Arms

No breakfast, no energy. Should have skipped today's workout.

Death by power cleans @ 85lb
9 minutes plus 9 reps

Wasn't even close to getting that 10th rep.

Barbell wrist curls
45lb x 20, 15, 13

Roll-ups
3 sets x 2 @ 5lb

Static barbell holds
170lb x 2
120lb x 2

Shouldn't have skipped breakfast, but I had a busy day so this was the only time I could get to the gym.

Shoulders, traps and triceps

Power cleans
95lb x 3, 3
115lb x 5, 5, 5

Barbell front raise
65lb x 10, 9, 9

Standing barbell press
75lb x 8, 6, 4

Seated dumbbell shrug and lateral raise
20s x 10, 10, 10

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Close grip bench press
105lb x 7, 6, 6

Seated French press
20lb x 12
25lb x 9, 10

EZ bar skull crushers
65lb x 10, 9, 9

Cable tricep extensions
40lb x 40 (burn)

Shoulders, traps and forearms

Jeebus!

Power cleans
45lb x 5, 5
65lb x 5
75lb x 3
85lb x 3
100lb x 2
115lb x 2
130lb x 1
135lb x 0, 0, 0

No power today; no idea why.

Seated dumbbell shoulder press
30s x 12; 32s x 11, 9
Drop sets - 32s x 8; 20s x 8; 10s x 10

Upright row @ 65lb - 12, 12, 12

Seated dumbbell shrugs/lateral raises
20s x 10, 11, 11

Barbell shrugs - 185lb x 10, 10, 10

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Barbell wrist curls - 60lb x12, 11, 7

Static barbell hold @ 135lb - 33 seconds, 30, 34

Wrist roller - 3 x 1

Pulling

Power cleans
95lb x 3
115lb x 3
125lb x 3
130lb x 3
135lb x 3
140lb x 1, 0

Weighted chin-ups
35lb x 3
40lb x 3
45lb x 3
50lb x 3
55lb x 3
60lb x 2

Barbell shrugs
135lb x 15
155lb x 10, 10, 10

Olys

Power cleans
45lb x 5, 5
65lb x 5
75lb x 3
85lb x 3
100lb x 2
115lb x 2
130lb x 1
135lb x 1
140lb x 0, 1
145lb x 0

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Power snatches
45lb x 5, 5
65lb x 3
75lb x 3
85lb x 0, 1

Bollocks!

Shoulders, traps and forearms

Power cleans
5 x 45lb
5 x 65lb
3 x 75lb
3 x 85lb
2 x 100lb
2 x 115lb
1 x 130lb
1 x 135lb
1 x 145lb (F)
1 x 140lb (F)

Seated Arnold press - 30s x 9, 8, 7

One arm bent over shoulder row
45lb x 10, 10, 10; 47lb x 10

Supersets
Dumbbell upright rows - 20s x 12, 12, 12
Machine shoulder press - 50lb x 12, 40lb x 12, 35lb x 12

Barbell holds - 135lb

Wrist roller

Cleans, dips and snatches

Every minute, on the minute
Odd minutes: 5 x power cleans @ 95lb - 10 sets
Even minutes: 5 x dips, breaking parallel - 10 sets
Total of 20 minutes

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Hang snatches (practice)
65lb x 5, 5, 5
70lb x 5, 4

Cleans and presses

Power cleans
95lb x 5
105lb x 5
115lb x 5
125lb x 3
125lb x 4
115lb x 5
115lb x 5

Push presses
80lb x 5
90lb x 5
100lb x 5
110lb x 5
115lb x 4
110lb x 3

Weighted situps with twists
10, 10, 10

Oly lifts

Only had time to do a quick workout today, so kept it short and simple.

Power cleans
95lb x 3, 115lb x 3, 125lb x 3, 130lb x 3, 135lb x 2, 1

Deadlifts
135lb x 6
185lb x 6
225lb x 3
275lb x 2
290lb x 1
300lb x 1
310lb x 0

Back and biceps

Oops.

I'd planned on doing a regular leg day, but I had nothing left after yesterday's PT session. I did plenty of stretching and warming up of my legs, but nope - nothing doing. I opted for a back and biceps day instead.

Deadlifts - 185lb x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell rows - 55lb x 12, 10, 8

Wide grip pull-ups - 8, 6, 5

Cable rows - 5 minute burn

Standing barbell curls - 55lb x 8, 6, 4

Concentration curls - 20lb x 9, 8, 6 per arm

Incline neutral grip dumbbell curls @ 17.5lb - 5 minute burn

And to finish off, just because I had some time to spare...

Power cleans, touch and go:
95lb x 3, 115lb x3, 125lb x 3, 130lb x 1

Death by...

Went with Cher to watch TFC vs New York Red Bulls
yesterday. What a load of shite! Much slower pace
and less skill than European footie. The chap above
was the only decent player on the pitch (as well
as the reason why Cher wanted to go in the first place.)

I was feeling a bit meh this morning, as if I had the start of a cold coming on, so I didn't really push myself too hard. I just wanted to try and sweat out any cold germs, which usually helps. I haven't done any power lifting in a while, so I started with some fairly light ones for a "Death by..." day.

Death by power cleans @ 95lb
9 rounds + 9 reps

Death by pull-ups (strict)
8 rounds + 7 reps

Death by dips
9 rounds + 5 reps

Death by straight leg raises
14 rounds + 12 reps

I actually felt much better after this simple workout. Sweating always helps!

Conditioning

The next CrossFit Games champion?

A bit off plan today, but just wanted to try a couple of things I haven't done for a few months.

Cindy
Score = 15 rounds + 1 pull-up

I didn't use my usual "death by" strategy today, but simply went when I felt good to go. Perhaps this accounts for the low-ish score.

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30 power cleans @ 95lb

I didn't time myself and I went a bit lighter than I'm capable of, but I wanted to concentrate on good form and technique, not hitting a good score. I broke down the 30 reps into sets of five, and I think my form was perfect throughout. Because this was so light, it turned into a bit of a lung burner.

A good, quick session today.

Full body

Dayum.

This week has consisted of a series of short workouts, but on five consecutive days. I have some doms - especially in my traps, following yesterday's rowing - but definitely no symptoms of overtraining.

Back squats 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
135, 155, 185, 200, 205 (2)

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7 rft:
7 cleans @ 115lb
7 pull-ups (kipping)
7 burpees
Time = 19:56

Legs

Because of a lack of time, I felt really rushed today, which caused me to lack focus. Also, a combination of a poor night's sleep and feeling hungry seemed to drain my energy a bit.

Complex: 1 power clean + 3 front squats
95, 115, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145 (F), 145

I didn't get a decent grip with my first clean at 145lb, and I was leaning too far forward, causing me to drop the bar halfway through the first squat.

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Deadlift
5 x 30% = 100lb
5 x 40% = 130lb
3 x 50% = 165lb
3 x 60% = 195lb
2 x 70% = 230lb
2 x 80% = 260lb
1 x 90% = 290lb
1 x 95% = 310lb - F and F

At 310lb I could feel my back arching when I had the bar about six inches off the ground, so I dropped it rather than try to complete the reps. Much too risky with that much weight. It just wasn't happening today.

Upper body

I had to miss yesterday's PT session due to the bad weather, but I managed to get in an hour's swimming at the Stonecroft pool, plus shitloads of snow shoveling.

Power cleans (t&g) - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
95, 115, 125, 130, 135, 140 (1)

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Supersets - dips/neutral grip pull-ups
12/10, 10/7, 8/6, 9/6, 8/6

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Piston bench presses (per side)
37s x 10, 42s x 8, 45s x 5, 6, 6, 5

Full body

Limited time today, so I did some shoulder strength work, followed by a fixed-time metcon.

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

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Yesterday's main site wod.

"The Chief"
Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
115lb power cleans, 3 reps
6 push-ups
9 air squats
Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.

Scores:
3 rounds + 5 squats
3 rounds + 3 cleans
3 rounds + 3 cleans
3 rounds + 2 cleans
3 rounds + 2 cleans

The RXed weight is 135lb, which is close to my max for cleans. I think 115lb was the right weight for this routine, which is 20lb heavier than the women's RXed weight, so my ego remains intact. Most reps were t&g, but with some of the later reps I needed to quickly reset. Sometimes when I do cleans I get doms in my biceps, which means I've been curling the bar and not using my shoulders enough. However, two hours later I'm already starting to feel sore in my traps. Hopefully, that means my technique was good. Here's the CrossFit demo video.

Full body / Cindy

I don't usually train on Sundays, just because I take rest day after my Saturday personal training sessions. However, because I trained with Paul on Friday, I rested yesterday and was itching to do something today. I started with power cleans, but I tried a different strategy to normal.

Power cleans, t&g
95 x 3
120 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 2
140 x 1

I wanted to try getting to the heavy stuff more quickly than usual. Last time I did power cleans, I went from 95lb to 115lb, then 125lb, 130lb, 135lb, finishing with 140lb. I thought that perhaps I might save my strength for the later sets by taking heavier jumps between sets, but it didn't work out that way. Oh, well - it was worth a try and it was only an experiment, so I'm not going to get too frustrated by the result.

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I felt like doing a girl WOD today, and - coincidentally - Cindy came up on the main site.

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

The last time I did this was back in July, when I tried a "death by" type of strategy. For as long as I could manage, I would only start the pull-ups on the minute, and when I finished the last squat I would rest for the remainder of that minute. Today's score was identical to July's, which was a PR. However, back then I started my workout with Cindy, whereas this morning I started about three minutes after I'd completed the cleans. I didn't use the "death by" technique today, opting for just going when I felt ready. I rested with the slow breathing method I've been using for recent metcons, and I definitely felt comfortable with that. I know that kipping pull-ups are allowed with Cindy, but I started off by doing strict ones and only really resorted for a slight swinging motion about halfway through the routine. That meant I didn't get out of breath too quickly, which seems a bit smarter than attempting to sprint all the way through; that never works out well. 

I didn't improve on my previous score, but a big positive for me was that all of the rounds of pull-ups and air squats were unbroken, except for the last three pull-ups, which I knocked out as singles straight after completing round 16. It's a good thing I did, as I hadn't made a note of my PR, so I didn't realise until now that I'd matched it. I would have been pissed if I'd missed out by one or two reps.

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.

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!