Visit to JustLift on Tuesday, July 29th

Took the car in today so I could drive to JustLift and have a little workout there with Dave Rapai.  He's a member and works out there when he's not at the downtown Y with me.

It was fun to be in such a different environment, where Olympic Lifting is the primary focus and just one element in many like at Crossfit.

I've been focusing on strength development for over 6 months now, so my Olympic technique isn't up to scratch, plus my adcutor/hip flexor pull made split jerk too risky.

As I worked up using kilograms instead of pounds, started with power jerks, but I'm not very good that those, then switch to split, but with my right foot forward.

That was so weird. At 70kg it was getting wobbly, so I switch to just doing cleans.

At 80kg, it felt pretty good, so I started doing some math in my head.  85kg would be 2lbs over my PR.

Adding 5kg is a lot more than adding 5lbs!!!  But I nailed, quite easily.

I hummed and I hawed over what to add. Finally, and wisely, I went conservative and added 2kg, 1 on each side for 87kg.

Nailed it.  Then I got cocky and went to 90kg, when really I should've been going up by 1kg increments if at all.  Couldn't get the second pull to go anywhere.

This is where practice will help next year.  I need to work under my threshold so perfect the mechanics of the second pull and then I expect to be able to move up in weight a bit more aggressively.

We'll see, now I need to stay focused on the plan, and trust the process.

Progress update.

New Clean PR. 

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 215lbs July 4, 2014 (up from 205lbs)
Dead Lift / 300lbs / 325lbs May 21, 2014 (up from 300lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 140lbs July 2, 2014 (up from 135lbs)
Power Clean / 185lbs / 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 285lbs June 30, 2014 (up from 275lbs)

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 245# (up from 235#) June 13, 2014
Push Press: 175# (up from 165#) Feb 18, 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
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Strength log for Monday, July 28th

That was quite a workout!

I only have 3 maybe 4 workouts available to me this week, depending on whether I go to JustLift tomorrow and if I do morning workout before my flight to Thunder Bay on Thrusday, so I doubled up on strength work today.

Thankfully is was only 3 sets of 3, but at 90%, it was heavy!

Started with strict press, which I normally do on Tuesdays, but before I decide to double up, I was going to postpone squats until tomorrow.  I ran on Saturday, which I rarely do these days, so my quads and calves were a bit tight.

Worked up to 125#, 90% of max and did my three reps. It was rough, but I managed it.  The last rep on the last set was a real fight, so perfect choice of weight.

At some point during that work I decided I might as well do my squats today and get it done.

Racking the bar across my traps was really rough after all that shoulder work.

Did a couple of reps at 115#, 135#, 185# and did 3 at 225# before hitting my first working set at 255#.

Rough.

Wasn't sure I'd make 3 sets.  Again, last rep of last set was a fight.  I think I'm in a good position to retest my PRs in two weeks.

Except, I'm away next week and won't be able to hit my 1 set of 3 or 3 heavy singles at 95%. 

I need to decide if I repeat this week, or maybe last week's workout when I get back before hitting the 3 reps at 95%, then retesting, or if I just pick up where I left off. 

Maybe I'll find a way to hit the gym next week in TBay.  We'll see.

Strength log for Friday, July 25th

Wasn't sure what I was going to do today, hit all my lifts except dead lifts which I haven't really committed to.

I started with some overhead squats and at the end they were looking pretty good, but my shoulders were getting fatigued.

I had lots of time left so, I decided to go ahead and hit the dead lifts for 5 sets of 3 @ 85%.  275#.

After the first set I decided to drop it to 3 sets of 3, but once I did set 3 I was still feeling ok, so I ended up doing the last two sets.

Feel pretty good. 

Strength log for Thursday, July 24th

Other brick in the wall.

Bench press today,  5 sets of 3 at 85%, 185#

Also rough, especially the third set for some reason I don't comprehend.

Then I rolled around on the orb and foam roller, calves, hips and glutes.

Done.

Watched Rob hit 425# dead lift before I left.  Sweet.

Strength log for Wednesday, July 23rd

Front Squats.  5 sets of 3 at 95%: 210#

Warming up at 185# was already getting interesting. Added the weight belt right away.

Could still feel my inner thigh pull on the right. Booked a massage for the end of the day.

All 5 sets went pretty much the same, first rep no problem, second tough, third fight. 

So good workout.  Did 3 sets of 5 rows on the TRX thingy.

Massage was okay, definitely tight on the right hip, glute, ham, psoas, even ankle.  Maybe I'll do some mobility tomorrow.

Epsom salt bath helped a bit.

Strength log for Tuesday, July 22nd

A bit delinquent posting this, I'll back date it so it goes in the right order on the blog.

Did strict press, following the program 5 sets of 3 at 85% of max, 120#

First set was a bit rough, so I put on my lifting belt. 

Rob, a powerlifter at the Y worked in with me.  Made it less boring.

After hitting 5 sets I worked on muscle up progression on a pulldown machine.

Good workout. Laying bricks.

Strength log for Monday, July 21st

After four days off I was more than ready to hit the gym.

Spent the day in the van on Thursday driving to Sault Ste. Marie, then Friday driving the rest of the way to Thunder Bay. Spent Saturday unpacking and getting the family set up in the camp and then flew back Sunday. 

Back to the program today, 5 sets of 3 at 85%, 245# back squats. Rounded up again 85% is 242# but 245# was easier barbell math.

It was tough.  I'm still feeling tightness on my right side, in the groin and inside ankle near the heel.  I think I'll book a massage or go see Physio Rob.

I alternated back squats with 3 sets of 25# weighted pull ups.

Had a bad headache until the last set. I still have it a bit, but it was pretty bad for most of the workout. 

Strength log for Wednesday, July 16th

Given the travel over the weekend and slim likelihood I'll get any workouts in, I opted for bench press today.  Dead lifts, which were scheduled, aren't really a priority for me right now, and tomorrow's front squats are less important since I did back squats Monday, and did some squats (although lighter) yesterday and today at Crossfit. Bench made the most sense.

Followed the plan, 3 sets of 5 at 80%  (170#)

A bit rough even the triceps and shoulder work I'd done yesterday and today, but I managed all sets, all reps.

Next week will be interesting, with heavier sets of 3 reps. 

Crossfit log for Wednesday, July 16th

Didn't want to go this morning.  Would have preferred to stay in bed. Even now, after the fact, I feel so tired, I just want to nap.

But I'm travelling this weekend, and I missed Monday, so I'll only get three workouts this week, plus the Crossfit games are next week, there will be no morning workouts, so I can't justify missing any classes unless I really feel like crap.

It was in fact a really good workout.

Started with strength of back squats vs deadlifts  5 sets of 5 reps alternating @ 65% of max. 

This doesn't fit my strength program very well, so I share bars with Kamil and did his weight, which ended up being 60% (170# and 195#).

It got progressively easier as my muscles woke up more with each set.

The WOD was a chipper sprint, 10 min AMRAP of:
-40 wall balls 20#
-30 thrusters empty bar
-100 double unders
-20 pull ups
-10 muscle ups (scaled to ring dips)

Went unbroken on the wall balls in 1:25, not bad.  Thrusters were 3 sets of 10, minimal break.

Double unders were same as usual, but the streaks I had, were pretty long, and I had three of them, amid the failed attempts to get them going.

Started the pull ups with 3:00 left.  Did 15 and 5.   Started the dips, did 3 quick ones, then 2, then 1, the as I went down for #7 the time was up.

196 reps. I was happy with that.  Kept pace with Kamil, I had 15 double unders left when he finished his, and he finished the dips and got 9 wall balls. 

Happy with that.

Strength log for Tuesday, July 15th

Working the plan: 3 sets of 5 reps at 80% of max.  Tuesday means strict press.

As expected after this morning's workout, it was tougher than it should've been.

I also rounded up.  80% of max is 112#, my Crossfit App rounded it down to 110#, but I opted to round it up to 115#.

Last set was rough, but I did all three sets, all 15 reps.

Then I did some mobility.  Bretzel, upward dog and couch stretch.

Gotta trust the process.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, July 15th

Challenging day at Crossfit today.

Started with my favorite: overhead squats.

Find 3 rep max.

95# was okay.  115# wasn't. Maybe should've tried 105#.

WOD naturally had OHS

21-15-9
- handstand push ups (scaled to 11, 8, 5 with one abmat)
- overhead squats 95# (scaled to 65#)
- toes to bar

AKA murder for the shoulders.

Need to kip harder in the beginning. I can lock it out with much kip at first but it deteriorates quickly with any volume.  Made it 10 without pause, but with insufficient kip and then was toast for the rest of the workout until the last round of 5 when I decided to kip more aggressively.

Made it through 21 OHS the first round and 7 in the second, but it was taking too much time and I wasn't getting the benefit of the workout, so I switched to front squat and sped through the rest.

T2B were okay,  sets between 4 and 7 reps.  7s near the start, and 4s near the end.

18:02, total time.  It'll do.

Shoulders are toast.  Strict press at lunch will be so much fun! I can't wait. Not.

Strength log for Monday, July 14th

Working the plan.

3 sets of 5 back squats at 80%,  230#

First set without belt was a bit rough, so opted for the belt for sets 2 and 3.  Made it more manageable.

Then I did some pull downs to triceps press on a cable machine, to work the mid range in the muscle up.  Just to keep it interesting.

Laying bricks.

Strength log for Friday, July 11th

Happy with that workout.

Bench press, 5 sets of 5 at 75% which is 161# so I rounded up to 165#.

Not easy on the last set, but solid.

Rolled my back a bit more.  Still a bit tight after Wednesday's dead lifts.

Now for 2 days of rest.

Crossfit log for Friday, July 11th

Today we revisited 14.2. 

Repeat until unable to complete on 3 minutes
2 rounds of:
- 10 overhead squats 95#
- 10 chest to bar pull ups.
Adding 2 reps to each every 3 minutes
If you failed to make 3 rounds, convert to a 9min AMRAP same increase rep scheme.

We had scaling options but I wanted to at least try and beat my score of 7 from the Open doing Rx.

Despite a variety of warm up exercises, I wasn't able to get low enough in the squat at 95# to put a dint in my old score.

Swtiched to scaled: front squats/ regular pull ups.

Managed 88 reps, to the end of the rounds of 12.

Depressing.

Need a break I think. 

Finished off with four sets of 5 back squats @ 65% of max: 185#

Strength log for Thursday, July 10th

Following the plan.

Five sets of 5 front squats at 75% of max.  185#

Then did some mobility.  Bretzel, upward dog, hamstring stretch.

Laying bricks.

Crossfit log for Thursday, July 10th

This is only my second Crossfit workout this week. Well excluding the two WODs on Saturday for Coach Isabelle's annual birthday throwdown. 

I took Monday off to recover from that.  Tuesday night I had trouble sleeping so I bailed on Wednesday's class, so here I am. 

Yesterday's dead lifts left my back feeling a bit tight.  Nothing to prevent me from working out but I felt it.

We started with clean/squat/jerk complex, 5 sets of 2 : 1 power clean, 1 front squat, 1 jerk.

I ended up counting my last warm up set at 95# as a working set.

I did 2 sets at 135# and 2 sets at 155#.  My first jerk of the first set at 155# was nice.

WOD was a 20 minute AMRAP of death called "Jack"
- 10 push press @ 115#
- 10 kettle bell swings @ 24kg
- 10 box jumps @ 24"

I had a hard time with the push press past round 4, I ended up peel off to 95# for what proved to be my last round.

That was long.

Strength log for Wednesday, July 9th

Dead lifts.  5 sets of 5 at 245# (75% of max).

Had trouble with hook grip, was hurting my thumbs.  Tried without hook grip and the bar kept rolling into my fingers.  Not much better, finally tried mixed grip.  Huge difference.  Much more stable, bar stayed right in the palms of my hands. 

Last 3 sets went really well.

Did some mobility work and called it a day.

Strength log for Tuesday, July 8th

Very successful workout.

Plan was 5 sets of 5 strict press at 75% of max.  Currently that would be 105#.

Last rep of last set was rough.  So perfect.

Did some mobility.  Work my groin and hip on the right side after this morning's twinge.  Seems better.

I'm getting deeper in my squat so I that may be what's going on.  Need to strength things and deeper end range.  Hopefully this 6 week program of gradual heavy build up will help.  We'll see.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, July 8th

The bad news is I didn't make it to the handstand push ups.

The good news is I'm doing strict press at lunch so it's a good thing I didn't make it to the handstand push ups.

Strength/Skill work was snatch balance: bar on back of shoulders, snatch grip, dip and drive, get under the bar.

I can't do the squat version very well and after inadequate warm up I tried a split snatch and felt a sharp pain in my groin of the right leg, the one that goes back.  I don't think it's what I'd call injured, but I felt it during the WOD.

I'll keep an eye on it, and make sure I warm up properly every time.

I went back to the squat version just empty bar, pretty much catching it power, and squatting as best I could. 

Then we did snatch grip dead lifts.  3 sets of 5

Did 135#, 155#, 155#.  I should've used straps and went heavier.   Hindsight.

The WOD was a 10 minute cap chipper.
- 50 calorie row
- 80 double unders
- 20 power cleans at 135#
- 30 hand stand push ups

Lost 30 seconds switching rowers as the display failed to light up on the first one I tried.

Went hard.  Caught the Maks, who had a 30 second head start, but it cost me.

Double unders were shit.

Felt my groin a bit on the power cleans.  Managed to get 17 in before the cap.

147 reps.  Meh.  Keep my eye on the big picture.  Focus on the plan.  Strength. 6 more months.

Strength log for Monday, July 7th

Back on May 7th, I adopted an alternate training approach. which I wanted to try for a couple of months. This approach involved going for a heavy single every workout the either calling it a day, or backing off for reps.

I figure after hitting 3 PRs last week, the strategy served it's purpose.  Time to go back to my original approach.

Week one: 5 x 5 reps at 75%
Week two: 3 x 5 reps at 80%
Week three: 5 x 3 reps at 85%
Week four: 3 x 3 reps at 90%
Week five : 1 x 3 reps or 3 x 1 rep at 95%
Week six: test 1 reps max.

Plan is to do back squats on Monday, strict press on Tuesday, Dead lifts on Wednesday, Front squats on Thursday and bench press on Friday.

Started today.  Back squats 5 sets of 5 reps at 215# after warm up sets with empty bar, 135# and 185#.

After that I did some weighted pull ups.  3 sets of 5 with 15# dumbbell on the chain belt.

Solid workout.

Crossfit log for Saturday, July 5th

Come to Coach Isabelle's birthday throw down they said, It'll be fun they said.

Ha.

Two torturous WODs later and I think Kevin said it best.  I am dead, my body just doesn't know it yet.

First WOD I affectionately call "DT was a pussy".

Seemed harmless enough until we saw the first heat try it. Coach had to drop a round before the end as teams were dying.

Teams of 2, for time:
2 rounds of DT  155# Rx 135# scalled
2 lengths of the field sled pull
4 rounds of DT
2 lengths sled pull
4 rounds of DT (originally 6)
2 lengths sled pull

The field was about 50m long, the sled had 70# on it for scaled (90# for Rx)
So essentially each team member did DT plus 3 50m sled pulls.

Horrible.  My shoulders were so sore.  I partnered with Mitch and he carried me through it.  We never even looked at our time.  It was a blur of pain and fatigue.

WOD 2 was hard but not as hard as the first.

14 minute AMRAP
-Share 1000m row (800m scaled) while partner holds 110# axle in front rack.
-Share Isabelle (30 snatches for time 95# (Rx was 135#)
-share 60 wall balls (Rx was 80 reps)
-Alternate farmer carries with 16kg kettle bells 70m  (35m and back)

Score was number of lengths (35m) of farmer carries
We got 9.5, no idea how we stacked up.

My row was really strong.  Mitch confused me by saying he had done only 400m (I was sure we had to do 1000m so I figured I had 600m to do.  I went all out, holding 1:37-1:38 / 500m pace, I clued in that I also had only 400, thankfully before getting that far, I yelled to Mitch to confirm I was only doing 400, and he ask where are you 380m! Already?  So yeah, I was pretty fast.

Mitch is way, way better at the snatch than I am, even at 95#. He was doing 5 or 6 reps for my 3. But together we made quick work of the snatches and I took off with the wall balls.  Did 10, passed it off, Mitch did 10, I did 15, he managed another 10, I did 11 leaving the last 4 for him as I got ready for the farmer carries.

I felt I contributed more on WOD 2.

Kiza was partnered with Yvana, one of Caleb's classmates. They did quite well.  I hope they post the results. We couldn't stay because Dexter was getting overtired and we had guest coming over for supper.

So naturally after all that work I mowed the lawn and ran to the grocery store before bbqing some hamburgers and drinking wine while watching kids swim and play in the back yard.

Long day.  But a good day nonetheless.

Strength log for Friday July 4th

Finished off the week with a PR confirmation.

3 PRs in one week.  I really need to feel happy about this, and not get down over one bad workout.  Sheesh.

Confirmed my bench press of 215# today since my last attempt on June 23rd was snatched away by an over eager spotter.  It's was much easier knowing I could do it.

Then I peeled back to 135# for 3 sets of 7 (no idea why I chose 7)

Did a little bit of mobility then headed out.

Cannot complain about that week of training.


Progress update.

New Strict Press PR. 

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 215lbs July 4, 2014 (up from 205lbs)
Dead Lift / 300lbs / 325lbs May 21, 2014 (up from 300lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 140lbs July 2, 2014 (up from 135lbs)
Power Clean / 185lbs / 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 285lbs June 30, 2014 (up from 275lbs)

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 245# (up from 235#) June 13, 2014
Push Press: 175# (up from 165#) Feb 18, 2014
Clean: 185# (up from 180#) Dec 23, 2013
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Crossfit log for Friday, July 4th

Funny how coming off a couple of PRs can leave you down.  It should be the opposite.

Yesterday lunch time workout sucked so bad, I didn't even log it. 

Tried to get some squats going, was struggling at 205#!  Then tried some front squats and at 135# for sets of 8 sucked.

Did some stretching instead.  Ugh.

So this morning when we were doing 1 rep max back squat, I was kinda glad I'd hit a PR on Monday, it kinda gave me a pass.

I still worked up to 255#, I was happy with that. I probably should've tried 265# at least, but meh.  Still had a WOD to do.

We did 12.3, but I didn't do it Rx (although in hindsight, I probably could have).

18 minute AMRAP (yes 18)
- 15 box jumps
- 12 push press 115# (I scaled this to 95#)
- 9 toes to bar

I did 5 rounds + 7 box jumps.  The push press was the easiest part, should've went Rx. Oh well.

I did the push press unbroken for the first 4 rounds.   The box jumps were slow and steady. The t2b got progressively harder.  Did mostly 5 and 4, but at the end they weren't stringing together so well.

I think I'll just stretch at lunch.  Or maybe bench press. We'll see.

Crossfit log for Thursday, July 3rd

Up early again to head to the gym.   Hopped up on creatine, D-AA and ubiquinol, plus caffeine and sugar.

We did some split jerks from the ground.  3 sets of 3 at 75%, ended up doing 145# which is more like 78% but whatever.

Some of them were very solid, others not so much. I just need more practice.  Next year.  Stay focused.

It's still frustrating, when I know I can improve my Olympic lifts if I just spent some time on them, but this is the year of strength development.  Big picture.

The WOD was not much fun.

- 100 double unders
- 4 rounds of :
-- 10 wall balls 20# med ball
-- 5 burpee muscle ups (scaled to chest to bar pull ups, then regular pull ups)
-100 double  unders

First set of DU went well, first WOD with my new lighter rope. Not bad, got some good strings going.

Wall balls were fine, burpee pull ups sucked. Badly.

The last of the DU were horrible. Nothing left.  Took for ever.

Finished in 16:30

Meh.

Strength log for Wednesday, July 2nd

Went to the Y with strict press on my mind.

Plan: work up to heavy single, 1 rep max, possibly PR then 115# for 5 sets of 3 (or 3 sets if it got too difficult).

As I hit my current max of 135# fairly easily, Kiza shows up.

Well now I had to go for a PR. Set the bar to 140#, which I tried and failed on June 9th, just over 3 weeks ago.

Perhaps it was better nutrition, or maybe my week so far, after 3 days off, consisted of virtually no overhead work, but most likely it was because Kiza was watching.  I fought it briefly and put 140# overhead, like a boss.

I need to remember weeks like this one when I'm feeling down about my training. Just keep laying bricks, it's starting to look like a wall.

I've made some pretty good progress since I started strength focus 6 months ago:
- Bench up 20lbs
- Deadlift up 40lbs
- Strict Press up 15lbs
- Back Squat up 40lbs
- Front Squat up 30lbs

Can't complain about that!

Progress update.

New Strict Press PR. 

Lift / target weight / current PR
Bench / 190lbs / 205lbs Apr 18, 2014 (up from 195lbs)
Dead Lift / 300lbs / 325lbs May 21, 2014 (up from 300lbs)
Press / 130lbs / 140lbs July 2, 2014 (up from 135lbs)
Power Clean / 185lbs / 185lbs Dec 30, 2013 (up from 175lbs)
Power snatch / 140lbs / 125lbs Mar, 27, 2014 (up from 115lbs)
Back Squat / 255lbs / 285lbs June 30, 2014 (up from 275lbs)

Other lift PRs:
Front Squat 245# (up from 235#) June 13, 2014
Push Press: 175# (up from 165#) Feb 18, 2014
Clean: 185# (up from 180#) Dec 23, 2013
Jerk: 185# (up from 180#) Oct 30, 2013
Snatch: 130# July 22, 2013
Clean and Jerk: 175# July 24, 2013
Overhead squat: 115# April 10th, 2014

Crossfit log for Tuesday, July 1st

Went to the Canada Day WOD mid morning.  Kiza went first, I showed up with the kids just as she was starting.  Once she finished, she took the kids home to shower and get ready for the day while I did the WOD.

It was a team WOD, but the format was continuous starts, people showed up at random, mostly with a partner in tow, and took note of the time on the clock and just took off.

I waited around for 25 minutes, hoping for someone without a partner to show up. Ended up just going on my own. I kinda "shadowed" a couple of teams to try and keep it legit.

The WOD was team Murph.

For time.
Run 2km together
Split the following work broken up in any way you want:
- 100 pull ups
- 200 push ups
- 300 air squats
Run 2km together.

So the middle work could be done and 20 sets of Cindy (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats) or 10 sets of double Cindy.  Each team member doing half the work.

My first run was 10:22.  I wasn't impressed, but it was really hot and humid out.

I did Cindy for 10 rounds, waiting for someone from another team to do a round before staring my next. Went really well, I only started to feel the push ups in the last two rounds. I expected them to be hard, so was happy to make it 8 rounds bofore starting to suffer.  Pull ups were a snap. First round I did 6, so I waited until round 7 or 8 to do 4, to compensate.  Air squats were fine.  A bit slower than usual, but I knew I had another run.

Second run was brutal. Shoulders were tight, I was unbelievably hot, even with Kiza's bandana soaked in water on my head.  Took me an incredible 14:37 for the second 2km. 

I was wiped.  Really glad that's over.  I bit disappointed I didn't have a partner. Oh well. I did the work, that's what counts.