12/27-12/30

12/27 - Today I was hungover, went to a Christmas party last night and drank more than I have in a long time.

12/28 - I got over my hangover yesterday about Mid-day. Went to sleep with my workout planned, about 3 AM I awoke to extreme nausea. I puked 6 times between 3 AM and 8 AM. By 8 am when I got out of bed I had a high fever and extreme muscle fatigue. I only thing I ate this entire day was a can of soup and a few ounces of water. I believe I got the flu.

12/29 - I felt better today. Ate some solid food, 2 eggs and a half a banana. Then I had a protein shake later in the day. I had to travel back home today and I think this exhausted me; because by the end of the day my flu symptoms were coming back and I was feeling a lot worse. I haven't had a good night's sleep since Christmas and I'm not eating enough.

12/30 - I felt ok when I woke up today. I had no signs or symptoms of sickness. Today is the day I've eaten the most food since Monday. My girlfriend and co-workers tell me I look like I've lost weight. This is not good. Overall I just have an extreme loss of self-worth for not being in the gym. I know I haven't been able to get enough food or sleep lately and between that and not working out I know how detrimental this week is to my fitness and I'm almost depressed. I have huge regrets about getting off track (not that getting the flu was my fault, but drinking/traveling were) and really hate myself and how I feel. I want to be healthy and back in the gym so bad it's driving me crazy.

12/26

Felt great today. I was back home at my parent's house for Christmas, so I stopped in the local Crossfit box to get a workout in. It was great to see some of the guys I used to train with. Anyway, today looked like this:

Overhead Squat - 1-20-1-20-1-20 @ 90% (#215) for the singles, 50% (#120) for the sets of 20

-This was a great strength workout, 215 felt easy and the sets of 20 were for the most part brutal.

Rest 10 minutes then...

5 Rounds for time:
20 Pull-ups
30 KB Swings
40 Double-unders

19.20. This was a good WOD, definitely fried my fore-arms. It was a main site workout from a few weeks back and was off the gym's main board. Overall a good day.

12/24 & 12/25

Much needed and complete rest. Excited for Monday!

12/23/11

My body is for all intents and purposes smoked after this week. I had one workout left before Christmas and some much needed rest and I tried to go as hard as possible. Today looked like this:

2011 Regional Dead-lift Box Jump WOD

21-15-9
315# Dead-lifts
30" Box Jumps

7.42. This is not a fast time. I would have been ranked ~30th out of 37 athletes at regionals. I know I could do this workout faster if fresh. I did two-a-days Tuesday and Thursday and my body is feeling it. I got 15 dead-lifts out of the gate, but then the sets of 15 and 9 were really broken up. I want to do this workout again focusing on getting more reps unbroken.

Rest 10 minutes then...

Floor Press - 10,5,5,4,5, - 155,175,175,195,175

Bench Press with Banded Kettle-bells (2 x 26#) - 10,8,5,5,5 - 45,95,115,115,115

Rest 10 minutes then...

10 Minute AMRAP:
40 Double-unders
1 Round Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)

6 Rounds even. I wanted to practice my double-unders and butterfly pull-ups. The double-unders felt really good and my butterfly is getting better. I had never done floor press or KB band bench press, I want to do these more in the future. Overall a solid effort although I'm a little displeased with my time on the dead-lift/box-jump WOD. I'll nail it in under 5 minutes soon.

12/22/11

Workout 1 (1300)

Today was a great session. I maxed out my overhead squat today and set a huge PR. My previous PR was 205 x 4. I got 220 x 2 and then 240 x 1 today. Great stuff. Today looked like this:

Overhead Squat- Heavy Single - 240, then 85% (196) for 2 x three sets. These felt great. The jerks on Tuesday didn't feel very good. Today I felt a lot stronger with the weight overhead and was really happy about this PR.

Rest 10 minutes then....

'Elizabeth'
21-15-9
Squat Cleans (135#)
Ring Dips

6.29. I was happy with this time. My shoulders and arms gassed out pretty hard on the ring dips, but the squat cleans weren't too bad. Good short WOD.

Workout 2 (1830)

Running Drills then...

'Tosh' - 3 x (200m, 400m, 600m)

Rest 1 minute, 2 minute, 3 minute respectively.

Mobility work after the intervals.

My times: :29, 1:14, 2:09, :31, 1:24, 2:10, :33, 1:22, 2:12

This workout was brutal. Those 600s were painful. Great day, 30 degrees out and completely dark. For some reason the track lights were not on. Great session. I'm noticing I'm recovering a lot more between intervals doing these track workouts once a week. Excited for tomorrow!

12/21/11

Complete rest. Traps and hamstrings decently sore. Ate a lot of food today.

12/20/11

AM Workout (0730)

Today was a little less than satisfying. I didn't set a PR when I was trying to. I got under 262# twice for behind the neck jerks, but then I lost it both times on the recovery. The load didn't feel impossibly heavy on my shoulders. I really just need a little bit more coaching and I could set some huge PRs. Lifting alone blows, especially at the lifts you are worst at. This was upsetting, but I realize I'm not going to PR every session in the gym, it's just not realistically what happens.

On a more positive note, I set a huge PR on 2011 open workout 11.2. This morning looked like this:

Behind the Neck Jerk - Singles - 220, 240 x 2, missed 262 twice (current PR 250)

Rest 10 minutes then...

AMRAP 15:
9 Dead Lifts @ 155#
12 HR Push-ups
15 Box Jumps 24"

I got 12 rounds and 9 dead-lifts. This is a huge improvement over my previous 9 rounds and 9 box jumps. I was happy with my effort today. I got all the dead-lifts and box jumps unbroken and fast. The only thing that slowed down my time was the push-ups, although they were a hell of a lot better than they were in March last time I did this. The box jumps slowed me down in March, today they felt like recovery. My metcon is much better and I'm stronger than I've ever been. This makes me happy about my accomplishments and progress. My new goal on this workout is 14 rounds even. If I wasn't doing this alone I probably could have gotten a few more reps, maybe another entire round. I was pacing the push-ups a bit, I never gassed out and started doing them as singles like in March. I didn't feel as gassed as in March either. Overall a good session, despite the missed PR on the jerk. Excited for this afternoon!

PM Workout (1200)

This morning didn't take a whole lot out of me. I felt great this afternoon. It looked like this:

For time:
50 Power Cleans @ 200#

6.47. Went head to head with a good athlete and went as hard as possible. I did all the reps as singles, but took barely any rest. This was an awesome workout. I want to do this again at 225.

Rest 10 minutes then...

7 x 750m Row @ 3 minutes rest

All the 750s were in the 2:30-35 range. This was a great workout. I felt decent and tried to keep my pace consistent. I didn't really go all out at any point. Solid day, excited for a rest day tomorrow and another two-a-day Thursday.

12/19/11

After two days off I thought I'd be more recovered. I felt a little fatigued today. Especially on the front squats, everything else felt good though. I felt great on the metcon.

Snatch Pulls + Snatch (2 + 1 ) @ 80% (155#) - 5 sets

Front Squats - Singles - 95%, 90% - 308#, 292#

Front Squats - Doubles, 2 sets - 85% - 271

Rest 10 minutes then...

Rest 60 seconds between each 3 minute AMRAP:

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Reps Wall Balls - 51 reps

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Reps Muscle-ups - 10 reps

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Reps Box Jumps 30" - 22 Reps

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Reps KB Swings 72# - 33 Reps

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Reps HSPU - 7 Reps

3 Minute AMR:
400m Run
Max Double-unders - 50 Reps

Total Reps: 173

The snatches felt really good today. I was still sore from last week, I felt a little weak on the front squats. The metcon was great. I felt good on pretty much everything. I need to do more 30" box jumps. I've gotten too comfortable just doing 24" all the time. HSPU suck as always, especially at the end of the WOD. My run time started suffering on the last few AMRs. Overall a solid metcon though. I was really pleased with the 33 unbroken 2 pood KB swings while my heart rate was jacked from the 400. Great day, excited for tomorrow!

12/18/11

I was considering training today, but decided I needed the extra rest.

12/17/11

Complete and much needed rest

12/16/11

My body was fairly toasted today. The lifting went really well, but I felt horrible on the metcon. I definitely need some rest. Yesterday was extremely taxing.

Muscle Snatch - 5,4,3,2,1 - 88,97,110,135,146 (this is technically a PR, never gone for a single on this before).

Snatch Grip Push-Press - 4,4,4,4 - 176,185,196,207 - my previous 3 RM was 205, I was happy about this. I haven't done these in a while, but they felt great.

Dead-lift - 3,3,3,3 - 315,352,396,418 - 418 was my previous 2 RM. I was happy about this. I wanted to go a little heavier, but I was so toasted I'll save it for next time.

Rest 10 minutes then....

For time:

1000m Row then...

4 RFT:
20 Overhead Squats @ 95#
20 KB Swings @ 53#

17.25. This was a slower time. Two guys that I usually beat were right on my tail. From yesterday and the lifting today I am completely toasted. I broke up every set of both movements into 10/10. When I have to break up sets of 95 lb overhead squats and 53 lb swings, I know I need rest. This has been an amazing training week, this is what it's all about. I'm excited to rest and hit it hard again come Sunday or maybe wait until Monday. Overall a good day, lifting was great.

12/15/11

AM Workout (0845)

Today was the best session I've had in a while. It looked like this:

Back Squat - 5,5,10,20 - 225,295,315,255 - This was basically two warm up sets, a 10 rep 80%, then 20 reps at 80% of my 80% 1 rep max. Crazy effort, awesome stuff. 315 for 10 unbroken reps has been a goal of mine for a while. It's awesome to see progress, a year ago this was my 1 RM.

Bench Press - Heavy Singles - 195,205,225 - My bench press is horrible in comparison to my squat. These felt hard, after the back squats even bench press was hard.

Rest 10 minutes then....

30 Minute AMRAP:

10 Minutes:
7 Burpees
12 Box Jumps 24" - 10 rounds

10 Minutes:
HSPU
L-Pull-ups (1,1,2,2,3,3,... etc ) - Got through 5 L-pull-ups + 1 HSPU

10 Minutes:
7 DB Push-Press (2 x 30#)
12 Split Jumps - 14 Rounds + 7 DB Push-Press

Awesome day. I was extremely happy about the 315 lb x 10 on back squat. Can't wait for that 400 lb back squat. The metcon was hard. The first 10 minutes and last 10 minutes were fast and extremely challenging. The 10 minutes of HSPU and L-pull-ups was more of a skill session, but I was sweating and breathing hard, just not as hard. Excited for tomorrow!

PM Workout (1830)

Mobility and running drills.

4 x 800m @ 3 minutes rest

2:37, 2:45, 2:55, 3:00

The efforts on these were all out every time. My legs really felt like jello after the squats this morning. I tried to eat as much as I could between the workouts and I got in a 90 minute nap. But after a workout like this morning, there is only so much the body can recover without a night's sleep. If I were fresh I think I could run in sub 2:25. Overall an awesome day, I love these interval sessions.

12/14/11

Complete Rest.

12/13/11

Today was a decent session.

Clean Pulls + Clean (2 + 1) @ 75% (205 lb) - 5 Sets

Clean Pulls @ 100% (275 lb) - 3 Singles

Clean Grip Dead-lift @ 100% (275 lb) - 2 x 2

Push Press, Push Jerk, Split Jerk (1 + 1 + 1 ) - 135, 155, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225

The set of 225 was my 1 RM push-press. The split jerk on it was nasty. I was really fatigued from the push press and push jerk, but I got the rep. These felt great. Excited to PR on some overhead lifts in the near future.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

50 Double-unders
50 Sit-ups

3 RDs:
30 HR Push-ups
15 Hang Power Cleans @ 135#

50 Sit-ups
50 Double-unders

10:50. Metcon went fast. The hardest thing about it was the hook grip for the HPC after all the pulls and squat cleans during the strength session. Great day, the overhead strength was awesome. Excited for rest tomorrow and more lifting on Thursday!

12/12/11

Today was great. It was the first day of my new 10 week lifting program.

Snatch Pulls + Snatch: (2 + 1) x 5 @ 75% (135 lb) - These felt good, I feel like I haven't done snatches in a while. I really wanted to up the weight, but I stuck to the 75% and went through the motions. I really need to be patient and stick to the new program!

Snatch Pulls @ 100% - (185 lb) 3 x 2

Front Squat - Heavy Singles - 295, 325 (10 lb PR) - I was happy with this PR. This felt heavy, but manageable. I'm excited to set a new PR on this lift and on squat clean. I love setting PRs. I've been feeling good in the gym. I was a little burnt out after the Taranis Winter Challenge (Nov 4,5,6th) and I'm feeling good again after backing off on the volume a bit.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

30 Calorie Row

30 Box Jumps (24")

30 Wall-balls

30 Seated Overheard Presses

30 DB Thrusters (2 x 30#)

30 Knees to Elbows

30 Jump Squats

30 Overhead Plate Walking Lunge Steps (45#)

Time: 11.00. Solid effort, tried to go all out. This was rough on the shoulders. Overall a solid metcon. Excited for tomorrow.

12/11/11

Complete rest. I wasn't very sore after the competition. A little in my shoulders and legs.

12/10/11

The first annual 'Gorilla Games' at Crossfit Amped in Bellevue, Washington. We were on a 4 person team, 2 women and 2 men. We had some last minute roster changes. We originally were going to have more competitive athletes on the team, but due to some injuries and schedule conflicts we had to change the team up. It was a a lot of fun and I had a great time!

WOD 1 - 0830

In pairs (1 male, 1 female)

Team 1: Dead-lift 6,000 lbs, 3 reps each partner at a time. I chose 275 lb, partner had 125 lb. We each did 5 triples for a total of 6k lbs.

Team 2: 100 Box Jumps (24"/20")

Both Teams, 1st pair, then 2nd pair starts once first team finishes, time for the workout is when the last athlete comes through the finish line: 400m keg carry (65#/45#) with obstacles (3 4ish foot walls on the course).

11/12 place. Our women struggled a bit with the kegs. We had never done these before. We went hard though. Interesting event. The dead-lifts were really easy. I barely broke a sweat during this event.

WOD 2 - 1030

In pairs of 2:

Team 1: 150 Wall Balls - While one partner is doing wall-balls, the other is in handstand against a wall.

Team 2: 150 HR Push-ups - While one partner is doing push-ups, the other partner is holding dumb-bells locked out overhead (40#/30#)

I was on the team doing wall-balls. The HR push-ups went faster. My judge was super strict on the wall balls. The 10 foot mark was actually a free standing beam running across pull-up bars. In order for a legitimate rep the ball had to hit the middle or top of the beam, not the bottom. A lot of other teams were hitting the bottom and getting counted reps. My judge literally discounted 20-25 of my reps. Considering this, we still got second place in the event. By 2 damn seconds! If we had a different (normal?) judge we would have gotten 1st for sure. I was happy with my effort. I got 50 wall balls right out of the gate. I did the majority of the wall balls and my partner did a lot of hand stands. Overall an awesome effort. My last set of 25 was brutal, by far the hardest I've ever gone on wall-balls. I was literally jumping to get the ball to the mark. Awesome effort by all my team mates. This is what it is all about!

2/12 place.

WOD 3 - 1130

On a 'Fight Gone Bad' clock:

Toes-to-bar

KB Swings (53#/35#)

Thrusters (75#/55#)

Burpees (jump on plate)

-Each team member was on a station, we rotated each minute. Total reps completed by each team member combined is the score. We did alright on this workout. One of our team mates hurt her hand on literally the first burpee and this suffered her score a bit. I'm glad she dug deep and kept going hard though. This was a tough workout, I really liked it.

8/12 place.

With a 11th place, 2nd place, and 8th place, we ended up getting 8th overall. I was really happy with our effort. Fun day. I'd like to do one more individual competition before the 'Open' starts in February.

12/9/11

Complete Rest. Team competition tomorrow.

12/8/11

Today was a lighter metcon, but overall a good session. I didn't feel great, but I went as hard as possible. I didn't do heavy stuff today, I'm tapering down for the competition on Saturday.

For time:

9-6-3
155# Bench Press
Muscle-ups

5.20. This was light and fast. I didn't feel very strong. My triceps and shoulders are still a little shot from the extremely hard workouts on Tuesday.

Rest 10 minutes then...

3 RFT:
6 Overhead Squats - 135#
9 Burpees
12 Toes-to-bars

Straight into...

6 RFT:
3 Overhead Squats - 135#
6 Burpees
9 Toes-to-bars

15.27. This was a brutal workout. I got all the reps unbroken, but took a bit of rest right before each set of toes-to-bar. The overhead squats felt light and easy. Overall a good session. Excited for Saturday.

12/7/11

Complete rest.

12/6/11

AM Workout (0730)

This morning was short and heavy, but a great workout. I was going to do some more metcon after what I did today, but my body felt destroyed after the strength workout I did. It looked like this:

Thruster - Heavy Singles - 176, 196, 216, 229 (14 lb PR)

Rest 5 minutes then...

EMOM for 12 minutes:
3 x 176# Thruster
6 x 70# KB Swing

I had to stop at 8 minutes, resumed at 9. So i ended up getting 33/36 of the thrusters. This was the hardest workout I've done in a while, it was taxing as hell. I want to be able to do this straight through for 12 minutes in the future.

Rest 5 minutes...

Tabata Hollow Rocks - I forgot my score, but I went hard on these.

PM Workout (1700)

The thrusters this morning were rough. But once I got in the gym and got warmed up I felt surprisingly awesome. This afternoon I hit a heavy metcon. I went really hard, great day. It looked like this:

AMRAP 6 Minutes:

5 x 185# Power Clean
12 x Box Jumps 24"

Rest 2 minutes...

AMRAP 6 minutes:

5 x 185# Front Squat
9 x HR Push-ups

Rest 2 minutes...

5 x 135# Shoulder-to-Overhead (push-jerked every rep)
12 x Sit-ups

Score for total load moved. 7 rounds, 5 rounds, 8 rounds = ~16,000#. The front squats were no fun. I felt really strong on both the power cleans and the overhead though. Overall a solid day.

12/5/11

I felt great after two days off. I was still really sore yesterday, but after a 3 hour nap and another 9 hours of sleep I felt great today. My abductors were still a little sore, but after I warmed up everything felt great. Today looked like this:

Snatch Balance 3-1-1-1-1 @ 145, 165, 174, 185, 194 - I attempted 205 twice, got in the hole the first time but then bailed forward on it. Then the second time I didn't get it at all. I will next time, my shoulders were too exhausted to go for another attempt today. I know I've got more in me on this lift; this is one of my biggest things I need to work on.

Dead-lift 5,5,5,5 @ 308, 352, 372, 392 - 392 was a new 5 rep PR. These felt really good.

Rest 10 minutes then....

For time:

3 Rounds:
200m Run
15 Pull-ups
15 KB Swings (70#)

Straight into 3 rounds of:
30 Squats
20 Burpees
40 Double-unders

Time: 16:11. The metcon felt good. I put out a good effort and went hard. Excited for tomorrow.

12/3 & 12/4

Two days of much needed complete rest.

12/2/11

Definitely felt a little exhausted today. My chest, shoulders, hamstrings and calves were smoked. Both the AM and PM workouts yesterday were very challenging. I kept today short and heavy. This was the worst I've felt in the gym and I wasn't really up to doing a whole lot. I'm going to eat a lot today and then take two days of rest.

Back Squat - Heavy Doubles - 308,335,348

Rest 10 minutes then...

2008 Crossfit Games WOD #2
5 RFT:
5 Dead-lifts 275#
10 Burpees

3.50. I chalked up a couple of times and probably lost some time on that. I could go a little faster if I was fresh, but I was overall happy with my effort.

Rest 5 minutes then...

Tabata Bicycle Crunches - 40 each set (1 rep counting as an elbow to a knee). I kept my score 100% consistent and just hit 40 reps each interval, this was challenging and a good way to end the session. Excited for my rest, it's much needed and I've definitely earned it.

12/1/11

AM Workout (0730)

Today was a great workout. It was again a little different than usual, but awesome and heavy.

5 Rounds for time:
50 Double-unders
5 HSPU

10.04. This was tough on the shoulders. The double-unders went fast. I had to break up the last few sets of HSPU. Overall felt decent though.

Rest 10 minutes then...

5 Rounds for time:
5 Bench Press 175#
5 Power Cleans 175#

7.40. The bench press was much harder than the power clean. I had to break up the last two sets of bench press. 3/2 and then the last set was 2/1/1/1. Great effort, felt good.

Rest 10 minutes then....

With a 155# Bar, 10 minute AMRAP:
8 Hang Power Clean
6 Front Squats
4 Push-Press

5 Rounds and 7 HPC. Good metcon. Overall a solid day. Looking forward to some heavy lifting tomorrow!

PM Workout (1830)

Endurance workout.

Did some leg drills and a decent warm-up. Then we did the workout 'Light Tosh.'

4 x (100, 200, 300).

Rest is 30 seconds after the 100, 60 seconds after the 200 and 90 after the 300. This workout was great. Just what I needed, I love running fast. I wish I could schedule a workout like this every week.

100s - 10,10,10,11 (the coach estimated the distance, I'm assuming it was a little short)

200s - 28,33,38,33

300s - 46,48,51,49

11/30/11

Today was a little different. There was no lifting today, just some hardcore conditioning. I'm really taking this de-loading seriously and my body is starting to feel a lot better from my last lifting cycle. Anyway, today looked like this:

For time:

'Fran'
21-15-9
Thrusters 95#
Pull-ups

Time: 3.02. I really had no idea what my time would be. I can't remember what my former best was. But this was the first time I've done 'Fran' all out in a long time. I remember the last time I did it (probably about a 10-14 months ago) I did it in around 5 minutes and didn't get the 15 or 9 sets unbroken. Today was the first time I've completed the workout unbroken. I also don't do butterfly pull-ups and I think I could significantly increase my time once I master those. My new goal on this workout is sub 2:40. I know I can do this once I get butterfly pull-ups. I took very little rest between the unbroken sets, but I probably could have taken even a little less. Good effort on this, I'm happy about my performance.

Rest 10 minutes then...

3 Rounds for calories and time planking:

Calorie Row, 1 minute
Plank, 1 minute
Calorie Row, 1 minute
Plank, 1 minute
Calorie Row, 1 minute
Rest 1 minute

Total calories: 162
Total time planking: 6 minutes

This was a good conditioning workout. I was going to do a heavier WOD, but 'Fran' took a lot out of me. I can't remember the last time I got a forearm pump as intense as I had; it lasted about 20 minutes after the 3 minute workout. Overall a good day, excited for tomorrow.

11/29/11

Complete rest. I was going to train today, but ended up doing some drinking last night. I'm very sore in my hamstrings and glutes from yesterday. The rest today was needed.

11/28/11

AM Workout (0730)

Today was a great workout. A little different than what I usually do, but the next couple of weeks are de-loading weeks (at least for weight lifting). I'm moving back a lot on the volume of lifts, especially overhead stuff until my next competition on December 10th. After that I'm starting a new lifting schedule that will take me right up to the 2012 Open.

Close Grip Bench Press - Heavy Single - 216 lb. This felt good. I've never maxed out my close grip bench.

90% for a double - 196
80% for 3 x 3 - 176

Rest 10 minutes then....

'Santora'

Three Rounds for Reps of:

155# Squat Clean, 1 minute
20' Shuttle Run (20' forward + 20' backward = 1 rep), 1 minute
245# Dead-lift, 1 minute
Burpees, 1 minute
155# Jerk, 1 minute
1 minute rest

My score was 166 reps. This is a main site workout from last week. James Hobart's score, a 2 time games competitor (2009, 2010) was 158 reps. I was shooting to beat his score. My reps for each round were 65,51,50. This was a great workout. I'm excited for tomorrow!

PM Workout (1600)

I felt pretty good today. I had the day off work, decided to get in another workout. I didn't want to put any weight overhead, so I chose to do 'Michael.' This is my first two-a-day since I got a little sick, I'm glad it went well.

'Michael'
3 RFT:
800m Run
50 GHD Extensions
50 Sit-ups

19.22. I think this is a decent time considering this is my second workout of the day. I had to break up all the sets of extensions (35/15, 30/20, 30/20). The sit-ups went extremely fast. My running felt decent today, it was nice to run without a vest on. Excited for tomorrow!

11/27/11

Complete rest.

11/26/11

I was a little sore in my shoulders and legs today. Overall felt decent though. Today was a rough workout. We did 'Murph.' But I did the workout straight through; meaning I didn't break up the reps at all. Traditionally with this workout you can break up the reps however you want. Most people doing 20 rounds of 'Cindy' (5 pull-ups,10 push-ups, 15 squats). Doing the reps straight through was brutal. The push-ups and squats were just horrible. The pull-ups surprisingly weren't that bad. I thought they were going to bad after the 100 burpee-pull-ups I did yesterday. Anyway, this is what it looked like:

'Murph' (straight through - with a 25# vest)
1 Mile Run
100 Pull-up
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 Mile Run

Overall an extremely painful 54 minutes and 45 seconds. I'm excited to do this workout again and to breakup the reps instead of doing it straight through. I'll be a lot faster. I've done Murph before and I have to say, doing it straight through is an entire different workout. Great day, excited to rest and to lift heavy come next week.

11/25/11

Today was a good session. My muscle glycogen was unquestionably full today. The workout looked like this:

Overhead Squats - 4 Sets of 5 @ 176 - I missed the last rep of the 3rd set, so it was 5,5,4,5 - This was a struggle. Overhead squats are still something I'm not great at. I've improved a ton, but I'm not extremely confident with these yet. The heaviest I've gone is 205 for 4. I want to go for a one rep in the near future.

Back Squats - 4 Sets of 5 - 225,264,308,315 - 315 was a new 5 rep PR. These felt good.

Rest 10 minutes then....

For time:
100 Burpee Pull-ups

14.12. I did the pull-ups from a hang, no help from the jump. I didn't realize the standard of the reps was just chest-to-deck and chin over the bar. I should have used the jump to help in the reps, but it probably wouldn't have helped much. Overall a solid WOD.

11/24/11

Rest and a lot of food. Great day.

11/23/11

Today was a good training session, it was very challenging. I didn't lift today, but today was brutal. I did 'Nasty Girls' then rested and did 2/3 of the workout, rested and then did 1/3 of it. It was hard.

For time:

'Nasty Girls'
3 RFT:
50 Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans 135#

6.59

Rest 10 minutes...

2 RFT:
50 Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans 135#

5.30

Rest 10 minutes...

1 RFT:
50 Squats
7 Muscle-ups
10 Hang Power Cleans 135#

2.30.

Total time: 14.59.

My time for 'Nasty Girls' last time I did it (in July) was 9.27. So I improved a lot on my time and set a PR with 6.59. Next time I will shoot for under 6 minutes. My lower back and legs were tight today, I warmed up quite a bit but there was no way of getting the entirety of the soreness out of my back. Next time I do this I'll try to be completely 100% fresh and get sub 6.

11/22/11

Took some time off. After Saturday my body needed some serious rest. I felt recovered and today went well. Today was the best workout I've had in a while.

Squat Clean - 1,1,1 - 240, 260, 271 (PR) - 260 felt easy, 271 felt a little heavy. I could have gone for another PR, but I'll save it for next time!

Dead-Lift - 3,3,2 - 360, 396, 405 - Didn't go all out on these, medium heavy day

Rest 10 minutes then....

For time:

30 Calorie Row then....

4 Rounds of:
15 Pull-ups
6 Push-Press @ 175# (power cleaned from floor)
20 Wall-balls
30 Double-unders

My time for the metcon was 16:02. I was off the rower in under 60 seconds. I got 3 of the 4 sets of push-press unbroken. The third set I did 4 and 2. This was a solid metcon. The weight was just heavy enough to make the wall-balls and under double-unders taxing. During this workout at no point did I feel I was getting a break, everything was tough. Great session in the gym today, looking forward to tomorrow.

11/20 & 21

Complete Rest.

11/19/11

I felt better today than I did yesterday. No lifting today, just some hardcore sealfit. I'm going to try and make these a Saturday tradition for the next few months. I felt decent today, the push-ups were the worst. At first I was going a little too hard, but eventually I fell into a pace and just went about everything in a zen-like state of pain. Great stuff, different from the usual crossfit stuff I'm used to. Today looked like this:

With a 25 lb vest, for time:

200M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups
400M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups, 50 x Push-ups
800M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups, 50 x Push-ups, 75 x Sit-ups
1 Mile sprint, 20 x Pull-ups, 50 x Push-ups, 75 x Sit-ups, 100 x Squats
800M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups, 50 x Push-ups, 75 x Sit-ups
400M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups, 50 x Push-ups
200M sprint, 20 x Pull-ups

66:42.

Over an hour of pain, awesome stuff. The pull-ups were surprisingly easy, I got the first set unbroken, all the other sets were 10/10 or 10/5/5. The push-ups were rough, during the last few sets I was doing sets of 5. Sit-ups and squats were all unbroken. Running with a vest wasn't too bad, I'm getting better with the vest. I'm looking forward to next Saturday!

11/18/11

I wasn't very recovered today. My shoulders were really sore. Overall today went well though. I went really hard on the metcon.

EMOM for 10 minutes - Power Clean and Push-Jerk @ 85% - #205
-These felt harder than they should have, but I got them done.

Rest 10 minutes then....

'Filthy Fifty'

50 Box Jumps 24"
50 Jumping Pull-ups
50 KB Swings #35
50 Knees to Elbows
50 Push Press (#45 bar)
50 GHD Extensions
50 Wall-balls
50 Burpees
50 Double-unders

23.15. The knees to elbows and burpees were the worst. I hate not feeling recovered. Overall a good session though. One of my new goals is to be able to do this WOD in under 20 minutes.

11/17/11

I was going to do complete rest today, but ended up getting in some active recovery. I felt pretty good, I'm a little sore in my glutes, chest and shoulders.

AMRAP 20 Minutes:
500m Row
9 Burpees
12 Butterfly Sit-ups

I can't remember how many rounds I did, but I kept the 500m row in between 1:45-1:49 for every row from the first to last set. I just set into a pace and didn't go all out. This was good recovery, I didn't feel wrecked afterward. Overall a solid session.

11/16/11

I felt good on the strength today, but felt horrible doing HSPU (what else is new?). I didn't have much in my shoulders today for HSPUs, but everything else went fine. I felt strong on my lifts and went hard on the WOD. The workout was the most hardcore work capacity I've done in a while, it was good stuff.

Bench Press - Triples - 176,185,196,207 (f), 207 (f) - Needed spots on the last reps of the last two sets, but overall felt decent on these. My bench press is weak, but I'm improving a bit.

Rest 5 minutes then....

For time:

21-15-9
#185 Back Squat
HSPU

-My time was 17:15. I should be able to this WOD in about 6 minutes. I blew through the squats like they were air squats. I was doing HSPUs as singles by 7 reps into the set of 21. My shoulders didn't feel good. Between the heavy overhead yesterday and the bench press today this was brutal.

Rest 10 minutes then....

With 2 x #40 DB, 3 Rounds for time:

10 Renegade Rows
20 Front Squats
30 Push-Press
100 ft Lunge
200m Farmers Carry

-27.15. This was solid work capacity. I broke up everything but the renegade rows and front squats. The push-press was 3 sets of 10 every time. I would break up the lunge and farmers carry with a rest half-way between each. This was just brutal on the grip. Solid stuff.

11/15/11

I felt better today; I wasn't as sick. My middle finger on my right hand has been injured since the Taranis Winter challenge and it's only getting worse. It is not healing and is extremely painful to the touch. Needless to say it is affecting my training, I went 100% today, but my finger definitely hurt. Anyway, today looked like this:

Hang Squat Snatch 3 x 5 @ 75% - #130
Snatch Grip Push Press - 5,4,3, - 110,165,185 - went lighter on these than usual
Front Squat Singles - 70%,80%,90% - 220,265,285

Rest 10 minutes then...

5 Rounds for time:
10 Hang Power Clean #135
20 KB Swings #72
30 Double-unders

My time was 12:20, this was the fastest time of the day by 2 minutes. I'd be surprised if people beat this time, it was pretty fast. All the power cleans were unbroken and the double-unders were almost all unbroken. I broke up all the swings 10/10 except the first set. I was happy I felt good on the metcon, I was able to push it hard. I felt decent on the hang squat squat snatch, but the heavy lifting/hook-grip in general hurt my injured finger. Overall a good session though. I'm feeling a lot more confident than I did after Sunday.

11/14/11

Further complete rest. I slept about 10 hours last night and took a nap today. I'm still getting over this sickness. I had a bad head cold today. I can't remember the last time I was this pissed off.

11/13/11

I think I bit off a little bit too much volume this last week. I trained hard the week before the Taranis Winter Challenge, took 1 day off then did 6 workouts in 3 days, going 100% on all of them. Then I took 1 day off and did 4 extremely hard workouts in 3 days.

I just realized this was way too much. I took two days off and still don't feel 100% recovered and I have a slight sore throat/congestion. I went in to max out my snatch and clean jerk today, but just felt too crappy. I couldn't PR on my snatch, so I decided to not even attempt clean and jerk. I was extremely pissed about not nailing a PR. Considering I power snatched 185, my previous squat snatch PR, in competition last weekend I literally know I can PR on my squat snatch right now. I missed 192 about 10 times. I was extremely stubborn and just kept attempting it. After a while I just wasn't in the right mood mentally. My body is over-taxed and I'm going to back off a little. I've been working a lot, which affects what I eat negatively. I'm also on my feet for 12+ hours straight a few times a week. This doesn't help my recovery any. I'm going to back off on the volume a little and try to get some good rest in. After the snatch attempts I did 'Karen'. I'm really pissed off about today. This was the first "bad" workout I've had in a very, very long time. I will PR on my snatch soon, just not today.

'Karen'

150 Wall-Balls for time

My time: 5:20. This is a fast time, I want to get under 5 minutes next time.

11/12/11

I felt I needed more rest, decided to take the day off. I'm still sore throughout most of my body. I slept 10 hours last night (more than usual - I'm going to try to get at least 10 more tonight).

11/11/11

Much needed complete rest.

11/10/11

I was fairly sore today, mostly in my arms. My legs felt surprisingly good after the heavy front squats. I definitely need some rest, looking forward to taking tomorrow off. Today looked like this:

Not for time, but with as little rest as possible:

10,9,8,7....1

Floor Wipers (135#)
DB Bench Press (2 x 60#)
Ring Dips
Band Push-ups

This took a solid amount of time. We went straight through it with no rest, but didn't time it. I took about 45 seconds rest between the bigger number sets. After set 7 there was no rest taken at all. This was a very solid chest workout.

Rest 10 minutes then....

Power Clean 2,2,2,2,2 - 80% - 198 lb
Rack Jerk, Front, With Split - 2,2,2,2,2 - 135# (super light weight, these were for speed and technique)
Clean Pulls - 100% - 264 lb - 3 x 2
Clean Grip Dead-lifts - 100% - 264 lb - 3 x 2

Rest 10 minutes then....

4 Rounds for time:

5 Clean and Thrusters (135#)
10 Burpees
20 Box Jumps (24")

My time was a little over 10 minutes. I went easy on the box jumps, didn't want to hurt myself again. This was the first time I'd done them since the injury. I didn't go all out on the metcon. Overall a solid day, a little different, but a good workout.

11/9/11

Today was an awesome squatting session and a short metcon in the AM with a longer metcon in the evening. Great day of training. Looked like this:

AM (0730)

Front Squat - 1,10,1,20,1,30 - Go for a PR, 70%, 100%, 60%, 90%, 50%

315 (10 lb PR), 220, 315, 185, 284, 155

I was supposed to do 95% for the second single, but ended up screwing up my KG to LBs and did some extra weight. I ended up hitting my newly made PR again. Other than that the workout went great. The set of 155 was brutal, I literally stood up on the 30th rep, dumped the weight and just fell to the ground. Awesome stuff, my heart-rate was totally maxed out. Great strength session.

Rest 10 minutes then...

Tabata:
Ring Rows - 4
#45 Thrusters - 9
Toes to Bar - 6
HR Push-ups - 8
Step Ups, #30 x 2, 20" Box - 7

I didn't go completely balls out on this metcon. I went hard, just not crazy hard. I probably could have gotten a few more reps on some of the exercises, but I was extremely taxed after the squats.

PM (1800)

I felt pretty good in the afternoon. I wasn't really nervous about this WOD, I just knew it was going to be difficult. The workout was:

'Bradshaw'

10 RFT:
3 HSPU
6 Dead-lifts @ 225 lb
12 Pull-ups
24 Double-unders

Overall I really like this WOD. The first 6 rounds took me 10 minutes. The last 4 rounds took me 18 minutes, for a total of 28 minutes. This is not a fast time (Jason Khalipa scored right under 12 minutes). I'm assuming this is one of the fastest times in the world. Considering the last 4 rounds took me 18 minutes, this time was all HSPUs. I gassed out hard after the 6 rounds. Had to do them all as singles and had to take MINUTES of rest between reps, I was missing reps a lot. I did do a ton of overhead lifting and muscle-ups yesterday, so I wasn't 100%. I have to get good at HSPUS. Everything else in this WOD was done at 100% speed and unbroken. HSUPU are my only real weakness. I'm getting better, but I'm not nearly good enough, extremely frustrating. I want to get a gymnastics coach soon. I want to do this workout in under 15 minutes soon.

11/8/11

I felt much better today. I'm mostly sore in my calves (from the 5k) and my forearms (from the pulley). My lifting plan got a little messed up because of the two competitions I've done. I altered it slightly to fit my needs. I've got another one that will take me right up to the 2012 Crossfit Open in the works. Anyway, today looked like this:

Two Position Snatch (floor, mid-thigh) @ 85% (155 lb) 2 x 5. I missed the second (hanging) rep on the 2nd and 3rd sets, but got my form together by the last 2 sets. I really like these, they really emphasize speed. I was definitely sore in my traps/shoulders from the last WOD on Sunday, glad I went in and got these done.

Snatch Pulls @ 110% (200 lb) 3 x 2

Snatch Grip Dead lift @ 110% (200 lb) 3 x 2

Push Press - 5,4,3,1 - 155,185,210,225 - the single was supposed to be a double, but I couldn't lock out the second rep. But 225 for a single was a PR by 5 lbs. And the 210 was a 3 rep PR.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:
10-8-6-4-2
Dead-lifts #315
Muscle-ups
-40 Double-unders between each round

14.08. Overall a solid WOD. The muscle-ups were the hardest part, all the dead-lifts were unbroken and fast. 315 is starting to feel like 225. Only got 1 set of DUs unbroken, this pissed me off. I want all my DUs to be unbroken from now on.

11/7/11

Complete rest.

I ended up getting 21st overall out of 51. I was happy with my placing considering the caliber of athletes at this event.

11/6/11

Today was a filled with a disappointment and one of the greatest WODs/efforts I've ever put out. Such is crossfit.

1000 - WOD 5

AMRAP 8 Minutes:
3 KB (2 pood) pulls (attached to a rope and pulley)
6 Thrusters 115#

My score was horrible on this workout. I got 44th out of 51. I speculate the judge posted my rounds incorrectly. I don't know though, I should have checked what he had written down before I walked off the WOD area. I ripped my hand and bled a lot during this workout. The pulley thing I had never seen before or done. It was easy to pull up, but extremely hard on the grip to lower down. It was obvious who had done these before and who hadn't. This was extremely frustrating to place poorly after doing so well in other events. The thrusters went as fast as air squats.

1315 - WOD 6:

With a 135# barbell, 5 RFT:
5 SDHP
5 Clean and Jerk
5 Snatch

My time was 7.52, getting 10th place overall. This was an awesome performance. I killed this workout. The men that beat me were either crossfit games athletes or top 10 regional athletes. This was a legit workout and I went crazy hard. The feeling afterward was amazing.


Overall reflecting on this competition I have to say it was awesome. This is my third competition since August and I have to say I was much more confident about this competition than I was about any other I've done. I'm starting to compete with (and beat) world class crossfit athletes. I'm no longer nervous in competition, but I still have a few weaknesses. This competition exposed them further. I need to completely master the HSPU and get comfortable with high-rep double-unders (sets of 100+ unbroken).

Such a great experience, such great people, I love crossfit.

11/5/11

The second day is over and I'm happy about my performance. The scores are not yet finalized, I will post them tomorrow.

0800 - 5k run. I went out hard and fast. Ended up slowing down a bit after the first mile and then setting into a solid pace for the last mile and half-ish. I was happy with my performance, I was in the 10-15 ish place. The run wasn't timed, it was all by place and I didn't have a watch so I don't know what I ran. It was well under 22 minutes though; probably around 20. I was happy with how this went, it was awesome to run against some great athletes and beat them. I ran in my new shoes, they were murder on my calves. This was a terrible way to break in a new pair of a 'bare-foot' running shoes. I like them a lot for WODs, not so much for a 5k run. I'm fearing that they are going to be totally useless tomorrow, we shall see.

1045 - This workout had two scoring elements: one for max double-unders and one for a metcon for time. On a 9 minute clock: 2 minute AMRAP double unders, then for time: 21-15-9 115 lb shoulder to overhead and bar-facing burpees. I scored only about 120 double-unders. I definitely blame my calves being tight from the 5k with the new shoes and my injury that occurred only 9 days ago. I could have done more had I been 100%, but even if I was fresh double-unders are something I need to work on. I'm definitely going to program in more work on these in the near future. The shoulder to overhead was easy and the burpees were tough. I did decent in the metcon portion of this workout.

1345 - This workout was a little tricky and also had two scoring components. The athletes chose their own weight for a 20 rep max, has to be unbroken, front squat. Only one athlete failed at the front squat. I chose 165 lbs. I blew through it, I should have gone heavier, but then my metcon time would have been slower because both the set of 20 and the metcon were on the same clock. So athletes that chose a light weight could blow through the squats and get to the metcon quickly; whereas choosing heavy weight athletes could score better for the weight portion of the score, but then would lose time on the metcon. It was an interesting WOD, I really liked it. It looked like this:

On a 10 minute clock:
20 Rep Max (athlete choose weight) Front Squat - I chose 165 lb, these went really fast, should have gone heavier.
3 RFT: 20 HR Push-ups, 10 Front Rolls/Tucks - I'd never done a forward roll before, these were fun and dizzying. I was a little nervous about them just because I'd never done them, but was able to get into a fast pace. I did this WOD fast and the majority of athletes did a lot less than 165 lbs.

Overall a great day. The event is run very well and Canadians are the nicest people I've ever met. Today was awesome, I'm extremely excited to see where I sit in the standings and to compete again tomorrow.

11/4/11

Today was the first day of the 2011 Taranis Winter Challenge. I arrived in Canada today around noon, first workout was at 6 pm. I'm still sore from Tuesdays squats, but it didn't really matter today. The workout was:

On a 7 minute clock:

In one attempt on the wall, max strict HPSU
1 RM Power Snatch
In one attempt on the wall, max strict HPSU

For this workout there were two scores, 1 for the snatch and 1 for the total of the two sets of HSPU. Off of these two scores the athletes are put into heats. I won't know how I stacked up to everyone until tomorrow.

I got 9 HPSU, 175 lb on the PS, then 9 more HSPU. I got 185 overhead, but had a little bit of a press-out and got a no-rep. But I would have counted it in a training session; this technically being a 10 lb PR.

I was relatively happy with my performance. Strict HSPU are no-joke and are my biggest weakness as an athlete. I'm aware of this and I found it a little ironic they were up first in the event. I guess it's good they are out the way.

While I was warming up I was sharing a bar with Lucas Parker and exchanged a few words. This is a fairly surreal experience for me; to be next to such an exceptional athlete who you will soon be competing against is a strange feeling. Knowing how far I've come it's great to be here. A year ago I wouldn't have gotten 1 HPSU and I couldn't power snatch more than 95 lbs; not to mention my younger/fatter days.

Tomorrow is a 5k run at 0800. This goes back to my roots, to my old cross country days. I'm definitely not going to PR. I'm just hoping I run under 22 minutes.

11/3/11

Complete Rest.

11/2/11

I felt better than I thought I would considering the very challenging day yesterday. I ate a lot yesterday in hopes of recovering, it seemed to have helped. Today was a hard day, but not as crazy as yesterday. It looked like this:

Bench Press - 3,3,3,2 - 176,181,198,203 (f) - needed spot on third rep

Behind the Neck Jerk - Singles Pyramid - 176, 220, 240, 220, 176

Rest 10 minutes then...

On a Fight Gone Bad clock (5 minutes of work, changing exercises each round, followed by 1 minute of rest - so 15 minutes of work, 2 minutes of rest):

#95 Thrusters
#95 Power Cleans
#95 Dead-lifts
Walls Balls
Calorie Row

This went well, I went hard but not 100%, probably 85-90%. I didn't keep track of my reps, just made sure to go hard. Going to eat up today and rest a lot over the next 48 hours. Competition comes on Friday evening and goes through Sunday. I'm excited.

11/1/11

Today was a great workout, one of the best I've had in a while. This was my last hard workout before Friday's competition. I'm glad my leg didn't hurt. I went 100% on everything and didn't really think about my leg aside from not dropping weight on it when coming off the rings or pull-up bar. Today had a solid strength session, a good skill AMRAP and an extremely taxing metcon in the morning. I got in another solid metcon in the afternoon, today looked like this:


AM Workout (0730)

Back Squat 1-10-1-20-1-30 - Heavy Single (#381) - PR by 7 lbs

70% x 10 - 265
95% x 1 - 364
60% x 20 - 228
90% x 1 - 338
50% x 30 - 190

This was brutal. The set of 20 was probably the worst. The set of 30 was also extremely difficult. This was great, I love squats, I'm glad I set a PR. 381 didn't feel too bad, I'm going to get 400 soon for sure.

Rest 10 minutes then...

8 Minute AMRAP:
6 Burpees
2 Muscle-ups

I got 8 rounds and 5 burpees. This was a fast workout, good technique/skill work. I probably could have gotten another round or two if I wasn't bearing all my weight on my right leg during the burpees.

Rest 2 minutes then....

Tabata:
Push-ups - 9
Pull-ups - 7
KB Swings (#53) - 6
Handstand Lockout (went for 20 seconds every time, these were extremely challenging on the shoulders and core).

The AMRAP with 2 minutes rest into the tabata was very challenging. Overall an awesome day in the gym. The squats were awesome. Excited that I felt good and I feel more confident about competing after today's workout.

PM workout (1730)

I felt pretty good despite the hard session this morning. I was definitely tight in my hamstrings/glutes. I ate a lot today in between the workouts, I felt decent enough to train again. The metcon was:

5 RFT:
500m Row
7 Thrusters #135

My time was 14:10. The top guys in the world did this workout in about 11-12 minutes. I was happy with my time considering this was the second workout of the day and I wasn't at all fresh. Solid 2nd session, tried to keep it intense. I got all the thrusters unbroken; rowed 1:35, 1:39, 1:45, 1:49, 1:56. I lost a lot of time transitioning and taking a little break before hopping on the barbell. I would be interested to do this workout again fresh. I'm excited for a short session tomorrow morning and to compete on Friday!

10/31

After 3 complete rest days I feel ready to roll, despite my leg. I worked around it and ended up having a great workout today.

Strict Press - Heavy Single - 170 lb (15 lb PR)
-90% for a double - #155
-80% for four triples - #135

Rest 10 minutes then on a 20 minute clock...

10 minute AMR:
7 Pull-ups
7 Burpees (1 legged, these were tricky, didn't put any weight on my left leg)
14 V-ups

Straight into 10 minute AMR:
7 DB Hang Power Clean (2 x #40)
7 DB Push Press (2 x #40)
14 Butterfly Sit-ups

I don't remember my score. I went hard, good workout. It felt awesome to be back in the gym. My leg didn't hurt much, I tried not to put weight on it during the burpees or coming off the pull-up bar. Overall a good day. I was happy about my strict press PR.

10/29 &30

Complete rest. Spent most of the days off my feet, elevating and icing my injury. It's stitched up, no fractures, just lots of bruising and tenderness.

Injuries are very frustrating, I feel kind of useless. I'm excited for this to heal up and be back in business.

10/28

Complete Rest.

10/27/11

Today was a good strength session, but I injured myself on the metcon. Missed a box jump while I was very fatigued. I hit the middle of my left shin on the angle of the box. There was a lot of fascia and some bone exposed. Needless to say I stopped the WOD and went to the emergency room. Five stitches later I feel much better. They numbed the area, I don't know how bad it will hurt tomorrow.

Squat Clean - 2 x 5 - 205,215,225,231,240 - each set was touch and go. The last two sets were great. Technically a 1 RM PR for squat clean, even though it was a double. Will go for a single PR soon.

On the metcon I hurt myself. I did do 5 ground to overhead with 205 and ten burpees, then the box jumps where I hurt myself were right after that.

I was extremely upset at first due to the fact that I might not be able to compete next week, or that I would have to take some time off from training. But I think this should heal up quickly and I will be able to continue training and compete. I'm happy about the squat clean, obviously very unhappy about the injury.

10/26/11

Today was a good workout. It was for the most part an upper body workout. Yesterday really taxed my legs. Overall a good strength and the metcon got my heart rate up, but was also a skills session.

Bench Press - Heavy Double - 195,205, 210 (fail, needed spot for 2nd rep)

Close Grip Bench and Dead-lift Superset (triples for both movements) - 165 lb for the bench press, increased weight on the dead-lift each set - 374, 392, 416, 425

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

500m Row

30 HSPU

500m Row

30 Muscle-ups (2 dips at top)

100 Double-unders

The rows went really fast (1:32, 1:35). The HSPU took me forever, these were brutal. The muscle-ups were challenging but I went about them methodically and didn't miss any reps, the double dip at the top was a rough change. The double-unders hurt my shoulders like hell, but they're just double-unders. I finished in 26:30. Overall a great chest/pressing workout.

10/25/11

Today was a great session. I trained in the afternoon with my most consistent training partner and we went hard. I had a different squat routine written out, but decided to switch it up. It ended up being a great leg workout.

Overhead Squat 5 x 5 - ended up being 5,4,5,4,3 - 175,185,195,205,205 - I reached failure on some of the sets. I really didn't feel good. I was getting up on my toes, losing the bar forward and my right shoulder was giving me trouble on most of the sets. These felt heavy and challenging. This was discouraging. I thought I was going to do crappy for the rest of the workout because I wasn't recovered, but ended up feeling great. I think these were just tough because of my 205 x 3 for a snatch grip push press on Sunday. I don't know, for whatever reason these felt extremely hard, more-so than I thought they would. I'm really glad my training partner was there, he definitely helped motivate me through the session.

Front Squat 5 x 5 - 215,235,245,245,260 - Challenging but 260 was a new 5 rep PR.

Back Squat 5 x 5 - 275,275,285,295,300 - Challenging, but awesome.

Rest 15 minutes then...

With a #20 Vest, for time:

10-8-6-4-2 #135 Thrusters

6-9-12-15-18 Chest-to-bar Pull-ups

Followed by an 800m Sand Bag Run at #40.

My time was 15.36. This was a very fast time. I heavily modified the workout, added the vest and the C2B pull-ups. This was a great session, I went very hard. Overall a great day, I love these Tuesday afternoon workouts. Excited for tomorrow.

10/24/11

Complete rest. I'm more sore today than I was yesterday. Saturday caught up with me today. I felt like I needed a day off. Took a nap and ate a lot.

10/23/11

I wasn't too sore today. I was primarily sore in my traps and hamstrings/quads. I felt good enough to train. I really tapered off well for the competition and I wanted to get in a session today. The strength was good and the metcon was a fast sprint.

2 Position Power Snatch (floor, mid-thigh) - 80% (143 lb) x 2 for 5 sets.

Snatch Pulls - 110% (207 lb) - 3 x 2

Snatch Grip Dead-lift - 100% + 10kg (207 lb) - 3 x 2

Snatch Grip Push Press - 4,4,3,3 - 175, 175, 195, 205 - The 205 was the heaviest I've ever gone on these, it felt really easy. Technically a PR.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

18-15-12-9-6-3

Pull-ups

Wall-Balls

Sumo-deadlift High Pull (95#)

My time was 9.38. I maybe could have gone a little faster by transitioning faster, but everything was unbroken and no rest was taken at all. I felt decent and went hard. This was a huge fore-arm burner. The 207 lb snatch pulls were going really high and felt light, going to PR soon for sure. I'm glad I got in the gym and trained, excited for tomorrow.

10/22/11

Today was the 2011 Hostile Takeover. It is a team event (1 male, 1 female). I really lucked out with my partner, she is a great athlete that went to regionals last year. I was excited going into the event. There were 29 teams total, with a lot of familiar faces from the 2011 regionals. More than a couple people were mentioning my partner and I winning this competition. I didn't really think about this when I first registered, I just wanted to go and compete and have fun and get some more experience in a competition environment. I wasn't as nearly as nervous as I've been before/during other competitions, maybe because it was a team event and all the pressure was not on me. Or maybe because I'm getting more confident as an athlete, or a mix of both. Overall today went great. The final results were:

Event 1 - 13th Place

Event 2 - 2nd Place

Event 3 - 6th Place

Overall: 4th Place (1 place away from the podium)

Event 1:

1000m Row (first partner stops after 500m)

800m Buddy Carry

150 KB Swings (#53 male, #35 female)

800m KB Carry (#53 and #35 - one partner carries both at once while the other partner runs 200m around the course before exchanging the KB - minimum of 4 exchanges)

The row went fast, I went about 1:25 the first 350 then slowed to around 1:29. I don't remember my split, but it was fast. My partner rowed really fast as well, she did exactly what we talked about it and I was extremely pleased with her effort. On the buddy carry I went 400m non-stop with my partner, then she did 50m while I did 150m twice - this went well, she is a smaller girl and I was impressed by her ability to carry me. I went as fast as I could, but I need to practice my speed on these, I think this is where we could have gained more time. The swings went super fast, we took turns in 20/20 -ish reps. My partner did a few more than me. The KB carry was a little strange, the way they were judging it. I don't know if we did extra work or what, I was in so much pain I don't know. I think we ran an extra 200m. Overall a good effort, I really don't know how we could have been much faster.

Event 2

On a 16 minute running clock, each partner doing 30 seconds work while the other rests.

4 Minutes each exercise (2 minutes for each partner):

Squats (these were money, I got a ton of reps, 30+ every time)

Push-ups (these were taxing, I missed more than a few reps)

Box Jumps (games standard, missed a few reps because my feet were not all the way on the box)

Burpees (these were money, I went hard)

Our total score was 648 reps, taking 2nd place. I felt surprisingly good on this event. My partner went really hard as well, she was awesome. I think the reason our reps were so high was because she was just so much better at these movements than the other women, whereas I am average with all the other top guys at this. Whatever happened we did well. This workout was great.

Event 3

On a 7 minute clock:

3 Minutes to establish max Ground to Overhead (each partner has own bar)

2 Minutes Max Double-unders (one partner at at time)

2 Minutes Max Muscle-ups (one partner at a time)

I put up 235 lb, a clean and jerk PR. The clean was a power clean, but the jerk was a legit split. I was really happy with this. I missed 220 lbs at the warm-up station. I figured I was too fried to go any heavier than that. When the workout started I hit 215, then 225. I loaded 235 and waited a little longer and then hit it easy. With the spectators, the adrenaline and the environment I could have gotten 245 easy. My partner got 135, which was what we planned and I'm proud she went out there and did that, she was far more nervous about this event than any other. The double-unders went well. She did 50, then I did 50 and then I did two more sets of 30 and 20, respectively. I actually missed two double-unders, I can't believe this happened. If there is anything in the competition I'm pissed about it, it was this. Anyway, she did more than me in the idea that I could get a little of recovery before the muscle-ups. I went right to the rings and got 5 right away, but missed the first rep due to not locking out at the top. My partner really came through here and got a lot of good muscle-ups. We ended up getting 11 reps. We took 6th in the event. If I had a stronger clean and jerk we could have done a lot better. This is something I've been improving on a lot over the last year, but I want a 275 lb soon and eventually 315+.

Overall 4th place, very happy about this. Everyone that beat us was regionally qualified from last year (we beat teams consisting of regionally qualified athletes as well). This is the real victory for me. To go head to head (and team with) athletes that compete at the regional level seemed like an impossibility in the past. Today was such a rewarding and gratifying experience. I love crossfit, competing and pushing myself to new limits. I'm really happy with where my training is at. I'm getting stronger and my conditioning is staying up. I'm excited and optimistic about my future as an athlete.

10/21/11

Everything feels pretty good, the competition is tomorrow. After two days off I'm feeling recovered. I got in the gym this morning and a did a long warm-up with a lot of dynamic stretching and then a short WOD at about 70% intensity, obviously not timing it. The WOD I threw together included some modalities that I'll see tomorrow. I wanted to get my heart rate up and put some light weight overhead. Overall a good session, feeling good about tomorrow.

3 Rounds at a moderate pace:

500m Row (1:49 pace)

6 Pull-ups

8 KB Swings

5 Front Squats (#135)

5 Split Jerks (#135)

Lots of stretching afterward, my hip flexors are still tight.

10/20/11

Complete rest, still extremely sore in my shoulders and hip flexors from the max reps overhead squats on Tuesday.

10/19/11

My ear infection may be getting worse. I'm no longer congested, but there is a ton of pressure in my ear. Going to see a doctor/hopefully get antibiotics.

Aside from this today is a complete rest day. I'm a little sapped form the workouts yesterday.

10/18/11

AM Workout (1030)

This morning was a good session. It was a strength/skill workout. Overall solid. It looked like this:

Longer warm-up: 7 x 7 @ 60 seconds rest - Dead-hang Pull-ups with 3 HSPU after each set. Both of these felt really good, felt strong on both the pulling and pushing.

Bench Press - Medium Heavy Single: 195 lb. Then 2 x 5 @ 90% (175 lb) @ < 60 seconds rest.

Rest 5 minutes then...

5 Rounds for time:

7 Squat Cleans @ #155

14 KB Swings @ #53

My time was 8:50. This workout was killer. I didn't have my lifting shoes and I couldn't drop the weight (due to early morning gym rules). Both of these probably factored in to my time being a little slower than it should have been, but I'm overall happy with my effort.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

'Annie'

50-40-30-20-10

Double-unders

Sit-ups

My time: 5.10. I've done this workout a little faster at 5.02. I missed 4 double-unders today. I still want to complete this workout unbroken in under 4.45. Anyway, this morning was a good session, not super taxing.

PM Workout (1600)

I felt pretty good considering I went hard this morning. My PM session was with my main training partner. We pushed each other and had a great workout. It looked like this:

Overhead Squat - Max Reps with Body Weight (#185): 9 Reps (failed on the tenth rep).

Rest 5 minutes then do Max Reps at 80% of Body Weight (#145): 14 Reps (failed on fifteenth rep).

-These felt great. They were different because I've been doing most of my strength in the heavy / 1-5 rep range. I'm glad I got these 9 reps. I wish I could have gone to 10, but I literally reached failure. My previous 1 rep max is 200 lbs. If I can get 185 x 9 then I'm sure I'll PR on overhead-squat soon.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

2 Rounds:

9 x #135 PC&J

30 HR Push-ups

3 Rounds:

6 x #135 PC&J

20 HR Push-ups

20 Toes-to-bar

4 Rounds:

3 x #135 PC&J

10 HR Push-ups

10 Toes-to-bar

My time: 29.05. This workout was pretty brutal. My shoulders didn't feel great because of the overhead squats. My chest was fried from the bench press this morning. Overall I was happy with my effort. I went hard. Great day. Excited to finish up this week and compete on Saturday!

10/17/11

Last night I got horrible congestion and ear pain and fullness in my left ear. I couldn't fall asleep because the pain was so intense. I was awake much later than usual because of this. I slept in and trained a little later than usual in attempt to get over this congestion. I trained hard 6 days on, 1 off, then partied hard. This probably wasn't a great idea. I had a perfect training week and then unwound. I haven't partied in a while and I don't plan to anytime soon. I wasn't hungover this morning, but I was just off/congested/in a little pain. I'm glad I got in the gym and went hard though. I just tried not to think about the sickness and get over this sickness quickly. Anyway, today looked like this:

Power Snatch - Heavy Single - 5,3,1,1,1 - #135,155,165,175,175 - The first power snatch at 175 was questionable because there was a little bit of press out on the rep. My last rep was much more legit, although there was a tiny press out. This was a big PR; I don't think I've power snatched more than 135 before.

Rest 5 minutes then....

'Amanda'

For time:

9-7-5

Muscle-ups

#135 Squat Snatches

My time was 5.52. This is a PR by a little over a minute. The squat snatches felt way better than they did ~3 months ago when I did this on 7/26. I'm really liking this strength cycle. I'm going to write another soon. This last one has gone really well. I linked a lot of my snatches together, much more so than last time. It'd be awesome to do this workout entirely unbroken someday.

Rest 10 minutes then...

20 Minute Straight AMRAP, broken into 4 x 5 minute AMRAPs

5 Minutes:

10 Squat Jumps

5 Burpees

10 Box Jumps 24"

5 Minutes:

10 DB Push-Press (#30 x 2)

5 Renegade Row

10 DB Hang Power Clean

5 Minutes:

10 Med Ball Cleans (#20)

5 Wall-balls

10 Overhead Med Ball Sit-ups

5 Minutes:

10 KB Sumo Dead-lift High Pull (#53)

5 Goblet Squats

10 KB Swings

My Score: 17 rounds +7 KB Swings. I was really close to 18 rounds. I was going all out on the last round. Overall a solid session in the gym. I was happy about my effort on everything considering my congestion. I hope I feel a lot better tomorrow.

10/16/11

Complete rest. Slightly hungover. I drank about 3 gallons of water today, a little more than I usually would. I slept a lot today, took 2 naps and then got about 9 hours of sleep.

10/15/11

I was sore in my calves and just generally a little fatigued in my entire body today. After I warmed up I ended up having a really good workout though. Today looked like this:

Dead-lift: Heavy Singles- #418,439,451 (11 lb PR)

Close Grip Bench (#135) - 10,9,8,7...1 with 3 muscle-ups immediately after each set @ 90 seconds rest. During this time I really emphasized the wrist turn out on every muscle-up. I usually don't do wrist out during my WODs, I need to start to be legit to the Crossfit Games standard. This ended up being a great chest/triceps workout.

Rest 20 minutes then...

Open Workout 11.1

10 Minute AMRAP:

30 Double-unders

15 Ground to Overhead (#75)

6 rounds and 30 double-unders. I power snatched every rep. I remember doing this workout during the open and it being really taxing. Today I didn't go anywhere near 100% or what I did during the open. I also scored better (scoring 28 more double-unders today). It's nice to see an improvement in my performance. This is 6th day in a row I've been training and I set 4 PRs this week and did some great metcons. Considering this higher than usual volume of training and this being my last workout of the week, I didn't go all out. I will do this WOD again the in future. I eventually want to be around 8 rounds. Overall a good day, solid workout.

10/14/11

Today was a good workout. It looked like this:

Squat Clean - 3 x 3 @ 80% (198 lb), 3 x 2 @ 88% (220 lb)

Clean Pulls - 3 x 2 @ 95% (240 lb)

Clean Grip Dead-lifts - 3 x 2 @ 110% (275 lb)

Behind the Neck Jerk - Heavy Single - Singles: 225, 240, 250 (5 lb PR)

-I went for 260 on the jerk, but missed it. I didn't really have my mind around it mentally. I kind of psyched myself out. 250 went up really easy and felt good. Excited to do these again soon.

Rest 10 minutes then...

For time:

50 Butterfly Sit-ups

1 Mile Run

1000m Row

50 Burpees

25 Ground to Overhead (#40 DB x 2)

25 Burpees

25 Ground to Overhead (#40 DB x 2)

25 Burpees

50 Butterfly Sit-ups

My time was 27:45. This was the fastest time of the day so far. The run was in 6:45, the row in 3:30. I wanted to go a little faster on the run, but my legs were a bit shot after yesterday. Overall happy with my performance. I'm really happy about the 250 lb jerk. I wish I would have gotten 260, I will next time. Overall a good day, excited for tomorrow.

10/13/11

I was going to rest today. My body is for the most part wasted. My legs are sore and my traps/lats/pecs/shoulders/biceps are all sore. I slept about 7 hours last night, ended up taking a two hour nap. After the nap I felt decent and decided to get out the door for an endurance workout on a track.

6 x 400m. Time trial on the first interval, go 100% every interval. 60 seconds rest each interval.

My first interval was at 61 seconds. My times suffered drastically. My last was at 75 seconds. The rest periods were very short, so the idea is that the times will suffer. This is contradictory to my understanding of more traditional (my high school endurance/track/cross country background) interval training; where hitting the same split every time is the goal. I'm happy with how I felt on my legs and how my lungs felt. Overall a great session.

This workout was brutal. I was completely in oxygen debt at the start of every interval. I can hardly believe I've done 20 x 400m before (4 years ago?). That seems like a long time ago. I was happy with my 61. Considering all I've been focusing on is strength, this is a fast time. I'm excited to run sub 60 in the near future. I'm extremely excited for some heavy weight tomorrow morning.

10/12/11

Today was an active recovery / skill workout. I really focused on my transition time between exercises. My body is for the most part fried from yesterday. I didn't go 100% today on the metcon, tried to keep the short strength session (1 movement) intense.

Bench Press - 5,5,5,5,4 (failed on last rep) - #165,175,185,195,200

Rest 5 minutes then...

Each 4 minute AMRAP started with one 200m run, then a 2 movement AMR. The rep scheme for each AMR was a ladder (1,1,2,2,3,3 etc). There was a 2 minute break between each AMR.

4 Minutes:

200m Run

AMR:

Burpees

Pull-ups

4 Minutes:

200m Run

AMR:

KB Swings #53

Push-ups

4 Minutes:

200m Run

AMR:

Double-unders

Wall Balls

AMR 1: 8 Burpees

AMR2: 9 Pushups

AMR3: 9 Wall-Balls

Easy day, glad I got activity in, excited for some heavier weight soon.

10/11/11

Today was the best session I've had in the gym in a few weeks. I set a PR on back squat that felt easy and set a 5 lb PR on push-press (during a WOD that was supposed to be clean and jerks, the first rep I pushed pressed to see how it felt). I trained in the afternoon instead of the morning, I got a lot of sleep and felt good. I also trained with my training partner for the first time in a couple weeks. Our schedules don't coincide as well as they did this summer. It was great to get together and set some PRs and go hard together. Anyway, today looked like this:

Back Squat - Heavy Single - #374 (12 lb PR)

90% of the single for a double - #336

85% of the single for 3 x 3 - #315

Front Squat - Heavy Single - #275 (30 lbs less than my PR, I was fried after the back squats)

80% of the single for 3 x 5 - #225

Rest 20 minutes then...

4 Rounds for time:

3 x Power Clean and Jerk (#220)

3 Rounds of Cindy (5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Squats)

My time was 19:30. My training partner was 21 seconds slower than me. I thought he was going to school me because his C&J is much better than mine. I had originally planned to do this WOD at 185 or 205, my partner wanted to do 220 so I jumped on board. I push-pressed the first rep of the WOD, because my previous 1 rep push-press was 215, figured I'd set a PR. The push-press went up easy, despite my heavy triple/tight shoulders from yesterday. I split jerked the rest of the reps. In the 'WOD-Fest' competition on 8/21 my 1 rep single in competition was 220 lbs. I was definitely a little nervous about doing this WOD with this heavy of weight. But it ended up not being impossible. The power cleans were really easy. I missed it overhead only twice. Split jerking everything went well. This WOD was challenging mentally and I'm so glad I finished this workout. Today was awesome. I'm so excited for tomorrow.

10/10/11

Today was a really good session in the gym. I was a little sore in my traps and shoulders, but once I got warmed up I felt great.

I did a little extended warm-up with some weighted pull-ups and hand release HSPU. It looked like this:

Weighted Strict Pull-ups - 5,4,3,2,1 - #35,35,45,53,72

-2 Hand Release Hand Stand Push-ups before each set (release hands at bottom of hand-stand). I really need to work these more often, I would do the first rep strict, second with a kip. Failed on the 10th (the last) rep even with a kip. My shoulders are still a little fried, but overall these felt good. HSPU are my number one weakness. Really the only one I have as a crossfit athlete at this point. I have to overcome with deficiency within the next year.

Snatch - 3 x 5 @ 70% (135 lb) - These triples felt great, the weight felt really light.

Snatch Pulls - 3 x 2 @ 100% (185 lb) - These also felt light. Excited to go for a PR soon.

Snatch Grip Dead-lifts - 3 x 2 @ 100% + 10kg (207 lb)

Push Press - 4,4,3,3 - #175,185,195, 205 - 205 For a triple is a 3 rep PR for me. I was a little nervous about this set because my 1 rep PR is 215. 205 went up easy for a triple and I'm really excited to go for a 1 rep on push-press soon.

Rest 15 minutes then...

4 Rounds for time:

30 KB Swings #53

30 Box Jumps 24"

30 Sit-ups

400m Run

My time was 17:45. I felt good and did this entire workout unbroken. My goal was to get all the box jumps unbroken. Going into the workout I didn't think I could get 120 KB swings unbroken, ended up getting them all. I was happy with the lifting and my effort on the metcon. I had a few crappy days in the gym this last week. Considering this I was extremely happy about today. I'm glad where my training is, I'm glad I feel strong and conditioned. Excited for tomorrow!

10/9/11

Complete Rest. I don't feel too sore today, just a little tight throughout my body. Extremely excited to throw some heavy weights around this week.

10/8/11

Today was great. No strength, just a solid metcon that was extremely challenging. This might be a new favorite of mine. I didn't want to do my gym's WOD off the board, it was a weird WOD involving entirely movements with med-balls. The metcon I ended up doing was off the main site and was awesome.

'Carson'

21-18-15-12-9-6-3

#95 Squat Clean

Double-under

#185 Dead-lift

24" Box Jump

-Start each round with a 50 meter bear crawl.

My time was 32:50. The bear crawls to squat cleans were brutal. I think I could do this WOD significantly faster if I were fresh. But I felt alright, it was actually a nice change to do a WOD fresh instead of completely taxed from a strength session. Bear crawls are a great change. I'm really excited to get in the gym Monday.

10/7/11

Today was a decent strength session. The WOD was more skill work than a metcon. It had HSPUs in the WOD and they took me a while. Was doing singles by the last few sets. Doing HSPUs toward the end of the week (like I have the last 2 weeks) is getting very discouraging. The rest of the WOD went fast, unbroken and I felt good on. Anyway, today looked like this:

Power Clean 5,4,3,2,1 - 185,205,225,235,245

Front Jerk with Split, from Rack - 70% x 2 (155 lb), 75% x 1 (165 lb), 80% x 1 (175 lb) - Work up from 2,1,1 then 1,1,2 and back up. Three waves total. This was mostly technical work, felt extremely light. I video taped a couple reps. Good skill session.

Clean Grip Shrugs, from Rack - 100% x 5 (250 lb), 110% x 5 (275 lb), 120% x 5 x 2 (300 lb)

Back Squats - 80% (285 lb) x 4 x 5 - These felt light and went fast.

Rest 10 minutes then for time:

4 HSPU

5 Renegade Row (#30)

6 Dumbbell Clean and Jerk (#30)

7 Push-ups

8 Toes-to-Bar

9 KB Swings (#70)

then finish with an 800m run.

Add a new exercise every round.

i.e. round 1 = 4 HSPU, round 2 = 5 RR, 4 HSPU, round 3 = 6 DBCJ, 5 RR, 4 HSPU etc.

My time was 18:51. The handstand push-ups took the vast majority of the time of the metcon. Basically a HSPU skill session. I want to do HSPUS fresh in the near future. Doing them sore and with fried shoulders is rough. Overall a good day, excited for a metcon tomorrow morning.

10/6/11

Complete Rest

10/5/11

I altered my strength session a little today, but it ended up being really good. I was really sore in my upper body today. So much so that I almost took the day off, but I ended up getting in the gym and feeling great. I warmed up a lot and hit the WOD with a really good athlete and ended up beating him. This was the best I've felt in the gym in a few days. It's interesting because I'm sore as hell and this is my third hard day on, but I have cleaned up my food intake a lot since the weekend and it's paying back dividends.

Snatch @ 145 lb - EMOM for 10 minutes. This was the heaviest I've gone on a 10 minute EMOM for snatch. I've done 115 and 135 in the last few months. These felt really good despite my sore shoulders.

Snatch Pulls @ 90% (165 lb) x 3, 95% (175 lb) x 2

5 Super-sets of:

75% Front Squat (225 lb) x 5

75% Dead-lift (335 lb) x 5

This super set was challenging. I took 2 minutes rest for first few sets. By the 4th set I took 4 minutes and in between the 4th and 5th set I took about 5 minutes. Overall a good strength session.

Rest 10 minutes then...

2010 Southwest Regional WOD

5 Rounds for time:

5 Muscle-ups

10 Power Cleans #135

200m Run

My time: 11:14. I had a great athlete to train with and I really pushed it. I was able to beat him mainly because my power cleans were super fast. I got them all unbroken except the last set which I broke up in 6/4. I was happy with my performance considering how sore my shoulders and chest are and the fact that it was post-lifting. Today was a great day in the gym. Excited to go hard again soon!

10/4/11

I cut out some overhead lifting today because the conditioning workout had so much overhead work. Anyway, today looked like this:

Bench Press - Heavy Single - 205, 215, 220 (fail, needed a small spot)

Rest 5 minutes then...

For time:

21-15-9-15-9-21

Thrusters #110

Burpees

-50 Double-unders after each round

My time: 23:29. I didn't feel great, but I felt a lot better than yesterday. But I think I felt as good as I could have on this WOD. It was a challenging WOD for anyone. 300 Double unders, and 90 thrusters and 90 burpees is challenging whichever way you do it.

My bench press felt decent this morning. Ever since I tweaked my left pec a few months back I haven't handled weight over 200 lbs very man times. I spent a long time warming up and I'm glad I put up weight with no pains, despite the fact I'm weaker overall on the lift than I've been in the past.

10/3/11

I felt alright today. I ate lot of weird stuff this weekend. This weekend was a bit of a celebration. I'm getting my diet back on lock down. I have two competitions coming up (Oct. 22 and Nov. 5-6). I've been keeping my glycogen stores consistently full. I've been setting PR's a lot, but I definitely feel a little on the heavy side, so I'm going to reduce my calories a little bit and cycle my carbs better. I'm also starting two-a-days everything Tuesday and Thursday.

I felt really horrible after this workout During I wasn't too bad, but after the conditioning I had a throbbing headache and felt like throwing up. This was essentially a sugar hangover from last night. Anyway, today looked like this:

Snatch - 85% (156 lb) x 1 x 5

Clean and Jerk 85%-10 lb (180 lb) x 1 x 5

Front Squat - 90 % -10 lb (260 lb) x 1 then... 85%-10 lb (250 lb) x 3 x 3

Rest 5 minutes then...

AMRAP 20 minutes:

21 Jump Squats

15 V-ups

9 Pull-ups

Score: 12 Rounds +9 V-ups: 570 Reps. I probably could have gone a little harder. The only thing that slowed me down were the pull-ups. I didn't go balls out on them because my right hand has two minor tears that I don't want further develop. Overall good, excited to clean up my diet and feel good soon.

10/1 and 10/2

Complete and much needed rest.

9/30/11

Today was a weird session. I definitely need some rest, going to take two full days off. I felt alright on the lifting, it was difficult. I had to cut it short. I felt awful on the metcon. Not really in my lungs/heart rate, just in my shoulders. They are so fried doing HSPUs felt almost impossible. Anyway, today looked like this:

Snatch Grip Push-Press and Overhead Squats 3+3 x 4 - @ 175 lb. The first few sets of these were fine, sets 3 and 4 were brutal. I went up to a fifth set and bailed on the weight on literally the first rep. 4 Sets was extremely taxing. I'm excited to do these again when I'm more fresh. After this I was supposed to do a heavy single on snatch balance, but I totally cut it out, there was no way that was happening.

Rest 10 minutes then...

'Nate'

20 Minute AMRAP:

2 Muscle-ups

4 HSPU

8 KB Swing #72

I don't remember my rounds, I think it was 8 and 2 muscle-ups. I stopped counting after I felt so terrible and was doing my HSPUs as singles around round 4. A little bit of a discouraging day, but I need to take some rest. I'm excited to hit it hard again on Monday.

9/29/11

Today was a decent session in the gym. Ended up looking like this:

Hang Power Clean 3 x 5 @ 70% - 175 lbs. - These weren't too bad, much easier than the hang power snatches on Monday.

Clean Pulls 3 x 3 @ 95% - 240 lbs

Clean Grip Dead-lift 3 x 2 @ 100% + 10 kg - 273 lbs

Behind the Neck Jerk - Heavy Single - Singles: 225, 245 (8 lb PR) - The 245 may have been a little questionable with the lockout, there may have been a slight pressing, but I'm counting it.

Rest 10 minutes then for time....

400m Run then...

6 Rounds of:

6 x #185 Front Squat

12 Pull-ups

18 Medicine Ball Sit-ups #20

then...

400m Run

Total time: 17.05. Solid metcon. The squats got heavy. I got all the reps of all movements unbroken. Although I did take some breaks between exercises, not for long though. I probably could not have gone much faster had I been more fresh. Good day, looking forward to tomorrow and some heavy-ish overhead squats.

9/28/11

Complete and much needed rest. Slept and ate a lot.

9/27/2011

Today was a good heavy day. I ate a lot yesterday in hopes of recovering, it seems to have helped. I felt decent in the gym today. I really need to work on knees from going inward on squats. I'm setting a lot of PRs, but my knees tend to buckle inward a bit, they did today quite a bit on my last heavy sets. I'm going to add in some accessory work in attempt to combat this muscle imbalance.

Front Squat - Heavy Single - 305 lb. 15 lb PR. This was heavy, I was going to go for 315, but 305 felt very challenging. Take 90% of that single for a double (275 lb). Then take 85% of the single for 3 triples (260 lb). The three triples at 260 were by far the hardest part of today. I had never gone that heavy for a triple before. My form deteriorated toward the end of this; I'm a little upset about this, but overall happy with my PR.

Rest 10 minutes then with a 315# bar...

AMRAP 4 minutes:

3 Dead-lifts

6 Toes to Bar

Rest 2 minutes...

AMRAP 5 minutes:

3 Dead-lifts

6 Toes to Bar

9 Push-ups

Rest 2 minutes...

AMRAP 6 minutes:

3 Dead-lifts

6 Toes to Bar

9 Push-ups

12 Dumbbell Push-Press

The workout was for total lbs lifted on the dead-lift. I got 48 reps total, so it was 15,120 lbs lifted. Overall a solid workout. The dead-lifts were not too bad, I feel comfortable handling 315 for reps these days. I really liked the workout today. Glad I set a PR and went heavy on the wod (most people did 225-275 range). Eating a lot and this lifting program are doing my lifts wonders. I just need my knee/leg imbalance to catch up so I can keep squatting safely.

9/26/2011

I didn't eat enough calories yesterday and ingested about 6-8 alcoholic drinks yesterday evening. Considering this I didn't exactly feel great today. I felt good on the lifting, but kind of dragged on the metcon. My shoulders and traps are not feeling too great, that max snatch and the 30 x 155 overhead yesterday was taxing. Because I didn't eat enough, I did look a little extra lean today which was cool, but right now I'd rather be performing my best than looking a little leaner. I was happy I nailed 185 x 5 on push-press though, I don't think I've ever gone that heavy before. Anyway, today looked like this:

Hang Power Snatch 3 x 5 @ 70% (115 lb) - I was going to go off of my 185 PR yesterday, but 3 hang power snatches at 135 was too much, so I took the weight down. I don't know how much my 1 rep power snatch is, I'd be interested to find out soon, both hang and from the floor.

Snatch Pulls - 3 x 2 @ 100% (185 lb)

Snatch Grip Dead-lift - 3 x 2 @ 100% + 10kg (207 lb)

Push-Press 5,5,5 - 165,175, 185 - 185 x 5 was a 5 rep PR. This felt heavy-ish, but manageable.

Rest 10 minutes then...

4 Rounds for time:

35 Squats

15 Burpees

20 KB Swings - 53#

25 Box Jumps - 24"

30 Double-unders

My time: 17.15. I did this workout with a guy that went to regionals last year. He beat me by about 2 minutes. I definitely did not feel great, but I'm glad I got in the gym and got the work done. I'm super excited for squats tomorrow!

9/25/2011

Today was so awesome. I said last Wednesday was the best session I've had in the gym, but today was just as good. I got a body weight snatch, a 30 lb PR. It went up easy and felt good. I probably could have gone heavier. I will be soon! Today looked like this:

Snatch - Max for the day - Singles: 155, 165, 175, 185. - I nailed 165 like it was nothing. I missed 175 three times before getting it easy. I then went to 185, my body weight, and missed it twice. On the third time I got under it and nailed it easy. It didn't feel that heavy, I just wasn't receiving the bar in the right spot. I almost put on 190, but due to time constraints left it 185. I will soon PR again. I was so happy about this. All this time in the gym and technique work is paying off. Can't wait for a 200 lb snatch!

Rest 10 minutes then for time....

3 Rounds:

10 Power Clean and Jerk @ 155#

15 Toes to Bar

20 Burpee Box Jumps 24"

800m Run

My time: 25.15. This was the fastest time of the day. I beat two decent athletes by about a minute. After the snatches the jerks were rough, but manageable. Today was overall a great session in the gym. I guess the extra rest really helped. I love to PR and lift heavy. Great day, excited for tomorrow.

9/24/11

I've been super busy between school and work. I had a ton of obligations toward the end of this week and had to shift some of my workouts around. I wasn't planning on taking 2 days off, but it worked out. My body needed the rest. I feel pretty good, I've really upped my calories and it's helping. I'm setting a lot of PRs and feeling good in the gym. I had school obligations all this morning and I couldn't get into the gym before it closed. So I decided to go for a run to a pull-up bar and get some activity in. It wasn't crazy, but a little more intense than active recovery. It ended up looking like this:

23:30 Run to a pull-up bar

Dead-hang Pull-up Pyramid - 7,6,5...1..5,6,7 - 7 Push-ups after every set of pull-ups

18:00 Run back

After the push/pull I messed around with the bar attempting bar muscle-ups and 'college-boy rolls.' I made a lot of progress on the bar muscle-up. I almost got a rep, I need a little coaching on it. The runs felt surprisingly good. There were rolling hills the entire time and I felt light on my feet. Overall a good day, it's nice to get a longer run in from time to time. I've really come full circle with my running. In the past running had been the base of my fitness. I considered how fit I was off my running times. Now, running to me is merely a skill like double-unders. It is something I need to be efficient and good at, but it is not a supreme measure of my fitness. It's still fun to get lost in my own head on a long run or have a great conversation with someone on a run, but I definitely view my relationship to running much differently than I have in the past.

Closer to regionals I will definitely ramp up my running and rowing, but for now it's all about strength.

9/22/11 & 9/23/11

Complete rest.

9/21/2011

Today was the best time I've had in the gym in a long time. I felt great and ended up setting two PRs. My hands and shins are getting quite bloody from all this lifting, but I love it. Anyway, today looked like this:

1. 2 Position Clean: Work up to 75% (198 lb) x2 (floor, mid-thigh) x 5 sets
2. Clean Pulls: 100%+10 kgx3x2 (284 lb)
3. Clean-Grip Dead-lifts: 100%+10 kgx3x2 (284 lb)
4. Rack Jerks behind neck: Heavy Single - Worked up to 237 lb. This was a 17 lb PR for me. I was really happy about this. I did some technique work prior to going heavier and it really helped. I video taped all my reps and really worked on correcting the form. I know I've got more in me and I'm excited to go heavier soon.

Dead-lift: Heavy Double - Doubles: 396, 418. I felt so great on the doubles that I decided to go for a new single. I set a 25 lb PR by nailing 440 lbs. This was a big break through for me, my dead-lift was more stagnant than my other lifts at going up. I'm glad I nailed this. Today was such a great session, I feel great.

Rest 10 minutes then....

For time:

21/15/9 - Renegade Rows (2 x 30#)

42/30/18 - Box Jumps (24")

400m,600m,800m Run

-Time: 14.05. All the rounds and reps corresponded, i.e. 21-42-400 = 1 round. This was a nice and fast metcon. I felt pretty good despite the long lifting session beforehand. Today was the best day I've had in the gym in a long time. I love lifting heavy and setting PRs.