Tuesday April 30, 2012

5 Minutes of Airdyne @ Light Effort
+
20 Sets of the following:
25 seconds @ 90%
35 seconds @ 50%
+
5 Minutes of Airdyne @ Light Effort
+
rest 10 minutes-15 minutes
+
50 Toes to Bar For Time
     - Time was 3:50. Did unbroken sets of 5 the whole way through. Totally lost my kip on the last couple of sets though.

Monday April 29, 2013

A. Power Snatch Cluster, 1.1.1 x 3 sets, use 160 lbs for all 3 sets, no more, no less, warm up properly, rest 3 minutes between sets.
     - These were going pretty terrible. I dropped back down to 155, got my form dialed in better and then did my sets at 160. Gotta get more consistent with these.

B. Overhead Squat @ 20x1, 8-10 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets
     - All sets at 135. Felt easy.

C1. Flat Bench DB Bench Press @ 30x1, 6-10 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - 60#
C2. DB Back Extensions Drop Sets @ 301, 6.6.6 x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - 30#
D1. Weighted Pronated Pull Up Cluster @ 11x1, 1.1.1.1 x 3 sets, rest 1 minute.
D2. Thrusters @ 95 lbs, 12-15 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1 minute.

PM Session:
Zone 1 Work + Gymn Prep + Zone 1 Work
15 Minutes of Light Running

Did not do this. I was short on time and I figured I got my full of running yesterday!
rest 10 minutes
+
5 Sets of the following:
Negative Handstand Push ups to 8 inch depth, 1.1.1.1.1, rest 2-3 minutes between sets.

Sunday April 28, 2013

Groton Road race 5k

Time was 21:47. Not too bad considering that the course had a few hills toward the end and the fact that I really wasn't trying to crush this race. More like I was after a nice relaxing run on a beautiful, sunny day. Finished 46 out if 1073. Not too terrible for a non-runner.

Saturday April 27, 2013

Another "cheat day " today. My whole plan for this week went off the tracks earlier this week when I had to put my dog down and was not able to train on my usual Monday schedule.

Here is what today looked like...

20:00 AMRAP of

350M row
6 KB swings @ 70#
3 Burpee muscle-ups
30 double Unders


Score was 6 rounds plus about 100M. The part I struggled with the most was surprisingly the double Unders. I don't think I got through one set without missing at least once.

This was a really fun workout but admittedly this is not the kind of workout that's going to make me better by attacking my weaknesses. I need to get back on track next week.

Friday April 26, 2013

Couldn't help myself today and I had a "cheat workout". Kevin, if you're reading this just stop reading now!!...




Was supposed to do another long strength training workout but I did a classic CrossFit beatdown instead. This is a workout called "Cassius Clay" that CrossFit Vancouver came up with several years ago. I have been wanting to try this forever it seems! So, here it is...

5 Rounds of...
3 Deadlifts @ 315#
3 Muscle-Ups
3 Squat Clean & Jerk @ 185#
2 15' Rope Climbs
1 Box Jump @ 36"
300M "Hill Climb" (I live in the flatlands so, I had to use my imagination and pretend I was running up a steep incline!

Time was 21:00. I definitely didn't feel like I crushed this one but my time was considerably better than the people in the YouTube video. In fairness, I had no hill to climb so that worked in my favor. I honestly didn't feel like this one was as bad as it sounded. Squat Cleans (not the Jerks) got tough because I suck at them but everything else was not much of a problem and I took little rest between reps. Muscle Up sets were all easy and unbroken and I was happy about that. I am starting to really favor the no hook grip/ginormous kip approach to Muscle-Ups!!
   

Wednesday April 24th, 2013

A. Conventional Deadlift @ 30x1, 8-8-6-6-4, rest 3 minutes between sets.
     - Weights used were 275, 285, 295,305, 315.
B. Strict Press @ 11x1, 3-5 repetitions x 4 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets.
     - Worked with 130#. What can I say? I'm still awful at strict pressing. Just need to work this every week.
C1. 4 Position Power Clean(high hang, above knee, below knee, floor), 4 reps x 3 sets @ 165 lbs, rest 1:30 between sets.
     - I struggled with these for some reason. My hands felt pretty beat up and hook gripping the bar felt a lot more uncomfortable than usual.
C2. DB Standing Strict Press @ 30x1, 8-10 reps x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - Worked with 50# DB's
D. Row 100 Meters @ 100% x 10 sets, rest 90 seconds between sets.
     - Sets were between 1:19 pace and 1:24. Funny thing is that my pace got faster each round !

Tuesday April 23, 2013

A. Power Snatch Cluster, 1.1.1.1 x 3 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets. Use 155 lbs for all sets.
     - 2 sets at 155. 1 set at 165 (missed the 3rd rep)
     - Technique is still sloppy on these. Sometimes lack extension in second pull and footwork is not too good either.....very frustrating.

B. Overhead Squat @ 20x1, on the minute, every minute x 3 repetitions @ 185 lbs x 10 minutes.
     - Uggh....This did NOT go as well as I'd hoped. Was feeling great on OHS's last week. However; these started getting really tough after my first 2 sets. Sad truth is that this was either too much weight or not quite enough rest based on where I'm at right now. I only completed about 6 or 7 sets in the 10:00.

C1. Flat DB Bench Press @ 30x1, 8-12 reps x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - Used 55#

C2. GH Raises @ 30x1, 12-15 reps x 3 sets, hands on head, rest 1:30

D1. Weighted Supinated Chin Ups @ 20x1, 4-6 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - All sets done with 45# KB

D2. Thrusters @ 115 lbs, 8-10 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30

Monday April 22, 2013

Missed my AM training session today. Just did the PM...


15 Minutes of Light Running
+
rest 10 minutes
+
AMRAP 3 Minutes of the following:
Muscle Ups

     - 17 reps. Missed on 1 rep after fighting it for several seconds. Tried to do singles the whole way through every 9-10 seconds. Was hoping to get 18 reps....just missed.
+
rest 10 minutes
+
15 Minutes of Light Running

Saturday April 20, 2013

3 Sets of the following:
15 Thrusters @ 115 lbs/15 Burpees, rest 4 minutes
+
rest 10 minutes
+
5 sets of the following:
Prowler Dog Pushes x 25 seconds, rest 3 minutes between sets
     - 2 45# Plates and 1 25#

Friday April 19, 2013

A. Jerk Cluster off blocks, 2-3 reps x 3 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets.
Warm-Up, then perform Jerk Cluster for all 3 sets @ 235 lbs.

B1. Front Squat @ 20x1, 3-4 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - 225#
B2. Muscle Up Cluster, 2.2.2 x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - A couple misses. My M/U technique has been off lately
C1. Barbell Front Rack Walking Lunges @ 11x1, 6-8/each leg x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - 135#
C2. Pendalay Barbell Bent Over Row @ 30x1, 6-8 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - 135#
D. DB Split Squats @ 20x1, 6-8/each leg x 3 sets, rest 2 minutes between sets.

     - 45#

Thursday April 18, 2013

Active Recovery Day

15:00 on Airdyne at light pace

Powell Raise: 2 sets of 10 reps @ 12#

Kettlebell Windmill: 2 sets of 10 reps @ light KB

Back Extensions @ 30x1: 2 sets of 12 reps

Turkish Get-Ups: 2 sets of 6 reps (3/side) @ 45#

15:00 on Airdyne at light pace

Wednesday April 17, 2013

A. Deadlift @ 20x1, 6-6-6, controlled touch n go repetitions throughout sets, rest 2 minutes between sets.

     - Weight used was 275, 285, 295. I'm trying to feel this out and develop some confidence while trying to rebuild my deadlift strength. This didn't start feeling heavy until my last set.

B. Strict Press @ 21x1, 4-6 repetitions x 4 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets.

     - Worked up to 130#.

C1. Power Clean touch n go repetitions x 10 repetitions @ 155 lbs x 3 sets, rest 1 minute

C2. DB Seated Strict Press(No Back Support) @ 30x1, 8-10 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1 minute.

     - Worked with 40# dumbbells, focusing on maintaining a slow tempo

D. Row 25 seconds @ 100%, rest 3 minutes x 5 sets

     - I held a pace of between 1:22 - 1:24 on each set. Damper was set on 8.

Tuesday April 16, 2013

A. 15 sets on Airdyne of...
     :30 @ 90%
     :30 @ 50%

Rest 5:00

B. 500 Double Under for time
     - Time was 10:00 on the dot. Not too thrilled with this. My best time on "Flight Simulator" (which has 500 double-unders) is 7 something.
     - My approach to this was to do sets of 25 throughout and rest in between.

C. 15 sets on Airdyne of...
     :30 @ 90%
     :30 @ 50%

Monday April 15, 2013

AM Session

A. Power Snatch Cluster, 1.1.1 x 3 sets, rest 3 minutes between sets.
     - I really suck at Power Snatches.....there I said it! One of the ways that I can hide this fact is that I am pretty efficient with the split snatch. My regular power snatch starts to turn to shit at any weight above 135#. My feet split out way too wide and I start receiving the bar awkwardly. My coach got on my case after seeing me split snatch my first few reps. He is right that I should be confronting my weakness and work on improving. So I reverted back to regular power snatches and worked up to 165#

B. Overhead Squat @ 20x1, work to a tough double in less than 5 sets.
     - Worked up to 215# and honestly it did not feel that hard. I was really psyched about this. First because I have not been training OHS's regularly for quite a while. Second, because 215# was my 1RM not so long ago. I'm thinking that I can do 235# in the not so distant future.

C1. DB Bench Tricep Extensions @ 30x1, 8-10 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - Have not done these since my Globogym days. Felt awkward and I used only 25# for these.
C2. Weighted Pronated Pull Ups @ 20x1, 2-3 repetitions x 3 sets, rest 1:30
     - Used 45# KB
D1. Butterfly Pull Ups Chin Over Bar x 8-10 repetitions x 4 sets, rest 1 minute
D2. Thrusters @ 105 lbs, 8-10 repetitions x 4 sets, rest 1 minute.
     - I never really practice butterfly pull-ups so this was good work. I definitely fine tuned a few things. The big one is to really kick my heels back to load up each kip/


PM Session
15 Minutes of Light Running

50 HSPU for time

     - Time = 12:00. These went about how I thought they would (although I hoped for better). For now, it is what it is. My mindset now is that every time I do a workout with things I suck at, it's an opportunity to get better. So, this is now my favorite workout. Can't wait to do it again!!

15 Minutes of Light Running

Saturday April 13, 2013

12:00 of...

2000M Row
100 Double Unders
AMRAP Burpee box Jumps

Got 34 Burpee Box Jumps on this one. Felt good on the row. Tried to maintain a 1:45 500M split time throughout. On the double unders I focused on staying relaxed especially after missing. I don't feel like I did well on the Burpee Box Jumps. It wasn't so much that I was sucking win. It was more of a case of just not being able to get into a rhythm by moving efficiently. Took a lot of steps away from and towards the box which was all just wasted motion. Need to work on improving here.

20:00 of.....
     - Every Even Minute - 5 Handstand Push-Ups
     - Every odd minute - 7 Toes to Bar

     - Toes to bar technique is definitely improving since Opens. Most important cue seems to be opening up my hips at the bottom of each kipping swing.

Friday April 12, 2013

A. Snatch Cluster @ 60%, 1.1.1.1.1 x 5 sets, rest 2 minutes between sets.
     - Felt great to squat snatch again! It's been several weeks. I felt really good on these today. Felt like I was doing a better job of keeping my chest up in receiving position. I was focusing on pausing in the receiving position before starting to recover and that really helped.
     - Weight used was 115# across all sets.

B. Clean and Jerk Cluster @ 60%, 1.1.1.1.1 x 5 sets, rest 2 minutes
      - Used 165# on all sets and felt pretty solid.

C. Close Grip Bench Press on the minute every minute x 2 reps x 8 sets @ moderate weight.
     - Ugggh, bench press. I need lots of work on this. Had a hard time keeping my shoulders packed and was starting to feel some impingement. Worked with 165# on all sets.

D. 15 Muscle Ups For Time
     - Time was 3:00. Not that great but this had a lot to do with how fatigued my shoulders were. I was playing around with my grip and was trying to hold the rings without the hook grip. This actually felt pretty good and it made a huge difference in being able to generate a big kip.
     - I started out by banging out a set of 5. This was not a good strategy because I got tired quick and had to do singles from that point on.

Wednesday April 10, 2013

20 Minutes of Rowing Machine @ 70%

+

Mobility 20 Minutes

+

20 Minutes of Rowing Machine @ 70%

Tuesday April 9, 2013

10 Minutes of the following:

Row 250 Meter

10 Step Down Box Jumps

5 Burpees

rest 5 minutes

10 Minutes of the following:

Run 200 Meters

10 Overhead Squats @ 65 lbs

5 Pull Ups

rest 5 minutes

10 Minutes of the following:

Airdyne 20 Calories

10 Kettlebell Swings @ 53 lbs

5 GHD Sit Ups


PM Session

20:00 Gymnastics Skill Work

     - L-Sits (total of 3:00)  Holy crap I suck at these!!!

     - Plank Hold (total of 5:00)

     - Handstand practice (Shoulder taps, freestanding holds)

Monday April 8, 2013

Active Recovery Day

20:00 Shoulder Mobility

     - External Rotations

     - Scap Push-Ups

     - 20 TGU @ 35#

20:00 Light Rowing

Foam Roll, Stretch

Sunday April 7, 2013

Opens WOD 13.5: Second (and Final!!) attempt

As awful as this workout is, I was really looking forward to redoing it all weekend. I felt very little pressure as I knew it would take a miracle to send me to the Games. I had a new strategy mapped out that was literally down to the second! The new gameplan was to intentionally break the first set of pull-ups into sets of 5 in the hopes of not hitting that dreaded "redline" too early. The hope was to get through the second set of P/U's in 3 sets of 5 with only a few seconds rest between. The last set would be tough but I figured if I had about :45 - 1:00 I had a chance of banging out 15 pull-ups in sets of 3.

My plan went pretty well until that second round of pull-ups. I got the first set of 5 but had to break into smaller sets after that. My third round of Thrusters was pretty good actually. Put the bar down after 9 reps but picked it right up and gutted through the last 6 reps. Only about :30 left for the pull-ups - just enough time for 6 reps for a score of 81. Again, not terrible, not a score I'm ashamed of, yet not quite good enough and definitely not "elite".

After 5 Workouts, I can hold my head up high and say I gave it everything I had. I have no excuses and no regrets. I can't blame anything on injuries or bad luck or other people cheating. 29th place is not where I hoped to be but I accept the result for what it is and will not beat myself up over it. In the end, the top 20 guys are where they deserve to be and I truly salute them. I know I worked hard over the last year but I can imagine that they worked even harder.

While this is the end of my goal to make the 2013 CrossFit Games, this is also a new beginning. I am more committed than ever at getting better. And it's not just in the hope of making the 2014 Games. It's really about much more than that. More than anything, I want to be an elite level Crossfitter. I want to attack my weaknesses instead of pretending they don't exist. I need to work harder and suffer more but I also need to take care of my body better than ever. P.T., mobility and active recovery need to become a much bigger part of my training program. I also need to compete more with guys at or above my level. I need to be more disciplined around nutrition as well. I eat "pretty good" but I also have some bad habits that involve "little cheats". This can be like death by a thousand paper cuts. I will squash those habits ASAP and eat and train like a champion. Can't wait to start getting after it!

Friday April 5, 2013

Opens WOD 13.5: First Attempt


4:00 AMRAP: 15 Thrusters, 15 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups

Wasn't real excited to see this one come up. I've never really had an elite "Fran" time and I'm not one of these people who obsesses over "Fran" as some Holy Grail CrossFit workout. I'm also not one of these ninjas that can bang out dozens of Chest to Bar pull-ups with an effortless butterfly kip!

So, on this one - not much strategy needed here. I figured I'd need to go balls to the wall right from the word "Go!". 90 reps in under 4:00 is a very tall task for someone doing regular gymnastics kip CTB's. I was hoping to get through the Thrusters unbroken or close to it. CTB's were going to be a bitch, I knew that. But I was hoping to be able to string together some sets of at least 3-5 once I got tired.

I crushed the first round. Thrusters were fast and smooth. Got 15 unbroken CTB Pull-ups. Second round of Thrusters was tough and I did rest in the rack position a few times but I didn't put the bar down. On second round of pull-ups, things started falling apart a little bit. I'm not even sure how many times I broke during this set but it felt like I did 15 single reps!!...brutal!!. Last round of Thrusters was pretty awful. Dropped the bar after 8 reps and again after 12. Should not have dropped the second time - I pussied out a bit unfortunately.Finished Thrusters with only about 20 seconds left. Enough time to do 4 more pull-ups for a score of 79.

This workout was much tougher than I thought. Judging by the other scores in my gym, my score was not terrible but I knew that it was far from elite and would not be enough to land me in the top 20 in my age division. I was not planning on doing this one twice unless I got agonizingly close to 90. However; I decided that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try.

Wednesday April 3rd, 2013

A. High Bar Back Squat @ 65% of 1 rep max plus chains @ 30x1, 3 reps on the minute, every minute for 6 minutes.
+
B. 10 sets of the following:
30 seconds of rowing
rest 30 seconds
30 seconds of burpee box jumps
rest 30 seconds
30 seconds of Overhead Squats @ 75 lbs
rest 30 seconds

Tuesday April 2, 2013

A. Power Snatch, work to heavy touch n go for a double.
     - Worked up to 155#. Again, I felt a little discomfort in my left shoulder. I have a feeling that this is being caused by a flaw in technique but can't be sure.

B. Clean and Jerk, work to a heavy single. Goal weight is 235 lbs.
     - Worked up to 235#. Form was not that awesome. Felt like I had to press out the last couple of reps.

C. On the minute every minute for 8 minutes:
4 Chest to Bar Pull Ups
6 Thrusters @ 115 lbs
     - Felt pretty good on these. I fear Thrusters so much less than I used to.

rest 5 minutes

On the minute every minute for 6 minutes:
2 Bar Muscle Ups
6 Touch N Go Power Cleans @ 135 lbs
     - This felt really tough for some reason. I missed 3 reps on the Bar Muscle Ups. Add these to the list of things I need to continue to work on!

Sunday March 31, 2013

CrossFit Opens WOD 13.4

AMRAP 7:00 of

3 C&J
3 Toes to Bar
6/6, 9/9, 12/12, etc.....

So, on my second attempt the only major thing I hoped to do differently was to be way more efficient on the TTB's. Got some good tips from my coach and my wife who is a former gymnast as well as several Carl Paoli videos online. Tried to break the bad habit of looking up as my feet touch and also trying to be LESS active with my shoulders.

I considered several approaches to the C&J's but kept coming back to the strategy of dropping every rep after the round of 6. In retrospect, this was probably too conservative. I should have pushed myself more and done sets of 3 up until the round of 15. Would it have made a positive difference?? Who knows.

Throughout my second attempt I FELT much better. Got through the 9 TTB's unbroken which is more than what I was able to do the first time. Even the round of 12 I did OK on the TTB. The wheels were starting to come off as I finished my set of 15 C&J's. I still had over a minute left to do at least 15 TTB's but I felt like I had nothing left. I paused a few seconds before I even got on the bar. From that point on I couldn't muster much more than singles. This was incredibly frustrating. I mean, how hard is it to make your toes touch the damn bar 15 times??!! I tied my first score with maybe about 15 seconds left. Got 2 more reps and then missed the bar by about 2" on my last attempt!!

Obviously, very disappointed with this performance but at the time I couldn't have known how badly it would hurt my chances for staying in the top 20. A bunch of guys in my age bracket smashed the shit out of this workout. My big score of 87 reps was good for 80th place!!!

This could effectively end my quest for the 2013 CrossFit Games but I'm trying to stay positive and feel good about my performance up until now. I knew that I would be one of those guys on the bubble, scratching and clawing for 20th place and I knew that I had a very small margin for error.

My goal going into next year??? I want to be one of those guys who finishes top 20 almost every workout. Guys like Jerry Hill and Ronald Thomas. These are guys that are setting the standard for my age group. There are only about 20 something places between me and them. However; there is a huge gap in performance. It's going to take a major commitment for me to close this gap in the next year. CrossFit is already a big part of my life but CrossFit will almost have to BECOME my life if I am to make this kind of improvement. Whether I'm willing to make that commitment, I don't know. After the Opens I will take some time, reflect on things and decide whether I'm in this to BE the best or just have fun and do MY best.

Friday March 29, 2013

CrossFit Opens WOD 13.4 : First Attempt

7:00 AMRAP of

3 C&J @ 135#
3 Toes to Bar
6 C&J
6 TTB
9 C&J
9 TTB
12/12, 15/15, etc......


Going into this workout, I had a strategy to maintain a steady pace throughout and try not to spaz out on the first few rounds. There's always a point in these workouts where you get kicked in the nuts. The point where the aerobic threshold ends and the lactic threshold begins!

For me, I think that happened somewhere in the round of 12. Even though I was doing singles, the C&J's started to get tough. But what really screwed me were the TTB's! I had hoped to get through these in nice clean sets of 4. But I lost my kipping rhythm and did these mostly as strict singles. Not only did this cost me time but it was very taxing going into the set of 15 C&J's. Every rep was miserable and I started to wonder if I'd finish before time ran out. I did finish with about :45 left I think. In that :45 seconds I managed 10 TTB's which were again mostly singles with minimal kipping.

All of this earned me a score of 85 reps. I knew that this was not good enough to keep me in the top 20 overall and it was also well short of my goal for the workout. I knew at that point that I would need to repeat this on Sunday and that I'd need a score of 90 or better to stay in the hunt.