Crossfit log for Friday, November 29th

Linda. 

Again.  This is what I wrote on November 1st, last time we did Linda:

You know those days where you go to the gym and have a good tough workout and feel energized and ready to face the day.

Yeah well that didn't happen today.

Linda is a brutal, draining, work horse WOD

I was planning on starting my nutritional supplement program for today's workout but didn't get to it.

I wish I had, a pre-WOD supplement might have helped

Linda: 10 rounds (reps were: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) 
- dead lifts 1.5 times body weight
- bench press, body weight
- clean, 0.75 body weight

There was no 30 minute cap this time, get through it.

I scaled thing differently this time, but I still ended up stopping at 30 minutes. Making it to the end of round 6.

I went heavier on the dead lifts (205# instead of 185#), heavier on the bench, (145# instead of 135#), but lighter on the cleans, (125# instead of 135#)

Dead lifts were okay, but on the seventh round, my back was sore and I didn't want to do even 4 dead lifts.

Bench was a mistake, but one I'm glad I made.  On the fourth round, I couldn't make the last of 7 reps.  So I dropped the weight to 105# (just the way the barbell math worked for me and my partner, Peter), but I did 33 reps at 145#, so I'm happy with that.

Cleans were fine, but my back was getting sore from the dead lifts.

So all in all I feel I did better than last time.   Even though I'd like to complete this workout, I sincerely hope not to see it on the board any time soon.

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 28th

I was wondering why I was so sore, especially in my obliques and lats as I arrived at the box this morning.

We hadn't really worked those muscles this week.  Maybe the rope climbs, or the toes to bar, but not really.

Then it dawned on me: shovelling.    I guess it was a good workout after all.

We did some snatch work.  We had the choice of snatch pulls or snatch dead lift. Since we'd done quite a few pull workouts at Olympic lifting classes, I opted for the dead lifts.  3 sets of 3 at 185#, after working up to that weight naturally.

Then we did heavy back squats, max effort for 3 reps.  Worked up to 225# and as time was running out, decided to call that my max effort.  I've done 240# for two, so I should have at least tried 235# but 225# was hard.

The WOD was a good one.  For me anyway.

10 min AMRAP
-10 wall balls  20# medicine ball
-4 pull ups (add 1 pull up each round)

So, round one: 10 wall balls, 4 pull ups, round two: 10 wall balls 5 pull ups, etc...

I did all the wall balls unbroken, and all the pull ups until the last round (round 8 for 11 pull ups) I had to stop at 9 and jump back up for the last 2. I managed to get through the 10 wall balls with 2 seconds left on the clock, so not even enough time for a single pull up in round 9.

I honestly don't understand how Adam beat me.  I was a machine.  I think I took too much time between stations, and apparently Adam is like lightening when it comes to wall balls (although, given the laws of gravity I don't know how I could go any faster)!

Either way, I'm happy with my result.  I pushed really hard and did almost everything unbroken.

Did the math, 90 wall balls and 60 pull ups in 10 minutes.  Not bad.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 27th: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Today started with a warm up of shovel a path to the car, clear the car and shovel behind the car to get out of the drive way.

Showed up 5 minutes late, but Alex was still writing the workout on the board, so I didn't miss anything.

Very interesting workout.  I really liked it.

Partner WOD, 16 min AMRAP  (weights given for men/women)
1 x rope climb
2 x box jump 30"/24"
3 x dead lift 185#/125#
4 x toes to bar or knees to chest
5 x thrusters 75#/55#

Partner A goes through everything, then partner B does, repeat.

I ended up doing 85# for the thrusters, Rx was 95#, but more importantly, on a 35# women's bar, I could use 25# plates, which are okay to drop.

My partner was Lana.  She did really well. She wasn't used to doing toes to bar, but managed to get many of them and resorted to knees to chest when she had to.

This WOD was about thrusters.  One rope climb, no problem.  A couple of box jumps no sweat. Dead lifts weren't that heavy, and only 3 reps. Toes to bar, okay, tricky if you don't have the right technique, but only 4, completely manageable.

5 thrusters at 85# where where this got interesting.  The first few rounds
 were fine, but it got harder with each round.

We averaged about 1:30 per rounds  completing 10 full rounds, and Lana finishing the dead lifts of round 11 at the buzzer.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 25th

I don't know if its the extra mobility work I've been doing since my last physio appointment, or the salt water bath the Nordik Spa on Friday morning, but for the first time in I don't know how long I didn't feel sore and defeated going into this morning's workout.

5:30 am on a Monday isn't usually the time to feel energized and empowered, but that was me, today.

We started with 5 sets of :
2 split jerks, rest 1:30
5 front squats, rest 1:30

Weight was 70%-75% of max cleans and jerk. I opted for 135#, right in the middle of 70%(130#) and 75%(139#).  Felt good.  I failed to lock out a couple of jerks, but at that weight was able to press them out overhead.

Felt pretty good in the overhead position, so I guess the mobility work is helping.

Front squats at 135# were fine.

Next was 4 sets of 4 deficit dead lifts, standing on a 25# plate, I did two sets at 185#, but coach said I was rounding my back at the bottom.  I gave it one more try but right away he said no.  So I redid set 3 and did set 4 from the floor.

The workout was devious, looked tough but manageable on the board, but once I got started, holy crap!

8 min AMRAP, increasing reps each round (2, 4, 6, 8...)
- squat cleans  115#
- burpees

The plan was go hard on the burpees, take my time on the cleans.  Well, I didn't have a choice.  Getting up from the cleans got really difficult, really quickly.

Made it through the 2 first rounds and was only 2 minutes in,  this was going to be long!  The 6 cleans on round 3 really slowed me down, so the burpees went well. Made it through the 10 cleans of round 5 but only had time for 4 burpees.

Score 4 rounds + 14 reps

Crossfit log for Friday, November 22nd

Took yesterday off for physio and back at it big time today.

For strength we did 5 rounds of 5 strict press, rest 1 minute, 5 strict pull ups, rest 1 minute.

I did 95#, and it was a good weight.  The last rep was a bit of a fight to get up.  I did the pull ups just body weight and had no trouble doing all 5 sets of 5.

The WOD today was "DT"
5 rounds for time
12 dead lifts
9 hang power cleans
6 power jerks/push press

All using the same bar, so same weight.  Rx is 155lbs, only Adam and Botch did this weight.

I hummed and hawed, and thought Natasha was doing 105 (women's Rx), and my ego said I had to go heavier. I've done 95# and 105# in the past, but I don't think I've ever done 115#.  So that's what I chose. As it turns out Natasha did 85#so I could have gone lighter and still satisfied my ego, but I'm glad I didn't.

I was happy with my 16:06 performance, until I read my old blog posts complaining about going over 15 minutes.  Oh well.  I went hard.  I tried to make sure when I picked up the bar I was not putting it down until the before last rep.

I say before last, because with "DT", the strategy is this, if you have to drop, don't drop on the last rep of the dead lift or the clean, since you will have to dead lift it to start your first clean and you'll have to clean it to start your first jerk.  It makes more sense to drop on the 11th dead lift, take a break, the do the 12th dead lift as you start your cleans.  Same goes for the last clean before starting the jerks.

On the third round I finally committed to keeping my hook grip when catching the cleans, this made it much easier to get through them, but on round 4 my hands got sweaty and I lost the grip on the 7th rep, and I had to drop it.  So when I picked it back up, I made sure to do the last 3 cleans and immediately start the jerks.

I worked hard.  I'm happy with my 16:06.   It was the heaviest "DT" I've ever done.

Physio and mobility work: it does the body good.

After my frustrating experience with one armed overhead kettle bell squats, I made an appointment with my physiotherapist. I've done a ton of work over the past year to get my body in a state where I can perform most of the movements required by Crossfit, movements that every normal healthy body should be able to perform.

The good news is I have the necessary range of motion, but I lack the motor control to achieve that range of motion.  Which is especially good news because it's easier to fix than flexibility and mobility issues.

He gave me some more exercises, plus I found a great blog post by Eric Ressey with some more exercises of overhead work, and I've been using the foam roller to beat the crap out of my pecs, lats, traps and back.

On top of all this I'm still working my hamstrings, glutes and hips to try and get deeper in the squat, and Mitch suggested my quads may be tight.  Great.  There aren't enough hours in the day to roll and massage an stretch and mobilize and strengthen all the body parts I need to address!

At least it's progress, but more importantly, it's a plan, that will lead to more progress.

My year of mobility is running out.  I may have to extend it a bit.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 20th

It was somewhat more difficult to get out of bed this morning.

I tried a new "pre-workout" drink mix, Adam gave me to see if it would have any impact on my workout.  It's called "N.O. Xplode"

Didn't really notice any difference.

No strength work today.   But it was a Hero WOD called 'Jack'

20 minute AMRAP
-10 push press  95#
-10 kettle bell swings 20kg
-10 box jumps, 24" box

I paced myself well.  Averaged 2:30 per round

had one lousy box jump left when the time was up! Score was 7 rounds + 29 reps. 1 short of 8 rounds.

The first 2 rounds were around 2:00, so I got progressively slower, but I kept my breaks short.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 19th

Back to back workouts aren't a good idea.

That being said, I woke up this morning after Olympic lifting class yesterday evening feeling alert and refreshed a full 15 minutes before my alarm.

I even took my time getting ready, not the usual mad rush to get out the door, and arrived at the gym early. 

We started with a quick strength set of cleans from the hang position, at 70-75% of max which worked out to be 135# for me.

The next part was more difficult and longer.  A 14 minute EMOM

-Odd minutes, strict ring dips, 5 reps.  Rest the remaining time.
-even minutes, power clean from the floor, 5 reps, touch and go. 
You could add weight as the workout progressed. I chose not to.  Stuck with my trusty 135#

The WOD was a gut wrencher.
10 minute cap
5 rounds
Wallballs  40-30-20-10
burpees over plate 5-10-15-20

Only made 3 rounds plus 2 wall balls.  Round 3 really sucked.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 18th

Olympic lifting class is a crowded, fast paced, hard work affair.

As soon as the clock hits 6:30, it's go, go, go.

Started with 3 sets of 4 drop snatch, with empty bar.  Essentially to place the bar across you back/traps with a wide snatch grip, extend fully to the balls of your feet and extended torso then dropping under the bar to catch it with arms locked in an over head squat or lunch if, like me, you cannot overhead squat.

We moved to snatch balance + squat/lunge, for 3 reps, progressing in weight for 3 sets.  Did 65#, 95# and 105#.

The real worked was next, with front squat from the rack plus a split jerk working up to 80% of max then doing 5 sets of 1 front squat, 2 jerks, 1 front squat.

Worked up quickly, since we were well warmed up, but maybe too quickly. First 2 sets were at 155#, but I was having trouble locking it out. Moved down to 145# and it was much better.

The final part was power snatch, from the hang, with straps, to work out power through the middle.  5 sets of 6 reps at 60-65% of max.  After 4 sets I was done.  Should have stayed at 60% instead of pushing 65%.  Oh well, done is done.

Tomorrow is gonna suck.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 15th

Really didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

I have to remember that I'll feel much better once I'm at the gym.  I forced myself  up and out.  It was cold and dark but I had work to do.

The strength portion was another multi-part affairs with 60 seconds rest between stations 3 times through:
- close grip bench press  8 reps  (95#, 115#, 135#)
- strict pull ups (chest to bar to failure, or regular min 5 reps)
- paralet shoot throughs (don't ask)  5 reps
- feet elevated ring rows 8 reps

Wasn't what I'd call fun but I did it. The last set of bench press at 135# was rough.

The WOD was a crazy Fran variation:
500m row (cash in)
21 thrusters 95#
4 rope climbs
15 thrusters 95#
3 rope climbs
9 thrusters 95#
2 rope climbs

Scaled was 75# and 1 fewer rope climbs each round.  I'm a strong rope climber, and I've committed to doing Fran at Rx next time, so I couldn't scale it, I had to go for it.

It was really hard, and too me forever, but I'm glad I did it.  Thruster off the rower suck. There's no two ways about it.  There was just no recover.  Every thruster was a fight, every rope climb a challenge.

Time 17:55

Glad I got out of bed.

Spontaneous tears

Yesterday morning I stood in my kitchen and sobbed.

I have no idea why.

Kiza told me that I should help Delilah with her oral presentation since I was better at organizing her talking point sequences.  Then I lost it.

I suspect a number of occurrences coincided to bring about this unexpected outburst.

First and likely most significantly was the passing of Kiza's grandmother Dorothy.  A proud world war two veteran, who drove senior brass of the RCAF during the war (domestically). She was a vocal defender of her political views (ranging from veterans rights to gay rights) and was well known (if not always well liked) by a good number of politicians at all levels, journalists and citizens of Thunder Bay.  She led a good, full and long life.  She directly impacted the lives of countless others, mostly, but not only, by means of instructing young drivers for many years.  Despite some dark times, hers was a life many would be envious of.  She will be missed by so many.  I wish I'd known her in you younger days.  She was a interesting gal.

Remembrance day this year was all the more poignant because of her recent passing.

Second was the difficult workout on Tuesday morning which exposed my still very limited mobility in my over head squat, despite well over a year of addressing the contributing issues, it makes me feel like I've been wasting my time.  So much effort and seemingly nothing to show for it.

Lastly, I ate crap all weekend.  Since Kiza was away with Delilah at Grandma's funeral in Thunder Bay, Dexter and I led a somewhat bachelor-like lifestyle for 4 days.  McDonald's for one meal. A treat of a small container of ice cream from the grocery store which I had more than my share.  An unnecessary helping of macaroni and cheese. And finally at the movies with Caleb and Genie on Monday afternoon, I consumed an entire 300g bag of M&M almonds.

If my paleo diet has taught me anything, it's that these kinds of food play havoc with my emotional state.

Another factor that just dawned on my is the time Kiza has spent away from home in the past six weeks.  Between the funeral this past weekend and three trips out of town for work, I've spend more nights alone in my bed than with her.  More nights than ever before in my adult life.

Being an intravert, I depend a great deal on Kiza for my social interactions.  I don't remember the last time I've felt so lonely, even with the kids around.

It kinda felt good to just cry.  Such a release of raw emotion that we rarely experience as adults.

Well I'm glad that's out of my system.  Kiza is back, I'm back to eating right and I've already booked an appointment with my physio to look at next steps for dealing with my mobility limitations.

Upwards and onwards.  That sounds like something Dorothy would've said.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 13th

WOD Wednesday

Crossfit Open workout 12.3

18 minute AMRAP
- 15 box jumps  24"
- 12 push press 95#  (Rx=115#)
- 9 Toes to bar

I'm not feeling very strong these days.  I have no umph.  Especially after yesterday's display of limited mobility, despite over a year of focusing on improving mobility.

I drudged my way through the workout.  On round 2, I wrecked on a box jump and took a chunk out of my right shin.  Would have been much worse if not for my bacon knee socks.

Took me a good while to recover.  

Ended up only doing 4 complete rounds plus 27 (box jumps and push press), buzzer went as I jump on the bar for toes to bar.

It'll do.

Crossfit log for Tuesday November 12th

What a horrible day.

Friday massage, Saturday hot bath, Sunday and Monday rest, all add up to incredible potential.

Untapped potential, wasted potential, unused potential.

Started with overhead squats.  What a joke. I've been trying to get an OHS for years and I hadn't tried in while, so with all this recover and fresh muscles today was the day.

Not even close.   3 sets of 3 became 3 failed attempts with an empty bar and calling it quits

Then we had 4 sets front squat + push press for load on 1 min rest followed by one armed kettle bell overhead squats.

Didn't matter what the weight was I couldn't squat while keeping the weight overhead,  my arm would invariable be forced forward.  I walked away after the second set.

As I put my equipment away, while everyone else was happily (more or less) squatting and push pressing, tears welled in my eyes.

I wanted to leave, but I decided to do the workout anyway.

5 rounds of 185# dead lifts 5 reps and bar dips 10 reps. 10 minute cap.  Finished in 9:51.  I was reduced to singles and doubles on the bar dips on the last two rounds. 

At least I finished before the time cap.

I've been adding my old log entries to this blog for a while now, slowly working backwards through time. I had set a goal of getting an OHS by year's end back in 2011 and again last year. 2013 is coming to an end and I suck just as bad as I did 2 years ago.

I was looking forward to putting my year of mobility behind me and starting my year of strength.  But I can't see that happening.  I've booked an appointment with Rob Crispo to see if there is anything I can do. 

I know it's a long journey, and I can't get discouraged.  I've come a long way, but it seems like I still have such a long way to go.

Keep moving forward. That's all I can do. Just do the work. One day, it'll all come together.  Or so I have to keep telling myself.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 8th

I should have stayed in bed.

Part one:  4 rounds to establish max weight for
- one length of gym farmer carry, 1 minute rest
- weighted dips 5 reps. 1 minute rest

Part two:  4 rounds to establish max weight for:
- one length of gym (12 steps) front rack axle walking lunges, 1 minute rest
- weighted pull ups, 2 reps.  1 minute rest

WOD:
7 minute amrap 
# reps = # rounds  (round 1, 1 rep, round 2, 2 reps, etc...)
-handstand push ups
-clean and jerk 135#

The farmer carry bars are 25# each. To keep the things balanced you have to put 4 plates of equal weight on.  front and back left, front and back right. On my first round had 35# plates, so 95# each side. Marageable.

Round 2 they added four 25# places. Yeah that's an extra 100#, that's 90#, not happening.  So for round 2, I peeled of the 25# and added 10# plates. 230#, much more manageable. 

On the last one I added four 5# plates to make it 250# total, 125# each side.

First set of dips was with a 12kg kettle bell chained to my waist.  Not too bad.
Jumped to 20kg and did all 5, last one was rough, but I got it. Tried for 24kg on the last set, but could barely get one rep.  Called it quits,  time was running out.

It went downhill from there.

Lunches with the axle at 80# in the front rack position were horrible and with a 12kg kettle bell I could only muster 2 pull ups, so I didn't try further, we had to get ready for the WOD.

Which sucked.  Hand stand push ups were okay, the first rounds were very low rep, but I had trouble cleaning the 135# bar.  Jerking it was worse, couldn't brace my upper back. It was just horrible, I think I finished 4 rounds, or maybe during the 4 clean and jerks, I bailed with about a minute to go.

I just felt weak.   Maybe I really need this massage I'm getting today.  Or maybe I'm coming down with something.  Or maybe I just need a good night's sleep!

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 7th

I'm really looking forward to my massage tomorrow.

Today was back squats 5 sets of 6 at no less than 65% of max, did 195# (79%)

Rep 5 and 6 were rough each time.

After that we did 8 Romanian dead lifts super set with 6 toes-through-rings, strict (aka no kipping) for 4 sets.

I did my first set at 135# and it was tough.  Second at 185# and that really sucked, so I went back down to 135# and had more control and was able to brace my back more effectively.

I'm just so sore.  Massage will hopefully help, followed by 2 days off.

The WOD was a short devistating affair of

21-15-9  kettle bell swings 24kg  and burpees.  Suck-fest.

DFL.  7:36

After 21 burpees my nose was dripping as the mild congestion I've been having over the last few days was being jarred out my nose with each rep.  So I took a kleenex break after round 1, after that it wasn't so bad, just tried to keep a steady rhythm.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 5th

Morning Crossfit after evening Olympic lifting isn't so enjoyable.

I guess it wasn't that bad, but right now I'm feeling it.

Thankfully strength was arms.  Worked to find 10 rep max push press. Had to be touch and go, no pausing on the shoulders, although you could pause overhead.

Oddly enough Luke was my partner again this morning.

Did empty bar, 65#, 75#, 95# and finally 115#.  Tried 135# but only made 3 reps before calling it quits.

Then we did something I had been wanting to try for a long time: max reps of pull ups.  I was really nervous.  I'm pretty good a kipping pull ups, so I was expecting to do well.  Others started going, some are just new at it, some tried the butterfly pull ups which is faster and more efficient but difficult to master.

Marc-Andre, one of the young studs did 30, butterfly.  Most of the others were in the 8 to 12 range.  I was one of the last to go.  I managed 33.  I nailed my chin on the before last one, if not for that I'm sure I could've done 3 or 4 more.

It's a good number.  I have a target to beat now.

The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP of:
- 5 dead lifts 185#
- 8 push ups
- 11 box jumps  24" box.

I managed 5 full rounds + 15 reps.  Dead lifts slowed me down the most.  Feeling the box jumps in my legs after last night's workout.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 4th

Olympic lifting class again this week.

That was a lot of work.  Worked with Luke, strong guy, stronger than me, but rather new, so his max snatch is only 5# more than mine.

Started with "tall snatch", essentially a snatch from the high hang position, very little dip and drive, very fast. 5 sets of 4, starting the empty bar for two sets then one set at 40%, one at 50% and one at 60% of max snatch. (did 65#, 75# and 85#).  This part went well.

Then we moved to snatching from the floor: 1 power, 2 full.  One set at 70% of max (95#) and 1 at 80% (105#) followed by 3 sets of one full snatch at 90%  (went with 125#). 

The last ones were a bit wobbly, but landed them. All that was within the first 25 minutes.

Then we worked on power,  with straps. 

The bar was set at 80% (we decided to go with 115# instead of 105#).
Start with a slow pull to the high hang, then 2 explosive extensions, then slowly back down to start position, without touching the floor and slowly back up, again 2 extensions and slowly back down pausing an inch from the floor and then release. 

That whole set three times.


After that was the exhausting bouncing exercise.  Bar set at 60% (I think we did 85# or maybe 75#), snatch grip with straps, 10 bouncing extensions, so no pause between extensions, full shrug, full jump, land and bounce again.  3 sets.

And finally  4 sets of 2 heavy back squats.  Warmed up with 135#, 185# then did 3 sets at 225# and 1 @ 235#.  Luke go up to 265# without problem.

Wiped.  Tomorrow morning should be fun.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 1st

You know those days where you go to the gym and have a good tough workout and feel energized and ready to face the day.

Yeah well that didn't happen today.

After a night of very little sleep yesterday and a rough day at work I was torn this morning whether to ignore my alarm or go to the gym.  I know that I never regret going to the gym and once it's done I'll feel more awake and ready to face the day.

So I went.

Ugh. What a workout 

Linda: 10 rounds (reps were: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1)  30 minute cap
- dead lifts 1.5 times bodyweight
- bench press, bodyweight
- clean, 0.75 bodyweight.

Scaled version adjust weight as needed.   I needed

I ended up doing bodyweight dead lifts, and 3 quarters bodyweight for both bench and cleans.

I could have gone lighter on the  cleans.  I started on cleans and was about to start bench on round six (5 reps).

It was horrible. I just want to go back to bed at the end.  So much for feeling energized.