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.

CFR: Rockin' Robin

Warm-up 

30-20-10 of:
Bell swings
Sit-ups

Not for time.  I did each set unbroken.



WOD

"Rockin' Robin"

Three rounds for time of:
1 rope climb from seated
10 clean and jerks (135lbs)
100 double unders

I finished in 15:40

Judging from the other times on the board from today, I'm happy with this.     Most times were 20-plus minutes,  I wonder if that was due to some congestion at the climbing ropes? Or maybe they did a different WOD.

I didn't feel like I was going that fast.  Actually, I deliberately didn't blast through my clean and jerks on the first round, not wanting to burn myself out for the DUs and the rope climbs.

I finished the first round in about 4:00.

The second round was tougher.  I almost failed on the rope climb.  The clean and jerks felt like they took forever, and I think I had a couple of premature fuck-ups on the double unders. It took me more than 6:00 to complete the round.

I took a good 30-plus second rest before attempting the third rope climb.  I didn't want to climb halfway up and then fail, wasting energy and time.

The third rope climb went easier than the second.  The clean and jerks seemed to go faster, after Leya told me to not bother with the split jerk and just do a push jerk instead.  She also gave me a good tip about my breathing.  Basically, I was treating the 135lbs like it was 175lbs and it was slowing me down.

The double unders were okay.  I think I did them in sets of 36-34-30.

VolkeFit: Cleans and Burpees

I took a week off.  I didn't plan to.  I didn't need to.  It sort of just happened. 

Back at Steve's garage, I had a nice little surprise, as my new jump rope from Rogue has arrived.  It's got a silver rope and orange handles the colour of traffic cones.  It's pretty badass. 

As part of my warm-up, I did a set of double unders.   As a matter of fact, I set a new PR with 90 consecutive.  Considering this comes one week (and only one workout) after setting a new PR of 80, and not that long after a new best of 70.  I'm pretty pleased about that. 

Today, for the workout I did:

15 power cleans (115lbs)
15 burpees
12 power cleans (115lbs)
12 burpees
9 power cleans (115lbs)
9 burpees

It took me 5:03. 

I rested for 6 minutes, then did:

12 power cleans (135lbs)
12 burpees
9 power cleans
9 burpees
6 power cleans
6 burpees

It took me 5:23.


Afterward, I did 100 burpees, not for time.  I was trying to do them in as few sets as possible.
First set: 69
Second set: 31


Then I did 2km on the AirDyne.  It took 3:00 exactly. 

Then the Wife and I went and completely undid any good we just did by stuffing our faces at I Love Sushi.

"Megan"

I did a single muscle-up during the warm-up.  Somehow my technique is getting uglier. 

Complete 3 rounds for quality (not for time) of

TGU x 3 each (increase weight each set)

Dead hang Pull up 6-8 @ 2010 (bands are permitted)
Banded anti rotation press x 10 ea (Banded Anti Rotation Press)
rest 45s
Done.  I got up to 55lb TGUs on my right arm, 45 on the left. 

 

Bench Mark “Megan”21-15-9
Burpees
KBS 55/35
Double unders

 

I may have gone a bit too hard during the first round.  My pace really slowed during the 15s and 9s.  But I finished with 5:07, which was one of the better times in the gym all day. 

VolkeFit - Cleans/Burpees; Wall balls/Slams/DUs

1.  30 power cleans @ 115lbs.  Every minute, do three burpees.

First minute (0:00 to 1:00) - 8 cleans
Second minute - 3 burpees, 7 cleans
Third minute - 3 burpees, 6 cleans  (It was about here that I got a little more comfortable with a touch-and-go during the cleans)
Fourth minute - 3 burpees, 5 cleans
Fifth minute - 3 burpees, 4 cleans

Finished at 4:46.



2. With 5:00 on the clock:
-30 Wall Ball
-30 Ball slams
-As many double unders as possible during the remaining time.

Rest five minutes.  Repeat.

First round:
 I did 100 DUs. (Sets: 40, 30, and 30)   

Second round:
I did 83 DUs.  My first set was 50, but I couldn't get a sustained series going after that.  Then I whipped myself and got pissy. 

To Twelve and Back

Another Tuesday night at CrossFit Regina


"Thunderstruck" Warm-up

This was fun. As we jogged in place, they played "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC and everytime we heard the word "thunder" we had to drop and do a burpee.



Skipping

100 running skips - I did these unbroken.
75 double unders - This took me three or four sets, which is pretty bad.
25 crossovers -  I'm pretty sure I look awkward and spazzy when I do these, but I got through them.



To Twelve and Back

1 -> 12 <- 1="">Pullups
KB Snatch 55/35
**Alternating movements (1 pullup, 2 KB Snatch (1 per arm), 3 pullups, 4 KB Snatch (2 per arm), etc…)

This took me 13:52.  I think my technique fell to shit on the snatches by the end.  Also, my sissy hands were starting to hurt. 

  **Bonus**   I did a tremendously ugly muscle-up at some point in the warm-up portion. That brings my lifetime total to nine.  I thought about going for another one after the WOD was done, but I thought I would be courting disaster.   I'm thinking I should probably try to do at least one or two everytime I come to CFR. 

Snatchy Snatch Snatch / "Breathless"

A. Snatchy Snatch Snatch*

*Not the official name. But it should be, amiright?

1. Snatch Complex: Snatch DL, Snatch Shrug, Snatch high Pull, Snatch (bar, +20lbs, 40%,50%)
2. Snatch 60% x 3, 65% x 3, 70% x3x3 – build into with snatch with complex, focus on bar positioning and ending up on toes in full extension. Do not set bar down in between each rep, lower the bar so it is about 1 inch from floor (completing 3 reps not 3 singles). 

I did 95, 105 and 115. 

Uncles gave me a good tip on the snatch.  He said I could be opening my hips more.  I kept that in mind and noticed an immediate difference. 


B.  Metcon = “Breathless”
AMRAP in 12mins:
15 Burpees
35 Double Unders

Note to self: When doing a WOD that has double unders, ensure that your shorts are laced sufficiently tightly so they don't start falling down around your ass in the first fucking round, forcing you to drop the rope and waste precious seconds retying your shorts so that you preserve some shred of modesty.

Other than that, things went just swimmingly.  Meaning, I sucked wind like this one as much as I did when swimming* at Spring Fling.

*Fuck swimming, amiright? Fuck it in its ear.

In addition to the near self-pantsing, my first attempt at double unders also featured a couple of sets of five or less.  Somewhat less than efficient. 

In subsequent rounds, I did them in 20 and 15.  In the last one, though, I was trying to maximize my score, so I did 35 straight.  Not sure if that was smart, because I wanted to complete 15 burpees and get back on the rope, but I was pretty gassed.

No dice.  I only got to 12 burpees. 

Final score: 5 rounds + 12 burpees.

Kim Fe's Dirty Dozen

That title sounds dirtier than I meant it to. 

Kim Fe loves chippers.  So she was coaching today and got to make up her own:

500m row buy-in
25 walking lunges
25 pull-ups
25 double unders
25 box jumps
25 ring dips
25 knees-to-elbows
25 bell swings
25 abmat sit-ups
25 dumbbell hang squat cleans (2x35)
25 push-ups
25 back extensions
25 wall balls
500m row

I found this pretty hard.  It took me 26:15.  I had way too many longer-than-necessary breaks, especially on the K2E.  Those were tough on the still-not-all-better leg, but once I concentrated on rocking back and looking up at the ceiling, they became manageable from a "my body is capable of doing these" standpoint.  However fatigue kicked in bigtime so it was more like "I don't want to do any more exercise, ever" situation.


The Boy has learned how to ride a bike with no training wheels, so we went for a long bike ride (for him) afterward.   

Later, I watched the CrossFit Games on TSN2 and gave thanks for the fact that I'm not an elite athlete.

A Bucketful of Fail

Made it to another 6 a.m. class. 

A.Snatch Complex

Snatch push press + OHS + snatch balance, x2(reps) x3(sets), 65-75% of Snatch

I used 115, which falls nicely between 65 and 75 per cent of my max snatch of 165.   But it was probably too much for me to use today. 

First set - made it through until the snatch balance on the second rep. 

Second set - I think I dropped it on the overhead squat in the first rep. 

Third set - Completed

Fourth set - made it through until the snatch balance on the second rep. 

A bucketful of fail. 

I was a little pissed off about this right after it happened. Then I had to move on to the other parts of the WOD, so I didn't really think about it again until I was home in the shower.  I started to get mad again. 

Then I gave my head a shake and remembered that if I don't fail every now and then, then I'm probably not pushing myself as hard as I should.  It's actually probably a good thing that I failed. 

Hey you can just call me Little Johnny Brightside.

 

B. Weighted pull up 2-2-2-2

25-35-45-57.5(FAIL)

I was trying to break the 55lb PR I set recently.  I didn't have a lot of confidence, though, as 45 was a struggle.  I got one rep at 57.5, if you're feeling generous.  

C. “If Annie and Karen were sisters…”

AMRAP in 20mins:

30 Double-Unders

20 Situps

10 Wall Ball 20/14lb

  Not a lot of surprises on this one.  Because the reps in each exercise were pretty reasonable, there wasn't a lot of excessive resting.     

My DUs were fairly good.  I think there were only a couple of the rounds where I didn't do 30 straight, which is better than I would have expected.   

Sit-ups got tough.  Once that happened, I broke sets up into three-ish.   

Wall balls were done in sets of 10.   

Thanks to a strong push in the last round, I was able to finish my 10th round and get another five DUs in before the clock stopped. 

10 rounds plus five double unders 

  .

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. 

6am: Tabata or not Tabata...

A. 2 Position Snatch (Floor, Mid Thigh) 70% x 5

I did this with 115.  I had an issue catching my second snatch on reps 4 and 5.  I wanted to go out on a high note, so I did it one more time.  I had to catch it in a power snatch and go down for the squat, though. 

B. Tabata Mash-up

1 Tabata Round of 4min for max reps. In a series of 20sec on followed by 10sec off x8. Alternate between two movements for a total of 4 sets of each.

a. Wallball  (total of 61)

b. Double unders (Total of 153)

I figured out pretty early on that I should stop at 7 wall balls (not that I had time for any more anyway) so I could catch my breath in time for the DUs.  Trying to get one or two more WB would have severely compromised my ability to get even the small number of DUs that I managed to get. 

(after looking at this chart, I discovered a math error.  10 + 9 = 19, dumbass)

Total score is 214


BONUS: Wait 3 minutes then 20 Unbroken 24″ Burpee Box Jumps, not part of scored time

Did it.  Slowly.  Hey, unbroken just means that you keep moving, but it doesn't say how fast.   It took me 2:29. 

Hang Squat C&J / "Condition This"

A. Hang Squat Clean + Jerk (clean from mid-thigh) 3-2-1-1-1

(Jerk only on last rep of triple and double)
3x135
2x165
1x185
1x195
1x205
Jamie was coaching gave me some good advice about engaging my legs.  I was cleaning it from just below my waist, and Jamie said I had a good shrug and a good pull under the bar, but I was not fully taking advantage of the hips and legs.  I tried to keep that in mind for the final set. 

I am noticing my left shoulder more than I'd like on the jerks.

B. “Condition This”

For time: 800m Run, 50 Speed Burpees, 75 Double-Unders, 25 Speed Burpees… wait 3 minutes then 30 Unbroken 20″ Box Jumps, MUST step down, not part of scored time.

This was fine.  I felt kind of slow on the 800m, and was in the back third of the pack.  I could have been running a bit more tenatively in the Innov-8s. 

Or maybe I just had a better understanding of the need to pace myself on the run, because it's followed by 50 burpees. 

Or maybe I'm just slow.  Yeah... that's probably it. 

After getting back from the run, I started the burpees right away.  I had a pretty good pace on the burpees, though the pauses were a little more frequent once I hit 30. 

With the DUs, I figured I'd try to do them in three sets.  I did 32, 24 and then 14. Screwed up with 5 more to go, which kinda sucks. 

11:18.  I was pretty happy with that time, though if I had been faster on the final 25 burpees, I could have gotten sub-11. 

Rhiannon 316 says that WOD just whipped my ass

A. "Sasquatch"

For time, using a 75lb barbell, do 21-18-15-12-9-6-3 of:

• Sumo deadlift high pulls
• Push press

I did the first sets of 21 unbroken, then when I broke up the SDHPs, I would transition straight from the last one into the push pulls. 


6:57  (PR)

 

B. "Rhiannon"

10 minutes of double unders.

I did 50 in the first minute and then it was all downhill from there. 

316.

Not my best. And that's the bottom line. 

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.

2010 Cdn Regional WOD #4

Max Deadhang Pullups x3

11-6-6




Canadian Regional WOD#4 2010 – Individual Event
For time:
50 Double Unders
10 Burpees
40 Double Unders
10 Burpees
30 Double Unders
10 Burpees
20 Double Unders
10 Burpees
10 Double Unders
10 Burpees

6:22.  That's quite a bit better than the 7:49 it took me when I did this in 2010. 

There were people with sub-5-minute times, so this isn't super-awesone but it's pretty good. 

My double unders didn't seem to betray me so much, like they have of late.  I did the first 50 unbroken.  I thought that might hoop me for the rest of the WOD but I don't think it did. 

Push Press, FrostFit 2012 WOD

A. Push Press 3-2-1-1-1

165x3, 175x2, 185,195, 205F, 200 (PR)


B. "FrostFit 2012 Mix & Match”      

Part 1. AMRAP in 3 mins:                
75 single skips                
50 double unders                
25 crossovers     

Rest 1 minute    

Part 2. AMRAP in 5 mins:                
Barbell thrusters for max lbs lifted      
*choose weight (men: 155/115/95/75)       
*every time bar is put down, do 5 over-the bar burpees 

Skipping: I just barely completed one round.  
Thrusters: I chose 75 and did, I think, 49 reps: 3,675lbs 

2012 Team Games workout #8

With a team (I had Steve and Michelle)

30 GHD or weighted situps
30 DL 225/135lb
30 Double-unders
30 OHS 95/65lb
30 Pullups
Athletes only advance once the station ahead is clear

I thought DUs would provide a nice little respite in the middle of this WOD.  Not for me, though, as I went second behind Steve and, other than a few seconds on the deadlifts,  he didn't leave me a lot of time for waiting around as he blazed through each station and was long gone before I could get there. 

The DLs were the hardest.  I did them in sets of 10, 5,5,5.  I did okay on the OHS, though, with sets of 12, 10, and 8.  

Our team was done in  18:19

Front Squats, "A Dozen Minutes"

A. Front Squat 1-1-1, heavy single

225, 245, 260F, 260F

This isn't the first time I've failed miserably trying to break my PR of 255.  I've gotta stop thinking that 255 was easy and I should just go up from there.  From this point on, I'm gonna pretend that 245 is my PR. 

B. “A Dozen Minutes”

 

 

AMRAP in 4 mins – wall ball 20/14lb

1 minute rest

AMRAP in 4 mins – row (for calories)

1 minute rest

AMRAP in 4mins – double unders

 

Did fairly well on the WB (77) and the row (64) and then underperformed with my new speed rope on the double-unders  (125) for a mediocre score of 266

Are you ready for some football?

CrossFit Football game

• Touchdown (6pt): 80 Squats, 40 Kettlebell Swings, 30 Pull-Ups, 20 Burpees
• Convert after TD (1pt): 50 Double-Unders (or 125 Single-Unders) 
• Field Goal (3pt): 20 DB Thrusters (2x45lb), 30 Sit-ups, 20 Box Jumps (20″)

Two 15 minute halves with 3 minute half-time. Work is divided between teams of 2, only one person works at a time. Skipping is not divided, both must complete.

 I teamed with Nathan (Team name: "Nat-Ty By Nature") and we split the work evenly. 

First half: FG, TD, FG, FG = 16

Second half: four FGs = 12 

Total score 28. 

We were three box jumps away from another field goal.  We barely fell short, just like the Riders. 

I think the best strategy for this is to go for field goals.  The DB thrusters do suck total donkey scrotum, but you and your partner can do alternating sets of 5 and that makes it bearable. 

You might want to do one TD when you're fresh, but when you're tired, those double unders will be a total time-killer unless you and your partner are total DU ninjas. 

I had done a slightly easier version of this before and scored a 26... but it sounds like I was a bit hungover at the time. 

Fine, Double Unders, be that way. See if I care.

A. Power Clean & Jerks, on the minute, for 15mins


65% x1x5, 70% x1x5, 75% x1x5

Basically, you do one clean and jerk per minute for 15 minutes.  For the first five minutes, you do 65% of your one-rep max C&J.  For the next five minutes, you use 70% and for the last five you do 75%
 

I thought my max clean and jerk was 215, but it's actually 210.  I probably would have ended up using roughly the same weights, though, so whatever. 

140lbs
150lbs
162lbs 

I didn't find this terribly challenging.  I like C&J's. 



B. Modified NW Regional WOD 2010

3 rounds for time:
10 Overhead Squats – 95/65lb
50 Double-Unders

Once upon a time, I considered myself fairly proficient at double-unders.  Now, they seem to kill me, cardio-wise, and really bring down my WOD results even in relatively small numbers like in this WOD.

I'd like to blame it on my fraying rope (which will be replaced before I do another DU WOD) or the fact that I was wearing my flat-soled Airwalk Chuck Taylor knockoffs and not my cross-trainers,* but the fact was that the DUs just sucked the life out of me during this workout. 

*It's a poor carpenter who blames his tools, fucko. 

I actually was more worried about the overhead squats during this workout, due to my bum shoulder.  I actually considered upping the weight and doing front squats or back squats.  I decided to go ahead with the OHS.  I felt them, but did the first two sets unbroken.  I broke up the last set, but that was more due to fatigue than shoulder issues. 

I suppose it's possible I haven't really regressed all that much on DUs (though some recent Rhiannon results would seem to indicate otherwise). Maybe it's just that a bunch of people at CFR are just that much more advanced at them. 

Whatever it was, I was more than two minutes slower than the fastest times of the day, which is a pretty fucking big gap on a short workout.   I mean, this wasn't the worst time of the day, but it was pretty mediocre and below my expectations.

6:57.