Accessory log for Tuesday, September 29th

Trying to maximize my workouts this week,  went to the Y to do some more accessory work and maybe a bit of lifting.

Started with Z-press.  Warm up set with 20# was aborted, my quads started to cramp, so I went to the wall and stretch my hamstrings.

This was interesting.  It has been a long time since I stretch them and usually after so long I can't get my butt anywhere near the wall with a straight leg.  This time however I was right up against it. 

Clearly the RDLs, Good Mornings and one legged RDLs are working. Like crazy.

So after I relaxed into a good stretch on each side, I went back and had a better time of it.  8 reps at 20#, then after a rest, 5 reps 40#.  Really felt that in the mid back.

Then I did some one armed, bent over, dumbbell rows.  I used my lifting straps since my grip was gone from this morning's farmer carries.  I did my warm up set at 60# for 8 each side and again, after a rest, 5 reps each side at 100#. 

This is the biggest dumbbell at the Y.  I'm not sure how I'll hit my goal of 120#.  I'll think of something.

After that I was itching to do some squats.  I want to see where my front squat stood. 

I warmed up and started lowering the reps as I increased the weight.  At 225# I did a double, then jumped to 255#for a single.  Then 265#. 

I put on 275#, my current PR, but at the last minute decided to add some 2.5# plates for a new PR attempt at 280#.  Wasn't easy, but I stood it up.  Nice to know I've still go some PRs in me.

Progress update.

New  Front Squat PR.  

Strength:
Bench: 230# November 19, 2014 (up from 225#)
Dead Lift: 365# September 17, 2014 (up from 355#)
Press: 145# September 9, 2014 (up from 140#)
Back Squat: 315# March 2, 2015 (up from 305#)
Front Squat: 280# September 29, 2015 (up from 275#)
Overhead squat: 155# September 22, 2015 (up from 145#) 

Power:
Power Clean: 205# July 4, 2015 (up from 195#)
Power snatch:  140# Dec 5, 2014 (up from 125#)
Push Press: 185# Sept 15, 2014 (up from 175#)
Clean: 205# Dec 13, 2014 (up from 191#)
Jerk: 205#  Dec 13, 2014 (up from 185#)
Snatch: 145# Apr 23, 2015 (up from 135#)
Clean and Jerk: 205# Dec 13, 2014 (up from 175#)

Crossfit log for Tuesday, September 29th

Partner WODs are good and all, but man you work way harder when someone else is counting on you.

I would have never put in as much work in a workout like that, if Kamil weren't waiting on me to finish so he could get going.

The warm up was a 5 min cycle of 5 pull ups, 10 superman rocks, 10 hollow rocks and 10 air squats.  Fun times.

Then we did seated box jumps at 70% of last weeks test high.  8 triples.  I started with the 30" box which is a couple of inches higher than my 70%, but whatever. Pat was adding a 25# plate for an extra 2.25", so rather than take it off each time, I just started using that after round 3 or 4.

After that was 3 sets of 5 touch and go deadlifts at 60% (I did 210#, using 350# as my max since 365# hasn't been possible in ages).   Not a problem at that weight, brought it down slowly and just tapped the floor.  No bounce.

And finally the WOD.  Ugh.

20 minute AMRAP. Share the work equally. 
- 400m farmer carry (24kg/16kg)  200m each
- 30 overhead squats (115#/75#)  Kamil and I agreed on 95#
- 30 bar facing burpees.  Ugh.

Our second round was faster than our first.  We only got two.  Kamil got 38m into the farmer carry, but only a full 400m counts as a rep. So it was for nothing.

Holy grip strength batman!  That was rough on the forearms.

My OHS was beautiful.  Had to be, my shoulder were so taxed, I had to really push my position to be able to do my share. Isabelle would've been proud.

Burpees suck.

Accessory log for Monday, September 28th

Gotta put in as much time as possible this week.  I'm going in for eye surgery on Wednesday, so I'll likely be out of commission Wednesday and Thursday.

I went to the Y with no plan.  I figured I have a ton of accessory work to do, I'd think of something.

I also want to work power through the middle, so I started with  power snatch.

Went well, did some doubles up to 115#, then 3 singles at 125#.  Felt good.

After that I did some supinated bent over rows with the 125#, realized I should have started with the Romanian deadlifts. so I peeled back to 95# and did a set of 8 RDLs.

Then I bumped it up to 115# for 5 or 6 more, can't remember.

Got some pretty good range of motion doing these, I think it's starting to work.

Then I resumed the rows at 175#.  I don't think I'm doing them right.  I'm going to peel back the weight and ask Dave to give me some pointers next time to make sure I'm working up correctly.

After that I did some ring rows. 2 sets of 8, focusing on grip and lat engagement and called it a day.

Felt pretty good.

Crossfit log for Monday, September 28th

After staying up late to watch the #SuperBloodMoon with the kids I opted for a bit of extra sleep and went to the 6:30 class.

It was neat to throw down with a different crowd.

It was a lot of work, but it was all timed so we finished early. 

Started with the shoulder routine: 10 band pull aparts, 10 block shrugs, 20 shoulder rolls, 10 lat raises, and 20 shoulder taps

I did the shrugs and taps with my feet on a box in a pike position.  Way easier and in the case of the taps, actually doable.

Then we did a mini WOD, 5 minute AMRAP of:
- 20 double unders
- 10 steps overhead walking lunges
- 7 chest to bar pull ups.

Double unders were a breeze.  Used a 35# plate for the lunges. Hard to keep my arms locked out.  Scaled the 4 muscle ups to 7 CTB. 

Then we did a 10 minute EMOM of 1 clean and jerk at 80% of max.  I did 165#.  We had the option of going up to max of 90% after 5 minutes, but I was working hard enough, so I stayed there the whole time.

Finally the real WOD, 10 minute AMRAP of :
- 5 ground to over head 155#/105# (scaled to 135#)
- 1 rope climb
- 15 abmat sit ups
- 1 rope climb

Would have been way faster at women's RX or even 115# but, you know, ego.

Rope climbs were fine.  Two pulls, every time.

Abmat sit ups were fine the first 3 rounds, round 4 however with time running out, they weren't fun at all.

Made 3 full rounds, + 19 reps = 5 gto+1 climb+13 situps.

Not bad.

Crossfit log for Friday, September 25th

I so wanted to get a good night's sleep.  Alas, it was not to be.

Both kids woke up during the night, within a half an hour of each other, and thankfully, Kiza dealt with them, but from that point on, my sleep was fitful, and not very restful. 

I was partly awake when the alarm finally went off, so I rolled out of bed to get ready.

Made good time, thankfully, because they finally set the clock to the correct time. It had been 5 minutes slow for the longest time, but now I barely made it on time.

Warm up was good.  5 minutes of 5 strict chin ups, 10 overhead squats 45#, 8 glute bridges. 

Then right to the WOD.

16 minute AMRAP of
- 4 rope climbs
- 6 ground to overhead 155#/105#
- 16 box jump overs

The notes said, try to go Rx.  So I did. Hard.  The ground to overhead turn into power clean push press.  I didn't have the core stability to jerk it. 155# really slowed me down.

Rope climbs were okay, box jump overs were tedious, but I got through them.

I managed 2 full rounds plus 3 rope climbs.

Finished off with death by chest to bar pull ups and double unders

1st minute 3 CTB, 2nd minute 20 DUs
3rd minute 6 CTB, 4th minute 20 DUs
5th minute 9 CTB, ....

For 10 minutes, maxing out at 15 CTB.  Once you can't complete the CTB within the minute, your workout is over.

I made it to 9 CTB, with 24 seconds left, but I didn't think I'd make the round of 12, so I switched to regular pull ups at that point and finished the workout.  I'll count my score at 3 rounds, not 5.

Accessory log for Thursday, September 24th

Had to make up for no YMCA workout on Monday or Wednesday (well, I got a bit done Wednesday, but still).

So first thing I did was some good mornings.  Did a couple at 45# and then did 3 sets of 5 at 95#.  This needs work.  Lots of work.   At least I'm working on it.

Then I did some supinated bent over barbell rows, a warm up set at 135# and a working set at 165# for 7 reps.  I think I'll get Dave to check my form next time and if it looks good, I'll bump it up to 175#.

Then I did some power snatch, from the ground and from the hang.  Worked up to 115#. Wasn't loving it, so I moved on to rings.

Did my 10 minute EMOM of 5 strict ring dips and still went unbroken for all 10 rounds despite push press this morning and destroying my shoulders on Tuesday. Rounds 9 and 10 were hard, especially 10, but I didn't come off the rings once.

I think I need to move on to something else (maybe ring rows) or up my game and go for 6 or 7 reps per minute.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 24th

In bed before 9pm.  Did actually fall asleep until 10pm! Grrr.

Whatever, still managed to get out of bed before 5am.  Was fairly early to the gym so had plenty of time to warm up.

Did the same shoulder routine as monday:  10 band pull aparts, 10 block shrugs, 20 shoulder rolls, 10 lateral raises and 20 shoulder taps.

Then we did push press for 1 rep max.  Topped out at 175# for 2, well 1 and a half, the first attempt didn't lock out, so I racked it again pushed harder and locked it out.

Jumped to 195# for a PR but there was no way.  Meh, had to go for it.

WOD was horrible.

1000m row - all out.  did 3:47
Rest 5 minutes
Resume WOD at 8:47
3 rounds for time of
15 lateral burpees over bar
25 wall balls.  20# ball.

The row was hard enough, and although 5 minute is a long time, it wasn't enough.

Finished in 21:06.  What a gasser.

Running and accessory log for Wednesday, September 23rd

Almost the end of this RunClub initiative I started at work and I can't wait for it to be over.  I've had 2 runners once, and 1 runner every other time, that doesn't make a club.  This is the fourth time I've tried to kickstart this thing and it's the same every time.

The first time, I didn't mind, I was training for races and I was going out anyway.  This time, I'd rather be in the gym.  I have a ton of accessory work I want to do and supplementary strength training, a day off to run with a non-club is a waste of my time.  Any way the race is October 8th or 9th. Then it'll be over.

So I ran with Karen, who used to be my sole RunClubber in the early days, which was nice.  We did the same 4km and a bit in 25:43.  Good pace. 

When I got back to the gym, I was itching to do something. Settle on wrists curls using a 35# dumbbell. Did 8 reps each side.

Then I did some one armed dumbbell rows.  8 per side with 55#, the got the big 90# dumbbell and did 6 per side.  I can go heavier.  Next time 100#.

I decide to go back to the wrist curls, using the 35# as warm up, I noticed there was a pair of fat grips to but over the dumbbell handle for a thicker grip, harder on the wrist.  So I used that with a 50# dumbbell.  Wow, that was hard, got 5 reps on the right, with great struggle and only 4 on the left.

Next time, if they're still there, I'll try 45# instead. If not, I'll still try 45#.

At least I felt productive. 

Accessory and power log for Tuesday, September 22nd

After the success of the this morning, I wasn't planning on anything big at lunch.

Since the platform was available, I started with some power cleans.

Did 1 power clean + 1 hang power clean  x2  at 45#, 95# and 115#.

At 135# and 155# I did 1 set plus 1 power clean.

At 165#, 175# and 185# I did just 1 power clean.

I was happy to catch 185# well above parallel with not problem.


I tried at 195# but it wasn't there, so I didn't push it.

Then I did some one legged Romanian deadlifts with a 24kg kettle bell.  I was a bit easier to balance than the barbell.  My left has more mobility than my right.  Once I master the kettle bell, I'll go back to the barbell.

Finally i did 4 sets of 4 ring pull ups. Focusing on grip and lat engagement. Went well.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, September 22nd

Well I didn't see that coming.

In bed just a little bit too late for the second night in a row and low nighttime temperatures made it a bit harder to get out of bed this morning. But I did, as usual. Made good time, nothing spectacular.

Warm up was a nice 6 minute affair with 250m row, empty bar good mornings x 10 and 15 box jumps (step down). Made it through two full rounds.

Then we did overhead squats, for 1 rep max. 

I stretched out a bit, in a deep squat and tried to get my hips as far forward as possible, then the same with my arms overhead.

When I did my first few warm up reps with empty bar, my position was remarkably good.  Did a few reps at 75# and at 95#.  Things were going well in terms of body position, so I added the 15# plates for 125# for a single, easy as pie. 

I figured my shoulders were still fairly fresh, my position was good, if I tried 135# or 145# (to match my current PR) that would likely be the end of my shoulders, so I decide to go big or go home.

I threw on two more 15# plates for 155# and went for it.  It was really hard to stabilize on the way down, but it held. I wasn't sure if I was deep enough but I bottomed out and got a bit wobbly, so I quickly stood it up and was able to maintain control.

PR.  Completely surprised me.  Confirmed with coach Connor that I was deep enough.  I still worry that I'm not, but seems like I don't need to worry anymore, my squat has improved that much.

So I was good to go home now, with that under my belt, but we still had the pesky WOD to do.

3 rounds  15-12-9 of:
- toes to bar
- thrusters 115#/75#
- handstand push ups

The first scale option was reduce the rep scheme to 9-7-5.

That's what I chose,  I kept the 115# barbell, and did the hspu without an abmat.

The most hspu unassisted I've ever done in a WOD is 13. This would be 21.  Coupled with the heavy thrusters, it wasn't a good combination.

I had to break them up from the get go. Which was frustrating but I go through the round of 9 and the round of 7 for 16 reps, and I even managed 3 of the 5 in the last round before I ran out of shoulders and had to resort to regular push ups for the last two reps.

So 19 unassisted hspu. That's huge. For me anyways.

Time was 14:16.  But I'm happy with that.  Hopefully I'll be around for the retest and smash that. But I'll have to use the same scaling options.

Progress update.

New  Overhead Squat PR.  

Strength:
Bench: 230# November 19, 2014 (up from 225#)
Dead Lift: 365# September 17, 2014 (up from 355#)
Press: 145# September 9, 2014 (up from 140#)
Back Squat: 315# March 2, 2015 (up from 305#)
Front Squat: 275# February 26, 2015 (up from 265#)
Overhead squat: 155# September 22, 2015 (up from 145#) 

Power:
Power Clean: 205# July 4, 2015 (up from 195#)
Power snatch:  140# Dec 5, 2014 (up from 125#)
Push Press: 185# Sept 15, 2014 (up from 175#)
Clean: 205# Dec 13, 2014 (up from 191#)
Jerk: 205#  Dec 13, 2014 (up from 185#)
Snatch: 145# Apr 23, 2015 (up from 135#)
Clean and Jerk: 205# Dec 13, 2014 (up from 175#)

Crossfit log for Monday, September 21st

Wasn't too tired this morning, despite reading until 10pm.

Up and out the door by 5:15am

Today looked like a rough one.

Started with a new shoulder routine that I suspect I'll be seeing a lot of:
10 band pull-aparts
10 Block Shrugs
20 Shoulder Rolls (10 each side)
10 Lateral Shoulder Dumbbell Raises
20 Handstand Shoulder Touches (essentially handstand walk)

You can see the demo here

The last part was rough on my wrist, I couldn't really do them, but tried a few with little success.

Then we did seated box jumps for max height.  Nailed 40", got on top of 42" three times but was unable to keep my balance.

After that was a clean and jerk for 1 rep at 90% of max.  I maxed out at only 175#, in hindsight I should have tried for 185# but I wasn't interested in pushing my luck.

The WOD looked horrible 4 rounds of:
6 squat cleans @ 75% of max  (I did 155#)
2 rope climbs.
run 400m

The run was only between rounds,  but not after the last round. It was like a rest interval. Ha.

Kamil had put an extra 5# for 160#, but I was getting ready to drop to 145#, but decided to try at 155#.  Good thing, it was totally manageable. I probably could have matched Kamil.

We stayed close the whole time, and much like last time, I beat him on the cleans every time. But it cost me, the run I used as recover, but not so much as to let him gain too much on me.  We are pretty evenly matched on the rope climb.

It turned into a race on the last round.  He got to the bar first but quickly caught him on the cleans, finishing just before him, and went straight to the rope.  As soon as we got back down he went right back up. Fuck!  So I jumped up and climbed for all I was worth.  We hit the top at the same time.

It was a good race.

18:17 of brutal work.

Looks like I can still keep up with the kids.  Kamil is like 16 years my junior. So yeah.

Oh yeah, this was a "test" WOD, it will be redone at some future date, presumably in the next one or two months, to see if the training is effective.

Crossfit log for Friday, September 18th

Not a bad day at Crossfit.  Legs are trashed though.

Warm up was 3 rounds of 10 glute bridges and 15 hollow rocks.  Nothing serious.

Strength work was back squat, 1 rep max.

Worked with Kamil, who got a nice PR at 275#.   We worked up fairly slowly,  I skipped his first PR weight at 270# and did 275#, which he then decided to try and nailed it.

Then I went to 295# for a single and it went up well.

Hummed and hawed over trying 305# or 310#.  I've hit 305# since my PR in March at 315#, but last time I tried I failed. I haven't hit 310# since March, so naturally I tried 310#.  I hope Alex sends me the video.  It was so close.  Kamil just pulled me back a bit when I got to my sticking point, to get a better position under the bar and then it went up.

305# would've gone up.  Oh well.  It was worth a shot.

Then the WOD took those tired legs and trashed them even more

750m row
50 wall balls  20#/14#
25 power cleans. 135#/95#

Did the row fast.  like 1:50/500m fast. so like 2:45.  Tanked.  Started in on the wall balls, 15, 10, 10, 15.  

The cleans I scaled to 115#, but after 5 it seemed I could go heavier,  I borrowed Kyle's bar since he was done (bastard), and did 5 at 135#, but that was heavy and my wrist didn't like it.  So the next 5 at 115#, still felt too light, so 5 at 135# again, which was heavy, so finished off at 115#.  Whatever.  I worked hard.

Accessory log for Thursday, September 17th

Really wanted to lift heavy, but tomorrow is max squat day, so I'm saving myself.

Plus we did max overhead press this morning, so overhead was out of the question.

Started with those face pulls to activate the rotator cuff. Then I did some z-presses.

I still lack the flexibility to sit with my back vertical any my legs horizontal and straight. I did the best I could and warmed up with 15# dumbbells.  The recommended weight is 40% of clean and jerk. So for me would be 80# or two 40# dumbbells for 5 or 6 reps, to near failure.  

I used 35# and got 6 reps, but my mid back was really taxed. Need to improve my position. 

So I worked on Romanian deadlifts, one and two legged with a 57# bar. 

I'm going to switch to kettle bell, I'm having too much trouble balancing laterally because of the bar, so I'll take it out of the equation.

I did some wrist curls with the same heavy bar and killed my grip. So the balance of the RDLs and the pull ups I did later were aided by my lifting straps.

I did 5 or 6 sets of 5 pull ups, spaced out amid RDLs and conversations with Dave Rapai.  I tried to really recruit my lats and not my biceps, given the straps I was able to take grip strength out of the equation for these.

Wasn't a big day, but felt productive nonetheless.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 17th

Another joyless workout. Yesterday was rough, slept in, no Crossfit, had a psychologist appointment with Clarisse in the early afternoon, so no Y at lunch.

Yes, you read that right, a weekday with no workout. I know right? I was going crazy by the end of the day.

So I practically jumped out of bed this morning, arrived early enough for coach Connor to say "you're early" , ready for an epic workout.

Yeah, no.

Warm up wad ok, 3 rounds of 10 wall balls and 15 band pull aparts.

Strength was retest strict press, 1 rep max. Warmed up to 125#, and jumped to 140#, not happening. Peeled back to 135#, and fought like a son of a bitch to lock it out. Grrr.

WOD was ugly:
- 2000m row
- 1 mile run
- 100 air squats

Row sucked, accidentally set it to calories at the start, lost time there, kept pace with Kamil, stroke and for stroke, for 500m, then it fell apart, finished well over 8 minutes.

Run sucked. Played catch up the whole time on tired legs.

Air squats sucked. Went full tilt in sets of 10, Kamil and Justin really picked up the pace when they saw me go, made it too 50, before my hips started to complain aggressively. I didn't catch them, but I made them hurt, which is just as good.

21:58. Glad it's done.

Strength and accessory log for Tuesday, September 15th

Went to the Y with front squats on my mind, plus accessory work, so I did some Jefferson deadlifts.  Google it.

Just light, like 65#.  Being careful.

Then I did some front squats, working up to a triple at 245#.  Happy with that.

Also did some wrist curls, need something to work on grip strength.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, Septermber 15th

Well I guess two great days in a row was too much to ask for.

Can't complain really, but today wasn't such a great workout.

The warm up was good.

5 minutes of 8 Romanian deadlifts (empty bar), 5 pull ups, and 1 shuttle run.

Then the eagerly anticipated low hang clean and jerk.

I was really hoping to do something awesome here, but it wasn't to be.

Wrist took a while to warm up.  135# was nice. 165# went up really well. 

Jumped to 185# and just had no explosiveness.  A lot like the snatch yesterday at 145#, except, the snatch was within 10# of my PR, but my clean PR is 205#, a full 20# difference.  So a bit frustrating.

I peeled back to 175# and it took everything I had to clean it. The jerk wasn't a problem, but man, I need to work on my clean.  I just need my wrist to heal a bit more first. 

So I'll keep doing accessory work in the mean time.

The WOD was a tiny little 6 minute AMRAP of 6 overhead squats and 6 handstand push ups.

I did women's Rx at 95# and kipping hspu, made two rounds.  Had no shoulders left for round 3.

So not great, but better than nothing.

Accessory log for Monday, September 14th

Fun workout today at the Y.

Was going to do some front squat to test out my wrist, but I completely forgot my lifting bag.  No shoes, no belt, no wraps, no knee sleeves, therefore, no squats.

So I figured I'd make Julien Pineau proud and do some accessory work.

Started with some face pulls (I hate the name of that exercise), to activate my rotators.  Then I did some supinated barbell rows.  Warmed up with 8 reps at 95# and a working set of 6 reps at 165#, as planned last time where 175# was a bit too heavy.  165# was perfect.  Hard, but doable.  I'll stay there for a couple of weeks and try 175# again.  I'd like to get to 185# before working on my dead lift PR.

Then I did some one legged Romanian deadlifts with a 40# mini barbell.  It was a bit lighter and easier to balance than the regular empty bar. I did 3 reps on each side but I was having trouble balancing so I decided to wait until later.

I moved on to the one arm bent over dumbbell rows.  I warmed up with 45# for 8 reps per side and my working set was 6 reps at 80# per side.  This went surprisingly well.  I need to get this up around 120#, so this is good.  The bad news is, I think the heaviest dumbbell at the Y is 100#.  Hmm....

Then I got out the rings and did my 10 minute EMOM of 5 strict press, with my phone myWOD app timer.  Maybe the timer helped, maybe I was fresher than last time, or maybe since I hadn't done any presses in the morning, I don't know what made the difference but I did all 10 rounds of 5 unbroken.  Usually I fade at round 7.  The last reps on rounds 8, 9 and 10 took time to lock out, and I had to really fight that last rep, but I never came off the rings.

It was epic.

Finally I went back to the RDL on one leg, and did 5 reps per side.  Got good depth, and position was solid IMO.

Really happy with this workout.

It's been a good day.

Crossfit and physio log for Monday, September 14th

I went to physio after Crossfit for the first time in several weeks (Rob was on vacation), and since my wrist was feeling much better this week, I was expecting a quick and painless visit.

I took all of labour day weekend off, 3 full days, and when I came back on Tuesday, it hurt worse than ever, really started to worry, but as the week progressed it felt better and better.

You can imagine my surprise when the needling found knot after knot, twitch after twitch.  Ouch.

Anyway it's on the mend.

In fact I PR'd my snatch from the hang on it before the appointment.

No actual WOD today, we did a 5 minute alternating 100m row 30 double unders for a warm up. Double under went really well.  I'm getting the hang of my new rope.

Then we did the 1 rep max low hang snatch.  I haven't topped 125# in ages.  I caught 125# on August 25th, but failed at 135#.  My 125# attempt today wasn't pretty but I got under easily. So easily it was more of a power snatch than a snatch.  So I knew if I committed to getting under it, I had more in me.

So I put on 135#, first try my knee touched the ground, no rep.  Tried again and nailed it.  Although I caught it a bit high.

Maybe if I hadn't had to take two attempts at 135#, I would've hit 145#, but as it was, all three attempts for a snatch PR (not even from the hang, even regular snatch) failed on the second pull, just not enough explosiveness at that weight with what fatigue I had in me.

Oh well, 135# is a PR from the hang

Then we did 3 singles from the ground at 75% of max. I shared Pat's bar at 105# instead of the 100# I had planned. For the sake of 5#, I just clean up my bar right away instead of at the end.

This was easy compared to what we had just done.

Finally we did 1 max set of strict pull ups. I'm pretty sure I've never done more than 7 in a row. 

I got 10, so I'm counting that a my new PR. 

Not a bad day overall.

Crossfit Team Series part 1, Saturday, September 12th

Kiza and I disagree with how hard this event was.

Maybe I'm a wimp, or maybe I just worked harder!

We had four events, most people spread it over two days, but since one of the events was a wash for our team, we figured we could manage three in one day and not have to come in on Sunday.

We started with the workout we couldn't really do, Event 4.  Linda can't do pull ups.  Well, as it was explained to me, Linda would have a hard time making 5 pull ups.

The workout was a 20 minute AMRAP of Thrusters and pull ups, first male/female pair do 5 thruster/5 pull ups, next pair does 10 of each, then 15... alternating increasing by 5 each round.

So my plan was have Linda and Brandon to 5 thrusters, then take all the time in the world to get through 5 pull ups, even with 5 minutes left, Kiza and I could get through the second round of 10 reps, then Linda and Brandon could do 15 thrusters, Brandon could do his 15 pull ups, and Linda could try for one or two more.

That would give us a score of 105 to 107 reps. And Linda would only have to do 5 pull ups (plus whatever she could muster at the end).

The reality was Linda had trouble with one pull up.  After several minutes of trying, she managed 1 rep and was struggling.  So we aborted that plan.

New plan, Kiza and I start, 5 reps of each, then Brandon and Linda do the thrusters, Brandon does his pull ups, Linda tries for one, WOD ends when Brandon is done, no point tiring out Linda, we still had 3 more WODs to do.

This gave us 50, and we weren't fatigued.

Next we did events 1, 2 and 3, in that order.

Event 1 was for time, girls once through together, then boys.
- 100 single skips each
- 75 calories on the rower  (shared however you like)
- 50 box step ups (shard however you like).

Plan fell apart at the row.  Skips are skips, but the plan was the first rower to go longer then start the steps ups while second rower recovered from a shorter row.

We had to break up the row more than just once.  So we just went until we go too fatigued to be effective and switched.  Boys and girls had the same issue.

I gave Brandon the secret to rowing for calories, slowing down the stroke rate and allowing the flywheel to slow down a bit before pulling really hard.

We did this one in 15:17, and were a bit winded, but not too bad.

Event 2 was the Grace ladder, basically alternating shared Grace, 5 reps at a time then switch, after 30 reps, switch pairs. Girls went first and split Grace at 65#, in 5 rep increments, then boys at 95#.  Round two girls weight went up to 75#, boys to 115#.  Third round got real, girls at 85# and boys at 135#. Brandon struggle locking it out at this weight, he was 3 reps shy of finishing the round.  We scored 177 reps in the 15 minutes allowed.

This was taxing.  I was pretty tired after that.  But we still had one to go.

Event 3: 30 minute cap, for time: Girl/boy pairs 80-60-40 of
- hand release push ups while other pair does a deadlift hold of 270#
- partner deadlifts  270# (one side has 90# the other 135#, so 2 plates on one, 3 on the other).

First round went pretty well,  we were fairly fresh and grip hadn't been tested yet.  Kiza and I held the 270# barbell at the waist while Brandon and Linda alternated 10 push ups each twice through for 40 reps, then we switched.

The dead lifts were hard with a partner. Because Kiza is shorter, she took a wider grip and I had to take a narrower one, my position was not great and my back started to bug me from the get go. But we managed, we alternated at 10 reps, 4 sets per pair.

This made round two harder, grip was starting to tire, I had to figure out my breathing, and my back was getting sore.  So we held the bar again, somehow managed to hold long enough for Brandon and Linda to get through their 30 push ups.

The push ups were the easiest part! We were pretty solid despite the problems I was having and finished in 16:15.

Can wait for the scores to be validated to see how we did.

Sunday came around, and I was really glad we weren't going back.  I was also really glad I wasn't running 23km like Kiza!

16:15

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 10th

I didn't like the dark place I went to today.

Struggled to get out of bed, but figured I'd be glad once I got there and got it done.

Didn't happen that way at all.

The warm up was worse than many WODs, and the WOD, well, Kamil may have gotten his revenge for me beating him yesterday.

For the warm up we cycles through 4 stations for 4 rounds.

Handstand hold, for max time
Deadlift for 4 heavy reps, not touch and go, reset for each rep
Strict supinated chest to bar pull ups
Bulgarian split squats, 8 reps each leg holding dumbbells.

Handstand hold were wall facing, nose and toes.  Fine, if not tiring.

Deadlifts, alternated between Kamils bar at 205# and Kevin's at 275#.

Pull ups, grrr, hate doing stuff I suck at.  Ended up doing jumping CTB only way I could get the range of motion.  Need to work on this.

Split squats were rough,  wimped out on one round and used the 25# dumbbells, the other rounds were 35#.  Those might suck tomorrow and Saturday.

The WOD was a partner workout.  Maybe teaming up with Kamil was a mistake, he really put the hurt on me.

12 min AMRAP of:
- 30 heavy kettle bell swings  32kg
- 30 alternating plate burpees
- 10 ring dips  (scaled down from muscle ups).

I would not have used the red kettle bell, since we weren't doing the muscle ups, I would have scaled to 24kg.  But not Kamil.

First round he does 15 reps, okay, I'm fresh, I can match that, but he had a break before the burpees, I did not, it went down hill from there. 

Second round I very clearly said do 10, then with my hands made it visually clear, 10, 10, 5, 5. 

So he does 15.  Fucker.  I do 5, get some chalk, 5 more, catch my breath and last 5.   And then were back on the fucking burpees. 

Round three, he go the message, we alternated sets of 5.  Too little too late.

We got to 19 burpees (collectively) at the buzzer.  So 2 rounds plus 49.

I was so dead at the end.

Well at least I worked hard.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, September 9th

I've had a few workouts lately that I push really hard, harder than usual. Today was one of those.

After the warm up of rowing 100m, 12 goblet squats and 7 strict push ups for 5 minutes, we did fairly light strength work.

4 sets of 4 back squats at 70%, so 221#, rounded down to 220#. And 5 sets of 5 strict press at 60%, 85#.


Did the squats with Pat, who was doing 210#, so adding 5# per side was a snap.  Did the presses with Kamil, since we use the same weight and as an added bonus, put the rack at the same height.

Didn't use a belt. Did sets of 5 for the first 2 sets of back squats, autopilot.

Not much to tell here.

The WOD wad 5 rounds for time
- run 200m
- 5 squat cleans, 205#/135#

205# wasn't happening, and I didn't think 185#would go either, women's Rx seemed too little, so I opted for 155#.  My wrist felt totally fine. Weird.

Before we started I noticed Kamil also had 155#, so I totally thought game on!

Running in lifters sucks, but cleaning in flats sucks worse. So I used my Asics lift trainers, it was the best compromise available to me.

First run was pretty much the same for everyone, but I finished the cleans before Kamil. Stayed ahead of him on the second run, and again faster on the cleans.

The run started to hurt, and he caught me at the end getting to his bar before me, but once again, finished ahead on the cleans. As I walked to the door catching my breath he passed me. I didn't let him get too far ahead, and we finished the cleans neck and neck.

He got a good lead on me on the last run, but he was hurting on the cleans at this point, I just hammered them out and finished 4 seconds ahead in 12:51

I was totally rolling on the ground moaning and grunting in a pool of sweat afterwards.

It's good to go to that dark place every once in a while.

Accessory work log for Tuesday, September 8th

Went to the Y with the idea of doing rings work.

Modified my plan to do 50 strict ring dips for time, to make it somewhat closer to my original workout of sets of 5 to failure.

Made it an EMOM of 5 strict ring dips.  So "to failure" didn't mean failure, or that it was over, it just meant less rest before the next round.

I made the 10 rounds, but barely, maybe the last reps was over the time limit.  Next time I'll bring my phone with the timer app.

But before I did that I did some of the Strongfit accessory work.

I started with good morning and tried to do some one legged Romanian deadlifts. Wow.  Once I figured out how to not round my back, that severely shortened my range of motion.  I'll need to keep working on these along with regular RDLs and Good mornings.

Did 2 sets of supinated barbell rows, one at 85# to warm up and 1 at 175#.  Last time (Aug. 31st) I did 145# for 6 as my working set, which wasn't that hard, so I wanted to get closer to 50% of my deadlift, which at 365# would be 185#.

175# was really hard, and I'm not entirely sure I'm doing them right.  I'm keeping my back set, but I'm kinda kipping them, using my hips to give the bar a bit of momentum and I'm bringing it up to about halfway between my navel and my sternum. I think that needs to be higher, but I really don't know. Nor do I know just how strict they need to be. 

This is one of those too many "experts" on the internet all saying different things.

In any event, I'll be taking it down to 165# next time and see how that goes.

After the ring dips, I did 3 sets of 3 ring pull ups, engaging my lats.  Grip strength still needs work.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, September 8th

My wrist is really starting to bother me. It'll be two months tomorrow that I injured it and it's still as sore as it was last month.

I took 3 full days off and this morning it was worse than last week.

I had to resort to paralette push ups  for the first round of warm as my first handstand push up was a complete fail.

Warm up was a 6 minute AMRAP of:
5 Handstand Push-ups
5 Strict Knees-to-elbows
2 Shuttle Runs

Running was fine, first round I did 3 instead of two.
Strict knees to elbows was really good.
By round two the hspu were doable, but I didn't even get through 3 rounds.

Strength work was overhead squat 4 sets of 3.

Worked with Kamil.  I was worried about my wrist on these, but warmed up on the hspu work and warming up on the ohs, it hurt but didn't hurt more as the weight went up, so I kept going.  Maxed out at 115# for the last 3 sets.

The WOD was a variation of Fran.

21-15-9 reps, for time of: 

Row (calories) 

Thruster, 95/65 lbs 

Chest-to-bar Pull-up

Scaled to regular pull-ups and 75# on the bar. Good choices.  Finished in 13:46, middle of the pack. Didn't really fade.  Last round unbroken.  Kamil and i started on the Thrusters since there weren't enough rowers for everyone.  Made the first set of 21 thrusters a bit easier to manage.

I need to time my row better, I used to get 1 calorie per pull, but lately it's been closer to 2 calories for 3 pulls.  Gotta let that flywheel spin down a bit between pulls.

Turned out better than I had expected.

Crossfit log for Friday, September 4th

Okay, I'm done. I'm so glad this week is over.  I've been exhausted.  Getting to bed too late. Doing higher volume even with fewer sessions. Doing accessory work targeting oft neglected muscle groups. Plus a nagging wrist injury.

I'm a mess.

This morning we started with 3 rounds of 8 romanian deadlifts at 0.5x bodyweight plus 25' banded monster walk one side, 25' the other side. (I skipped the last monster walk).  The RDL, were good, I'm really pushing to get as deep as I can to stretch those hamstrings under tension.

After that we did 3 sets of 3 back squats at 92%, which I estimated at 290#, so my last warm up set, which became my first working set was 275#, and already I knew I was in trouble, no glutes thanks to the lunges from the other day. Hamstrings were dicey,  everything has been taxed this week.  Set two, I upped it to 285# and that was challenging, but I did it.  I didn't bother going up to 290# for the last set, and just stayed at 285#.

It'll have to do.

I didn't really do the low hand clean and jerk 4 sets of 3 at 77% of max.  My wrist and lack of doing these of the past few weeks, I just wasn't into it.  I did a few cleans working up slowly, to test out my wrist for the WOD instead.

The WOD was a chipper:
- 15 heavy cleans  185#/ 120#
- 30 bar facing burpees
- 60 wall balls.

With my wrist, fatigue and lack of olympic lifting lately, I only managed 135#, tried 155# in warm up and it wasn't happening. 

Burpees were slow and systematic.

Wall balls were 4 sets of 15. 6 sets of 10 might have been better, the break between sets was sometimes excessive.

Was really glad when it was done.  11:18 final time.

Crossfit log for Thursday, September 3rd

Oh. My. Achers.

Still tired, but managed to not fall back to sleep after the alarm.  Got to the gym and faced one of the hardest workouts I've ever done.

The WOD itself was great, would've been fun on fresh arms, but that was not to be.

A quick glance at the scheduled work had us starting with bench press 5 sets of 5 at 77%.  But upon close inspection, that was only one of four stations we cycled through 5 time each.

No time requirement.  5 rounds of:
- bench press at 77%  for 5 reps
- supinated strict pull ups (chin ups) for max reps
- ab wheel for 8 reps.
- 1 arm bent over dumbbell rows for 8 reps each side.

Started with 175# on the bench, but it started getting heavy really fast, on set #3 I dropped to 165# and stayed there.

chin ups were victimized by the other work, first round was 7, then 5 and 5 then 3 and the last round I think I did only 2, I was so done.

Ab wheel roll outs were really hard on my elbows, holding my arm rigid throughout the movement, did the work, until the last round where I think I stopped at 5 reps.   I was so done.

dumbbell rows went well with the 50# dumbbell. 

I may not be able to use my arms for the next couple of days.

The WOD was a 10 minute AMRAP partner WOD, each member does a full round while the other rests.
- 1 rope climb
- 7 handstand push ups
- 9 kettle bell swings  32kg/24kg

Worked with Martin, who is similar strength to me, but has a way better engine and more bodyweight skills.  And Fallon was shadowing me.

So I was under a lot of pressure to go fast for Martin to get back to work and to keep up with Fallon.

Did I mention my arms were toast?

I rarely work as hard as I did today.  It was great but exhausting.

Running log for Wednesday, September 2nd

Only one runner showed up for the RunClub again this week. Same guy. I was hoping he wouldn't show so I could go do rings work at the gym, but alas, it was not to be.

Route was same as last time, just over 4km


Faster yet again, but 40 seconds, including a walk break at the foot bridge. Felt harder this time though. Time was 24:08

Crossfit log for Wednesday, September 2nd

Oh man, I almost didn't make it today.

Turned of my alarm and promptly fell back to sleep.

Woke at 5:21, 9 minutes to class start, any other morning I would have rolled over and said "forget it", but I missed yesterday, and I have run club at lunch, so I wasn't going to miss lifting.

 I jumped out of bed, grabbed my gear and hurried downstairs. I registered for class as my coffee brewed and guzzled my orange juice with my allergy pill while stirring my coffee. Guzzled that, grabbed my bags and keys and sped out the door.

I didn't drive much faster than usual, as I usually drive pretty fast.

Arrived at 5:35, but thanks to the slow clock at the gym, it was only 5:33! They were just starting the warm up. Yay me!

The warm up was 6 minutes.  40 double unders, 25 band pull-aparts, murder on the shoulders.

Then we did the 10 minute EMOM of 3 strict press at 67%, so 95# for Kamil and me. I went first this time, which was really weird, as I'm used to going right after him and not waiting for the clock to beep the next minute.

After that, lunges (what?! No back squat!?), front rack with 95# for 4 sets of 12 steps. Hard. Wrist held up.

 Finally the WOD, a 12 minute AMRAP of:
- 4 pull ups
- 3 chest to bar pull ups
- 2 muscle ups
- 8 shoulder to overhead 165#/110#
- 20 calorie row

Scaled the bar work to 5 pull ups and 2 jumping bar muscle ups, worked really well. Used 115# on the bar, women's Rx plus 5#, wise choice, it was hard on my wrist but once I got a rhythm going it was good.

Row sucked.

Made 2 rounds plus 15, all but the row  (thankfully).

I liked it.

Accessory log for Tuesday, September 1st

Slept in this morning, so my trip to the was a bit of a mess, since I'd already planned to do more accessory work, this time with the rings, I didn't bring my lifting bag.

But having missed the workout this morning I decided at the last minute to so the low hand snatch work. 

In all the confusion I forgot my rings.

So there I was, no rings, no lifting shoes or sleeves or chalk.  Argh!!!

So wearing my runners, I managed some snatches from the hang  3 sets of 3 at 70% (95#) which went okay.

I did some externally rotated face pulls with the band, to activate the rotator cuff muscles. 

Did some pull ups with neutral grip pull ups engaging the lats more than the biceps.

The I did some one arm bent over dumbbell rows.  Warm up set with 40lbs for 8 reps and 1 working set at 75# for 6 reps.

And that was it.