitting a wall, so I had to weave and turn around a lot.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 85 (1x25, 3x20).
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 340xF (injured?)
On the very first rep of 340, I felt a small twinge of pain in my lower back and immediately stopped the set. It occurred to me right after that for some stupid inexplicable reason, I didn't use the valsalva maneuver. I've used it on just about every single rep of every heavy exercise I've done for the last few years, but just before starting my last set of squats today, it somehow slipped my mind. The result is that I tweaked my back. I don't think it's too bad, but I decided to not do any heavy lifting or metcon after. I did a bunch of light back exercises (back extensions, supermans, bird-dogs, hip bridges), stretched and called it a day.
Sigh. Some days I really think my body is just not made for heavy lifting. I seem to have virtually no leeway with form errors and get punished for the slightest mistake. I didn't exactly win the genetic lottery when it comes to athletic ability and injuries like these just make me want to give up. It's like every time my squat starts to exceed 315 and deadlift crosses the 405 threshold, something in my body gives out and sets me back. I then bust my ass to get back to where I was, only to re-injure myself despite valiant attempts at improving my form, flexibility, and so on. It's times like these that I go back to the goals I setup at the beginning of the year and browse through my journal to see the progress I've made. I realize that stopping now would be a huge waste and that the progress I've made, though agonizingly slow, has been worth all the pain & effort. I'll never be an elite athlete, but I refuse to give up and become a coach potato.
/weak rant.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 86 (1x26, 3x20).
Strength/Power
I was supposed to deadlift today, but due to yesterday's back tweak, I decided to skip it. The good news is that my back feels a lot better, with the pain being reduced to a slight tightness and very mild/dull ache at the spot of the injury.
Metcon
Five rounds for time of:
2 pood Kettlebell swings, 25 reps
25 GHD Sit-ups
25 Back Extensions
25 Knees to Elbows
Based on available equipment, I had to make a bunch of substitutions: 70lb DB swings for KB swings, decline sit-ups (max decline) for GHD sit-ups, and back extensions on a 45 degree hyperextension machine.
Time: 39:08
This workout beat the crap out of me. I hit a wall of muscular fatigue very early on and had to break up all the exercises into small sets with breaks in between. This is probably an indicator I should've scaled it, but I was too stubborn today, just like I was too stubborn the first time I did this workout. I beat my time from then by 6 minutes, even though back then I was doing 50lb db swings instead of 70lb.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 87 (1x27, 3x20).
WoD
Rest day.
My back seems to be back to 100%, so I guess the injury on Saturday was just a muscle tweak. In unrelated news, my chest is very sore and I have no clue why. I don't think any of my workouts this weekend used it at all, so this is pretty perplexing.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 88 (4x22).
Strength/Power
Snatch: 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 145x3, 155x3
This is my first time doing the snatch (as opposed to the power snatch) in quite a while. I was rusty, but overall it went very well. Considering that my previous best snatch was 135, getting 155x3 today is a pretty huge improvement. A few of my squats weren't quite deep enough, but I'm definitely getting more comfortable pulling myself under the weight and I'm hoping my technique will smooth out with more practice.
Metcon
"Helen"
Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings (or 55 pound dumbbell swing)
12 Pull-ups
Ran on a treadmill. Did 55lb DB swings instead of KB swings.
Time: 9:33 (PR)
Woot, I PRed by almost a full minute, finally getting under 10 minutes on Helen. All reps were done in straight sets except the very last set of pull-ups, which I had to break up 4/3/5 because my grip totally gave out. My forearms were still sore from Sunday's workout and in the last round, it felt like my hands were going to totally lock up.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 89 (1x23, 3x22).
Originally posted by: katank
Wow, great job on the snatches. I'm trying to overcome a phobia of dropping deep with a whole bunch of weight myself on doing full snatches.
Great time on Helen also. BTW, did changing to POSE actually help your running speed?
Strength/Power
Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 270x5, 270x15xstopped
OH press: 125x5, 145x5, 165x4xF
Frustrating strength day today. I wasn't prepared mentally for 20 rep squats and simply gave up after 15 reps. Part of the problem was that I went too slowly, resting too much between reps, which fatigued my back a whole lot. Part of it was that I didn't have anyone in the gym to yell at me to keep going. I'll get it next time. As for OH press, I haven't had much time to practice it, and it shows. I wasn't even close on the 5th rep of 165, which is pretty disappointing since I could definitely handle this weight before. It is bloody hard to make progress on this damn lift.
Metcon
For time: 100 inverted burpees
Did the first 15 inverted burpees with a proper kip-up and the remainder with a sit-up and roll.
Time: 23:35
As it turns out, I suck at inverted burpees, so this was a brutal workout. I originally thought I could get through this workout with a proper kip-up, but after 15 had to switch to a sit-up and roll because (a) they were incredibly tiring and I knew there was no way I'd get through 100 of them and (b) my knees were starting to hurt from the landing. I would land in an indian squat - a squat on the toes - and without the heel on the ground to keep hamstring tension, I was feeling a lot of pressure on my knees. I'm going to look up some kip-up videos to see if I can correct this issue.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 90 (2x23, 2x22).
Strength/Power
Clean: 135x3, 205x3, 225x1, 245x1, 255x1 (PR), 260x1 (PR), 265xF
I hadn't done squat cleans in a while but they felt great today. In fact, forcing myself to do a squat seems to noticeably improve the catch portion of my clean. Compared to power cleans last week, I was not having issues with my feet landing in odd positions, slow elbows or any of that. As a result, I broke my old PR of 245 quite handily. I just barely missed 265: I got under the weight, but it was a bit too far forward, drove my elbows into my knees, and then I had to dump it. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get it next time.
Metcon
"Tabata Something Else"
Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.
Pull-ups: 73 (PR, +5)
Push-ups: 113 (-2)
Sit-ups: 96 (PR, +5)
Squats: 116 (-7)
Total: 398 (PR, +1)
After 20 rep squats and 190 burpees (90 normal, 100 inverted) yesterday, and the squat cleans today, my legs were not up for air squats. I ended up with 7 less than last time and even that was only due to a heroic (and very painful) effort on the last few rounds. If not for the weak squat performance, I would've finally broken 400 on this workout, but I guess that'll have to wait until next time.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 91+ (4x23).
Wod
Rest day. Really freaking sore from this past week.
GTG
Burpee challenge: 92 (4x23).