There Will Be Sweat

Bastard Lynne

I intended to do a Lynne Storch tonight, but I couldn’t get the weighted sandbag pullups rigged up right, so I went for unweighted pullups instead and ended up with a bastard version of the true workout:

Pullups
Sandbag overhead presses (80lb)

Repeat 5x for max reps.

Total score = 185 (24, 23, 18, 20, 20 / 21, 15, 16, 15, 13). Pullup score was the same as the last time I did a true Lynne and sandbag presses were +3 from the last time I did it with Larry Storch. And man, those sandbag presses are all about momentum. As soon as I stop moving and rest in the rack position I lose all my steam.

Strength Work

Inspired by a recent post on Theory to Practice, I headed over to the 5th Ave Gym for some deads and dips after kicking off with the official TWBS warmup.

Deadlift x 315lb x 5
Weighted Dips x 90lb x 5

Repeat 4x

This wasn’t for time since it involved deadlifts (shoes off), then walking across the entire gym (shoes on), and back. I tried to limit the rest between sets though. Boy do I like lifting heavy things. One day I’m gonna have a garage…and I’m gonna get a barbell and a shit ton of weights…and I’m gonna lift them…a lot.

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Explosive Strength Training

Night workout at the 5th Ave Gym. Did a quick Cindy-like warmup and got to work:

1 Arm DB Snatch
- 5 x 3/side x 60lb
Power Clean
- 5 x 3 x 135lb
Complex Pair - repeat 4x (Rest 60 sec between B & C and D & A)
- One Arm Bench Press x 5/arm x 80lb
- Decline Plyometric Pushups x 8
- DB Step Ups x 5/leg x 65lb (in each hand)
- Knee Tucks x 8
Finisher: DB Swings
- 10 x 70lb

I was gassed out at the end and my swings were ugly so I bailed out of the rest of the finisher. Definitely got a sufficient workout and a good sweat. Also worked out a lot of the soreness from my tabata adventure the other day.

Just Squatting

Back at the 5th Ave Gym (gotta love the $5 day pass). Figured I’d do some squatting to get a bigger engine:

Back Squat
- 5 x 135lb
- 5 x 225lb
- 3 x 275lb
- 5 x 225lb
- 20 x 135lb

I’m as weak as a kitten these days, though in all fairness I’m also out of practice, my form is out of whack, and I lost some of that shoulder flexibility I worked so hard to develop last year. Frucstrating.

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Explosive Strength Training

Gotta maintain some explosiveness/speed strength training in my life so I don’t become one of those slow twitch jagoffs. At the 5th Ave Gym:

1 Arm DB Snatch
- 5 x 3/side x 65lb
Barbell Punch Press
- 5 x 3 x 25lb
Complex Pair - repeat 4x (Rest 60 sec between B & C and D & A)
- Dumbbell Row x 5/arm x 85lb
- Plyometric Pullups x 5
- Bulgarian Split Squats x 5/leg x 50lb (in each hand)
- Knee Jumps x 5
Finisher: Sumo Deadlift High Pulls
- 3 x 15 x 95lb

Tending to the Barz

I took pictures while Zach and Dave biked and ran the Brooklyn Biathlon in Prospect Park today. Luckily there was a jungle gym setup right near the finish line, so I ran in for some chinning while they were hoofing around the park:

10 Pullups
10 Dips

Repeat 10x

Not for time since I kept running back to the race to take photos when Zach and Dave completed a lap. I got 2-3 rounds in during each lap until I hit 10.

Pushin Weight

Last dance at Lifetime Fitness in Utah, killing time before my flight home. Found a concept 2 rower and warmed up by doing 5 minutes on it. I wish I had access to one of these things - they’re pretty great. We can’t all be as rich as Zach. Then I pushed some weight:

Push press
- 3 x 95lb
- 3 x 135lb
- 3 x 160lb
- 1 x 185lb
- 1 x 185lb
One arm DB bench press
- 5 x 60lb
- 5 x 80lb
- 3 x 100lb (negative)

My left shoulder felt weird. No pain, but it felt sort of weak. I’ll ease up and see if it goes away.

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Turkish Getups

Back at Lifetime Fitness to take advantage of my free pass and to build bulletproof shoulders:

Turkish Getups
- 3 x 35lb
- 3 x 50lb
- 3 x 65lb
- 2 x 80lb
- 1 x 95lb

Good enough.

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It’s a Trap! (Bar Deadlift)

My hotel in Utah hooked me up with a free VIP pass to Lifetime Fitness, which is a nearby gym the size of the Midtown Mall. This place is huge and they have lots of fun stuff to use. Warmed up with three rounds of cindy and some light rope skipping, then I noticed a trap bar and figured I’d give it a shot:

Trap Bar Deadlift
- 5 x 135lb
- 5 x 225lb
- 3 x 315lb
- 3 x 405lb

Ran out of space on the bar with 4 wheels and figured that was good enough for my first foray into trap bar deadlifting anyway. No need to mojay.

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Lynne Storch

Crossfit’s Lynne + my sandbag, Larry Storch =

Weighted sandbag pullups (80lb)
Sandbag overhead presses (80lb)

Repeat 5x for max reps

Total score = 102 (8, 5, 3, 5, 4 / 17, 16, 13, 15, 16). The first two sets of weighted pullups were actually singles strung together without rest (dropped off the bar after each rep to adjust the bag). By the third set I figured out a more efficient way to use my dip belt and carabiner (thanks Zach!) so they were true sets. Fun times.

Explosive Sandbag Training

Basement explosive strength training with my old friend Larry Storch. 80lbs for all exercises:

Sandbag power clean - 4 x 5
4 x Circuit A
- Sandbag push press x 5
- Sandbag jump squat x 5
4 x Circuit B
- Sandbag explosive floor press x 5
- Plyometric pullups x 5
Sandbag shouldering - 3 x 10/side

Minimal rest (45-60 sec between exercises). Didn’t feel too much fatigue or sweat until the high-rep shouldering for a finisher. Not sure if this is the best method for speed strength/explosiveness, but I thought the push press/jump squat combo was nice.

Explosive Strength Training

I still have the triple clap pushup in my arsenal, but I want to start incorporating more explosive/speed strength training to make sure I stay explosive. I did everything with my trusty sandbag, so 80lbs across the board:

Sandbag getups x 5/side
Sandbag clean & press - 5 x 3
Sandbag sumo deadlift highpulls - 5 x 3
Complex Pair - repeat 4x
- Sandbag floor press x 10
- Plyometric pushups x 8
- Sandbag lunges x 5/side
- Lunge jumps x 8/side
Finisher: Sandbag shouldering - 2 x 10/side

High-rep shouldering is a great finisher. I was originally planning on doing a quick conditioning circuit after this session, but the finisher lived up to its name and I had nothing left in the tank. Also worth noting: the lunge jumps super-set is always torturous.

Lynne-like

Inspired by Crossfit’s Lynne workout, but added some weight:

Weighted Pullups (50lb)
Weighted Dips (50lb)

Repeat 3x for max reps

Total score = 57 (9, 10, 6 / 12, 11, 9). I was shooting for 5 rounds like Lynne, but was short on time. Should’ve pulled more on that last set, but the weight was swinging too much and throwing me off. This was a good one.

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Max Effort Overhead Press

Headed over to the 5th Ave Gym for the first time in a while for some lifting:

Press
- 3 x 95lb
- 3 x 115lb
- 3 x 135lb
- 1 x 155lb
- 1 x 165lb

These weights were tougher than they should’ve been, but I haven’t done much pressing lately. My form broke down on the last set so I didn’t try to go any heavier.

Sandbag Circuit

Grabbed my 80lb buddy Larry Storch for a sandbag strength circuit:

1 Getup (each side)
2 Floor presses
3 Deadlifts
4 Clean & presses
5 Squats

AMRAP in 20 minutes.

Total rounds: 9 even. There was about 20 seconds left on the clock after the 9th trip through, so I didn’t start the 10th. The toughest part of this was the C&P because I have to regrip Storch for every rep. I think we packed him a little too tight when we built him, but it’s a nice additional challenge.

Finished with some pullups:

5 x 8 pullups