There Will Be Sweat

Garage Gorilla Day 17

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:18:00 -0400

I’ve been hurting lately and trying to rest up a bit. My left knee hurts when I squat or run and my left shoulder hurts when I press. So what does that leave?

21, 15, 9:

Ring dips
Push-ups
Hollow rocks

Untimed but gotDAMN those push-ups were tough after the dips. Also started Pavel’s pull-up program and did 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 at lunch.

Garage Gorilla Day 16

Thu, 09 May 2013 22:55:56 -0400

Another late night in the old car hole. Warmed up with 3 rounds of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, then some hip openers and shoulder dislocates. Inspired by the recently announced regional workouts for the CF games, I wanted to benchmark my OHS 3RM.

Overhead Squat:

45lb x 5 x 2
95lb x 5
135lb x 3
155lb x 1
175lb x 1
185lb x 3

I was shimmying and shuffling around trying to get settled before I started, but the weight felt totally manageable. I watched the Again Faster Mic’d Instructor video on Overhead Squats before my session and sort of had an epiphany about the jerk based on something Gilson said - don’t rush the dip before the jerk. I can’t wait to try practicing and benchmarking some jerks with my newfound knowledge. No time for anything else tonight.

Garage Gorilla Day 15

Tue, 07 May 2013 22:31:02 -0400

Late night squat therapy. Warmed up with 3x: 16 thrusters, 8 strict chin-ups, 8 ring dips and then some hip openers.

Back Squat:

45lb x 5 x 2
135lb x 5
225lb x 3
275lb x 2
295lb x 5 x 3

Called it a night after the squats because it was way too late for power cleans and the other stuff I had on the menu. It was one of those days when I felt creaky and wanted to bag the workout but I made myself do it anyway. None of the squats felt great, but I’m glad I did them. We live to squat another day.

Squat session form check from 5/5/13. Included are 3 over...

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:56:00 -0400

Squat session form check from 5/5/13. Included are 3 over warm-up sets and 3 work sets of 5 reps. Things I noticed: my knees are coming forward on the descent of the squat, my depth is border-line, my feet are squirrelly in some of the heavier sets. More to work on!

Garage Gorilla Day 14

Sun, 05 May 2013 17:17:55 -0400

Mid-day Sunday workout in the garage. CFSBK: 3x of 10 pull-ups, 15 hollow rocks, 15 OHS. Then some hip openers before lifting.

Back Squat:

45lb x 5 x 2
135lb x 5
225lb x 3
275lb x 2
315lb x 1
325lb x 1
335lb x 1
292.5lb x 5 x 3

Deadlift:

135lb x 5
225lb x 5
295lb x 3
345lb x 2
385lb x 5

Over-warmed up for squats again today. I sat out the presses since the shoulder didn’t feel great during my warm-up sets. Since I’m no longer lifting under the watchful eyes of the awesome coaches at CFSBK, I shot some video of my lifts today. My knees are coming forward on the descent of the squat and my depth is borer-line. My shoulders and upper back are also getting soft on the deads. I’ll need to continue to work on these things as I go and I think video spot-checks are a good way to keep me honest. Cooled down with a tour of Maplewood and the surrounding towns on the general. Hills are rough without gears, honey.

Garage Gorilla Day 13

Fri, 03 May 2013 23:31:03 -0400

Another night time lifting session in the garage. Did some foam rolling and hip openers before warming up with 3x: 15 thrusters, 15 hollow rocks, 15 ring rows.

Back Squat:

45lb x 5 x 2
135lb x 5
225lb x 3
275lb x 2
290lb x 5 x 3

Bent-Over Row:

95lb x 5
115lb x 5
135lb x 5 x 3

Didn’t have time for the over warm-up, so I under warmed-up instead. I think I’ll stick to the OWU once per week. Squats felt good throughout. Rows were easy peasy at this weight. Sat out the overhead movement to rest my shoulder a bit.

I had my playlist on random and got to squat to Steely Dan and other non-agressive tunes. It was nice. Finished with max double unders in the length of whatever song came on next. It was Don’t Leave Me by Blackstreet, which is an awful song to do anything to. It was about 5 minutes long and I knocked out 325 DUs.

Garage Gorilla Day 12

Wed, 01 May 2013 23:50:30 -0400

Late night in the garage aka Castle Greyskull. Some light DROMS and then a warmup of 3x: 12 ring rows, 12 pushups, 12 squats, 12 leg swings/leg.

Overhead Squats:

45lb x 5
75lb x 5
95lb x 5
115lb x 5
135lb x 5
155lb x 5

Benchmarked my OHS 5RM but I’m sure I have more in me. Just wanted to feel these out to get a sense of where I should be for when I really test it. When I do, I won’t do sets of 5 all the way up!

AMRAP 10 min:

20 Push-ups
20 Pull-ups

Score: 4 rounds + 20 push, 6 pull. I expected I’d get 5 full rounds but everything broke down. Finished the first set unbroken in under a minute. My pull-ups are slowly returning. I have the power!

Garage Gorilla Day 11

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:23:39 -0400

Worked from home today so I got a mid-day lifting break. Borrowed the standardized warmup from my friends at CFSBK: 3x of 10 pull-ups, 15 hollow rocks, 15 OHS. Then some hip openers before lifting.

Back Squat:

45lb x 5 x 2
135lb x 5
225lb x 3
275lb x 2
305lb x 1
325lb x 1
287.5lb x 5 x 3

Floor Press:

135lb x 5
165lb x 5
180lb x 5 x 3

Power Clean:

135lb x 3
170lb x 3 x 3

Tried over-warming up for squats today. The idear is to destroy any mental apprehension with heavier weights by working up to a moderately heavy single before the work sets. They all felt fine today and they sure do make the work sets feel easier. Took a bit of time though. Everything else was uneventful. I’ll keep trying this strategy a bit to see how it shakes out.

"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:31:07 -0400

“The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back.”

- Marcus Annaeus Seneca (via bnchmrk)

Garage Gorilla Day 10

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 09:09:00 -0400

Mid-day lifting session while the little one napped. Warmed up with 3x: 10 pull-ups, 8 ring dips, 10 hollow rocks. Some hip openers, then to the bar.

Back Squat:

285lb x 5 x 3

Press:

127.5lb x 5 x 3

Deadlift:

380lb x 5 x 1

I decided to do smaller increments on the back squat so I get more practice and a bit more time before shit gets real. They felt fine today. The presses were not so great. There’s definitely something going on with my left shoulder that I only notice when I go overhead. I may have to rest it for a bit. Deadlifts were fine but I think I started a bit too heavy because shit is gonna get real with them very soon. Rode around town on the general to cool down.

Hill Sprints

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:27:08 -0400

Tackled the hill right up my block for some late night sprints. I’d estimate it at 100-150m but who knows.

10 x 100m

I walked down after each sprint. After the 3rd run I thought ‘oh, these aren’t so bad - maybe I’ll do 15.’ After the 8th, I realized that 10 would be plenty. And it was. Jogged around a bit too cool down.

Garage Gorilla Day 9

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Evening session in Castle Greyskull. Warmed up with 3x: 10 ring rows, 10 pushups, 10 situps. Some hip openers, then back to the program.

Back Squat:

282.5lb x 5 x 3

BTN Press:

75lb x 5

Squats felt good. Did some more warmup sets since I was slow to get going last time. My left shoulder felt fucked during the press warmups, so I canned it. Then I got interrupted so I had to call it quits early. At least I got my squats in.

Garage Gorilla day 8

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:19:00 -0400

Rode the general around town for about 30 min, then did some light rope skipping before cooking up a little circuit:

10 pull-ups
10 ring dips
50 double-unders

Repeat 5x

Time: 13:20 or something like that. How am I supposed to know, I’m not a scientist. Pull-ups were pretty smooth throughout ring dips broke down in round 3 and doubles were surprisingly difficult. Just couldn’t get the rhythm today and only one set was unbroken.

I’m focusing on workouts that don’t have a descending ladder rep scheme since I always seem to do those and I need to work on my mental focus of dealing with repeating larger volume movements. Mental toughness training.

Garage Gorilla Day 7

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:06:23 -0400

Back in the garage this fine morning. Warmed up with 3x: 10 ring push-ups, 10 ring rows, 10 squats. Some hip openers, then back to the program.

Back Squat:

280lb x 5 x 3

Floor Press:

175lb x 5 x 3

Power Clean:

165lb x 3 x 3

The squats were tough today. Not tough in the sense that the weight was too heavy to handle, but I had a really active rest day yesterday and was fighting through some soreness. Last set was the best set though. Floor presses were interesting - trying these since I don’t have a bench but want to develop pressing power. I can see how getting these into the start position will get challenging at higher weights. Cleans were cake.

Garage Gorilla Day 6

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:25:00 -0400

Kicked off my new linear progression program today. I’m gonna stick with this 3x a week for a few weeks to reboot my poor, atrophied muscles.

Back Squat:

275lb x 5 x 3

Press:

125lb x 5 x 3

Deadlift:

365lb x 5 x 1

All butter. My little one came and worked in with me for some of these. I made her a little weight set with a PVC bar and styrofoam weights. Her squat form is already better than mine. Finished with 50 burpees for time - 2:39.

Garage Gorilla Day 5

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Into the sanctum at night. I got some more bumper plates so I’m able to start doing some work! Warmed up with 10 pushups, 10 hollow rocks, 10 reverse lunges/side, 3x.

Press

45lb x 5
95lb x 5
135lb x 3
155lb x 1
165lb x 1

Good enough for today. The weight moved well but I didn’t feel like trying to max out given today’s WOD.

CrossFit Open workout 13.5:

15 Thrusters, 100lb
15 Chest-to-bar pull-ups

AMRAP in 4 min.

Score: 63. Dreadful. Not much to say, but at least I can start to work on my thrusters and conditioning in earnest. Cooled down with some rope skipping and some barbell Turkish get-ups, just to get the feel for them in the space.

Garage Gorilla day 4

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:38:00 -0400

I got my paws on some iron plates thanks to craigslist so I was able to do some moderately heavy squats today. Still easing back into the weight game though.

Back Squats:

262.5lb x 5 x 3

I only have small fractional plates and 45lbers, so this was all I could swing today. Gonna jump on a 6 week linear progression to get my shit together again.

WOD:

7 Ring dips
14 OHS, 45lb
21 Double unders

Repeat 5x

Set up my rings as well so I just wanted to use all my new toys. The dips broke down pretty quickly but the rest wasn’t so bad. Dips are definitely on my movements to address list. Cooled down with a light run around the park - about a mile I’d guess.

Track workout

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 23:32:58 -0400

I’ve been monkeying around with my squat rack, but not logging anything since the weights have been light. Jumping into a proper program in earnest this coming week. Since today was so lovely, I pedaled over to the local track for a workout.

Repeat 4x:
- Sprint 100m
- 20 Pushups
Repeat 4x:
- Sprint 50m
- 10 Pushups

Jogged back to the start after each interval. The ride to the track was 1 mile uphill and really took it out of my legs so I wasn’t as fast as I hoped I’d be. Looking forward to visiting this track more often since it’s so close though.

Garage Gorilla Day 3

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 22:43:19 -0400

I warmed up inside with the foam roller, hip openers, and some L-sits. Then out to the garage. I’m still waiting on my big shipment of bumper plates so I’m making due with a pair of 45s and small fractionals. With that in mind:

Front Squats

172.5lb x 5 x 5

This wasn’t that bad, but it’s all the weight I have. When I remember to externally rotate my femurs I feel like I can front squat the whole world.

WOD:

20 Thrusters, 45lb
20 Sit-ups

Repeat 5x

No timer, but I moved as quickly as possible. It sure is nice to work out with the doors open when it’s pouring rain like this.

Garage Gorilla Day 2

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 22:55:00 -0400

I still don’t have much weight to push around, so I’m doing what I can with 135lb. I did some foam rolling and then the official TWBS warmup of 3x: 15 burpees, 15 sec samson stretch each side.

Press:

135lb x 5 x 3

The last rep of each set was more of a grind than it should have been. Then I tried out my new rock solid plumbing pipe pull-up bar rig with a quick circuit.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1:

Burpees
Pull-ups

Not for time, but everything was unbroken. Cooled down with some light rope skipping.