B-Squad: Front Squats, Hang Cleans and Metcon

A. Front Squats 3-3-AMRAP.

I used 205.  On the AMRAP, I got up to 7.



B. Hang Squat Clean - work up to a tough double

I got up to 185.

Christian gave me some solid advice here to help me keep my form in check.   I've only worked out at B-Squad twice, but there seems to be a real focus on watching athletes closely and correcting their form on the lifts. That is a good thing.  



C. Metcon

Four rounds of the following:

• 250m row
• 3 burpees
• 6 push-ups
• 12 mountain climbers (L+R=1) 
• Rest two minutes

My times were:
1:22
1:21
1:21
1:25

Even a small amount of mountain climbers can get old quick.  This was a cleverly designed metcon in that it was short enough (and incorporated enough rest) to hit hard and not stop during the working portion, but it was still challenging.



Overheard at the Gym

"Why is my dad the only one signed up to work out?  Is it because nobody else likes this gym?"
-My son (age 7)

Christian laughed hard at that one, but I still made the kid do 10 burpees and gave him a gentle talking-to at home.  

T2B Cindy; Turning the corner on muscle-ups

I arrived at CrossFit Regina way early for the 7pm WOD last night, so I spent some time doing muscle-ups.  Five, to be precise, which brings my lifetime total to 14. I'm averaging 2 MUs per year, for each year I've been doing CrossFit. Yay, Tyler!  

The muscle-ups in question were ugly as hell.  I'm barely getting the bottom of the ring armpit height, so there's always a brief, mini-struggle to bring my right elbow closer to my body so I can lock it out.  Shae gave me some advice on gripping the ring that I'm going to try out.

Still, I think I've almost reached the point where I can go up to a set of rings and be totally confident that I could do a muscle-up.  Almost.

WOD of the day

"T2B Cindy":
-5 toes-to-bar
-10 push-ups
-15 squats

I did 16 rounds plus 5 T2B.



Beforehand, I was a little unsure about this because the last time I did Cindy, I developed that hamstring injury that still lingers to this day.  I'm not sure if the injury was a result of Cindy or the sprints I had done two days earlier in Edmonton, but I sure as hell didn't want it to flare up again.  I was also unsure how good the T2B would be for my shoulder.

14.4 was announced yesterday right before I got to the gym.  I thought maybe I'd to that instead.  Then I found out it was a chipper with 50 consecutive T2B, which sounded like a recipe for hand tearing or shoulder fuckage.  Screw that, I thought.  T2B Cindy it is.

Sure I ended up doing more T2B with the Cindy WOD, but they're done in smaller sets, and separated by however long it takes to do the push-ups and squats.

Now that I've had some time to think about it, I may end up doing 14.4 at some point.  There's a fine line between injury avoidance and just being a pussy.    

Pull and push

I didn't get to CFR like I wanted to, so I did a quick workout in my basement. 

5 rounds, for time:

300m row
15 push-ups

8:47

3 Position Clean / "Metabolic Mania"

A. 3 Position Clean (Floor, Mid Thigh, high hang) 70% x 4

These were squat cleans, just to be clear.


I used 155 for the first one, and 165 for the last three.  That's a bit higher than 70% of my one rep max, but you can blame Brad Fo for that. 

The trick to doing the high hang is pulling yourself under it really quick. 

 

B. “Metabolic Mania”

5 rounds:
1 min of Double unders
1 min of plank Push ups (start in plank position on elbows, walk hands up to push up position then back down to plank. Alternate hands that push you up)

Rest 30 seconds

Plank push-ups were horrible. 

Going from memory, here's how each round looked like for me:

DU  PPU
70    17
61    16
60    15
51    14
50    15

Total score of 368. 

Front Squats (3s), Tabata, "Rhiannon"

A. Front squats 3-3-3

I did 185-205-225 (PR)


B. Tabata (Box jumps and push-ups)

112 box jumps and 85 push-ups for a score of 197. Not my best.


C. Rhiannon. Ten minutes of max double unders.

258. I always think I am gonna do better on this than I do. Ah, well, doing it right after Tabata is as good a reason as any for a sub-par showing.

"The Chief"

A minor illness, sick kid and other real-life stuff kept me out of the gym for close to two weeks.  First WOD back is a classic. 

"The Chief"

Five three minute rounds (one minute rest between) with an AMRAP:
3 Squat cleans (135lbs)
6 Push ups
9 Squats

At the start of each round, you start with the 3 squat cleans.  I think we've done the "pick up where you left off" version in the past, too but since Aaron was the coach today, I'm going to assume without looking it up, that starting at the start of the sequence is the correct way to do it. 

Round 1: 5 rounds even.
Round 2: 3 rounds +3+6+7
Round 3: 3 rounds +2
Round 4: 3 rounds +2
Round 5: 3 rounds +2

The Bad:

• This is quite bit lower than my better results on this 
• My push-ups continue to suck, both in form and my ability to perform them.
• My score was the lowest of all the dudes. 

The Good:

• At least I'm back in the gym.
• There's something about doing 135lb squat cleans that just make me feel fucking awesome.

Beware black cats

As I was driving to the gym today, I saw a black cat cross the street about a block ahead of me.  I could have turned around and gone a different route to the gym. Even though I would like to avoid any bad luck at the moment, I was already short on time and I figured it was just a superstition.

Clearly I'm a dumbass...

A. Muscle-up practice

Yup, still can't do muscle-ups.  So I decided to practice jumping MUs, and it was going okay, until I lowered the box by -- I'm not exaggerating -- about two inches. 

Then, after a couple of unsuccessful attempts and one successful one, I had a bit of a mishap.  My right arm basically lost control and twisted behind my back and up toward my head, as I was still holding onto the ring. 

I freaked out a bit, not knowing how serious it was.  After the initial flash of pain and my subsequent profanity, it didn't appear to be all that bad, and I finished the other two parts of the workout. 

As I write this, the shoulder is a little stiff but I seem to have the full range of motion.  I'm icing it and taking it easy.


B. 250 double unders in as few sets as possible in under (10-minute time cap)

Since the clock was less of a factor in this one, as long as you can get under the 10-minute time cap, I decided to take good breaks between the sets and regain my breath so I could maximize the number of DUs in each set.  It seemed to work out well.  Consistently getting sets of 30+ double unders is better than I would typically expect.

7 sets.

Set # -> Total reps (including previous)
1.  48
2.  80
3.  116
5.  151
5.  186
6.  220
7.  250


C. 10-minute AMRAP - 20 sandbag lunges and 10 push-ups

The sandbags were held across the back. 

I completed the first round in under a minute and things slowed way down after that.

7 rounds exactly.  I wanted to get one extra lunge in at the end, but couldn't get the sandbag up in time.

Weekend of Leg Death, Part 2: "The Chief"

“The Chief”

Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
135 pound Power cleans, 3 reps
6 Push-ups
9 Squats

Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.

I got a total of 18 complete rounds, but had enough left-over reps to bring the total up to 20 rounds, plus 5 reps.

"Pheezy" ain't easy

“Pheezy”

Three rounds for time of:
5 Front squats – 165/115lb
18 Pull-ups
5 Deadlifts – 225/155lb
18 Toes-to-bar
5 Push jerks – 165/115lb
18 Hand-release push-ups

19:24 rx'd.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love toes-to-bar? I haven't?

There's a reason.

Hearing D3 pound out the deadlifts like they were nothing was somewhat demoralizing. He's more animal than man!




Overheard at the Gym

Christian: "Are you updating the Nobody-Gives-a-Shit Blog?" .

Good news / bad news

A. Overhead Squats 3-3-3-3-3

185 (PR)


B. Benchmark Girl “Helen”
3 rounds for time of:
400m Run
21 KBS – 55/35lb
12 Pull-ups

10:39. That is about a minute and a half slower than my PR. Shows what 12 extra pounds and a winter without running can do.

Monday restfulness: Pre-Valentine's Day Snatch

The Boy accompanied me to the gym... sort of. He fell asleep in the car and spent my entire workout snoozing on the futon in CFR's front entrance.

A. Snatch Deadlift + Snatch from just below knee 1x3 with 75-80%1RM
Then, 3 snatch attempts to a heavy single

Did the DL + Snatch with 125.

Then did 135 and 145. The 145 felt really good going up, so I thought I'd put 160 on the bar, since my listed PR is 155. I utterly failed on the first one.

I tried a couple more times. It went up, with a fairly significant press-out on the first. Then it went up a bit better on the second. A bit of a press-out but Nolan still counted it, so I will too.
160

Still, there's a bit of an asterisk there. I think I'll make sure that I can confidently and consistently snatch 160 before looking to add to that number. I just need to remember to drop a bit lower.



B. 3 rounds with 10 minute limit of 50 Double-Unders and Max Pull-Ups

The deal here was that it wasn't for time, just for max pull-ups. As long as you could get all three rounds in under the 10:00. It allowed for a bit of rest between the DUs and each set of max pull-ups.

First set: 22
Second set: 16
Third set: 12
______________
Total: 51


C. 1 set Max Push-Ups

29. Ugh, that is not good.

6 a.m. Sexayness: Back Squat & On the Clock

Made it to another 6 a.m. WOD despite not getting enough sleep last night. It's the Year of the Dragon, so I guess I'll be "dragon" my ass later.

Hey, I'm fucking tired, that's the best I've got right now, humour-wise.



A. Strength: Back Squat 5-5-5

Even the 135lb warm-up squats felt heavy, so I knew I wasn't getting any PRs this morning.

I went 225-245-255, which is only 15lbs off my five-rep PR.

B. Metcon: With a continuously running clock for 12 minutes, each minute do:
15 Kettlebell Swings (shoulder height) 55/35lb
10 Push-Ups

At end of 12 minutes immediately start 5 minutes of max Double-Unders (or once unable to complete work within the 60 seconds allowed).

I actually didn't think I'd get through the full 12 rounds, but I did finish. I think what worked for me was splitting up the sets of 10 push-ups into five-and-five, and then 5-3-2 in the the later rounds, so I didn't burn out my arms. I did all the swings unbroken.

159 double unders.

* * *

Overheard in the Gym:
"You back squat more before 7 a.m. than most people back squat all day."

"Football Gone Bad"

This is a version of Fight Gone Bad adapted by CrossFit Football and selected by Nolan for the Sunday WOD. It was fitting, given that the AFC and NFC championship games were played today.

3 x 5 Minute Rounds (one minute at each station) for time:

1. DB Thrusters (2x45/25lbs)
2. Box Jumps (20″)
3. Push-ups
4. Double Unders
5. Calorie Row

Rest one minute between rounds.



I got 372, as counted by D3. Looking at the earlier scores, I was hoping to beat 300 but this WOD is filled with stuff I am not great at.

However, double unders were the great equalizer. Someone who is good at double unders is going to do well on this. If you're reasonably competent at DUs, you can do a lot more of them in a minute than DB thrusters or rowing for calories. You could choose which station to start at, so I started with DUs in order to be as fresh as possible for each of the three rounds. I ended up doing 188 total DUs, which is almost half of my total score. Frankly, I'm amazed that it wasn't a greater proportion, considering how hard everything else was for me.

"Deck of Cards"

We did the traditional version of Deck of Cards for the Saturday group WOD:

-Push-ups (Diamonds)
-Pull-ups (Hearts)
-Situps (Clubs)
-Squats (Spades)

Jokers were burpees, and you double the value of the following card after a joker.

There were enough pull-ups in this WOD to make my sissy hands pissed at me for a bit.

My team, "Canadian Western Sexhibition" finished this in 22:50.

"The Chief"

Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
135/95lb Power Cleans, 3 reps
6 Push-ups
9 Squats
Rest 1 minute. Start from where you left off.
Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.

I got 21 rounds, plus one power clean. The last time I did this WOD more than two years ago, I got 16 and change, so I'm pretty happy with that.

"Gates of Fire 2"

For time:
50 Situps
50 Pushups
25 Front Squats (65/45)
25 Back Squats (65/45)
25 Overhead Squats (65/45)
25 Front Squats (65/45)
50 Pullups
50 Situps

Took me 15:11, which isn't the fastest I've ever done it, but it's close.

***


Overheard at the Gym:

"I feel weird complimenting a girl on her snatch with her dad RIGHT THERE."

"He likes it, too."

"Angie"

100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 air squats

Took me 25:55. That's more than three minutes worse than my best ever time, but I'm not going to piss and moan about it. I was just happy to have gotten to CrossFit for 6 a.m.

Afterwards, in the shower, my body decided to have little talk with me:

"Okay, you dumb bastard, listen up. Do you notice that you're having difficulty raising your arms above your head to shampoo? Yeah, well, that's only the start of what I've got in store for you. By this afternoon, you won't be able to walk stairs without whimpering. Payback's a bitch, asshole. You have been feeding me crap for the last couple of weeks, you're still getting over a cold, you skip the gym for a week and you haven't been giving me enough sleep. You stayed up past two fucking a.m. the other night playing Plants Vs. Zombies, for fuck's sake. And then, THEN, you expect me to go to the gym at 6am and do fucking ANGIE? You dumb shit."

Hang Power Snatch, KBS/PU/DU

A. Hang Power Snatch 3-2-1-1-1

115x3
125x2
135x1
145x1
150x1 (PR~!)

I finally snatched more than 145lbs. It was a bit of a press-out, but whatever. It's also ABOUT FUCKING TIME, as I first did 145 in June of LAST FUCKING YEAR.

Look, I know it's not a huge deal for an adult male to snatch this much, and it's still a good 25lbs beneath my bodyweight(okay, 30), but this felt like getting a monkey off my back.

I think there were two reasons I was able to do 150 today when I had failed previously. One is the new way CFR is programming these strength days. The 3-2-1-1-1 rep scheme warms you up without burning you out. Also, my mindset was pretty good, partially because I was happy about my rack jerk PR on Friday. I was in a good mood at the gym, having fun but still focused.


B. 12 minutes with a continuously running clock, each minute starts with 15 KB Swings to shoulder height 55/35lb, 10 Push-ups
Immediately after 12 minutes start 5 minutes of max Double-Unders (“Half Rhiannon”)
If unable to complete a round within 60 seconds go immediately to Double-Unders upon missing the round

I got done 10 full rounds, barely. My push-ups continue to suck, thanks for asking.

I then did a single bell swing so I could wait until the end of that minute to start my double unders. I never claimed to be a proud man.

172 DUs

Back Squats and Half Chelsea

A. Strength = Back Squats
5-5-5 (start at 75% 1RM and increase)

I want to start doing Strength stuff again, maybe at least a couple times a week. Doing back squats didn't feel as comfortable as I want it to.

225-245-255

B. “Half Chelsea”
One round of Cindy each minute for 15 minutes
Cindy = 5 Pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Squats (no doubling for modifications, going for speed)
If your round goes over the minute, go again at the start of a new minute. Everyone goes for 15 minutes total.

I did 7 rounds on the minute and 12 rounds + 5 PLU + 8 PU. Unless I counted wrong, in which case I only did 11 + 5 + 8.

What's Your Goat?

A. AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
250m row
25 push-ups
25 double unders

Push-ups are my goat, thankyouverymuch. I managed six rounds even, and I had to get my last set of double unders uninterrupted in less than 20 seconds do it. Came down to the last second, but I did it and it felt FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC. (I'm not trying to brag and the result isn't a world-beater or anything, but I bitch and moan enough on this blog that I thought I should make a point of noting when I'm pleased about something.)

B. One minute of box jumps, rest one minute, one minute of box jumps.

Got 31 in both minutes. The second minute was better, though, because I did more uninterrupted box jumps in a row.