Thursday June 11th, 2015

A. Build quickly to a heavy complex of 1 squat clean + 1 hang squat clean + 1 front squat - hit #210
these were ok, I didn't use a belt or Oly shoes today. I could tell I got a bit loose on the bottom of the catch as the weight got heavier. Regripping for the hang was tough. I may have been able to push a bit more, but I tried to work up more quickly today. A year ago I hit #185 for a double from the hang (belt and oly shoes), these felt better.

B. Squat cleans #185 15x1 every :20 -  these were a mess to start, failed the first rep and another. I put up the full video, I could have cut the miss to start, but you have to take this as an honest whole. I got in a better rhythm as I progress through.

C1. Wt CTB Pull-Ups 2-1-1 #44-#53-#53 - not very happy with these, tough to get the chest up there for me, didn't feel real strong with these today.

C2. 1 arm DB Push Press 3x 5-10 - #60(10) -#70(6) -#70(6) - #60 felt solid and the #70 got tough, my posture really started to go and I used way too much back in this one!

D. Powell Raise - 3 x 4 - #20 - was able to hit the #20 today, felt solid.

Then 3 sets
:30 row/rest 4:00
1- 181m
2- 184m
3- 182m

These got quite ugly. I felt good from 8-20s then could feel the drop-off! I need to focus on pulling all the way through the cutoff time.

Tuesday May 26th, 2015

AMRAP 10:00 @ 90%:
 1 rope climb
 15 AirDyne calories
 3 wall walks
 15 AirDyne calories

 4 full rounds - felt solid, used the walk to the rope and wall walks to try to control the pace. The AD started to take a toll. I was able to hold the wattage in the low to mid 300s (with a few dips into the high 200s during round 3). Overall I'm ok with the 4 rounds right now.

 Then 6 sets:
500m row @1:47.1-1:47.9 (goal is tightest spread possible) 2:00 walk rest
1- 1:47.7
2- 1:47.5
3- 1:47.7
4- 1:47.4
5- 1:47.4
6- 1:47.5

I was able to hold these fairly close to each other. I usually started out with an average in the low 1:40s then found the pace to finish in the 1:47s. My stroke rate was mostly in the upper 20s. I was able to recover fairly well between efforts, although I could feel a slight toll the repeats were beginning to take during rounds 5 and 6.

3 rounds not for time

:40 Sorensen hold
:15/side star plank

Done! I could tell some hip weakness during the star planks, but the :15 was manageable,

Tuesday May 19th, 2015

AMRAP 10:00 (80%)
1 rope climb
20m OH 1-arm DB Carry #70
20 AirDyne Calories
4 rounds + the carries

Everything felt solid on this one. Looking at the video, I am not getting nearly enough out of my legs on the rope climbs, not getting my knees close to my chest to get that big stand up. I probably need to adjust my technique on these down the line. Snatched the #70 (didn't have a heavier DB upstairs and didn't drag one up from the weight room this AM). I held the wattage on the AD to around the mid to upper 200s.

Then 5 sets 500m row (90% aerobic) - rest 2:00

1 - 1:47
2 - 1:45
3 - 1:46
4 - 1:47
5 - 1:48

I was trying to hold sub-1:50 on these. I tried to focus on my breathing and my drive and held the strokes to sub-30, which is huge for me as I tend to row like a maniac.

Then 3 sets
Sorenson Hold x 30s
Side Plank x 30s/side

Rested around 30s between each set. These felt pretty solid today.

Sleep: I was able to get around 7 hours of sleep last night.

Nutrition: This was fairly solid yesterday, but I around 1700 calories for the day.

Other notes:
I have a bit of DOMS from the single leg squats from yesterday. Perhaps the biggest positive of the day is that my tweaked right shoulder feels very solid (right now)! I'm going to try to stay ahead of the curve with it. Periodically throughout my day, I have been doing some supported hangs (30s at a time) trying to open my shoulders up.

Wednesday April 22nd, 2015

Strength:
Build quickly to a single squat clean at 80-90% - went #135-#155-#165-#185-#205-#215-#225, all felt pretty solid, still a work in progress, still arm bending and not exploding, look kinda slow actually!

MetCon:
Then for time at 90%:
30 wall balls (unbroken) (56s)
30 CTB Pull-Ups (mess) (2:00)
30 alt dumbbell snatches (#70-slow) (2:30)
30 calories on the rower 7:30 (1:26)

The wall balls felt good today, best they've felt in a long time. Cycled them unbroken. I am very disappointed in my pull-ups, they were a MESS! No cycle to them, although my pulls felt good. I was out of rhythm on these. Stuck somewhere between a kip and a butterfly, and really looking like a seizure. These need major work! I should be able to cycle 30 of these in around 1:00.  The snatch weight was not a problem, but I couldn't cycle these quickly at all! The row was the row, held between 1300-1400 calories per hour. Took me forever it seemed to get strapped into the rower today. I should be able to do this one sub-7, just didn't quite have it today.

Then 8 sets 30s high aerobic row/30s rest Held the row around 1700-1600 calories and ended up with 12 calories each set. 

At least the #sockgame was on point today...

 For time at 90%: 
50 Calories
40 TTB
30 Wall Balls
20 Power Snatch (#135)
10 Muscle Ups

Time: 11:18 

Row: finished in right around 2:00, held it between 1600- and 1400 calories/hour, felt ok. Really tried to keep the stroke rate to the high 20s.

TTB: Cycled in 5s til the last 15ish, then went 3-2. These felt off today. Took around 2:00 to cycle these today. My legs were flailing on this one, couldn't keep it together.

Wall Balls: I cycled these in 3 sets of 10, they felt good at the time, it did, however, take me 1:15 to get through it.

Power Snatch: This was very tough today and couldn't cycle very quickly (around 6-11 seconds between reps). These took right at 3:00 to finish. These just felt very slow. I need to quit whipping my head backwards during these.

Muscle Ups: I couldn't cycle muscle ups at all. Took right over 2:00 to finish 10.

This workout was similar to 14.4, although 10 less of every movement, and power snatches instead of power cleans. I was able to get to the muscle ups with 4:05 (9:55) left in that workout. I really thought i could get the whole chipper finished before then today, but I was wrong. I felt very fatigued today. I probably need to add a little more sleep into my schedule.

Thursday April 2nd, 2015

Strength:
 A. Build to a heavy single Power Snatch - #165 - couldn't pull quickly under the bar for the catch on #170. I'm also not happy with my catch positions, I tend to pop my right leg out to get depth rather than dropping into that quarter-ish squat. Also the #17- felt like a million pounds coming off the ground.

B. Build to a heavy singles clean and jerk - #225 - the cleans were ok, just felt like I had not pop to drive under the bar on the jerks. Also my transitions from clean to jerk were not smooth!

C1. Wt Pull-Up 3x4 (#53-#53-#60)
C2. Wt Dip 3x4 (#53-#53-#60)

These were ok. I tried to have solid reps and hit good positions. I was not able to hold the hollow position on the pull-ups throughout though.

Then for time:

Row 250m (sub1:30)
30 AirDybe Cals (above 300 watts)
Row 250m (1:33ish)

3:20, wanted sub 3:00 but the #AirDyne stole my soul! I couldn't seem to push into the 400s and sustain it on the AD today.


 Legs felt tired today, my right shoulder felt a bit tweaky on one of the snatches and in the C&J. I really had trouble getting into positions today in both of them.

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.

Tuesday February 25th, 2014

TUESDAY

Power Clean 3-2-1 Rest 2:00

3RM at #215, 2RM at #220 then was able to get under #230 for 1, failed a couple of times at #235. These felt btter than last week. 

+

Against a 10 minute clock: 
1000m row
50 Wall Balls #30
Amrap MU in the remaining time.

I finished with 13 muscle ups. This one got spicy. I held the row to a 1:45 pace so that I would still have some legs left when I hit the wall balls. I began the wall balls around the 3:50 mark.  I had planned to break these up into 8s. Instead, I opened with 10 and finished the remaining 40 in sets of 5. These smoked me! It too me about 3 minutes to complete the wall balls, leaving me 3 minutes for the muscle ups. I was able to hit 6 doubles on the muscle ups then a single, and didn't have time for another single. Overall this felt solid today. 

Tuesday February 18th, 2014

TUESDAY

Power Clean build to a max in 15 minutes

I maxed out at #225 for the second week in a row. The weight felt better today, I still couldn't drop under it.

6 sets - focus on maintaining same time across all sets - different order for each set

5 muscle ups
8 WB #30
10 burpees to a 6" target
14  alternating pistols
250m row

Rest 4:00 minutes.

1	2	3	4	5	6
5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target	250m row
8 WB #30	14 alternating pistols	250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	8 WB #30
10 burpees to a 6" target	250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	5 muscle ups	10 burpees to a 6" target
14 alternating pistols	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	250m row	250m row	5 muscle ups
250m row	5 muscle ups	8 WB #30	10 burpees to a 6" target	14 alternating pistols	14 alternating pistols
2:46:00	3:08:00	2:54:00	2:58:00	3:18:00	3:20:00

These felt better this week. I was able to sub 3 minutes for 3 rounds. These were also the rounds that I went unbroken on the muscle ups. Round 2 and 5 I broke the MUs into 3-2 and round 6 I went for it and hit 4, failed, collected myself and hit the 5th. I've gotten more comfortable/confident cycling the MUs, I'm still breaking at the legs, but I feel higher in the rings before turning over.  The wall balls felt good, cycling them was better than previous weeks.  I started to wear out on the Burpees as the rounds progressed. I didn't have a good pace on these, no real rhythm. I continue to struggle with pistols, my ankles are pretty stiff. I get really knee forward and on my toes for these. I need to invest some skill session time on these. On the rower, I kept the splits in the 1:30 for the first 3 rounds, and crept into the 1:40s in 4 and 5. Starting the last round with the row, I was able to hold it in the high 1:30s. Overall this session felt good.  I feel that some of my skill level is increasing.  The recovery between rounds was good.  

February 6th, 2014

THURSDAY

A. Snatch tech work. 10 single reps with rest as needed. 1 snatch, pause in the hole for 3-4 seconds with bar stable overhead.

75-85-95-105-115-125-135-140-140-145

The idea was to get comfortable in the hole. THis went ok. I probably should have started heavier and stayed at a heavier weight. I wanted to keep the technique solid. I must say the 4 seconds feels a lot longer with any weight overhead!  As the weight got heavier, I was coming up with my hips early, and breaking in my arms. I was catching a bit high and needing to drop lower after the lock-up. I need to pull myself under the bar more quickly!

Lactic Endurance

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

5 PC start at 135(round 1), #165 (round 2), #185 (round 3)

7 Box jumps w/ step down

5 burpees

round 1 - 38 seconds
round 2 - 37 seconds
round 3 - 38 seocnds

THis went fairly well the #135 and #165 cycles felt good, the #185 was ok, just not as smooth. I was able to video this portion.

rest 5:00

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

1 rope climbs

5 burpee box-jumps

30 sec row, all out.

This went fairly well. Everything felt good, well as good as that row could feel!

Round 1 - 55 seconds - 15 calories on the row
Round 2 - 53 seconds - 13 calories on the row
Round 3 - 55 seconds - 13 calories on the row

rest 5:00

3 sets, individually timed. Short rest between

30s row all out, 10 KBS, bell inverted

This couplet was a tough combo, I just tried to keep moving and had someone check the bell for me. I was ready to drop after this one!

Round 1 - 57 seconds - 15 calories
Round 2 - 55 seconds - 13 calories
ROund 3 - 57 seconds - 14 calories

Overall, I felt this was a fairly good day. 

February 1st, 2014

SATURDAY

I felt today's work would be a bit if a test as the front rack walking lunges are not a movement I do much at all, and heavy thrusters usually crush me.  

10:00 @ 85% of 2 rope climbs, 10 wallball #30, 30 double unders. 

5 rounds and 2 rope climbs - this went pretty well, except that while I remembered to wear tights, I forgot long sock and got a bit if rope burn around the ankle area.  I do need some more technique with these as I was really pulling with arms versus using more legs.  The #30 wall balls felt better today and cycled these unbroken for all five rounds.  I only had a miss in two of the five rounds of dubs as well.  I felt this was a solid effort.  

5:00 rest

10:00 @ 85% of 200m row + 12 walking lunge steps w/ #135 front racked.

4 rounds and 150 meters on the row - I held my row to around 1:40-1:45 pace. The rows all felt solid.  The walking lunges were rough. I went for 6 dropped and 6 more back to the rower.  I started to want to dump the bar around rep 5 each way.  I definitely need some work in the front rack getting more mobile and comfortable. I felt it was a decent effort this round.  

4:00 rest

10:00 @ 85% of 6 thrusters, #135, 6 burpees.

5 rounds and 1 thruster - My plan was to split the thrusters into 3s and hit the burpees unbroken, cycling a round every 1:30.  This worked through the first 2 rounds and was close on round 3.  Round 4 really spent me.  I had a miss on a thruster, I really came up on my toes and had to dump the bar.  I finished round 5 in sets if 3s and talked myself into 1 more thruster with 12 seconds left.  This was a very tough couplet.  I felt really spent trying to cycle these thrusters.  

3:00 rest - less time, but I was able to get my heart rate and breathing to come down to a reasonable level. 

10:00 @ 85% of 10 KBS (American) #70 + 2 wall walks + 10 pull ups

5 rounds and 7 kettlebell swings - I felt this set went solid.  I stayed unbroken in the KBS and didn't feel as spent from the #70 as in the past.  Wall walks felt good, no "falling" off. I made myself break the pull ups in to 2 sets of 5 so that I would not rear-tear my hand. These felt solid, and NO TEAR! 

All in all, this was tough because of some of the movements and loads, but I needed this to get out of a comfort zone!

Rest 15 minutes

5 mile time trial on the mountain bike. 

Finished this in a bit under 20 minutes. I felt pretty solid on the bike.  I was glad to keep my lungs breathing in the cold (but not like earlier in the week) air. 

January 30th, 2014

THURSDAY

A.  Hang Snatch clusters 1.1.1 from thigh.

I was able to work up to #125 for the 3 reps. Didn't feel especially light or fast or flexible today. 

Lactic Endurance

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

15 KBS 2pd 

5 burpee AFAP

20 seconds AD  all out

Round 1 - 1:05 - felt good, except for AD, that never does.
Round 2 - 1:00 - solid, I kept going American instead of Russian on the KBS
Round 3 - 1:05 - felt good

rest 5:00

3 Rounds, individually timed. Short rest between

5 Power Snatch #105, #115, #125

5 Box jumps

25 sec row, all out.

I held 50 seconds across all rounds. The power snatches felt light. I felt like I moved them pretty well. The row went well, I had it set to calories and was at the 1600-1900/hour range for all 3 sets.

rest 5:00

3 sets

30s row all out.

rest 3 minutes between

I rowed 171 meters, 174 meters, and 172 meters. These felt solid, form felt solid except for the last 10 sec of set 3.

I probably need to be more focused on my warm-up for my snatches. 

January 28th, 2014

TUESDAY

Some days don't go exactly as planned. DUring yesterday's training, I tore a callus on my left hand during the last set of CTB pull-ups. The tear really hindered my grip for today's work.

Power Clean build quickly to a 5RM

I was able to get to #195 on this. I was able to hit 3 reps at #205 before not being able to maintain. I had hoped to go over #200, but I could get a solid grip with the tape covering the rip on my left hand. 

7 sets - focus on maintaining same time across all sets

3 muscle ups, 250m row, 9 WB #30, 50 DU. Rest 2 minutes. Try to hold the same time across all sets.

1 - 2:12, unbroken on the MUs, WBs, 1 miss on the DUs, row stayed in the mid-low 1:30s for 500 split. The #30 med ball was a whole new experience however.

2 - 2:12, another solid round, unbroken on everything this round, similar row. Recovery was slightly longer.

3 - 2:12, solid again, unbroken save for a single miss on the DUs, row ticked up to the high 1:30s recovery slightly longer

4 - 2:53 - missed on 3rd MU, tape come loose on the hand, rower reset and I had to bring up the monitor, stayed unbroken on the WBs and DUs. Row ticked up between high 1:30s and low 1:40s

5 - 2:19 - had a solid round, same split on the rower, unbroken WBs, a miss on the DUs

6 - 2:46 - came apart, singles and a couple of misses on MUs, row was high 1:40s, had a drop on 8th rep on WB, missed once on the DUs, recovery to a bit

7 - 3:41 - lost it again, singles and fails on MUs, 1:50 for the split, unbroken WB, a couple misses on the DUs, very spent after this round.

Looking back, i'm not sure if my grip was the biggest factor, or if it was the wear from the first time doing heavy WBs coupled with MUs and rowing that had the most affect on the failed MUs (which is where this one is made). 

Building Capacity

Theme of the week: Building Work Capacity

I feel very lucky to get to train with some great guys. This morning at 5:30 AM we tackled a continous 3 round workout:

3 rounds for reps (:55 work/:15 rest)

Row for calories
Sit-ups
Wall Ball (#20)
Pull-ups
Box Jumps (24")
Single-unders (continuous but did not count in reps)

I was able to hit 358 reps. I went for over 21 calories eachtime on the Concept2, between 30 and 40 sit-ups, 23 or more wall balls (at least 20 unbroken), 15 - 20 pull-ups, and 15 - 18 box jumps. I was thoroughly spent. These workouts test your ability to continue to push through each minute to strive for that extra rep. Hopefully this will get me accustomed to some of the work that will be done in the Crossfit Countdown Throwdown in a couple of weeks.

Along the lines of "work capacity", my guys have decided (and I'm along for the ride as well) to accept the challenge of the Tough Mudder. 10 - 12 miles of obstacles and what not. My only trepidation is the "shock" that is part of this event. The biggest positive I see on firat glance, is that this is an event that encourages teamwork to make it through. I am thinking this will be a tremendous experience!



Tonight on the bike we went looking for some snow (yeah, I know, exact opposite of what I wanted yesterday), so that Joe could test out his Kenda Small Block 8s. Needless to say, if you are looking for it it is nowhere to be found. However, we did get to enjoy some nice "Iron" road bed. The ride itself was a nice relaxing recovery ride on the Redline Monocog 29er (36x15) to flush out the legs form yesterday,.