Overhead Squats / Rowing Helen

I am so pleased with myself for being able to avoid the temptation to hit the snooze button for the first time in two weeks and actually make it to CFR for a 6am WOD.

As it turns out, everything we were doing today was stuff I like.


A. OHS 5-5-5 starting with 81 per cent of one-rep max.

The best one-rep max I could find of mine was 165, so I started with 135. After the WOD, I found that in December, I did 3 x 175, so I probably should have started higher. But I've also lost some strength due to the baby-induced break from CFR and being sick.

135-145-160 (5lb PR, I think). The 160 should barely count, because I walked it out a bit on the last rep. Jeff said it counted, but he's a generous soul. As it turns out, I used just enough weight.


B. Rowing Helen
Three rounds for time of:
500m row
21 bell swings (55lb)
12 pull-ups

Took me 13:44. I'm sure I've done Rowing Helen before, but couldn't find a time. It was probably better than this. I've been away from CFR so much, my pull-up callouses had disappeared, so this was even harder on my sissy hands. With my reduced cardio, this kicked my ass. Norm said I sounded like a smoker, the way I was coughing and hacking during and after.

Partner WOD: "Beat around the bush"

Partners take turns, working and resting in two-minute intervals. The full two min is spent at one station.

- burpees (3 points each) I did 37
- pull-ups (2 points) - 30
- air squats - 72
-barbell thrusters (3 points) - 35 (brutal)
-box jumps (2 points) - 33
-rowing (1 point for every 10m) 500m for 50 points.

Nathan carried the team on this one. He beat my total on every category except burpees.

MU / DL / KB C&J

A. Muscle-up progression.

I did a jumping MU for the first time ever. Heightwise, the rings were touching the top of my head. Ugly as sin, but still counts.


B. 80 percent of max DL x5
I did 255lb. I have lost a lot of muscle. Considering my compromised cardio, maybe I should just do strength stuff for a while.

C total KB clean and jerks in five minutes. I did 40, and three quarters were with my right arm. That is not good.

Overhead Squats / "Power Elizabeth"

A. OHS 5-5-5-3-3-3

135-155-165(3)-170(PR)-175(PR)-180(F)


B. 21-15-9 reps of:
135lb power cleans
Ring dips

8:44.

HPS and Jackie

A. Hang Power Snatch 3333111

115-135-140-145f-145-150f


B. "Jackie"
Row 1000m
50 thrusters using 45lb bar
30 pull-ups

8:35

Saturday Team WOD: “The Hundreds”

“The Hundreds”
100 Thrusters – 115/75lb
100 Push-ups
100 Hang Power Cleans – 115/75lb
100 Ring Dips
100 Overhead Squats – 115/75lb
*In teams of 4, with 2 people working at a time


We actually had a team of 5, with Allanah, Sarah, Jarrett and Steve. Steve was hurt, so he modified the weight stuff and we had to do 125 of each. Our time was 15:52, I think.

The OHS were tough. I managed to do it as RX'd, but there were a couple of times when I had to ditch the bar before doing one squat.

Bench press and 5 minute AMRAP

A. Bench press 3-3-3-1-1-1

135-155-165-170 (PR, I think)-175(F)-175(F)

On the second fail, I bounced the bar pretty good off my chest because I sometimes like to do things that are both inefficient and painful.

We were supposed to do singles of deadlifts, too, but time was getting tight and I didn't want to test my back too much after just coming off an injury. Plus, I always seem to puss out on Strength days.


B. AMRAP in five minutes:
5 Chest-to-bar pull-ups
5 Burpees

Six rounds plus five C2B PLUs and one burpee.

Front squats and "Annie"

A. Front squats 3-3-3-1-1-1

165-185-205-210-225 (PR)


B. "Annie"
50-40-30-20-10 of double-unders and sit-ups.

8:53 (PR)

"Pearl Harbor"

I had been out of commission for almost two weeks after hurting my back by TURNING AROUND.

Fuck, I'm old and frail.

This was a surprisingly bad injury. Moving my arm or head the wrong way would send a bolt of pain across my back so intense that I would literally drop to my knees. It kept me away from the gym and torpedoed my participation in the Burpee Challenge. Once I fell more than 500 behind, that was pretty much the point of no return.

Over the last few days, I finally felt like I could start back up again.

A. Row 1000m then, five rounds of:
20 pull-ups
7 push jerks of 135lbs

I had thought about doing the intermediate weight of 95lbs, but did a couple reps at 135 in the warm-up and it felt okay, so I went with the Rx'd weight. The real challenge on this WOD wasn't the push jerks, anyway. It was the ridiculous number of pull-ups. (I regard any WOD that demands more than 60 pull-ups as being excessive. If you'd like to know why, see the name of this blog.)

My time was 20:09, which wasn't stellar, but probably a little better than I expected.

B. 75 box jumps (20") in as few sets as possible.

There were some people who did these in one set. All I know is that I felt like I was going to pass out after 30.

I did it in three sets (30,25,20).

"One month 'til Christmas"

A 6am workout, coached by Harlan. Only other person doing the WOD was Michele C.


A. Buy-in is one minute of burpees, rest, one minute of burpees.

21 and 20


B. Five rounds for time of:

15 calorie row
15 med ball clean wall balls (surprisingly awful in a spirit-destroing way)
15 pull-ups.

Took me 18:18.