Times Running Out

Only 3 weeks left in the year....if you haven't reached your goals yet...dig deep..put the work in...MAKE IT HAPPEN!!

Found the Secret Weapon

Man...what a night! We ran a mock Oly meet tonight at Prevail. I had 3 attempts to get my best Snatch and my best Clean & Jerk. Everything felt great. I didn't miss a rep throughout my entire Snatch routine. I stuck 225 to open, then 235 (old PR), then walked out 245 (10# PR)...the bar was moving too good tonight so I had to give 250 (even though it didn't count as one of my 3 attempts). What do ya know!!! I STUCK THAT SON OF A GUN TOO!! Which just happen to be my year end goal!!!

Moved on to Clean & Jerk feeling good still. Energy was still pretty high and my legs felt great. Took a few reps at 225 to get my wrists and shoulders ready for the jerk. My jerk wasn't as snappy as Tuesday night, but it was still feeling pretty good. I opened at 305, attempted 320 and got spit out pretty good...

thought about doing 320 again, but that little voice in my head convinced me that I had enough pull for 325 left and that would be another year end goal if I got it...well, that little voice was right...unfortunately, the storage on my phone only had a enough room to get the clean portion..bummer...but here it is...

What was the secret weapon I found? Let's just say, to a non-coffee drinker, a small Peppermint Mocha from McDonalds can give you one heck of an energy boost when needed! 

Always One or the Other

Well I made it through Thanksgiving without turning into a butterball myself! Had some good times with the family and froze my butt off bird watching (hunting) with some buddies for two days over the break.
Had some really solid WODs and not some really crappy ones too. I've been adding some extra conditioning workouts at school. Nothing crazy just some sprint intervals, agility, and plyo work. I have a lot of gymnasts in class this year, that are pretty darn good. I've been picking their brains on handstands and handstand walks lately. My longest walk so far has been a little over 20'. I'll try and get some video footage of that soon.

If you are looking for some suck...here is a good one...
4 rounds FT:
 10 Thrusters (135)
 10 Burpees
= 8:02
- This got bad real fast.

Lifts are going well. I've changed my set up a bit. Trying to start with lower hips and a more vertical posture. Flexibility is getting there. It's not solid yet, but I feel a big difference coming and finishing my second pull. It's helping me get more vertical at the pockets. I'm feeling a lot more power from the legs at lift off and the hips at extension. I actually missed a few snatches the other night because I was surprised at how easy and fast everything was coming off my hip. I thinking about it so much mid lift that I lost focus in the catch.

My jerk has been feeling really good lately. When it comes to the clean and jerk I always seem to hitting one or the other smoothly and can never be both with me. When my clean is one, my jerk is off and vice versa. Here is a crack at 295# from last night. I'm forward at the floor too much and I pay for it  on my catch, but my jerk is the best it's been in months.

I also managed to hit a 20# PR on my Front Squat 3RM last week. Feeling very strong there...405 is close. 

Front Squat 3RM (PR) @ 355# (92% of 1RM)

Closer and Closer

One of my big goals before the year ends is to get a 405 Front Squat. I feel like I'm closing the gap, which is only at 15# from the last 1RM I did. I hit a 3RM at 335 on Friday and made it look easy. Here it is...

After this I suffered through Angie @ a miserable 24:25. Not a very good effort at all. 

Headed into Highwood to hit the boys up at CF PFT for an Oly session. Wasn't expecting much because of how sore I was from Angie the day before, but surprised myself by building all the way up to a PR attempt at 240. My best attempt ever at it was on the 2nd try. I had it slotted and just folded. I think surprised myself a little and fatigue from Angie was to blame. I tried one more time, but it wasn't there...but I am that much closer to it though...here is the vid of that 2nd attempt...(2nd pull is still a work in progress...not nearly as sharp or aggressive as I would like to see it)

Things Are Coming Along

Here are vids from some of the past week's sessions. Morning Oly sessions with Chris are really starting to payoff. We've been following a Mon-Tue schedule from Outlaw (just the Oly stuff). Lots of hangs and block work so far. I was pretty rusty when starting up again and each session my positions are getting stronger and better. Patience in my pull is starting to come along and my 2nd pull in my Clean is starting to smooth out again as well. No crazy weight PRs as of yet, but they are definitely going to be coming soon. On top of the morning Oly sessions we just started an Oly emphasis strength cycle so adding lots of volume. Body has handled it well so far. Picked up some quick and easy warm up tricks from the Kendrick Farris seminar I was able to attend recently, which has made getting ready much easier. My bodyweight is at 230# right now gonna start heading back down to 210-15 so I can compete in the 94k weight class at some lifting comps next year...it's gonna be a rough ride through the holiday season!

Enjoy the vids!

295# Clean & Jerk off the blocks...also did 305#...stuck it...but it was ugly!

225# 3 pos. Clean & Jerk 

195# Hang Snatch dbl

185# Hi Block Snatch 

In a Different Direction

So this Fall has been a busy one and I just don't see it slowing down anytime soon. The blog has been somewhat of a burden trying to keep up and that's not at all what is what meant to be. I won't be keeping it up daily anymore. From now on it'll be an update type thing once a week or every two weeks. I'll post some vids and or any PRs and maybe some rants or more inspirational stuff if I really find some time.

It's been almost a full year since starting this thing. I was checking on my Challenge page to be reminded of my progress and focus for the next few months. I've hit 4 out of 7 goals on my lifts. I'm 5# away from my Press goal, 10# away from my Clean & Jerk (Clean has actually surpassed, but the Jerk is not there), and 15# away from my Snatch goal. Going to refocus on getting as close to these as I can by year end.

CT & I have added some Oly morning sessions twice a week before we head to work and come back in the evening for regular strength/WOD. I'm sure the time spent will be well worth it.

As for my last few weeks of training, we've been in a pretty intense squat cycle. I had a some great sessions under the bar and am looking forward to this last week. My latest Back Squat 5RM was a PR at 405#...here is the vid....

405 for 5

I've had some struggles in other areas. One night called for a Clean & Jerk heavy single and I had 3 strikes at 305# on the clean (this was a moment that led to our new morning sessions). I came real close to OHSing 285# on a barbell complex. I did half of heavy Grace (225#) in 4:45 before an Oly class. I had 5:00 to lift before class because I was running late and had some distractions. I was hoping to get at least 20...I'll try the full 30 in a few more weeks. I posted a Hi Hang Snatch 3RM PR at 175, which felt good. I also got 225# up on a 20 min Snatch single session over the past weekend. 

So I'll see ya in a few with more good stuff to share hopefully. 

Another Back Squat PR

Arms are finally starting to feel better from earlier in the week. Hamstrings are pretty tight from the hang work yesterday, but feeling good otherwise.

Strength
Back Squat - 20 mins. to est. 5RM
bar(10) - 135(8) - 185(5) - 225(5) ---- 275 - 315 - 365 - 385 - 395 PR
- Happy about this one. It's been a while since I've squatted with my busy schedule so I was glad to put the bar on my back tonight. I had hopes of 405, but it'll come! 395 was well earned. Almost lost it on the last rep about two-thirds of the way up, but was able to fight it out. Looking forward to the rest of this cycle.

WOD
"Death By 10m"
= 16 + 14
- I needed a good sweat wod and this great for the rough week back. We did this one a little over a year ago, just after Prevail opened and I got one less rep (16+14). My awesome wife actually gave me the extra motivation to push a little harder today. My legs were pretty tight and heavy after squatting so I was thinking ending at 16 or somewhere in the 15s for the day. She stayed with me every rep to 16. We finished with 3 seconds left. She stopped and I kept going. At that point I beat her and i just wanted to be done. I really did try to make 17, but it wasn't happening. Now I said my wife was AWESOME and I meant it because we got home and she looked back at her old score from a year ago and she beat it by 4 whole rounds. I'm so proud of the hard work she has put in and progress she has made because of it...not just physically, but mentally as well.