Fitness - Strict military press & WOD - 10/1

Today's WOD was pretty light which was a nice treat. It's getting to the end of the week and my body is fatigued and I can feel it slowing down a bit. Before we hit the WOD our focus was on strict (military) presses.

Focus: 5x5, strict press
1x5 - 70 Kg (154.3#)
3x5 - 75 Kg (165.3#)
1x5 - 80 Kg (176.4#)

I'm happy with this progression. I wish I had tried 2 or three sets at 80 Kg but oh well. It was a struggle but I got all 5 reps. Last time we did strict presses I remember getting only 72 Kg so I'm pretty happy with the weight increase, it's the most I've ever been able to strict press

WOD: 21-15-9-6-3 for time of:
Wall Ball - 20#/10'
V-ups
Box jumps - 24"

Time: 8:13
Calories burned (focus & WOD): 461

Today's WOD was done in teams of three (each starting on a different exercise) rotating through each exercise. It was kind of nice because the other two guys on my team were a little slow so It gave me a lot of built in rest, which I didn't mind at all.

I've decided to start working some of these types of WOD's with the weight vest on. I talked to Dave about it and we sort of worked out a plan of action. I'm going to start with just 4 or 5 additional pounds in the vest and every two weeks add another 4 or 5 (or fewer) pounds until I get up to around 20 additional pounds.

It's best to work up this way for a number of reasons. 1) By jumping straight to 20 additional pounds in the vest it puts an enormous strain on your joints and there's a good possibility you might blow one out. 2) Working up gradually lets your body acclimate to the extra poundage and trains your nervous system, muscles, and joints to deal with the added weight and get stronger. 3) Removing the vest after a few months and doing a WOD without it will seem like a cake walk.

Just imagine if for 2 or 3 months you work with a weighted vest while doing pull ups, box jumps, push ups, wall balls, air squats and things of that nature. Then all of the sudden you stop using the vest and go back to just body weight. Pull ups and push ups and all those types of movements will see huge gains in the amount of reps you're able to do (or verticle jumping ability in the case of box jumps).

Stay tuned, I plan on starting this routine next week and hope to work the vest in whenever it's applicable (I suppose this largely depends on what the WOD is). I'm hoping that's at least 3 days a week.