Chest and biceps

Ben did to my arms this week what he did to my legs last week. They're barely able to function now.

Had a nice compliment from another gym member in the dressing room after my training session. He said he's watched me working out and I'm the only person who trains as hard on their own as with their trainer. I'm certainly pleased with the results.

More progression pics here...

In no particular order...

Incline bench press

Barbell curls, with weight on one side only, then switching. Harder than you'd think!

Dumbbell flat bench press. Last set included light (ha!) dumbbell flies.

Decline bench barbell curls, switching between wide and close grip.

Incline hammer dumbbell curls

Superset: cable flies/cable curls (great finisher)

Back and biceps

Armed and dangerous

I decided to start a slightly different weekly routine, just because I've been following the same plan for several months now, and I don't want to plateau. My left adductor is a bit sore, and my last two workouts have been shoulders, traps and forearms, with chest and triceps yesterday. This means pretty much the only split I could work on today involved chest and biceps. My traps are still sore from Thursday, which didn't help today.

Wide grip pull-ups - 10, 7, 7

Lateral pull downs - 80lb x 10; 90lb x 10, 10

Straight arm lat pull downs - 30lb x 10; 35lb x 10; 40lb x 7

Machine reverse flies - 65lb x 10; 70lb x 10; 75lb x 9

Bent over row - 75lb x 12; 80lb x 10, 10

EZ bar curls - 55lb x 12; 65lb x 9, 8

Dumbbell preacher curls - 25lb x 8; 22lb x 8; 20lb x 9

Incline dumbbell curls - 17.5lb x 10, 9, 8

Upper body(ish)

My right adductor seems to have healed completely, but there's still a slight twinge in my left, so I asked Cosmo if we could lay off the leg work for this week. Today's PT session - which started a bit late, so was truncated - was based around mostly upper body routines.

Bench press drop sets x 3; 45 seconds rest between rounds
120lb x 8, 100lb x 8, 80lb x 10

I needed a few assists in the last set, but this was surprisingly tough at only 80lb.

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Deadlifts; 45 seconds rest between sets
115lb x 8
165lb x 8
205lb x 8

Almost all of these were touch and go - with perfect form - except the last three reps at 205lb. My form was a bit dicey with the final two reps, as my back came up too soon before my legs had straightened.

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Supersets x 3:
Upright rows: 75lb x 10
Push-ups x 15

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Supersets x 3:
Standing alternating dumbbell curls: 20lb x 10
Standing alternating hammer curls: 15lb x 10

Vein-popping fun!

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Cable rows; drop sets
120lb x 10, 80lb x 10, 60lb x 10

Pulling and pushing

My shoulders were feeling pretty knackered before I'd even started today, and I think that affected my performance. Also, I'd planned on doing cable rows, too, but ran out of time.

Supersets: Pull-ups (strict) and bench presses @ 95lb
10/10 - 11/10 - 8/7 - 7/7 - 6/8

The bench presses were without safeties; i.e. full rom.

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Alternate sets: Power snatches @ 75lb and dips
5/10 - 5/8 - 5/8 - 5/7 - 4/8

No press outs with any of the snatches. These were all relative maxes, so whenever I felt like the next rep would need some pressing, I stopped.

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Supersets: Barbell curls and military presses, both @ 65lb:
6/5 - 5/4 - 5/3

I think these were 65lb; I used the short, straight bar that is used for standing curls.

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

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!

21-15-9

Lindsey Valenzuela

This morning I started with the aborted lunges and snatches from yesterday. 

21-15-9 rft
Traveling lunges @ 35s (per leg)
Dumbbell snatches @ 35s (per side)
Time = 14:51

Yesterday I attempted this with 25s, but I decided to go a bit heavier because I was starting my workout with the routine, which meant I was much fresher. I spent plenty of time stretching out my glutes and quads beforehand, which was especially important because (a) my legs were quite stiff from Wednesday's exercises and (b) I went for an early morning bike ride and really pushed myself for speed. It was so damn cold when I set off to McD's (-5!) so I needed to pedal hard just to get warmed up! 

Anyway, I'm glad I was able to actually complete this today. The lunges were tough, but not as bad as I expected. The snatches, on the other hand, left me gasping for breath.

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I did something that was pure weight, just to allow myself to feel fresh again before my final routine.

Barbell curls @ 60lb; relative max reps - 12, 8, 6, 6, 5

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21-15-9 rft
Wide grip strict pull-ups
Strict sit-ups
Time = 9:18

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I was going to do some box jumps, too, but I realised that I only had nine steps for one side, with 10 on the other. There was a yoga class in session, so I didn't want to disturb them. Of course, it only occurred to me later that I could have simply done a routine with a lower height for the jumps. D'oh!

Death by...

I felt a bit meh today - no idea why. I'd planned on doing either Angie or Barbara today, or even Cindy Max, but when I got to the gym, the pull-up rack was being used. I must admit I was secretly pleased because it meant I couldn't do kipping pull-ups. Yeah, I know I was being damn lazy, but hey, I'm being honest here. I did a few shorter routines instead.

Alternate sets
Incline dumbbell curls - 25s x 10, 27s x 5, 5, 5, 4
Skull crushers - 22s x 12, 25s x 9, 7, 7, 8

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Death by military press @ 65lb
Score = 8 rounds + 7 reps
1 round increase.

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Death by chin-ups (strict)
Score = 8 rounds + 5 reps

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Death by sit-ups x 2
Score = 12 rounds (24 sit-ups) + 14 reps
Another 1 round increase.

I got to the end of the 12th round and immediately started the next one, as there wasn't even time for one second's rest.

Pulling

Complex: 3 power cleans + 3 hang cleans
85, 95, 105, 115, 125 (2 hang cleans)

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Cable rows
120 x 5
130 x 5
140 x 5
150 x 5
160 x 5

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Death by neutral grip pull ups
Score = 9 rounds + 6 reps

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Barbell preacher curls @ 50lb
6, 5, 5, 5, 4

Upper Body

The first routine is yesterday's main site WOD. I've been focusing on hang cleans recently, but I went with power cleans today - as per the WOD - just to see how I'd cope.

Power cleans 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps
95-115-125-130-135-140-150 (F)

Bollocks, bollocks, bollocks! I think I was doing pretty well with my form and technique, but I got too cocky with the last attempt, jumping from 140lb to 150lb. I'm pretty sure I could have cleaned 145lb, which would have been a 5lb PR anyway, so I didn't need to increase by 10lb. It was just a little bit too heavy for me to get my elbows up quickly enough. The video shows my last three reps.

By the way, I've been wearing a knee brace since yesterday, when it started to hurt while I was out walking. The brace certainly helps, as I didn't feel a thing throughout today's workout, including the next part.

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5 rft:
5 x deadlifts @ 225lb
10 toes to bar
Time = 11:07

This video is of the first and fifth rounds.

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Alternate sets:
Preacher curls @ 65lb - 7, 5, 6
Push-downs - 40lb x 10, 45lb x 7, 8

Upper body

Alternate sets

Bench press:
95 x 10
105 x 10
115 x 8
125 x 4
130 x 3

Cable row:
100 x 10
110 x 10
115 x 10
120 x 10
125 x 8

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Hang power snatch 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
65, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95

This is the main site WOD from a couple of months ago. I videoed all the sets - shown below - and some of them are repeated in slow motion to show how my form changes as the weight increases. 

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Supersets: Military press/push press, max reps @75lb
4/7, 4/6, 2/4, 2/4

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Amrap 5 - single skips
Score = 289

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Barbell curls
55 x 10, 60 x 6, 4, 3

Upper body

Most of today's workout was made up on the spot, depending on what I felt like.

Bench press - small bench, 6 holes
105 x 2
115 x 2
125 x 2
135 x 2
140 x 2
145 x 1

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Military press - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
25s, 27s, 30s, 32s, 35s (4)

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Supersets, max reps @ 25s
Incline flies - 10, 11, 9, 9, 9
Incline bench presses - 10, 9, 6, 7, 7

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Barbell curls
45 (17), 55 (10), 60 (7), 60 (6), 60 (6)

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Decline sit-ups x 30 (not timed)

Cindy

Well, I finally broke my Cindy hoodoo.

Cindy - amrap 20:
5 kipping pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats
Score = 16 rounds + 3 pull-ups

Last weekend, after discussing workout strategies with Paul, I searched for a new approach to Cindy, as my scores had dropped drastically the past couple of times I did this routine. I found an article from 2010 called "To Game or not to Game", which describes a kind of "Death by Cindy" approach. I started off by completing a round, then resting for the remainder of that minute, before starting the next round. Unfortunately, this wasn't effective for too long. Each of the first five rounds were under a minute, but as soon as I started to get out of breath, the whole strategy fell apart. I got to a point where I took a couple of pretty long breaks - around 30 seconds each - just so I could take much shorter rests during each round. The pull-ups were unbroken until the last three rounds, while the push-ups tended to be 4-3-3, with really short breaks, just to take a couple of breaths. The squats were almost all unbroken, but much slower than usual because of a distracting, niggling pain in my right knee. (Perhaps this is because of all the box back squats I did yesterday. I usually race through the air squat portion of Cindy, but not today.) 

I'd been looking forward to tackling Cindy since last weekend when I read the aforementioned article. However, from the moment I woke up this morning, I felt some apprehension in case my score dropped even lower. I went from feeling really positive earlier in the week, to almost talking myself into failing. That being said, today's score was a reasonable improvement, if not spectacular. My last PR of 15 rounds plus 5 push-ups and two push-ups was set way back in November 2011. I definitely gave it everything today, and I was completely exhausted at the end. I've felt more worn out at the end of other workouts, but not this bad after Cindy. I had to rest about seven minutes before finishing off today with a couple of pretty easy routines.

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Barbell curls @ 45lb; max reps - 10, 8, 7, 5

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Tricep push-downs @ 30lb - 12, 10, 9

Upper body: Pulling

I need to get my grip as relaxed as this.

Plenty of practicing and warming up with the first two exercises.

Hang power snatches
Warmed up for about 10 minutes with a broom handle, 25lb bar and a 45lb bar.
65 x 4*
70 x 4*
65 x 4, 4, 4*
70 x 4*

Even though I did lots of practice snatches, I felt like the first set at 70lb required a bit too much pressing out, so I dropped the weight back 5lb for a few sets. When I tried 70lb again, the first few reps were decent, but the fourth had a little bit of pressing. The sets with asterisks (*) are the ones in the video.

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

My form started to suffer in the last set, so even though I felt I had the strength to add more weight, I decided to call it quits.

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Wide cable rows
70 x 10
90 x 10
100 x 10
105 x 10
105 x 6

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Incline curls @ 25s
9, 5, 4

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! :-)

Pushing and Pulling

Holmberg and Khalipa

Man, my upper back hurts like a beeatch, following yesterday's trap bar deadlifts. I keep forgetting about that.

Alternate sets, max reps

Bench press @ 100lb (small bench, 6 holes): 13, 11, 10, 7, 6
Chin-ups: 12, 9, 8, 6, 5

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Push press @ 80lb: 9, 11, 9, 9, 7
Inverted row: 3 (aborted)

My left shoulder, which I injured while doing dips a couple of months ago, started to cause problems again while I was doing the rows. I had a burning sensation that began with the first rep and got worse with each one. It didn't actually hurt, but I could feel that it was about to. As soon as I stopped, so did the burning, and the pain never materialised. However, it looks like I still need to be careful not to injure my shoulder again.

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Preacher curls @ 55lb: 10, 7, 6, 5

Making do #4: Chest

While I training on machines this morning I was watching one of the many TV screens during my rests. Ironically, a CrossFit commercial came on. At that point I think I sobbed.

Flyes:
6 x 35kg
6 x 40kg
5 x 45kg
4 x 50kg
3 x 50kg

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Bench press:
5 x 40kg
5 x 45kg
4 x 50kg
4 x 50kg
4 x 50kg

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Incline bench press:
5 x 40kg
5 x 45kg
5 x 50kg
4 x 50kg
3 x 50kg

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Curls:
8 x 25kg
7 x 30kg
5 x 30kg
5 x 30kg
5 x 30kg

Full body

I googled "snatches" to find a photo for this post. I don't recommend it.

I had planned to have a session that worked my shoulders a lot, but had to change that during my second routine when I ran out of juice!

Power snatches:
45 (45), 65 (5), 75 (3), 85 (3), 90 (3), 90 (3), 95 (3), 100 (1)

The last time I did a similar snatch routine I started from a hang position and got up to one rep at 95lb. Today I began the move from the ground, which gave me a greater range of motion with which to power the bar overhead. These are probably the least elegant snatches you'll ever see, but I got the weight overhead and kept it there, which is the main thing. I'm very pleased with the single rep at 100lb. I know that seems so inadequate when I watch what CrossFit athletes are capable of, but this felt good today.

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Following the snatches, I was feeling pretty buoyant and confident heading into the second routine. It started pretty comfortably, but plateaued just as quickly.

Bear complex:
1 power clean, 1 front squat, 1 push jerk, 1 back squat, 1 rack jerk
75, 85, 95, 100 (failed the push jerk three times)

Perhaps I simply didn't have enough power in my hips after the snatches, but I just couldn't complete get the bar overhead at 100lb, even though my PR is 105lb. After each failed jerk attempt I rested a couple of minutes, then started the whole routine again. I gave up after three tries.

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Barbell curls:
55 x 8, 60 x 5, 65 x 4, 65 x 3

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Dips, relative max reps:
11, 8, 7, 6, 4

Arms: Bowflex!

As if.

I had some time to kill this afternoon, so I thought I'd try a short Bowflex arm routine. It didn't take long before I remembered why I stopped using the damn thing.

Straight bar curls: 70s (10), 85s (10), 95s (10), 105s (10), 105s (10)

Yes, those weights are per arm! The last two sets - 105lb on each side - used all the bows/resistance available on my Bowflex. Clearly, a Bowflex "pound" isn't the same as a real pound.

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Tricep push-downs: 30s (10), 40s (10), 45s (10), 50s (7), 50s (6)

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Preacher curls: 80s (10), 90s (10), 90s (10), 95s (10)

Conditioning

Today I attempted Monday's main site WOD, which - because it's all bodyweight moves - I thought would be well within my capabilities. Bloody hell, was I wrong!

Complete as many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
18 Box jumps, 24" box
15 Toes to bar
12 Pull-ups

Score = 2 rounds + 10 pull-ups

My score is 2 pull-ups short of 3 complete rounds. Only 3. Fuck, compare that to some of the scores that were posted. It was the t2b that killed me. I did these for the first time on Saturday as part of my 12 Days of Christmas, but only 2 reps per round. They felt pretty easy then, so how hard could 15 be? Plenty, as it turned out. I failed an awful lot of reps, more than I'm used to with any other type of routine. The first round wasn't too bad, taking breaks when I needed to. However, with both the second and third rounds I'd get fatigued pretty quickly, my form would falter and my legs would flail around all over the place. On the occasions when I rested enough I had the presence of mind to keep my feet close together and use controlled movements to swing up. I'd be able to do 3 or 4 consecutive reps that way. Rushing the t2b reps was my downfall. This is how it should have worked...

The box jumps and pull-ups went well, as I'm more experienced with these and knew when to rest and when to go. The first round of box jumps took just over 1 minute. The pull-ups were mostly doubles or triples. I think the whole of the first round took just under 5 minutes.

I'm disappointed because I usually perform better with bodyweight routines, but I learned a lot about how to approach a lengthy t2b routine, so this workout wasn't a complete failure.

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I brought a list of 5 different routines to the gym, one of which is the WOD mentioned above. I planned on choosing which ones to do based on how I felt today, but I ended up ignoring them all for my second routine. I just decided to do these because I felt like it!

Max reps - 1 power clean and 1 front squat @ 95lb, resetting each time
6, 5, 5, 5, 5

For all of the reps I completed the clean before executing the front squat.