It's been a few days...

...yeah, like 20 since I have posted. I've still been putting in the work, and definitely riding my mountain bike more!







MONDAY

A. Snatch Balance: 1-1-1 - worked up to #135 on these, felt solid. 

B. Snatch: EMOM 10 started at #95 and build to #155 - all of these felt solid.

C. HBBS: 5-5-5 #275 - felt off a bit, wanted to hit #300 for 5, I'm not quite there yet.

Then:

8 min time cap: 1 muscle up, 1 deadlift #275. 2 muscle ups, 2 deadlifts #275, etc)

Finished 5 full rounds and 4 muscle ups on the final round. Couldn't string more than 2 together today. Didn't feel very powerful on the kip, nor do I have the strength right now for multiple strict.  Deads were not an issue.

Then:
10:00 Z1 of choice (first 10 minutes of my bike ride stayed in Z1 today). 

Monday July 7th, 2014

Back at it after a great couple of weeks of vacation (more on that later)!

MONDAY

A. Hang Snatch - heavy(ish) singles; 5 x 1 @#125 - these felt surprisingly good. I felt like I was getting under the bar better today than the one day last week.

B. Clean and Jerk. 5 x 1 @#175 - these were solid. Felt ok.

C. FS: 2 x 2 @#215 - these felt off. I wasn't comfortable in the front rack at all.
THEN

3 rounds for time: 

20m #375 yolk carry

3 bar MU

45 DUs

I finished in 5:20. The yoke carry felt heavy! I had to break up the muscle up, couldn't find a groove on these and the DUs (had to use Jason's rope since I seem to have donated mine to CrossFit Key West) had a miss in each round. Overall it was ok, I kept moving and tried not to get frustrated. 

This was a solid training day to get me back on track, now to get that nutrition dialed back in...

Tuesday June 10th, 2013

A. Jerk (Split): 2 sets of 3 at 70%, 1 set of 3 at 75%, 2 sets of 2 @80%
#165, #180, #190 - these felt ok, felt solid dropping into the split.

B. Push press: 1 set of 4 @80%, 3 sets of 3 @ 85%
#175, #185 - the sets at #185 were a grind at the end, just kept telling myself that is where the improvement comes. You have to push and finish strong.

C. Snatch High-pull, 2 sets of 5 @ 75%, 2 sets of 5 @80%
#135, #140 - didn't feel like I was getting as low as I should, felt I had to much early arm pull.

Then5 Min AMRAp: 

15 KBS (#70), 15 Pushups (hand release)

Finished with 4 rounds, 15 KBS and 2 hand release push-up. The KBS went unbroken for all 5 sets, and the first round of push-ups was solid, and then proceeded to kick my tail!

Monday June 9th, 2014

A. High Bar Back Squat - 3 sets of 10 at 73%
#245 - first round was a bit tough, might have been the 46 miles and 3000 feet of climbing on the CX bike yesterday. Round 2 went better, and I started to run out of steam a bit on round 3. My knee was a bit swollen, but I think it may be from a slight tweak in the hamstring. I didn't have any knee pain while performing any of the movements.

B. Hang snatch (below knee). 2 sets of 3 @70%, 1 set of 3 at 75%, 2 sets of 2 @80%.
#115, #125, #135 - these felt pretty solid, still pulling way high and not getting under quick enough, but I think I'm getting better. It feels smoother and "hit-able"

C. heaving snatch balance + OHS. 1+2 reps x 2 sets at 70%, 1+1 reps x 2 sets at 75% (of OHS)
#140, #150 - the first 3 set felt good, got a bit stuck on the second set of #150, couldn't quite drop under, but I kept going until I finished them

D. Deadlifts - 3-2-1-1-1 rest 3:00
I worked up to #355 for a heavy-ish single, wasn't going to push past my form on these.

The week that was

I have gotten a bit behind the curve posting this week, so I'm just doing a summary.

MONDAY

A. Back Squat (high bar) - 3 sets of 10 @ 70% 1RM 

I used #235, weight wasn't an issue, I got spent a bit toward the end.

B. Hang Snatch (below knee). 2 sets of 3 @ 70%, 3 x 3 @ 75%

#115, #120 - these felt good, really solid at these weights

C. 1 Heaving snatch balance + 2 OHS. 2 sets at 65% (of OHS). 2 sets at 70%

#135, #145 - these felt solid, I probably need to retest the OHS for a max.

D. Work up to a max deadift in no more than 15 minutes

I worked up to #385, #20 less than my PR, I may have been able to pull that again, but I felt a "backy" on these today, so I stopped so that I'd be able to train the rest of the week. 

TUESDAY

A. Jerk: 2 sets of 3 at 70%, 3 x 3 @ 75%
#165, #180 - these felt pretty good today.

B. Push Press: 3 sets of 4 at 80%, 1 set 3 at 85%
#160, #170 - felt smoother on these than last week. I was able to keep my feet set and not leave the floor on these.

C. Snatch High pull 4 sets of 5, 75% of snatch max
#125 - these felt fine


Then:

5 rounds: 50 DU's, 12 KB Snatch/Arm, #53
I finished these in 9:07 was unbroken on my first and last rounds of DUs. I went unbroken on the KB Snatch, I found a rhythm on these, my technique is getting better.


Wednesday

A. HBBS 5 x 5 @80%
#270 - these were tough toward the end.

B. Hang clean, (below knee) 2 sets of 3 at 70%, 3 x 3 75%
#170, #180 - felt ok, not quite as quick as last week.

C. Clean pull from 2" riser, 2 sets of 3 @ 90% (of clean), 2 sets of 3 at 95% of clean
#215,  #230 - these feel awkward still.

D. Stiff Legged DL: 3 sets of 5 at 65% of backsquat max
#205 -  these felt ok.

Session 2 - Crossfit Countdown

After a visit to the dentist, I met up with Gerald Sasser and John Davis at Crossfit Countdown in Ashland. I told John the next time I was in the area, I'd drop-in and train with him. They were hitting a workout that Spencer Arnold had come up with:

For time:

50 DUs

15 KBS #53

30 foot handstand walk (I subbed 10 shoulder touches on the wall in handstand)
100 m farmer carry (2x#53 kbs)

75 DUs

20 KBS

60 foot HS walk (subbed 12 shoulder touches)

100 m farmer carry'

100 DUs

25 KBS

90 foot HS walk (subbed 14 shoulder touches)

100 m farmer carry

I finished in 10:37. I was able to stay unbroken on the 50s, 75s DUs, and broke at 82 on the 100s. I stayed unbroken on all KBS. The most shoulder touches I strung together was 6 in the second round. Felt solid afterwards, would be interesting to retest this after getting HS walks!

After this John and I hit a climbing sets of 1 push press, 1 push jerk, 1 split jerk. Goal was to keep adding weight til failure. I worked up to #205 successfully for all three movements. I did hit #215 on the push press (new PR for me!)

It was cool to workout at a different spot with some cool people!

THURSDAY

A. Power Snatch 2 sets of 3 at 65%, 2 sets of 3 at 70%
#105, 115 - these felt solid, focused on little feet movement.

B. Power Clean and Power Jerk: 2 sets of 3 at 65% (of clean), 2 sets of 3 at 70%
#155, #165 0 these felt pretty good.

C. Snatch high-pull: 3 x 3 @ 75%
#125 - felt solid


Then:

20 m yoke carry #375
5 bar MU
20m yoke carry
4 bar MU
etc down to 1.

Finished in 6:04. This was interesting, really concentrated on being solid under the yoke and not rushing (definitely felt some new soreness the next day). I went unbroken on the first 5 MUs, 3-1, 2-1, 2, 1 for the remainder. I failed on 3 MU attempts on round 3, couldn't seem to get hip pop on the failures.

FRIDAY

Rest, I usually hit a mobility session, but I've been neglecting this and I can feel the toll!

SATURDAY

A. HBBS - 8 sets of 3 @ 85%
#285 - these felt very tough today.

B. Snatch: 3x3@75%, 2x2@80%
#125, #135 - these felt pretty solid, had a fail at #125, solid on the #135s

C. Deadlift: 3-3-2-2-1-1 rest 3:00
worked up to #345 today, these didn't' feel good at all, bar was bending, but the bumpers didn't!

Then

3 rounds:

400m row, 30 sec easy, 30 sec sprint
10 Hang Power cleans, #135

Finished in 6:30 and felt awful! First set of rows was ok, (1:50s and 1:30s), dropped to 1:50s, 1:40s for second, and could barely keep anything under 2:00 for the last round, didn't have any juice on this. Felt totally out of shape on this session.

 

This felt like the worst day of training I've had in a long while. My left knee is a bit swollen, gonna see how that responds to a "rest day" on Sunday.

Saturday May 31st, 2014

A. Back Squat 3 sets of 3 @ 80% (#270) - these felt a bit rough this morning. Legs felt tired. Probably poor nutrition, less sleep over the past couple days, and spending nearly 13 hours in a car between Thursday and Friday.

B. Snatch (Squat): 2 sets of 3 @70% (#115), 3 sets of 2 @ 75% (#125) - these felt fairly solid as I got loose during them, had a miss, but ok otherwise I felt.

C. Clean (Squat) & Jerk: 2 sets of 3 @ 70%, 3 sets of 2 @ 75% - tried to get under the bar quickly, and did ok for the most part, but I felt fatigued on these, very badly. Didn't have the ability to cycle these very quickly today.

then
4 rounds for time:
50 double unders, 20 KBS #70

6:47 -  I was totally gased on this one. Broken on the DUs, missed a couple in round 1 so I broke them before they broke me (for the most part) in rounds 2, 3, and 4. I was able to do the KBS unbroken. My first round was 1:20 and 1:40 for round two(don't have the splits for the other two due to clock on phone being covered by a text message). I am a bit off for the time being as I try to get stronger, but I should be able to knock this one out fully unbroken and sub 6 minutes. Just didn't have it on this one today. 

Tuesday May 27th, 2014

A. Jerk - 5 sets of 3 @ 70% 1RM (#165)

These felt a bit smoother than previous weeks.

B. Push press - 2 sets of 5 @75% (#150), 2 sets of 4 at 80% (#160)

These were ok.  Caught myself looking at the bar.  Front rack needs work in these and Jerk.

C. Snatch high-pull, 2 sets of 5 at 70% (#115), 2 sets of 5 at 75% (#120)
These went ok. Need to really drive through my feet.  A bit soft in the bottom.


4 rounds for time
400m row

10 1-arm KB clean & press (per arm) 1.5 pood

Finished in 10:46.  The rows stay mostly in the mid 1:40s on this, but on rounds 3 and 4, the final 200m pushed it up to 1:50.  Couldn't really sustain that low 1:40-1:30 pace like I had hoped on these. The KB C&J went good.  Unbroken on all with the right arm, broke once on each of the first two rounds then finished unbroken on 3 & 4.  Felt stronger with the single arm than in previous weeks.  

Monday May 26h, 2014

A. High Bar Back Squats3 sets of 10 @ 65% 1RM 

#220 on these today, go a bit fatigued on the final couple of reps. Otherwise no issues.

B. Hang Snatch 5 sets of 3 @70% 1RM 

#115 on these from the hang, felt pretty good.

C. Snatch Pull from a 2" riser. 4 sets of 3 at 90% of 1RM

#145 - forgot to raise them up. Pulled as high as I could, tried to get tight in the bottom.

D. 1 heaving snatch balance + 2 OHS - 4 sets

#125 - #135 - started with #125 and it felt fine, went to #135 and it went fine as well. I need to drive and drop low on the balance instead of riding it down!

Thursday May 15th, 2014

Power Snatch - 1 set of 3 @65% 1RM, 2 sets of 3 @70%, 1 set of 3 at 75%
#110 - #115 - #125 - these all felt solid today, better than usual. 

Power Clean - 1 set of 3 @65% 1RM, 2 sets of 3 @70%, 1 set of 3 at 75%#155 - #170 - #180 - all of these felt good as well. Front rack still has a ways to go.

Power Jerk - 1 set of 3 @65% 1RM, 2 sets of 3 @70%, 1 set of 3 at 75%#155 - #165 - #175 - the first set of these felt awful. Had no technique or rhythm. The subsequent sets felt somewhat better, but I didn't like how these went today.

Snatch High-Pull - 5 sets of 3 @75%#125 - these felt pretty good, it was nice finishing with a better feeling than the jerks left me with today.
5 (2-4-6 rep) ladders:
Pulups, Ring dip.

2 pullups, 2 dips, 4 pullups, 4 dips, 6 pullups, 6 dips = 1 ladder. Repeat 5x.

I finished in 5:34 on this one. Going in I thought my grip would go, but really it was the shoulders tiring out during the ring dips. I was all over the place on the dip, too much wasted motion.

Wednesday May 14th, 2014

A. Back Squat - 5 sets of 5 at 83% 1RM

#260 for 4 sets, and #270 for 1 set. I used the weight belt for this one today, my back felt a bit tweaky so I wanted to be sure to protect it on these. I felt solid coming out of the bottom on these. 

B. Block (or hang) Clean (mid-thigh) - 3 sets of 5 @70%

#170 - #175 - #180 - I broke these into singles in the first set, a double and singles in set 2 and 3. These felt better today than last week. I still need to get more comfortable in the front rack and dropping under the bar. Just need to get out of my own head on these.


C. Halting Clean Deadlift - 85% (of clean) x 3 x 3
#215 - went fine, tried to get comfortable in these.

then:


EMOM 10 minutes: 3 Muscle Ups

I held all sets to 3 unbroken. I had a blister develop on my 9th set of these. Otherwise these felt good, and I think my endurance for these has increased a lot in the past several months. 

Tuesday May 13th, 2014

A. Jerk behind the neck - 3 sets of 3 @75% of jerk 1RM, 2 sets of 3 @ 80%.

#175 and #190 - these felt better today, especially on the catch after each rep. I felt like I was getting lower on the split. 

B. Push Press - 1 set of 5 @75% 1Rm, 2 sets of 5 @ 80%, 1 set of 5 @ 85%
#150, #160, #170 - these felt solid, although looking at the video, I was breaking by over-arching my lower back, I need to keep that tight and solid.

C. Jerk dip squat - 85% (of jerk) 3 sets of 5.
#205 - these felt better, second and third sets felt better in the rack position.

then:


Amrap 5:00

5 1-arm KBS/arm
5 1-arm KB clean and push press/arm
5 1-arm KB snatch/arm. #53

I finished with 3 full rounds and 11 reps, I can definitely tell that my left side is weaker than my right.

Wednesday May 7th, 2014

A. Back Squat - 5 sets of 5 at 80% 1RM

#255 - these felt heavy toward the end, but I held depth without Oly shoes on these.

B. Hang Squat Clean - 2 sets of 5 @65%, 3 sets of 3 @70%

#155 and #165 for these. The squat clean were a mixed bag. Some felt ok, some felt sloppy, and I may have tweaked my back just a bit on them.

C. Halting Clean Deadlift - 80% (of clean) x 3 x 3, 85% s sets of 3

#195 and #205 - These were fine, I'm trying to get comfortable in the positions. 

then: 

"1/2 Nate"

10 minutes @

2 muscleups

4 HSPU

8 KBS@ #70

I finished with 6 full rounds and 1 muscle up. I was able to be unbroken on all the muscle ups and kettlebell swings. HSPUs are the big limiter for me right now. I went unbroken on the first set, and broke the others up into 2s, or singles. i had 1 fail. I took time between and didn't rush and fail multiple reps. 

Tuesday May 6th, 2014

TUESDAY
A. Jerk behind the neck - 5 sets of 3 @75% of jerk 1RM

 - 175 - I felt like I was able to get lower throughout these today, not that I didn't have a few wobbly reps. 

B. Push Press - 2 sets of 5 @75% 155 1Rm, 2 sets of 5 @ 80% 

- 155 - 165 - These felt felt better than last week, and the best "feeling" set was the last at #165. 

C. Jerk dip squat - 85% (of jerk) 3 sets of 5

-  205 - went fine, got a bit anxious on the last set. Also, my front rack has a long way to go!

then:

3 rounds for time:
10 pullups
350m row

Finished in 5:35, felt good on the first row (held in the 1:30s) and fell into the 1:40s for the second and third. The pull-ups felt strained. Tired shoulders on this one!

Monday May 5th, 2014

MONDAY
A. Back Squat - 3 x 10 @ 70% of 1RM. Rest 2:00

#220 - these went fine, depth is getting more comfortable. I wore the knee sleeves today to give me some support(my knees were a bit achy).

B. Hang snatch (mid-thigh) - 2 sets of 3 reps @ 105 - 65% of 1RM, 3 sets of 3 reps at 115 70%

#105 and #115 - these felt better this week. I still need to work that shoulder mobility and getting under the bar quickly into lockout. I am riding the bar down.

C. Halting Snatch Deadlift (hip) - 80% (of snatch) x 2 x 3, 2 x 3 @ 85% 140

#140 - #145 - these taxed me a bit. I tried to poscus on being solid in the pulls and not rushing, just feeling each position.

D. Overhead Squat - 2 sets of 3 reps at 65% of 1RM, 3 x 3 @ 70% -

#135 - #145 - these felt retty good, i was a bit off balance a couple of times.

then:
50 Burpees for time.

1:56 (again) - these felt better, didn't check pace at the 1 minute mark today. I think I can get that time down, and see what happens when I speed up my rhythm.

Monday April 28th, 2014

A. Back Squat - 3 x 10 @ 65% of 1RM. Rest 2:00

I went with #205 on these today, no Oly shoes either. I'm trying to improve my mobility without the added equipment for help.


B. Hang snatch (mid-thigh) - 5 sets of 3 reps @ 65% of 1RM

I used #95 on these. My turnover felt slow. I'm also dealing with a hyper-extended thumb that is an issue on the turnover and in overhead position. This just popped up Saturday morning, and only seems to be an issue on Snatching.


C. Halting Snatch Deadlift (hip) - 80% (of snatch) x 3 x 3

I used #145 on these. Not a problem, positions felt solid.

D. Overhead Squat - 5 sets of 3 reps at 65% of 1RM

I used #(5 on this as well, focused on depth and had the same thumb, wrist issue, although it felt better toward the end.


then:


50 Burpees for time.

I finished these in 1:56. I then I could have gone a bit faster at the start. i was at 28 at the minute mark. 

Tomorrow, I'll see if the thumb, hand issue limits me on any of the work. i'll play it a bit conservative. 

CrossFit Games Master's Qualifier Workouts

One of the lasting lessons from CrossFit is that we all have something that we can learn. As of 8:00 tonight (Monday), my 2014 CrossFit Games season has come to a finish with the close of the submissions of the Online Master's Qualifier workouts. This season, the top 200 were allowed to complete four additional workouts in order to earn a bid to Carson California and the 2014 CrossFit Games. When the format change was announced, my goal was to be in the top 200 athletes competing in my age group. After the Open, I finished inside the top 100 (94th). Getting a taste of success in the Open, I had aspirations of making a run at the top 50 for the Master's Qualifier. Things definitely didn't go as planned. I have a new appreciation for the programming of the Open and the Qualifier after this weekend. I found myself lacking in a few areas. I have found weaknesses to work on in the coming months. 

Workout#1: establish a 1 rep max clean

I was able to clean #240, my PR and a weight that I have been stuck under for a couple of months. I pulled #245 high enough to kiss the bar, but couldn't get under it. 

Take Aways: 

1. I need to increase my overall strength. #240 was well south of the #280+ of the games qualifiers. 
2. I need to be comfortable catching the weight low (squat clean). Which leads into
3. Increase my mobility in front rack position and getting low in all my movements. 

Workout #2: Amanda - 9-7-5 Muscle Ups and #135 Squat Snatches

Going into this season, I knew that snatching was a pronounced weakness of mine. I was able to hide this during the Open, since they were only #75. Amanda is a "Girls" workout named for Amanda Miller, a CrossFit athlete who lost her battle with cancer in 2010. This was a tough combination of high skill and strength. I thought I would handle the muscle ups well, and I did ok, finishing the 9s in 6-3 (45s). Moving onto the snatches, I began with several fails. At one point, I considered shutting it down, but I wanted to give an honest effort and assessment of myself, so I pushed through the fails and continued.  The 7s went fine in the MUs, and felt better in the snatches. I fell into as much of a rhythm as I could. The 5s were much the same, and I was able to finish sub-10 minutes. My score on the leaderboard won't reflect it, as CrossFit Games felt that I did not achieve full depth on one squat snatch and full lockout on another, and I was assessed a 30 second penalty. 

Take Aways:

1. I need to develop my skill in the technical lifts. 
2. I need to work on my mobility (both hips, ankles, and shoulders)
3. I need to not have to do video submissions! (I understand it's part of not working out at an affiliate, and I'm alright with that part. I believe that the modifications should provide specific feedback on the reps that were disallowed. The only way to improve is with feedback.)
4. I need to be more efficient in my muscle ups, still breaking in too many pieces. 
5. I need to develop positional strength. I felt weak in the back at times on this workout. I'm not comfortable in those uncomfortable positions yet. 

Workout #3: 3 round - 50 calorie row, 15 HSPU, 50 DUs. 

Going into workout #3, I felt that it was within my wheelhouse. I had hoped to finish this workout near the 12 min mark, hopefully below. I was very wrong about this! I finished just shy of 20 minutes, mainly due to my failure to master HSPUs. The rows were ok, I finished in 2:10, 2:42 (less transition time from DUs), and 2:58(less transition time from DUs). The DUs ranged from 33s to 48s. Aside from the HSPUs, I had less than 10 min of working time. I fell apart on the HSPUs. In a workout with 45 of them, I failed 21 times on the HSPU, mostly after locking out my shoulders, and then my heels would come off the wall. I felt drained, mentally, from this workout. 

Take Aways:

1. I need to get stronger overhead. I had trouble maintaining the lockout at the top of the HSPU.
2. I need to work on positioning and technique for my HSPUs. 
3. I need to make every rep count.

 Workout #4: 100 pull-ups, 100 wall balls for time

On paper, I saw this as a very demanding workout from the standpoint of recovery. Since tearing my hands over the last couple of months, I have become more cautious with high rep pull-up workout. I also felt that my quads would get smoked from the wall balls. Not even a day later, and I can say that the quads are tight, my hands are fine, but lats are fried. I finished this workout in 12:24. i had hoped to get close to the 10 minute mark for this workout, but I that didn't hold. I finished the pull-ups in just under 7 minutes and the wall balls in just over 5. I definitely need to get better with cycling the pull-up. 

Take Aways:

1. I need to be smoother in my pull-ups, and work on the butterfly pull-ups so that I can cycle them more quickly. I still break too much on my kip. 
2. I need to be able to go into that dark place and spend some time there, I feel like I paced myself too much on these workouts. 

Overall, I finished 154th out of the 200. Not what I was looking for going into the weekend. I definitely have some weaknesses to smooth out. I don't want to dwell on too much negative. I have a new motivation going forward. New goals. New expectations for myself. CrossFit is about finding out things about yourself. Going forward from here, I plan to deload this week, before getting back to training for 2015 next week. I hope to get out in the woods on some singletrack this weekend to reset my system. 

Monday, April 14th 2014

The CrossFit Games online Master's Qualifier is just a few days away, so I put in some work this morning.

A. Snatch Clusters 4 set x 2.2.2 with a 20s rest in between.

My working weights were #75, #95, #115 and #125. Mixed results on these. My technique is not dialed yet. 

B. Power Cleans 3 - 2 - 1 - 1

I worked up to #205 for a triple, #215 for a double, and singles of #220. I had very slow elbows today. My back was really arched, and I was catching with a full grip instead of a good front rack. 

C. Walking Overhead Lunges with Axle Bar x 12 steps

I completed the first four sets with #110 and finished the last set with #130. These felt surprisingly good compared to the rest of the work. 

D. AirDyne 5 sets 1 min high aerobic effort / 1 min easy spin with 1 min max effort for calories at the end

I held the high effort in the 300s on the wattage, and the low effort in the low 100s. This was a tough grind. I went immediately into the max effort after the last easy spin and was able to hold the 500s for the first 15 seconds, and then began to fall off. I was able to keep the entire minute over the 350 wattage range, I finished with 29 calories. This was a definite improvement over last week. I think I've put the sick crude behind me. 

Monday, April 7th 2014

Today was a bit bit heavier than usual and I was able to get some time in under the new Rogue Stubby Axle!

A. Snatch clusters 4 x 1.1.1, :20 between reps, rest: 2:00. Focus on speed/quality reps.

I worked up to #155, but I had a fail and two rather sketchy reps. I'm a little more confident in hitting this than a couple of month ago, but I really need dial these. My technique is not smooth, especially the second and third pulls. I'm not keeping it close enough.

B. Snatch pulls 3 x 3 rest as needed, 105% of max in A.

I used #175 for these(missed my math just a bit). These were not very smooth feeling.

C. Axel power clean. Work to a heavy single in 15 minutes

I was able to work up to #200 on the axle. I missed my first attempt and hit the second. These are going to take some time to get comfortable (relative term with an axle).

Then For time:

25 HSPU
25 TTB
25 STO, #165 on Axel
25m. Walking lunge w/ Axle in Front rack #165

I finished this one in 12:15. The weight and movements were tough. I strung together 9 Kipping HSPU to start, then fell apart on them. I could nt find a good cycle with them. I moved to the TTB and knocked them out relatively quickly, hitting 8-8-5-4 before moving onto the STO. The #165 on the axle felt heavy! I broke the reps up: 5-4(fails to lock out 5)-3-3-4-5 and then moved onto the lunge. The lunge was very tough! I broke twice on the walk. 

All in all, I felt pretty ok this morning. 

Saturday April 5th, 2014

Saturday:

A. Front Squat - build to a heavy triple
I worked up to #235. That weight felt good for a triple, except coming out the hole on rep 3 I had the bar slip out of my hand and I caught it with my shoulder and finished out the rep. I tend to be ok for 1-2 reps and then my hand (usually left) starts to slip away.


B. Weighted dip: build to a tough single
For whatever reason, these didn't feel like they were clicking today. I managed to hit #93 on this before failing at #103.




then for time:


2000 meter row

30 Thrusters #135

1000 meter row

20 Thruster #135

500 meter row

10 Thrusters #135



I finished this in 21:54. I held my row split to 7:36, 3:45, and 1:50. I had to breaak the thrusters up as follows: In the 30s I went 5-5-4-3-3-3-2-3-2. On the 20s I went 5-4-3-3-3-2 and on the final set I went 4-3-3. This was a tough piece. I tried to hold back on the row and I was able to get off the rower, chalk my hands, and walk to the bar to start the reps. I don't seem to be able to find a rhythm on the #135 thrusters. I seem to loose some hip pop to get the weight floating before locking out over head.

Wednesday - Thursday Training Sessions

WEDNESDAY
AM:
Run 400m x6 Rest 2 minutes


Splits were: 1:22, 1:21, 1:22, 1:23, 1:24, 1:26




PM

Power Clean and Jerk 10 X 1 EMOM


Starting at #155, I worked up #155, #165, #175, #185, #195, #205, #210, #215 (w/ 1 fail), #220, #225, and then hit for #230 after the 10 minutes were up. These felt surprisingly good.








+
EMOM 8 minutes:
Odds: 3 Muscle ups
Evens: 3 Bar Muscle ups


I went unbroken on these. I need to clean up my technique on the bar muscle ups, I was very right arm dominant. Also, cycling these, I began to initiate the swing more with my feet instead of my shoulder and driving my hips to the bar.












+

AD: 2 minutes for calories - I finished with 50 calories. This was BAD! I was at 29 after minute 1 and then struggled to push through to the end.



THURSDAY

A. Snatch tech work. 15 minutes.


This one felt rusty as I haven't really snatched since early in the Open. I was able to build to #155 today.

Lactic Endurance segment of today's training was a repeat of a series that I hit in late February.




3 Rounds
5 shoulder to overhead #155
7 burpees, AFAP
9 TTB


3:10, this was a bit longer than February (2:45), but I used #155 instead of #135. The weight felt heavy on the first round and then I was able to find a bit more of a groove on the second rounds. I started to slow near the end of the TTB, and on the final set I went 5-4 to cycle more quickly.


rest 4:00



3 Rounds
2 Bar Muscle ups
7 KBS - #88
30 double unders


2:45 which was 7 seconds faster than February. The muscle ups are still not as smooth as I'd like them. Using my right arm too much to push up and over, I need more hip drive. The 7 heavy KBS were ok, I really didn't want any more than the 7! I went unbroken on the first 2 sets of DUs and missed at 24 on the final set. overall not bad.


rest 4:00



30 Squat Cleans, #95


2:54 (31 seconds faster than February) This one really spends me. I went 10-5 and then doubles and singles. I was getting smoked in the lower back and my hamstrings were fried, not allowing me to reset low. I need to get more solid on the technique for this movement!