Legs

Lindsay Valenzuela. Dayum, strong girls are hot!

Haven't done this in a while.

Complex - 1 squat clean, 2 front squats (a2g)
95, 105, 115, 125, 130, 135, 140 (F), 140

The last time I did this routine was nearly 11 months ago, when I got up to 130lb but failed at 135lb. Even though I didn't video this, I could tell my form wasn't great for the squat cleans at the heavier weights; my elbows were too low. However, that's difficult to correct midway through the motion, so when I got to the top of the squat clean, I shrugged to correct the position of the bar, which allowed me to improve my grip, then did the front squats with better form. The failed attempt at 140lb was due to my lack of concentration more than anything else, which meant I couldn't power the bar up to my chest and I dropped the bar on the way up. I rested 2 minutes, collected my thoughts, then tried again. Not great, but at least that's a 10lb PR compared to last year.

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Trap bar deadlifts, touch and go
170 x 10
220 x 8
250 x 6
270 x 6
290 x 3

My grip failed during the attempt at a fourth rep at 290lb. Other than that, I was doing okay.

Klepto(ish)

U.S. Air Force Major David "Klepto" L. Brodeur

Just 1 routine this morning, based on today's main site wod. I scaled the weighted portion - the squat cleans - 2 ways, although one of them was inadvertently.

"Klepto"
4 rounds for time of:
27 Box jumps, 24" box
20 Burpees
11 7 Squat cleans, 100lb (RX = 145lb)

Time = 27:33

I only planned on scaling the weight for the squat cleans, but for some reason I got it into my head that I was supposed to do 7 reps, whereas the workout specifies 11. As I completed each round, I put a check mark on my workout sheet. It was after I had finished the third round of squat cleans and I was adding the third check that I noticed my error. I thought of adding on the "missing" squat cleans after I had done my fourth round of 7 - which would have meant another 16 squat cleans - but by the time I'd completed my shortened set of squats I felt like I had no more gas in the tank, plus I was already closing in on a half hour routine. I'm not ashamed to admit it, but at that point I quit. I simply had no more energy and all the will in the world couldn't get another squat clean out of me.

I was laying on the ground afterward, trying to avoid drowning in my own sweat, when I overheard two women going into the changing room. One asked the other, "Is he still breathing?"

When I was planning today's session I thought I might be able to fit in another routine, as I had no idea how long Klepto would take me. However, yesterday I didn't do as well as I expected because I didn't spend enough time stretching and warming up, and I didn't want to make the same mistake today. Therefore, I spent around 10 minutes warming up before I started the clock, which didn't leave me enough time to do anything else this morning.

The wod demo

Full body

Miranda Oldroyd

Personal training with Paul

I was pretty anxious before today's workout because I wasn't sure how my left shoulder would hold up. It's not weight that's causing problems, but more the movement into certain positions. I was concerned that my injury might be quite serious and mean that I wouldn't be able to train properly for a while. In the end, my worries were pretty much unfounded and I got through the session without any problems.

Speed back squats:
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
170 x 2
165 x 5

This is the first time I've done speed squats and it took me a while to warm up to get a good flowing movement. It all happened pretty quickly so I'm not really sure what happened, but when I failed during the third rep at 170lb I lost my balance, my right ankle twisted, and I dropped the bar behind me. My ankle still hurts a bit today, but I think it's just bruised rather than anything more serious. It's certainly not as bad as when I hurt my the same ankle in the summer of 2010 while playing soccer; that time, it was swollen and was agony to walk. The injuries are mounting up!

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Complex: 1 power clean + 3 front squats + 1 power clean (starting within 10 seconds)
95, 115, 120, 125, 125, 130

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3 rft (5 minute cap):
20 sit-ups
30 x bicycle crunches
Time = 4:52 (phew!)

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The complex is what proved to me that my shoulder injury isn't as bad as I feared, although I still have to be careful not to exacerbate it. The most painful part of my time at the gym was back in the changing room when I reached for my jacket from the coat rack!

Conditioning

Jenny LaBaw. Something is surely wrong if I look at a fit female body and think, "Nice lats."

Amrap 10:
Power squat clean and jerk @ 95 Power clean, front squat and push jerk @ 95(jeez!)
Score = 26

I did an amrap 10 hang squat clean and jerk with 85lb in April 2011 for a total of 24 reps. This is only a 2 rep improvement, but with 10lb extra and from the ground. I didn't video myself today - there wasn't anywhere I could set up my camera - but I'm pretty sure my form for the jerks was pretty good. As this was an amrap, I didn't keep the bar overhead for long, but my arms locked out and the bar was straight above my shoulders, not in front. Of course, I have no way of knowing what my form was like last year, but I'm guessing it wasn't as good as today.

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Half Angie:
50 x squats (hamstring to calf)
50 x push-ups
50 x pull-ups
50 x sit-ups
Time = 14:29

That's 3:01 better than a year ago. I would have been even quicker if I was using the pull-up bar in the squat rack, but that was already being used. I used the other pull-ups station, which meant limited kipping because the whole set-up wobbles from side to side and I was afraid of the whole thing toppling over. My pull-ups weren't strict, but certainly slower than they would have been in the squat rack.

Full body: Heavy weight

Overhead: Solid / Weak core / Tight shoulders

Split jerk:
65 (5), 75 (3), 85 (3), 95 (3), 95 (3), 95 (3), 95 (3), 95 (3)

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Complex: 1 x power squat clean and 1 x front squat
Update: It's probably more accurate to describe this as 1 x power clean and 2 x front squats
(Warm up: 95 x 1, 95 x 2, 95 x 2)
105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140 (F), 140 (F)



On both failed sets at 140lb, the failure was in getting the bar up to my chest (i.e. the power clean portion). Both failures - shown in the video - were close, but then dropped. I couldn't get enough power from my hips to get the bar up to my chest.

The last time I attempted a routine similar to this I did 2 front squats, not 1 like today. That time I failed to clean 135, so today was an improvement in that respect.

Full body: Heavy weight

Personal training with Paul

Trap bar deadlifts:
170 x 10
220 x 5
260 x 3
280 x 1
290 x 1
300 x 1
310 x 1
320 x 1
330 x 0
330 x 0

Pretty pleased with my final successful weight. After 320lb I felt like I was capable of getting more, but I simply couldn't budge the weight off the ground. Still, 320lb is very respectable. That's roughly 2 and 1/4 times my body weight, and 80% of Paul's 1 rep max.

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Complex (1 squat clean and 2 front squats)
95, 105, 115, 125, 130, 135 (F)

The most important thing here for me was that I was able to do 130lb front squats without any hip pain. 80% of Paul's weight with the deadlifts, but only 60% for the complex. Got to work on improving my upper body strength.

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5 round, max reps:
Bench press @ 95: 15, 10, 9, 7, 7
Pull-ups (strict): 8, 7, 6, 6, 6

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1 minute each; 30 seconds rest in between:
Twist: 40
Heel touch: 36
Bicycle crunches: 60
Sit-ups: 17