Deadlift / DHPLUs / KB Snatch

Made it to a 6a.m. workout.  On my day off, no less.  I wouldn't want to hold myself out as some sort of inspirational figure, but if you were to see me that way, I'd understand. 

A. Work up to a one-rep max deadlift

So I figured I'd do something relatively heavy, but not near my max before trying for something big. 

So I worked up to 255.  Then I put another 60lbs on the bar. (took off the 15s and put on 45s) 

In my head, it was only 305, so it was kind of discouraging when I failed it. 

I decided to try it again, then I got it up in a lift so ugly you wouldn't kiss it if it roofied you.

Later, I realized that it was 315.  For a little while, I was stoked because I thought that was a new PR. 

Nope.

Turns out, I lifted that much back in 2009.   Geez.

I was spent from getting that up -- lightheaded and my shitty leg was threatening horrible consequences -- so I didn't attempt to go five pounds heavier.   But maybe someday soon.

B.  Max Deadhang Pull-ups

I think the 500m row I did in warm-up and the deadlift was a good way to prepare.  I did 16, which is the most I've ever done.  I don't know if I've done it before, but I'm pretty sure I've never broken it.  The most I ever remember doing is 15, so I'm calling it a PR. 


C. Five minutes of KB snatch

I can't say my heart was in this one.  I sort of hate these. 

61.  The Janimal got 82. 

OPT Chipper

“OPT Chipper”

For time:
30 Wall Ball – 20/14lb to 10 feet
80 Double-Unders
20 Bell Swings – 70/55lb
30 Toes to Bar
50 Walking Lunges
50 Pull-ups
20 Burpees

I made it to my first 6am WOD in a long, long time.

It was a great way to start a day off, and I'm not even being sarcastic.  It was nice to see the Janimal and Boy Dana, and be coached by my big German CrossFit life partner Harlan. 

I went pretty hard on this one, but not balls-out, keeping in mind the fact that I have to do 13.2 tomorrow. 

The last recorded instance of me doing this workout doesn't even have a time attached, just the words "This ruined me."   That may be because I forgot to put the time or did it in chunks, not for time. 

The T2B and the pull-ups were the big time-sucks on this.  I didn't rip my sissy hands, though. 

I finished it in 15:26, which is nearly identical to a time when I did it two years ago. 

And it didn't ruin me. 

Open Workout 12.2 - SNATCHTASTIC!

Spotted on Twitter
"Orthopedic surgeons coast to coast all have the weirdest boner right now & don't know why."
- @WildGorillaMan


Overheard at the Gym
"You've seen my snatch."


Open Workout 12.2
Proceed through the sequence below completing as many reps as possible in 10 minutes of:

30 Snatch (M 75 / F 45 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 135 / F 75 lbs)
30 Snatch (M 165 / F 100 lbs)
Max Rep Snatch (M 210 / F 120 lbs)

This workout begins from the standing position. The athlete will complete all reps at the first weight before advancing to the next weight. Score is total reps completed in 10min. Athletes use one bar, must change plates as the clock is ticking.

Since I'm a non-committal wuss and didn't sign up for the Open, I didn't do 12.1, but CrossFit Regina made 12.2 today's WOD, so I got a chance to do it this morning.

I'm not particularly strong when it comes to power snatch and 135lb is on the heavy side. I've done "Isabel" (30x135lb power snatches for time), but it took me 8:16 (and that's before doing 30 snatches at 75. So, I figured I'd probably have a tough time getting past the second round. Plus, I've never snatched more than 160, so even if I did reach the third round, I likely wouldn't get one rep.

There were only three people at the morning WOD this morning. Kent and the Janimal did the first heat, with Coach Harlan and me counting reps. Then I went solo.

The first 30 with 75lbs took me less than two minutes, but then I was winded while trying to take off the 15lb plates and put on 45s. That was hard. Actually, catching my breath during this whole WOD was harder than you'd think, considering I was only doing maybe 4-6 snatches per minute during the second round.

The 135lb snatches were tough from the get-go. I tried to concentrate on keeping my chest up and dropping under the bar as best I could, but I still had to press out the weight on most reps.

I was also trying to keep my form decent as a way of self-preservation. As GorillaMan's quote indicates, this WOD would be a good way to fuck up your back if you're not careful. In that respect, it's a benefit that I: a) am not in the competition and b) did this at 6am. I didn't go crazy and sacrifice form in trying to achieve a particular score or beat someone.

On the bright side, I'm pretty sure my pace was a bit better than the last time I did "Isabel". I also had far fewer failed attempts (only two this morning, if I'm remembering right).

Total reps: 57 (30x75lb, 27x135lb)

Back Squats

I woke up at 5:42 this morning and made a spur of the moment decision to go to CrossFit. I was very glad I did. Not only was my big German CrossFit life-partner Harlan coaching, the WOD was back squats (5x5)

I haven't done heavy back squats since hurting my back warming up for strength work a while ago. I also failed to do much in the way of high-rep, low-weight squats to rehab, because I am a moron.

So today, I decided it was time to get back on the squatty horse, but to do so with caution.

So my sets of five looked like this:

135-205-225-245-255.

My max is 270, but 255 was plenty heavy and I thought I would quit while I was ahead.

Overheard at the Gym:
Janimal: "Hi Dan. I'm Jan. I rhyme with you."

Overhead Squats and Box Jumps

OHS 5x5

115-135-145-155(f)-155

On the failed set, I spent too much time with the bar over my head and my right arm decided it was done for the moment. I coaxed it back to work for the fifth set. I feel like I probably could do a bit more. My one rep max late last year was 165, and since I did the strength work, I find that the weights on a lot of my five-rep maxes are my pre-Strength work old one-rep maxes. But since I stopped doing strength work, I may have regressed a bit. Still fat, though!

24" box jumps for one minute x 3, resting four minutes between.

27-28-29. Just trying to keep up with the Janimal.

In the second and third sets, I had a smoother rhythm going for the first 15 or so. Then fatigue would kick in.

"Letters to the Editor"

Not sure why it's called that. I was finally able to make a 6am workout, though I was a few minutes late. I did this the day after everyone else, because the WOD today was back squats and power cleans and jerks, which I did yesterday (minus the jerks) as part of the Strength workout.

Chipper for time:

50 sit-ups
50 medicine ball cleans (harder than I thought)
25 deadhang pull-ups (yuck)
25 kipping pull-ups
50 medicine ball cleans
50 sit-ups

The cleans came quicker on the second round, I think, mostly because I was trying to match the Janimal's time from yesterday.

Time was 16:39.

.

Deadlifts x 5, then more Deadlifts and Box Jumps

First part: Deadlifts 5-5-5-5-5

Deadlifting guru Harlan says your five-rep max is supposed to be 72 per cent of your one-rep max. For me and my piddly little 315 max DL, that would be around 225.

Today, I also experimented with an alternate grip on the bar, and I think it helped.

185-205-225-245-255.

Then it was a metcon, for time:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of

Deadlifts (using 60 per cent of your five-rep max)
Box jumps

I did this with 155lbs and the 24-inch box, because we don't have enough 20-inchers.

I was neck-and-neck with the Janimal the whole time. That girl is relentless and just keeps coming like the Terminator.

I'm sure I sacrificed some form in the later rounds, which is why I'm not a huge fan of DL for time. I realize that you should worry about form first and time second, but that's hard for me to do in the heat of the workout.

Time was 6:08

"Friday With No Two Pizzas" and Vaseline on my ass

The name of the WOD comes from a quote from an episode of "Friends," which is Robin's favourite show. You can see the full quote on the second comment here.

For time, four rounds of:
400m run
50 sit-ups
50 sumo deadlift high pulls (45lbs)

That's a lot of sit-ups. And the problem with me and sit-ups is that once I do a certain amount, I get a blister on my inside right buttock, just outside the crack, at the point where the tailbone makes contact with the floor, causing friction. The technical CrossFit term for this is "Monkey Butt."

200 sit-ups would normally mean a few days of really uncomfortable sitting, along with occasional urges to throw my feces at people who anger me.

However, for the first time, I used a trick that Simon passed on a while back. He said the trick was to reduce the friction between your ass and the floor using Vaseline or something like that. It worked pretty well, I gotta say. No Monkey Butt.

As for the workout, it was tough. After the first round, I knew it was going to suck bad, as my running, sit-ups, and SDHPs all slowed down considerably. I had the Janimal on my tail the whole time.

25:56. We didn't have time to do the "Three Minute Fran" that was also on the books. Oh well.

"Gates of Fire 2"

UPDATE - I had mistakenly thought the name of this WOD was "Gates of Hell 2"

Apparently, they do a lot of weighted squats in Hell. After yesterday's Heavy Fran thrusters, this one was a little tough.

50 sit-ups
50 push-ups
25 front squats
25 back squats
25 overhead squats
25 front squats
50 pull-ups
50 sit-ups

Rx'd weight for the squats is 65lb.

I was doing fine on the sit-ups until the last 10. The push-ups started to suck really early, like after 20 of them.

On all of the squat variations, the most I ever did consecutively was 12, and there were sets of 3 and 4, too.

My sissy hands were a bit raw from yesterday's pull-ups, so after a couple of sets of 10, it was 5s, 4s, and - by the end - 1s.

The last 50 sit-ups sucked HARD. After 10, I was starting to question whether I could do it. I turned to face the clock to give me a bit of motivation. I was hoping to beat 16:30, but I had like 9 left at 16:35. I managed to squeak in under the 17:00 mark, though.

16:57


We were supposed to wait five minutes after the last person was finished, then do a 400m sprint. I got a bit more of a rest than others, but my thighs were still threatening a mutiny when we lined up. Right off the start, Janimal kept a pretty good pace in front of me. That girl is in shape. I found a little bit of energy on the final 200, and managed to push myself pretty hard in the last 100m.

1:24

After this, I wondered what Gates of Hell 1 is like. I found a video on YouTube. If this is true, it looks truly awful. It would also be impossible for me, because I can't deadlift 315 once, let alone three times every other minute. And don't get me started on rope climbs.

Diane

For time:
21-15-9 reps of
Deadlift 225lb/155lb
Handstand Push-ups.

I didn't do this one rx'd, but neither did anyone else in the 6am class. I deadlifted 185lbs and did kipping handstand pushups.

10:47. Couldn't catch the Janimal, who finished five seconds quicker.

I shouldn't have gone on YouTube, because I found a video of a guy doing this workout in under two minutes.


Fuck.

This week's gym challenge is doing levers on the pull-up bar. I tried doing that after the workout, but my shoulders remembered the 180+ pull-ups I did on Saturday and were all like "Fuck you, pal."