Crossfit log for Monday. July 25th

Just me and coach Alex this morning. That was a bit weird, but kinda nice too.

Strength was 1 rep max pause front squat+ front squat.

245# was good and hard.

After that was 3 rounds of 10 good mornings (95#) vs 5 strict knees to elbows on the rings, keeping hollow. 

Forgot about the hollow part on the first round, glad I remembered, they were easier that way.

The wood was really good.

4 round of:
-10 unbroken front squats  155#/105#
-9 handstand push-ups
-7 pull ups

Initially planned to go 135#, but 4 rounds, man, and every I stray to far from women's Rx, I regret it. Finally decided on 115#.  Could have done a bit heavier.  Maybe even 135# but it would've sucked so bad.

Did bear hspu, which allowed me to keep moving.  Pull ups were a snap.

Finished in 7:35.  Happy with that.

Crossfit log for Wednesday July 6th

A bit of s strange day back at the gym.

Started with a 14 minute AMRAP of alternating tasks
Odd: 3 overhead squats, increasing weight
Even: 5 started box jumps, higher than WOD height

I did 65#-75#-85#-95#-105#-115#-125# for the OHS, in my nanos! Solid.

Did 30" for the box. Good enough for me.

Then the less fun part

3 round, ran out of time for 4 rounds, of:
50m asked pull sprint
300m run
3:00 rest

The sled pull with 115# of plates on the sled was fine. The run after, not so much.

Glad it's over.

Accessory log for Monday, June 20th

Brought my new toy to the Y. One of my handled barbells or farmer carry barbell.

After doing my postal homework on my hips and thoracic extension i got to work batting up my obliques.

I did 6 rounds of
- 5 one arm deadlifts left hand
- 50' suitcase carry left hand
- 5 one arm deadlifts right hand
- 50' suitcase carry right hand
110#

Brutal. Next time 8 minute AMRAP.

Accessory log for Monday, June 13th

Went to the Y.  Yes I'm actually logging it for once.

Did one-armed deadlifts, 1 set of 8 each side at 135# and 1 set of 5 each side at 185#.

185# was rough.

Then I did some rows on the pulley machine, but to change it up I used a rope attachment to simulate a rope pull.  Not great.  Grip got slippery and made it harder than the handle way.  I felt it more in my hands than in my lats.

It was worth a shot.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, June 7th

You'd think more test makes for better performance. 

Did some accessory work at the Y yesterday, and mobility work on Sunday (I've really got to log those workouts)

I did 120 alternating rows on the outlet machine, in sets of 20 each arm for 3 sets. Decreasing weight each set, 60, 45, 30 (I assume it's in pounds) but that doesn't seem to justify how smoked my shoulders felt today.

So today. First day for Coach Nikki. The warm up was 6 min of 10 kettle bell swing. 10 push ups, 10 air squats.

Strength work was push press, 4 sets of 8 @ 60%-65%-70%-75% of max. I did 5# more for each, because barbell math.  115#-125#-135#-145#(6).

Got really hard at 135# and wasn't able to finish the last set at 145#

Then was close grip bench vs. landmine rows. 4 sets of 8 bench and 10 rows.

I used 135# on the bench for the first 2 sets, then whatever Joee had on her bar (around 95#) for the third and didn't make the fourth for lack of time.

I did all the rows, using 20kg of smaller plates, for better range of motion. Dropped to 15kg for the last 3 sets.  Lats were smoked from yesterday.

WOD sucked so bad.

For time:

- 1000m row

4 rounds of:

- 10 power cleans  115#/85#

- 10 handstand push ups

Used 95# on the bar and did bear straddle hspu.  Sucked. So much. 13:29.  

Accessory log for Tuesday, May 17th

Took the time to go to the Y at lunch.

I did a variety of accessory work.

Landline rows, 8 each side empty bar then 2 sets of 10 with 30#of plates on it.

Then i did the openers, lat/triceps, bicep, shoulders.

Then the thoracic opener with the dumbbell.

Had a very successful couple of sets of overhead squats, in my nanos! Booyah!

2 sets empty bar. 1 set 95#, 1 set 135#.

Getting better all the time.

Finished up with wrist roller, 3 sets at 30#

Might be sure tomorrow.

Crossfit log for Wednesday, April 20th

Woke up like an hour before my alarm, ugh.

Given my schedule these days, I can't afford to miss any classes, so I got myself to the box this morning 

Warm up was 4 minutes of 8 side lunges, 8 glute bridges and 8 kips swings.

Started with 3 rounds of alternating (which apparently was supposed to be 4 rounds)

- Hip Belt Squat 12 reps, using same weight per set 

- rest 1 min 

- Landmine Row (Single Arm) 8 reps, using same weight per set 

- rest 1 min

used the 32kg kettle bell for the squats and 20kg of plates for the rows.

 

Then got through 2 of the 3 rounds of 

- Front Racked Barbell Box Step Up 16 reps (8 each side) 20 inch box

- rest 1 min 

- Strict Pull-up at bodyweight 

- rest 1 min

Used women's bar 35# for the step ups and did 5 pull ups per round.

The WOD was good. 

 5 rounds for time of: 

- 12 Overhead Squats, 95#/65# 

- 8 Pull-ups 

- 4 Handstand Push-ups

But 5 rounds is a lot.  Used women's Rx for the bar and the OHS were solid.  The best I've ever done.  Pull ups were a snap. 

Tried HSPU with an abmat, go trough 2 rounds like that, then did the bear push ups variant,  straddle stance, hands as close to feet as possible, push up as vertical as possible.  Did that for the last 3 rounds.  

11:33 happy with that.  Wasn't last.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, April 12th

Really didn't want to get up this morning, but since Kiza is away again, this was my last chance until Friday.

So I got up.

Warm up was 4 minutes of shuttle run + 5 push ups.

Strength work was out of the ordinary,  first 3 alternating sets of 6 deficit deadlifts and 8 landmine presses each arm, on 1:00 rest between each set.

Used 205# for the deadlifts and a 25# and 15# plate for the landmine presses.

Part two was another 3 alternating sets of 10 double kettle bell swings and 8 weighted dips.  Again on 1:00 rest between each set.

Used 2 16kg kettle bells and a 25# plate for the dips.  But I didn't make it through the last set.  Meh.

WOD was a core killer

Did women's Rx + 10# (easier to load the bar)

3 rounds for time:
-  7 shoulder to overhead  155#/105#  - did 115#
- 10 toes to bar
- 20 abmat sit ups.

First round was a breeze.  Going back to the t2b after the sit ups was a rude awakening.

Managed to keep moving  finished in 8:03. 

Core will be sore for a couple of days I suspect.

Accessory log for Wednesday, March 30th

Trip to the Y after lunch to channel my inner Julien Pineau.

Started with foam roller on my lats/back and ribs/intercostals.

Then I did some land mine rows, 8 reps at 25# on the bar, 6 reps at 50#.

Then I tried some 1 arm dead lifts with 135#.  That was hard, hard to balance, hard to grip, hard to lift.  Got easier with every try.  Did 3 sets of singles then two sets of doubles.

Followed that with RDLs  8 at 135# and 2 sets of 5 at 185#.  That might hurt over the next few days, haven't done those since before the Open.

Finally, I did some hamstring streches, to hopefully stave off the worst of the soreness from the RDLs.

Good workout.

Accessory log for Tuesday, March 29th

My Y visit was all about Strongfit and physio.

Did some of my drills for thoracic mobility and rolled out my glutes and hips.

Then did the Strongfit tricep opener (which is really a lat opener) and then some one-arm-overhead carries, one lap with a 16kg kettle bell and 2 laps with a 20kg kettle bell.

Then I did farmer dumbbell carries with 2 85# dumbbells, followed that up with suitcase carries with one 85# dumbbell.

Good hard work.

Crossfit log for Tuesday, March 29th

With the Open for 2016 over, and 4 days of inactivity under my belt, today was back to the grind.

It was not a fun workout.

Warm up was a shuttle run, 10 bar rows and 10 air squats for like 3 rounds.

Then for strength work we did 3 sets of 3 front squats. Did 225#, 245# 255#

Followed that up with 3 sets of 8 bent over barbell rows, did the first set subinated, much to the protests of my coach, so the 2 other sets I went pronated.

135#, 135#, 145#.   I'm not nearly as bent over as I feel. 

The horrible WOD was an increasing rep scheme couplet:

9-15-21 of
- power snatch 95#/65#
- row for calories

Should have done women's Rx, but did 75# instead.  First round was a dream, flew through it.  Back to the snatches after the row was not so fun.  Made it to 9 before dropping, but that was a fight.

Third set of snatches was supposed to be 7-7-7, but ended up 7-7-4-3.

And that last row was just dismal.

Oh well, back at it.

Mobility and accessory log for Thursday, March 3rd

Had a good session at the Y today.

Started with some thoracic mobility drills with the foam roller called t-spine smash with overhead extension bias, using a foam roller as a pivot point and a kettle bell instead of a barbell as counter balance, plus I added a resistance band around my elbows to help keep them locked out.

Rolled my ribs and lats, then did my dumbbell/bretzel drill, on the first try I just couldn't find the floor so I lifted my knees just to see how far I was, and hit the floor right away, I was like a quarter inche from touching before giving up.

The next four reps I was able to touch the ground no problem. 

After that I did some one handed carries with the kettle bell, man that sucks so bad. 

Dave and I also did a couple of handstand drill for fun.

That was enough for mobility.  Then I did some rows on the pulley machine,  8 at 75#, 8 at 135# and 6 at 150#.

And to close out I did some wrist roller, two sets at 17.5# and 3 at 25#.

My forearms were toast after that.

Hit the steam room and a quick shower and was out of there.

Good stuff.

Accessory and strength log for Wednesday, March 2nd

Snow storm, slept in.  Probably didn't have to, but I did.

Went to the Y at lunch and kicked the pants out of my shoulders.

Did stretching and rolling, on my armpits, intercostals, pecs, lats, everything.

Then I did my super bretzel thing.  Can't find any videos, I may have to make on of my own.   Basically, lying on my side, knees and hips bent at 90 degrees, like sitting, dumbbell in hand extended towards the ceiling.  Bring elbow to ribs and lower behind twisting thoracic spine, keep knees stacked on floor, rotate to end range, trying to touch elbow to floor.  Took me 3 reps to get contact this time  (took me 5 reps at physio). Progress.

Then I did some back squats, after a couple of overhead squats to see if the work helps. Too early to tell.

Did 3 triples at 255#.

Before I left I did some 1 arm overhead carries with a 16kg kettle bell. Trying to pull my ribs down with my obliques, and trying to stay locked out overhead.

Man that was hard!  I guess that's the point.

Attacking the weaknesses. 

Accessory log for Wednesday, February 24th

Quick trip to the Y and it was a good one.

Started with landmine rows but had overhead carries with suspended kettle bells version 2.0 on my mind.

I did on set each side of the land mine rows with empty bar then jumpe right into a working set with 60#, might have been a big jump.  But I got through 6 reps each side.  Felt a bit anti-climactic so I did another set of 8 each side with just the 35# plate.   Felt a bit better after that.

Then I go the bands and a weighted bar I assume they use for bootcamp classes or something.  (I'll next time what they are actually for) 

It weighs about 10#, not quite a long as a barbell, so my hands were a bit closer together, but not too much. Started with 12kg kettle bells, since the 16kg ones last time were so heavy. 

With the lower weight of the bar and possibly because my grip was closer, the 12kg wasn't enough.  Bumped it up to 16kg ~35# per side plus the 10# bar makes for 80#.  That was challenging.

The other thing I changed up was not doubling up the bands, so the the kettle bells hung almost to the floor instead of around my waist. 

This made is easier to drop, and with the lighter bar made the swinging less violent.

So I did 4 sets of carries the width of the gym and back.  1 trip with 60# ish and 3 trips with 80# ish.  Really challenging. Obliques were fire, traps and shoulders too. 

The guy from last time showed up after my second trip, so I got to give him the "I worked out the kinks" jab. 

All is well.

Accessory and mobility log for Monday, February 22nd

Went to the Y to work on mobility and then got the crazy idea to try an overhead walk with kettle bells hanging off the bar for shoulder stability.  

Strongfit use a yoke for this kind of overhead work, but I've seen a few guys do this with hanging kettle bells.  (Like this) but used a barbell and 16kg kettle bells.  Too heavy.  Was going to go lighter until new guy, "fitness trainer" called me on it saying it was way too risky and proceeded to suggest alternate exercises.  I wasn't going to argue and wasn't really planning on doing this drill anyway, so I moved on, but I still a little angry that he called me on it. And he approached me like he was curious about the drill.  (Even he admitted that it was a dick move to broach the subject like that, and I know he meant well, but if there is a next time, I'll shut him down).


Next time I'll use the 12kg kettle bells and one of the lighter mobility bars. And I'll not double up the band so the kettle bells will be closer to the floor in case I have to bail.

After that I did my grip strength drill with my make-shift wrist roller,  did 2 reps at 17.5# and 4 at 25#.  Forearms were toast after that.

Then I did my thoracic mobility drill but didn't do the hip drill because I didn't bring my resistance band.

Done.

Accessory and Endurance log for Wednesday, February 10th

My visit to the Y was not fun, but necessary.

Did my tabata run a day  late because of work, I missed yesterday's lunchtime workout.

Bumped the speed to 12.2 kph (4:55min/km) and it went well, as well as such a torture session can go.

Was going to do heavy cleans, but my post physio back is a bit sore and we are doing 1 rep max cleans tomorrow morning.  So I wasn't very motivated.

I did some landmine rows, a la Strongfit, 1 set of 8 with the empty bar, 1 set with a 35# plate and a final set to failure with a 35# and a 25# plates. 

I tried some cleans after that but it wasn't feeling right.  The pull was fine but catching wasn't right.  So I bailed on that and did some seated pulley rows 90# for 8, then 150# for 5 sets of 5.  (maybe 4 sets, I may have lost count)

And steam and done.

Accessory and strength log for Monday, February 8th

Slept in this morning.  Much needed. So the Y was accessory work and overhead squats.

I worked every problem area, shoulders, hips, aductors, thoracic spine, the works.

I did the "tricep opener", "bicep opener" and "shoulder opener" from Strongfit Accessory Work playlist , sadly the videos have been removed, but thankfully I got to watch them.

Did breathing into my lower back while in a supported deep squat with feet and knees together, to relax my mid back.  Did bretzels, rolled around.  Did some weighted lateral stretch of the aductors. Did some of the old Ido Portal squat drills. 

Did some long pause back squats to get into that deep strong position.  Then started on the OHS.

Squat position was pretty good.  Better than it has been.  Worked up slowly.  Big sets at lower weight.

Got up to 115# for triples, the singles at 125# and 135#.  One of these days, I'll have a breakthrough.

Endurance and fail log for Thursday, February 4th

Well that sucked.

Thursday 2km row time trial.  Scraped in under 8 minutes at 7:57 (5 seconds worse than last week). 

Started out strong.  Too strong perhaps.  Focused on form and was able to pull under 1:40/500m.

Naturally that didn't last, but I was well under 2:00 at 500m.  That buffer wasn't enough.

Meh.

Then I worked on power snatch.  Took my time warming up, but had no energy.  Maxed out at 115# doing triple.  Bailed after the first rep.

Moved on to RDLs, but that was no better, my warm up set of 8 at 185# was all she wrote, didn't even load the bar at 225#.

Called it a day.

They can't all be good.

Strength and accessory log for Wednesday, February 3rd

My trip to the Y had to not involve my back.  I wanted to stretch it and roll it out but not tax it so I could work out the tightness.

I wanted to do some accessory work too, so I decided on some strict press/push press work (despite the hspu stuff from this morning), and some supinated barbell rows.

It wasn't a great workout, but I got it done.  I stretched my back in a feet together squat, holding a post, breathing into my lower back between sets.  I rolled it out a bit with the peanut.

Maxed out the strict presses at 125# and the push press at 155#.  Did a warm up set of rows at 145#, 3 sets of 3 at 175#, wasn't great. Then peeled back to 155# to failure at 6 reps.

I tried some straight arm pull downs on the pulley machine, I'd like to work these in as accessory work. We'll see.  Did a set of 8 at 75# and tried a working set  at I think 105#, the labels are gone on the stack, but that was too much so I dropped it what I can only guess was 90# (I may be totally wrong on these numbers except the 75#)  and managed 5 reps. 

Meh.

Rolled out my back some more with the peanut and then rolled my glutes too.  Back feels way better now.  So there's that.

Accessory log for Monday, February 1st

Went to the Y.  Tons of people, the new year's resolution crowd hasn't given up completely yet.

Did supinated barbell rows.  Warm up was empty bar for 10, 135# for 8. Then sets at  155# 3-5-5-5

That'll do.

After that I did some clean and jerk but wasn't into it, so I hit the steam room and then I left.

Meh.