Conditioning

My hamstrings are pretty much back to normal, but my glutes are still sore as hell. I didn't want to resort to just an upper body workout again, so I decided to do some conditioning that would work my whole body. I started by doing about 10-15 minutes of warming up - especially my legs, obviously - and then did a version of The 540, which is named after the CrossFit box that devised it. The reps are as RXed, but I couldn't find a reference to what weight I should be using. I think it's up to the individual how much to put on the bar, so I guess-timated how much would be a challenge for me. I think I got it about right.

The 540
50 overhead lunges (total reps; 25lb bumper plate)
40 pull-ups
30 thrusters @ 85lb
20 burpees
10 cleans @ 115lb
Time = 18:06

I narrowly missed Rich Froning's world record time. By about 12 and a half minutes. Frig, this took my breath away, especially the thrusters. I think they took the longest time out of everything, just because of the time I spent resting. The burpees were in slow motion, but I only needed one break right in the middle.

For time:
50 sit-ups (strict)
50 push-ups
Time = 4:35

Short workout today, but still felt challenging.

Upper body, because my lower body is so fubar it isn't funny.

My ass hurts. Nuff said.

All relative max alternating sets today.

Hang power snatches @ 65lb - 8, 7, 7, 8

Dumbbell military presses @ 30s - 8, 7, 7, 6

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Underhand pull-downs - 90 x 10, 100 x 10, 9, 8

Dips - 9, 8, 7, 7

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Barbell curls @ 65lb - 8, 7, 7, 6

Push-downs @ 45lb - 8, 7, 8, 6

Full body

Personal training with Paul

I went to see Skyfall yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, and I made the huge mistake of eating popcorn. From the moment I left the movie theatre until about 10:30am this morning (Friday) I had a heartburn sensation, like a huge burp was fighting to escape! Not a good feeling, to say the least, and I had it throughout today's personal training session. If you heard thunder at about 10:00am today, that was me burping as I walked up Hincks Street after leaving the gym. Yeah, I know that's disgusting, but I feel a lot better!

5 rft:
5 Bulgarian split squats @ 115lb
10 dumbbell bench presses @ 45s
Time = 15:12

Well, that felt a damn sight harder than it should have. I don't do split squats often enough, and I think my time reflects that. My balance was all over the place, and I don't think my front foot position was consistent enough. This will need some work.

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Complex: 3 deadlifts + 3 power cleans (t&g)
95, 115, 125, 125, 130

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50 wide-grip pull-ups
Time = 8:59

Upper body

I ate a hell of a lot of food yesterday, but it was all "clean". I would have treated myself and eaten some apple pie IF SOMEONE HAD BOTHERED TO BRING SOME!

Push press - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
85, 95, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125 (2)

I've put that I managed two reps at 125lb, but - to be honest - they weren't great. I got the bar overhead, but it came down pretty quickly both times. I was doing pretty well up to that point, too, and I felt like I got plenty of power from my hips and shoulders up to 120lb.

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5 rft:
5 power cleans @ 115lb
10 dips
Time = 8:59

All of the cleans were unbroken, although they weren't all t&g. About halfway through this routine I found that my form improved significantly by keeping the bar close to my body during the cleans. However, this new-found knowledge came at a price; when I brought the bar up my shins, I ripped off the deadlift scab on my right leg from a couple of weeks ago. I could feel the blood dripping down and pooling on my top of my sock! Also, I noticed that there were spots of blood on the carpet by the dips station. Ew!

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Chin-ups (strict), max reps
10, 7, 5, 5

Last flex of 2012!

Conditioning

Happy Christmas (wah, wah, waaah!)

Yeah, I know it's Christmas Day, but I was bored! Perhaps I'm suffering from OCD (Obsessive CrossFit Disorder). After we'd had our family brunch at home and unwrapped our gifts, I had some fun in the Stonecroft gym.

For time:
1 dumbbell hang squat clean into thruster @ 35s
1 push-up; 2/2; 3/3, etc up to 10 reps of each
Time = 15:40

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Row 1,000m
Time = 6:01

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15 minutes swimming

Full body

After Saturday's lung-burner, I wanted to start this week with some heavy squats.

Back squats, 1rm
5 x 30% = 65lb
5 x 40% = 90lb
3 x 50% = 110lb
3 x 60% = 135lb
2 x 70% = 155lb
2 x 80% = 175lb
1 x 90% = 200lb
1 x 95% = 210lb
1 x 100% = 220lb (new PR)
1 x 102% = 225lb (to parallel)

I videoed the 210lb squat and had my camera ready for the 100% 220lb squat. I addressed the bar and was getting ready to start the rep, when I realised I hadn't started my friggin' camera to begin recording! I think I completed the squat with good form, so that's a new PR. However, no video proof! Bollocks. Anyway, 220lb felt like I could do even more weight, so I rested 3 minutes then added just 5lb more. I was doing okay until I got down to about parallel, when I felt like I was starting to tip towards my right. I panicked a bit because I thought I was going to topple over, so I stood up. A 225lb back squat is still a decent weight, but it wasn't as low as I was aiming for. Oh, well.

By the way, in the video of my 210lb lift, a bit of black tape that was stuck to my butt fell off. It looks like I shat myself!

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Bench press (small bench, 6 holes)
115 x 5
125 x 5
130 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 1, 2
145 x 0

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Military press, rel max
65lb x 10, 8, 6, 6

That's a drop of one rep in the last set.

Full body conditioning

Personal training with Paul

Amrap 10
1 deadlift @ 225lb, 1 burpee, 2/2, 3/3 etc.
Score = 9 rounds exactly

Edit: I only just checked back to see my score when I did something similar but easier a few weeks ago. Back then I did jump squats instead of the RXed burpees, which I did today. Even though my lungs burned like hell this morning, I did much better.

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"Ensign"
3 x 3 minute rounds of:
3 power cleans @ 115lb
6 push-ups
9 air squats

Scores:
3 rounds + 3 power cleans
3 rounds + 6 squats
3 rounds + 6 push-ups

I'm not surprised that the second round was better than the first. I deliberately moved slower, which allowed me to breathe slower. I slowed down in the third round just because I was fatigued.

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3 rounds:
10 ab rollouts
20 sit-ups (strict)

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It's two hours later, and my lower back is already seizing up from the deadlifts! Great workout, though. I'm used to one of the routines in my PT session knocking me on my ass, but not two at the beginning!

Full body

Clever advertising campaign by Nike

Supersets:
Bench presses, max reps @ 125lb - 5, 4, 4, 4, 4
Cable rows, max reps @ 125lb - 8, 7, 7, 7, 7

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For time:
30 x hang clean and presses @ 95lb
10 x burpees whenever I drop the bar (not at the end)
Time = 10:57 (5 breaks/sets of burpees)

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50 strict sit-ups
30 leg raises/hip raises
40 straight leg raises
20 decline sit-ups

A couple of things: I did the leg raises/hip raises before the straight leg raises because the dip station where I do the former was being used. Also, I didn't do any toes-to-bar because all the benches were occupied, so I couldn't get up there! Stoopid short legs...

Full body

If you half-close your eyes and squint, that could be me getting out of the water.

5 rft:
5 back squats @ 165lb (a2g)
5 dumbbell bench presses @ 50s
Time = 7:59

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5 rft:
10 kipping pull-ups
10 plate push-ups
Time = 8:30

That's 1:46 slower than Paul. Bollocks! :-)

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30 straight leg raises

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All of the above was done at ABsolute Fitness in the morning. In the afternoon, I had a 45 minute swim at Stonecroft. It's the first time I've been in a UV pool, which uses ultraviolet light for water disinfection, rather than chlorine or salt. Actually, this was the first time I've been swimming since I started taking better care of myself. I forgot what a good workout it can be.

Full body

Seriously?

This week is going to busy, so I'll be doing shorter, full body routines, rather than my usual focused workouts.

Squat cleans
95lb x 8, 8, 6, 7

That's a one rep improvement in the third set.

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10 rft:
15 deadlifts @ 135
15 push-up
Time = 18:25

The last time I did this routine was back in July 2011, when I finished in 28:00. I knew Paul's time was unattainable, but day-um, that's 9:35 faster. At least my improvement is better than his - ha! :-) Just like last time, I shredded my right shin - why not the left? - and left my dna all over the bar. I didn't rush, but stayed focused and disciplined, even when someone decided to come and start a conversation during the deadlifts. The first round was unbroken, and all the rest of the deadlifts were broken down into 5s. 

A short but satisfactory workout today.

5k Row

" ♫ All I want for Christmas is a six-pack...♪"

Unusual for me to train on a Sunday, but I had a rest day yesterday because my PT session was Friday. All clear?

Anyway, I wanted to try a simple WOD from a couple of weeks ago - row 5k for time. I don't think I've rowed for this type of distance before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I watched the demo video and it looks like most people were finishing around 20 minutes. However, I thought that might be a bit ambitious for me, so I aimed for roughly 25 minutes, about the time I take for a 5k run.

Row 5k for time
Time = 25:54 (average: 41 s/m)

That's roughly my time for a 5k run, so not too bad. I tried to maintain a steady pace throughout, as advised in the video, although that was easier said than done as I became more fatigued.

I don't know if I'll ever do this again, not because it was too tough, but because it was bloody boring! By the time I got to 1.5k, I couldn't wait for the damn routine to be over. Running 5k on the road is one thing, because the scenery changes, plus there are the mini-challenges when I overtake someone or they overtake me. But rowing 5k on a machine when all I can see are the stationary houses outside is pretty tedious. 

To make matters worse, about 10 minutes into my session, there was a power outage in New Hamburg, which meant the TV and lights in the Stonecroft gym all went out. There were three other people working out on machines at the same time as me, but as soon as the power went, so did they. I spent the next 15 minutes rowing in near darkness.

Can't wait to do some heavy lifting tomorrow...

Full Body

Personal training with Paul.

Reverse Fran
Time = 12:24

That's a damn sight quicker than my regular Fran (15:13), which surprised me. I thought I'd be slower because I'd become more fatigued as I progressed. Perhaps the earlier, shorter rounds allowed me to warm up my muscles more, though.

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The rest of today's session actually felt tougher by comparison.

Supersets:
Incline dumbbell bench press - 35s x 10, 10, 7, 6
Push-ups - 5, 7, 5, 6

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Dips - 7, 5, 5
Push downs - 30 x 8, 6, 5

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Cable flies/curls, drop sets
30s - 10, 7, 6
20s - 6, 5, 4

Legs

A short-ish workout today, but I know my legs are going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow.

Romanian deadlifts
95 x 8
115 x 6
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 3, 3

Searching my blog, I can't find any record of me doing Romanian deadlifts before, other than with the trap bar. I think this might be the first time I've done them, and I really wasn't sure what weight to use. With both sets at 185lb I could feel my form starting to break down, so I stopped at 3 reps each time, even though I might have been able to knock out another one.

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5 rft:
Back squats (a2g) - 10 x 135
Traveling lunges - 25 per leg
Time = 15:57

I pretty much made this up on the spot, and towards the end of the first set of lunges I knew it was going to be painful! The first set of both moves was unbroken, as were all the subsequent lunges. However, the squats had to be broken down into 5 and 5 for the remaining four sets. They weren't heavy, but the sheer number got the better of me. At the end my quads were burning like someone had poured acid on them.

Pulling

My pecs are hurting like hell this morning. It made the inverted rows bloody painful when the bar hit my upper chest.

Hang cleans
95 x 6
105 x 3
115 x 3
120 x 3
125 x 3
130 x 3

Even before I watched the video, I knew my form was starting to go during the 130lb set because the position of my feet was all over the place.

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Alternate sets, relative max reps
Inverted rows - 12, 10, 8, 8
Neutral alternating pull-ups (total) - 10, 6, 6, 7 (only managed the left side)

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Supersets, max reps
Underhand pull-downs - 8, 7, 7
Wide-grip pull-ups - 4, 3, 2

By the time I started the pull-ups my shoulders and biceps were toast. There was nothing left, which is why I only got two pull-ups in the third set.

I had planned on finishing with some barbell curls, but really - what was the point of even trying!

Pushing

The first thing I thought was: "Nice quads."
What's wrong with me?

Decent start to the week.

Push press - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
85, 95, 105, 110, 115

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Bench press plus 20 push-ups
95 x 5
105 x 5
110 x 5 (4 + 1)
110 x 5 (3 + 2)

I decided to do standard bench presses - i.e. not using safeties - and went with fairly light weights that I was confident of controlling. As soon as I felt a bit of a struggle to lock out with the weight, I racked it and rested a few seconds. That only happened in the third and fourth sets.

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Alternate sets, relative max reps:
Dumbbell flies @ 27s - 12, 9, 7, 7, 7
Dips - 10, 7, 6, 6, 5

I rested exactly 60 seconds between each set/exercise.

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Trap bar deadlifts
1 minute @ 170lb - 27, 25, 23

Dumbbell military press
1 minute @ 25s - 20, 16, 15

Neutral grip pull-ups
1 minute - 14, 10, 9

Plate push-ups
1 minute - 26, 19, 19

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30 decline sit-ups

Lightweight

Yawn! I was completely lacking in energy today. Not for the first time, I thought I'd had a good night's sleep, but by mid-afternoon I was starting to nod off.

Bear complex x 3
1 power clean, 1 front squat, 1 push press, 1 back squat, 1 rack press
65, 75, 80, 85 (2), 85 (2)

For both attempts at 85lb, I managed to get the bar overhead with the third rack press, but couldn't lock out with my right arm. Pretty damn close both times, though.

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Power snatches
65 x 3
75 x 3
80 x 3
85 x 3
90 x 3
95 x 1, 0

Even though I didn't set any PRs with my snatches, I do think my form was better than it has been in a while.

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Alternating standing dumbbell curls
1 set of 20s x 10 per arm
3 sets of 25s x 10 per arm

Pretty unspectacular day, but I just couldn't get my mojo going!

Legs

Today's session was a bit later than I usually train, due to work commitments. I had a big lunch at a restaurant in New Hamburg - bacon cheese burger without the bun, but I treated myself to fries for a change. I probably eat one burger a week - always good quality meat - but it must be four months since I've eaten fries. The restaurant we went to is excellent, and we eat there all the time, so I know the food is good. However, after eating the fries I felt sluggish for hours; not a bloated belly like when I have wheat, but just...uncomfortable. Weird how food I used to eat all the time now makes me feel like crap. It's as if my body is rejecting unhealthy food, even if I eat it very rarely. Anyway, I don't think either the later workout nor the meal I ate four hours earlier affected my performance.

Back squats
10 x 105lb
Then 3 x 10 at 140lb

This was based on one of Paul's recent workouts, but scaled to roughly 75% of the weight he used (I rounded up to the nearest 5lb). I also went a2g.

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10 minute time cap:
1 deadlift @ 225lb, 1 jump squat
2 deadlifts, 2 jump squats, 3/3, etc. until time expires
Score = 8 rounds + 1 deadlift

This was loosely based on a routine I stumbled across on a CrossFit gym's website (although I've lost the address). Their WOD was deadlifts and burpees, but I wanted this to be pure leg work.There wasn't an RXed weight for the lifts, just a helpful "Go heavy". Before I started, I thought 225lb might be too light and considered 255lb, but in the end I think I got it right. The deadlifts were unbroken up to and including the fifth round; the sixth was three reps and singles; round seven and eight were all singles. Damn, these made my head spin!

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A quick finisher.

Leg extensions @ 110lb - max reps
8, 9, 9

Pulling

Power cleans (resetting)
95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
130 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 2
140 x 2

I usually opt for t&g power cleans, but my technique has been a bit shitty the past few times. I think this was in part to trying to move too quickly without focusing on my form. Therefore, I allowed myself to reset after each rep today, so that I was able to concentrate on each rep, rather than trying to get through each set as quickly and fluidly as possible. That makes this a slightly different type of exercise, but it's worth it if it forces me to concentrate on my form.

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Chin-ups, weighted - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3 (strict)
35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 (2)


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Cable rows - 5 x max reps @ 150lb
5, 5, 5, 5, 5

My form during the later sets was better than the early ones, as I leaned back less.

Pushing

Team Poppa and the Moo at Saturday's Santa Pur-Suit in Waterloo.
This was so much fun - we finished the 3k in 31:59, 26th in the parent and child division.

A busy day ahead, so an early training session.

Military press - 5, 5, 3, 3, 2
65, 75, 80, 85, 90 (0), 90 (1)

I failed at my first attempt with 90lb - early start, so a bit rusty. I rested a couple of minutes, then tried again.

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Bench press (small bench, 6 holes)
Warm up: 95 x 8, 8
115 x 5
125 x 5
130 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 2
145 x 1

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4 rft:
10 push press @ 85lb (starting each set from the ground, as well as after a break)
10 dips
Time = 8:00

This went a bit quicker than expected. The first round was completely unbroken, and all the other push presses were 6 and 4.