Full body

Andrea Ager

Lots of supersets today.

Leg extension - 3 x 12 @ 95
Traveling lunges - 3 x 6 per leg @ 35s, 40s, 40s

Incline dumbbell flies - 25s x 10, 30s x 10, 8
Incline dumbbell bench presses - 25sx 10, 30s x 8, 2(!)

Straight arm pull-down - 70 x 10, 90 x 10, 90 x 8
Wide-grip pull-ups - 7, 4, 3

Lateral raises - 3 x 10 @ 20s
Push presses - 65 x 10, 75 x 10, 8

Rear delt raises - 3 x 10 @ 17.5
Cable row - 3 x 10 @ 80

I went to Upper Case Books to buy something for Madi's birthday, and my hands were shaking so much I had trouble putting my debit card in the card reader slot! Kristen, the store owner, asked if I was having a stroke.

Full body

Power clean and push press - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
65, 75, 85, 90 (3), 90 (4)

Just couldn't find my rhythm with these today. Not only was my form and technique shaky - check out the curve of my back - I simply struggled to get the weight overhead.

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Military press
45 x 10, 65 x 7, 6, 4, 6

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3 rft:
20 x back squats @ 115lb (a2g)
10 x dumbbell snatches per arm, alternating
Time = 11:38

Full body

In my arrogance, I thought I could
match a Nasty Girl!

Another busy day, another hit-and-run quick, early workout.

Front squats
(Warm-up - 2 sets of 3 @95lb)
135 x 3
155 x 3
165 x 3
170 x 3
175x 2

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21-15-9
Deadlifts @ 155lb
Thrusters @ 65lb
Time = 9:21

I went flat out as fast as I could, but - surprisingly - it was the light thrusters that slowed me down. The first round of deadlifts were unbroken, and I completed them in 38 seconds. The second round was broken down into 10 and 5; the last was unbroken, too. However, the thrusters took my breath away and I had to take several breaks in each round. The reps in the round of 9 thrusters were probably my quickest and smoothest because I got a good "bounce" rhythm going. As soon as I got down into the squat, I bounced back up and used the momentum to push the bar overhead. The thrusters started with the bar on the ground, so the first part of the movement in each round - or when I had to rest the bar - was a squat clean.

Chest, arms and stuff

My mind was all over the place today. I got up 20 minutes later than usual, and that threw off my whole morning. 20 minutes! I rushed my breakfast, rushed my shower (not as disgusting as it sounds) and found it difficult to focus. Plus my rushed oatmeal wasn't sitting right. And that is as disgusting as it sounds.

I did a light chest and arms workout today; nothing too fancy.

Superset:
Incline bench press - 35s x 10, 40s x 7, 6, 6, 6
Push-ups - 12, 8, 7, 7, 7

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Dips to parallel, relative max - 11, 6, 5, 5, 6

A few reps broke parallel and I didn't feel any discomfort. Still, I'm not prepared to risk quick dips in a metcon yet.

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Alternate sets:
Straight bar curls - 55 x 10, 60 x 8, 65 x 6, 65 x5
Dumbbell skull crushers - 25s x 11, 27s x 7, 30s x 4, 30s x 5

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Barbell preacher curls @ 60 - 9, 6, 8

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Skipping - 3 x 100 singles

My first round was unbroken - a new PR! :-)

Conditioning

Not a picture of Christmas Abbot

For time:
1 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
2 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
3 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
4 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
5 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
6 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
7 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
8 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
9 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
10 Deadlift @ 225lb
1 Round of Cindy
(Cindy= 5 Kipping Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Air Squats)

Time = 27:27

Power

Squat cleans
95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 1.5!

I was so close to completing the second rep at 140lb, which would have been a PR (I've done a 1RM at 140lb). I felt like I started to lose my balance and dropped the weight forward. Crap!

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Power snatches
65 x 3
75 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
95 x 1

I felt a bit weak with these during the heavier weights, and had to rely on too much pushing to get the bar locked out overhead.

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I finished off with about 10 minutes of skipping. I didn't time myself or count reps, but just skipped in the yoga room with The Prodigy playing loudly. It's been a long time since I've heard "Firestarter". It got me all nostalgic while helping to get my heart rate up!

Full body

Christmas Abbot. Again. Problem?

Personal training with Paul

Got to the gym early today and did about 15 minutes of stretches to warm up. I think it definitely helped.

Alternating sets:
Thrusters - 75 x5, 85 x 5, 95 x 5, 100 x 4, 100 x 5
Pull-ups (strict) - 8, 8, 8, 8, 8

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3 rft:
20 hang squat cleans @ 25s
20 bench press @ 95
Time = 16:35

The third set of squat cleans were surprisingly quick, probably because I got a good rhythm going with the reps.

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3 minutes of plank; 20 sit-ups during breaks
(4 breaks = 80 sit-ups)

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Followed by 45 minutes of mowing the lawn when I got home. @#$%!

Upper body

Not 35lb

Couldn't train this morning, so I did a short and simple routine while Madi was in her spin class.

Alternate sets, max reps

Dumbbell military press: 25s x 12, 11, 27s x 9, 8, 7
Cable rows: 100 x 10, 110 x 10, 10, 10, 10

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3 rft:
10 dumbbell snatches per arm @ 35
10 neutral grip pull-ups
Time = 9:25

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Rear delt machine: 40 x 10, 12, 8, 8, 7

Linda

Becca Voigt

Linda
For time - 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of the triplet:
Deadlift: 1 1/2 bodyweight (210lb)
Bench press: bodyweight (scaled to 3/4 - 105lb)
Squat clean: 3/4 bodyweight (105lb)

Time = 35:47

I trained early today, partly because I have a busy day ahead, but also because I wanted to do a workout that required three set ups. I figured the earlier I get there, the more chance there'll be I can have as much space as necessary. I planned on using three bars, one for each movement. Even though I'd scaled the bench press to 3/4 of my bodyweight - the same weight used for the cleans - I was going to do the presses in the pull-up rack and use the safeties at six holes, as usual. However, that rack was already being used, so I put the small bench in the corner squat rack. The safeties are a bit higher, which means the bar didn't come down as low as I wanted (about an inch higher, I think), but this set-up did mean I could use the same 105lb bar for both the bench presses and the squat cleans. When I finished the presses in each round, I put the weight on the ground, ready for the cleans.

As expected with this set-up, the bench presses were the easiest (quickest) overall, but the first set of deadlifts were the only unbroken round. I followed Chris Spealler's advice and took my time with the early, longer rounds (10 through 7), then tried to speed up after that. I certainly think that helped. Checking on YouTube, I was really surprised to find I beat Miranda Oldroyd by nearly 19 minutes and Rebecca Voigt by over 11! Sure, my benches were much easier, but Miranda? 19 minutes?! Spealler finished in 11:34, but we do not talk of this (other than to say this was back in 2010 when he was the same weight I am now).

Miranda Oldroyd

Full body / Conditioning

I took an extra rest day this week because I felt like I was close to overtraining. After working out as usual on Tuesday morning, I did what I considered to be a light session late afternoon while Madi was in her spin class. The second workout involved curls, tricep pull-downs, chin-ups and some skipping. Compared to a usual session, this wouldn't be regarded as too taxing; however, when taken in context with my earlier workout, it must have taken its toll. 

In the past when I've overtrained, my upper arms have felt achy, but I've brushed it off and trained through the discomfort. My arms felt the same way on Wednesday morning - which is a rest day, anyway - so I rested on Thursday, just to be safe. Friday is also a regular rest day, so that means I rested three consecutive days this week before my regular personal training day. Even so, I was hoping for a heavy weight day rather than a quick moving, sweaty session. Some chance.

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Power snatches @ 80lb
Pull-ups (strict)
Push-ups
Burpees
Time = 27:04

While I was working my way through this, I didn't feel as mentally strong as I do usually. Sure, when a workout gets tough - whether with Paul or on my own - I sometimes feel like quitting. However, this doesn't tend to happen during the first round! That being said, I did a total of 55 snatches at 80lb; my 1RM is 100lb, so perhaps this wasn't a case of fatigue from overtraining, but simply a reaction to a fucking hard routine! The snatches were the hardest part of this, and also the section where I was most vocal as I kept telling myself to pick up the frigging weight.

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Traveling lunges
3 x 12 per leg @ 25s

I'll see how I feel on Monday morning before deciding if I need to take a few days off.

Update (Sunday): I don't feel any kind of fatigue or general tiredness today, although my traps are bloody sore - presumably from the snatches - and I have doms in my chest, which is probably due to the push-ups and burpees. Therefore, I think what I felt yesterday during the metcon was simply due it being a challenging workout, rather than overtraining.

Legs and posterior chain

My lower back felt a little sore this morning - which hasn't happened for a long time - so I did a bit of stretching before I started the first workout.

Back squats (a2g)
(Warm up: two sets of 115lb x 5)
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 4

I actually did 5 reps in the last set, but on reviewing the video I noticed at least one wasn't full range of motion. No rep!

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Perhaps it was the back squats, but I found the soreness in my lower back got a bit stiffer as the next routine progressed.

Sumo deadlifts
185 x 6
225 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
285 x 1
275 x 1

I could feel my back starting to bow in the last two sets, so I abandoned them after one rep. I finished well below my best scores, but it wasn't worth risking making my back any worse. This feels more like stiffness, rather than an injury, so I'm not worried that it's anything worse than that. Still, not worth pushing my luck today.

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Did some arm work and a bit of skipping while Madi worked up a sweat in her spin class.

Full body

Christmas Abbott

The first two exercises I did today are ones where I usually aim for a 1RM, but I wanted to focus on form and technique, so I went lighter than normal.

Clean and press 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
75, 85, 90, 95, 100 (4)

With the fifth attempt in the final set, I managed the clean and got the bar overhead but couldn't hold it there for more than a split second. I'm being strict with myself, but that would probably be regarded as a no-rep. That being said, I was very pleased that I was able to get four reps at 100lb with what I think was good form (I forgot my camera, so didn't video this). With all the cleans I caught the bar on my clavicle with my elbows up and forearms parallel. That meant I was able to power the bar up cleanly without using my shoulders too much, which I do when my elbows are pointing down. I didn't have to adjust my grip before getting the weight overhead. My 1RM is 125lb, but with crappy technique and very little control (my back was bending back and my feet were all over the place). This felt much more satisfying.

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Trap bar deadlift, touch and go
170 x 10
220 x 8
240 x 6
260 x 6
280 x 6

I could feel my lower back starting to bow with the last rep, but every rep before that felt like decent form.

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Bounce box jumps (only bounce rep count)
18" x 10
20" x 10
22" x 10

I added this at the last minute; no idea why. I think I started too high at 18" and couldn't get a good, consistent flow of reps. None of the sets were 10 consecutive reps. Oh, well. Still felt like a decent workout today.

Conditioning

Personal training with Paul

Across the U.S. today, many CrossFit gyms are taking part in the CrossFit for Hope event to raise money for St. Jude's children's hospital. I looked at the routine's components and felt that I could do the workout as RXed, but it requires a second person to keep track of the time. I asked Paul if we could do this as part of one of our training sessions so he could time me. He probably pissed his pants laughing when he read my request, because this was friggin' tough! My scores for each individual movement in each round are in brackets.

"Hope"
Three rounds of:
Burpees (17, 11, 10)
75 pound Power snatch (10, 6, 7)
Box jump, 24" box (15, 11, 10)
75 pound Thruster (9, 7, 7)
Chest to bar Pull-ups (8, 8, 8)

Total = 144 (59, 43, 42)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. On call of "rotate," you must move to the next station immediately for a good score. One point is given for each rep.

Not based on prior experience of anything like this, I thought I'd hit around the 200 mark, but I was nowhere near. I'm not too bothered about that, though, because I know I gave it everything (the subsequent feeling of nausea is testament to that). I followed the advice in the demo video of (a) not going flat out on the burpees to avoid being burnt out when I moved to the next station, and (b) keeping my elbows up for the thrusters - rather than pointing down, like I usually do - so that I can power up from my legs and hips and not rely on my shoulders to push the bar overhead. 

My legs were still damn sore from Thursday's workout and I thought that might be a problem. However, after about 10 minutes of stretching and warming up beforehand, that wasn't an issue. It was my breathing that hurt more than anything else. Also, the final set of pull-ups were a killer because I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

This was a good, challenging workout, and I'm so glad I gave it a shot (was it only 17 minutes?!). That being said, I told Paul that if I ever suggest something like this again, just punch me in the face.

Here are other posted scores: www.crossfit.com/mt-archive2/008407.html.

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And to finish off today's session...

Alternate sets
Underhand pull-downs @ 100: 10, 10, 9
Incline dumbbell presses @ 35s: 10, 10, 10

Legs

Fooshay!

Started with today's main site WOD.

Front squats 3-3-3-3-3 reps (to parallel)
135, 155, 165, 170, 175 (2)

The guy in the demo video only goes to parallel, so that's what I stuck with, rather than my usual a2g. It didn't seem to make much difference; in fact, I was one rep less than my PR, which was a2g. This was due to my legs giving out on me, rather than a problem with my grip. I concentrated on stabilizing my core, keeping my head back and my chest up, which definitely helped with maintaining my horizontal elbow position.

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I decided to revisit an old routine from 11 months ago.

For time:
20 back squats @ 135
30 back squats @ 115
40 air squats
20 traveling lunges @ 50s (total)
30 traveling lunges @ 35s
40 traveling lunges
Time = 12:29

I used exactly the same weights as before a I only wanted to see how my time would improve. I finished 1:40 faster than my previous attempt.

Despite spending some time stretching after today's workout, I know my glutes are going to hurt like hell tomorrow!

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Evening: I did some light power cleans and squat cleans, just to work on my technique. I had intended to practice some double-unders, too, but I was so tired from this morning and the cleans that I kept making errors during my warm-up (single skips) so I decided to call it quits.

Conditioning

This was probably the shortest gym session I've ever done, but it was on what is usually a rest day. I was planning on doing this first routine on Tuesday afternoon while Madi was in her spin class. However, on Monday she'd had a swimming lesson and soccer practice back to back - and she really worked hard during the latter - so the poor thing was pooched and had no energy. She was practically in tears when she told me, "I don't want to go to spin; I'm too tired." (That's right - I overtrained my own granddaughter. Got a problem?)

Anyway, I saw a similar WOD to this a couple of weeks ago and was eager to give it a try. I got up early, went to McD's for coffee and breakfast (scrambled eggs and oatmeal), then cycled from there to the gym. That warmed up my legs, so after a few stretches I was good to go.

5 rft:
7 x deadlifts @ 225lb
21 skips
Time = 7:15

The RXed version calls for deadlifts at 275lb along with double-unders. I only just got the hang of skipping last week and this is the first metcon where I've done it, so I decided to be a bit conservative, rather than simply double the number of reps. The first three sets of deadlifts were all unbroken; the last two were 4-3. Sets 1, 2 and - bizarrely - 5 of skipping were unbroken, too. I had no idea how long all this would take me, but in hindsight I should have doubled the skipping reps to make this more challenging.

And just to sweat a bit more...

200 reps of skipping
Time = 3:29

In the end, this wasn't a challenging workout today, but it was fun anyway.

Next step?

Upper Body

Jessica Ennis

Military press - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
65, 75, 80 (3), 80 (4), 80 (4)

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Alternate sets
Incline bench press - 35s x 10, 40s x 9, 7, 7, 7
Renegade rows - 25s x 10, 30s x 10,10, 32s x 10, 10

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I started to do chin-ups, but after two reps I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder, the same one I had a problem with before. Crap! I hope this isn't a recurrence of the same injury. I rested a while, then tried a few light u/h lateral pull-downs (70lb), which didn't cause any pain.

Underhand lateral pull-downs @ 100lb
10, 9, 8, 7

No problems with this heavier weight, either. Hopefully, this isn't going to be a long-term problem.

Full body

Power snatches (resetting)
65 x 3
70 x 3
75 x 3
80 x 3
85 x 3
90 x 3

I've hit 100lb for a single rep before, but with poor form; my back was curving backwards and I barely kept the bar overhead. Today I simply kept going for as many three-rep sets as possible while maintaining decent form. I think I managed to accomplish that, but I could feel it was getting close towards the end. Not a heavy lift by any means, but much improved form.

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This is a WOD from last week, as RXed.

21-15-9
95lb front squats
Burpees
Pull-ups

Time = 14:07

This went quicker than I expected. I was pretty sure the front squats would be slow because I'd need to take lots of breaks due to my wrists hurting. However, even though there were plenty of reps, the weight was light enough not to cause me any problems at all. The first set of 21 squats went 10-6-5. It was the pull-ups that proved to be the toughest and I had to break them down into small sets, right from the beginning. Understandable, considering I was breathing so hard from the burpees. I'm not too displeased with my time, although I noticed some 31-year-old guy did it in 5:33! 

The best thing about this workout is that I felt mentally strong, and I forced myself into jumping back into the next rep even though I wanted to rest a bit more.

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Alternate sets

Bench press:
95 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 7
125 x 4
105 x 9

Cable row:
100 x 10
100 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10

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Death by military press @ 65lb
Score = 6 + 3 reps

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Death by pull-ups
Score = 7 + 6 reps

Coincidentally...

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Death by sit-ups (up by 2s)
Score = 11 minutes (22 reps) + 13 reps