Crossfit log for Wednesday, December 31st

First day back since the 12 days of Christmas WOD.

Not exactly how I would have like to finish off the year but it was better than nothing.

Started with back squats, 10 rep max.

I figured 80% of max was a good target, so 245#.

As I worked up, it didn't look so good, at 185# and 225# if felt heavy.  I only did 5 or 6 reps at those weights, so I was a bit nervous going into my be working set.

I put on my belt and that made a big difference, but I took it slow and at the fifth rep it was getting heavy.

Kyle even came over to spot my, I'm guessing he didn't expect rep 6 to make it up.

I took an extra breath before going for number 6 and it was much better than the fifth. Then 7 and 8 went up. Kyle started pouring on the verbal encouragement, expecting my to crash any minute, then nine went up and he's yelling: Come on! One more!  This was the slowest rep, almost stalled on the way up, but I got it.  To the surprise and cheers of the Kyle and coach Alex. 

Chose a good weight.

That was the end of my fun. 

Next was 10 rep max bench.  Upper body isn't thriving like lower, not sure why.  Strict press is stalled.  Bench is stalled.  I did 185# for 10 reps not long ago, today I couldn't get 5.  I'll have to change things up soon. Maybe I'll talk to Rob about it at my next physio appointment.

I was hopeful for the WOD but those hopes were crushed during the warm up.

21- 15 - 9 of
- Overhead squats  105#
- Push press 105#

Decided right away to scale to 95#.  Yeah. Funny.  Struggled at 75# in warm up which was women's Rx.  Decided to do that.

Even that was too much.  I made it through the first round in almost 5 minutes, but I couldn't get an OHS on round two to save my life.  Switched to front squats and slogged my way to ta 11:24 finish.  Ugh.

Oh well.  Muscles will adapt.

Strength and mobility log for Tuesday, December 30th

You know you are out of your routine when you fail to log your first workout in nearly a week!

When to the Y yesterday to try out my new gymnastics rings that I got for Christmas and go through my mobility work.

Between travel and feeling sick and more travel, I did basically nothing from Christmas Eve to the 30th, yesterday.

So I took it easy and worked through my physio drill and stretches.  I did some handstand holds, but I'm not sure how good they are.  I guess my next physio check up will tell the tale.

Then I got my rings out.  I tried to remember the drills from the muscle up tutorial but I couldn't.  So I did some dips.  Not a ton, 3 sets of 5. Mostly for fun and for show.

I like them.  I reviewed the tutorial so I have some ideas for today.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, December 23rd

One year ago today, I did Fran at Rx for the first time.

I wish that we did that again today. 

Come tomorrow they said, the WOD is a fun one they said.

Fun to watch us suffer perhaps.

Today's WOD was the 12 days of Christmas. 12 rounds for time:
1 burpee
2 handstand push ups
3 dead lifts (225#)
4 box jumps
5 thrusters  (75#)
6 kettle bell swings (24kg)
7 push ups
8 pull ups
9 clean and jerk (75#)
10 walking lunges
11 wall balls
12 power snatch (75#)

Round 1, do 1 burpee.  Round 2 do 2 hspu + 1 burpee. Round 3 do 3 dead lifts + 2 hspu + 1 burpee and so on...

Bar was supposed to be 95# and kettle bell 30kg, but just looking at the snatches and no time limit, 75# was the only it was going to happen.

And even then it took my 45:22!  After round 9 it got really hard.

Kamil did it Rx and took 54 minutes and change.

That was a lot of work.

Strength log for Monday, December 22nd

I should have known better.

Going for a PR back squat would require fresh legs, and that, I didn't have.

Oh well, it was a good effort and it was close.  Next time for sure.

I'll need to figure out my workout schedule for the next two weeks with holidays and travel to contend with.

After failing at 305# I peeled of to 225# for 4, just to reestablish the motor pattern.

Then I did my physio homework for my shoulders.  Didn't do the pistol work.

Crossfit log for Monday, December 22nd

Getting out of be on Monday's is challenging. 

As always, I'm glad I went. 

We did snatch from the high hang for 5 reps max.  I did 95# after a warm up at 75#. I might have been able to pull of a 115#, but I didn't want to put myself through 5 reps again. It's exhausting.

Then we did 3 sets of 8 back squats.  Decided to do 70% of max, so 205#.

That went well, the last rep on the last set was hard.

The WOD was rough. For time

1000m row
40 toes to bar
50 shoulder to overhead  115#  (scaled to 95# and glad I did)

Started to row fast, but as I watched the first wave struggle with the toes to bar I slowed my pace.  Finished in 4 minutes and a few seconds.

T2B went well for the first 20, sets of 5. Then it became a slugfest.

Same with STO.  3 sets of 10, then 3 sets of 5, then 3 then 2.  Ugh.  Shoulders are shot.

Finished in 17:27

Mobility log for Friday, December 19th

After this morning's squats and dips, there was really nothing I was willing to face today, so I focused on mobility.

Did my shoulder work, a couple of handstands (should've done more, but meh).

Mashed my achilles and calves, then put 90# on the calf raise seat and let my ankles sink and stretch.

Then I did my rounded back squats, nice with freshly stretched calves and achilles.

Did lazy push ups with 90# on mah butt.

So having worked just about everything needed for overhead squats, I decide to try a few and see what I could muster.

Turns out, not much.  Too fatigued and perhaps a bit sick, sinuses are still bugging me, it's been nearly a week!

The ones I did were pretty good though,  I should probably warm up with some snatch work next time.

Crossfit log for Friday, December 19th

Almost didn't go.  Sinus is still bugging me a bit, tired and frustrated with no workouts yesterday, and Wednesday's fail at the strict press.

I figured that, as usual, I wouldn't regret going; I never do.

So I sprang out of bed nearly 10 minutes later than usual and rushed through my morning routine.

Naturally I'm glad I went.

We started with 3 rep max Front squat.  Note that doesn't necessarily mean PR, just the most you can do that day.

I wanted to hit 245# for 3 since I'm trying to break my 255# 1 rep max next week.  Glad I tried.  I fought a bit, but I got it without issue.

The WOD was Amanda, but I can't do muscle ups or 135# squat snatch, that being my current 1 rep max.

So the first scaled option was same rep scheme, 9-7-5 of:
- chest to bar pull ups
- ring dips
- snatch 95#

There were other scaling options, but that's what I went with.

CTB were okay, a bit slow since I couldn't string them together.

Dips were really quick, even strict.

Snatches were hard.  Harder than expected.  But I did it.  12:10 final time. 

Took 3 tries to get the last rep, I was hurrying to try and beat Pat, which I did in the end, but would've beaten him by more than 2 seconds if I'd taken my time for the last rep instead of hurrying. 

Strength log for Wednesday, December 17th

Should have taken a rest day.

Did mobility then hit the strict press.  Figured I'd so 135# for 3 or something.

Couldn't even get 1 at 135#.

Maybe all those thrusters this morning, or I'm exhausted.  I figured with yesterday's squat workout I was on the mend.  Maybe not.

Meh.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, December 17th

Thought I was more recovered.  That shouldn't have sucked that bad.

Oh well, done is done.

Started with back squats  3 sets of 10, 8, 6 increasing weight as necessary to make it challenging but not to failure.

Plan was to do 10 @ 205#, 8 @ 215, and 6 at 225#.   I was working with Kevin and his plan was to do the last set at 225#.  I assumed the rest of his plan was the same as mine.

When he did 185#, I assumed it was a warm up set, but apparently not.  I did 8 reps.  At 205# I guess he did 8 reps, I wasn't counting, I did my 10.  Then he went up to 225#,  so I figured the 205# went so well he was upping his game. I did my 8, and as I was going to add more weight, coach said there was no time for another set, time to start the dead lifts.  So I was like, okay, fine.  I'll count the 185# for 8 as a working set.  So I did 8, 10, 8 at 185#, 205#, 225#.  Not bad after heavy squat day.

Dead lifts was the same deal, 10, 8, 6

Started at 225#, same as Kevin.  He went to 255#, but I decided at the last second to go 275# for 8.  He kept the 275# for his last set.  I was going to stay there too, but seeing the strong guys going really heavy, I decided to go 305# for the last set.  A bit ambitious.  After 4 reps I was perfectly happy to call it quits.

The WOD would be no fun.
5 rounds for time of
- Thrusters @ 95# (scaled to 75#) 25-20-15-20-5
- double unders  50-40-30-20-10  (scaled to half)

After the first round I was already shaking. I was going to do all the double unders, but I couldn't find a rhythm the first round and took forever to get to 25 that I just decided to scale since I wasn't doing Rx anyway with the thrusters.

Still wasn't fun.  Finished in 14:24

Strength log for Tuesday, December 16th

Really wasn't sure how things would go today.

Last back squat workout wasn't a huge success. Plus being somewhat in recovery mode, I wasn't sure I'd be able to hit my target.

So I just built up slowly, and worked with what I had.

I was thinking of doing a double at 285# between 96 and 97% of max.

But when I hit 275# the double was really hard, so I changed the plan to 3 heavy singles at 285# and thankfully that went really well.

So I think I'm ready to hit 305# next week.  That's the plan anyway.

I did my physio homework but forgot the handstand holds.  Figure I did enough handstands this morning!

Crossfit log for Tuesday, December 16th

Wasn't quite ready to go back to class but after running into Lana on the bus yesterday evening and chatting about it, I decided, why not. I don't have to go all out, just do some work.

Started with a DT complex for max weight unbroken.(cannot let go of the bar).
-12 dead lifts
-9 hang power cleans
-6 shoulder to over head

Coach suggested building up using 9-6-3 until it started to get heavy. So I did one warm up set at 75#, 12-9-6 and that seemed okay. Then I did 95# for 9-6-3 which was much harder.

So I figured add the 15s for 125# and give it a go.  Yeah. No.  Died on the power cleans. 

95# might have been doable, I've done way heavier for DT, but not unbroken, but I wasn't interested in trying.  Grip strength was gone and we still had the WOD.  At least I did the first warm up set and got a number on the board.

WOD was simple enough:
5 rounds for time, 6-9-12-9-6 of
- handstand push ups
- pull ups
- box jumps 24" box
- dead lifts 155# (scaled to 135#)

First round went well.  Used one abmat for the hspu. 6 of anything is doable. Round 2 got really hard, struggled with the last 4 hspu.  Had to run to the bathroom to blow my nose.  Nothing clears your sinuses like a hspu/box jump combo.  Grabbed an extra abmat for the rest of the workout.

Hspu were the limiter for sure.  Finished in 15:57.

Was way harder than it should've been. Still recovering I guess.

Mobility log for Monday, December 15th

Still in recovery mode from Saturday.

Couldn't not go to the Y, so I worked through my mobility drills.

Stretched out my shoulders and back.  Did some handstand holds; getting pretty good.

Then I did some feet-together-rounded-back-squats and stretched my achilles and calves.

After that the steam room did wonders for my sinuses that have been bugging my since Saturday during the night.

Feeling pretty good now.  Not 100%, but pretty good.

Physics Crossfit "Lab Partners" Competition. A victory, but not a win.

I'm not a winner, never have been.  Or perhaps I simply have a different definition of victory than most.

I'm sure psychoanalysts could pick apart the experiences of my youth that lead me to this attitude, but I've always valued performance over victory.

Despite finishing second at yesterday's Physics Crossfit "Lab Partners" competition in the men's scaled division, it was a definitive victory.

I may be a little self-conscious about my age, but I was the oldest competitor in my division by 10 years, and one team was literally half my age (Dave and Maks, 34 and 29 and Will and Joe are 19 and 20. Kamil, my partner is 28). So to be able to hold my own in that company was extremely validating.

We started with ladder, working up every minute, squat clean thrusters in 10# increments until maxing out then switching to clean and jerk, score is total of both lifts for both team members.

I hadn't tested my clean and jerk in a while, my best stood at 175# (from a year ago last July), when I got to that bar I was still doing thrusters and feeling good about them, so I tried the thruster and I managed it without too much struggle. My previous max thruster was 155# so I figured this was a good time to switch to clean and jerk.

Not sure if this was my last thruster at 175lbs or
my first clean and jerk at 185lbs

In the past, and on separate occasions, I had cleaned 195# and jerked 185# (from the rack), and had just hit a very heavy thruster, so I felt pretty confident moving to the clean and jerk. I nailed 185# easily,  195# too.  Got to the 205# bar.  The elusive 200# club, I somehow managed to clean it, wasn't the prettiest clean ever, but I stood it up. Just focused on getting under the bar and locking it out. Bam! 205# clean and jerk PR.  I tried to clean the 215# bar, but I had hit my limit (for now).  Our total score was 780#, good for second place, just behind Dave and Maks and 10# ahead of Will and Joe.  I was on cloud nine after this performance.

205lbs clean, ready to jerk.

The second event was a sprint. 10 minute AMRAP of 12 calorie row, 7 burpee box jumps and 7 hang power snatch. partners alternate rounds.  This was ridiculously hard. There was just not enough time to catch your breath during your partner's turn.  The row took so much out of you.  I did well on the burpees, and Kamil killed the snatches, we finished 1 reps shy of 6 rounds, 1 reps behind Dave and Maks. Will and Joe killed this workout, finishing first, putting us in 3rd (by one lousy rep!)

Rowing for calories is never fun.

With 3 minutes and 40 some seconds left,
the hang power snatches were getting really rough

The third event was a 15 minute AMRAP of a long chipper.  Share the work however you want.  100 wallballs 14# ball, 30 toes to rings, 75 double unders,  75 dumbbell snatches 50# alternating arms, while your partner holds a plank, and 30 power cleans at 135#.  If you finish, start over.  Kamil and I crushed this workout. Mostly thanks to Kamil's fabulous double unders. We were the only team in our division to make it back to the wallballs and manged to get 34. I did really well on the snatches, switching hands on the way down to touch and go the next rep worked really well.

Toes to rings, probably the
easiest part of my day.

Dumbbell snatches, somewhere out of frame,
Kamil is holding a plank.

So the standings after the 3 workouts was Dave and Maks in first with 5 points, Kamil and I in second with 6 points and Will and Joe in third with 7, the closest race out of all the divisions.

The final was brutal.  With the top three teams advancing and the double point value for this event it was a winner take all. It was another chipper, but for time, first one done wins.  Started with 25 shoulder to overhead with 125# bar, 30 front squats with the same bar, 3 rope climbs, 2x 75' walking lunges with 45# plate overhead, once for each partner, 3 rope climbs, 30 front squats and 25 shoulder to overhead.

Shoulder to overhead at 125lbs, while we were fresh.

Hurting like nobody's business, but wasn't
going to let Maks overtake me.

Suffering through the last of the front squats

I hit my limit during this workout.  Everything was going well until my turn at the lunges.  My left spinal erector started to spasm halfway through, but Maks was right behind me. We were in first! I couldn't stop. As Kamil climbed the rope I dug my thumb into my back and stretched it.  I was able to climb the rope, but I was worried about the front squats.  I fumbled with my belt, because I knew there would be no squats without it, and this allowed Dave and Maks to catch up. And the squats were brutal, I could only muster a couple. Kamil tried to take up the slack, while slowly my back seemed to get a bit better. But it was too little too late. We slogged through the shoulder to overhead to a second place finish and cheered on Will and Joe who were also at the end of their rope.

Podium finish!

I'm not nearly has wiped as Brockville, which I think was because that was outside in the sun. I was alseep by 8:30 last night to be sure, but this morning I feel pretty good considering all the work I put out yesterday.

This was possibly the biggest victory of my life.  So far.

Personal cheering squad.

Progress update:

Clean, Jerk and Clean and Jerk PR

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 195lbs Nov 25, 2014 (up from 185lbs)
Power snatch:  140lbs Dec, 5, 2014 (up from 125lbs)
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 205# (up from 191#) Dec 13, 2014
Jerk: 205# (up from 185#) Dec 13, 2014
Snatch: 135# (up from 130#) Nov 21, 2014
Clean and Jerk: 205# (up from 175#) Dec 13, 2014

Strength log for Friday, December 12th

Physio homework day.

Did my shoulder lat stretch and some bretzels.  Then I did some pretty good handstand holds. 

Then I moved on to presses.  I wanted to hit 145# for 2 in anticipation of going for 150# next week or the week after.

First attempt at 145#, couldn't get it.  Not happy.

Walked away.   Took a few minutes and came back.  Fought it hard.  Leaning way too far back to recruit some other muscles and finally got it, but there would be no double.

Glad I could hit my current PR, but wow, that shouldn't still be that hard. 

Oh well.  Just keep laying bricks.

Mobility log for Thursday, December 11th

That was better.

No strength work.  Just stretch, squat, hand stand.

Stretch was good, re-tested with wall slides:

Not much improvement yet.  But these things take time.

Hand stands went really well. Found my centre quickly. Can't tell if my position is good.  Every time I tried to push my head and torso through my shoulders I'd fall.  This may take time too.

Squat in my good lifters still isn't to the point where I can relax in the bottom, but at least I can get to the bottom without falling backwards.

So I'll take it.

Mobility log for Wednesday, December 10th

Shouldn't have gone, but I wanted to put the new homework into practice while it was still fresh, and really, I don't feel right when I miss going to the gym.

But I wasn't fully recovered from whatever is invading my lungs and the needle work on my pecs was still tender.

So I did the homework, tried some hand stands.  Wasn't impressive.

Then I decided to to bench.  Mistake.  Only made it to a single at 205#.   Meh.

Left feeling worse then when I arrived.

Need to let the process happen.  Lesson learned.

Physio log for Wednesday, December 10th

My hips seem to be in a good place.  Was able to do all the tests and score a perfect 4 on both sides.

Brought up shoulder mobility and continued with work on pistols. 

Looks like my s-c joint is really tight on the left side. Pecs are tight on both sides.  He suggested getting a (very painful) massage in my arm pits to loosen up the soft tissue there.  Just pressing his thumb in there to do the dry needling on my pec was agony.  It shouldn't be.

He gave me stretch where I'm sitting sideways on the floor with my knees bent at 90° like a running pose. So the floor side knee foward, bent 90° at the hip and 90° at the knee, the upper leg straight down at the hip and 90° at the knee.  Kinda like this:

Except not twisted, facing the floor like this, facing forward and resting on only one arm, keeping it in line with my hips.  I let my body sag into the shoulder, shrugging as deep as I can, curving my spine to get a good stretch in the lat. Then the fun starts. The other arm reaches forward (instead of on the ground as above) and I twist my torso rotating on the shoulder socket and all measure of discomfort ensues.

Also worked on handstand hold.  What I didn't get was that they want me to do a free standing handstand, not a wall leaning handstand. Using the wall only as a buffer or a guide but not relying on it to hold.  This will take some work, but I'm eager.

Also worked on the rounded back, feet together squat.  I can do it nicely barefoot with heels on a 2x4, even in my 1" lifting shoes.  I'll need to practice in my Asics lifter with only 3/4"  heels. Then less of a heel.  I need to do this daily.

I really like having a path forward.

Strength log for Tuesday, December 9th

Back squats.  Goal was 3 triples at 90% or 265#, so naturally I had to push it and tried 275#.

Didn't workout so well.  First set, second rep was a fight, third rep I had to bail.

That wasn't part of the plan.

Regrouped, peeled back to 265#, the original target and things went way better. 

Started over, so I got my 3 triples plus a double to start at 93%.  I'll take it.

I'm going to blame it on recovering from whatever bug I've had.

Crossfit log for Monday, December 8th

Bailed after strength work.

Either the flu shot is having side effects, or whatever I had Friday/Saturday is lingering or I'm starting something else, but after each lift I felt weaker and weaker.

That hollow feeling you get in your chest, like you are hungry but you have no appetite. Anyway.

Started with 3 sets of 4 thrusters, light, focusing on bar path and as a warm up for the clean and jerks to come.

Did 95#, that was fine.  It was when I started the c&j that I started to feel off.

Did 115# and 135# and that was okay, even the 135# felt off.

We were doing 4 triples at 75%, so 155# is what I chose, but on the second rep I didn't even try to jerk it.

I knew the WOD started with a 60 calorie row, which I knew would finish me.  So packed up, wished the crew good luck and went home.

Oh well.

So these are the lifting standard for an intermediate lifter weighing 198lbs (as I do) along with my current records and the difference.

Lift	Target	Current	Diff
Bench Press	215	230	-15
Deadlift	335	365	-30
Press	145	145	0
Power Clean	205	195	10
Power Snatch	160	140	20
Squat	285	295	-10

That being said, my focus is still on strength, not power.  The two outstanding lifts may have to wait until later in the winter before I seriously tackle them.  Although the power clean may well be within my reach sooner.   We'll see.

I'm just putting it out there, in writing, so that I'm clear on my secondary goals.

Strength log for Friday, December 5th - Achievement Six Unlocked - LEVEL UP!

Last January (well starting on December 30th) I hit a series of 4 out of 6 goals I had set for myself over two years ago (on October 5th 2012).

Then in March I hit the fifth of 6, with only one remaining.

Now these goals while completely arbitrary, are based on analysis of actual performances of lifters based on bodyweight and years of experience.  (They can be found at exrx.net).

Also, at the time I set the goals I weighed only 175lbs, whereas today I weigh between 198lbs and 200lbs. But still.

Today I finally hit the 6th goal.  I power snatched 140# with remarkably little effort.

When 135# went up, matching my full snatch PR and I didn't find it particularly difficult, I knew I had it.

It is strange, 7 days ago I was completely unable.  I'm still a bit stunned.

As I worked up in weight I focused on getting under the bar.  I can't overhead squat very well and I most certainly cannot catch weight in an overhead squat, so I focused on catching as low as I was able.  An inch deeper could make all the difference.  And I believe it did.

I'm so glad I did that workout last week with Seb, even though I failed, just going for the 140# and seeing how close it was, was a huge confidence booster.

And to top it all off, I'm feeling like I'm coming down with something and I had a flu shot yesterday.  I think it's safe to say I have more in me.


6 out of 6 achievements unlocked.  Level up to Intermediate Lifter.  Booyah!

Progress update:

Power Snatch PR. 

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 195lbs Nov 25, 2014 (up from 185lbs)
Power snatch:  140lbs Dec, 5, 2014 (up from 125lbs)  Goal attained!
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 191# (up from 185#) July 29, 2014
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch*: 135# (up from 130#) Nov 21, 2014
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Strength log for Thursday, December 4th

Wasn't sure what to do,  wanted to do bench but arms were pretty wrecked from this morning.  Since yesterday was essentially a rest day, I decided to do front squats.  I'll do bench tomorrow.

5 sets of 3 at 85%  216#, so I rounded up to 86% which is 220#

Went well.  Good and hard.  Maintained good position.

More brick, well laid.

Crossfit log for Thursday, December 4th

No preamble, straight to the WOD.

19 minute AMRAP (6min + 2min rest + 5min + 2min rest + 4min)

6:00 of
- 7 clean and jerk @ 95#
- 7 pull ups
- 21 double unders

2:00 rest

5:00 of
- 9 hang power clean @ 95#
- 6 power jerk @ 95#
- 3 bar muscle ups (scale to dips)

2:00 rest

4:00 of
- 10 pistols (scale to 20 air squats)
- 5 handstand push ups

Sweat fest.

Warming up I tried to get a bar muscle up with little success. Justin suggested a bigger swing from the start and suddenly I was within inches of getting.  Coach even got his camera out because it looked like today was the day.

Alas, after 5 or 6 attempts I was running out of steam.  So close.

Then warming up double unders, going nowhere, coach said to keep my hands down, I was bringing them up to high with each rotation of the rope. Tried it. BAM!  15 effortless double unders.

First round I gave Justin a run for his money.  He finished the c&j 1 rep ahead, but I smoked the pull ups and he broke them up.  Then BAM 21 double unders. unbroken.  First to the bar for round 2.

Then of course I slowed right down (parched throat, thanks creatine, so I gulped some water between rounds). But kept a steady pace.  Both rounds were like 15-18 double unders.  I managed 3 full rounds in 6:00.

Again first round of the second part was really quick.  All unbroken. Second round I dropped the bar on the 8th clean then rested, picked it up for rep 9 and right into the jerks. 

Again, 3 rounds even.

Air squats were fast the first round, and hspu went well.  Really running out of gas by now, last round I came off the wall after 3 hspu, there was only 15 seconds left, if I could get two more reps I'd be 3 rounds even again.  With hspu, when you're done, you're done, so I geve it everything I had, and kipped like a mad man and somehow managed to get two more coming off the wall for each one.

Worked really hard on that one.  Proud of my near muscle up and really proud of my double unders.

Good workout.

Strength log for Tuesday, December 2nd

Still feeling bummed about yesterday's failed attempt at 150# strict press.

Went through the motions of 5 sets of 3 back squats at just over 85% of max (255#).

Wasn't too hard.  One rep somewhere in the middle had me on my toes, but I corrected quickly.

A good bricklaying workout.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, December 2nd

Awake at 3:30am, fell back to sleep 15 or 20 minutes before the alarm. Somehow managed to get up.

Started with power snatch, 3 rep max touch and go.

Did 115# fairly easily.  125# wasn't happening.

WOD was a bummer because of shoe issues.

4 rounds for time
- 10 overhead squats 115#
- 1 rope climb
- 10 pull ups
- 10 dips

Chosing between lifting shoes to OHS or other shoes to rope climb sucks.  I wasn't feeling the OHS love anyway, so I subbed out the OHS for front squats.

Good choice.

Got hard during round 3.   Squats and pull ups were fine.  Rope climb was hard to start, once you got going it was fine.  Last round of dips were really hard.  Did 3, 2, 1,1,1,1,1.  Ugh.

Done in 16:42

Strength log for Monday, December 1st

Complete failure.

I fought 150# for a good 7 or 8 seconds, several inches above my head, as my torso slowly collapsed under the effort.  

I tried a second time, after a long break and it was worse.

I have no excuse.  I was all creatined up.  Even took a "performance intensifier" called Rocket Science, by Magnum Nutracuticals. (yeah, that's not a word).

I think I need to hit my current max (145#) for a double before I try again.  That's my next mission.

We'll see how that goes.

Then I did some physio and mobility work.

Before I left I did some rows on the TRX. Not quite rings, but the closest I can get at the Y. Gotta start working towards those muscle ups!

Crossfit log for Monday, December 1st

Coach was late this morning, so we skipped strength work and went straight into the WOD.

I'm planning to test my 1 rep max strict press at lunch, so I'm kinda happy that happened.

The WOD had handstand push ups, so I scaled with double abmat to ensure I'll be okay at lunch.

Chipper for time:
- 45 calorie row
- 35 box jumps 24"
- 25 hang power cleans 135#
- 15 handstand push ups

I was in the second wave with Justin, and tried to keep up with him on the row as long as I could.  Pumping out 1600-1700 calories per hour. 

First time I ever got 2 calories on 1 pull.  It happened twice in the first 18 calories, then I was done.  Dropped to 1100 ish for the rest, dipping below 1000 at the end.

Box jumps were just systematic.  Cleans were rough. I scaled to 125#, wish I'd done 115#. 

Did the hspu quicky, 13 then 2 to finish up.  Felt a bit cheap, but I have to stick to my plan.

Hope lunch goes well.

Strength log for Friday, November 28th

Worked everything this week, so I decide to do some power snatch and overhead squat work.

Did mobility first and stretched everything.  Back, glutes, ankles, shoulders, aductors, the works.

Was having trouble getting a stable bottom postion.  Seb helped me out, suggesting getting into an above parallel squat position to work the position before lowering down, and that seemed to work really well.  I'll try doing more of that.

After than I focused on power snatch, and got up to 125# fairly easily (my current PR).

Tried for 135#, a step closer to that elusive 140# goal. But couldn't get it.

I told Seb about my 2 year old 140# goal, and he said go for it.  So with him at my side I added another 5# and gave it a go.

Came so close. Tried 3 times.  No doubt I could've hit 130#, maybe even 135# given what I did at 140#.

Good day.

Strength log for Thursday, November 27th

Quick strength session.

Front squats, 3 sets of 5 at 80% of max.   205#.  Worked up rather quickly, and it felt hard, but not unbearably hard.  Worked through the 3 sets and got out. 

Just needed to get it done.  Laying bricks.

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 27th

Coach must be trying to kill us.

Revisited the 50s workout (reduce to 25s for us mortals). Last time I did this was May 20th, but they also did this on July 17th, which I apparently missed.

Started with a 1 clean + 4 push press complex 4 times through, worked with Kamil.  We did the first two sets at 135# and then upped it to 155#, I failed on the last push press of the last set.  So good choice of weight.

Then the WOD, last time I did it Rx, but didn't remember it.  Coach went on about how Games athletes were doing 185#, so scale appropriately.  So being the smart person I am, I went with 155#.  So now I can't really compare both performances. 

Chipper for time:
-50 calorie row
-25 over the box jumps
-25 dead lifts  185#
-25 wall balls 20# ball
-25 ring dips
-25 wall balls
-25 dead lifts
-25 over the box jumps

I made it to 33 calories holding 1 cal per pull.  Overall the row took me just over 2 and half minutes.

There were a lot of step ups for the box jump overs.

Even at 155# the dead lifts were not easy, especially on the way back through.

Wall balls were good.  For the ring dips I did 5, 5, 5, 5, 3+2, 2+1+1+1.   Arms are shot from all the work this week.

Finished in 21:36  better than last time, but lighter dead lifts.  Glad it's over.

Strength log for Wednesday, November 26th

I don't know why I bothered, but what else was there to do.

I tried for a third time to hit 3 single strict press at 95% of max (140#) despite the handstand push ups this morning.

I did squats yesterday, and more this morning, so that was a non-starter.

Whatever.  I gave it my best and same as last time, one and two were okay (more of a fight than last time), but three was going nowhere.

Meh.

I'll get there.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 26th

And the rough works just keep coming.

Started with back squats. 4 sets of 7, alternating with rope climbs, legless if you were able. I was not.

Decided on 70% of max for the squats, 205#. Good choice. Tried legless on the last climb but was to fatigued by then.

WOD was cash in, 3 rounds, cash out format.

20 minute cap
- 10 front squats 155# (scaled to 135#)
- 5 burpee muscle ups (scale to chest to bat pull ups)
Then 3 rounds of:
-10 kettle bell send 24kg
- 5 handstand push ups
- 5 power cleans, same bar
- 5 toes to bar
Then
- 10 front squats
- 5 burpee ctb

Like I said, rough.
Cleans seemed really heavy. Hspu were hard even with an ab mat. T2b went well, and kettle bell was like active recovery.

The front squats at the end were Hell.

Sure glad that's over. Time was 15:46

Strength log for Tuesday, November 25th

Another successful workout on the books.

Started with physio homework, getting my right hip into the socket and hanging out there for a couple of minutes. 

Did some lazy push ups with a couple of 45# plates on my butt.

Added some bretzels and even got up into a wall facing handstand, trying to touch toes and nose.  Close, but not quite.

Did some ankle mobility work that Duane from the Y showed me. Kinda like this:

Then I had to decide what to do.

The only thing that made sense was bench.  I wasn't fresh enough for a press 1 rep max attempt, squats were yesterday.  I just finished the bench cycle, so I didn't need to go heavy.

Decided to try for max reps at 185#.   That didn't work out so well when I ran out of juice at 5.  Decided to salvage it by doing week 2 of the next strength cycle.  80% of my new max (230#) just happens to be 185#, so I did two more sets of 5 and called it a day.

Pretty stoked that I can hit 3 sets of 5 at 185#. 

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 25th Double PR day.

Epic day at Crossfit today.

Started with Power clean, find 1 rep max.  In my mind my current max was 191#, but that was for a full clean, my actual power clean pr was 185# (from 14 months ago)

Worked with Kamil again, built up quickly with 95#, 135#, 155#, I negotiated an incremental step to 175# (the difference between knowing I could do it and not being sure).

Then we hit 185#, no problem.  Upped it to 195#, still thinking my PR was 191#, first attempt bailed on the second pull.

Walked away and tried again.  Now the coach's advice paid off.  He said anything above parallel is still a power clean.  Get under the bar, I you fail, you still get a regular clean, I don't want to see a fail for trying to catch it too high.

So that's what I did.  Pulled hard, full extension, and dropped under the bar. Caught it like 6 inches above parallel. It was awesome. 10lbs PR.

Looking forward to more power work in the new year.

Then we did Fran.

I was so anxious.  Flip flopping between, go for it and just get through it.

Fran: 21-15-9 of
- thursters 95#
- pull ups

This was my third time doing Fran Rx.  Last December 23rd, so nearly a year ago, and last May 14th.  9 minutes flat and 8:55 respectively.

Tried to remember all the lessons I've learned along the way.  First round unbroken, breathe during the thrusters, a lot, don't put the bar down. Get through the pull ups fast. Do as many thrusters as you can in the round of 15. Last 9 pull ups unbroken.

Go time.  After 2 thrusters I remembered to breathe.  Taking 3 breaths for each rep (one at the top, 2 in the front rack before each rep).  Don't rush, be systematic.  Made it to 17 before I rested in the front rack for a couple of seconds.

Somehow couldn't find my rhythm on the pull ups, dropped after 7, tried again right away, still awkward at 11, dropped again, but took a step back then jumped up again and found it. for the last 10.

First back to the bar, almost the same time as Justin.  Chest was heaving, told myself to just get through 5.  Did that two more times. Trying to keep the breaks short.  Pull ups went better, made to 11, then quicly back up for 4 more.

Had to drink a couple of times.  Creatine leaves my throat parched as soon as the heavy breathing starts.  That didn't really cost me any time, I wouldn't have been starting up any faster without the water.

Almost done.  Clock already over 7 minutes.  Grab the bar thinking: do 3.  Made it to 5.  Stoked, maybe I can break 8:00. A few deep breaths hammer out four more.  7:43.  Jump on the pull up bar. Hammer out 9 unbroken.  8:06.

I'll take it!  54 second PR on Fran at Rx.  That ain't nothing.

Next time.  Warm up the pull ups. Find my rhythm.  When my focus shifts to met con and power, this will definitely improve.   My best Fran time ever was 6:36 at 85#.  I want to break that.  I want my fastest Fran time to be Rx. 

Happy with the double PR.  Great way to start a Tuesday.

Progress update:

 Power Clean PR. 

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 195lbs Nov 25, 2014 (up from 185lbs)
Power snatch:  125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 191# (up from 185#) July 29, 2014
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch*: 135# (up from 130#) Nov 21, 2014
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

*from the hang

Strength log for Monday, November 24th

Was supposed to do strict press PR attempt, but after the overhead squats and snatches this morning, I decided at the last minute to go with back squats and either do the press workout on a day I bail on Crossfit, or we have minimal overhead work that day.

We'll see.

So back squats.  Plan is to hit 3 sets of 5 at 80% of max.   So 235#, but I had to put a little extra and made it 240#.  Don't know why.  Well I do, the last two workouts I rounded up generously and was happy with the results.

This pattern held today.

Worked up rather quickly with 95#, 135#, 185# and 205#, then jumped to 240#

All three sets were up/down.  Nice and deep.  I remember one rep where I went forward onto my toes, but that was only once, everything else was gold.

Happy with that.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 24th

Got to bed a bit late last night + Ate like crap all weekend = really didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

Clearly I did anyway and naturally I'm glad I did.

Once again we worked overhead squats, in a 4 sets of 3 format.

Warmed up as best I could. Working with Kamil we started out at 95#, that went well.

He upped it to 115#,  I really struggled, got 2 and the third just wasn't deep enough.  It was so hard to stabilize the shoulders, I went back down to 95# after that.  Which was nice because I could count my last warm up set as a working set. Ha.

After that we did snatch grip dead lifts  4 sets of 4.  Did 155# happy with that.

The WOD was only 2 rounds but wow.  20 minute cap.

- 10 snatches @ 115#  (yeah, scaled to 75# after putting my shoulder through the wringer on the squats).
- 20 dumbbell snatches  70# (yeah scaled to 50#)
- 30 wall balls 20#
- 40 double unders

Almost didn't make the cut off.  Snatches were okay, some were pretty wobbly. Dumbbell snatches were tedious.

Wall balls went really well, 15 and 15, really quick.

Double unders were a disaster. Kept missing, must've got 7 failed attempt in a row.  My level of frustration was really really high.  Somehow managed to get through them.

Round 2, the snatches were much nicer, solid.  Did 5 the a break then 4 and 1.

Dumbbell snatches were the same, wall balls too, 15 and 15, nice and quick. The break between the sets was a bit longer.

With time running out, I got my double unders together enough to finished with 4 seconds left.  19:56.

Ugh.  I hate double unders.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 21st

Another tough day at Physics.

Started with hang snatch. Find your 1 rep max.

Haven't tested snatch in a long while. After 95#in warm up I jumped to 125#, 5#less than my snatch PR.

Went up easily.

Kyle and Pat were at 135# already so I borrowed their bar for essentially a snatch PR attempt.

It was a really good lift, but I caught it high, somewhere between a split jerk and a split snatch. So I felt confident going up in weight.

With that much power, if I could get deep like I have been lately, 145# should be doable.

First attempt caught my belt on the way up, which is why you don't wear a belt for snatch. At least it meant I was keeping it close to my body. I tried one more time, without the belt but it wasn't happening. Kinda wish I'd tried 140#, but hey, I'll take the PR.

WOD was a format we've done before, open with overhead squat combo, 3 rounds of something overhead and pull ups, close out with the same as the opener. This time it was:

- 15 ohs + 15 ctb pull ups
3 rounds of:
  -10 thrusters
  -5 muscle ups/dips
- 15 ohs + 15 ctb pull ups

Took a couple of tries to get started on the ohs, but the ctb went way better than expected, even chained a couple together!

After the first 10 thrusters I was completely out of breath. Thankfully I'm good at dips but that put me right back the bar for more thrusters.

Laboured my way through them and finally got back to the ohs. Ugh.

Managed 5. Then went all out to finish them off, but on the last one, I couldn't get out of the hole and bailed forward. Crap, I was done, now I had to snatch it up again and reposition for one lousy rep.

Again the ctb went shockingly well. Got 5 off the bat, then 4 and finally the last one.

Finished in 16:42, which is not great but a lot of things went really well in that workout. A good tough day at Crossfit.


Progress update: Strangely enough my last PR was also bench.  Hmmm.....

Bench Press PR. 

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs)
Power snatch:  125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 191# (up from 185#) July 29, 2014
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 135# (up from 130#) Nov 21, 2014  (from the hang position)
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013 

Strength log for Thursday, November 20th

Front squats.

Another meeting at 1pm, so went early and hurried through.

Hit 5 sets of 5 at 195#  at bit more than 75% of max.

Felt good.  Gonna set some new records this cycle, I can tell.

Crossfit log for Thursday, November 20th

Yet another workout I had to take a picture of it because I wasn't sure I'd be able to remember it all.

Strength was a clean, press and jerk complex:

1 clean + 2 push press + 1 jerk    4 sets max weight possible to maintain for 4 sets.   Rest as needed.

Planned on 155# and I was bang on.  Might have been able to go a bit heavier but the push presses would have really sucked.

The WOD was a 15 min workout with a long cash-in and a short AMRAP with whatever time was left.

- 50 calorie row
- 40 double unders
- 30 box jumps  24"/20"
- 20 front squats  115#/75#
- 10 handstand push ups

AMRAP remaining time:
- 4 toes to bar
- 6 cleans 115#/ 75#
- 8 wall balls 20#/14#

Yeah.

Row took 3 minutes.  54 pulls. Two first pulls didn't register any calories, then 1 calorie per pull until 30cal where pull #31 didn't increase the calorie count. Again at 40 calories, lost another one.   Kamil, who rows a lot, got off the rower maybe 15 seconds ahead of me.

Double unders, well, you can guess.  A couple of strings of 10-12 saved the day, mostly 4 or less.  Many false starts.

Box jumps, slow and steady.

Front squats  did 5, and planned to do 3 more sets of 5, but in the second set I just kept going to 8, and finished off with 7.

Sadly only managed 5 hspu, my only scale of the workout.

Started the AMRAP with less than 4 minutes left.  4 t2b, no problem, 6 cleans, not fun.  Coming out of the bottom sucked.  Wall balls went okay. 

The cleans had taken the wind out of my sails, took everything I had to get the last 3 t2b before the time was up.

Good workout.

Strength log for Wednesday, November 19th

Bench day.

Had a 1:00pm meeting so I had to hurry.  Freed from my physio work except for one stretch for only 2 minutes, I jump on the bench right away.

Compressed the warm up,  65# for 8, 95# for 8, 135# for 5, 185# for 3, 205# for a single, the jumped right to 230#.

Was more than a bit scared.  Got Seb to spot me, with strict instruction not to touch the bar unless I called for help or was clearly in trouble.

Wasn't needed.

It was a fight to be sure, left side struggled more, which is a bit surprising.  Butt came off the bench a fraction of an inch, but I fought it through to lockout.

Very happy with that.

Progress update: Strangely enough my last PR was also bench.  Hmmm.....

Bench Press PR. 

Strength:
Bench: 230lbs November 19, 2014 (up from 225lbs)
Dead Lift: 365lbs September 17, 2014 (up from 355lbs)
Press: 145lbs September 9, 2014 (up from 140lbs)
Back Squat: 295lbs September 12, 2014 (up from 285lbs)
Front Squat: 255# September 3, 2014 (up from 250#)
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Power:
Power Clean: 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs)
Power snatch:  125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Push Press: 185# (up from 175#) Sept 15, 2014
Clean: 191# (up from 185#) July 29, 2014
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013

Physio log for Wednesday, November 19th

Green light given to resume squats and dead lifts.

As expected, my devotion to my homework has paid off.  Next weakness revealed, which was technically already known but was made irrelevant until the greater weakness was corrected, aka now.

My new stretch look like this: 

But I sag my bodyweight into the knee on the ground, to push my hip into the capsule then bring my body in the direction of my head to open up the hip a bit then lean towards the bent hip to stretch the glute while forcing the hip into the capsule.  All while pulling with my abs to tilt my pelvis like doing an crunch with my abs.

Sucks.  Need to accumulate 2 minutes in this position.

Also got some greate Oly lifting drill that Rob's associate Dominique learned at a movement seminar.   Basically overhead squats and dead lifts in minimal shoes with all except the ball of your foot on a plate, preventing you fore foot from touching the ground. Looks incredibly difficult.

Can't wait to try them out.  I also need to spend some time in a handstand hold to work my scapular muscles.

Strength log for Tuesday, November 18th

First successful squat workout of the post injury strength cycle complete.

After what may be my last physio homework day; follow up visit is tomorrow.

Did 5 sets of 5 at 75% of max (rounded up) 221# rounded to 225# because, yeah.

Felt great.  Strong for all sets all reps.

Kiza showed up and made the last set even better than the others.

This week, bench, then front squats methinks, followed by second attempt at strict press 3x1 @140#

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 18th

He just kept writing and writing and wouldn't stop!

This is called "The Open Test", throwing all the movements that typically come up in the Open, but all together.

20 minute AMRAP or rather AFAYCMI (As far as you can make it)

50 wall balls
50 double unders  (Scale to 1/2 the reps)
40 box jumps 24" box
40 toes to bar (Scale to 1/2 the reps or knees to chest)
30 burpees
30 chest to bar pull ups (Scale to 1/2 the reps, or 20 regular pull ups)
20 power cleans 145# (scale weight, use same weight for all three)
20 jerks 145#
10 snatches 145#
16 muscle ups  (scale to dips)

Wasn't a brutal as it looked.  Mostly because I didn't get to the end.

Didn't expect to get to the barbell, so I put 95# on it just for show, in the unlikely event I made it to the snatches, 95# was the most I could do.  Needn't have worried.

Wall balls were okay, did sets of 10
Double unders were the same as usual, some sets  of 5 some of 10, some of 2. Grrr
Box jump, did step up, jump down. Steady pace.
T2B, did sets of 5, was going to scale to 20 reps, but everyone else seemed to be doing 40, so I manned up and did 8 sets instead of 4
Burpees were burpees. Took even more time than the double unders. Ugh.
Was going to do 30 regular, but Kamil was doing CTB, so I scaled to 15 reps and with less than a minute I shockingly had time for 3 power snatches.

203 reps

Wasn't rolling on the floor afterwards as I had expected.

Strength log for Monday, November 17th

Okay, so three heavy single strict press at 95% of max on the same day as all those overhead squats maybe wasn't such a good idea.

Made the first one at 140#, but it took so much effort, there would be no more today.  Peeled off to 135# for the last two.

Oh well. I'll try again when I'm a bit fresher.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 17th

Today started innocently enough.

2 power cleans + 1 jerk  time 4 working up to a heavy set.

Did 145#, 155#, 165# and 165#

I tend to go up on my toes when I clean, but if I try to stay on my heels, I have no power. 

Jerks were good except the third, which is why I stayed at 165# for the fourth (which was the best one of all 4).

After that: dead lifts.   3 sets of 4.  Did the same weight as the 4 sets of 2.  Not a problem at 275#.  Dead lift is coming along nicely, post injury.

The WOD was possibly the hardest thing I've ever done.

21-15-9:
-overhead squats  115# (scaled to 95#)
-burpees of bar

- 1 rope climb after each round.

My dilemma is this.  I need my good lifting shoes with a 1" heel to do OHS, but I don't like to jump around in them doing burpees with their hard wooden soles, and climbing a rope in them is  a non-starter.

Can't switch shoes each round, so my only real option is to attempt OHS with my Lift-trainers with only  a 3/4" heel.

I shocked myself when I actually pull off 10 OHS, at a scaled 95#, in them.  According to the coach afterwards, the first ones were nice and deep, then the started to get borderline, by the second round they weren't deep enough.

I managed only 2 rounds.  The last OHS on the round of 15 took everything I had to keep from losing it behind me. And that was actually rep 14, I tried twice to get the 15th rep, but I wasn't happening.  Time was well past 10 minute and class was almost over, coach came over and said to end it after round 2. Which I gladly did.

Burpees were same as usual, and rope climbs were rough with wrecked shoulders.

But I still did 36 reps, most of which were actually deep enough, with lower heels.  Definitely progress, can't complain about that.

Strength and physio log for Friday, November 14th

Two days of rest here I come.

Did my usual physio homework and mobility then hopped on the bench for three heavy singles at 95% of max

Hit 215# for 3 sets of 1.  Felt good.  I think I'm ready for 230# next week. 

Hoo ya!

Crossfit log for Friday, November 14th

Last workout of the week, thank goondess.

3 rep max push press.  But.  There's a but.  Your heels must stay in contact with the floor.

That makes it really hard.

Worked with Kamil.  We started with 95#, then 115# and 135#.  So far so good.  It was looking like a strict press with a slow drive.

I had hoped to hit 165#, but when Kamil struggled at 155#, I re-evaluated. 

I got 155#, but barely, the press out on the last rep was slow and shaky, but it went up.

Scaled back to 145# and Kamil got his 3 reps.  I knew I was done, but I put 165# and tried without worrying about my heels and it was way easier.

Kamil tried 155# again, but I had started setting up for the WOD and didn't see if he made it or not.

WOD was rough.

3 rounds for time
- 10 front squats at 185#
- 20 chest to bar pull ups
- 50 double unders.

185# was a nonstarter, I might be able to clean that on the first round but that would be it.

I was going to try 155# (and I really wish I had) but settled on 135# since I saw Kamil was doing that.   I was able to go unbroken, with great effort on all three rounds.

Scaling for the pull ups were first half the CTB to 10 reps, then regular pull ups 20 reps, if that was a no do half the regular pull ups and add a band if needed.

I jokingly said I'd do all three scales (10 CTB round 1, 20 pull ups round 2 and 10 pull ups round 3).

I almost did that, started with 10 CTB, which I was glad to be able to do, but it was too taxing. The last two rounds I did 20 regular pull ups. All unbroken.  Happy with that.

Double unders were a struggle as usual, but I got more streaks of 10 - 15 than I have recently, so bonus.


Finished in 13:40. 

Strength and physio log for Wednesday, November 12th

Physio drills are getting easier.

Mobility work went well.  Working that spine and glutes and hips.

Couldn't figure out what to do.  Arms were too sore form handstand push ups to even think about bench.

That left only squats really.  So I did some back squats.

Did 3 sets of 4 at 225#.  That will have to do.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 12th

A bit more tiring than yesterday.

Started with a 16 minute EMOM of
- 3 power cleans (touch and go)
- 3 deficit handstand push ups  (or harder than you normally do)

First 2 rounds did 135# on the power cleans.  and 15# plates on the hspu. 

Went well.  So I upped the power cleans to 155# for two rounds. At this point Kyle and Justin dropped from 185# to 155# realizing the bit off more than they could chew, so I didn't feel so bad dropping back to 135# for the rest.

Also on round 4 the whole deficit thing wasn't working any more so I went to level (still harder than I usually do) for the second half and that worked well.

Then we did dead lifts, 4 sets of 2. Did 275#  The heaviest I've done since my PR in September.  It was tough, but not impossible. Ran out of time so I had to count my last warm up at 225# as a working set.

The workout was a partner WOD.  Share the work, 12 minute AMRAP:

- 30 toes to bar (while partner hangs on bar)
- 40 front squats (bar cannot touch the ground or start over)
- 50 dead lifts (while partner hold lock out on dips bar)

Worked with Natasha.

First round we did sets of 5 t2b each but only dropped off the bar after we had both done our 5. And for the squats we did 10 each, then the dead lifts we did 15 each then 10 each.

Yeah, that wasn't sustainable.  T2B we still did sets of 5 each, but dropped off the bar after each 5.  Squats dropped to sets of 5, and that was still horrible. 

Time was running out, and came off the dip bar after only 12 reps by Nat, so I jumped on the bar hand hammered out 11 before the buzzer.

So 1 full round and 93 reps.  Can't complain.  Really worked those t2b, having someone hanging on the bar waiting for you to finish is motivation enough to power through sets of 5.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 11th

Happy with my workout today.

Except the close grip bench we started with. I really don't like close grip.

4 sets of 3 constant weight.

Worked with Kamil and I figured we'd get up to 185# or 195# for triples, and jokingly he said: 205# it is.

Well we warmed up with 95# and 135# and jumped to 185#. That wasn't happening!

I really struggled to get three, had to lift my butt off the bench to do it.  Kamil got one and said: nope.

So we peeled back to 155# and that was way better. He stayed there and I added a couple of fives for 165#. 

The WOD was crazy
10 rounds of
- Shoulder to overhead (push press or push jerk) 115#
- Pull ups
- Box jumps  30" box
10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10
5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 5

So decreasing reps in the STO and increasing pull ups.

I committed to doing Rx however long it took.  It wasn't til I started the the notion of going unbroken occured to me. The pull ups wouldn't be an issue, but the STO might.

The first 10 went really well. Even the 9 went well. 8 was harder but I rested in the rack position after 6. At that point I knew I could do it. My breaks were a bit longer the the others but I had my plan.

I did it, in 15:45 completely unbroken.  Gotta be happy with that.

Strength and physio log for Monday, November 10th

Very successful session at the Y today.

Started with physio homework.  I even tested myself with the drill that Rob makes me do, lying on my side, hips stacked, using a bench instead of his shoulder to elevate my upper leg. I am able to lift the foot if the lower bent leg to my knee, then raise the knee off the ground and then raise my hips off the floor.

I think I may graduate next session, in a week.

So after my bretzels and lazy push up, I moved to the rack to work on 3 sets of 3 strict press at 130#

Did 45#, 65# and 95# for 4 or 5 reps.  Hit 105# for 3, 115# for 2 and a single at 125#.

Hit my 3 sets of triples at 130#, last rep of last set was rough, but never in doubt.  Solid work.

Friday, go for 3 heavy singles at 95%, next week go for 150#.

Happy with that workout.

Crossfit log for Monday, November 10th

Now that was a Monday workout I could get behind.

Started with a snatch complex:  2 x snatch from high hang, 1 x snatch from low hang, 1 snatch from the floor (touch and go) 

6 sets of the above.

Did 2 at 65# and 4 at 95#.

Wasn't getting low enough in my split, but caught it in the slot almost everytime.

I'm starting to look forward to working on my Olympic lifts more.  Soon.

Next we did 8 sets of 3 back squats at 60% of max: Felt strong enough to use 60% of my actual max plus a bit more, 185#  (62% of 295#)

Went really well.  Good base building for starting up next week with squat work.

WOD was a 12 min AMRAP with a chipper cash in:
- 45 cal row
- 35 double unders
- 25 box jumps
- 15 burpees
with time remaining do AMRAP of :
- 10 toes to bar
- 30 double unders

Only the AMRAP of the last two items counted for you score.

Row went fine.  Focused on keeping my knees inline with my hips and ankles, I find I get more power that way, unlike spreading my knees in a squat.

Double unders were lame as usual.  Then out of the blue I get a string of 12. So they weren't a complete disaster. 

Box jump were a bit slow, but systematic, like the burpees.   Finished with around 6 minutes left.

T2B were a bit harder than expected, surprisingly so.

Double unders again, struggled but then got a good string. 

Made it back to the t2b and started the double unders. Finished with 1 full round and 18 reps.

I'll take it.  At least I wasn't exhausted, felt energized.

Crossfit log for Friday, November 7th

Well that was rough.

After 3 sets of 3 heavy front squats,  (I'm almost back on form)  which I did 185#, 205#, 205# we did 14.5.

Ugh.

Relentless, no mercy, 14.5
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
- thrusters @ 95#  (scaled to 75# smartest thing I did all day)
- bar facing burpees.

Horrible, horrible workout.

Enjoyed it for the first 10 thrusters.

Shoulders were on fire from round 2 onwards. 

Finished in 24:32

Strength and physio log for Thursday, November 6th

My arms are still toast from yesterday, so I spent more time on my physio and mobility work.

Rolled out my glutes and hips before starting.  Did my drills, then some bretzels an lazy push ups, and my rounded supported squat drill.

Then I decided to do some back squats.  Nothing too heavy, but enough to test my limits.  My back is feeling much better, even after that dead lift work, so I figured now is the time to start pushing more than I have been. 

I won't start serious work until the week after next, but I don't want to be starting from scratch.

So I warmed up with the empty bar, holding at the bottom, trying to get as deep as I could for a good 30 seconds.

Did the same with 95# and 145#. 

At 195# did 5 reps. 215# did 4 reps. And finally did 2 reps at 245#.  Felt good. Braced well. Happy with that.

Strength log for Wednesday, November 5th

Bring your kid to work day meant bring you kid to the Y at lunch day for me.

She warmed up on the treadmill while I did my physio homework.

We had a great time working on cleans. 

I wanted to give Clarisse a chance to try cleaning 65#. This is a key weight for working out at home since the lightest bar I can set from the floor is 65# (10# plates plus 45# bar).

So unless we work from the hang, 65# is bare minimum.

She cleaned 65# like it was nothing. So naturally she wanted more.  We did clean plus front squat.  Still easy.  So tried 70#.  Bam.  Even adding the front squat.

This time, after the squat she said that was hard.  But she still wanted to try 75#. So we did.  And she nailed it.  No front squat this time but still awesome.

I made her do it again so I could film it.  Nailed it again. Her catch was a bit off on the second, but it was a solid clean. 

She went off to work on some of the machines while I did bench.

After this morning's dips I wasn't feeling 100%, the goal of 3 reps at 215# didn't happen.  Struggled at 205# so I called it a day.

Really enjoyed it.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, November 5th

Note to self, don't work with Kamil on dead lifts.

It was fine, but I pushed myself harder than I would have on my own.  Which I guess is the point.  Thankfully my back is feeling better so it was probably a good workout.

Did 6 sets of 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 - 8 - 8

Did 225# for the first 2 sets, then 245#, then down to 205# for the eights.

Couldn't bounce, had to start from a dead stop.  A bit harder that way, but it went okay.

The WOD was a partner WOD, so I teamed up with Natasha again. 

18 minutes of
- 12 wall balls 20#/14#
- 6 push press 135#/85#
- 3 ring dips
alternate partners do a complete round.

I scaled the push press to 115#, it was meant to be a sprint so 135# unbroken wasn't likely.  It was a good call.

Nat scaled the dips to bar dips.

The first 6 rounds we were bang on 2:00 for both of us to get through the round, that's 3 round each. 

After that the push press got harder and the dips got really hard.

12 wall balls is a good number, you can't really stop since by the time you start to fatigue you're almost done.

We finished with 12 rounds (6 each) and Nat was one rep short of round 13.

We did good.

Strength and physio log for Tuesday, November 4th

Wasn't sure what to do.  Was planning on doing overhead squat, but this morning's workout took care of that.

So I put off making a decision while I did my physio homework.

Finally found the video for the left aductor drill and the one for the right glute.

Then I did some bretzels and lazy push ups.  And finally the rounded lumbar, feet together supported squat.

Finally I decided to do some front squats, I felt I could go heavy, for a front squat, without going that heavy.

Ended up doing 3 sets of 5 at 185#.  It was hard.  Usually I'd do this at 205#, which doesn't seem impossible, but not today.  I'm happy with that workout.

Afterwards I stretched my hams and was able to get my butt all the way to the wall.  Need to stay on top of that.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, November 4th

Epic day at Crossfit.

Ironically, the day after physio, where I went in worried about my back and told not to worry, my back feels fine today.  Not perfect, but better than it has in ages.

Still did some bretzels and lazy push ups after rowing 500m to warm up.

Started with a barbell complex: 1 power clean, 1 hang power clean, 2 push press.

Worked up to 155# for 4 sets. Happy with that. 

Did a couple more bretzels and lazy push ups before the WOD.

Today we revisited 14.2  
In 3 minutes perform 2 rounds of
- 10 overhead squats @ 95#
- 10 chest to bar pull ups.
At the end of 3:00 if you have finished the 2 rounds you have 3 minutes to do 2 rounds of
- 12 overhead squats @ 95#
- 12 chest to bar pull ups

You must wait until the 3 minute interval is finished before starting the next interval.  If you don't make the first cut off, keeping going making it a 6:00 AMRAP at the very least.

During the Open in March I did this workout twice. First time I took 13 attempts to get a single overhead squat.  The second I took 10 attempts to get 7 overhead squats.

We revisited in July and I was unable to get a single squat going so I opted for scaled (front squats and regular pull ups).

Thanks in part to the recent physio work I've been doing for my back and hips, today I took 10 attempts and hit 10 overhead squats in less than a minute completely unbroken!  I did 10 chest to bar pull ups in sets of 5, with just under 1:30 left.  No way I'd finish the 2 rounds as round 1 took everything I had and took more than half the time allowed. Especially when I tried to do the next set of OHS.  Wow, I managed 3 reps in four attempts and I knew that was it. Switched to scaled (front squats and regular pull ups) and got an additional 27 reps.

So from a 7 rep PR to a 23 rep PR.  Pretty stoked.  10 unbroken OHS at 95#, that isn't in my regular play book. 

So total 50 reps.  Can't be anything but happy about that.

Strength and mobility log for Monday, November 3rd

Since my new homework was fresh in my mind, I jumped on that at the Y at noon.

Two side lying drill to activate the right glute and the left aductor plus the new one feet together knees together squat with flexed lumbar (pelvic tilt).  Need more ankle flexibility.  No problem in my lifting shoes, but I have to do them barefoot.

I didn't do my bretzels or upward dog, not sure why, I guess my mind was busy with the new exercises and I was eager to get to my strength work.

Strict press on the menu.  Goal was to do 3 heavy singles or 1 triple at 135# (93% of max).

First two went up nicely, third was a bit of a fight.  Felt good about it.

That is until I read last Monday's log and I realize I did the wrong workout! Crap.

Was supposed to do 3 sets of 3 at 90%  or 130#.

New plan.  Wednesday: bench.  Friday, strict press  3x3 at 130#.  Next Monday 3 heavy singles at 140#, following week, new max attempt at 150#.

Salvageable.

Now if I can just remember that for next time.

Crossfit and Physio log for Monday, November 3rd

Even with the time change, still struggled to roll out of bed at 5:00 this morning.

Still taking it easy on my back.  Well trying to.

We did 3 rep max back squat, but I stopped at 225# despite wanted to go heavier. 

I paused the first rep in the bottom for 30 seconds, working the bottom position. Getting pretty deep.

Then it was 4 sets of 3 dead lifts,  which are harder on my back than squats.  I settle on 185# and even that felt hard.

The WOD was a 21-15-9 triplet of
- toes to bar
- box jumps 24" box
- dead lifts @ 155#

I scaled to 135# using 35# plates with 10# added in case I needed to scale further. 

Ended up not peeling the 10s, but I'm not 100% sure it was wise.

Finished in 12:20.   Was steady and systematic.  t2b are really good until they fall completely apart. 

Done is done.

Physio afterwards.  Rob is happy with my progress.  He's not too worried about the continued discomfort in my back, according to him, soft tissue takes 6 to 8 weeks to heal and I'm on week 4.  (Which works out nicely with my current strength program, I should be able to start up in the next cycle).

I've graduated to the next level of homework for my glute/aductor activation. I'll see if I can find videos for these.

Needled my erectors, glutes and hip as well as my piriformis on the right, once again a bolt of electricity right down to my foot.  Freaky. 

Couple more weeks of homework and hopefully that will be it.

Crossfit log for Friday, October 31st

Snatch work and handstand push ups.

We seem to be doing those a lot lately.

This time 4 sets of 3 touch and go power snatch vs. 4 sets of 5 handstand push ups, the most difficult variant you can muster for 5 reps.

Worked up to 95# on the power snatch and did kipping hspu with no abmat.

That worked well.

Then we did 3 sets of 3 snatch grip dead lifts, I did 145#

The WOD was 13.2
10 minute AMRAP
- 5 shoulder to overhead 115#
- 10 dead lifts 115#
- 15 box jumps 24" box

I scaled to 95#, was worried about the dead lifts with my back which is still tight, especially after those wall balls on Wednesday.

I managed 4 full rounds and 24 reps.  Not great, but that's what I had today.

Strength log for Thursday, October 30th

Good day at the Y.

Did my physio homework and mobility work to ease my back and hips.

As I was about to start bench press, Dave arrives at the bench looking like he's going to set up.

I asked him if he was doing bench, quite surprised because he never does bench. I was even more surprised when he said yes.  So I said great! We can work together.  

I told him my plan to do 3 sets of 3 at 205#, and he laughed, saying he wouldn't be going that heavy, just wanting to see how 185# feels.

Now Dave is a way stronger guy than I am, his back squat is 405#, he can clean and jerk 275# (more once he improves his technique a bit), way stronger.

So once we got to 185# he decided to keeping going and see how it went.

Now this is week 3 for my strength program for me and a one off for him. I have no doubt that after a couple of weeks of regular bench we would destroy me, but today, I was stronger.

First set he fought for the third rep, and my first triple was as good as it gets.

Second set he went do doubles and I briefly fought the last rep of my triple.

Third set he fought the second rep, and I fought my third but got my 3-3-3.

It was nice to feel like a strong guy.

And like I say, if he continues, even once a week, he'll kick my ass by Christmas.

But not today. 

Crossfit log for Wednesday, October 29th

So the second day of my 45th year started pretty much the same as the first, with me lying on the floor of the gym gasping for breath, leaving a sweat angel in my wake.

After the back squats  8-6-4-2 progressively heavier (185#, 205#, 225#, 245#) we set up for Team Fight Gone Bad.

We were only 4 so a waterfall start with only one team didn't make sense, so we did teams of 2, but start together, no member can advance until both are finished their current station.

3 rounds:
- 20 wall balls 20#/14#
- 20 sumo dead lift high pull  75#/55#
- 20 box jumps 20" box
- 20 push press 75#/55#
- 20 calorie row

Teamed up with Natasha, so we did women's Rx (except I used a 20# medicine ball). It made sense if I wanted to keep up with her.

It was just hard.  For the most part we finished at the same time, but on the third round it was harder to keep up.  She started on the wall balls and I on the sumo dead lift high pulls so she finished with the row and I with the wall balls.

She was done and I had 5 wall balls to go.

Our time was 22:47.

Team WOD really make you work hard.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, October 28th

Well, that was a rough.

After a barbell complex of 1 power clean + 1 power clean (touch an go) + 1 hang squat clean + 2 shoulder to overhead.

Find 1 rep max.

Worked with Kamil and worked up rather quickly. Managed 155#, likely could have done 165# or even 175#.  Sadly we jumped from 155# to 185# and both Kamil and I failed, but he at least got the two power cleans.

The WOD was a chipper from hell.

For time:
- 50 calorie row
- 40 double unders
- 30 kettle bell swings 32kg
- 20 toes to bar
- 10 thrusters 135#

I hate rowing for calories.  After getting through that and struggled through the double unders.  Ended up getting a couple of strings of 10 - 12 reps, so I got to 40 relatively quickly.

I was planning on using the 24kg kettle bell, but at the last minute decided to go with the red devil.  Made it in 3 sets of 10, with some longish breaks.

So now I'm a Rx roll. All hinging on the thrusters.

Did the T2B in 8, 7, 5 then slowly walked to the thrusters bar.  Just do 2 I said to myself, get things started.  Cleaned it into a squat and up into a thruster and re-rack it.. OMG that's heavy.  Squat and thrust for 2.  Drop it.

This is going to suck.  Cleaned it again, and down and up for 2 again.

Coach yelling at me to go for 3. After a short break I managed to clean it into a thruster and hit 2 more reps for 3, only 3 to go.  Same deal, and done.

Wow.  Collapsed to the floor. Spent.

14:28  a minute and a half slower than Kamil who is a master of double unders.

Done is done.