Full body

Alternate sets; 5 x relative max reps
Bench press @ 125lb: 6, 5, 5, 5, 4

Weighted pull-ups @ 35lb: 5, 5, 5, 4, 4

Exactly 60 seconds rest between sets.

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3 rft:
15 dumbbell snatches @ 30lb, left arm
15 sit-ups
15 dumbbell snatches @ 30lb, right arm
15 toes to bar
Time = 18:15

This is a modified version of yesterday's WoD. I tried a light db squat snatch - 20lb - but I didn't have enough external rotation to allow me to squat at a reasonable depth. My arm was too far forward, which meant I couldn't get enough weight in my heels and I felt like I was going to topple over. I decide to go with a straight db snatch at 30lb, but, in retrospect, I could have gone at least 5lb heavier. The level of difficulty for each of these movements was exactly as expected - sit-ups were easiest, all unbroken; snatches were okay, with the first set unbroken for each arm, then with one break in the other two rounds. Toes to bar, however, included quite a few no-reps and several breaks in each set. That cost me a tremendous amount of time.

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

Full body

Lots of different moves today. My wrist was hurting this morning and I was a bit concerned it might affect my workout, but other than at the beginning of the session, it didn't cause any problems.

Hang squat clean and thruster
65 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 4 (failed the fifth thruster when I leaned forward during the squat)
95 x 5
95 x 5

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Amrap 15
5 bench press @ 110
5 toes to bar
5 over the bench jumps @ 20" (per side)
Score = 7 rounds + 4 bench presses

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Russian kettlebell swings
16kg x 15
20kg x 15
24kg x 15
24kg x 15
24kg x 15

CrossFit Open Workouts

The World's Fittest Woman

I checked out the CrossFit Games Open workout this morning and liked the look of it, so I thought I'd give it a go today. This is the third one, and I'd been meaning to do the previous two, but kept putting it off for one reason or another. Like an idiot, I decided to do all three in one training session. Which wasn't my best-ever idea.

Workout 12.1
Amrap 7: Burpees
Score = 74

That's 54 reps fewer than Kristan Clever. Bloody hell. Still, it's only 17 behind Katie Hogan who, quite frankly, scares me. 

I thought I'd do better with burpees, but I felt pretty crappy when I woke up this morning, lacking energy. I've had two consecutive nights of crappy sleep because I've so much on my mind regarding our new house. There's nothing to worry about, just a lot of decisions to make. Anyway, that left me a bit zonked today and I felt like I was in slow motion for the first few minutes. I did my regular burpees, which weren't necessarily to the Games' standards.

Workout 12.2 (Masters: 45+)

Amrap 10: Snatches
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:
45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps

Oops - I just realised I did the 55+ routine; 45+ Masters are supposed to follow the standard workout. 

I completed my last 75lb snatch with 12 seconds to go, which was barely enough time to change up the weights to 100lb. I didn't even bother to remove the collars because my 1RM for hang power snatches is 95lb, so 100lb wasn't going to happen! For this routine - and the next - I followed the Masters Men's workout, which is ages 45+.

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Workout 12.3 (Masters: 45+)
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 18 minutes of:
15 Box jumps, 20" box
95 pound Push press, 12 reps
9 Toes-to-bar

Score =  4 rounds + 7 box jumps

Again, I misread the instructions and did the 55+ workout. Muppet.

As I expected, the box jumps were pretty easy and almost totally unbroken (a couple of very quick breathing breaks) as they were only to 20", whereas I typically use at least 24". The push presses were challenging only because I wanted to ensure perfect form and not have the bar out in front of me when I started to get fatigued. I'm pretty sure I managed to push the bar completely overhead with my shoulders slightly behind my head. I wasn't able to complete any unbroken rounds of presses, so whenever I rested the weight on the ground I had to clean it when I was ready to start again. Toes to bar were tough but actually a little easier than I expected, following my last experience with them. None of those were unbroken, but I was able to string together 3 or 4 reps most of the time.

The standard (non-Masters) version of this routine specifies 24" box jumps and 115lb push presses. I could probably handle that, but the latter would have been a struggle. That being said, I think this was an excellent conditioning session.

As friggin' knackered as I felt at the end of today's workout, I actually feel better now than when I woke up.

Cher offered me some words of encouragement during the ride home. When I explained that I'd just done three weeks' worth of CrossFit Open routines in the space of an hour, she looked at me and said: "You idiot." I wouldn't argue with that assessment.

Here's the Open Leaderboard: http://games.crossfit.com/leaderboard

12.3 Demo

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.

And a partridge in a pear tree, 2011 style

Personal training with Paul.

Today I had my third annual 12 Days of Christmas workout, but made even more challenging than last year. And then some.

1 x pull-up
2 x toe to bar
3 x hang power cleans @ 115lb
4 x jump lunges per leg
5 x kettlebell clean and press @ 20kg per arm
6 x burpees
7 x sit-ups
8 x box jump @ 24"
9 x deadlifts @ 115lb
10 x push-ups
11 x push press @ 105lb
12 x front squats @ 105lb

Time = 49:43

Oh. My. God. That was frigging painful. I really had to dig deep mentally for this one. Several times during this routine I had to tell myself to pick up the weight (usually the kettlebell) or get into position and start moving. I was breathing so hard my head was spinning, plus I thought my right calf was starting to cramp up. Thankfully, it never did. The kettlebell clean and press was by far the toughest part of the workout, mainly because I haven't used them for ages, so the c&j movement felt a bit awkward. This is probably where I took the most breaks, which explains why Paul kept telling me to pick up the weight during the last round. Although I wasn't keeping track of time, Paul was, and he wanted me to finish in under 50 minutes. I only just made it!

Great workout. Merry Christmas! 

December 24, 2011