Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
3/29/12
Today was an awesome workout. I haven't had a session like this in a while. I had a great athlete to train with and he pushed me the whole time. Really solid work. I felt toasted after this session.
EMOM for 20 minutes:
Even Minutes: 5 x Back Squat (225#), 5 x Straight Legged Dead-lift (220#)
Odd Minutes: 3 Muscle-ups (double-dip at top)
-This was solid. I originally wanted to go a little heavier on the lifts, but it ended up being challenging enough at these weights. Probably could have gone another 20-30# heavier, but in that window I may have ended up missing some of the lifts toward the end. The double-dip muscle-ups were awesome; they really helped me force the kip and efficiency on the ring dip. I came away from these feeling really confident about my movement on linking kipping ring dips quickly and efficiently. By the end of the 20 minutes I was smashed. I was a little pissed how challenging 225# back squats felt. Just a few months ago I was throwing up 255# for sets of 20. It will come back quickly though.
Rest 15 minutes then...
10 Minute AMRAP:
3 Toe-to-bar
3 Push-up
6/6
9/9
12/12 etc...
Through the round of 21 + 7 push-ups. This was a great burner as well. I love toe-to-bar. The push-ups felt hard though. After all the shoulder stuff yesterday and the muscle-ups today they went out fast. Overall a solid effort, great training. This is what it's all about.
EMOM for 20 minutes:
Even Minutes: 5 x Back Squat (225#), 5 x Straight Legged Dead-lift (220#)
Odd Minutes: 3 Muscle-ups (double-dip at top)
-This was solid. I originally wanted to go a little heavier on the lifts, but it ended up being challenging enough at these weights. Probably could have gone another 20-30# heavier, but in that window I may have ended up missing some of the lifts toward the end. The double-dip muscle-ups were awesome; they really helped me force the kip and efficiency on the ring dip. I came away from these feeling really confident about my movement on linking kipping ring dips quickly and efficiently. By the end of the 20 minutes I was smashed. I was a little pissed how challenging 225# back squats felt. Just a few months ago I was throwing up 255# for sets of 20. It will come back quickly though.
Rest 15 minutes then...
10 Minute AMRAP:
3 Toe-to-bar
3 Push-up
6/6
9/9
12/12 etc...
Through the round of 21 + 7 push-ups. This was a great burner as well. I love toe-to-bar. The push-ups felt hard though. After all the shoulder stuff yesterday and the muscle-ups today they went out fast. Overall a solid effort, great training. This is what it's all about.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
3/28/12
I was pretty toasted today, yesterday was a hard metcon. I took a little longer to warm-up today. I didn't feel particularly strong, but went as hard as possible.
EMOM for 10 minutes: 2 Kipping HSPU - regional standard
straight into...
EMOM for 10 minutes: 4 Kipping HSPU - 1 ab mat.
-This was a really good session, I usually don't kip my HSPUs, I need to get this down. But after forcing myself not to do strict, I started getting them a lot better. Going to bring a camera and look at my movement next session.
Thruster (from rack) - 3,3,3,3,3 - 155, 175, 184 (f) (only got 2), 184, 184
-I missed the last rep on the third set, I went back and got both sets of 3. I was happy about nailing these reps after missing a rep I thought I wouldn't. My shoulders are just smoked from yesterday and the HSPU work. I wanted to go heavier on these, but just wasn't there today.
Rest 15 minutes then...
For time:
30 KB Swings (70#)
30 Thrusters (115#)
30 Burpees (onto plate)
30 Overhead Plate lunges (55#)
30 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
11.06. Nothing about this workout was easy. The thrusters were tough after the strength and skill session before this workout. The only sets I got unbroken were the KB Swings and burpees. I had to break up the thrusters way more than I thought I would, the lunges with the 55# plate are horrible. Overall a solid effort though.
Rest 5 minutes then...
2 Attempts at L-sit hold from Pull-up Bar @ 120 Seconds rest.
-Scored 40 seconds the first set, 30 seconds the second set. Brutal pain.
EMOM for 10 minutes: 2 Kipping HSPU - regional standard
straight into...
EMOM for 10 minutes: 4 Kipping HSPU - 1 ab mat.
-This was a really good session, I usually don't kip my HSPUs, I need to get this down. But after forcing myself not to do strict, I started getting them a lot better. Going to bring a camera and look at my movement next session.
Thruster (from rack) - 3,3,3,3,3 - 155, 175, 184 (f) (only got 2), 184, 184
-I missed the last rep on the third set, I went back and got both sets of 3. I was happy about nailing these reps after missing a rep I thought I wouldn't. My shoulders are just smoked from yesterday and the HSPU work. I wanted to go heavier on these, but just wasn't there today.
Rest 15 minutes then...
For time:
30 KB Swings (70#)
30 Thrusters (115#)
30 Burpees (onto plate)
30 Overhead Plate lunges (55#)
30 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups
11.06. Nothing about this workout was easy. The thrusters were tough after the strength and skill session before this workout. The only sets I got unbroken were the KB Swings and burpees. I had to break up the thrusters way more than I thought I would, the lunges with the 55# plate are horrible. Overall a solid effort though.
Rest 5 minutes then...
2 Attempts at L-sit hold from Pull-up Bar @ 120 Seconds rest.
-Scored 40 seconds the first set, 30 seconds the second set. Brutal pain.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
3/27/12
I felt a little off today. Just from the drinking and other adversity in my life. But the worst is behind me and I'm ready to get back into the thick of training. Overall I felt solid today. I didn't feel particularly strong, but overall I was able to go hard. Zero knee pain with lots of squats, which is great.
Overhead Squat - 5 x 5 @ 176# - stayed on the lighter side, but everything felt good. I had some shaky reps coming out of the hole, but didn't miss any. I haven't done this since before the Open. I'm definitely excited to do some heavier work with these soon.
EMOM for 5 minutes - 5 Back Squats @ 220#. Went super light on these because the knee/5 weeks of the Open and went for speed, felt great. Excited to get 400# on my back again soon.
Rest 20 minutes then...
6 Rounds for time:
30 Double-unders
7 Power Cleans (155#)
5 Front Squats (155#)
3 Push-Jerk (155#)
12.19. Solid effort. I got the first 3 rounds unbroken in about 4 minutes. Was a bit of a slog after that. A really good metcon. This is what it's all about, solid hard work. I'm keeping it really simple this week and then next week I'm going to start ramping things ups.
Overhead Squat - 5 x 5 @ 176# - stayed on the lighter side, but everything felt good. I had some shaky reps coming out of the hole, but didn't miss any. I haven't done this since before the Open. I'm definitely excited to do some heavier work with these soon.
EMOM for 5 minutes - 5 Back Squats @ 220#. Went super light on these because the knee/5 weeks of the Open and went for speed, felt great. Excited to get 400# on my back again soon.
Rest 20 minutes then...
6 Rounds for time:
30 Double-unders
7 Power Cleans (155#)
5 Front Squats (155#)
3 Push-Jerk (155#)
12.19. Solid effort. I got the first 3 rounds unbroken in about 4 minutes. Was a bit of a slog after that. A really good metcon. This is what it's all about, solid hard work. I'm keeping it really simple this week and then next week I'm going to start ramping things ups.
Monday, March 26, 2012
3/26/12
Further rest. I need it more mentally than physically. Although my glutes are sore/painful in a strange way from all the basketball I played yesterday wearing running shoes. Bad idea. Tomorrow is another day, looking forward to a solid strength session.
3/25/2012
Gave 12.5 another attempt. Scored 115 reps (through the set of 18 thrusters, 7 reps into the pull-ups). I paced the workout better and improved by 7 reps. I was happy about that. Later this day I went out drinking, hard. I've only drank twice since Jan 1st in preparation for the 2012 Open. I got drunk with my buddy and ran about 3 miles easy in the sun and then played pick-up basketball for at least an hour or two. Drunk basketball is awesome. It was great to play a sport instead of just exercising all the time. I played the game in running shoes, this was a very bad decision. My glutes and legs were extremely sore, in bad and painful way afterward. But overall this was a good conclusion to the Open season. It was good to blow off steam. I've had a lot of weird stuff going on in my life, I'm glad the Open is over and I'm sitting in 54th at this point. It will be finalized tomorrow evening when all the scores must be validated.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Thursday, March 22, 2012
3/22/12
In Denver, went and checked out Crossfit Verve and got some coaching from Matt Chan. It was a pretty awesome experience, really quality people and instruction. I went through what was probably the most thorough warm-up I have have ever done and then did the wod off the board. It was 'Isabel' with alternating power and squat snatches. My time was 4.40. I didn't really go crazy, I was in minimalist shoes, would have gone harder with some real shoes or better yet some lifting shoes. Overall a solid effort. I rested 10 minutes then did a 1000m on the rower at about 85 percent, came in right at 3.30. Not a super taxing session, but an awesome experience to meet the people that run such a great gym.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
3/21/2012
Today was a decent session. I was a little surprised that they used the same workout from last year, but I went ahead and got after it today. My forearms and biceps were sore from yesterday, this definitely affected my pull-ups today. My hip flexors were still sore today; had to warm them up a ton today. I was definitely tight and no where near fresh, but overall everything felt good.
2012 Crossfit Open 12.5:
7 Minute AMRAP:
3 Barbell Thrusters
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
21 Barbell Thrusters
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups...
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 21, go on to 24. If you complete 24, go on to 27, etc.
I got through the 18 thrusters for a total of 108 reps. Considering I'm not fresh and didn't really know what to expect, I was happy with this score. I'm going to hit it up again this weekend and shoot for a score in the 120s. I got through 15s pretty easy. I started hitting a wall hard on the set of 18 thrusters; had to break it up into 4 sets. This was more than I wanted to. I think subconsciously I knew I wasn't fresh and that I have another shot (or two if I want) and so I didn't go insane on this set. I definitely regretted that afterward, I wish I would have tried to go unbroken on that set of 18 thrusters. I'm excited to do this workout again.
Rest 20 minutes then...
On a 15 minute clock:
800m run then...
AMRAP:
12 Ground-to-Overhead (45# plate)
12 V-ups
12 Burpees
6 Rounds + 11 Ground-to-Overhead. This was a solid metcon, felt decent on everything except my legs were shot on the run. Overall a solid session of training.
2012 Crossfit Open 12.5:
7 Minute AMRAP:
3 Barbell Thrusters
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
21 Barbell Thrusters
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups...
This is a timed workout. If you complete the round of 21, go on to 24. If you complete 24, go on to 27, etc.
I got through the 18 thrusters for a total of 108 reps. Considering I'm not fresh and didn't really know what to expect, I was happy with this score. I'm going to hit it up again this weekend and shoot for a score in the 120s. I got through 15s pretty easy. I started hitting a wall hard on the set of 18 thrusters; had to break it up into 4 sets. This was more than I wanted to. I think subconsciously I knew I wasn't fresh and that I have another shot (or two if I want) and so I didn't go insane on this set. I definitely regretted that afterward, I wish I would have tried to go unbroken on that set of 18 thrusters. I'm excited to do this workout again.
Rest 20 minutes then...
On a 15 minute clock:
800m run then...
AMRAP:
12 Ground-to-Overhead (45# plate)
12 V-ups
12 Burpees
6 Rounds + 11 Ground-to-Overhead. This was a solid metcon, felt decent on everything except my legs were shot on the run. Overall a solid session of training.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
3/20/12
My hip flexors are still outrageously sore. They have never been this sore. I spent a lot of time on them today in the warm-up. Those hollow position tabata sit-ups on Saturday fried me. I can't believe how much! I spent a good 30 minutes warming up and foam rolling. I felt great once everything got warmed up. I wanted to do some squatting today, but how my hips feel there was no way that was going to happen. Anyway, it looked like this:
5 Rounds for time:
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
20 KB Swings (72#)
30 Double-unders
-11.22. I got all the double-unders unbroken which I was happy about. I had to break up some of the HPC and Swings toward the end though. Those 2 pood swings fried my forearms. This was a burner on my arms, overall a solid workout though.
Rest 20 minutes then...
100m Row
1 HPSU
100m Row
2 HSPU
100m Row
3 HSPU
100m Row
4 HSPU
100m Row
5 HSPU
- I didn't time this, just went as hard as possible. The last set of HSPU was hard, these didn't feel great today. Overall a solid session that wasn't too taxing. I'm excited for my hips to no longer be painful to the touch and to hit up 12.5!
5 Rounds for time:
10 Hang Power Cleans (135#)
20 KB Swings (72#)
30 Double-unders
-11.22. I got all the double-unders unbroken which I was happy about. I had to break up some of the HPC and Swings toward the end though. Those 2 pood swings fried my forearms. This was a burner on my arms, overall a solid workout though.
Rest 20 minutes then...
100m Row
1 HPSU
100m Row
2 HSPU
100m Row
3 HSPU
100m Row
4 HSPU
100m Row
5 HSPU
- I didn't time this, just went as hard as possible. The last set of HSPU was hard, these didn't feel great today. Overall a solid session that wasn't too taxing. I'm excited for my hips to no longer be painful to the touch and to hit up 12.5!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
3/18/12
AM Workout (0900)
Confidence is a strange thing. Mental 'game' or attitude or whatever you want to call it really counts. I worked out hard yesterday, I didn't really know what to expect today. I felt tight, but not sore and decided to give 12.4 another shot. Once it started and I felt awesome, I got my confidence back; I was 'in the zone.' I haven't felt like that since before 12.3.
2012 Open 12.4
12 Minute AMRAP:
150 Wall-ball
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups
260 reps. Improved by 6 reps, but these 6 reps will be huge in placement.
I did the wall-balls 50/25/25/15/15/10/10. Took exactly 6 minutes, like I planned. I got the double-unders in 90 seconds. I missed 4 times instead of 3 like last time, but still got through them without really thinking about it. I got 7 muscle-ups in the first minute. When I did that, I knew I was going to improve. I felt good. I felt aggressive. It was a much better feeling than feeling like I was getting my ass kicked and that I wasn't performing up to expectations (12.3?). Also today I kipped every ring dip. On Thursday I did the first 5 or so just using muscle and then started kipping once I fatigued. Kipping all the ring dips really helped. Overall an awesome day. I'm super happy about my performance today. During the 2011 Open double-unders and muscle-ups were a weakness, now they are a strength, or at least not a weakness. My 20th muscle-up was the slowest lockout ever, it was like an 8 second long press out for the ring dip, but I got it. Totally brutal, a total struggle. I love crossfit!
Rest 15 minutes then...
EMOM for 10 minutes:
2 x Thruster (185#)
6 Toes-to-bar
I got all the reps, no missed sets. I almost missed the the 7th minute, but really pushed it and ended up getting reps I thought I couldn't. The last 3 minutes of this workout were just brutal. Felt good to do some high intensity heavy lifting. Overall an awesome day, excited for Monday and whatever 12.5 brings come Wednesday.
PM Workout (1400)
This PM session wasn't really a workout, but it was definitely some physical activity. I just signed up for a flag football team with some of my co-workers and we had our first practice session today. We played catch for a while, ran routes and then scrimmaged. Overall it took about 2 hours with the majority of it being scrimmaging plays over and over. It was great to run fast and feel fit outside of crossfit related activities. I'm excited to play some actual games. Everything felt good, I was a little tight after this morning. I just hope I'm not sore in my calves. I could see the high volume sprinting/fast change of direction in standard running trainers not going over well with my legs. But it shouldn't be a big deal. It was definitely a good way to spend some time on Sunday afternoon.
Also, as I write this I sit in 45th in the region, up from 59th/60th (the leader board posted me as both of those; currently the NW region has no 60th on the leader board, I think it's a glitch). I'm happy with my 33th place regional finish on 12.4. It definitely got my confidence back and I'm stoked for 12.5!
Confidence is a strange thing. Mental 'game' or attitude or whatever you want to call it really counts. I worked out hard yesterday, I didn't really know what to expect today. I felt tight, but not sore and decided to give 12.4 another shot. Once it started and I felt awesome, I got my confidence back; I was 'in the zone.' I haven't felt like that since before 12.3.
2012 Open 12.4
12 Minute AMRAP:
150 Wall-ball
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups
260 reps. Improved by 6 reps, but these 6 reps will be huge in placement.
I did the wall-balls 50/25/25/15/15/10/10. Took exactly 6 minutes, like I planned. I got the double-unders in 90 seconds. I missed 4 times instead of 3 like last time, but still got through them without really thinking about it. I got 7 muscle-ups in the first minute. When I did that, I knew I was going to improve. I felt good. I felt aggressive. It was a much better feeling than feeling like I was getting my ass kicked and that I wasn't performing up to expectations (12.3?). Also today I kipped every ring dip. On Thursday I did the first 5 or so just using muscle and then started kipping once I fatigued. Kipping all the ring dips really helped. Overall an awesome day. I'm super happy about my performance today. During the 2011 Open double-unders and muscle-ups were a weakness, now they are a strength, or at least not a weakness. My 20th muscle-up was the slowest lockout ever, it was like an 8 second long press out for the ring dip, but I got it. Totally brutal, a total struggle. I love crossfit!
Rest 15 minutes then...
EMOM for 10 minutes:
2 x Thruster (185#)
6 Toes-to-bar
I got all the reps, no missed sets. I almost missed the the 7th minute, but really pushed it and ended up getting reps I thought I couldn't. The last 3 minutes of this workout were just brutal. Felt good to do some high intensity heavy lifting. Overall an awesome day, excited for Monday and whatever 12.5 brings come Wednesday.
PM Workout (1400)
This PM session wasn't really a workout, but it was definitely some physical activity. I just signed up for a flag football team with some of my co-workers and we had our first practice session today. We played catch for a while, ran routes and then scrimmaged. Overall it took about 2 hours with the majority of it being scrimmaging plays over and over. It was great to run fast and feel fit outside of crossfit related activities. I'm excited to play some actual games. Everything felt good, I was a little tight after this morning. I just hope I'm not sore in my calves. I could see the high volume sprinting/fast change of direction in standard running trainers not going over well with my legs. But it shouldn't be a big deal. It was definitely a good way to spend some time on Sunday afternoon.
Also, as I write this I sit in 45th in the region, up from 59th/60th (the leader board posted me as both of those; currently the NW region has no 60th on the leader board, I think it's a glitch). I'm happy with my 33th place regional finish on 12.4. It definitely got my confidence back and I'm stoked for 12.5!
Saturday, March 17, 2012
3/17/12
I was going to do 12.4 again today, but I decided not to. I don't really know how much more I could do in that WOD. Waking up with sore legs was a huge relief; I just thought "well I'm too sore to perform at 100% on those wall-balls, my original score will have to do." This was a weight off my shoulders. Up to this point I knew I was stressed out, especially after my score on 12.3, but it didn't really hit me how stressed until today. After I decided to just go train I was a completely happy person. I love training; the grind; the hard work that makes you better. Competing and peaking for an awesome performance is great, but damn I love the grind and journey that is training for Crossfit.
The Open has made me stressed, emotional and has deteriorated my training program a bit. I'm getting to the point where I'm on the border of being a 'good' crossfit athlete. I've put in a ton of work, but only so much can be achieved in one year of training. I'm at ease with the fact I might not qualify for the 2012 regionals. I know I put in a ton of work and there is nothing different I could have done. I've improved drastically and next year I will improve more. I love hard work, training and breaking limits.
Having said all this, today was the best training session I've had since 12.3. It was great to just go hard and do work with no expectations other than pushing myself as hard as I can. Also some people have been asking how long I spend in the gym a day. Just for a reference point, this entire session took me 90 minutes, including warm-up, stretching, both WODs, skill work and cool-down/mobility.
For time:
8-6-4-2
Hand-Stand Push-up
Muscle-up
Snatch (135#)
Dead-lift (315#)
14.30. I had to break up a lot more of the sets than I thought I would. The sets of 6 were killer. I thought my time would be between 10-12 minutes, but I had to do the snatches as singles which made my time suffer. Brutal on the shoulders. HSPUs felt great. Overall a solid workout.
Rest 15 minutes then...
13 Minute AMRAP @ 155#:
5 Dead-lifts
4 Hang Power Cleans
3 Front Squats
200m Run
8 Rounds + 5 dead-lifts
Solid metcon. I felt really good, 155 felt really light. I kept moving at basically 100% with all sets unbroken. I loved this workout. It was the first time I've done a WOD that I've loved since doing terrible at 12.3. 12.3 really screwed me mentally. It was great to just go do a WOD and not think about anything but going hard.
Rest 10 minutes then...
Tabata Sit-ups - "Rest" in hollow-position
-This burned, try it.
Then 10 minutes of free standing hand stands and hand stand walking; this is slowly but surely improving. I got further than I ever had. A great day of training. I love crossfit (and not doing Open WODs twice in one week). Excited to workout tomorrow!
The Open has made me stressed, emotional and has deteriorated my training program a bit. I'm getting to the point where I'm on the border of being a 'good' crossfit athlete. I've put in a ton of work, but only so much can be achieved in one year of training. I'm at ease with the fact I might not qualify for the 2012 regionals. I know I put in a ton of work and there is nothing different I could have done. I've improved drastically and next year I will improve more. I love hard work, training and breaking limits.
Having said all this, today was the best training session I've had since 12.3. It was great to just go hard and do work with no expectations other than pushing myself as hard as I can. Also some people have been asking how long I spend in the gym a day. Just for a reference point, this entire session took me 90 minutes, including warm-up, stretching, both WODs, skill work and cool-down/mobility.
For time:
8-6-4-2
Hand-Stand Push-up
Muscle-up
Snatch (135#)
Dead-lift (315#)
14.30. I had to break up a lot more of the sets than I thought I would. The sets of 6 were killer. I thought my time would be between 10-12 minutes, but I had to do the snatches as singles which made my time suffer. Brutal on the shoulders. HSPUs felt great. Overall a solid workout.
Rest 15 minutes then...
13 Minute AMRAP @ 155#:
5 Dead-lifts
4 Hang Power Cleans
3 Front Squats
200m Run
8 Rounds + 5 dead-lifts
Solid metcon. I felt really good, 155 felt really light. I kept moving at basically 100% with all sets unbroken. I loved this workout. It was the first time I've done a WOD that I've loved since doing terrible at 12.3. 12.3 really screwed me mentally. It was great to just go do a WOD and not think about anything but going hard.
Rest 10 minutes then...
Tabata Sit-ups - "Rest" in hollow-position
-This burned, try it.
Then 10 minutes of free standing hand stands and hand stand walking; this is slowly but surely improving. I got further than I ever had. A great day of training. I love crossfit (and not doing Open WODs twice in one week). Excited to workout tomorrow!
Friday, March 16, 2012
3/16/12
Complete rest.
Woke up with a little head cold. I've been in extremely close quarters with someone who is sick; I saw this coming. Also, my quads are decently sore. Going to give 12.4 another go this weekend.
Woke up with a little head cold. I've been in extremely close quarters with someone who is sick; I saw this coming. Also, my quads are decently sore. Going to give 12.4 another go this weekend.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
3/15/12
I was a little sore throughout my posterior chain and shoulders today. But once the clock started I went for it.
2012 Open 12.4
12 Minute AMRAP:
150 Wall-ball
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups
254 reps. I got through the wall balls in 6 minutes; went for 50 unbroken, then sets of 20 and then sets of 10 towards the end. I got to the rings with just over 4 minutes left. My shoulders were toast when I got to the rings. I got 3 right away, then a set of 2 and then all singles. I took a lot of rest in between muscle-up attempts. I only missed 1 muscle-up attempt. I got through the wall-balls and double-unders faster than I thought I would. My muscle-ups aren't great. During last year's Open I couldn't do one. Considering this I'm happy with my score of 254. Also double-unders really tripped me up during the last Open. I was smoked from the wall-balls, but I confidently busted out 90 reps only missing reps 3 times. The only place I could make up time on this is during the muscle-ups, but if I do this again, I don't really know how many more I could realistically get. My shoulders were a little sore, maybe a little more 'freshness' and I could get a few more linked sets in a the beginning, but I don't know. Overall happy with my effort, I went as hard as I could. Depending on where my score is on Saturday I'll give it another go.
I was really surprised with how toasted I was after this. About an hour after the WOD I was still feeling it. This usually doesn't happen, I usually recover really fast. Also I was extremely happy I had no knee pain today, everything felt great with full ass to grass wall-balls.
2012 Open 12.4
12 Minute AMRAP:
150 Wall-ball
90 Double-unders
30 Muscle-ups
254 reps. I got through the wall balls in 6 minutes; went for 50 unbroken, then sets of 20 and then sets of 10 towards the end. I got to the rings with just over 4 minutes left. My shoulders were toast when I got to the rings. I got 3 right away, then a set of 2 and then all singles. I took a lot of rest in between muscle-up attempts. I only missed 1 muscle-up attempt. I got through the wall-balls and double-unders faster than I thought I would. My muscle-ups aren't great. During last year's Open I couldn't do one. Considering this I'm happy with my score of 254. Also double-unders really tripped me up during the last Open. I was smoked from the wall-balls, but I confidently busted out 90 reps only missing reps 3 times. The only place I could make up time on this is during the muscle-ups, but if I do this again, I don't really know how many more I could realistically get. My shoulders were a little sore, maybe a little more 'freshness' and I could get a few more linked sets in a the beginning, but I don't know. Overall happy with my effort, I went as hard as I could. Depending on where my score is on Saturday I'll give it another go.
I was really surprised with how toasted I was after this. About an hour after the WOD I was still feeling it. This usually doesn't happen, I usually recover really fast. Also I was extremely happy I had no knee pain today, everything felt great with full ass to grass wall-balls.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
3/13/12
Felt pretty decent today. Had a decent metcon. Nothing felt great; I'm excited for the day when I feel great again.
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Dumbbell Thrusters (2 x 35#)
20 Sit-ups
Rest 90 seconds
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Renegade Rows (2 x 35#)
12 Burpees
Rest 90 seconds
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Dumbbell Ground-to-Overhead (2 x 35#)
20 Double-unders
- 5 Rounds + 8 Thrusters
- 3 Rounds
- 6 Rounds
- Renegade row and burpees were horrible, everything else felt good and was challenging.
Rest 10 minutes then...
On a 3 minute clock:
60 seconds plank
60 seconds GHD Sit-ups
60 seconds plank
Planks were unbroken, GHDs burned toward the end. Solid session, excited to see what 12.4 offers. I want something heavy!
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Dumbbell Thrusters (2 x 35#)
20 Sit-ups
Rest 90 seconds
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Renegade Rows (2 x 35#)
12 Burpees
Rest 90 seconds
5 Minute AMRAP:
8 Dumbbell Ground-to-Overhead (2 x 35#)
20 Double-unders
- 5 Rounds + 8 Thrusters
- 3 Rounds
- 6 Rounds
- Renegade row and burpees were horrible, everything else felt good and was challenging.
Rest 10 minutes then...
On a 3 minute clock:
60 seconds plank
60 seconds GHD Sit-ups
60 seconds plank
Planks were unbroken, GHDs burned toward the end. Solid session, excited to see what 12.4 offers. I want something heavy!
Monday, March 12, 2012
3/12/12
Still didn't feel 100% myself yet. I've been really brooding negatively over my performance in 12.3 a lot. I ate a couple cheat meals yesterday, lots of non-paleo carbs. I got a huge 'pump' today from the workout. Glycogen stores are definitely full. Kind of a fun feeling. I thought I'd get the metcon unbroken today, but it just didn't happen. Overall a good session though, dead-lifts felt great. I'm backing off on the volume and keeping it simple for the rest of the open. I was going to do some squatting, but knee was a little agitated. This pissed me off even more, it hasn't hurt in a couple weeks. Anyway, today looked like this:
Dead-lift 5 x 5 @ 80% (365#) @ 2 minutes rest
Rest 15 minutes then...
For time:
30-20-10
Pull-ups
Wall-balls
HR Push-ups
Double-unders
KB Swings (53#)
11.02. I wanted to get this unbroken, ended up having to break up some of the sets of 20 (pull-ups/hr push-ups. I just wasn't feeling it after yesterday. My shoulders and body in general are toast after going at 12.3 100% twice in one week. Really looking to buckle down and own 12.4 and 12.5 in order to qualify for regionals. Dropping to 60th place has really screwed with me mentally; if I had finished the round I was on, I would be sitting in 41st. I would be a lot happier and confident in 41st place. I can't believe how much of a failure I feel like.
Dead-lift 5 x 5 @ 80% (365#) @ 2 minutes rest
Rest 15 minutes then...
For time:
30-20-10
Pull-ups
Wall-balls
HR Push-ups
Double-unders
KB Swings (53#)
11.02. I wanted to get this unbroken, ended up having to break up some of the sets of 20 (pull-ups/hr push-ups. I just wasn't feeling it after yesterday. My shoulders and body in general are toast after going at 12.3 100% twice in one week. Really looking to buckle down and own 12.4 and 12.5 in order to qualify for regionals. Dropping to 60th place has really screwed with me mentally; if I had finished the round I was on, I would be sitting in 41st. I would be a lot happier and confident in 41st place. I can't believe how much of a failure I feel like.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
3/11/12
Today sucked. The Open is a pretty emotional time for me. I feel like a failure.
I went at 12.3 again. I just wasn't feeling it. Both times I did this workout I felt completely gassed. Nothing else has kicked my ass so hard. I was behind a lot of guys I normally keep up with / beat often. I was confident going into this, but the push-press just rocked me. On a positive note I missed a lot less reps, but I still didn't perform at a level I wish I did. I for more rounds of push-press unbroken, didn't break them up til round 6. But I only improved by 2 reps. If I scored 330 the first time and 332 the second time, there really isn't anything more I can do. I went hard, as hard as I could and it just wasn't that good. It's funny because I thought of all 3 WODs so far in the 2012 Open this would be my best, but it ended up being my worst. I hope I'm still in the top 60 after this week. I'm also super stressed out abut stuff outside of crossfit (life getting in the way of crossfit, what's with that?). I could make a million excuses, but when it comes down to it I just need to keep training and keep my head up.
For lack of a more articulate response, I'm pissed off. But that's just part of crossfit. This exposed a weakness of mine. A weakness I didn't even know I had. New goal for the year: 12+ rounds on this workout.
I went at 12.3 again. I just wasn't feeling it. Both times I did this workout I felt completely gassed. Nothing else has kicked my ass so hard. I was behind a lot of guys I normally keep up with / beat often. I was confident going into this, but the push-press just rocked me. On a positive note I missed a lot less reps, but I still didn't perform at a level I wish I did. I for more rounds of push-press unbroken, didn't break them up til round 6. But I only improved by 2 reps. If I scored 330 the first time and 332 the second time, there really isn't anything more I can do. I went hard, as hard as I could and it just wasn't that good. It's funny because I thought of all 3 WODs so far in the 2012 Open this would be my best, but it ended up being my worst. I hope I'm still in the top 60 after this week. I'm also super stressed out abut stuff outside of crossfit (life getting in the way of crossfit, what's with that?). I could make a million excuses, but when it comes down to it I just need to keep training and keep my head up.
For lack of a more articulate response, I'm pissed off. But that's just part of crossfit. This exposed a weakness of mine. A weakness I didn't even know I had. New goal for the year: 12+ rounds on this workout.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
3/10/12
So the complete rest yesterday and the active recovery today were supposed to be switched, but due to factors outside of my control I had to switch them around. Sometimes life happens and I'm fine with the change, it wasn't a huge deal. Today was some great activity. I ran between 3 and 4 miles, didn't time it and didn't even think about time or effort. Just went and felt great. I felt really light on my feet, hamstrings were a little tight at first, but overall I love how it feels to run. It was great to just move and breathe and feel fit without worrying about time, points, reps etc. Just moving athletically, efficiently and being fit is an awesome feeling. Good stress release as I'm stressing a little bit about my 12.3 score, I need to improve, a lot. Guys that I usually leave in the dust are right about where I scored on that workout. I'm going to go in with a different strategy and I will improve; my shoulders and triceps are still really sore today, hoping to feel more fresh tomorrow.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
3/8/12
AM Workout (1030)
Today I felt more recovered than I have in a while, which was a great feeling. I did a lot of relaxing and ate a lot in hopes of recovering over the last two days. 12.3's overhead wasn't very welcome considering all the overhead I had on Monday, but I had no way to know there would be overhead in this week's Open workout. I think overall my current score isn't terrible, but I could do a little better. I missed about 10 reps on the push-press because my knees weren't locked out on some of the jerks before I began lowering the weight. This was just laziness on my part toward the end of the workout. My last round was direly slow, I gassed out so hard toward the end. I really tried to pace it; I had a solid pace for a while. But the last 5 minutes were me just gasping for air. The only set of push-press I got unbroken was the first one. The rest were 8/4 and the last was 6/6. I think when I redo this workout I will do more unbroken sets and be really careful about not missing any reps. My toes-to-bar were unbroken for the first 5 rounds, then 5/4. All the box jumps were unbroken. Anyway, I'm happy with my effort today, it was a good dry run and I'm excited to get some more training in this week and then hit it again Sunday.
IMO this is the most fair and balanced WOD put out yet in the 2012 Open. It is a legit workout, straight Crossfit.
Crossfit 2012 Open 12.3
18 Minute AMRAP:
15 Box Jumps (24" Games Standard)
12 Push-Press (115#)
9 Toes-to-bar
9 Rounds + 6 Box Jumps (330 reps). When I redo this workout I am shooting for 10 rounds+ (360+ reps). This is a realistic goal I think I can achieve with a little tweaking of my strategy. Excited to train again tonight!
PM Workout (1730)
Tonight was a great session. I felt pretty good considering I went 100% this morning. Had a decent WOD, but my time suffered a little bit because the gym was super crowded, had to wait around for people to move etc during the WOD. But I tried to keep the intensity as high as possible. Then I had an awesome rowing session. I love rowing. I programmed this workout, I thought it went well.
For time:
9-6-3
Power Clean (240#)
Muscle-ups
**if you receive the clean below or at any point go bellow parallel: NO REP
I got 9:30. I could have been quite a bit faster had I not been waiting around for people who were in my way. It was in the evening and the gym was just packed. But overall a solid heavy metcon. A year ago my 1 RM power clean was 200#. Really puts my progress in perspective. The muscle-ups were easy money, felt really good.
Rest 15 minutes then...
Mobility - 10 minutes - working on deep squats, wall squats and general hip mobility - great stuff guided through with a mobility coach.
Rest is partner's set:
250m Row x 2
500m Row x 2
1000m Row
500m Row
250m Row
46,44
1:38, 1:38
3:29
1:39
44
Awesome effort. The rest periods were short, never felt fully recovered. I love rowing. I was happy with my consistency. Overall an awesome day of training. I'm definitely looking forward to hitting 12.3 again, I can definitely improve my score.
Today I felt more recovered than I have in a while, which was a great feeling. I did a lot of relaxing and ate a lot in hopes of recovering over the last two days. 12.3's overhead wasn't very welcome considering all the overhead I had on Monday, but I had no way to know there would be overhead in this week's Open workout. I think overall my current score isn't terrible, but I could do a little better. I missed about 10 reps on the push-press because my knees weren't locked out on some of the jerks before I began lowering the weight. This was just laziness on my part toward the end of the workout. My last round was direly slow, I gassed out so hard toward the end. I really tried to pace it; I had a solid pace for a while. But the last 5 minutes were me just gasping for air. The only set of push-press I got unbroken was the first one. The rest were 8/4 and the last was 6/6. I think when I redo this workout I will do more unbroken sets and be really careful about not missing any reps. My toes-to-bar were unbroken for the first 5 rounds, then 5/4. All the box jumps were unbroken. Anyway, I'm happy with my effort today, it was a good dry run and I'm excited to get some more training in this week and then hit it again Sunday.
IMO this is the most fair and balanced WOD put out yet in the 2012 Open. It is a legit workout, straight Crossfit.
Crossfit 2012 Open 12.3
18 Minute AMRAP:
15 Box Jumps (24" Games Standard)
12 Push-Press (115#)
9 Toes-to-bar
9 Rounds + 6 Box Jumps (330 reps). When I redo this workout I am shooting for 10 rounds+ (360+ reps). This is a realistic goal I think I can achieve with a little tweaking of my strategy. Excited to train again tonight!
PM Workout (1730)
Tonight was a great session. I felt pretty good considering I went 100% this morning. Had a decent WOD, but my time suffered a little bit because the gym was super crowded, had to wait around for people to move etc during the WOD. But I tried to keep the intensity as high as possible. Then I had an awesome rowing session. I love rowing. I programmed this workout, I thought it went well.
For time:
9-6-3
Power Clean (240#)
Muscle-ups
**if you receive the clean below or at any point go bellow parallel: NO REP
I got 9:30. I could have been quite a bit faster had I not been waiting around for people who were in my way. It was in the evening and the gym was just packed. But overall a solid heavy metcon. A year ago my 1 RM power clean was 200#. Really puts my progress in perspective. The muscle-ups were easy money, felt really good.
Rest 15 minutes then...
Mobility - 10 minutes - working on deep squats, wall squats and general hip mobility - great stuff guided through with a mobility coach.
Rest is partner's set:
250m Row x 2
500m Row x 2
1000m Row
500m Row
250m Row
46,44
1:38, 1:38
3:29
1:39
44
Awesome effort. The rest periods were short, never felt fully recovered. I love rowing. I was happy with my consistency. Overall an awesome day of training. I'm definitely looking forward to hitting 12.3 again, I can definitely improve my score.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
3/6 & 3/7
Two days of complete rest. I had something planned for Tuesday, but decided to get rid of it. Doing 12.2 at 100% intensity two days in a row and then a hard two-a-day Monday has really taken it out of me. I can't wait for the year (maybe next year?) when I'm so confident in my ability that I hit the Open workouts only once and can train/peak for regionals throughout the Open. A lot of Crossfit Games athletes talk about this concept, but at this point I need to hit the workouts twice a week in order to stay in the top 60. Trying to peak twice in one weak is kind of messing with my training, but I still feel extremely fit. And I'm handling my training during the Open a lot better than I did last year. Anyway, two days of full rest, excited for whatever 12.3 is come Thursday morning.
Monday, March 5, 2012
3/5/12
AM Workout (0900)
Today was a great training session. It was really nice not to have an Open workout to stress about. During the open my favorite time of the week is Sunday at 5:01 PM to Wednesday at 4:59 PM. The rest of the time is stressful and distracting from training. So today was just straight training; being a gym rat on the grind. It's what I'm all about. I had an awesome athlete to train with and we pushed it.
Thruster (from rack)
Reps: 1-10-1-20-1-30 (fail - got 25)
Percentage: 90, 70 (-10#), 90, 60 (-10#), 90, 50 (-10#)
Weight (#): 205, 155, 205, 127, 205, 106
Some of the reps were a few lbs off because all the small plates were in KGs, but it was close enough. I dropped 10 lbs off each of the volume sets because I was feeling it my shoulders (probably from 12.2 two days in a row). I'm pretty pissed I missed the last 5 reps on the last set, but I was fried, huge effort, but my shoulders just gave out. Awesome strength session with a good athlete.
Rest 10 minutes then...
Every minute on the minute for 7 minutes:
2 Muscle-ups (25# vest)
Straight into...
Every minute on the minute for 4 minutes:
2 Muscle-ups (strict, exaggerate and pause turn out at bottom)
Straight into...
5 Minute AMRAP:
5 Burpees
7 Squat Jumps
9 Sit-ups
Rest 1 minute
4 Minute AMRAP:
20 Lunge Steps (alternating)
10 KB Swings (53#)
Rest 1 minute
3 Minute AMRAP:
12 Knees-to-elbows
12 Box Jumps (24")
Rest 1 minute
2 Minute AMRAP:
Wall-balls
Rest 1 minute:
1 Minute AMRAP:
Double-unders
Ending up getting 475 total reps. I was a dumb-ass and tangled my rope for the last minute, I only got about 40 seconds of double-unders. I messed up once at 20 reps and then got another 69 unbroken for 89 reps. Solid effort overall, felt decent. Great day in the gym. Excited to train again soon!
PM Workout (1730)
I was extremely tight in my hamstrings this afternoon. My traps have never been this sore. I had a session planned and after a warm-up I felt ok. It ended up looking like this:
10 Rounds @ 60 seconds rest:
7 Strict Pull-ups
6 Box Jumps (30" Game Standard)
3 HSPU
-I felt really good on everything, linking games standard box jumps at 30" is feeling a lot better than it used to. I felt really light on the pull-ups and got the HSPU unbroken and felt good.
Rest 10 minutes then...
For time:
21-15-9
Shoulder-to-Overhead (115#)
Bar Facing Burpees
5.44. This workout was terrible. If I was fresh it would have been fine, but I just gassed out hard. I got all the burpees fast and unbroken, but the sets of 15/9 on the bar were broken up. I was really hoping for sub five and unbroken on this workout. I just noticed by how hard everything about this WOD felt and knew to back off. I cut out the other short metcon I had planned and I'm going to back off the volume tomorrow as well. Overall a solid training session, may have bitten off a little much today. But sometimes that happens, you just have to back off a little. The first workout today was definitely a more quality session, but overall a solid day of training.
Today was a great training session. It was really nice not to have an Open workout to stress about. During the open my favorite time of the week is Sunday at 5:01 PM to Wednesday at 4:59 PM. The rest of the time is stressful and distracting from training. So today was just straight training; being a gym rat on the grind. It's what I'm all about. I had an awesome athlete to train with and we pushed it.
Thruster (from rack)
Reps: 1-10-1-20-1-30 (fail - got 25)
Percentage: 90, 70 (-10#), 90, 60 (-10#), 90, 50 (-10#)
Weight (#): 205, 155, 205, 127, 205, 106
Some of the reps were a few lbs off because all the small plates were in KGs, but it was close enough. I dropped 10 lbs off each of the volume sets because I was feeling it my shoulders (probably from 12.2 two days in a row). I'm pretty pissed I missed the last 5 reps on the last set, but I was fried, huge effort, but my shoulders just gave out. Awesome strength session with a good athlete.
Rest 10 minutes then...
Every minute on the minute for 7 minutes:
2 Muscle-ups (25# vest)
Straight into...
Every minute on the minute for 4 minutes:
2 Muscle-ups (strict, exaggerate and pause turn out at bottom)
Straight into...
5 Minute AMRAP:
5 Burpees
7 Squat Jumps
9 Sit-ups
Rest 1 minute
4 Minute AMRAP:
20 Lunge Steps (alternating)
10 KB Swings (53#)
Rest 1 minute
3 Minute AMRAP:
12 Knees-to-elbows
12 Box Jumps (24")
Rest 1 minute
2 Minute AMRAP:
Wall-balls
Rest 1 minute:
1 Minute AMRAP:
Double-unders
Ending up getting 475 total reps. I was a dumb-ass and tangled my rope for the last minute, I only got about 40 seconds of double-unders. I messed up once at 20 reps and then got another 69 unbroken for 89 reps. Solid effort overall, felt decent. Great day in the gym. Excited to train again soon!
PM Workout (1730)
I was extremely tight in my hamstrings this afternoon. My traps have never been this sore. I had a session planned and after a warm-up I felt ok. It ended up looking like this:
10 Rounds @ 60 seconds rest:
7 Strict Pull-ups
6 Box Jumps (30" Game Standard)
3 HSPU
-I felt really good on everything, linking games standard box jumps at 30" is feeling a lot better than it used to. I felt really light on the pull-ups and got the HSPU unbroken and felt good.
Rest 10 minutes then...
For time:
21-15-9
Shoulder-to-Overhead (115#)
Bar Facing Burpees
5.44. This workout was terrible. If I was fresh it would have been fine, but I just gassed out hard. I got all the burpees fast and unbroken, but the sets of 15/9 on the bar were broken up. I was really hoping for sub five and unbroken on this workout. I just noticed by how hard everything about this WOD felt and knew to back off. I cut out the other short metcon I had planned and I'm going to back off the volume tomorrow as well. Overall a solid training session, may have bitten off a little much today. But sometimes that happens, you just have to back off a little. The first workout today was definitely a more quality session, but overall a solid day of training.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
3/4/12
I must say, the 6 more reps I completed today make me feel like a whole new man.
After the workout yesterday, I was discouraged, down and out. I felt like I didn't perform at the level I should have. I was missing reps, dumping the weight all over the place. I felt weak and like a bad athlete. 24 hours and some deep reflection changed everything.
I have never done a workout two days a in a row (I wouldn't recommend it!). But I watched that video of Dan Bailey 'winning the 2011 open' in the Crossfit Journal. He did the final workout 3 times in 24 hours in order to improve his score. I figured if he did that, I should give it another shot. Before the workout today, my hamstrings were super tight and my traps were painfully sore. I wanted to give up and just take my score. But I'm so happy I didn't.
Yesterday, I wanted 80-90 reps. In order to do that I ripped through the 75#/135# and attempted to rip through 165#. I can get away with questionable form and rip and grip 75#/135# with very short rest periods. I can't do that with 165#. So my plan was to go through 75# and 135# fast again, but then not try to blow through to those 80+ reps, just get to 69 (1 more rep than yesterday). I was going to get to 69 slowly, with long rest intervals and not miss any reps. I got to 165# in the right time frame, 4:00 minutes left on the clock (:30 slower than yesterday). At this point I took a huge break. I just chilled and remained calm. I walked slowly up to the bar with confidence, set in position and told myself the word 'quality' over and over in my head. I wanted to get quality reps, no fuck-ups, no misses, just strict good looking and efficient squat snatches.
This is the complete opposite of yesterday, where I was panicked, not resting long enough and missed a ton of reps. Yesterday I was try power snatch 165# as if it were 135# and it just wasn't working. Today I was slow and calm, confident and strong; I felt like an entire different athlete. My friend that watched said I probably could have gotten a few more reps because I was taking such long rest periods. And maybe I could have, but my goal was to not miss reps and it worked. My plan worked and I'm happy with my score. I love that I was able to rethink the workout and get a solid score. 74 reps, no missed attempts, no wasted energy. My goal was to just get 69, so I am definitely happy with 74. Today was a great day.
Someday I will get 91+ reps on that workout. But for now I've got my eyes on the next 2012 Open workout.
After the workout yesterday, I was discouraged, down and out. I felt like I didn't perform at the level I should have. I was missing reps, dumping the weight all over the place. I felt weak and like a bad athlete. 24 hours and some deep reflection changed everything.
I have never done a workout two days a in a row (I wouldn't recommend it!). But I watched that video of Dan Bailey 'winning the 2011 open' in the Crossfit Journal. He did the final workout 3 times in 24 hours in order to improve his score. I figured if he did that, I should give it another shot. Before the workout today, my hamstrings were super tight and my traps were painfully sore. I wanted to give up and just take my score. But I'm so happy I didn't.
Yesterday, I wanted 80-90 reps. In order to do that I ripped through the 75#/135# and attempted to rip through 165#. I can get away with questionable form and rip and grip 75#/135# with very short rest periods. I can't do that with 165#. So my plan was to go through 75# and 135# fast again, but then not try to blow through to those 80+ reps, just get to 69 (1 more rep than yesterday). I was going to get to 69 slowly, with long rest intervals and not miss any reps. I got to 165# in the right time frame, 4:00 minutes left on the clock (:30 slower than yesterday). At this point I took a huge break. I just chilled and remained calm. I walked slowly up to the bar with confidence, set in position and told myself the word 'quality' over and over in my head. I wanted to get quality reps, no fuck-ups, no misses, just strict good looking and efficient squat snatches.
This is the complete opposite of yesterday, where I was panicked, not resting long enough and missed a ton of reps. Yesterday I was try power snatch 165# as if it were 135# and it just wasn't working. Today I was slow and calm, confident and strong; I felt like an entire different athlete. My friend that watched said I probably could have gotten a few more reps because I was taking such long rest periods. And maybe I could have, but my goal was to not miss reps and it worked. My plan worked and I'm happy with my score. I love that I was able to rethink the workout and get a solid score. 74 reps, no missed attempts, no wasted energy. My goal was to just get 69, so I am definitely happy with 74. Today was a great day.
Someday I will get 91+ reps on that workout. But for now I've got my eyes on the next 2012 Open workout.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
3/3/12
Today was a rough day.
12.2
On a 10 minute clock:
30 Snatch @ 75#
30 Snatch @ 135#
30 Snatch @ 165#
Max Reps Snatch @ 210#
I scored 68 reps. I got 1 no rep from my judge and I missed 5-6 reps on my own, either getting in the hole and losing it forwards or backwards.
For the 75# I went 15/15 with a short break (5 seconds). For the 135# I methodically and consistently went through the reps like a quiet and calm professional. I went with sets of 5, with a short 5-10 second break in between each set. I was really happy about this, it was my plan. By the time I got 165# on the bar I had 4:30 left. I was extremely happy about this, this is exactly what I planned in my head. At this instance, everything changed. I went from a quiet professional to a panicking idiot.
After this humbling experience, I realized I've only snatched more than 155 probably 5 times in my life. During last year's open, my max snatch was 135#. So this puts thing into perspective a lot. I've improved a ton since last year, but I was looking to do a lot better on this WOD. My goal was 80. If I wouldn't have missed reps I would have been in the 75-76 range. On a positive note, I gave it everything I had. I rarely ever miss reps, if I was missing reps, I was going balls out. I stuck to the plan and got to 165# at the correct time. The straight truth is that I just don't have the strength to rep 165 in a metcon. I've been doing a ton of metcons with lighter/moderate loads and this just straight up whipped my ass. I'm definitely in the best shape of my life. I'm stronger, leaner and more conditioned than ever, but still got my ass handed to me. This hasn't happened in a while, a long while. It is definitely part of the sport though. With the current training I've programmed myself I focused on a lot on unbroken sets at high intensity. This is basically the opposite of this workout. My way of training/programming really pays off with light/moderate loads, but it didn't work at all for 165#. I was missing reps left and right. I wasn't taking enough breaks. I was just forcing myself back to the bar because that's how to win light/moderate events. I can't believe I got 8 reps (got the bar locked out overhead 9 times, one of them I was told I didn't reset my feet enough) in 4:30. That's just shitty. If I want to compete at regionals I need to be better than that. I need to be able to stay calm with 165# and not miss reps, but that just didn't happen. This is the first time I've felt 'weak' in a long time. I've got a lot of work to do until I am a good athlete. I love the condition I'm in, but in the broader picture of my fitness, I need to continue getting stronger. I feel more fit/conditioned/better metcon than ever, but I need to take some time after this season and get back to the basics. Quality strength training, four sessions a week and some GPP afterwards.
I was happy with my 71st place finish in 12.1, but today I am discouraged. Such a hard pill to swallow; I'm not that great. A six pack doesn't make snatching a heavy load any easier. Who knows, maybe I'll hit it again tomorrow depending on how I feel. What else? Humility is good. I'm excited to continue training, I just feel like I got my ass kicked. But part of being better is rolling with the punches and I intend to do just that.
12.2
On a 10 minute clock:
30 Snatch @ 75#
30 Snatch @ 135#
30 Snatch @ 165#
Max Reps Snatch @ 210#
I scored 68 reps. I got 1 no rep from my judge and I missed 5-6 reps on my own, either getting in the hole and losing it forwards or backwards.
For the 75# I went 15/15 with a short break (5 seconds). For the 135# I methodically and consistently went through the reps like a quiet and calm professional. I went with sets of 5, with a short 5-10 second break in between each set. I was really happy about this, it was my plan. By the time I got 165# on the bar I had 4:30 left. I was extremely happy about this, this is exactly what I planned in my head. At this instance, everything changed. I went from a quiet professional to a panicking idiot.
After this humbling experience, I realized I've only snatched more than 155 probably 5 times in my life. During last year's open, my max snatch was 135#. So this puts thing into perspective a lot. I've improved a ton since last year, but I was looking to do a lot better on this WOD. My goal was 80. If I wouldn't have missed reps I would have been in the 75-76 range. On a positive note, I gave it everything I had. I rarely ever miss reps, if I was missing reps, I was going balls out. I stuck to the plan and got to 165# at the correct time. The straight truth is that I just don't have the strength to rep 165 in a metcon. I've been doing a ton of metcons with lighter/moderate loads and this just straight up whipped my ass. I'm definitely in the best shape of my life. I'm stronger, leaner and more conditioned than ever, but still got my ass handed to me. This hasn't happened in a while, a long while. It is definitely part of the sport though. With the current training I've programmed myself I focused on a lot on unbroken sets at high intensity. This is basically the opposite of this workout. My way of training/programming really pays off with light/moderate loads, but it didn't work at all for 165#. I was missing reps left and right. I wasn't taking enough breaks. I was just forcing myself back to the bar because that's how to win light/moderate events. I can't believe I got 8 reps (got the bar locked out overhead 9 times, one of them I was told I didn't reset my feet enough) in 4:30. That's just shitty. If I want to compete at regionals I need to be better than that. I need to be able to stay calm with 165# and not miss reps, but that just didn't happen. This is the first time I've felt 'weak' in a long time. I've got a lot of work to do until I am a good athlete. I love the condition I'm in, but in the broader picture of my fitness, I need to continue getting stronger. I feel more fit/conditioned/better metcon than ever, but I need to take some time after this season and get back to the basics. Quality strength training, four sessions a week and some GPP afterwards.
I was happy with my 71st place finish in 12.1, but today I am discouraged. Such a hard pill to swallow; I'm not that great. A six pack doesn't make snatching a heavy load any easier. Who knows, maybe I'll hit it again tomorrow depending on how I feel. What else? Humility is good. I'm excited to continue training, I just feel like I got my ass kicked. But part of being better is rolling with the punches and I intend to do just that.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
3/1/2012
I was considering hitting 12.2 today, but instead I chose not to. I think this workout will tax my body so much that I only want to hit it once. It wouldn't be worth doing twice in a 3 day period. I'm not fully recovered right now. I'm still sore from those back squats. Taking time off for that knee injury was rough. I'm sure after a few more weeks of regular squatting I won't have this much DOMS in the future. But for this week, I want to fully recover and go for a max effort 12.2 on Saturday. I was also on my feet for 13 hours straight yesterday. Between yesterday and my sore legs (it's deep inside the groin/adductors) I didn't want to be max effort squat snatching 165 for reps. Instead I got some activity in and I'm trying to taper off for a peak performance this weekend when our whole gym gets together and we have a competitive environment. So today was this...
'Helen'
3 RFT:
400m Run
21 KB Swings (53#)
12 Pull-ups
8.38. This wasn't a PR, I didn't go 100%, just went through everything at about 85% intensity. I worked on my butterfly pull-up before and after. I attempted a chest-to-bar butterfly, I realized today I can't do those. That's definitely another thing I need to work on.
It was fun to count my friend's reps for his first attempt at 12.2 and get some activity in. Excited for this weekend.
'Helen'
3 RFT:
400m Run
21 KB Swings (53#)
12 Pull-ups
8.38. This wasn't a PR, I didn't go 100%, just went through everything at about 85% intensity. I worked on my butterfly pull-up before and after. I attempted a chest-to-bar butterfly, I realized today I can't do those. That's definitely another thing I need to work on.
It was fun to count my friend's reps for his first attempt at 12.2 and get some activity in. Excited for this weekend.
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