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.

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

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.

300 - Day 86 - Tabata Treadmill pt II.

I didn't do yesterday's workout - which was Tabata Something Else - 8x20:10 for max reps of pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and squats. I didn't do this for two reasons - one being that if I can gather the needed time, I will be putting my Army Reserve unit through this very workout this weekend. It'll be easier to do this if I don't have to try to keep my own time - and I get to torture my troops with a good workout, which is an added bonus.

The second reason being that my neck was still rather tight. I even ended up taking asprin - which is not normal for me - to loosen the muscles up to help heal faster.

So I skipped yesterday and made up for it today with my return to the Tabata Treadmill workout. I had already been planning to do this today - and then as luck had it, the CFE site had the same workout I had been planning. The minor variation was that instead of 20:10 intervals, it specified 30:20 intervals at a 12% incline. This sounded good to me - so that's what I did.

I learned my lesson last time, stating at a 6:30 pace - so this time I put the speed at 8mph, or a 7:30 pace. This ended up being almost tolerable for the entire distance. I ended up needing to drop the incline to 10% for the last two rounds - but otherwise, it was a much better experience than last time. I grabbed the handles at the end of the last interval and it measured my heart rate at 189 - wow.

I'll use this same pace next time around until I can complete all rounds as Rx'd - and then I'll think about increasing the speed.

300 - Day 72

I did two workouts today - the CF main site WOD and the CFE WOD.

I came in early after seeing the two short workouts posted last night so I could do the CF workout this morning and to the CFE during lunch.

I warmed up with:
500m Row (2:28)
30 anchored sit-ups (explosive and fast!)
30 push-ups
15 squats
5 pull-ups
5 dips

I then moved into the WOD - Thrusters 1-1-1-1-1-1-1

I started out nice and easy at 95# and moved up liberally:
95-125-145-155-160(f)-160-170-185-195(f)

I did an extra rep at the end because the 160 was an accident. I had 45# and 10# plates loaded for the 155 and went to switch into 170 by adding a 5# and a 2.5# to each side.

Well, on the left side I accidentally unloaded the 10# plate first - so the weight was a little unven, causing me to fail the first time. I noticed that it felt off - but didn't heed my judgement. I just tried again with success. Once I put the bar back on the rack, I realized what was wrong!

The 170 felt good, but I didn't want to jump directly to 200, which is what I was aiming for today - so I decided to add the extra rep and knock out a 185 interim rep - which is probably a good thing, as I ended up decided between trying 190 or 195 (went for the 195 and failed) - but that gives me a lower failure to try to acheive for next time.

The CFE workout was a tabata treadmill run. This was my first tabata, which consists of 8 rounds of 20:10 (20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest). To do this run, you take your best 5K pace and add 30 seconds to the pace, run at that speed with the treadmill set at a 12% incline.

Being a fool and underestimating the workout, I used my best high school 5K time of 18:00 and set the treadmill for a 6:30 pace. I knew after 2 reps it was a mistake. After the 3rd rep, I had to slow it down. Again after the 4th, and 5th (resting 20 seconds after #5!) and finally stopping after the 6th rep when my pace was down to about 7:20. This was a seriously intense workout. I'll try this again in the future with a more conservative pace - probably more along the line of my current 5K pace, which is probably around 7-7:30/mile. I think I'll try a 7:30 pace.

Before this workout I warmed up with:
1/2 mile run (5:04)
5 pull-ups
30 sit-ups (again explosive)
20 push-ups
20 squats
5 dips
20 KB swings (30#)