Getting Ahead

Feeling a little stiff today. I don't really know why because I pretty much lounged all day yesterday. This is the last week of the regular season for track. I got two dual meets and Conference meet to cram in this week so getting to the gym is gonna be rough. Lots of standing around so I'm sure I'll be feeling it by the end of the week. Gonna see how much I can cram in tonight at Prevail.

Strength
Power Snatch + OHS --- 65-75% x 1+1 x 7
Progressions - 95(3) --- 145 - 145 - 145 - 155 - 155 - 165 - 165
- I was coming in on a little bit of time crunch rushing to the gym from practice. For as stiff as I felt, my warm up was not as good as it should have been. I felt it during my first 3 sets. My first set, I was completely on my toes for the OHS. I descended too fast. It was just terrible. Second set was a little better. The third set I was finally feeling a good groove in my mechanics and my body temp was finally starting to rise. I was very pleased with my last 4 sets. The snatches had good snap at the hips and strong punch on the receive. I focused a lot on keeping that bar path closer with a tighter pull. On the OHSs, I kept control all the way down and paused for a 2 count at the bottom to get comfortable there and really focus on finding my heals and that last inch or two of depth. Felt good.

WOD 1
4 rds FT:
 20 Walking Lunges
 10 C2D Push Ups (all UB)
 10 Ring Dips (UB/UB/UB/5-2-1-1-1)
= 4:13
Rest 1:00
Bonus rd = 7:09 (push ups still UB, ring dips 2-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1)
 -This was a decent WOD. It wasn't all that bad until the 4th round and it just slammed me on the ring dips. I was cruising through it at a pretty pace and then my ring dips just disappeared. I took a minute rest and was gonna try and squeeze 2 more rounds in, but my ring dips were just gone so I called it at one. I didn't see a point in continuing with that pace. My arms were pretty gassed up to say the least when I was done.

Make Up Strength
Find a 1RM Weighted Pull Up
58#

Cash Out
50 T2B (fewest sets possible)
11-6-10-11-5-5-2 = 7
- Continues to be work in progress, but I'm feeling a lot more comfortable in the kip.

WOD 2
3 rds FT:
 150' OH Carry (snatch grip; 135#)
 150' Tire Flip
= 10:33
- This was a fun one. I won't be able to make it in tomorrow and I was still feeling good so I decided to throw this one together. I haven't gotten to use the tire yet so why not, right? The OHCs felt good. The last carry was starting to get tough, especially the last 75'. The tire flips weren't bad, until the last 75' of the second round. My legs started to go, then my back started to tighten, my lungs were pushing it. I was having some fun with it that's for sure. The third round of flips got me! I stopped and bent over on the tire 2-3 times to get my wind back a bit. I did this one solo. If I was being pushed, I bet I could get inside the low 9s, maybe high 8s. Definitely a fun WOD. Gonna have to play with both movements some more.

Oly. - Snatch / C & J

Feeling pretty sluggish and very tight today. Surprisingly, no pain after the foolish thing I did last night. Gonna ease into it today and see how I feel. Plan is to work both lifts through ascending percentages.


OWOD


Descending progressions with PVC and bar

Snatch --- 60%x3 - 70%x2, 75%x2, 80%x2, 85%x1x3
95(3) --- 135 - 155 - 165 - 175 - 190 (F-1-F-F-F-1-1)
- SLOW. That is the easiest way to describe today's OWOD. I felt like I had no speed in my hips to get the bar up and I felt very slow during my pull to get under the bar. I had no misses til I got to 85%. My flexibility was an issue today. I noticed that early as I was having to turn my feet way out at the bottom of my catch. I used straps for most of the reps as well since my grip was pretty raw and fatigued from the night before. My misses were caused from swinging the bar out instead of pulling it up. Couldn't get everything to sit back. CT caught it for me and mentioned it. That was definitely the issue because the last 2 reps were solid, except for the flexibility issues at the bottom.

I bailed on the C & J work due to time restraints and fatgiue. Another day.

Getting Caught Up

I'm feeling pretty stiff from yesterday's WOD. I got out of bed this morning and my calves and ankles were stiff as a board and my thighs were tired. I loosened up a little bit as the day went on, but not very much. I had some doubts about how tonight was gonna go down.

Strength
Find a new Deadlift 1RM.
bar(10)-135(10)-185(8)-225(5)-275(5)-315(3) --- 365 - 405 - 425 - 445 - 475 - 505
- Kept my sweater on the entire WOD so I could keep my back nice and toasty. As fatigued as I felt I wanted to make sure I stayed nice and warm between sets. I took some extra warm ups sets because I was having a hard time finding my groove. I felt strong and smooth all the way up to 475. I thought 475 was 485 when I lifted it...used that lift to make the choice to go to 505 for a PR only to realize (once 505 was loaded) that 485 was actually 475. The 20# jump sounded a lot better than the 30# jump based upon the speed and smoothness of the pull. To get to 505 we had to tape 5# plates on top of the bumpers because there was no room left on the bar. I attempted the lift and stood it up, but I can't count it as a PR. After turning into a hunchback (yes I know...shame on me...first fault), I got the bar above my knees and paused (second fault), and then finished the lift. At the pause, one of the 5# plates fell off (third fault). I feel foolish and blessed all at the same time. I've spent a lot of time and money fixing my back problems since the Fall. My stubborn arrogance tonight, chasing a PR, could have set me back months of hard work to get where I am today. Chris recorded the lift for me, I was disgusted with myself that I held on and didn't make the smart choice to let go as I reviewed the lift. I feel very blessed that I didn't hurt myself tonight, but also pleased with the strength gains I've made to protect it during such a bad lift as well.

WOD
"Grace"
30 Clean and Jerks (135#)
=1:50 (:08 PR)
- My goal was to sub 1:30 on this. I did this back in Oct. @ 1:58. In Oct., I did the first 20 reps UB at like :50ish. The last 10 reps killed my time. I had high hopes for this one all week and was hoping to pull off my goal. I was disappointed about the DL fiasco and was hoping to use some of that to fuel me on the WOD.
I struggled to find a groove during the first 10 reps. At rep 18 my grip just blew apart and I had to let go. I did doubles the rest of the way with 2-3 singles mixed in. Mentally I lost a lot of steam when I had to let go at 18. I tried to fight through and stay quick on the bar as best I could. Somewhere between 19-30 I lost count and I have no clue where. We ran two heats so I had plenty of people cheering me on and doing there own count. Everyone had me at 31-32 reps, instead of 30. I thought I only did 30. Luckily, my wife recorded it and I definitely did 31 reps. You can't see the clock in the vid though so I'm not comfortable taking the time from that as my official time. I'll stick with the 1:50 for now and just have to hit that sub 1:30 on my next date with my favorite girl.

 Cash Out
2 - 80' OH Barbell Carries (135#)

A Little Closer

Feeling well rested today. I didn't get a chance to OWOD last night. Instead I had the pleasure of watching K Tuck perform some pretty sweet looking barbell gymnastics and almost PR! I had a blast watching her lift and I'm sure my legs enjoyed the rest. Still feeling strong...no kinks in the armor showing yet. Got two more PRs to hit still this week!

Strength
Find Front Squat 1RM
bar(10)-135(10)-185(8)-225(3) --- 275 - 315 - 335 - 355 - 375 PR - 385
- I was feeling good when I hit the gym this evening. Didn't take me long at all to loosen up and get into it. I built up like I usually do. Felt really good coming out of the hole and had a lot of snap. I hit 335 and knew 375 was going up today. I hit 375 and thought 385 was doable...I was wrong! Once again...just gotta keep chipping away. I got another step closer today!

Front Squat 375#

WOD

12:00 AMRAP

 200m Run

 10 Box Jumps (24")

 5 Thrusters (95#)

= 7

- My goal was to beat the runners today. All the runners got somewhere in the 6s today. I knew run was short enough I could move fast through it and weight was light enough to not be a problem. The question was could I fight through enough to keep moving on the box jumps. Every round was UB on everything. I used the run to catch my breath. Coming in from the run, I would walk from the door to the box just to calm down and then I'd start jumping. I lost my groove every once in awhile, but I wouldn't call it a break...rebounded just about every dang rep. Thrusters were fast and didn't start to burn til the 5th round. I finished the last thruster, to complete 7 rds, at the buzzer. 

I was very pleased with my effort tonight. Fought through some suck. Made the decision to keep pushing, instead of dropping. Never looked at the clock..stayed focused on my goal! Chalk one up for the Clydesdale crew!

Cash Out

1:00 ME C2D Push Ups

= 43

Double PR!

4/22/12

WOD
3 rds FT:
 500m Row
 50 DUs
= 8:27


Woke Tuesday morning with nothing, but squatting on mind! Wasn't sure what to expect as far as PRing goes, but I knew I had improved. I PR'd 2-3 weeks in to the cycle. If you look back I tried to change to those numbers and that didn't work out well so I've been working off of a lower max this entire cycle. I know my back has gotten stronger and my form has gotten better so I was pretty sure I was gonna PR again tonight.

Strength
Find new Back Squat 1RM
bar(10)-135(10)-185(8)-225(5)-275(3)-315(2) --- 365 - 405 - 430 - 460 PR - 475
- Kept my hoodie on the entire time so I would stay warm and keep a good sweat going. I felt really solid. Trying to eat clean these days and I think that may have hurt me just a bit. On the way to the gym, my energy was dropping so I slammed a few protein bars for a boost. Got under the weight and I didn't have that "pop" I've had for the last few weeks. Bar felt heavy at 365 :( Made it to 430 and felt good. Went to 460 and it put up a pretty good fight. I knew I might have one more good push in me so I made the jump to 475 and started out of the hole and bailed because I just slowed down too much. The goal was to close the 500 gap as much as possible. Chipped away at it a little more today and I'm happy with that. It'll come!

Back Squat 460#

5:00 REST

Find new Press 1RM
bar(10)-95(10)-135(5) --- 165 - 185 - 205 - 225 PR - 230
- Had to pull double duty because I was a day behind in maxes. I knew I blew through a lot of energy in squats so I just wanted to get this one done. I knew from the past few weeks of the cycle where I was gonna end up at anyway. I haven't PRd in press since last June so I was well over due here! I used a false grip and drove it straight through. Went up so easy I was convinced I may have another 5#...hahaha...I was wrong! Extremely happy with the start of the week...2 PRs...solid!!

WOD
15 Snatch (125#)
15 Ring Push Ups
12 Snatch (145#)
12 Ring Push Ups
9 Snatch (165#)
9 Ring Push Ups
= 6:51
- I was pumped for this WOD when I saw it on the schedule. I enjoy ladders. If I would do this one again I would change the weights to 135, 155, 175 just for the sake of the weight change. Having to deal with the 5# plate became a pain chasing around. Really focused on being as fast as I could while keeping my technique as sound as possible. It worked well. I made sure my set up was square every time and it paid off. I didn't miss any reps the entire ladder. I caught a few early ones on my toes rushing through a little faster than I should have. The ring push ups were cake all were UB. The only thing I noticed the push ups do was burn up my thighs and core from staying in the plank.

Great night at Prevail!!

Cash Out
30 GHD Back Ext. (25#) (20-10)
30 GHD Rev. Hypers

Hanging In There

Feeling a little sluggish this morning. My shoulders were achy and my hands were real tender. Plan on easing into some Oly work for both lifts after coaching class.

OWOD
Hang Snatch (Below the Knee) --- 75% x 2 x 5
Progressions with PVC & Bar
95-135 --- 165 - 165 - 165 - 165 - 165
- Warmed up with the class and then cooled down again as I coached. My right shoulder was giving my some pinching the whole morning in the OH position. I was struggling to grip the bar so I through on the straps for the last 4 sets. I missed one of the reps in the 1st set. The wraps helped me focus on knee pass better. I was struggling to find my heels during the warm up sets and the 1st set. Once I put the straps on I had no problems...solid posture through the pass, sweep back, hard punch, heels down. Started out rough, but finished up being a great snatch session.

Hang Cleans (Below the Knee) --- 75% x 2 x 5
185 --- 230 -230 - 230 - 230 -230
- No straps for cleans. Got through first set and my thumbs were just raw from hook gripping. Wrapped em up in some tape and finished the sets. Weight felt easy through all 5 sets. Good posture and a nice deep receive made for an easy front squat. My thumbs were ready to pop after every second rep though.

Snatch Balance --- 4 x 3
- I bailed on these. I've had a lot of OH work this week. I did one rep with 135# and my shoulder didn't like that very much. I had a good session up to this point so I called it a day. Next time.

Lonely Friday

Shoulders and stomach are pretty tore up from yesterday's work. It's a good soreness though, not enough to keep me out of the gym tonight. We had a really light Friday crowd. I kind of slipped in between the two last classes. Charlie showed up just in time to WOD with me.

Strength
Front Squats --- 5@60%, 5@65%, 5@70%, 5@75%
bar(10)-135(8)-185(6) --- 220 - 240 - 255 - 275
- Loads are a little light this week. Felt strong and flexible tonight. No issues in the back or my heels. Good night of squat work. I've missed most of the early weeks of the front squat work thanks to wrestling season and the Open WODs so I'm not quite sure what to expect next week with maxes. We will see what it brings.

WOD
30' Broad Jumps (down & back)
 10 Pull Ups
 10 K2E
Broad Jumps
 8s
Broad Jumps
 6s
Broad Jumps
 4s
Broad Jumps
 2s
= 3:52
- This one snuck up on me. I didn't think this was gonna be a tough one at all. I got through the round of 10 about the same time as Charlie. Got back to the bar for 8s and BAM...arms just went. Holding on to the bar for the pull ups got rough quick after having to hold on for the K2Es. My abs fatigued fast after the work they got last night. Getting through the 8s and 6s were work. Did the K2Es on the 4s and 2s as singles. Charlie beat me by a second or two! That boy is fast on some K2Es!! I'd be slightly ahead of him on the pull ups (sometimes), he'd blow by me on the K2E (everytime), and then I'd play catch up and pull ahead on the broad jumps every stinkin' round. Solid push and nice WOD to end the week on!