Fitness - Two-A-Day, WOD #2 - 4/14

Uh, wow. WOD number two on the day and it was a long, heavy grinder.

WOD #2: 3 rounds for time
1000m row
800m run
30 body weight dead lifts - 90 kg (198#)

Score/ Time: 28:15
Calories burned (WOD only): 731

This one was all legs and lungs. My legs were already smoked, I knew I was going to have dig in and get through it.

I got after I with a good friend (and excellent crossfitter), Jim. He's about 6'6", 220 pounds and a beast on the erg. He's really powerful and can get so much out of one stroke. I would have been sandbagging on the erg if he wasn't there. He was off the rower before me each round, but I caught up to him on the run each round. I ended up beating him by just under a minute.

Anything I had left after the row and the run was zapped by the dead lifts, my ass was on fire. I got inspired on the last round of dead lifts and somehow finished that last set unbroken. It was a great mental victory.

In retrospect I think I could have run a little harder but who knows. I was pushing hard but there were times when I might have been holding back In order to save some energy for the rest of the workout.

Well, I'm updating this from the airport, about to leave on my trip and my plane is about to board. I gotta run, I'll be back next Friday.

Out Of The Country

Just a heads up, I'll be leaving on a little vacay tomorrow (Thursday) for 7 or 8 days.

I doubt I'll have access to a computer but I'll be writing all my WOD's down and entering them when I get back. I'm not really going to try to make time to enter them via my iPhone or anything. I'm going to enjoy this time away in far away lands.

I'm taking my jump rope and my rings with me and I plan to do at least one WOD a day. I'll throw in a few two-a-days, but only a few.

I'll be working with mostly body weight so that means lots of hand stand push ups, v-ups, ring dips, squats, pull ups, burpees, something to box jump onto, muscle ups and double unders etc. I see lots of hill running and sprinting intervals mixed in as well. I'm sure I'll be able to find a heavy rock or log and do some cleans, presses, over head lunges and things of that nature.

So far a few I've got pre-planned are: 30 muscle ups for time; 100 push ups, 100 squats, 100 burpees; lots of tabata stuff; 15x10-15 second sprint, 20 seconds rest.

And I'll have plenty of time on the plane to drum up some other goodies.

If you've got any ideas for me for workouts that can be done in nature (in the jungle/on a beach) just leave them in a comment below. Thanks and I'll be back on Fridaym, 4/23.

Fitness - Two-A-Day, Box Jumps & WOD #1 w/ vest - 4/14

Damn, my hamstrings are so tight this morning. After every time we do good mornings my hammies are barking at me for days. This time was no different. I even started feeling them tighten up yesterday afternoon. I did a lot of stretching last night with a band and I'm sure it helped, it just doesn't feel like it.

Our focus this morning was box jumps. We worked with sets of 3 building up to a max height. I just listed my final height below, I didn't measure any of the other sets.

Focus: box jumps, sets of 3
1x3 - 48 inches

This was really fun. Everybody in the gym got behind one another was cheering everybody on. I had no idea how high I was going to be able to get so this was surprising, and it felt kind of effort less. I know I could have broken 50 inches today, just ran out of time.

WOD w/12# vest: AMRAP in 10 minutes of
10 wall ball shots - 10'/20#
5 frog jumps - 20# med ball
10 v-ups

Finisher (no vest): 400m farmer's walk with one, 32 Kg kettle bell per hand.

Score/Time: 13 full rounds, 9 wall ball shots
Calories burned (including focus, WOD & finisher): 644

The frog jump is where you hold the medicine ball over your head and do a squat jump. This WOD was a quad killer for sure. There was about 10 minutes left in the class so I went out for a walk around the block, it was a beautiful morning. As usual the farmer's walk smashed my grip.

But that's good, I need it to get stronger. WOD #2 coming up tonight.

Fitness - Good Mornings & WOD w/ vest - 4/13

Holy cow, I'm am really sore from yesterday. I think the second WOD I did in the afternoon compounded on heavy "Helen" really took it's tole. My traps on down to my calves, everything was sore and stiff this morning.

Focus: Good mornings, light weight, more reps
1x10 - 40 Kg (88.2#)
3x8 - 45 Kg (99.2#)

This is a great supplementary strength move for your glutes and hamstrings. Thus an awesome way to increase your dead lifts and squats of all variations. I don't do good mornings often enough.

WOD w/12# vest: In a teams of 5, 3 rounds for time of
250m row
10 knees to elbows
20 dumbbell push press - 40# dumbbells
20 full kettle bell swings - 24 Kg bell
20 ring push ups

Score/Time: 17:51
Calories burned (Including focus & WOD): 582

This felt like a good bit of work but there was too much rest built in for me. Because we couldn't move on to the next exercise until the rower was done (and I was on a team with 4 girls/women), there was a lot of time spent waiting for the rower to be done.

To get around all the rest I just hit it really hard when I wasn't resting. I kept my pace on the rower under the 1:35/500m mark and I went unbroken on everything except my last set of ring push ups. The weighted vest had a hand in me having to split it up into a set of 10, and two sets of 5.

Overall it was good and I was tired when it was over. I look forward to a lot of sleep tonight and another two-a-day tomorrow.

Fitness - Two-A-Day, WOD #2 - 4/12

Today's WOD was one from one of the other sectionals, not quite sure. But I was excited to get after it. It seemed like a bunch of random stuff just to beat you up, which is exactly what it did.

WOD #2: AFAP
35 sumo dead lift high pulls - 43 Kg (95#)
50 box jumps - 24"
35 push press - 43 Kg (95#)
50 air squats
35 toes to bar
50 full kettle bell swings - 24 Kg bell
35m walking lunge - one 24kg bell per hand
50 burpees

Score/Time: 17:17
Calories burned (WOD only): 432

Damn, this was killer. I expected to get a little bit of a faster time but this was tough. I knew the 50 burpee finisher was going to suck and would take me around 3 minutes just to finish those.

My grip was pretty spent after the toes to bar, then it was really torn up after the swings and holding onto the bells during the lunges was brutal.

Needless to say, I was happy when I was done.

Fitness - Two-A-Day, Weighted Pull-Ups/Dips & Heavy "Helen" (WOD #1) - 4/12

Today's focus was a super set of weighted dips, which I hit up on the rings, and pull ups.

Focus: 3x3, heavy cross sets of weighted ring dips and pull ups
Dips
3x3 - 48 Kg added

Pull Ups
2x3 - 24 Kg added
1x3 - 32 Kg added

I felt good here even though I barely got my chin above the bar on my third set of pull ups. The dips were heavy as well, I focused even with the heavy weight on getting complete full range of motion. Especially at the top, really posting up through the upper back and shoulders to get a solid lock out.

WOD w/12# vest: "Helen", is 3 rounds for time of:
400m run
21 kettle bell swings - 24 Kg (I used 32 Kg bell)
12 Pull ups

Score/Time: 8:25
Calories burned (including focus & WOD): 637

I wore the weighted vest and went heavier on the swings, earning the Rx+ mark on the white board. The vest certainly made things interesting, I didn't feel it much on the swings, but it was hard to overcome on the running portion.

I've gotten pretty dang good/efficient with the butterfly kip and 12 isn't that many so I didn't have too much trouble with them. I had the first two sets unbroken and was on my way to all three sets unbroken but my grip failed me on rep 10 of the last set. My left hand slipped off the bar and I had to shake it out for a breath and finish the last 3 reps.

I was pretty stoked on my time, my Helen time if I follow the standard Rx is a sub 8, and this wasn't too far off. So, I'm happy.

I've got another workout this evening and i'm feeling great, so i'm ready to get after it.

Fitness - 1 Rep Max Snatch PR & 1 Rep Max Clean & Jerk PR - 4/10

To round out this de-loading week I got after some serious strength work. I really wanted to find out where some of my olympic lifts were at so I set my sights on new PR's in both the snatch and the clean & jerk

Snatch: Work up to 1 rep max
1x1 - 100 Kg (220.5#)
1x1 - 105 Kg (231.5#)
1x1 - 107 Kg (235.9#)

I am totally stoked on these numbers. I used to struggle with 90 Kg, this was a massive effort. I had the whole gym behind me and It was an awesome feeling when I nailed it. Scott gave me a ton of coaching throughout the session and helped a great deal.

I failed at 105 Kg once before getting it the second try and I failed at 107 Kg twice before getting it on the third, I was riding pretty high after I stood it up.

Clean & Jerk: Work up to 1 rep max
1x1 - 120 Kg (264.5#)
1x1 - 125 Kg (275.6#)
1x1 - 128 Kg (282.2#)

Calories burned during snatches and clean & jerks: 599

I feel great about this effort as well. I feel like I had a little more in the tank and could have gotten 130 or 131 Kg's but i didn't want to push it. I wanted to end the day on a good note with a successful lift. Plus, I was spent after the kettle bell work and all the snatches. My shoulders were feeling it pretty tough.

I failed at 128 before getting it the second time. It was a matter of not driving the jerk hard enough and then not getting underneath it deep enough. I felt really good on the cleans though, which I expected. My 1 rep clean max is currently 141 Kg.

Fitness - Level 2 Skills Class - 4/10

Level 2 Skills class
Today in the level 2 skills class there was no gymnastics or strength work. Instead, Dave gave us a kettle bell workshop. It was incredibly beneficial.

We set up two lines of kettle bells that progressed in weight starting at 12 Kg, then 16Kg, 20Kg, 24Kg, then the 32 Kg bells.

He had us start off with one two handed swings and work through the line (up to the heaviest weight that you could do with good form, or were comfortable doing). Then one handed swings followed by single arm kettle bell clean, then two arm kettle bell clean. Each time we went down the line he'd spend a little time tweaking or giving pointers if needed.

We then did two arm clean and jerks and moved on to two arm full squat clean and jerks. And finally the last movement we did down the line was the kettle bell snatch.

When we started each movement at the light weights, the point was to really work your form and not just throw it around because you could. That way when you get to the heavier bells, you're more efficient and it's a much more fluid movement.

After a lot of kettle bell work, I always feel really good. My whole body feels worked yet not destroyed. I don't know, i just feel like everything is in line. I can only relate it to how I feel after a yoga session. It just feels good!

clories burned during level 2 skills class: 882

Fitness - Annie, Dead Lifts & WOD - 4/09

I woke up feeling the rope climbs today. My back and grip is pretty sore, which is a good thing.

I got to the gym a little early to continue work on my double unders. I hit up "Annie" (50, 40, 30, 20, 10 of double unders and sit ups) un-timed.

Focus: Snatch grip dead lifts with chains, 5x3 cross sets
2x3 - 120 Kg (264.5#)
3x3 - 150 Kg (330.7#)

My hook grip is still struggling. I keep on being told that it's one of those things where the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it. But it's not happening yet with me. It still is uncomfortable and hurts a little but i'll keep at it.

WOD: AMRAP in 12 minutes of
1 sumo deadlift high pull - 52 Kg (115#)
1 ring push up
1 hanging ankles to bar
2 sdlhp - 52 Kg (115#)
2 ring push up
2 hanging ankles to bar
3 sdlhp - 52 Kg (115#)
3 ring push up
3 hanging ankles to bar
4 sdlhp - 52 Kg (115#)
4 ring push up
4 hanging ankles to bar
5 sdlhp - 52 Kg (115#)
5 ring push up
5 hanging ankles to bar

Score/Time: 4.2 rounds (finished through the 2's of round 5)
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 602

I feel good about this. I like progressions like this and I went pretty much non stop as fast as I could. I really focused on wasting no time between transitions, which worked pretty well. I went from each exercise to the next and got to work.

I've got the level 2 class tomorrow and some strength work planned. I'm going to try to go for a 1 rep clean and jerk max, 1 rep snatch and if i've got enough in the tank, a 1 rep max clean.

After that i've got a short/heavy strength focused WOD planned: 3, 2, 1 of clean & jerks at 110 or 120 Kg's and snatches at 80 or 85 Kg's. Stay tuned for that.

Fitness - Strict Press & Rope Climb, L-Sits, Hip Bridges - 4/08

Today was a active rest kind of day in the gym, sort of.

Focus: Strict press
1x21 - 52 Kg (115#)
1x15 - " "
1x9 - " "

My shoulders stung a little after this, I felt the burn pretty bad.

WOD: 5 rounds un-timed of
2 rope climbs
8 hip bridges - 75 Kg (165#)
2x20 sec. l-sit (20 seconds on, 40 seconds off)

Score/Time: N/A
Calories burned (Including focus & WOD): 487

I wanted to get some glute/hamstring work in so I hit up the hip bridges, the rope climb was because I wanted to get some back work in. The l-sits I threw in Just for some core work, and I really want to get good at them.

I moved through this one with some purpose but wasn't going all out. I say it was an active rest day because I wanted to focus on some supplementary strength stuff (l-sits and hip bridges) but then there were the rope climbs, which was the real work out of this WOD.