brikis98's crossfit journal

[brikis98]

Sunday, January 24

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 335x1, 355x3xstopped
OH press: 95x5, 135x3, 165x1, 185x1, 195x1, 205x1 (PR)

This was my first time trying heavy squats since I tweaked my knee last Thursday and it did not go well. The last few days my knee had been stiff in the mornings, but my pre-workout warm-up always got it feeling loose. Today was the same, and it felt fine until I got to my last set. At 355, it started feeling tight again, and I decided to stop after 3 reps. After racking the bar, my knee was stiff again and I can still feel some soreness now. I still don't think it is a serious injury, but I do wish it would heal faster. On the other hand, OH press went very well. Another PR today with the 205lb press, getting me within 20lbs of my 2010 OH press goal.

Metcon

Complete as many rounds as possible 20 minutes of:
10 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
10 GHD Sit-ups
10 Back extensions

Rounds completed: 10 + 10 wallball shots + 10 ghd sit-ups

Screwed up the pacing again today. I went slowly for the first ~6 rounds, expecting some muscles to give out, but it turned out that the sets were small enough that muscular fatigue was never an issue. I sped it up for the last ~4+ rounds, but it was too little, too late; when I got to the end of the workout, I found that I had a lot left in the tank and was not particularly tired. I'm sure my abs and back will be sore as hell the next few days, but I definitely didn't push hard enough to make much of an impact on my conditioning.

 

[brikis98]

Monday, January 25

"Filthy Fifty"
For time:
50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders

Time: 23:20 (PR)

Another try at the Filthy Fifty and another PR, this one by about 1.5 minutes. I'm especially happy with this performance as yesterday's workout (wall ball, GHD sit-ups and back extensions) had massive overlap with today's, but I still managed to battle through it despite lots of soreness (especially in my abs). I got through more of the exercises in 1 or 2 sets - the jumping pull-ups, KB swings, walking lunges, push press, back extensions and double unders - but once again got absolutely crushed by the burpees. Just like last time, my heart rate went crazy high and I couldn't get more than 5 burpees in a row. I'll need to work on that if I have any hope of getting my time down to 20 minutes.

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, January 26

Rest day

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, January 27


Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 455x1, 455x1, 455xF, 455xF, 455x1, 455xF, 455xF, 405x1

The goal for today had been to do five singles with 455, but I only managed to get 3. I was very happy with the first two, both of which had excellent form and bar speed - definitely my best pulls at this weight. However, my posterior chain got pretty fatigued after that and twice in a row I failed with the bar just below my knees. I finally got it on the 3rd try, but it was a slow and ugly rep, with too much back rounding. After that, I couldn't get the weight to even budge off the floor. I'll be re-doing this weight next time with maybe less volume on the warm-up so my PC doesn't get gassed so quickly.


For time: 50 burpees
Time: 2:26 (PR)

After struggling with burpees during "Filthy Fifty", I decided my burpees could use some work. I'm going to toss this work out in from time to time and see if I can get my time under 2 minutes. Set a 4 second PR today, which is a good start, but I've still got some ways to go.


For time: row 500m
Time: 1:39

I did this about 2 minutes after the burpees, which was definitely too soon. My quads and glutes were burning and my rowing technique got very sloppy after 45 seconds. I really want to get my 500 time down to 1:30, so I'll toss this short WoD in from time to time as well.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, January 28

30 minute run

We are doing a release today at work which usually means a late night and no time for the gym, so I squeezed in a run before lunch. I didn't push myself too hard and just enjoyed the beautiful weather by running in a grassy area near the office. According to Google Maps, I covered about 4.6km, most of it going up and down small hills. It felt great working out at a lower intensity and I had fun splashing through mud, grass, gravel and random surfaces in my VFF's. I also caught site of a huge hare (or rabbit?) with enormous ears hopping about. So cute.

 

[brikis98]

Friday, January 29

Hang power snatch: 95x2, 115x2, 135x2, 145x2, 155x2, 165x1, 175x1, 185xF, 185x1 (PR), 195xF

I've been struggling with my snatch technique lately, so I decided to try to break the exercise down to see if I can identify where my errors are. From these hang power snatches, I have to assume it is not in my second pull. I came within 10lbs of my (squat) snatch PR and didn't miss 195 by much. Therefore, I must be messing up either the 1st pull or receiving the bar incorrectly in the OH squat. I might do some snatch balances next time to test the latter theory.

"Lizzie": Complete for time, 15, 10, 5:
Power Clean 185 lbs
Ring Dips

Time: 4:30

Fun CFB workout. The power cleans got really tough in round 2.

For time: row 500m

Time: 1:38

One second better than last time, but my quads were too burned out to best my PR. I will keep trying.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, January 30

Rest day.

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, January 31

Sprints: 10 x 100m all out sprints with 90 sec. recoveries

I didn't even get a chance to start this workout as I blew out my hamstring during warm-up. Sigh.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, February 4

OH Press: 95x5, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x3, 185x3
Weighted pull-ups: BWx5, BW+50x5, BW+70x3, BW+100x3, BW+100x3

First day back at the gym since the hamstring injury. Heavy lower body exercises are out of the question, so I focused on upper body. Weighted pull-ups were tough as I hadn't done them in a while. I don't have a dip belt so I just set two kettlebells under the pull-up bar and put my feet through the handles. This worked pretty well, even for heavy weight, but only being able to use KB's in pairs meant the weights available were very limiting (2x25, 2x35, 2x50).

Ring practice: back lever, one legged front lever, l-sit

I haven't worked on the rings in a while so I struggled quite a bit with the levers: my elbows didn't like the back lever and I could only hold the one one legged front lever for a few seconds per side. L-sits, however, have gotten much stronger.

Row: 2k, for time
Time: 7:36 (PR)

I happily found out today that while I still can't jump or run due to the hamstring injury, I can row pain free. This means I can maintain my conditioning reasonably well while I heal. I didn't expect to set a PR, but my technique is gradually improving, so without meaning to I knocked another 6 seconds off my time.

 

[brikis98]

Friday, February 5

Row: 3 x 1k repeats not deviating more then 10 seconds. 2 min recoveries. Foul: 20 pistols (10 each side).

Round 1: 3:37
Round 2: 3:44
Round 3: 3:47

Rowing is hard. Just barely managed to keep pace and avoid the foul.

 

[katank]

Sorry to hear about your injury, man.

Somehow you still manage to set some rowing PRs though. I suppose it's good for flushing some blood through the area also.

Dunno if it's too soon to try but I read one of Rip's old articles recently which recommended doing high rep and very low weight exercises to stimulate blood flow so as to prevent muscle belly scarring after an injury. You may want to try this w/ squats or something.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, February 6

Bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5
Inverted rows: BWx8, BW+10x8, BW+25x8, BW+35x8, BW+45x10
Hip/back extensions: 3x20

The last time I did bench press was on October 7, when I did a few sets of 5, ending with 270x5. It has been 4 months since then and I was happy to see I hadn't lost much progress. In fact, 245x5 was pretty damn easy and I have no doubt I could have gotten 255x5, if not more. I guess all those ring dips, push-ups, muscle-ups and OH press are effective. Inverted rows were too easy, as even with a 45lb plate on my chest, I still managed to get 10 reps. Might switch to normal barbell rows if my hamstring permits. Speaking of which, I was able to do hip/back extensions very slowly today; occasionally, I'd do a rep with too much of a bounce, which would be unpleasant, but otherwise I think I did a good job of getting lots of blood flow through the area.

Row: 10 x 125m all out sprints w/ 1 min. recoveries.

Round 1: 22.9
Round 2: 22.8
Round 3: 22.6
Round 4: 23.1
Round 5: 23.6
Round 6: 23.8
Round 7: 23.6
Round 8: 24.4
Round 9: 23.3
Round 10: 23.2

This was my first time doing all out sprints on the C2 and I liked it. The nice thing about it was that it let me figure out how to generate the most power from each stroke, with my best technique coming in round 3. I had the damper on 10 and was getting 500m lap times as low as 1:24, the fastest I've been able to generate thus far.

Burpees: 50, for time

Time: 2:45

20 seconds slower than my PR, but still pretty good so shortly after the rowing workout.

 

[brikis98]

Sorry to hear about your injury, man.

Somehow you still manage to set some rowing PRs though. I suppose it's good for flushing some blood through the area also.

Dunno if it's too soon to try but I read one of Rip's old articles recently which recommended doing high rep and very low weight exercises to stimulate blood flow so as to prevent muscle belly scarring after an injury. You may want to try this w/ squats or something.

Thanks. I just started doing high rep exercises today with some hip/back extensions. Depending on how it feels, next week I'll try to do high rep air squats, lunges, and maybe even good mornings (with the bare bar).

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, February 7

Rest day. Took a 1.5 hour walk around the Stanford dish with the gf. Gorgeous weather, beautiful sights and walking up the hills provided some nice light exercise for my hamstring.

 

[brikis98]

Monday, February 8

Row:: 15 minute time trial, cover as much distance as possible

Distance: 3777m

Once again, after about 10 minutes of using the C2 rower, my butt starts to fall asleep and I get a slight numbness in my hamstrings. It is as if I'm sitting on some artery or nerves or something. I think I'm getting a bit more used to it, but it is quite unpleasant. Also, my gluteus medius (or some other muscle at the top/side of the butt, just under the hip) has been very tight and sore the last couple days. I'm guessing this is from all the rowing, but I didn't feel the muscle working particularly hard today, so I'm not sure.

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, February 9

Squat: 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5
HSPU: 3x7

My hamstring was feeling better, so I chanced some back squats today. It was pretty nerve racking, as I could feel plenty of tension on my hamstrings (as you'd expect with a low bar back squat), but fortunately, no actual pain. The hamstring feels sore now, but so do other muscles in my legs (including quads & adductors) from not having squatted in a while. I kept the weight reasonable (50lbs less than my pre-injury 5RM), so hopefully, I'm not doing any harm. The HSPU's felt good, although the last rep of the 3rd set was pretty damn tough. I really need to work my way up to 15 consecutive reps.

Perform as many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:
15 Dumbbells Thrusters 45 lbs
500 Meter Row

Rounds completed: 4 + 6 thrusters

I've said it before, but it is worth repeating: DB thrusters are much harder than BB thrusters with similar weight. I could only complete the first round of thrusters in one set and had to break up all the other rounds 8/7.

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, February 10

Ring work: skin the cat, back lever, one-legged front lever

The CF Sunnyvale class was practicing on the rings and I couldn't resist joining in. My back lever was very solid and I had no issues holding it for ~10 seconds. Even my technique on the one legged front levers felt better today, though I couldn't hold each leg for more than ~3-4 seconds.

Row: 3 Rounds of 1min on 1 min off, 1min on 1min off, 1min on 1min off. Hold distances as consistent as possible.

Round 1: 291 + 286 + 281 = 858m
Round 2: 290 + 281 + 285 = 856m
Round 3: 285 + 285 + 285 = 855m

I programmed the timings for this workout into the C2, shut off my brain and just worked on repeating the same stroke again and again so I could keep the same pace for the entire workout. I usually suck at pacing, so I'm very happy with being able to stay within 3 meters of my first round.

Good mornings: 3x20x45

A bunch of good mornings with the bare bar to get lots of blood flowing through the hamstring and give it a good stretch.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, February 11

Rest day. My legs are extremely sore.

 

[brikis98]

Friday, February 12

Power snatch: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 160x5
15' Rope climb: 3 rounds of 3 legless ascents with ~10 seconds between ascents to re-chalk the hands

This was my first time doing an o-lift since the hamstring injury and I was once again pretty nervous. I did an extra long warm-up - which was quite necessary as my legs were still sore from the last few workouts - and kept the reps high and weight low. Overall, my hamstring tolerated it without problem. In terms of technique, I think the two things I need to work on are to tweak my setup a bit (my knees are getting in the way) and to be more aggressive in getting under the bar. The reps where I succeeded at both of these went up VERY smoothly. Rope climbs were fairly problem free, although I was pretty toast by round 3 and ended up using my legs to rest halfway up the final ascent.

Row: 500m for time

Time: 1:35 (PR)

I guess all that rowing the last 2 weeks has paid off. Gotta keep working hard to get this time down to 1:30.

Burpees: 50 for time

Time: 2:30

Started off with 30 consecutive burpees, which I think may be a PR. Unfortunately, this burned me out a bit too much, so I ended up 4 seconds slower than my PR.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, February 13

Run: rehab

This was my first run since I injured my hamstring and I could definitely feel some tightness in it with each stride. Therefore, I just kept an easy pace and treated the workout as a recovery run, covering ~4.5k in 25 minutes. I'm really starting to enjoy these relaxed runs in interesting places: today I ran around Stanford campus, last week in a preserve near my office, and a few weeks before that I did the Stanford Dish Trail. I definitely want to do more of this type of trail running in the future, perhaps trying out different places every week or two. I'll still do shorter/interval runs on the track to improve my fitness, but anything longer will be an excuse to go exploring.

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, February 14

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 365x3, 405x1, 405x1
OH press: 95x5, 135x3, 165x1, 185x1, 195x5x1

My hamstring did not enjoy deadlifting today. If I kept my form absolutely perfect, it felt fine, but if the bar strayed even a millimeter from my legs, I'd feel a lot of pressure on the hamstring. On the last set of 405, I must have unconsciously favored my left leg and ended up skewed to the right, tweaking my back slightly. It's extremely minor, but I shouldn't be struggling with this weight, so I took it as a sign that my leg needs more time to heal and stopped. Hopefully next time I DL (~1.5 weeks) I'll be able to go heavier. OH press went fine, the first 3 singles with 195 flying up pretty quickly. Will do 200 next time.

4 rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
50 Squats

Ran in the parking lot behind CF Sunnyvale which is ~410m per lap instead of 400m.

Time: 13:39 (PR)

16 second PR.

Ring work: 5x3 muscle-ups

My kip on the rings has gotten a lot closer to what I can do on the pull-up bar, but I'm still struggling with false grip. After 3 reps, I always seem to lose it and have to reset.

 

[brikis98]

Monday, February 15

Rest day.

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, February 16

Row: 90 seconds on, 90 seconds off x 6. All out Efforts. Cover as much distance as possible in each of the 90 sec intervals.

Round 1: 462m
Round 2: 440m
Round 3: 431m
Round 4: 413m
Round 5: 415m
Round 6: 419m
Total: 2582m

Holy crap, this workout absolutely smoked me. I went all out as instructed and after 3 rounds was ready to die. The entire workout took 18 minutes, but it was another 20 until I felt normal again.

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, February 17

Power clean: 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5

As my hamstring did not like deadlifts a few days ago, I was nervous about power cleans, but they went exceptionally well. No pain and plenty of explosiveness. Although the last 2 reps were ugly, I think 245x5 ties my 5RM PR.

"Fran": Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups

Time: 3:26

The folks at CF Sunnyvale were doing Fran and I couldn't resist joining them. The CF coach was on me pretty hard about working to the Games standards: apparently, you need to lock out not just your hips/elbows on the thruster, but also lock the weight out above your head so that your ear is visible in front of your arms when someone is looking at you from the side. I ended up repeating 5 thrusters, so I really did a 26-15-9, and my time ended up being 6 seconds slower than my PR. Disappointing, but I was happy he did it - I'll need to keep my technique clean in the CF Games qualifier.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, February 18

HSPU: 3x8

Sets of 8 were pretty easy, will probably bump up to sets of 10 for next time.

Three rounds for time of:
Row 500 meters
21 Burpees
Run 400 meters

Time: 16:45 (PR)

When I did workouts at CF Sunnyvale that included running, I used to go out the back door and run in an empty parking lot behind the building. Unfortunately, people started using that door to sneak friends in, so they no longer allow it to be open. So today I tried out a new strategy: going out the front door, all the way around the building to a fence in the back, and then turning around and coming back. Getting to the front door requires bobbing and weaving between a whole ton of people and equipment, so it is far from ideal, but according to google maps it works out to just about 400m.

Good mornings: 3x20x45

More high rep work to stretch out and strengthen my hamstring.