Weekly Training Log: 130408 - 130414
MONDAY - 130408
Rest day. Stretching/mobilization. Consumption of food.
TUESDAY - 130409
Skill: 20 minutes of Clean & Jerk technique work @ no more than 80% of 1RM. Sets were: 2x135, 2x135, 2x165, 2x185, 2x185, 2x205
Conditioning: Row 2k @ 80-85%. Harder than I thought to pace this down a notch. Tried to keep it around a 2:00/500. 7:46.
Cash-Out: 3x10 pull-ups
Pool: 50m warm-up; 1000m @ 80-85%. ~19:30
WEDNESDAY - 130410
Skill: T2B practice
Strength: 3x8 good mornings (8x95, 8x115, 8x135); 60 sec ring plank hold; 40 GHDs
Metcon: 1 minute at each station for reps. Wall balls, box jumps, burpees, KB swings (53lbs), lunges. Rest 1 minute. 3 total rounds. Scores for the rounds were 93, 89, 86. Subbed step ups instead of the box jumps which my knee will thank me for later. Getting old sucks. Otherwise, this felt really good. It sucked, but I felt good about being able to stay around the same score per round.
THURSDAY - 130411
Conditioning: Pool. 50m warm-up untimed but brisk followed by 1000m. On Tuesday I did it in about 19:30. Granted I was not pushing it but I wanted to see if I could beat that. Would be good to work in a few distance swims as well since I rarely do that. Got the 1000m in 18:37. My coach wants me to work on getting my mile around mid to upper 20s so that will be my goal. My next distance swim I will test the mile and see where I am at.
FRIDAY - 130412
Warm-Up: 30 deadlifts (75lbs), 25 air squats, 20 deadlifts, 15 mountain climbers, 10 deadlifts, 5 bar facing burpees.
Strength: Front squat, EMOTM for 10 minutes. First few rounds done at 185, then jumped to 205. Really wished I had gone with 225 now.
Conditioning: 25 min AMRAP of 10 front squats (75lbs), 10 push presses (75lbs), 10 GHDs. 10 rounds + 8 GHDs. This was a really hard morning at the gym. Good hard, but tough. I left absolutely soaked in sweat.
SATURDAY - 130413
We were at CrossFit Cumming as they held the grand opening for their box. After being gone all day and not getting anything close to a warm-up, I had to wrap up the Whole Life Challenge fitness benchmark that we did which was 7 minutes of burpees. With my wife manning the timer and counting, I managed 92 reps. This was a 6 rep improvement from February and a 20 rep improvement over last year’s Open.
SUNDAY - 130414
Strength:
- 15 minutes to find 1RM power clean. 5x135 (C&J), 2x185 (C&J), 1x225, 1x235 (Matched PR),
1x245,1x240. - Snatch grip halting deadlifts: 5x275, 5x295, 5x315, 5x325, 5x345
- Snatch push press: 5x95, 5x115, 5x135, 5x155
Conditioning: 5 sets of 3x135 power snatch; Rest 5 minutes, then 8 minute AMRAP of 8 OHS @ 95lbs & 8 pull-ups. My knee had started to bother me during the cleans and probably should have backed off. I felt slow during the OHS and for the first WOD in my life I felt like I was catching my breath during pull-ups. Moved slow through this a few reps short of 8 rounds.
Cash-Out: 3x20 GHDs
Overall, I felt like it was another good week. My knee is still giving me issues and I hate having to work around it. I worked heavy on some things and matched a PR in areas where I felt like I would normally not have done that. With the WLC over, I am going to start making some nutrition changes as an experiment and see how that goes.
Top pull deads from Sunday. You can see just a glimpse of him, but that is my friend Justin in my face screaming “pull”. Few people in the gym push me like this guy. He is both intimidating and motivating, with the appropriate mix of both. In the end, he celebrates the accomplishments of others far more than his own, which is another reason why he is such an amazing coach.
Rack pull deads from today. Couldn’t stand up and lock out 500 from the ground last week but worked up to several sets of 3x505lbs from the rack. The next time I test a 1RM dead it won’t be 500 I’m shooting for, it will be 515.
GEX Throwdown: CrossFit Competition
This is probably going to be a mass jumble of my thoughts spilling out. Read it if you want, but this is here more for me than you.
I had been invited by a friend who is one of the trainers at GEX and a really awesome athlete. He is strong and fast and typically has great technique on all of his movements. He is at a different level of fitness than me and there is really no way I could expect to keep up with him. But the thought of an informal competition was interesting to me, at least enough to tell them I would do it.
A photo I took of one of our trainers, Dion Moore, was published in the Nov/Dec issue of Sweat RX Magazine. The photo was run in a 2 page spread accompanying “Lift For Life” by Angela Rose. For you photogs out there, this was shot with a Nikon D700 & 24-70mm f/2.8. AB1600 high camera right into an umbrella triggered with PWIIs and an ole school Vagabond.
When in doubt, go heavy. From the CF Total WOD 2 weeks ago. 475 on deads. What used to be my 1RM I hit it twice that day and 100lbs more than I could lift a year ago. 5 bills is right around the corner. Thanks to JP for the photo.
Snatches, Deadlifts, and Swimming
Started with strength and 3 of us worked on the snatch. After hitting 165, the trainer told me to jump to 205. A big jump but he said I made 165 look so easy. After I missed at 205, he said I could easily get 185 but was probably too tired from all of the reps at the lower weights. Next time I will start off heavier than I did and see how it goes. To take a shot at 200+ was really cool though. Especially considering during the Games Open WOD I couldn’t snatch 165.
You know what would have made this WOD really awesome? No running. My goal was to go unbroken on the deadlifts and keep an even pace on the run. I was able to do that and finished in 10:14 so I was pretty happy about that.
Still fighting a chest cold and feeling flat overall. A buddy told me I looked like a piston on the deadlifts but inside I felt like I was moving through quicksand. I even felt flat on the strength portion, which is usually my favorite thing to do.
So what do you do during lunch when you are tired? That’s right, you go swimming! A friend and I hit the pool and did our partner sprint. While one sprints 25m the other rests. It really wears me out but I absolutely love it. Today we went for 30 minutes and got in 1100m total each.
You either like to lift heavy or you’re wrong.
I had planned on some EMOTM power clean work, but with clean & jerks in the WOD, I opted to work with a friend on deadlifts.
For those that missed it, I was in Louisville this past weekend and while I was there I hit a WOD with Short Mom. We started there with 4 sets of 10 on deads and into my third set their trainer came over and started to work with me. He had probably the best way to tell me I was working inefficiently that I have ever heard and explained everything in such amazing technical detail that I really wish I had time for him to watch me perform every type of lift and critique it. Basically, my setup on deads has been wrong and I am moving the weight around too much. He said I was more than strong enough but if I focused on a more efficient pull I could easily add 50lbs to my 1RM. 50. I love that guy! Yea, at first I was a little turned off because the deadlift is my favorite lift. It is also my strongest. To have someone point out a flaw isn’t easy to hear, but he did it such a great way. I was very thankful of what he offered me and I got to put it to use immediately.
With that said, I worked on my form this morning. I explained everything to my buddy and how I wanted him to pay attention to my lift, making sure my back was tight, shoulders back, and that I was lifting the bar up in a straight line. It all felt much better than it has. We didn’t get up too heavy, working a ladder up and then back down. The weight that we topped out at was not near my 1RM, but it felt good to stop where we did. A few months ago I couldn’t have touched that and it was not that challenging this morning.
The WOD, as you see above, was a total suck fest. My shoulder has really been hurting and I was worried about the snatches. I thought about bumping the weight from 75 to 95 on the snatches and from 115 to 135 on the C&J but in hindsight, I am really glad that I didn’t. Any WOD with breaks built in sucks. That is a fact. They are meant for speed and RX was more than enough for me. My right shoulder was feeling during the snatches but with that light of weight it wasn’t a big deal. Our trainer this morning was someone who I see as being very technical. He gave me 2 really huge pointers before and during the WOD that make a big difference. I love picking his brain as it helps me improve and that is what this is all about.
After all, I would rather do 10 reps with good and efficient form than blow through a workout with crappy form simply to put a high number on the board. That does nothing.
These are the kind of workouts that kill me. Even though there was plenty of barbell work in there, this was a lung capacity workout. I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed getting into the hurt locker and having to stop and then force myself to pick up the barbell again. Getting to the sticking point and pushing beyond. Good stuff.
1,045 Pounds
Honestly, I have been looking forward to doing this all week. I love days when we are just lifting, and to have the time and freedom to test a 1RM on three lifts was awesome. I wanted to hit 1,000lbs total but was not really sure if that would happen. It would mean some monster lifts for me, including the strict press which I never have maxed on.
Here is what went down:
- Deadlift: 475lbs (35lb PR)
- Back Squat: 395lbs (65lb PR)
- Strict Press: 175lbs (Never maxed on this so I’ll call it a PR)
Total: 1,045lbs
When I hit 475lbs on my deadlift I was feeling pretty good. Jacked, actually. It was heavy but it wasn’t breaking me and I knew I had more in the tank. Everyone yelling at me was fuel for the fire. It literally felt like the gym stopped when I approached the bar. They said I made 475lbs look easy enough to take a shot at 500. 5 bills on the bar. I will tell you now that the difference between 475 and 500 felt like 100lbs. It was beyond heavy. I missed it twice, only getting it an inch off the ground. But you know what was the best part about missing that lift?
It was that I got there in the first place.
Over a year ago I had never lifted weight. Over a year ago I had never attempted CrossFit. Over a year ago I couldn’t cut my entire yard without being tired. Over a year ago I had gout in my wrist so bad I couldn’t hold my baby girl. Today I got to take a shot at picking a quarter ton off the ground. I am not at all discouraged by missing it. Not in the least because it is so far in the opposite direction of where my life was once headed that this gives me hope about where I am going.
The wifey getting after that 1RM deadlift. First time maxing it out and she hits 195# like a boss.
Does the EMOTM work pay off? I would say so.
This morning the strength focused on snatches, 5x3. I have been hitting those frequently on Saturdays, doing 3x135 anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes on average. So I knew 5 sets would be a good chance to bump the weight up a notch. My previous 1RM was 165 and this morning I did my last set of 3 at that weight.
WOD - 15 Minute AMRAP:
- Snatch grip deadlifts (225lbs)
- 250m row
- 15 hand-release push-ups
I had cleaned out my bag and left my Inov8s in the closet so I had to sub rowing instead of running, since running in oly shoes would have sucked. For the first time in a long time I was actually mad that I was not running in the WOD. Every time I went over to the rower it ticked me off having to strap in and out. The different grip on the deads was interesting. That weight is not heavy for me but it really challenged my grip strength, especially on the last rep. I can easily see how that grip on that movement would benefit the snatch.
I am still not the first to finish, but still, I felt really good this morning. I believe I was around 5 rounds of this. They called time as I stepped up to do another set of deads and I finished them out anyway. This morning I felt like I had energy and drive. I was happy to be working out and felt accomplished when I was done.
440. PR. #crossfit #deadlift (Taken with Instagram)
How to deadlift like a boss… Normally I don’t spend a great deal of time watching strongman type videos and was skeptical when I saw this (via Lift Big Eat Big). However, this dude does a great job explaining the lift. It was obviously shot in between sets and the weight this guy pulls without any obvious struggle is mind blowing to me.
Heavy!
WOD:
EMOM (for 12 minutes), 2 dead lifts @ 75%-80% of your 1RM and then 2 bar facing burpees. Score is the load.
After yesterday, a workout like this was very welcomed. Yesterday was full of stuff that was difficult for me, working my weaknesses. Today worked my strengths. Probably could have gone heavier on the deads but in the last few rounds it felt just right. I tried to focus on maintaining control of the bar, instead of dropping it after each rep. I wanted to guide it to the ground then touch and go again. I figured the burpees would have really worn me out but with each set they felt better and better.
I worked a tad over 80% of my 1RM this morning, going with 355lbs.
Post-WOD:
3x10 Front Squat @ 95#
On a side note, this week has been really great. Tough yesterday, but something I needed, and a positive today. It has been 2 weeks since I rolled my ankle and 4 since all of the other issues. I am going to try and run in the morning, nothing all out, but a nice easy pace to see how the wheels feel.
