Decided to give my back a rest today and lay on the flat bench with a series of heavy benches, in hopes of reaching a 1RM PR.
I started off with the warm-up as usual - skipping the pull-ups because someone was using the pulley devices at the pull-up station. So my warm-up went as follows:
1/2 mile run: 4:31
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
10x135# bench press
I then moved into the main event - starting at 205#. I decided to start here and do an amount of reps that didn't bring me to failure, but gave me a good workout on each weight that I completed.
At 205# I did 5 repetitions.
I followed this by hanging off the chin-up bar to stretch my back muscles and decided to do a pull-up. I decided after each set on the bench I would do pull-ups - more than the previous set, but certainly not to failure.
I moved the bar to 225# and completed 3 repetitions, followed by 2 pull-ups.
I moved up to 245# - unsure whether I would be able to do 2 repetitions, as I had never done 2 reps at this weight before. But I pushed it out, feeling pretty confident after the first rep. I followed this with 3 pull-ups.
I decided to make a daring jump to above my 1RM PR of 260 and jumped to 265#. Of course, I didn't have a spotter, as usual and I was using a free weight bar, so I knew I had to be careful.
I pushed the bar off the rack and extended my arms all the way. I could tell pushing it off the rack that this would be a challenge. I brought the weight down and must admit that I changed my mind before getting all the way down - I probably had between 1-2 inches of clearance on my chest before I started pushing the bar up. Other than the less than full range of motion, I did get this repetition out. Next time around I'll working on getting my chest before pushing off. Until then, I think I will start doing some supplemental bench work after the WOD - perhaps in the 185-225 range, depending on how drained the WOD has made me.
After my 265, I did 5 pull-ups and then un-racked all but 135# and did 10 thrusters to finish off the workout.
Showing posts with label bench press. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bench press. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Not feeling it
I'm not sure why, but I just wasn't feeling it today. I went down to do the WOD from yesterday:
Complete three rounds for time of:
Run 800m
155 pound Power cleans, 21 reps
However, when I got down there, there were 2 people on the treadmill and the third was out of service.
Instead of my 800m warm-up jog, I decided to do the row - which I sometimes end up going overboard on. This was just the case today:
1000m row - 3:43.4 - way too fast for a warm-up, which I should probably slow down to as much as 4 minutes or more. After this I did:
5 very wide grip dead-hang full range of motion pull-ups, coming to a complete 2-5 seconds stop at the bottom
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
3x 135# power cleans to get the feel of the exercise of the day.
I had planned on doing something else - perhaps some heavy lifts today, but by the time I got to my dips, one of the treadmills was clearing out - so I had a spot to do my 800m run - so I decided to proceed with the WOD.
So I set up 155# on the bar and jumped on the treadmill and started my watch. I could feel at the beginning of the workout that I was less than 100%. It could have been the row being too much, or the fact that it was 3:45 and I had only had a small bowl of cereal, an english muffin, an activia yogurt, a banana and a protein shake for nutrients so far today causing low blood sugar - but either way, I just wasn't feeling it.
I kicked the treadmill up to 10.1 MPH for a just-under-3-minute 800 - of course, with the treadmill getting up to speed, it ended up taking me 3:04. Perhaps this was my second mistake (or third, if you count barely eating any calories) - as when I finished, I had to take a short break before starting the power cleans - and when I did, I only knocked out 5 before stopping. It didn't get any better from there either. Going on 10 minutes after finishing my 800 - and perhaps another 5-6 sets of power cleans, I was finally finishing set 1 at 13:10. I knew I had done something wrong, as other people on the forums had posted between 15 and 30 minutes - at this pace I was looking at not possibly finishing before 40.
I decided to stop - not completely, I ended up racking the bar and doing another 21 reps of bench press at 155# (this only took me 2 sets - 1 of 15 and 1 of 6).
This isn't the only time recently I just "haven't felt it" and had a hard time getting through the workouts. I'm wonder if it really is because of my eating schedule, or if I'm hitting a proverbial wall. Perhaps a change in diet?
Granted, my regular schedule was knocked out of whack - going to bed at the same time as usual (perhaps even a little later), I was up at least an hour earlier than usual - eating a full 1-1.5 hours earlier than usual (at 6:30 AM I had my small cereal) - started the day with a large coffee instead of a large glass of water, had little to drink throughout the day and also little food. I'm also coming off the holiday binge which isn't good - so who knows, perhaps I'll bounce back. Either way, I'll make note of what I am eating/drinking and what kind of sleep I'm getting as I post my near future workouts.
Complete three rounds for time of:
Run 800m
155 pound Power cleans, 21 reps
However, when I got down there, there were 2 people on the treadmill and the third was out of service.
Instead of my 800m warm-up jog, I decided to do the row - which I sometimes end up going overboard on. This was just the case today:
1000m row - 3:43.4 - way too fast for a warm-up, which I should probably slow down to as much as 4 minutes or more. After this I did:
5 very wide grip dead-hang full range of motion pull-ups, coming to a complete 2-5 seconds stop at the bottom
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
3x 135# power cleans to get the feel of the exercise of the day.
I had planned on doing something else - perhaps some heavy lifts today, but by the time I got to my dips, one of the treadmills was clearing out - so I had a spot to do my 800m run - so I decided to proceed with the WOD.
So I set up 155# on the bar and jumped on the treadmill and started my watch. I could feel at the beginning of the workout that I was less than 100%. It could have been the row being too much, or the fact that it was 3:45 and I had only had a small bowl of cereal, an english muffin, an activia yogurt, a banana and a protein shake for nutrients so far today causing low blood sugar - but either way, I just wasn't feeling it.
I kicked the treadmill up to 10.1 MPH for a just-under-3-minute 800 - of course, with the treadmill getting up to speed, it ended up taking me 3:04. Perhaps this was my second mistake (or third, if you count barely eating any calories) - as when I finished, I had to take a short break before starting the power cleans - and when I did, I only knocked out 5 before stopping. It didn't get any better from there either. Going on 10 minutes after finishing my 800 - and perhaps another 5-6 sets of power cleans, I was finally finishing set 1 at 13:10. I knew I had done something wrong, as other people on the forums had posted between 15 and 30 minutes - at this pace I was looking at not possibly finishing before 40.
I decided to stop - not completely, I ended up racking the bar and doing another 21 reps of bench press at 155# (this only took me 2 sets - 1 of 15 and 1 of 6).
This isn't the only time recently I just "haven't felt it" and had a hard time getting through the workouts. I'm wonder if it really is because of my eating schedule, or if I'm hitting a proverbial wall. Perhaps a change in diet?
Granted, my regular schedule was knocked out of whack - going to bed at the same time as usual (perhaps even a little later), I was up at least an hour earlier than usual - eating a full 1-1.5 hours earlier than usual (at 6:30 AM I had my small cereal) - started the day with a large coffee instead of a large glass of water, had little to drink throughout the day and also little food. I'm also coming off the holiday binge which isn't good - so who knows, perhaps I'll bounce back. Either way, I'll make note of what I am eating/drinking and what kind of sleep I'm getting as I post my near future workouts.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Meeting with Fran
Fran had come up in the WOD on the main site - and I was looking to improve my time. So I decided to take a whack.
The circumstances were not ideal, the gym that I was in (military gym) only had a nautilus assistance pull-up station for pull-ups. This didn't work out well - I held the assistance seat down with a dumbbell - but the positioning of all the bars and etc. only left room for a dead-hang pull - which meant no kipping.
I warmed up with:
1 mile run (9:44)
5 pull-ups
30 sit-ups
10 135# bench press
30 2x3# DB squats
10 dips
I then waited for my heart rate to come back down a bit and started in on Fran:
Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups
I ended up finishing in 7:48 - slower than last time.
I'm upset - hate to make excuses, but I think it was caused by the inadequate pull-up station.
Afterwards I decided to work on my sit-ups:
10 20# decline sit-ups @ 45 degrees
10 decline sit-ups @ 45 degrees
AMRAP sit-ups in 2 minutes - 71
The 71 is good - my feet were anchored, so there was a better hold than if a person was holding my feet as in the APFT - but I still didn't make 100% reps - granted I was 1 Fran and a bunch of decline sit-ups in.
All-in-all, good workout.
The circumstances were not ideal, the gym that I was in (military gym) only had a nautilus assistance pull-up station for pull-ups. This didn't work out well - I held the assistance seat down with a dumbbell - but the positioning of all the bars and etc. only left room for a dead-hang pull - which meant no kipping.
I warmed up with:
1 mile run (9:44)
5 pull-ups
30 sit-ups
10 135# bench press
30 2x3# DB squats
10 dips
I then waited for my heart rate to come back down a bit and started in on Fran:
Three rounds, 21-15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups
I ended up finishing in 7:48 - slower than last time.
I'm upset - hate to make excuses, but I think it was caused by the inadequate pull-up station.
Afterwards I decided to work on my sit-ups:
10 20# decline sit-ups @ 45 degrees
10 decline sit-ups @ 45 degrees
AMRAP sit-ups in 2 minutes - 71
The 71 is good - my feet were anchored, so there was a better hold than if a person was holding my feet as in the APFT - but I still didn't make 100% reps - granted I was 1 Fran and a bunch of decline sit-ups in.
All-in-all, good workout.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Bench Press Max and Tabata Treadmill
So I've done 3 months of CrossFit - perhaps a month of which was self Rx'd, doing maybe 3 days with the Bench Press - but on those 3 days never going over body weight (185).
They say that the only way to train for doing heavy lifts is to do heavy lifts. Today - or yesterday, rather - I decided to put that theory to the test. Before this 3 month stint, I had a 1 rep max of 260 - but this was doing bench press 1-2 times a week - and usually going at least as heavy as 225 for a couple reps. So now, doing no more than 185 - and otherwise doing nothing more than push-ups so far as that particular pushing motion goes for 3 months - how would I fare?
I warmed up with:
1/2 mile run @ 1% incline: 4:41
10 Pull-ups30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
And then some stretching. I then moved into the bench press - starting low to do some more warm-up.
135# - 8 reps
185# - 4 reps
Right here, I can say that it felt like a not-so-good day. As I said, my neck is still bothering me - and though I have done 21 (or was it 13?) reps of my bodyweight in the past (recently), these 4 felt kind of difficult. To be honest, I was a little worried - but really, even if I didn't go very heavy today, I would know that it was because I was feeling "off" and that I could try again in a week or so for a better test.
That said, I moved on to my 1 rep weights, starting with 225. 225 felt pretty good, so I made another appreciable jump to 245. Again, no problems - it went up a little slow, but easy enough that I knew I could do more. I again cut my weight jump in half and went to 255 - with no spotter, using a free weight. This went up, but very slowly. I probably could have gotten that extra 5 pounds for 260 - which again is my best EVER and I think I've only ever done it once. So I would say that without a doubt, I have lost no strength in the bench press as a result of taking 3 months of to switch to CrossFit - with no specific training.
However, I would say that I feel confident that I could modify my training, still keeping true to crossfit - and make much more rapid gains than before to break 300 in the near future.
Will that be my next 300 quest? CrossFit my way to a 300# bench? We'll see.
So after my bench press I moved into a tabata treadmill run - 12% incline at 30 seconds below my 5K pace (which should be about 21 minutes - a 7 minute mile) putting my pace at 7:30/mile - or 8MPH.
In the past I have been overzealous on the tabata treadmill run - and also failed at the 7:30 pace for the tabata's older brother - 30 seconds work followed by 20 seconds rest, instead of 20 seconds work with 10 seconds rest.
So I was determined to make my pace all the way through.
I hit the quick start button and cranked the incline to 12% and then started speeding the track up until I hit my pace. I waited for the 1 minute mark and jumped on. After 2 repetitions, I was still feeling pretty good - until the end of the rest period, when I realised how quickly I had to jump back on. But I did anyway, telling myself I was 1/4 of the way done.
After 4, my lungs were already burning. It's amazing how quickly this routine hits you. During my 6th repetition, my legs were telling me to stop - but I didn't listen. I worried my legs might give out during the 7th rep - but I made it through. During my 10 seconds rest, I told myself I only have to hold on for 20 more seconds.
And that's what I did. 8 rounds at a 7:30 pace! That's smoking. I hit my goal - and I'll be happy to move forward - though I'll still use the same speed for at least the next few sessions.
They say that the only way to train for doing heavy lifts is to do heavy lifts. Today - or yesterday, rather - I decided to put that theory to the test. Before this 3 month stint, I had a 1 rep max of 260 - but this was doing bench press 1-2 times a week - and usually going at least as heavy as 225 for a couple reps. So now, doing no more than 185 - and otherwise doing nothing more than push-ups so far as that particular pushing motion goes for 3 months - how would I fare?
I warmed up with:
1/2 mile run @ 1% incline: 4:41
10 Pull-ups30 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
And then some stretching. I then moved into the bench press - starting low to do some more warm-up.
135# - 8 reps
185# - 4 reps
Right here, I can say that it felt like a not-so-good day. As I said, my neck is still bothering me - and though I have done 21 (or was it 13?) reps of my bodyweight in the past (recently), these 4 felt kind of difficult. To be honest, I was a little worried - but really, even if I didn't go very heavy today, I would know that it was because I was feeling "off" and that I could try again in a week or so for a better test.
That said, I moved on to my 1 rep weights, starting with 225. 225 felt pretty good, so I made another appreciable jump to 245. Again, no problems - it went up a little slow, but easy enough that I knew I could do more. I again cut my weight jump in half and went to 255 - with no spotter, using a free weight. This went up, but very slowly. I probably could have gotten that extra 5 pounds for 260 - which again is my best EVER and I think I've only ever done it once. So I would say that without a doubt, I have lost no strength in the bench press as a result of taking 3 months of to switch to CrossFit - with no specific training.
However, I would say that I feel confident that I could modify my training, still keeping true to crossfit - and make much more rapid gains than before to break 300 in the near future.
Will that be my next 300 quest? CrossFit my way to a 300# bench? We'll see.
So after my bench press I moved into a tabata treadmill run - 12% incline at 30 seconds below my 5K pace (which should be about 21 minutes - a 7 minute mile) putting my pace at 7:30/mile - or 8MPH.
In the past I have been overzealous on the tabata treadmill run - and also failed at the 7:30 pace for the tabata's older brother - 30 seconds work followed by 20 seconds rest, instead of 20 seconds work with 10 seconds rest.
So I was determined to make my pace all the way through.
I hit the quick start button and cranked the incline to 12% and then started speeding the track up until I hit my pace. I waited for the 1 minute mark and jumped on. After 2 repetitions, I was still feeling pretty good - until the end of the rest period, when I realised how quickly I had to jump back on. But I did anyway, telling myself I was 1/4 of the way done.
After 4, my lungs were already burning. It's amazing how quickly this routine hits you. During my 6th repetition, my legs were telling me to stop - but I didn't listen. I worried my legs might give out during the 7th rep - but I made it through. During my 10 seconds rest, I told myself I only have to hold on for 20 more seconds.
And that's what I did. 8 rounds at a 7:30 pace! That's smoking. I hit my goal - and I'll be happy to move forward - though I'll still use the same speed for at least the next few sessions.
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