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
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.
6m with coaches McDowell and Nick. We warmed up with some group DROMS and ____.
Front squat EMOTM for 8 minutes:
The weight felt light so I tried to focus on simulating a clean - went into the hole fast, paused at the bottom, and stood it up.
4 rounds, NFT:
- 10 Dumbbell or Kettlebell Thrusters with 1 second pause at lockout
- 10 Strict Pull-Ups
- :30e Side Plank
6am with coaches Josh and McDowell. We kicked things off with some band stretches for the gams, then warmed up with 3x: 15 OHS, 10 pushups, 10 ring rows.
Front Squat:
- 135lb x 5
- 185lb x 5
- 225lb x 3
- 255lb x 2
- 285lb x 1
- 300lb x 1 *FAIL*
- 300lb x 1 *FAIL*
Ah, crud. I had 300 in my sights, but couldn’t get it together. First attempt was way too slow and I just got stuck on the way up. I overcompensated on the second attempt and went down way too fast. Never had a prayer. Ties an old PR, but I wanted more.
Partner WOD:
- Row 20 calories
- 20 Wall balls
AMRAP 12 min, alternating rounds with a partner. Worked with Nick and we finished 7 complete rounds in the allotted time. Nick went first so I made up the last round so we both ended up doing 4. My rowing turns to shit real quick when I’m tired - stroke shortens up and I don’t get power in my pulls. My WBs were all over the place today too for some reason. Kept dropping the ball due to bad throws. Cooled down with an easy 5 min on the erg.
6am Tuesday class with coaces J Fox and McD. Standard group DROMS followed by a warmup of 3x: 15 OHS, 10 Pushups, 15 Situps. Then we did some front rack band stretch to prep for today’s front squats.
Front Squat:
- 135lb x 5
- 185lb x 5
- 225lb x 3
- 255lb x 1
- 285lb x 2*
McD called me out for depth on the first rep and said the second was borderline, so I can’t really count these. I have a much harder time feeling the bottom of the front squats (as opposed to back squats) because I worry about losing my rack position at the bottom.
WOD:
- 15 Thrusters (95lb)
- 15 Pullups
Repeat 3x
Time: 6:10. I thought this would be a bit easier than Fran, but it felt harder without that mental model of each round getting progressively easier. First round was a breeze, both movements unbroken. Second round was 9/6 and not too bad. Third round was complete garbage 5/5/5, 5/3/3/4 with way too much time resting. Thrusters just destroy me.
6am with coaches Josh & McDowell. Warmed up with group DROMS and some hip openers and related stuff.
Front Squat:
- 135lb x 5
- 185lb x 5
- 225lb x 3
- 245lb x 1
- 275lb x 3
Everything felt pretty good today, as it tends to do when I remember to externally rotate my femurs. The bar speed was good on all three reps and I definitely have more in me.
NFT circuit:
- 20 Band Good Mornings
- 5 Hips to Rings
- 16 Reverse lunges (24kg KB in front rack)
The Hip to Rings sure felt awkward at first, but I think I got the hang after a few attempts. I was sort of bending my knees and flopping on the way down and when Josh corrected me to keep my body rigid, I felt all that potential energy on the bottom and was able to rebound much better. I can see how these will help me with a more efficient kipping muscle up.
Off from work, so I got in a rare nooner with coaches McDowell and Josh. Snuck in early for 20 min of foam rollin and lax ballin all over my back and legs. Felt like a champ after that! Then we did some group DROMS, a warmup of 8 reverse lunges into DB push presses (45lb), 10 ring rows, 3x. Some more mobility work, then finally onto the bar.
Front Squat:
- 45lb x 5
- 95lb x 5
- 135lb x 5
- 185lb x 3
- 225lb x 2
- 245lb x 1
- 265lb x 5 *FAIL* (4)
We were shooting for a heavy 5. I lost my rack position and had to bail on the last rep at 265. Frustrating, because the weight was totally manageable for 5 reps. Haven’t done enough front squatting lately so this will be a welcome movement this cycle.
WOD:
- 10 Box Jumps (24”, games standard)
- 10 Pullups (CTB)
- 10 Pushups (hand release)
AMRAP 7 min
Score: 4 rounds + 6 pullups. I have a really hard time cycling ‘games standard’ box jumps, which keeps me from burning out too quickly. I just wish I could move faster through them. I need to remember to rebound off the floor (HOT FLOOR!) and use the top of the box as the ‘starting position.’ Got 2 rounds of CTB unbroken, then the fell apart to 5/5, 5/3/2, 3/3. Pushups were way harder than they should have been. Hopefully my nightly homework will improve my capacity there.
Friday morning classes with coach Nick are always a treat, especially when there’s rowing involved. We started with a good amount of ground based mobility work focusing on the hips and hamstrings, then did some rowing 101, which was awesome. We focused on the positions and keeping a set back on the catch and driving through the heels on the pull. Then we went back to the rack to work on opening up the front rack position.
NFT WOD:
- 5 Font Squats (165lb)
- 350m Row
Repeat 5x
Most rows took 1:10 - 1:15, but I was focusing on form more than time. Front squats felt pretty good. Again, we focused on perfect form there over weight. Rowing brings the sweat right out of me, fella.
Back in action at the 6am class with coach Nick. Some light DROMs and then warmup 1:
- 8 Lunges w/Hip Lift
- 8 High Hang Snatch into OHS (barbell)
- 8 Knees-to-Elbows (strict)
Repeat 3x
Front Squats:
- 2 x 225lb
- 2 x 245lb
- 2 x 265lb
The goal was to work up to a heavy double with no failing and no bailing. I wasn’t getting any bounce out of the hole today so 265 seemed like plenty.
WOD:
- Box Jumps (30”)
- Knees-to-Elbow
Ascending ladder (1, 2, 3, 4, 5…) AMRAP in 7 min
Score: 10 rounds + 7 KTE. Felt pretty good today. All KTE were unbroken until the 11th round. Box jumps were slow and steady without any rest. We did these games standard, which was fine by me since I can’t cycle 30” jumps anyway. Now that I’m back, moved, and recovered it’s time to get serious, kids.
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.
Made it in for the 10am class today. We started with a jog around the block (.3 mi) and then did some foam rolling on the psoas and quads in prep for today’s work. No time for standardized warmup, Dr. Jones.
Front Squats:
Kept it nice and light since my back still isn’t 100%. These felt good though.
WOD - 21, 15, 9:
- Row (calories)
- Squat Clean Thrusters (95lb)*
Time: 9:55. I scaled down the Rxed weight (which was 115) again for my poor aching back. Heavy loads on my back (squats) and pulling stuff from the floor is what aggravates it the most at the moment, so I thought it was best to keep the weight light and the intensity sub-maximal. Glad I did because things feel gravy right now.
Warmed it up with some DROMS, partner shoulder stretching, then a NFT circuit of 30 sec KB swings, 5 squat salutations, 60 sec plank x 3.
Front Squats:
- 1 x 275lb
- 1 x 285lb
- 1 x 295lb *FAIL*
- 1 x 295lb *FAIL*
WOD:
- 35 Double Unders
- 21 Chest-to-bar Pullups
- 35 Double Unders
- 5 Chest-to-bar Pullups
- 35 Double Unders
- 9 Chest-to-bar Pullups
- 35 Double Unders
Time: 4:23. Partitioned the pullups 7/7/7, 5/5/5, 3/3/3 to keep from fatiguing too much. All DUs were unbroken except one trip up in set 3.
I tied my PR for front squats, but I really wanted 295. The first attempt was very close, the second was a joke. I need to be more confident with my depth and bounce back up rather than going so low and losing my momentum.
Haven’t made it to crossfit at all this week, so I headed to the Y for a swim and made up the heavy front squat work from the other day.
Front Squats
- 2 x 245lb
- 2 x 255lb
- 2 x 265lb
I was supposed to do 4 sets of 2 but since there was a chance, a small one, that I might fail on 2 x 275, I just skipped it. Sucks, but there’s no way to fail gracefully in the weight room at the Y.
I used the sad, sad weight room at the Y before swimming tonight to make up the front squats I missed at crossfit this week.
Front Squats (2-2-1 tempo)
This was prescribed as 40-50% of the first exposure (255), focusing on exploding up and moving fast. It felt really easy.
Good morning class with Nick and the crew. We warmed up with a nice little run/squat combo and then did some shoulder mobility for the front squats. I also did a lot of warmup sets because I was feeling tight.
Front Squats:
- 3 x 240lb
- 3 x 250lb
- 3 x 255lb
- 3 x 260lb *FAIL* (1)
Then, the short WOD:
- 10 Renegade Rows (35lb)
- 20 KB Swings
AMRAP in 8 minutes
Score: 4 rounds + 4 KB swings. We did the RRs without the pushups, which I’m pretty sure means they’re just rows. Shoulders were cooked anyway. 255 was a 3RM for my front squat, so I’m happy with it.
Working from home means lunch time workout!
Front Squat
- 1 x 255lb
- 1 x 265lb
- 1 x 275lb
- 1 x 285lb (PR)
- 1 x 295lb *FAIL*
Really chuffed to hit 285, but then again I’ve never tried to max out on a heavy single FSQ before. Thinking about keeping my femurs externally rotated and getting a nice, deep breath were really helpful, but Shane also made sure I wasn’t going too low. The key is to just break parallel and not go so low that you get that forward lean and get soft (at least for me).
WOD:
- Max rep power cleans (185lb) x 60 sec
- Rest 60 sec
Repeat 5x
Score: 43 reps (11, 9, 9, 7, 7). The first two sets felt pretty good, but then things got heavy pretty quickly. Didn’t miss any reps until the last two sets, but I’m glad I tackled this as Rxed.
