VolkeFit: A Double Shot of Steve

My wife said she was too tired to go to Steve's again, so asked me to take her spot.  She ended up staying home and dealing with our children, so I'm not sure it actually worked out for her.   Worked out great for me, though.


A. Every 2 Minutes for 30 minutes

Using 135lb barbell, every 2 minutes:
3 deadlift
3 power cleans
3 push press

The complex took between 23 and 30 seconds most of the way, so it allowed me to rest for the rest of each 2-minute round.



B. Don't Stop Skipping


300 DU
Everytime you stop, do 3 burpees and 1 handstand push-up.

Not for time, so I made sure to catch my breath in between rounds.

Here's how this went:

98 DUs (PR!)
3+1
55 DUs
3+1
6 DUs (DAMMIT)
3+1
60 DUs
3+1
81 DUs.

Close, but no PR: "Power Elizabeth" / 500m row for time

A. “Power Elizabeth”
21-15-9 reps for time of
Power cleans – 135/95lb
Ring Dips
20 minute time limit

I did this in 7:26 which I THOUGHT was 18 seconds better than my best recorded time. But I just checked and the best time I've done this in is 7:22, not 7:44.   So I was actually four seconds slower than my PR. 

Fuck.  Normally I wouldn't be that bothered by it, but today it annoys me, because I went into the WOD trying to beat the 7:44 and let up during the final set of dips of the WOD when I knew I would. I'm sure I could have found five seconds or even a bit more.


B. KB snatch practice, various weights up to 55/35lb

I still hate these.



C. 500m Row for time

1:37.9  

This is darn close to a PR.   I thought my PR was 1:36, point something, but I can't find any evidence that I've done this faster than 1:37.7.

So, again I'm a little disappointed in myself that I didn't push (or in this case, pull) just a little bit harder. 

I tried a new technique of not bringing the handle as far forward as I could.  It seemed to make a difference.  I was on pace for a 1:35/500m time for a good chunk of this sprint.    

Shoulder Press / Back Squats / Sled Drags that didn't suck

A. Max Shoulder Press (one-rep)

115-135-145(PR)-150 (PR)-155(F)

The 150 was a bit of a fight, but I got it up.  I could barely move the 155, though.  Funny how that works.



B. Max Back Squat (one-rep)

I'm still wary of my back, so when I was thinking about squats earlier in the day I thought I might stop at about 250 or so. 

I can't remember my exact progression, but I ended up at:

245-275-305

275 felt pretty good, so I was fairly confident with the 305, which is five pounds shy of my max.  I did ask for spotters, though. 



C. Partner sled drags 80m repeats


The deal here is that partners go back and forth on 40m sprints, dragging a 115m sled for ten minutes. 

I liked this a lot, actually.  I was able to go pretty hard for each of the 8 sprints I did, knowing that it would be over soon and I could stop.  My partner Jamieson apologized for not going faster, but I was happy to have a bit more of a breather. 

Press / Deadlift / Kodiak

A.  Shoulder Press - 3-3-3

95-115-120 


B. Deadlift 1x5

Warmed up with 95, 185 and 225. 

Then I lifted 300 for five reps, a PR of five pounds.

This breaks a PR I set earlier this month. 

One of these days, I have got to work toward a one-rep max.  I haven't done that for three years. 


C. "Kodiak"

With increasing the weight, do seven rounds of
3 snatch (touch and go)
6 overhead squat
9 back squat. 

You can't put the bar down in the middle of a round. 

The part I hated the least was the transition from OHS to back squat.  It did not feel great on the arm that's hurting.  I ended up going  into a squat as the weight came down across my shoulders

It was getting late, so I only did six rounds.

75-85-95-105-125  Another five-pound PR, although my previous best on Kodiak dates back to 2009.  

Note to future self reading this:  Tape your wrists when you do this. 

(Hang) Squat Clean and Jerk / "Dec Dot Com"

A. Hang Squat Clean +1 Jerk 3-3-3
155-170(PR)-175(PR)

The last time I did this, I went up to 165. 


B. Clean & Jerk 1-1-1

175-195-205(PR)

This is a record for a squat clean and jerk for me.  My PR for the power clean and jerk is 210.  My confidence in the squat cleans has grown. 


C. “Dec Dot Com”
3 rounds for time:
250m Row
14 DB Push Press (7 each arm, 55lb)
14 Ring Rows

5:59

Back Squats and Rowing Sprints

A. Back Squats 1-1-1
 
The lift of the day was actually snatches.  I'm trying to rest my right arm, which seems to be helping sweet fuck all; I'm running out of options that don't involve me seeing a doctor, a physiotherapist or a teary-eyed farmer with a shotgun who wants to "do right by ol' Tyler."

Anyway, I did squats instead.  In between, I goofed around a lot.


285-295-310 (PR)



B. Rowing Sprints

500m x 5.  Rest two-four minutes between.  Or more.  This shit is hard, yo.


1:40, 1:41, 1:42, 1:49, 1:52


By the last one, I was just coasting.  I didn't set any PRs on this one, but it may have been my fastest-ever average over five sprints, because I didn't have the massive drop-off until later.  I'm not going to do the math to figure out.  Fuck math.

Max Clean and Jerk / Angie to the Max

A. Max Clean & Jerk 3-2-1-1-1

 

135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 205x1, 210x1(PR)

 

 

B. “Angie to the Max”

 

2 rounds of 2 minutes AMRAP each of:

• Pullups
• Pushups (not exactly modified, but, as Leya pointed out, they were substandard and shitty ... though I don't really blame her*)
• Situps 
• Squats

I really need to pay better attention.  I thought this was two minutes of Tabata for each of these exercises and didn't realize that it wasn't until I looked up at the clock. 

Then when I fiinished the squats on the first round, I thought I was done.  I sat down and started adding up my results, glad it was over.  Then I realized everyone else was back doing pull-ups. 

Knowing I had to do another eight minutes of this was a very unpleasant wake-up call.

 

Total reps, if I did the math right, was 363. 

Overheard at the Gym:

"My God, Leya, your shins! You should wear socks.  Not to protect your shins.  To protect me from having to see your shins."
-Me.

.

Fran

21-15-9

Thrusters (95lb)
Pull-ups

It had been almost exactly two years since I had last done the standard Fran workout.  (Note: I re-read my blog post from back then and holy shit do I take myself way too seriously sometimes.) 

I was still pretty sore from the WOD on Wednesday so my expectations were not great that this would be the day I would finally break 5:00 on Fran.  I tried doing a few thrusters when warming up and they got heavy after, like, three reps so that didn't exactly boost my confidence, either.

I'm writing this three days later, so don't remember a ton of what happened once the actual WOD started but here are some highlights from my fuzzy recollection:

• 21 thrusters - I did 11 straight, rested with the bar on my chest, did another four, rested again, did one more and then had to drop the bar.  Obviously, it wasn't as efficient as it could have been.
• 21 pull-ups - I think I did 12 uninterupted, then five and four. 
• Finished the first round in about 1:40ish

• 15 thrusters - Sets of eight and seven.  I know in the past I had to split these into sets of five, but I think that was because I had burned myself out in the first round by doing both sets uninterrupted.
• 15 pull-ups - Rapid singles, briefly touching my feet to the ground, but not letting go of the bar for a bunch of them at the start.  I must have stepped away from the bar at some point, and probably more than once, to give my hands a rest. 
• Finished the second round at about 3:30ish.

• 9 thrusters - sets of five and four, I think.  I can't remember.
• 9 pull-ups - As I got near the end, I remember thinking: "Okay, don't fall off the bar this time, dumbass. Especially since you're doing this on the 8-foot bar over a box."

"TIME!"


4:50.  PR 

Even though my first sub-5 Fran time comes about three years too late, I'm still happy about it.  It had been a longtime goal.

Days like this are when I really love CrossFit. 


.

“The Trooper-ish” and Double Unders

“The Trooper-ish”
800m Run

15 Snatches – 135/85lb (Advanced do 155/100lb)

400m Run

30 Front Squats – 155/105 (Advanced do 205/145lb)

*Add your own weight onto bar, must take bar from floor
Time cap =20 minutes


I used the 135 for the snatches, but thought I could handle the 205 front squats. 

Wrong.  After six reps, and two cleans, it was pretty clear I wasn't going to finish if I kept that much weight on the bar.  I lightened the weight to 155, and even with that, it wasn't a sure thing that I could get it done under the time cap.


3 scores:

1. 800m Run time   3:29

2. # of Front Squats in first set   3
3. Overall time (or if unfinished, time cap + 1 second for every unfinished rep)  18:58


B. 3 sets of Max Double-Unders

46, 49, 55 (PR)
I broke my previous DU PR of 53, which was nearly two years old. 

"Tyler? Are you gonna make it?"

"Christine"
Three rounds, for time, of:

500m row
12 Bodyweight deadlift (185lbs because I'm a fatty)
21 Box Jumps  20"

13:40 (PR)

I was completely spent afterward.  Like, someone-asking-me-if-I-was-going-to-live kind of spent.  I'd say who it was, but I actually don't know, because I was in a state of exhausted, post-WOD delerium, so grateful for the opportunity to just lay on the black floor mats and NOT HAVE TO EXERCISE ANYMORE. 

(Actually, we were supposed to do weighted pull-ups afterward, but I had to get back to work, so I skipped out on those.  They would have just damaged my self-esteem, anyway.)

Writing this 24 hours after the fact, I just realized that this is a one-second PR for me.  Before doing the WOD, I consulted the Sissy Hands Archives for my previous Christine results, but I didn't read carefully.  I had done it with 135 lbs in 13:14 years ago, but my best recorded rx'd time was 13:41.   When I did this last December, it was 13:57.

 

Early morning Ginger Power

A. 15(to 20) minutes to Back Squat Double (~3 attempts) then 85%x3x2

Doubles: 255, 275, 285, 300(PR)
85%: 255x3x2

I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty happy with the 300lb PR. I should have tried 300x1 long ago before, didn't have any confidence I could do it until I managed to do 275x5 about a month ago.

Christian attributed this to "Ginger Power first thing in the morning."

He likes referring to me as a ginger because he thinks it bothers me. I'm not a ginger but -- just to be clear -- it doesn't bother me that he calls me a ginger. Gingers are awesome, whether or not they have souls. It bothers me that he thinks it bothers me, if that makes any sense. I guess I just don't like seeing him derive joy from anything.



B. 4x600M Row, 2-5 minute recoveries

Yeah, this was not fun. 2:05, 2:05, 2:12, 2:24

Me: "I took a nice little rest on the last one. I regret nothing."

Ryan: "Just enjoying a ride down the river."

Me: "Look, there's a deer!"

C. Unbroken Pull-ups M=3x(5 Dead Hang+10 Kipping)

Time was running short and my arms were burnt out so I did one set and not as rx'd. Did the 5 deadhangs plus 2 kipping. Took a nice rest and did the remaining 8 kipping.

Clean and Jerk / 800m runs

Clean and Jerk: 1-1-1

Then, 4 x 800m runs, resting as needed between.


C&J
I really enjoyed re-acquainting myself with the clean and jerk. The most I had ever cleaned was 195. The most I had ever put over my head was 185, last fall at the SCFC in Saskatoon, but then we got to take the weight from the rack, and I used a push press because I wasn't confident in my jerking ability. I remember failing to do 185 in a WOD a little while after the SCFC,

Today, I started out at 145, then 165. Then I put 185 on the bar, which was a little intimidating, just because it's bodyweight and it would be tying a PR.

But I told myself it was gonna go the fuck up, and it went the fuck up. And then some.

185(PR)-195(PR)-200(PR)

I'm optimistic that I've got a bit more in me, but time was short and I still had to do the 800m runs.

3:03
3:17 (I think)
3:28
3:33

Pull-up Cluster / Wall Ball Run

Part 1:
1 minute max Pull-ups, 1 minute rest
45 seconds max Pull-ups, 45 seconds rest
30 seconds max Pull-ups, 30 seconds rest
15 seconds max Pull-ups.

I got 34, 15, 12, 7

I consider this to be good, though I suppose I should have gotten a few more in the 45-second round. That's a pretty significant drop-off. I was going for a PR in consecutive pull-ups in the first round, and I got it (33), then I added one more before the minute was up.

The pull-ups were supposed to be strict gymnastic pull-ups (this sort of stuff happens whenever Robin gets back from a certification, and she just went to a gymnastics cert). I didn't realize until I had to change that I do more of a frog kick, with my own spazzy flair.

Part 2:
As many rounds as possible in 15 minutes:
200 m Run
20 Wall Ball – 20/14lb

Blair got 7 rounds and something, so I was hoping to get within sniffing distance of that. My runs were pretty damn slow from round 2 on.

I got 6 rounds, plus 200m, plus 2 WB.

Self-Sabotage; New "Harley" PR; F**king Wall Balls

I have a knack for self-sabotage. This morning, I hopped on the electronic scale and saw 174.9.

Getting under 175 once seemed like a pipe dream, considering my weight was at one point north of 210.

Today wasn't the first time I've been that low. These days, I normally range from between 175 to 179. But every time I dip below 175, it's a reminder that a big goal of mine has been achieved.

And then I go and pig the fuck out.

It's not a conscious decision. It just seems to work out that way. Today, at a staff BBQ, I consumed three hot dogs (one bunless; the others were, uh, bunful), plenty of potato chips, a couple of two-bite brownies and a couple of generous chunks of rice krispie cake. And a Diet Pepsi.

To make matters worse, I followed that up with a medium Chocolate Xtreme Blizzard from DQ. It was a charity thing and had been ordered on Tuesday, but I still ate every last bit of it.

So, even though I'm going to CrossFit tomorrow, I headed out to the garage for a little penance tonight.

First, I thought I would go for max pull-ups. I got 20! That's only one less than my PR at CrossFit Regna, and three more than my previous "Harley" max.

Then I did tomorrow's walballs, 92.

Pull-ups - Away and Home

After wondering if I was ever going to be able to keep my grip on "Harley" (my nickname for the pull-up bar in my garage) for more than six consecutive kipping pull-ups, I did 10 yesterday evening before mowing the lawn, and then another 11 after midnight when I went out to take some stuff out of the back of our minivan.

My personal record on the smaller bar at CrossFit Regina is 20, but I've only been able to do that once.