Full body

Personal training with Paul

"DT" - 5 rft:
12 deadlifts @ 115lb
9 hang power cleans @ 115lb
6 push presses @ 115lb
Time = 19:22

I went waaaay too fast with the first set of deadlifts, which left me breathless too soon. In subsequent sets, I used the light deadlifts as recovery time, taking them at a slowish pace. Also, I made the strategic mistake of not resting before the penultimate rep of each movement so that I could reserve it for the next movement. For example, I obviously needed to perform a deadlift to get to the hang clean starting position, so I should have rested after the 11th rep, then done the 12th as the precursor to doing the first hang clean. Similarly, the push press starts from my chest, which means I have to clean the bar to get it there. I only made that error in the first round. I think Paul was rather lenient on the presses, because the form for some of them was a bit ropey. It's clear I really need to work on my push presses.

Not that it means much, but with most upper body routines, I use approximately 55-65% of the weight Paul uses; with legs, it tends to be closer to 70-75%. This workout was with 115lb and Paul used 155%, so that's around 74%.

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21-style dips - Top half, bottom half, full rom
3-3-3, 4-4-4, 4-4-1, 4-4-1

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21-style bench press
75lb: 7-7-3, 7-7-2
65lb: 7-7-4, 7-7-2

Full body - Conditioning

Personal torture with Paul.

I think this may be the toughest workout I've ever done. Hurt. Like. Hell.

3 rft; all at 95lb, no rack or dropping the weight
10 clean and press
10 floor press (bench presses, but on the ground)
10 thrusters
10 back squats
10 hang squat cleans
10 lunges (5 per leg)
Time = 37:27

I had to redo one rep - can't remember what it was - because I dropped the weight, rather than lowering it under control.

I "trained angry", which can sometimes be useful, but my focus wasn't 100% today because I had a lot on my mind. I'm not sure if it would have made a difference to my score, but I felt like I went as fast as I could from the start, rather than pacing myself as I usually would. Regardless of strategy, this was a frigging tough workout. It was my breathing that slowed me down more than anything, and the reason why I needed lots of rests. 

The technique on some of my hang squat cleans wasn't too pretty as my elbows were almost pointing down, rather than my arms being parallel to the ground. I can obviously do better at only 95lb, but damned if I can when I'm that bloody knackered. Still, I'm surprised Paul didn't call me on them!

It's now four hours after my workout and the pain is starting to set in, especially in my pecs. I might go swimming tomorrow, but I'm glad it's a rest day.

Full body: Conditioning

Personal training with Paul.

Bloody hell, I've got to stop suggesting workouts to Paul. Today's was a killer. I stumbled across a metcon on a Guelph box's website and sent it to Paul because I thought he might like to try it. But no; he made me do it instead (I'll be bloody pissed if he doesn't give it a go!)

2 rounds of max reps:

Burpees: 40 + 29 = 69
Chin-ups: 37 + 27 = 64

Push presses @ 95lb: 27 + 23 = 50
Back squat @ 45 lb: 52 + 40 = 92
Knees to elbows: 27 + 27 = 54

3 minutes per station; 30 seconds of "rest" to transition to the next station.

3 minutes of rest between rounds.

Total reps = 324

Score = 383

There's an option of doing knees to elbows or sit-ups instead, but the k2e reps count double, hence my total score is higher than the total reps.

The presses were the toughest, simply because of the weight. I was pleasantly surprised that my second set was only four reps fewer than the first. The back squats were surprisingly hard because they took my breath away. I took some long breaks during the second set because my head was spinning so much. There was only one failed rep in the whole routine - a chin-up - and the k2es, which were the last movement of each round, were done on auto-pilot. I shut off my mind and just concentrated on getting through the next rep. I've never know 30 seconds pass so quickly nor 3 minutes go so slowly.

I finished off with some sit-ups, none of which was timed.

Upper body

Personal training with Paul

I've been feeling the symptoms of overtraining the past couple of days, and even a bit this morning when I got up. As before, it manifests itself with a flu-like ache in my chest, arms and shoulders. To be honest, I really wasn't looking forward to today's session because I didn't have much energy. However, I thought I might start to feel better once I got warmed up. I actually felt much better after this workout than at the start, and I barely have any of that aching feeling now.

For the record, it's well established that Paul's memory is better than mine, and I did actually train on Wednesday, contrary to what I'd suggested. However, he can't count for shit. Rather than paying attention to the reps I was doing, I think he was picking his lotto numbers.

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Supersets

Incline bench press - 35s x 10, 40s x 10, 8, 8
Push-ups - 16, 12, 8, 6

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Pull downs - 100 x 10, 10, 8, 7
Straight arm pull downs - 70 x 10, 7, 7, 6

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Lateral raises - 20s x 10, 9, 7
Military presses - 20s x 11, 8, 5

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Chest supported row - 100 x 10, 10, 10
Reverse lateral raise - 40 x 10, 7, 5

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For time:
50 sit-ups (strict)
50 Russian twists with 25lb plate (total)
25 sit-ups
25 Russian twists
Time = 7:53

Full body

Personal training with Paul

10 rft:
5 front squats @ 115lb, starting from the floor
5 pull-ups (strict)
Time = 12:00

I'm very pleased with this time, even though I've never done this routine before. All the rounds of squats were unbroken - the first rep each time was a squat clean - although a couple of times near the end I paused for a few seconds at the top in order to catch my breath. I think the first six rounds of pull-ups were unbroken, too. The best part about this routine is that I didn't rush and I was disciplined, controlling my breathing between sets and between the squats/pull-ups. I've been using this technique a lot recently, slowing down my breathing when necessary. It feels like I'm taking too long while I'm doing this - breathing in through my nose, then out slowly through my mouth - but it always seems to pay off with decent finish times. Basically, I don't think I could have done this routine any better, and that's always a good, rewarding feeling.

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4 rounds, each for time; 1 minute's rest between rounds
15 dips
20 push-ups
2:19, 4:02, 4:03, 3:55

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Cable fly curls; 30lb each side
10 with hold
9 with hold
8 with hold

Bloody hell, this burned my shoulders during the hold.

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

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

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

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

Full body

A bit more elegant than me

Personal training with Paul

Alternating sets
Bench press
95 x 5, 115 x 5, 125 x 5, 135 x 2, 135 x 3 (fourth rep was assisted)

Dumbbell rows
70 x 5, 75 x 5, 75 x 5, 80 x 5, 80 x 5

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For time:
50 hang power cleans and push presses @ 75lb
Every break (bar on the ground) do 10 pushups and 15 jump squats
Time = 10:57

I think I took breaks after the following reps: 14, 10, 8, 5, 5, 8. Edit: 14-10-10-8-8.

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50 strict sit-ups
40 straight leg raises
30 leg raises/hip raises
20 decline sit-ups
10 toes to bars

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At the end of today's workout I weighed myself on the gym's scale. According to that, I'm now 148lb, which is 6lb more than the last time I weighed on my home scale. There may or may not be a discrepancy between the two scales, but I think Paul might be exaggerating when he said I'm getting fat! The evidence in my favour...

Flexin' time

Looking back at all these photos, I can't see too much difference between them, although I do look a bit lighter in the early ones. Other than that, everything looks pretty consistent.

Full body (mostly upper)

Personal training with Paul

Note to self: The next time I see a workout online that I'd like to try, shut the hell up.

Rowing Helen
3 rft:
500 metre row
21 kettlebell swings @ 24kg
12 pull-ups (kipping)
Time = 19:11

I saw a CrossFit main site video yesterday, which showed some top level athletes doing a metabolic analysis. All the data was based on their reactions to a workout called Rowing Helen (the standard Helen uses running sprints, not rowing). Anyway, I thought it looked like an interesting challenge, so I asked Paul if I could do it with him sometime, as the rowing machines and kettlebells can only be used in a personal training session.

The kettlebells were the hardest part, and I no-repped a few times because I didn't get the weight overhead. In all three parts of the routine, it wasn't the weight that challenged me the most; it was my lack of breath. (Come to think of it, I can see why they chose this for a VO2 test). In the third round of rowing, I started off really slowly because I could hardly breathe, but I wanted to get moving. About halfway through, I started rowing 50 metres slowly, then 50 quickly, up until the end.

Not basing this on anything, but I thought I might get a time of circa 15 minutes. Still, I think I gave it everything to get 19:11, and it definitely required a lot of mental strength.

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4 rft:
10 incline dumbbell bench presses @ 40s
10 dips
Time = 16:47

Full body

Personal training with Paul

A lot of relative maxes to start...

Squat cleans
95lb x 8, 8, 5, 7

I lost concentration during the first set and my grip failed, causing me to drop the bar. That pissed me off; there was no reason for me to fail.

Military press
65lb x 10, 8, 6, 7

Neutral alternating pull-ups
10, 8, 6, 5

Dips
12, 8, 9, 7

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Amrap 10
10 x traveling lunges @ 20s (per leg)
10 x burpees
10 x sit-ups (strict)
Score = 4 rounds + 3 burpees

After a disappointing first set of squat cleans to start the day, I was quite pleased with how I finished with this short amrap. The lunges burned my quads, but I kept going and never broke them up. The burpees burned my lungs and I had to take a rest during the first three sets, but not the fourth. I wanted to, but I kept telling myself that this was only a short metcon, so just keep going! The sit ups weren't too bad. They started to hurt, but not enough to force me to take a break, other than a couple of breaths in the final set.

Full body

Lots of supersets today.

Front squats - 135 x 5, 145 x 5, 150 x 5, 5
Jump squats - 4 x 15

The first two sets of jump squats were unbroken, but my quads burned like feck!

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Incline dumbbell bench press - 40s x 6, 45s x 6, 47s x 6, 50s x 5
Dips - 4 x 8

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Pull-downs - 100 x 8, 8, 8, 8
Wide pull-ups - 4 x 5

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And to finish...

50 sit-ups
Time = 2:26

Full body

Miranda

Personal training with Paul

I don't know much, but I know one thing: tomorrow morning, I'm going to hurt like a bitch.

Sumo deadlifts for time
185 x 10 - 19 sec
225 x 10 - 21
255 x 10 - 30
275 x 10 - 3:20 (!)
225 x 10 - 32

Both my quads and hamstrings gave out on me at the same time during the 275lb round. Shee-it.

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Bench press for time
95 x 10 - 14 sec
105 x 10 - 18
115 x 10 - 1:02
120 x 10 - 3:02
105 x 10 - 59

With both the deadlifts and the bench presses, as soon as I needed to take a break my time dropped like a lead balloon.

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10-8-6-4-2 rft
Dips
Neutral grip pull-ups
Time = 9:31

Sub-5 minutes my ass.

Because it was raining, Cher told me to call her when I finished training so she could pick me up. I swear, my neck and shoulders were so sore, it hurt to hold the phone to my ear.

47 (not 48)

This is how my chest felt today.

There's only one day each year when I regret getting older.

For time, breaking however I want
47 back squats @ 135lb
47 strict pull-ups
Time = 10:41

I can't believe Paul no-repped me on the last pull-up! I seemed to get more fluid with the squats towards the end as I became more warmed up. The pull-ups were much tougher than I expected.

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For time, breaking however I want
47 deadlifts @ 205lb
47 dips
Time = 12:19

As I expected, the deadlifts - while not easy - were by far the least challenging part of today ("least challenging" is the wrong phrase, but you know what I mean). I was able to move pretty quickly, and the last block of 7 reps were unbroken. However, that speed had a consequence as it left me out of breath by the time I went into the dips. I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest.

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47 burpees (aiming for under 5 minutes)
Time = 4:47

Fucking hell, this was the toughest thing I did today. I must have looked like I was in slow motion by the end. When Paul told me what this part of the workout was going to be, I thought: No problem. I'll start off with about 20 consecutive reps. Five. I managed five fucking reps before I needed to rest. Jesus.

That was a fun, imaginative workout today, but I was damn pleased when it was all over. I collapsed to the ground after the last burpee, with my head spinning from hyperventilation. Paul was talking to me, but I have no frigging idea what he said. I didn't hear a damn thing!

Upper body

Personal training with Paul

Clean and press - 10 minutes to find 1RM
Final weight = 125lb (?)

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Rack bench press (7 holes, small bench)
95 x 5 then 20 push ups
115 x 5 then 20 push ups
125 x 5 then 20 push ups
135 x 5 then 20 push ups

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Cable row
100 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups

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Working on strict sit ups, 10 rep sets

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Complex: 1 power clean + 5 front squats
115, 125, 135, 140 (4 squats), 140 (3)

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Alternate drop sets

Weighted pull-ups - 25 x 9, 5, 4, 4
Pull-ups - bw x 3, 4, 3, 3

Military press - 65 x 9, 7, 7, 5
Push press - 65 x 7, 8, 6, 6

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Death by burpees
11 rounds + 9 reps

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Alternate sets

Back squats - 115 x 10, 125 x 10, 135 x 10, 145 x 10, 155x 7
Military press - 65 x 10, 10, 8, 7, 7

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Wide grip pull-ups - 10, 8, 7, 6
Incline dumbbell bench press - 10, 10, 10, 9

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3 rft:
10 knees to elbows
15 sit-ups
Time = 5:59

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Today's session felt a lot tougher than it should have. Because my training has lacked focus this week, I walked to the gym just so I had a chance to relax my mind and not feel rushed, which can sometimes happen when I cycle. Rather than use my bike as a mode of transport, I often try to ride as quickly as possible, which, of course, can be counterproductive. 

Sumo deadlifts from deficit
185 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5
265 x 3
265 x 2

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20-15-10-5 rft
Dumbbell thrusters @ 35s
Pull-ups
Between each round and at the end, do 20 box jumps @ 20"
Time = 21:07

Man, I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. I was breathing so hard during this routine and was one of those rare occasions when I seriously wanted to quit. Perhaps yesterday's impromptu conditioning workout took more out of me than I thought. Still, I was disappointed in myself because I felt like I lacked mental discipline and strength today.

Upper Body

This is how my forearms felt at the end of today.

Personal training with Paul

I asked Paul to take it easy on me today because I would be doing plenty of heavy lifting during our house move. Of course, he ignored my request. @#$*!!

Bench press
95 x 10
115 x8
125 x 5
135 x 2
135 x 2

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Pull-ups
10
25 x 7
30 x 5
35 x 4
35x 4

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Supersets
Incline dumbbell bench press - 35s x 10, 10, 10, 10
Incline dumbbell flies - 25 x 10, 10, 5, 5

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Neutral pull-ups - 10, 6, 5, 4
Cable rows - 80 x 10, 9, 10, 10

All of the above was simply a warm up for five hours of lifting heavy boxes and furniture. Bloody hell. It actually wasn't too bad, other than the fact our schedule over the whole weekend meant I ate plenty of crap I wouldn't usually.