brikis98's crossfit journal

[brikis98]

First day back after missing a bunch of workouts due to a crazy work schedule. My back has been feeling great the last few weeks, so I decided it was time to lower the reps and very gradually start to work my way back up in weight.

Squat: 95x10, 135x10, 185x5, 205x5, 225x3x5
Overhead press: 95x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x7x1
Weighted pull-ups: 0x5, 25x5, 40x5, 55x4x5
Deadlift: 135x10, 185x10, 225x5, 275x3x5

Everything felt great today. I can definitely see why West Side and similar programs include lighter days where you can do reps w/ high speed/power output. I think I'll need to do some of these in the future instead of solely focusing on heavy sets of 3 or 5.

Complete as many reps as possible in 7 minutes of: Burpees. Touch a target 6" above max reach each rep.

Reps completed: 87

I'm not officially competing, but I decided to do the Crossfit Games Open Week 1 Workout. Pretty weak performance. The only thing I could find at the gym that was 6" above max reach was a climbing board which required me to take a step back or forward before each jump, so I never got into a good rhythm. I'd like to give this one another shot when I'm fresh and with a nicer setup.

 

[brikis98]

Run: 4.5 mile run at Golden Gate Park. Included a few brief stops to look at the RC planes/boats, buffalo grazing, and some live music.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5, 245x4x5
Bench press: 135x8, 185x5, 225x5, 245x2x5
Weighted pull-ups: 0x5, 25x5, 45x5, 60x3x5
Deadlift: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5, 275x5, 295x3x5

Very gradually increasing the weights on squat and deadlift. Squats at this weight are a joy: crazy fast bar speed and very short rests between sets. On the other hand, before the injury, I primarily did deadlift singles, and am finding a 3x5 surprisingly tiring.

Three rounds for time of:
Row 300 meters
20 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
10 Pull-ups

Time: 8:02

 

[brikis98]

Tabata This: 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off of each of the following exercises:

Stationary bike
V-ups
Burpees
Squat jumps

Scores:

Stationary bike: min: 24 mph, max: 26.1 mph
V-ups: min: 7 reps, max: 9 reps
Burpees: min: 6 reps, max: 7 reps
Squat jumps: min: 8 reps, max: 10 reps

 

[EvilYoda]

Just popped in here to see how you did on the Open workout - sorry to read that you hurt your back a little while ago. I'm sure you'll bounce back quickly, you know what you're doing.

Did you see the video of the Russian guy? 161 burpees, tied for first, video included on the Games site. Crazy.

 

[brikis98]

Did you see the video of the Russian guy? 161 burpees, tied for first, video included on the Games site. Crazy.

Yup. Insane.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 265x4x5
OH press: 95x10, 135x5, 155x5, 175x1, 180x7x1
Deadlift: 135x10, 185x8, 225x5, 275x5, 315x3x5

Very easy lifting day. Felt strong, great bar speed.

Seven rounds for time of:
15 foot Rope climb, 1 ascent
10 Wallball shots, 20 pound ball
15 Kettlebell swings, 1.5 poods
20 Double-unders

Time: 18:00

 

[brikis98]

We got a new building at work and it has a bigger gym. It's still under construction, but I decided to use it anyway. There's a squat rack, benches, barbell, plates (even some bumper plates!), treadmills, bikes, heavy ropes, and light KBs. Only major missing items are a pull-up bar (which we'll get soon), rower (on the list, not sure if we'll get it), GHD (not sure if we'll ever get one), and some rings (I own some and just need to find a place to hang them).

Power cleans (weights are in kilos!): 30x5, 40x5, 50x5, 60x5, 70x3, 80x3, 90x3x2

First time doing power cleans since the back injury. Kept it very light and slowly worked my way up. Technique felt waaaay off and 80kg and 90kg felt much heavier than they used to. Oh well, just gotta keep working at it.

5 rounds for time:
400m run (Sub: ran on a treadmill)
8 jumps over an ~18" bench
16 double rope slams

Time: 16:13

The treadmills at this gym are much harder for a given speed than the other one. In terms of effort, these ones feel closer to running outside.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Hypermobile ribs

Had a chiropractor appointment for a weird issue that has been developing the last couple months: a rib that seems to pop out of place in my back, between the left scapula and spine, when I'm lying down. I've actually had this for years, but it used to be very rare, happening a few times a year. For some reason, it has gotten much worse, and now I have it almost every night.

In fact, it's gotten so bad that I can't sleep on my left side, or I'll wake up with a dull pain which becomes a sharp pain if I try to take a deep breath. I have to sit up and rotate my shoulder around until the rib feels like it has popped back in.

The chiro looked at it and said that the spine in that area was likely a bit misaligned so the rib was not able to get into the proper position. Unfortunately, after working on it for 45 minutes, she wasn't able to make much of an improvement. She said that the muscles in my back are too thick and tight and she wasn't able to apply enough force to realign things.

So now I have a recommendation for some male chiropractor who is supposed to be stronger and should be able to perform the necessary adjustments. Joy.

That's interesting. Unless you actually suffered some sort of event, I wouldn't really expect someone like you to have hypermobile ribs. PT can also mobilize the rib, regardless of your thickness, lol. Like I said, if you're ever in the SoCal area, lemme know. I'd be more than happy to take a loot at your thoracic spine, ribs, and musculature in that area. Could probably give you some home exercises to work on it since a lot of the time, hypermobile ribs are present due to hypomobility elsewhere (above, below).

 

[brikis98]

Unless you actually suffered some sort of event,

None that I'm aware of.

I wouldn't really expect someone like you to have hypermobile ribs.

What kind of people typically get hypermobile ribs? Besides some sort of trauma, what causes them?

Like I said, if you're ever in the SoCal area, lemme know. I'd be more than happy to take a loot at your thoracic spine, ribs, and musculature in that area. Could probably give you some home exercises to work on it since a lot of the time, hypermobile ribs are present due to hypomobility elsewhere (above, below).

Really appreciate the offer, thought I'm not likely to be in SoCal anytime soon. I can't even find the time to schedule a chiro appointment with the recommended guy, and he's just 15 minutes from where I live

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 275x3x5
Bench press: 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 250x5
Weighted pull-ups: 0x5, 25x5, 45x5, 65x4x5
Deadlift: 135x10, 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 335x5

Continuing to work my way back up. To reduce boredom, I kept the rest periods between sets very short and super-setted bench press and pull-ups. I was exhausted by the end.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

None that I'm aware of.


What kind of people typically get hypermobile ribs? Besides some sort of trauma, what causes them?


Really appreciate the offer, thought I'm not likely to be in SoCal anytime soon. I can't even find the time to schedule a chiro appointment with the recommended guy, and he's just 15 minutes from where I live

The most common cause, I notice, is somebody's breathing patterns. People frequently breathe heavily from their lower ribs and not very much from their upper ribs therefore the lower ribs get hypermobile. It's rare that one rib becomes hypermobile - it's typically a group of ribs. Excessively tight musculature can also displace the ribs a bit, but again, that tends to be a group dysfunction.

 

[brikis98]

Missed a few days at the gym again due to work.

Squat: 135x8, 185x8, 225x5, 275x5, 285x3x5
OH Press: 95x8, 135x5, 155x5, 175x1, 185x6x1

Squat felt good. OH press was a bit slower than I would've liked, but I got through it.

5 rounds for time of:
155lb power clean, 7 reps
1.5 pood KB swing, 15 reps

Time: 9:09

 

[brikis98]

Sprint:
8 rounds of 40 yard dash with 30 seconds rest between sprints
4 rounds of 10 yard dash backwards, 30 yards forwards, with 30 seconds rest between sprints

Did some speed and agility work on a football field. I've learned that timing 40 yard dashes with an iPhone is a futile adventure, so I just ran hard and only used the timer to measure the rest periods.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 295x3x5

Felt easy.

Complete as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
185 pound Clean and jerk, 2 reps
15 foot Rope climb, 1 ascent

Rounds completed: 8 + 1 C&J

Awesome workout. My grip was exhausted by the end.

 

[brikis98]

Run: ~4.5 mile hill run at Arastradero Preserve with my gf. Untimed.

 

[brikis98]

Squat: 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5, 305x3x5
Bench press: 135x10, 185x5, 225x5, 245x5, 255x5

Felt strong today. Burned through all sets with good bar speed.

"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: 12:20 (PR)

This was a pleasant surprise: I beat my DT PR from 2 years ago by 3.5 minutes.

 

[brikis98]

Run: 8x400m, 90 seconds rest between rounds (Sub: ran on a treadmill)

Round 1: 8.0 mph
Round 2: 9.0 mph
Round 3: 9.5 mph
Round 4: 10.0 mph
Round 5: 10.0 mph
Round 6: 10.1 mph
Round 7: 10.2 mph
Round 8: 10.4 mph

I felt very sluggish at the start of the workout, but actually got stronger and stronger with each round. I had a lot left at the end of the 8th round. I usually fatigue quickly on running workouts, so this was unusual for me.