Just me and coach Nick at the 6am today. We scrappd the standardized warmups in favor of Nick’s erg warmup: start rowing at 3:00/500m pace; at 300m increase the intensity to 2:50/500m pace; at 600m go to 2:40/500m pace until 900m; and so on and so forth until you get to 2:00/500m pace. The first few 300s felt excruciatingly slow, but they were great for getting really detailed feedback on my form from Nick. I need to focus on pulling with my arms as soon as my heels touch, keep my back position throughout the catch, and keep everything nice and smooth. I also bumped my feet down to the ‘4’ notch and Nick suggested maybe even trying a 5 to get a better angle.
Press:
- 5 x 100lb
- 5 x 120lb
- 7 x 135lb*
This was my first press exposure for the Wendler cycle, so I’m using an estimated 1RM of 175 to calculate my numbers. Disappointed with only 7 on the rep out, but I really haven’t been pressing much.
WOD:
- 10 One Arm DB Hang Clean and Push Press/arm (40lb)
- 30 DB Swings (40lb)
Repeat 5x
Time: 12:12. Really, really slow. Not sure if I went too heavy on the weight or if it was just an off day. Limiting factor on this one was my GD grip.
Cooled down with the opposite of the rowing warmup: start rowing at 2:00/500m pace; at 300m decrease the intensity to 2:10/500m pace; at 600m go to 2:20/500m pace until 900m; and so on and so forth. I got 1500m in before I had to split.
Good morning with the 6am crew today. Started with DROMS and warmup 2:
- 5 Muscle Up transitions (low rings)
- 10 GHD Situps
- 10 GHD Hip Extensions
- 10 One Legged Squats (alternating legs)
Repeat 3x. Got everything but the last set of OLS.
Squats:
- 5 x 200lb
- 5 x 235lb
- 9 x 265lb*
Since I hit all my reps for the last 3 weeks, I upped my estimated max 10lb to 345 and recalculated my work sets based on that. Felt pretty good. Was gunning for 10 on my rep out (which is what I got last time with 255).
WOD:
- Power Cleans (185lb) x 20 sec (4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4)
Repeat 8x, resting 40 sec between rounds.
Score: 32. This felt like the right weight - it was heavy but I was able to keep moving in every set. Can’t imagine getting more than 4 reps unless I controlled the weight down each time (I just dropped it). My collarbone took a real beating, honey.
Quick DROMS and right into warmup 1 today:
- 15 sec L-sit (rings)
- 10 Muscle Snatch to OHS (2 sec pause at bottom, 45lb)
- 10 Games-standard Pushups
- 5 Strict pullups to 10 Kipping pullups
Repeat 3x (ran out of time on the OHS in round 3)
Deadlift:
- 5 x 315lb
- 3 x 360lb
- 3 x 1 x 400lb
We did three singles for our heaviest set in lieu of the rep-out. Everything felt good today.
WOD:
- 50 Double Unders
- 40 Squats
- 30 Situps
Repeat 3x
Time: 6:54. I moved pretty steadily through this one, only had a couple of trip ups on the DUs when my rope hit the cage (it was crowded) and only took 2 short breaks on the last set of squats, which ate me up.
Squat day, baby! Started with some light foam rolling and then right into warmup 2:
- 5 Muscle Up transitions (low rings)
- 10 GHD Situps
- 10 GHD Hip Extensions
- 10 One Legged Squats (alternating legs)
Repeat 3x.
Squats:
- 5 x 225lb
- 3 x 255lb
- 7 x 285lb*
Last set was a rep-out. I gave up on the prescribed warmup sets (too much math) and just did 2 sets with the empty bar, then 135, and 185. Nice round numbers. Squats felt really good today. Maybe I should’ve fought for another rep or two on the last set, but it felt solid.
Partner Chipper WOD:
- 75 Shoulder-to-overhead (165lb)
- 100 Power Cleans (165lb)
- 125 Pushups
Time: 15:30. Worked with Allen and Isaac and ended up not quite pulling (pushing?) my share of the weight. The first few sets of the push jerk were 5 reps, as planned, the last few were 3 reps. Power cleans were strong - hit sets of 5 throughout and then a set of 10 to close it out. Pushups were 20, 10, 5.
Got in a few minutes early so I rowed an easy 3 minutes (20 s/m) then did a little foam rolling. Once class started, I got sent back to the rower for another 3 min, but pushed it to 30 s/m for the last minute. Then we did some PVC drills to warm up the OHS. THEN, warmup 1:
- 15 sec L-sit (rings)
- 10 Games-standard Pushups
- 5 Strict pullups to 10 Kipping pullups
Repeat 3x.
Overhead Squats:
- 3 x 95lb
- 1 x 135lb
- 1 x 155lb
- 1 x 175lb *FAIL*
- 1 x 175lb
- 1 x 195lb *FAIL*
- 1 x 195lb (PR)
I had more in me, but I ran out of time. Wasn’t sticking my butt back enough for a lot of these reps and once I got the cue it felt much stronger. Also need to focus on externally rotating my femurs to keep my feet from rolling in.
10 min AMRAP:
- 30 Double Unders
- 15 Overhead Squats (95lb)
Score: 4 rounds + 4 OHS. I’m really rubbish at OHS. First set was unbroken, the rest were broken in 2. Had lots of fails when I lost my position, which gets frustrating.
Hit my first deadlift exposure for this Wender cycle. Competition warmup 2 for the first time:
- 5 Muscle Up transitions (low rings)
- 10 GHD Situps
- 10 GHD Hip Extensions
- 10 One Legged Squats (alternating legs)
Repeat 3x. Got everything but the last set of OLS.
Deadlift:
- 5 x 135lb
- 5 x 225lb
- 3 x 275lb
- 5 x 295lb
- 5 x 335lb
- 3 x 380lb
We’re not doing rep-outs on deadlifts for this Wendler cycle. Glad I got paired with coach Fox for this since I had a trained eye on my form throughout. My position felt really good today and I liked deadlifting in my weightlifting shoes for the first time.
WOD:
- Wall Ball (30lb) x 1 min (24, 16, 18)
- Box Jumps (24”) x 1 min (24, 28, 18)
Repeat 3x, resting 1 min between rounds.
Score: 128. This was scaled up from the Rxed 20lb/20” and it really took its toll. I don’t cycle 24” box jumps that well (got in the groove on round 2 for a bit though) and I felt the extra 10lbs on those wall balls, I’ll tell you what.
New warmups, y’all! These even have modifications geared toward more competitive athletes. Warmup 1 for the first time:
- 15 sec L-sit (rings)
- 10 Muscle Snatch to OHS (2 sec pause at bottom) with PVC
- 10 Games-standard Pushups
- 5 Strict pullups to 10 Toes-to-bar
Repeat 3x 2x. Started late and ran out of time. Not sure about going right from those TTB to the L-sits - might make more sense to try kipping pullups on top of strict pullups. I should have used an empty barbell instead of a PVC too.
Squats:
- 5 x 120lb
- 5 x 150lb
- 3 x 180lb
- 3 x 210lb
- 3 x 240lb
- 8 x 270lb*
First three sets were warmup sets. Second Wendler squat exposure. Felt pretty good today. Then onto the WOD.
12 min AMRAP, resting 1:07 between sets:
- 3 Man-Makers (35lb)
- 5 Box Jumps
- 7 Ball Slams (30lb)
Score: 6 rounds. The first round took me 1:07, so I used that as my rest throughout. Finished subsequent rounds in 1:00, so I should have just made it easier on myself and rested 1 min. Really liked this since it was short, explosive, and with built in rest so I could go max intensity each round.
Back from a few days of snowboarding at Mt. Tremblant in Canada and feeling good despite beer consumption and shitty diet (poutine). Cindy/Mary came up today and the coaches suggested the competition kids do Mary, so I did just that. DIY warmup of some easy rowing, DROMS, and then right to work:
Mary:
- 5 Handstand Pushups
- 10 One-Legged Squats (alternating)
- 15 Pullups
AMRAP 20 min.
Score: 8 + 5 HPSU. Those damn HSPU were the limiting factor, but I got the first three sets unbroken. All OLS were unbroken and after the first 2 rounds, pullups were 5/5/5. I tried to eliminate rest between movements and rest only when partitioning the HSPU and pullups. Next time I’ll use an abmat and 2 plates to cushion my poor head when doing so many HSPUs. Shit hurts.
Lots of foam rolling afterwards with some light rope skipping and some really light rowing to cool down completely.
Today was the first day of the new Wendler 5/3/1 squat cycle, which is exciting. Started with warmup 1:
- 20 Hollow rocks
- 15 Squats
- 10 Pushups
- 10 Strict pullups
Repeat 3x
Squats:
- 5 x 120lb
- 5 x 155lb
- 3 x 185lb
- 5 x 195lb
- 5 x 225lb
- 10 x 255lb*
First three sets were warmup sets. All numbers were calculated using a handy 5/3/1 iphone app and based off of a 335lb 1RM (which is the heaviest I’ve squatted recently). That last set is a rep-out. I was shooting for more reps, but it felt heavy today. Then onto the WOD.
8 min AMRAP:
- 10 Pushups
- 15 Pullups
- 20 KB Swings (53lb)
Score: 3 rounds + 15 pullups. The pullup / KB swing combo always wears on my hands so I put the brakes on a bit to make sure I didn’t rip anything. Still a tough little workout.
Hopped on the rower for 3 easy minutes before class and then went through the day’s warmup with the class: skipping rope, bird-dogs, and basic mobility work. Then we warmed up our back squats to set up a 10RM (estimated at 75% of 1RM):
Back Squat:
This was a good weight for me. It was tough but I didn’t really have to battle any reps out. My bar position felt good throughout too, which is always a struggle on these long sets.
21, 15, 9:
Time: 3:50. This was about 1 minute faster than the last time I tried this. The main difference was that I hit all pullups unbroken this time (last time I was nursing some ripped calluses) so it felt much better.
Warmed up with an easy 3 min on the rower followed by some DROMS with the class. Then we did a mini barbell complex of deadlift, hang power clean, push press. After that we spent 20 minutes working up to a heavy single rack jerk.
Rack Jerk:
- 3 x 135lb
- 3 x 155lb
- 1 x 175lb
- 1 x 195lb
- 1 x 205lb *FAIL*
- 1 x 205lb (PR)
First time I’ve ever got more than 200lb overhead but I had way more in me. I wore my weightlifting shoes and felt very stable today, just ran out of time.
Grace:
Time: 2:46 (PR). This is a 9 second improvement from the last time I did Grace. My strategy was to just go hard with no pacing. I didn’t bail at all on the first 10 and they were pretty quick (~30 sec) but then I started dropping the bar after every rep and it really slowed me down. Also took a 5 sec breather somewhere in the middle that I wish I could get back.
No standard warmup again today. We did some mobility work, triceps mashing on the bar again, some rack position stretching to prep for front squats. Sort of like Monday, we had 20 minutes to find a 3RM on the front squat.
Front Squat:
- 5 x 135lb
- 3 x 185lb
- 3 x 225lb
- 3 x 245lb
- 3 x 265lb
Then a NFT WOD:
- 30 Unbroken KB Swings (1, 1.5, 1.5 pood)
- 15 DB Bench Press (40, 50, 50lb)
- 1 Rope Climb
Repeat 3x
Those rope climbs confound me. I only did one ascent per round since I didn’t want to hog the rope but I need more practice to get comfortable with the whole foot thing. I ended up just monkeying up the rope with my arms each time and not really using my legs.
Warmed up by running a quick 400m then doing some mobility work: triceps mashing, rack stretch, and a whole bunch of empty bar drills to warm up the clean. Then we had 20 minutes to find a 1RM on the clean.
Power Clean:
- 5 x 135lb
- 3 x 185lb
- 1 x 205lb
- 1 x 225lb
- 1 x 235lb (PR)
- 1 x 245lb *FAIL*
- 1 x 245lb *FAIL*
This was my first time cleaning with the weightlifting shoes and it felt good. I was really close to nailing the last attempt at 245, but I just couldn’t put it together. Still happy with the 10lb PR.
Flight Simulator WOD:
- 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 5 Reps of consecutive Double Unders
We didn’t have the full time to complete this, but I completed the set of 40 on the way back down. Tripped up twice on the set of 35 and once on the set of 50. I’d like to complete this for time to see how long it takes.
I was happy to see a Crossfit gym opened up right near my mom’s house in Huntington so I swung by for a drop-in. It’s a really new place - opened just a month ago I think - and their outfitted with all the new hot Rogue gear. I started in on CFSB’s standard warmup #1 before I realized that there was a WOD-specific warmup posted on the board (there was no class intro - people just jumped in whenever they arrived). The warmup was 500m row, shoulder dislocates, 5 Turkish Get Ups/side (30lb). Then I did some KB Romanian Deadlifts and leg swings to warm up my hamstrings, as Rxed by Coach Nick.
WOD:
Repeat 3x
Time: 24:43. Not very fun and not a very strong performance to rep CFSB. There was a whole list of stretches to go through after the WOD, which was a nice change of pace for me. We hit all the big areas for about 30 sec each side and then I finished with some more hamstring stretches cause I sure need them. CF Limitless is a great box and I’m sure they’ll do really well here…looking forward to dropping in whenever I’m in town.
Started off the morning with an easy 2 min row followed by lots of foam rolling and lax balling on the hamstrings. Then I did a less sessile warmup:
- 10 Back extensions on the GHD (10lb)
- 10 Front leg swings/side
Repeat 3x, followed by even more rolling and stretching for the hips and hamstrings.
WOD:
15 minute row for max distance with a 16 s/m cap. I went 3540m, which is shorter than the last couple of times, but that’s expected at 16 s/m. I did a pretty good job of keeping the pace throughout and really got in to the groove after a while.
Afterwards Nick had me cool down with descending pace ladder, starting at 2:10 and adding 10 sec to my pace every 300m. Finished 1200m and called it a day.
