So I had missed a couple of days and knew I had some making up to do - but I didn't have a gym available. I had spent the last couple of days working on my hand stand push-up, including moving from head to floor to a raised 5" or so platform.
Today, I decided I needed a metcon workout - so I put together what bodyweight exercises I could and came up with the following:
50 HSPU (head to floor)
100 push-ups
150 air squats
I then cleared out a spot on the wall and started my HSPUs. These are tough - especially after 25 or so. Toward the end, I was doing these in increments of 3, 2 or even 1 - but my ability to get on the wall as well as push them out has greatly improved.
I finished the set of 50 in 11:09 and then moved into the push-ups. As I had hoped, the HSPUs were harmful enough to those general muscles that it made the push-ups more difficult than normal - knocking out only 40 in the first set and 20 in subsequent sets. I finished these at 15:40 - 4:31 total for the push-ups. I then moved into the air squats, which were harder than I expected, since I hadn't done much leg or abs, etc. to have an adverse affect - but I was very fatigued and winded from the HSPUs and PUs - so I finished these in 5:10 at 20:50.
This was more work than I had originally expected, which I am glad about!
Showing posts with label crossfit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crossfit. Show all posts
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Fran + Official Warmup
I'm a little behind on posting my workouts - but I have still been doing them.
On 12/11 I got my revenge on my last failed attempt at improving my Fran time - and this time I did much better - though I'm thinking that until my metcon is improved more, it may be a good idea to bring some strategy to the table, even in such a short WOD.
I started out with my usual warm-up:
1/2 mile - 4:21
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
Depending on the day, this is basically my "official warm-up", which is how I will refer to this warm-up routine from now on - with varying 800m times, or even with a 1000m row instead.
I then moved on to Fran which was last completed on November 21 with a time of 7:48, with a previous PR of 7:37. My goal was to beat that. Again, Fran is a progression of 21-15-9 of alternating 95# thrusters and pull-ups.
So I got my stop-watch started with 20 seconds to go before the hand on the wall clock reached the minute mark - this way I could get the bar racked and ready to start and subtract a known time from my time.
I started fast - real fast, finishing the first round in 1:28 with no rests. I paid for this a little bit in the second round, which I finished at the 4:38 mark - with 3:10 for the 2nd round - I needed to beat that time for the 3rd round - I needed a 2:59 to match my PR. Luckily this was a short round which helped mentally as well as physically. I pushed through the thrusters and then the pull-ups and finished in 6:17 - the last 9 reps were completed in 1:39 - slower than my first round, but much better than the second. I still have some work to do, but that was an improvement.
I cooled down with a 500m row.
On 12/11 I got my revenge on my last failed attempt at improving my Fran time - and this time I did much better - though I'm thinking that until my metcon is improved more, it may be a good idea to bring some strategy to the table, even in such a short WOD.
I started out with my usual warm-up:
1/2 mile - 4:21
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
Depending on the day, this is basically my "official warm-up", which is how I will refer to this warm-up routine from now on - with varying 800m times, or even with a 1000m row instead.
I then moved on to Fran which was last completed on November 21 with a time of 7:48, with a previous PR of 7:37. My goal was to beat that. Again, Fran is a progression of 21-15-9 of alternating 95# thrusters and pull-ups.
So I got my stop-watch started with 20 seconds to go before the hand on the wall clock reached the minute mark - this way I could get the bar racked and ready to start and subtract a known time from my time.
I started fast - real fast, finishing the first round in 1:28 with no rests. I paid for this a little bit in the second round, which I finished at the 4:38 mark - with 3:10 for the 2nd round - I needed to beat that time for the 3rd round - I needed a 2:59 to match my PR. Luckily this was a short round which helped mentally as well as physically. I pushed through the thrusters and then the pull-ups and finished in 6:17 - the last 9 reps were completed in 1:39 - slower than my first round, but much better than the second. I still have some work to do, but that was an improvement.
I cooled down with a 500m row.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Bench Press Day
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.
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.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Max Dead Lift
I decided to go with 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Dead Lifts today after having taken the weekend off. Go big or go home.
I warmed up as follows:
800m Run - 4:29
10 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
15 30# KB
5 x 135# Dead Lift
Today, the goal was to get a PR and also to increase my PR for the pronated grip as well as mixed grip - using my lifting hooks only when I didn't think I could lift any more otherwise.
So, using pronated grip on both hands (working on the hook grip) I did the following:
225-275-305-330
My previous record before going to mixed grip was 305 - so this was a new record there by 25#. The success didn't stop there, as the new PR here was already a tied PR for my mixed grip.
I only did 1 lift mixed, using my left arm for the supine grip - 365#. When I finished my left and paused at the full up position, I felt that the bar was starting to slip out of my hands - but still a PR by 35#. I then switched to my lifting hooks and continued on.
I went to top my previous PR next, which was 390# and loaded 395# on. This went up quite a bit easier than I expected, considering how slowly 390 had gone up when I set that PR. Since it was so much easier than last time around, I decided to go for a big jump and loaded all weights 25+ that were available -
45# bar + 6 45# plates + 2 35# plates + 2 25# plates.
So (7*45)+(2*35)+2*25)=435#
This was an extremely tough lift. I only got the bar 4 or so inches off the floor before it tried to stop going up. The rest of the trip up was more of a series of stop and start again than a good lift - kind of like a slow chatter to the top. However, letting out a groan, I managed to lock out at the top of the lift.
So my new PR, up 45# from 390 on October 26 is 435#.
I finished off the workout with 225x10 so I could stress my grip a little more and as more or less of a cool down. Then I did a little light KB work - overhead presses, a few swings - 2 & 1 handed, and then just some back and forth swings to stretch the muscles in my back.
I can tell my back will be sore and tired tomorrow. I'm thinking I may go for a max bench, so as to do something that won't cause me to over strain my back and lead to an injury.
Found this site:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/weight.htm
He has a 1RM calculator at the bottom of the page which I used to look at the standards for my weight (now down to about 180) I used it to calculate the following standards:
Exercise: Novice: Experienced: Advanced:
Military Press: 110 137 163
Bench Press: 163 200 274
Squat: 219 268 366
Dead Lift: 273 314 436
Clean: 157 193 263
I can easily do the Experienced weight on any of these exercises. I can almost get the advanced on all of them as well - Dead Lift, I'm 1# short. Clean I have a little ways to go - 60# or so. Bench press I have 15-20# to make up.
I warmed up as follows:
800m Run - 4:29
10 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
15 30# KB
5 x 135# Dead Lift
Today, the goal was to get a PR and also to increase my PR for the pronated grip as well as mixed grip - using my lifting hooks only when I didn't think I could lift any more otherwise.
So, using pronated grip on both hands (working on the hook grip) I did the following:
225-275-305-330
My previous record before going to mixed grip was 305 - so this was a new record there by 25#. The success didn't stop there, as the new PR here was already a tied PR for my mixed grip.
I only did 1 lift mixed, using my left arm for the supine grip - 365#. When I finished my left and paused at the full up position, I felt that the bar was starting to slip out of my hands - but still a PR by 35#. I then switched to my lifting hooks and continued on.
I went to top my previous PR next, which was 390# and loaded 395# on. This went up quite a bit easier than I expected, considering how slowly 390 had gone up when I set that PR. Since it was so much easier than last time around, I decided to go for a big jump and loaded all weights 25+ that were available -
45# bar + 6 45# plates + 2 35# plates + 2 25# plates.
So (7*45)+(2*35)+2*25)=435#
This was an extremely tough lift. I only got the bar 4 or so inches off the floor before it tried to stop going up. The rest of the trip up was more of a series of stop and start again than a good lift - kind of like a slow chatter to the top. However, letting out a groan, I managed to lock out at the top of the lift.
So my new PR, up 45# from 390 on October 26 is 435#.
I finished off the workout with 225x10 so I could stress my grip a little more and as more or less of a cool down. Then I did a little light KB work - overhead presses, a few swings - 2 & 1 handed, and then just some back and forth swings to stretch the muscles in my back.
I can tell my back will be sore and tired tomorrow. I'm thinking I may go for a max bench, so as to do something that won't cause me to over strain my back and lead to an injury.
Found this site:
http://www.brianmac.co.uk/weight.htm
He has a 1RM calculator at the bottom of the page which I used to look at the standards for my weight (now down to about 180) I used it to calculate the following standards:
Exercise: Novice: Experienced: Advanced:
Military Press: 110 137 163
Bench Press: 163 200 274
Squat: 219 268 366
Dead Lift: 273 314 436
Clean: 157 193 263
I can easily do the Experienced weight on any of these exercises. I can almost get the advanced on all of them as well - Dead Lift, I'm 1# short. Clean I have a little ways to go - 60# or so. Bench press I have 15-20# to make up.
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.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Another brutal workout
So today I did a workout from 11/21 on the main site:
For time:
21 Hand Stand Push-ups (HSPU)
400m run
21 weighted pull-ups - 20# (WPU)
15 HSPU
400m run
15 WPU
9 HSPU
400m run
9 WPU
I warmed up with a nice easy 800m run - 4:52 and did some other easy exercises:
5 pull-ups
15 sit-ups
15 push-ups
15 squats
10 dips
I then moved into the workout. I've only just started doing HSPU - having cleared out a wall in my bedroom to kick my feet onto - I did about 200 over the course of the weekend, so I felt pretty prepped for this, despite that my lats and triceps were still a little bit sore.
So I found a spot in the gym to kick up on the wall (note to self - next time I can do it on the nautilus machine in the middle of the room - less chance of kicking my feet through the wall, and there is nothing above it to obstruct me).
So I started off with 10 HSPUs, rested and then kicked up and did 6 more, another rest and 5 to finish out. I'm inconsistent still getting up on the wall, which I need to workout - at least twice in the first round I had trouble getting all the way vertical kicking up and had to try again - wasting precious energy.
I then jumped on the treadmill and cranked it up to 12MPH for the run - finishing the 400m in 1:22.
I then grabbed my 20# weight with my feet and proceeded into the weighted pull-ups, knocking out 10-6-5-5. I managed to figure out how to kip with the weight, which made things easier. I finished the first round at 6:37. This looked pretty promising, since the remaining rounds should be shorter. I was aiming for 15-20 minutes total.
However, then I got into the second set of HSPUs. These were brutal. I knocked out 8 - then had a bit of trouble getting up onto the wall, I eventually got 1 more out free standing, without ever hitting the wall, but hitting vertical before falling back over, I managed to squeeze one in. I then tried, fruitlessly to kick up at least 6-7 times before finally catching a break. This was brutal, as it killed my arms, legs, and abs - and kept me in a position (arms shoulder width apart in front of me, one knee to my chest and one leg out behind me) that kept me from adequately catching my breath - while simultaneously straining a large collection of muscles.
Once I did get up, I only got 3 more in - but had less trouble getting up the next 2 times to knock out 2 and then 1 last HSPU.
I moved to the treadmill and knew I had to go slower as I was breathing a lot harder than the first round. I ran at 10 MPH and finished in 1:35 - barely finishing that.
I moved back into the pull-ups knocking out 5 at a time for the first 2 rounds, then 4 and 1 - finishing at 17:50. Wow.
I dreaded getting back into the HSPU position and knew I had to do something smart to make it through. It took me again, 2-3 attempts to get on the wall. I tested my stamina at 5 reps, and kept going - knowing my best chance was to knock out all 9 - which I somehow managed to do.
I jumped on the treadmill at 11MPH - but kicked it up to 11.5 and half way through. I finished this in 1:31. It took me 3 more rounds of pull-ups to finish out at 22:41.
This workout was killer. Loved every second of it - and I am sore all over from it. The sprints certainly didn't help the leg pain from the burpees/squats the day before. I guess I'll need to work on getting into position on the HSPU!
Go hard or go home!
For time:
21 Hand Stand Push-ups (HSPU)
400m run
21 weighted pull-ups - 20# (WPU)
15 HSPU
400m run
15 WPU
9 HSPU
400m run
9 WPU
I warmed up with a nice easy 800m run - 4:52 and did some other easy exercises:
5 pull-ups
15 sit-ups
15 push-ups
15 squats
10 dips
I then moved into the workout. I've only just started doing HSPU - having cleared out a wall in my bedroom to kick my feet onto - I did about 200 over the course of the weekend, so I felt pretty prepped for this, despite that my lats and triceps were still a little bit sore.
So I found a spot in the gym to kick up on the wall (note to self - next time I can do it on the nautilus machine in the middle of the room - less chance of kicking my feet through the wall, and there is nothing above it to obstruct me).
So I started off with 10 HSPUs, rested and then kicked up and did 6 more, another rest and 5 to finish out. I'm inconsistent still getting up on the wall, which I need to workout - at least twice in the first round I had trouble getting all the way vertical kicking up and had to try again - wasting precious energy.
I then jumped on the treadmill and cranked it up to 12MPH for the run - finishing the 400m in 1:22.
I then grabbed my 20# weight with my feet and proceeded into the weighted pull-ups, knocking out 10-6-5-5. I managed to figure out how to kip with the weight, which made things easier. I finished the first round at 6:37. This looked pretty promising, since the remaining rounds should be shorter. I was aiming for 15-20 minutes total.
However, then I got into the second set of HSPUs. These were brutal. I knocked out 8 - then had a bit of trouble getting up onto the wall, I eventually got 1 more out free standing, without ever hitting the wall, but hitting vertical before falling back over, I managed to squeeze one in. I then tried, fruitlessly to kick up at least 6-7 times before finally catching a break. This was brutal, as it killed my arms, legs, and abs - and kept me in a position (arms shoulder width apart in front of me, one knee to my chest and one leg out behind me) that kept me from adequately catching my breath - while simultaneously straining a large collection of muscles.
Once I did get up, I only got 3 more in - but had less trouble getting up the next 2 times to knock out 2 and then 1 last HSPU.
I moved to the treadmill and knew I had to go slower as I was breathing a lot harder than the first round. I ran at 10 MPH and finished in 1:35 - barely finishing that.
I moved back into the pull-ups knocking out 5 at a time for the first 2 rounds, then 4 and 1 - finishing at 17:50. Wow.
I dreaded getting back into the HSPU position and knew I had to do something smart to make it through. It took me again, 2-3 attempts to get on the wall. I tested my stamina at 5 reps, and kept going - knowing my best chance was to knock out all 9 - which I somehow managed to do.
I jumped on the treadmill at 11MPH - but kicked it up to 11.5 and half way through. I finished this in 1:31. It took me 3 more rounds of pull-ups to finish out at 22:41.
This workout was killer. Loved every second of it - and I am sore all over from it. The sprints certainly didn't help the leg pain from the burpees/squats the day before. I guess I'll need to work on getting into position on the HSPU!
Go hard or go home!
Monday, November 30, 2009
AMRAP 20 min - 25 Burpees, 15 BW Back Squats
Decided to do the WOD from 11/22 that I hadn't done:
As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:
25 Burpees
15 Back Squats with Bodyweight racked
A burpee, for anyone that doesn't know is basically a modified squat/push-up/jump. The progression goes as follows:
1. Start in the standing position
2. Squat down and place your hands on the ground in front of you, just in front of your feet, shoulder width apart
3. Kick your legs out behind you, dropping into the down position of the push-up
4. Simultaneously push to the up position and bring your feet to the original position explosively
5. From the squat position, launch into a jump as high as you can go (each repetition, this seems to get lower)
That's one repetition. It is an extremely brutal - and effective exercise.
So 25 before going into back squats with your bodyweight is pretty intense - more so than I anticipated.
I made room on my paper pad to record my finish times for up to 6 rounds. I was dreaming.
I warmed up with:
100m Row (3:54.7)
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
15 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
15 sumo deadlift high pulls with a 30# KB
I then stretched for about the next 4 minutes while waiting for an even number to swing by on the clock - and then started my burpees.
I had to break the first set of 25 into 2 sets - 15 and 10. And then I needed to rest a few seconds before un-racking the bar for the body weight squats. This also took 2 sets to complete - 10 and then 5 more. I finished my first set3:55 - wow, if I keep this up, I could complete 4 rounds - I guess 6 is out the window right away!
I then got back into the burpees. I no longer remember how many sets this took - but I'm thinking it was 8, 7, 5, 5. I got back to the bar - this time a little less winded than after the first set of burpees, having broken them up more - but still took 2 sets to finish the squats. 9:40 on the clock. Slowing down - I'll be lucky to hit 4.
The third set was even more brutal. Now that I think about it, the number I mentioned above were for this set - no idea what I did on set 2. Anyway, this time I moved into the back squats and needed 3 sets of 5 to finish them off, glancing at the clock at 14:20.
And then I don't know what hit me. To be honest, I originally recorded 12:20 at the end of round 3 - but after careful review, I realised I must have read the clock wrong, because I know this round was slower than round 2 and 12:20 would be under 3 minutes. So I upped the estimate to 13:20, assuming I read the clock wrong - this would put round 3 at 3:40 - which again didn't sound reasonable - so I modified yet again to 14:20 - 4:40. This still put me ahead of schedule (and pace) to break 4 rounds in 20 minutes - but somehow I was only just finishing the burpees when the time ran out.
Like I said, I have no idea what happened, or where the time went. I do know that my reps on the burpees were 7-6-5-4-3 and that the rest time in between all but the last couple rounds were longer than in previous rounds - but I'm still unsure how it took me nearly 6 minutes to complete 25 burpees. I'm also a little cautious because it looks like I originally recorded 8:40 at the end of round 2 - which would have made 13:20 reasonable for round 3 - which I think would have put me just a little behind 15 minutes finishing round 4 of burpees.
Anyway - as you can see, I was too exhausted to tell if 20 minutes had passed on a clock with hands at a strange angle on the clock. I'm calling the official score 3 rounds + 25 burpees - but I'm not entirely sure I believe it. I'll try again another time to see if I have a drastic improvement - hopefully in the near future.
As Many Rounds as Possible (AMRAP) in 20 minutes of:
25 Burpees
15 Back Squats with Bodyweight racked
A burpee, for anyone that doesn't know is basically a modified squat/push-up/jump. The progression goes as follows:
1. Start in the standing position
2. Squat down and place your hands on the ground in front of you, just in front of your feet, shoulder width apart
3. Kick your legs out behind you, dropping into the down position of the push-up
4. Simultaneously push to the up position and bring your feet to the original position explosively
5. From the squat position, launch into a jump as high as you can go (each repetition, this seems to get lower)
That's one repetition. It is an extremely brutal - and effective exercise.
So 25 before going into back squats with your bodyweight is pretty intense - more so than I anticipated.
I made room on my paper pad to record my finish times for up to 6 rounds. I was dreaming.
I warmed up with:
100m Row (3:54.7)
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
15 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
15 sumo deadlift high pulls with a 30# KB
I then stretched for about the next 4 minutes while waiting for an even number to swing by on the clock - and then started my burpees.
I had to break the first set of 25 into 2 sets - 15 and 10. And then I needed to rest a few seconds before un-racking the bar for the body weight squats. This also took 2 sets to complete - 10 and then 5 more. I finished my first set3:55 - wow, if I keep this up, I could complete 4 rounds - I guess 6 is out the window right away!
I then got back into the burpees. I no longer remember how many sets this took - but I'm thinking it was 8, 7, 5, 5. I got back to the bar - this time a little less winded than after the first set of burpees, having broken them up more - but still took 2 sets to finish the squats. 9:40 on the clock. Slowing down - I'll be lucky to hit 4.
The third set was even more brutal. Now that I think about it, the number I mentioned above were for this set - no idea what I did on set 2. Anyway, this time I moved into the back squats and needed 3 sets of 5 to finish them off, glancing at the clock at 14:20.
And then I don't know what hit me. To be honest, I originally recorded 12:20 at the end of round 3 - but after careful review, I realised I must have read the clock wrong, because I know this round was slower than round 2 and 12:20 would be under 3 minutes. So I upped the estimate to 13:20, assuming I read the clock wrong - this would put round 3 at 3:40 - which again didn't sound reasonable - so I modified yet again to 14:20 - 4:40. This still put me ahead of schedule (and pace) to break 4 rounds in 20 minutes - but somehow I was only just finishing the burpees when the time ran out.
Like I said, I have no idea what happened, or where the time went. I do know that my reps on the burpees were 7-6-5-4-3 and that the rest time in between all but the last couple rounds were longer than in previous rounds - but I'm still unsure how it took me nearly 6 minutes to complete 25 burpees. I'm also a little cautious because it looks like I originally recorded 8:40 at the end of round 2 - which would have made 13:20 reasonable for round 3 - which I think would have put me just a little behind 15 minutes finishing round 4 of burpees.
Anyway - as you can see, I was too exhausted to tell if 20 minutes had passed on a clock with hands at a strange angle on the clock. I'm calling the official score 3 rounds + 25 burpees - but I'm not entirely sure I believe it. I'll try again another time to see if I have a drastic improvement - hopefully in the near future.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Kettle bell day
I only made it to the gym due to some needed coaxing from a co-worked that usually goes down at the same time - originally planning to run, I just didn't have a lot in me. So I decided to do some kettle bell work - which I had brought in to my work gym from home.
Warm-up
1000m row - 3:29.6
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
What I did have in me, the 1000m row took out - for the most part - I was pretty exhausted after (not a great idea for a warm-up, I know - but I wanted to push that one!)
I then completed the following with my 30# Kettle Bell
KB Swing:
2 handed x35
1 handed x20 right arm
1 handed x20 left arm
Clean and Press:
10 L arm
10 R arm
Swing:
Alternating catch and release x30
Windmills:
10 R
10 L
Overhead Carry:
R arm - 86 steps (4x the length of the gym)
L arm - 86 steps
It was a good workout - for my lower back anyway. Still sore from the Angie/Fran back to back on the 20th/21st - the muscles on either side of my elbow - forearm and bicep included. Now that I think about it, doing Angie the day before Fran probably didn't help my time either!
Warm-up
1000m row - 3:29.6
5 pull-ups
20 sit-ups
20 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
What I did have in me, the 1000m row took out - for the most part - I was pretty exhausted after (not a great idea for a warm-up, I know - but I wanted to push that one!)
I then completed the following with my 30# Kettle Bell
KB Swing:
2 handed x35
1 handed x20 right arm
1 handed x20 left arm
Clean and Press:
10 L arm
10 R arm
Swing:
Alternating catch and release x30
Windmills:
10 R
10 L
Overhead Carry:
R arm - 86 steps (4x the length of the gym)
L arm - 86 steps
It was a good workout - for my lower back anyway. Still sore from the Angie/Fran back to back on the 20th/21st - the muscles on either side of my elbow - forearm and bicep included. Now that I think about it, doing Angie the day before Fran probably didn't help my time either!
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Improvised PT
I was at my unit all by myself - and extremely busy with no help. I was completing an inventory turn-in, which included putting the gear into a portable pod. This pod was located at the end of a parking lot in a fenced-in area - about 100-150 yards away from my supply room. I was packing all my stuff into boxes or ruck sacks for the most part - which I ended up loading into my vehicle to transport. But there were a few items that I did not pack into boxes and only stacked in the transport module.
These items would have been wasted stacking in my vehicle, because I would have had to loaded them onto a cart to get them out of my supply cages - load them into the car, and then again unload them and load them into the pod. Instead I decided to handle them less times and pull/push my cart all the way to the cage with these items.
I did this at a high rate of speed - pulling the cart while running backwards - which resulted in a great thigh workout. On the way back, with the cart empty I either pushed the cart in front of me (glutes and hamstrings) or held it beside me in one hand as I ran. The alter resulted in a great abdominal workout as I had to work with them at full contraction while running.
That was basically my workout for the day - but I thought it was pretty good and inspired me with some ideas for relay races and etc. that I can incorporate into my unit PT.
These items would have been wasted stacking in my vehicle, because I would have had to loaded them onto a cart to get them out of my supply cages - load them into the car, and then again unload them and load them into the pod. Instead I decided to handle them less times and pull/push my cart all the way to the cage with these items.
I did this at a high rate of speed - pulling the cart while running backwards - which resulted in a great thigh workout. On the way back, with the cart empty I either pushed the cart in front of me (glutes and hamstrings) or held it beside me in one hand as I ran. The alter resulted in a great abdominal workout as I had to work with them at full contraction while running.
That was basically my workout for the day - but I thought it was pretty good and inspired me with some ideas for relay races and etc. that I can incorporate into my unit PT.
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.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Revenge on Angie
So I got another go at Angie - a few days behind the main site WOD, due to the crick in my neck - but I wanted to take another whack at Angie, so I made the workout up.
I last attempted Angie on September 26th. On that day it took me 27:36 to complete:
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats
In that order, completing each set of 100 before moving to the next exercise - taking as many sets as needed to complete the 100.
Today I used a little strategy and didn't go near failure before finishing the set. This way, I didn't go from 25 reps on the first set of pull-ups to 15 sets of 5 to finish.
So I warmed up as follows, mostly avoiding the exercises I would be performing:
1/2 mile Run: 4:28
5 pull-ups
15 30# KB Swings
10 Dips
5/side 30# KB WindMill
Here are the results, with the total count of completed reps at the end of each set:
Pull-ups - 10,20,30,40,50,60,70,79,80,87,90,95,100 - 07:10
Push-ups - 25, 50, 65, 80, 90, 100 - 11:40
Sit-Ups - 15,25,35,45,55,65,75,85,90,95,100 - 19:50
Squats - 40,60,80,100 - 22:50
I improved my time by 4:46 in a little over a month and a half - but produced a very large and ripped blister on my left hand during the pull-ups.
I last attempted Angie on September 26th. On that day it took me 27:36 to complete:
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats
In that order, completing each set of 100 before moving to the next exercise - taking as many sets as needed to complete the 100.
Today I used a little strategy and didn't go near failure before finishing the set. This way, I didn't go from 25 reps on the first set of pull-ups to 15 sets of 5 to finish.
So I warmed up as follows, mostly avoiding the exercises I would be performing:
1/2 mile Run: 4:28
5 pull-ups
15 30# KB Swings
10 Dips
5/side 30# KB WindMill
Here are the results, with the total count of completed reps at the end of each set:
Pull-ups - 10,20,30,40,50,60,70,79,80,87,90,95,100 - 07:10
Push-ups - 25, 50, 65, 80, 90, 100 - 11:40
Sit-Ups - 15,25,35,45,55,65,75,85,90,95,100 - 19:50
Squats - 40,60,80,100 - 22:50
I improved my time by 4:46 in a little over a month and a half - but produced a very large and ripped blister on my left hand during the pull-ups.
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.
Clean and Push Press
I actually did this one a week ago now, but hadn't posted it. In fact, I have a few make-up days to get on here.
This was done on 11/12 - the main site WOD was 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 clean and jerk. I haven't done the jerk before, and didn't feel comfortable with steel plates/no bumper plate and unsupervised - so I swapped for Clean and Push Press. I stopped doing push press after failure, but continued doing cleans up to 7 sets of 1 rep.
I warmed up with:
1000m row - 3:39
10 overhead squats - 45#
10 pull-ups
115# clean and press x 5
I then moved into the exercise. My previous PR on clean was 175 and 165 on the push press.
I started out nice and light - 135.
I took, including swapping the weights around 2 minutes rest between attempts. I did 155 next pretty easily and moved to 185. This went up, but it was a good struggle - PR by 10# and 20# for clean and push press respectively.
I then moved to 195 - clean was no problem - but when I got to the push press, I didn't quite make a full lockout before I felt a severe discomfort, somewhere between a pop and a pinch in my left shoulder. A week later, this is still causing my neck to be stiff - not exactly sure what happened, but it didn't feel good.
So after that, I opted to just do cleans (yeah, yeah - I maybe should have stopped). I pulled off 205 fairly easily, so I thought - getting nice and low with the full squat. Afterwards, I got a little over-zealous and attempted 220. This didn't make it to the rack position after 2 attempts. The first attempt barely got beyond a dead lift position before I brought it back down - it didn't feel like it was going up, so I stopped and went back down.
I probably should have given my self some rest, but instead, just adjusted my footing and grip and went back in for another go. This time I almost got it all the way through, but just couldn't get under it.
I dropped the weight to 210 and tried again - again maybe a little too quick - and I failed again.
So my PR for clean stands at 205 and my push press at 185. Good improvement!
This was done on 11/12 - the main site WOD was 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 clean and jerk. I haven't done the jerk before, and didn't feel comfortable with steel plates/no bumper plate and unsupervised - so I swapped for Clean and Push Press. I stopped doing push press after failure, but continued doing cleans up to 7 sets of 1 rep.
I warmed up with:
1000m row - 3:39
10 overhead squats - 45#
10 pull-ups
115# clean and press x 5
I then moved into the exercise. My previous PR on clean was 175 and 165 on the push press.
I started out nice and light - 135.
I took, including swapping the weights around 2 minutes rest between attempts. I did 155 next pretty easily and moved to 185. This went up, but it was a good struggle - PR by 10# and 20# for clean and push press respectively.
I then moved to 195 - clean was no problem - but when I got to the push press, I didn't quite make a full lockout before I felt a severe discomfort, somewhere between a pop and a pinch in my left shoulder. A week later, this is still causing my neck to be stiff - not exactly sure what happened, but it didn't feel good.
So after that, I opted to just do cleans (yeah, yeah - I maybe should have stopped). I pulled off 205 fairly easily, so I thought - getting nice and low with the full squat. Afterwards, I got a little over-zealous and attempted 220. This didn't make it to the rack position after 2 attempts. The first attempt barely got beyond a dead lift position before I brought it back down - it didn't feel like it was going up, so I stopped and went back down.
I probably should have given my self some rest, but instead, just adjusted my footing and grip and went back in for another go. This time I almost got it all the way through, but just couldn't get under it.
I dropped the weight to 210 and tried again - again maybe a little too quick - and I failed again.
So my PR for clean stands at 205 and my push press at 185. Good improvement!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
300 Results
Here is my result post for the 300 challenge:
After 3 months of training, at the beginning of which I failed to complete the 300 challenge - flunking out after 24 minutes or so, only half way through the floor wipers. Also, I'll mention that when I first attempted this routine, I used a standard bench for your bench press - thinking this was about 24". However, when I built my 24" jumping box, I realized it was no-where near 24" - perhaps 18-20" at best - so I was doing a lot less jumping than I ended up doing in the finale.
So anyway, here are my results - total reps; exercise; # completed for each set; finish time:
25 Pull-ups - 25 - 00:38
50 Deadlifts (135#) - 30, 20 - 03:20
50 push-ups - 50 - 04:18
50 Box Jumps (24") - 20, 15, 15 - 09:40
50 Floor Wipers (135#) - 20, 15, 15 - 18:00
50 KB Clean and Press (30#) - 50 - 21:35
25 Pull-Ups - 10, 5, 5, 5 - 23:55
So after finishing the floor wipers, which was my longest event (08:20), I took an additional 05:55 to finish the entire challenge. Last time around I quit out less than half-way through the floor wipers. This means that last time around I would have had at LEAST another 6 minutes to add on to my time - bringing my total over half an hour - and I would venture to say I would have added at least another 4-5 minutes on top of that, since that should be about how long the remaining floor wipers took me.
So we are looking at an estimated 10-11 minute improvement - or about a 33% improvement in stamina and strength endurance over a period of only 90 days.
You can also see results just by comparing the number of sets it took to complete each exercise - the original results:
Pull-Ups - 24,25
135# Deadlift - 17,30,40,50
Push-Ups - 50
Box-Jumps - 10,25,40,50
Floor Wipers - 15, 26
Stop.
My 1st pull-up and deadlift sets were cut in half. In fact, if you look at the deaflift, my first two sets got me to 30 reps in my original attempt - which is where I stopped on my first set for the second go.
The box jumps were only a 25% improvement in sets - but then again, the jump was 4-6 inches higher!
The floor wipers, I was only just over half done after 2 sets - dropping from 15 to 11 reps - this time around, I was done after 3 sets - completing no less than 15 reps per set.
I am extremely happy with my results. Granted, I think I will continue to work and perhaps try this again down the road - but getting down to it, this routine was no harder than some of the every day routines I complete with CrossFit.
I'm going to stay the routine. My last APFT was under what I had hoped and expected - especially on the run - so I will work on getting my run and sit-ups up to 100%. Once I have done that, I will do what I need to improve, or at the very least maintain - but I won't focus on them. That means more cardio (or really, anaerobic endurance and running) routines in the near future - probably whenever I don't have all required equipment available to perform the WOD.
After 3 months of training, at the beginning of which I failed to complete the 300 challenge - flunking out after 24 minutes or so, only half way through the floor wipers. Also, I'll mention that when I first attempted this routine, I used a standard bench for your bench press - thinking this was about 24". However, when I built my 24" jumping box, I realized it was no-where near 24" - perhaps 18-20" at best - so I was doing a lot less jumping than I ended up doing in the finale.
So anyway, here are my results - total reps; exercise; # completed for each set; finish time:
25 Pull-ups - 25 - 00:38
50 Deadlifts (135#) - 30, 20 - 03:20
50 push-ups - 50 - 04:18
50 Box Jumps (24") - 20, 15, 15 - 09:40
50 Floor Wipers (135#) - 20, 15, 15 - 18:00
50 KB Clean and Press (30#) - 50 - 21:35
25 Pull-Ups - 10, 5, 5, 5 - 23:55
So after finishing the floor wipers, which was my longest event (08:20), I took an additional 05:55 to finish the entire challenge. Last time around I quit out less than half-way through the floor wipers. This means that last time around I would have had at LEAST another 6 minutes to add on to my time - bringing my total over half an hour - and I would venture to say I would have added at least another 4-5 minutes on top of that, since that should be about how long the remaining floor wipers took me.
So we are looking at an estimated 10-11 minute improvement - or about a 33% improvement in stamina and strength endurance over a period of only 90 days.
You can also see results just by comparing the number of sets it took to complete each exercise - the original results:
Pull-Ups - 24,25
135# Deadlift - 17,30,40,50
Push-Ups - 50
Box-Jumps - 10,25,40,50
Floor Wipers - 15, 26
Stop.
My 1st pull-up and deadlift sets were cut in half. In fact, if you look at the deaflift, my first two sets got me to 30 reps in my original attempt - which is where I stopped on my first set for the second go.
The box jumps were only a 25% improvement in sets - but then again, the jump was 4-6 inches higher!
The floor wipers, I was only just over half done after 2 sets - dropping from 15 to 11 reps - this time around, I was done after 3 sets - completing no less than 15 reps per set.
I am extremely happy with my results. Granted, I think I will continue to work and perhaps try this again down the road - but getting down to it, this routine was no harder than some of the every day routines I complete with CrossFit.
I'm going to stay the routine. My last APFT was under what I had hoped and expected - especially on the run - so I will work on getting my run and sit-ups up to 100%. Once I have done that, I will do what I need to improve, or at the very least maintain - but I won't focus on them. That means more cardio (or really, anaerobic endurance and running) routines in the near future - probably whenever I don't have all required equipment available to perform the WOD.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
My revenge for Cindy
Today I get to do a comparison post! My first Cindy can be found at Day 28 of the 300 Challenge, 8/25/2009.
Today I took my revenge on Cindy after 2 and a half months or so of CrossFit. As expected, I saw an improvement.
First time around, I completed 18 Full Rounds + 5 pull-ups + 8 push-ups in 20 minutes.
This time, I noticed a marked difference in my stamina - I was getting more out of the way more quickly and feeling less tired. I also was having no problem doing all reps for each exercise without any rest.
My results: 20 rounds + 5 pull-ups.
I posted last time that I did Cindy that 1 set per minute was a good goal - and CrossFit has helped me to achieve that goal - so I am happy with that. Next time I expect to do better - perhaps I can eventually reach 25 rounds? I'll probably try Chelsea before then - the same as Cindy, except you never pre-load your sets - do 1 set on the minute, every minute until you can no longer complete the set within the minute - up to 30 minutes. This would allow me to still hit the 20 in 20 that I got today, but keep going and try to keep the same pace for 10 more rounds - which would certainly help with stamina - then I can start working on speed.
Anyway, I found the results for 300 - I'll post those in a few under a new post.
Today I took my revenge on Cindy after 2 and a half months or so of CrossFit. As expected, I saw an improvement.
First time around, I completed 18 Full Rounds + 5 pull-ups + 8 push-ups in 20 minutes.
This time, I noticed a marked difference in my stamina - I was getting more out of the way more quickly and feeling less tired. I also was having no problem doing all reps for each exercise without any rest.
My results: 20 rounds + 5 pull-ups.
I posted last time that I did Cindy that 1 set per minute was a good goal - and CrossFit has helped me to achieve that goal - so I am happy with that. Next time I expect to do better - perhaps I can eventually reach 25 rounds? I'll probably try Chelsea before then - the same as Cindy, except you never pre-load your sets - do 1 set on the minute, every minute until you can no longer complete the set within the minute - up to 30 minutes. This would allow me to still hit the 20 in 20 that I got today, but keep going and try to keep the same pace for 10 more rounds - which would certainly help with stamina - then I can start working on speed.
Anyway, I found the results for 300 - I'll post those in a few under a new post.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Run Day
I have my results from the 300 challenge - I just have to find them so I can post them. In the mean-time, I'll go ahead and post today's workout.
Self Rx'd today - I did 3 intervals on the treadmill at 12, 11 and 10 MPH respectively holding the pace for as long as possible (distance/time).
Results:
12MPH - .5 mile - 2:32
11MPH - .39 mile - 2:14
10MPH - .36 mile - 2:15
Times of course included acceleration. Total: 1.25 mi in 7:01.
Rest time was just until my heart rate dropped down to the same rate it was after my warm-up (approx. 140).
This was a good workout and IMHO seemed to be just about as daunting and effective as a tabata run.
Before this, I warmed-up with:
1/2 mile run - 4:54
10 pull-ups
30 sit-ups
25 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
As I got my results from my recent PT test, I am going to be doing a lot of CFE style runs until I can get my 2 mile run time below 13 minutes - preferably 12:30 or so, so that I'm safe on a bad day. I'll also be ensuring that I continue to include high rep sit-ups in my warm-up. I may even start putting a set of sit ups at the beginning and end of my warm-up, e.g.:
25 SU, 10 Pull-Up, 20 squats, 20 push-ups, 25 SU, 10 Dips
This way I end up with more sit-ups total and don't do any sets that are particularly stressful. Other than that, I'm going to basically keep with the CrossFit WODs. In fact, I'll likely make up Friday's:
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
65 pound Power snatch, 12 reps
10 Push-ups
And today's Cindy
Self Rx'd today - I did 3 intervals on the treadmill at 12, 11 and 10 MPH respectively holding the pace for as long as possible (distance/time).
Results:
12MPH - .5 mile - 2:32
11MPH - .39 mile - 2:14
10MPH - .36 mile - 2:15
Times of course included acceleration. Total: 1.25 mi in 7:01.
Rest time was just until my heart rate dropped down to the same rate it was after my warm-up (approx. 140).
This was a good workout and IMHO seemed to be just about as daunting and effective as a tabata run.
Before this, I warmed-up with:
1/2 mile run - 4:54
10 pull-ups
30 sit-ups
25 push-ups
20 squats
10 dips
As I got my results from my recent PT test, I am going to be doing a lot of CFE style runs until I can get my 2 mile run time below 13 minutes - preferably 12:30 or so, so that I'm safe on a bad day. I'll also be ensuring that I continue to include high rep sit-ups in my warm-up. I may even start putting a set of sit ups at the beginning and end of my warm-up, e.g.:
25 SU, 10 Pull-Up, 20 squats, 20 push-ups, 25 SU, 10 Dips
This way I end up with more sit-ups total and don't do any sets that are particularly stressful. Other than that, I'm going to basically keep with the CrossFit WODs. In fact, I'll likely make up Friday's:
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
65 pound Power snatch, 12 reps
10 Push-ups
And today's Cindy
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Day 92 - Last Chance Workout
Today is my last workout before the 300 challenge attempt 2. I'll do this on Friday, 10/30.
So what did I pick to get the most possible conditioning out of it? Tabata back squats!
This was a tough workout - and I will certainly do front squats in the future, which will allow me to unload the bar in between sets. Instead I kept the bar on my shoulders for the entire duration - which was killer. Actually, not the entire time - and it wasn't a true tabata. This is because after set 4, I didn't think I'd be able to stand up many more times with the weight I was working with - so I had to drop the weight down.
Foolishly, without doing much research on this first, I loaded 185 on the bar at the start and tried this in a back squat position, which as I said, meant that I didn't have enough time to dump the bar to the rack during my rest interval - so that made the workout all the more gruelling.
I completed the reps with 185# as follows:
12-10-7-6
I then dumped the bar - it took me about 1:10 to get the weight switched and the bar back to my shoulders - just had to dump the 25# weights - then I was back in it on 135#:
12-9-8-6
I think 135# would have been a good weight to do all the way through without the 1 minute pause - though if I was doing front squats, I may want to drop that as low as 115 or 95 - probably 115, since I would be able to dump the bar. Anyway - GREAT burn.
I ended up finishing off with AMRAP pull-ups in 1 minute - got 25 out kipping, which I'm starting to get okay at. This will help on Friday.
So what did I pick to get the most possible conditioning out of it? Tabata back squats!
This was a tough workout - and I will certainly do front squats in the future, which will allow me to unload the bar in between sets. Instead I kept the bar on my shoulders for the entire duration - which was killer. Actually, not the entire time - and it wasn't a true tabata. This is because after set 4, I didn't think I'd be able to stand up many more times with the weight I was working with - so I had to drop the weight down.
Foolishly, without doing much research on this first, I loaded 185 on the bar at the start and tried this in a back squat position, which as I said, meant that I didn't have enough time to dump the bar to the rack during my rest interval - so that made the workout all the more gruelling.
I completed the reps with 185# as follows:
12-10-7-6
I then dumped the bar - it took me about 1:10 to get the weight switched and the bar back to my shoulders - just had to dump the 25# weights - then I was back in it on 135#:
12-9-8-6
I think 135# would have been a good weight to do all the way through without the 1 minute pause - though if I was doing front squats, I may want to drop that as low as 115 or 95 - probably 115, since I would be able to dump the bar. Anyway - GREAT burn.
I ended up finishing off with AMRAP pull-ups in 1 minute - got 25 out kipping, which I'm starting to get okay at. This will help on Friday.
Monday, October 26, 2009
300 - Day 91 - Dead Lift
I wanted to make up the 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 Dead Lift posted on the main site on Saturday, so I did that today as the main site had a rest day anyway.
So I warmed up as usual and then stacked the weights. I decided to start out with 225, because I don't have bumper plates available, so its hard to get extra 45s on without racking the bar, which interrupts the workout. With 225, I can stack well over my previous PR using just the 35s, 25s, 10s, 5s and 2.5s. I actually got some lifting hooks for after my grip gives out on the bar. I lift as much as I can with a raw grip and then rather than switching to an alternating/mixed grip, I switch to the hooks - though I may go higher with mixed grips as well in the future, though usually I will workout with less than what I can lift with a regular grip.
That said, here was my progression -
225
275
315 (previous PR with regular grip)
335 - had to use hooks, failed without
345 - previous PR
365
375
390!!
The previous PR was with alternating/mixed grip and this time around it was hook from 335 up. Next time I go for heavy dead-lifts, I'll use a mixed grip at least to 345 - and I'll do at least 2 reps with mixed grip, one with left supine and right prone and one vice versa.
The 390 was HEAVY. This came up SLOW. But I was really happy to hit it. Next time around I plan to hit 400 - but I'll need to do a lot of lower weight work first! I can't wait until my next Linda, when I can do it as Rx'd (290)!
So I warmed up as usual and then stacked the weights. I decided to start out with 225, because I don't have bumper plates available, so its hard to get extra 45s on without racking the bar, which interrupts the workout. With 225, I can stack well over my previous PR using just the 35s, 25s, 10s, 5s and 2.5s. I actually got some lifting hooks for after my grip gives out on the bar. I lift as much as I can with a raw grip and then rather than switching to an alternating/mixed grip, I switch to the hooks - though I may go higher with mixed grips as well in the future, though usually I will workout with less than what I can lift with a regular grip.
That said, here was my progression -
225
275
315 (previous PR with regular grip)
335 - had to use hooks, failed without
345 - previous PR
365
375
390!!
The previous PR was with alternating/mixed grip and this time around it was hook from 335 up. Next time I go for heavy dead-lifts, I'll use a mixed grip at least to 345 - and I'll do at least 2 reps with mixed grip, one with left supine and right prone and one vice versa.
The 390 was HEAVY. This came up SLOW. But I was really happy to hit it. Next time around I plan to hit 400 - but I'll need to do a lot of lower weight work first! I can't wait until my next Linda, when I can do it as Rx'd (290)!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
300 - Day 90 - APFT Test
Unfortunately yesterday's PT test was moved to today - so taking both Thursday and Friday off was kind of unnecessary - despite that I'm sure it helped the tight neck muscle. I ended up doing a little bit of light skill work last night, having not done any exercising in 3 days, I really just couldn't help it with a gym readily available - I was sleeping at the reserve center with a gym all to myself. I practised the snatch and cleans.
Anyway, I had my PT test today - back in April before starting CrossFit, I did 90 push-ups, 67 sit-ups and ran my 2 mile run in 14:06. I managed this score by basically focusing on these three movements (push-up, sit-up, run) for about 2-3 months prior to the PT test - greatly improving over my last score, especially in the push-up. Before this PT test, I was running 6 miles at least once a week, and shorter runs 2-3 times a week. I was doing lots of sets of max push-ups and max sit-ups and supplementing this with an average gym workout.
Today, without having emphasised any of these (I don't think I usually run once a week these days...) in the same 1:10 as I did before (I have 2 minutes, but don't use it) I completed 95 push-ups, which certainly could have been more - but I felt my abs getting tired and had the sit-ups to go. I improved my sit-ups to 74 repetitions in 2 minutes - and this felt a lot easier than my previous 67 which I struggled for - and my run actually slowed a little bit to 14:28. I partly attribute the run to not having anyone push me for most of the time. My last run, I was chasing two guys starting at about the 1/4 mile mark - this time I was out in front for almost the entire run - one of the guys that was out ahead of me last time around slowed his time and didn't catch me until the 1 and 1/4 mile mark - he had a much better second half than I did, keeping his splits within seconds of each other.
Anyway, it was an improvement overall, so I can't complain about the run. I will continue to work the CFE WOD into my routine to improve this - and in fact, I'll try to take another PT test in two weeks when I have drill again to see if supplementing the WOD with focus runs and sit-ups will help to get that 300 that I am now so close to obtaining.
Anyway, I had my PT test today - back in April before starting CrossFit, I did 90 push-ups, 67 sit-ups and ran my 2 mile run in 14:06. I managed this score by basically focusing on these three movements (push-up, sit-up, run) for about 2-3 months prior to the PT test - greatly improving over my last score, especially in the push-up. Before this PT test, I was running 6 miles at least once a week, and shorter runs 2-3 times a week. I was doing lots of sets of max push-ups and max sit-ups and supplementing this with an average gym workout.
Today, without having emphasised any of these (I don't think I usually run once a week these days...) in the same 1:10 as I did before (I have 2 minutes, but don't use it) I completed 95 push-ups, which certainly could have been more - but I felt my abs getting tired and had the sit-ups to go. I improved my sit-ups to 74 repetitions in 2 minutes - and this felt a lot easier than my previous 67 which I struggled for - and my run actually slowed a little bit to 14:28. I partly attribute the run to not having anyone push me for most of the time. My last run, I was chasing two guys starting at about the 1/4 mile mark - this time I was out in front for almost the entire run - one of the guys that was out ahead of me last time around slowed his time and didn't catch me until the 1 and 1/4 mile mark - he had a much better second half than I did, keeping his splits within seconds of each other.
Anyway, it was an improvement overall, so I can't complain about the run. I will continue to work the CFE WOD into my routine to improve this - and in fact, I'll try to take another PT test in two weeks when I have drill again to see if supplementing the WOD with focus runs and sit-ups will help to get that 300 that I am now so close to obtaining.
Monday, October 19, 2009
300 - Day 84 - Weighted pull-ups
Finally felt good enough to get back to the action today. A good day for it too - WOD is weighted pull-ups - 1-1-1-1-1-1-1
So I weighed myself in at 183.6# with my shoes and clothes - making note of this so that I can reference it for the same workout in the future. I then warmed up as follows:
1/2 mi run on 2% incline: 4:41
20 push-ups
40 sit-ups
15 dips
20 squats
2x5 pull-ups with body weight (strict dead-hang w/ full ROM)
I then strapped 2 10# ankle weights to my ankles - which I was really hoping I would need - and then grabbed my 30# kettlebell for rep 1.
Rep 1 was 50#.
This was fairly easy, so I got a 45# dumbbell, keeping the ankle-weights on and knocked that out. Again, fairly easy. My 7 reps ended up going like this:
50#
65#
75# (PR)
80#
90#
100# (f) - missed by 3-4 inches
100# - went neutral grip.
All strict, no kip, w/ full ROM:
I hung on for a good 5 seconds trying to muscle the failed rep out - but you know once you stop moving half-way up, you have no chance. Unfortunately, I strained a muscle in my neck trying to get that - as I spent those 5 seconds or so giving it everything I had from the muscle region - and my shoulders were still sore from the Hang Squat Cleans. Hopefully this feels better for tomorrows workout - but if not, then I'll have to rest again - I have a PT test coming up this coming weekend and only a few more days after that before I have my 300 test - so I don't want to exacerbate anything before either of those.
Anyway, hanging on to dumbbells with your feet is easier than expected - I only had up to 80# which ended up being my limit combined with the ankle weights - good thing I had those available - not sure what I'll do when I start being able to do more than 100... I actually think the ankle weights made it more awkward - though, they provided padding.
Cooled down with
5x20# weighted pull-ups
5 BW pull-ups
62 sit-ups - 1x max reps without rest - that 100% on sit-ups is in my reach.
500m row @ 2:03
So I weighed myself in at 183.6# with my shoes and clothes - making note of this so that I can reference it for the same workout in the future. I then warmed up as follows:
1/2 mi run on 2% incline: 4:41
20 push-ups
40 sit-ups
15 dips
20 squats
2x5 pull-ups with body weight (strict dead-hang w/ full ROM)
I then strapped 2 10# ankle weights to my ankles - which I was really hoping I would need - and then grabbed my 30# kettlebell for rep 1.
Rep 1 was 50#.
This was fairly easy, so I got a 45# dumbbell, keeping the ankle-weights on and knocked that out. Again, fairly easy. My 7 reps ended up going like this:
50#
65#
75# (PR)
80#
90#
100# (f) - missed by 3-4 inches
100# - went neutral grip.
All strict, no kip, w/ full ROM:
I hung on for a good 5 seconds trying to muscle the failed rep out - but you know once you stop moving half-way up, you have no chance. Unfortunately, I strained a muscle in my neck trying to get that - as I spent those 5 seconds or so giving it everything I had from the muscle region - and my shoulders were still sore from the Hang Squat Cleans. Hopefully this feels better for tomorrows workout - but if not, then I'll have to rest again - I have a PT test coming up this coming weekend and only a few more days after that before I have my 300 test - so I don't want to exacerbate anything before either of those.
Anyway, hanging on to dumbbells with your feet is easier than expected - I only had up to 80# which ended up being my limit combined with the ankle weights - good thing I had those available - not sure what I'll do when I start being able to do more than 100... I actually think the ankle weights made it more awkward - though, they provided padding.
Cooled down with
5x20# weighted pull-ups
5 BW pull-ups
62 sit-ups - 1x max reps without rest - that 100% on sit-ups is in my reach.
500m row @ 2:03
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