Crossfit log for Friday, May 31st

Did the strength work at the Y today.

3 sets of 5 strict press 95#-95#-105#(4) could only get 4 at 105#, tried again at 105# and only got to 3 again. Good enough.

3 sets of 5 narrow grip bench press 135#-145#-145# would've tried 155# at the box but no spotter and too shy to ask for help so 145# will do.

Rolled around on my back and glutes with a lacrosse ball and the "peanut". Feel much better.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, May 29th

Ugh. Hero WODs are brutal.

Today we did "Blake"
2 lengths of the gym walking overhead weighted lunges (Rx= 45#, scaled 25#)
30 box jumps 24" box
20 wall balls 20# ball
10 hand stand push ups (scaled to 5 with 2 abmats under head).

4 rounds for time.

I'm not sure if the 2 lengths of lunges works out to the 100' in the official WOD description, I think it's more like 60', but it still sucked, so close enough.

Staggered the start, for some reason I thought finishing with the box jumps would be a good idea. Not so much. Although I was good at them, bouncing off the down jump using loaded hams, calves and achilles to propel myself back up, great drill for running form. Wall balls were hard, I couldn't seem to break parallel and got a lot of grief from coach Isabelle.

Handstand push ups with two abmats went really well, only the last 2 of round 4 I couldn't lock out.

Done in 25:45. Glad that's over.

Crossfit log for Thursday, May 30th

Ugh.

Overhead squats.

I worked really hard, got some solid work done, with an empty bar.

I really worked my form. I was solid if my heels were elevated on a 1" 10# plate, but even then it was challenging. Once I'd get one solid on the plates I'd try on the ground and I managed to get one or two but it was really hard.

I have come so far, it's difficult to convey, but I still have so far to go, sometimes it's disheartening.

Thankfully I have the experience of learning to swim for Ironman under my belt and I know that these things can take months and months, even years before I get to the end of it. It'll come.

Then we did heavy dead lifts 5 sets of 5 at 75% of max (so 285# x 0.75 = 213# did 215#).

It was heavy, and I think the hard work on the overhead squats was just too much, my upper glutes just below the pelvic ridge are very unhappy. I wasn't even able to do the WOD, I couldn't clean the 115# bar.

So I did mobility while Kiza worked out and nailed it.

Good work my love.

I think I'll take tomorrow off in anticipation of the Olympic Lifting Coaching course this weekend.

Coach James?

Okay. I had a feel good moment at the gym.

I guy I met at the gym has been curious about Crossfit, so I gave him one of the simpler standard WODs to do last week (Cindy. 20min AMRAP 5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 air squats). He did really well and wanted something more challenging to try.

I know it's not a good idea to coach Crossfit when you aren't certified, and at the Y no less, but I didn't want to curb his enthusiasm, so turns out this morning's workout seemed like a good fit.



21-15-9
Push Press 95#
Pull ups
Kettle bell swings 20kg

He'd never done kettle bell, so I gave him a rudimentary intro course, it was just swings and I only gave him 16kg, so it wasn't so bad. He's a strong guy so we put 95# on the bar and he went at it.

Now he would've gotten "no rep" for most of his pull ups, but man he was doing them strict! and not all the push press were locked out, but he wasn't driving the bar from his shoulders, and the kettle bell I only told him to be over eye level. But still he did it in 8:10!

I thought he might puke. But he was really happy with the workout.

So afterwards in the locker room, some random guy asks me:
-are you a personal trainer?
-me? no.
-ex military?
-ha! Noooo.
-cause they know their stuff.
-uh...
-I saw you giving that guy a class...
-oh, yeah, I do Crossfit, he was just curious, so I gave him a sample

He pretty much ask if he could ask me for pointers on technique. Felt pretty good.

Looking forward to my Olympic Lifting Coaching certification this weekend. This may be the start of something big.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, May 28th

Worked on behind the back split jerk, for a straighter bar path up and overhead.

I have a hard time locking out on the jerk and end up pressing the last bit, which doesn't work so well at heavier weights. 6 sets 4-4-3-3-2-2 maxing out at about 75% of C&J max.

115# was fine. 135# was rough, went back down to 125# and did okay and tried 135# again, one of the two was okay, but man. Rough.

WOD was a Fran-like affair:

21-15-9
Push Press 95#
Pull ups
Kettle bell swings 20kg

11:46

Managed to string together a couple of butterfly pull ups on the last round, impressed the coach.

Crossfit log for Monday, May 27th

Mixed bag today.

Same workout as last Monday but to set new 1 rep max.

Snatch: fought to get 125# overhead in split snatch and made it (barely). So new PR there.

Despite having done it last week, I couldn't for the life of me clean the 175# to even try and jerk it. I'll try again soon. Time to refocus on mobility. (and maybe a bit of running).

Then we did back squats at C&J max so I did 165# 3 sets of 5.


Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at http://www.exrx.net

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs)
Deadlift / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs)
Power Clean / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 105lbs May 6, 2013
Back Squat / 255lbs / 235lbs May 23, 2013 (up from 215lbs)

Adding other lift PRs:

Front Squat 200# Apr 18, 2013
Push Pres: 155# March 25, 2013
Clean: 175# May 23, 2013
Snatch: 125# May 27, 2013 (up from 115#)
Clean and Jerk: 160# Oct 2012

Crossfit log for Friday, May 24th

Following the pattern of the last few Fridays I went to the Y and did 3 sets of 5 push press and bench press (95#, 115#, 135# )

Last reps were hard, so I guess it was a good workout!

Crossfit log for Thursday, May 23rd

Crossfit is closed for the next 4 days as pretty much all the staff is competing in the Crossfit Games Canada East Regionals.

So I got to sleep in a bit and did the regular strength work for Thursdays: squats or dead lift, at the Y.

Opted for back squats, hadn't tried for a 1 rep max in a while and it seems to fit in the recent schedule.

Was a bit stiff warming up with the bar and with 95# and 135#, got interesting at 185#, but was feeling more limber. 205# for 2 reps the rest would be 1 rep at a time.

Put 215# and it went up surprisingly well. 225# same. Was starting to doubt my barbell math. Tried for 235#, loud grunting ensued but I got it up. Decided to stop there.

I took the empty bar to the change room, amid many strange looks, I had to weigh it to be sure. And sure enough, it was 44.1lbs (20kg). So realy 234.1# but still a PR by 20lbs

Decided to try to best my clean. I felt good, I was warmed up, why not? Warmed up with 85#, 115#, 135# with one clean and two hang cleans each. At 155# I put on my belt and go the chalk out. 155# went up well. Tried 165# and landed it no problem (technically a PR already) but I had to try 175# (I want to get that 185# so I needed a stepping stone).

Took my time with 175#, deep breath, tight everything, pull hard, shrug hard, drop under the bar as quick as quick can be, and bang! Had to fight to stand it up, but I got it! A 15lbs PR

A good day.


Progress update of revised weightlifing goals. Derived from intermediate level for my bodyweight at www.exrx.net

Back Squat and Clean PR!

Lift / % bodyweight / actual target weight (rounded) / current PR
Bench / 112% / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs)
Deadlift / 177% / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 77% / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs)
Power Clean / 109% / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 84% 140lbs / 105lbs May 6, 2013
Back Squat / 150% / 255lbs / 235lbs May 23, 2013 (up from 215lbs)

Adding other lift PRs:

Front Squat 200# Apr 18, 2013
Push Pres: 155# March 25, 2013
Clean: 175# May 23, 2013
Snatch: 115# May 20, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 160# Oct 2012

Crossfit log for Wednesday, May 22th

Team WOD Sweatfest.

3 rounds follow the leader style

30 kettle bell swings
22 power snatches 75#/55#
30 box jumps
30 push press 75#/55#
row 15 calories

Holy crap. Our team was two boys two girls, they chose me as the leader.

So no break for me. Subsequent members can't start until the person ahead finishes the station, so they often get a break if a station takes longer than the previous one.

After 8 snatches I switched to the girl's weight. After two rounds I was dead. I was doing box jumps on round three when coach call a 35 minute cap. I had time to finish my box jumps.

Brutal.


Pink eye turned into a more serious infection. Torbradex drops and Doxycycline

Crossfit log for Tuesday, May 21st

Fran. (21-15-9 thrusters and pull ups)

85#

Nearly a full minute slower than my PR, but way better than last time which was just under 10:00

Went 8:08 @ 85# Really glad I didn't try Rx.

I need to breath better on the thrusters. The first 21 left me in serious oxygen debt. If I hope to get through the 15s unbroken some day I'll need to improve that.

I also worked on butterfly kipping during warm up and started with them in the WOD. That threw me off the pull ups and I wasn't able to do all 21 unbroken, made it to 14.

We did close grip bench press at the beginning for 5 rep max, did 155#, tried 165# but only made 3.

Crossfit log for Monday, May 20th

Today we did only lifting, no WOD.

15 minutes to get to 90% of snatch max
15 minutes to get to clean and jerk 90% of max
3 sets of 2 front squats at 80%
3 sets of 3 dead lifts at 80%

For the snatch, I worked on overhead squat and mobility until less than a minute to go and split snatch 95# and 115# without problem

Worked up to 155# in the clean and jerk.

I think I did 175# for the front squats and 225# for the dead lifts.

Crossfit log for Friday, May 17th

I liked today's workout.

First part
5 rounds of
5 bench press @ 65% of max (115# for me)
5 strict pull ups
8 walking lunges with barbell on shoulders 55# for my group.

We changed the weight on the bench (two out of three of us were at 115# and one was 65#, so we added or removed 25# plates as needed) but kept the same for the lunges, so we chose a fairly light weight.

Part two was clean and push jerk (or split jerk, if you have trouble with the push jerk as I do).

3 rounds of
5 x EMOM 1 clean and jerk @ ~ 70%
1 minute rest to increase the weight

So 15 lifts total. Did first 5 at 115# (probably too light, but that was 70% of my max) next 5 at 135#, harder, should've started there (jumping 20# each round was a bit much), last 5 at 155# 5# shy of my max, which I had to fight to lock out last October, today I did 5 at 155# without struggle.

Feeling pretty good.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, May 15th

Team WOD Wednesday

Worked with Lissa, neither of us seemed to have any fire this morning.

2 rounds for time 20:00 cap teams of 2, share the work. Only 1 person works at a time.
50 Thrusters 75# / 65#
50 kettle bell swings 24kg 20kg
8 rope climbs/ 10 get ups
50 plate burpees
50 dumb bell cleans 30/25

We only made it through 1 round and 30 thrusters

Crossfit log for Tuesday, May 14th

Strange morning. Lesson in perspective.

Struggled with strength work. We were going for a new 1 rep max in the strict press.

Couldn't remember my current best, thought it was 135#. So warmed up with 75# and 95# for a few reps. Did 115# for 1, it was hard but manageable.

Partner was going up faster so I decided to go with 125# so I could skip 135# and go for 140#. At the last minute I decided to go 130# so it wouldn't be such a big jump for the next one. Couldn't get it past my chin. Crap. This shouldn't be this hard. Decided to drop to 125# then try 135# after, to at least match my previous best. Got it to my nose, but no further.

I was thinking that maybe my memory is faulty. Decide to give it one last go at 120# to save face. Struggled, but got it over head.

Turns out my memory was faulty, my previous best was 110#! (for 2 reps last month)!!! I got my PR during warm up and didn't even know it.

I was feeling rather bummed out because I still didn't know I got my PR, so wasn't feeling very motivated for the first WOD, which was "Grace" (30 clean and jerks for time). Scaled weight was 115# with an 8:00 cap.

Made it to 28 reps. Spent the time between WOD 1 and WOD 2 berating myself for not finding the drive to get 2 lousy reps.



So now I"m really bummed and WOD #2 is about to start
5 rounds for time 12:00 cap
5 pull ups
10 unbroken push press 75# (if you drop the bar you have to start over)
15 knees to elbows

Made 4 rounds
Everyone was worried about the push press, but they weren't an issue. It was the k2e that killed me. I had no drive, physically or emotionally.




When I got home and looked up my "Grace" times, today's effort was by far my best performance, (I'd done 27 reps in 10:00 @ 105#. Last year I did 7:57 but at 95#, so this was heavier than ever and close to a best time)

Oh well. Turns out, it was a good day! 2nd WOD would've been a different story if I'd known how well I'd done in the first two parts I think.



Progress update of revised weightlifting goals. Derived from intermediate level for my body weight at www.exrx.net

New strict press PR.

Lift / % bodyweight / actual target weight (rounded) / current PR
Bench / 112% / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs)
Dead lift / 177% / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 77% / 130lbs / 120lbs May 14, 2013 (up from 110lbs)
Power Clean / 109% / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 84% 140lbs / 105lbs May 6, 2013
Back Squat / 150% / 255lbs / 215lbsApr 11, 2013 (up from 205lbs)[/quote]

Inching my way closer.

Crossfit log for Monday, May 13th

Not so much fun today at the gym. Snatch work.

Although I am capable of doing an overhead squat, with my heels adequately elevated, that is still a far cry from doing a proper snatch. Came pretty close a couple of times, so definitely improved, but still a ways to go.

Workout was short and sweet 10 min cap

50 double unders
40 kettle bell swings 24kg
30 wall balls 20#
20 pistols (did 40 air squats)
10 burpees.

Double unders were very quick, done 50 in 40 seconds,
Blue scaled was only 25 but I made it to 35 unbroken so there was no point stopping there.
Kettle bell swings were too long, 24kg is heavy, I usually do 20kg but clearly this was meant to be heavy (Men's Rx was 32kg!).
Wall balls were okay, 20# is a lot more challenging than the 14# (which I could've used doing blue, but I wanted to do as much Rx as I could) but 30 isn't too many.
Air squats were tiring after the kb swings and wall balls, but pistols are a non-starter for me.
Burpees suck.

8:07

Crepe recipe

Posting because I can never find it:

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs
4 tablespoons  sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
 

Crossfit log for Friday, May 10th

Tuesday was put your shoulders through the meat grinder day, today was put your triceps through the meat grinder day.

Started with bench press, 70% of 1 rep max to failure, 4 sets. Did 135# for 8 reps (failed on 9th), 7 reps, 6 reps and 5 reps.

Next was snatch grip (so wide) behind the head press. 4 sets of 8, did just the bar, shoulders aren't used to that wide grip, yikes.

WOD was crazy, 20 AMRAP 3 min on 1 min off x 5
3 power cleans 105#
6 dips
9 air squats

Lost count, did either 12 or 13 rounds plus 3 cleans and one dip.

I may not be able to move my arms this weekend.

Crossfit log for Thursday, May 9th

So Kiza went this morning and gave me the low down.

12 minutes to determine you 2 rep max in the front squat. Then 5 sets decreasing number of reps (12-10-8-6-5) of back squats starting at 70% increasing weight each set and then Jackie.

So I brought my lifting shoes to the Y and did the strength work.

I built up 3 reps at a time starting at 95# up to 185#, the I did 195# for 2, tough by manageable. So I had a 1:15 left, decided to try 200# (my 1 rep max) and nailed it. Second one was tough, but I got it up.

Back squats I started at 150# and increased by 5# each set. 150#-155#-160#-165#-170#

I wasn't sure I'd do Jackie, since the Y isn't the ideal place for WODs. There's no real pull up bar that is high enough for me to fully extend in the bottom without bending my legs, which makes kipping virtually impossible. In the end I decided to try.

The row I went easy, 4:23 for 1000m
50 thrusters @ 45# I did in sets of 10, was done in 9:15. Pull ups were a disaster. Couldn't string more than 3 together, but I just hammered away finished in 13:35. Meh.. I'll take it.

I think I could've gone faster on the thrusters but I wasn't confident at the Y to just push myself that hard. Oh well. Done is done.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, May 8th

Quite the workout this morning.

3 rounds for score 0:40 work 0:20 transition.

-Paralette shoot-throughs (watch the craziness here) 1 rep = 1 point
-Roll squats (like this but one legged it you can. Rx was pistols)
-Farmer walk 32kg kettle bell 1 length = 2 points
-GHD sit ups (Demo) 1 rep = 1 point
-Row 1 calorie = 1 point
-Rope climb 1 ascent = 1 point
-bar dip hold 5 sec = 1 point (basically up on the dip bars locked out)

I was fairly consistent 45 points for round 1, 42 for round 2 and 43 for round 3 for a total of 130.

Nothing was particularly hard but it was tiring by round 3 for sure.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, May 7th

Put your shoulders through the meat grinder day.

1 rep max push jerk (like a push press but you get under the bar and lock out instead of pressing it up). 155# should be higher than my push press, but I have trouble getting under the bar. I'm better at the split jerk.

Then 4 sets of 1 clean + 3 push press at 85% of c&j 1 rep max so 135# for me. Not pretty. Should've changed into my lifting shoes, cleans were way harder to stay stable.

WOD was more shoulder torture:

12 min cap, 1 round:

4 pull ups
10 hand stand push ups
8 pull pus
8 hspu
12 pull ups
6 hspu
16 pull ups
4 hspu
20 pull ups
2 hspu

10:08

Had trouble with the 8 handstand push ups, but found my form again on the next round. the 20 pull ups was really hard. Shoulder are going to be sore for a while.

Crossfit log for Monday, May 6th

Okay, so despite the soreness in my upper glutes I reaffirmed my Power clean PR and even beat it by 2lbs with 157#

And since I hadn't recorded my 95# power snatch PR, I bettered it today at 105#. So as I work my posterior chain and continue to work on my mobility I think I have will see a few more PRs before long.

WOD sucked
8 minute cap 21-15-9
Power cleans 115#
burpees.

Made it only to the end of 15 power cleans. Ugh.

Progress update of revised weightlifing goals. Derived from intermediate level for my bodyweight at www.exrx.net

Lift / % bodyweight / actual target weight (rounded) / current PR
Bench / 112% / 190lbs / 185lbs Apr 30, 2013 (up from 165lbs)
Deadlift / 177% / 300lbs / 285lbs Apr 25, 2013 (up from 265lbs)
Press / 77% / 130lbs / 110lbs Apr 9, 2013 (up from 105lbs)
Power Clean / 109% / 185lbs / 157lbs May 6, 2013 (up from 155lbs)
Power snatch / 84% 140lbs / 105lbs May 6, 2013
Back Squat / 150% / 255lbs / 215lbsApr 11, 2013 (up from 205lbs)

Crossfit log for Friday, May 3rd

50 Burpees, paid in full.

Yesterday I did the strength work at the Y. Well part of it anyway. 5 rep max back squats. Did 5 at 195#, but at 205# I managed only 3 and the last one wasn't fun for my glutes. So decided against the 4 sets of 3 dead lifts at 80% of max (given my new max would have been 225#!!!)

Still a bit sore, but its different, before this same kind of sore would've been in my lower back and would have limited mobility. It seems that in my glutes, I can feel the discomfort in certain positions, but it isn't preventing me from moving, even bearing load.

So this morning I went expecting to go half-assed, but to do what I could. Turns out I had no problem with any of it. Granted it was mostly overhead stuff, but still.

Strength was 4 sets of 1 clean + 4 push press at 65%-70% did 105#

Then 4 sets of 8 strict press did 60#-65#-75#-75#

The WOD was 3 rounds for time
- Run 2 laps 320m
-21 push press 75#
-12 pull ups

Run was a snap
Push press sucked, nailed my chin at the 18th rep of round one. Sucked.
Pull ups were a snap.

13:03

Crossfit log for Wednesday, May 1st

Team WOD Wednesday.

Sucked.

Fight Gone Bad, follow the leader style. teams of 4
3 rounds for time
30 wall balls 14#
30 sumo dead lift high pull 75#
30 box jumps 24"
30 push press 75#
15 calories row

First person starts, second person waits until first person starts next station, and so on and so forth. WOD ends when last person finishes two full rounds, everyone else keeps going. No breaks for the leader, followers break if person ahead is slower. I got to be the leader. Ugh.

Made it to 26 sumo dead lift high pulls of round 3.

30:14