Love It When a Plan Comes Together

As usual I headed into the gym early to get my Oly session in. I'm really starting to enjoy these early Saturday morning sessions. Rolling up the bay doors and lifting with the Sun coming up being solo in the gym has a pretty sweet vibe to it. Took yesterday completely off and just hung out with the family. Still feeling a little the squats from Wednesday a bit, but I got loose pretty easily. Time to get to work.

Mock Meet
Snatch - warm up and take your best 3 attempts
bar progressions
95(3) - 135 - 155 - 175 - 185 - 195 - 205 --- 215(93%) - 220(96%) - 225(98%)
- Right away I knew this was gonna be one of those sessions where everything goes right. I felt fast through the middle and solid at the bottom. No problems in front. In fact, I stapled my feet to floor all and held a short pause at the bottom before standing each one up on all three attempts. Cleanest attempts I've made to date. Has me very excited about the possibilities of next Saturday.

Clean & Jerk - warm up and take your best 3 attempts
225-245-265-275-285 --- 295(93%) - 305(96%) - 310(98%)
- Rushed through this in about 20 minutes. Felt real good with weight. 295 was a little sloppy on the jerk, but passable. 305 I failed the jerk. I lost focus on the dip to fatigue I think. The clean felt strong so I decided to move past it because I know I've got it in the tank. Took a little longer to rest before attempting 310, initially I planned on 315. Clean was good. Jerk was the strongest and fastest of the 3...probably would have been fine with 315.


Closing Thoughts
 My last meet I totaled 215 (S:90; C&J:125). If I hit the numbers I did today I will be extremely pleased with the results regardless of where I finish. Depending on how I feel that day I may bump my first attempts up to 95-96% and possibly chase some PRs on my 3rds if all goes as planned.
 I'm extremely pleased with the Oly program I've put together over the last few weeks. I've never felt this comfortable at 90+% of my 1RMs, much less made this many successful lifts this often at these higher percentages. I had my doubts after a few bad sessions in the last two weeks, but held tight to the programming. I came out of today feeling great and exactly how I hoped I would. Very excited to see everything come together next weekend!

Breakin' a Sweat!

Yesterday's squats did a number on me so I didn't make it to the track and instead got some rest my body was craving. Felt stiff and sore, but very energetic today. Spent some time playing the water withe kids today...and man did it feel good! I was having flashbacks of my Summers in Southern California today. Caught the last class of the day at Prevail this evening. I was drenched by the end! Gotta love a good sweat!

Strength
BTN Snatch Grip Push Press - doubles 5:00 EMOM; heavy as possible
bar(10)-95(5)-135(5)-185(3)-225(3) --- 245 - 265 - 265 - 265 - 275 - 275
- Modified normal PP a bit to work on some stuff for Oly. I'm glad I raised it up for the last two sets...they were well earned. Good work on the shoulders tonight.

WOD
Tabata D, D, S (DUs, Ring Dips, & Sit Ups)
DUs = 40 - 35 - 26 - 34 - 30 - 27 - 30 - 35
Ring Dips = 10 - 9 - 7 - 7 - 6 - 6 - 6 - 6
Sit Ups (anchored w/ 20# slam ball on my chest) =10 - 9 - 9 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10 - 10
- This was a good little number. I was a little disappointed in the DUs. I was hoping to maintain at least a 30. On both rounds when I dropped below I had one miss, but the rope got tangled on top of the miss. I had misses in the two 30 rounds too, but the rope was easy to get started again.
  Moving to the dips was interesting. I was expecting to somewhat fresh, but my shoulders were starting to fatigue fast. I used every bit of kip I could muster to get those rounds of 6.
  I added the anchor and weight because I wanted a little more than just regular old sit ups. GHD is out of the question. Every time I try and add it into my training it tweaks my back just enough to let me know it's not a good movement for me. The added weight had me burning up the last 4-5 sets. The anchor allowed me to use my hip flexors similar to a GHD.
  I looked like I jumped into a pool afterwards. It always feels good to be drenched in your own sweat after a workout.

Cash Out
ME DH Pull Ups  x 3 - 13 - 11 - 9 (done at home earlier in the day)
GH Raises - 3 x 10
- Felt good about both of these. Numbers are going up on the pull ups and I'm feeling stronger and stronger on the GHRs. My first set of 10 was great. My last set was well earned.

Lots and Lots of Legs

As I write this tonight I can feel the DOMS creeping into my thighs. Last two days I've put a lot pressure on em. Gettin' a little tight, but I'm recovering well. Golfed for the first time in 2 years yesterday...it reminded me why I don't try to get out anymore...I'm terrible. I'm pretty content being terrible that way though so it's okay. I have my shots here and there, but I do enjoy a good cart ride in the sun. It'll be a long time before I ever play 18 holes again though. My ADD can't handle being on the course that long. Here's the run down of the last two days.

6.26.12
Hill Work @ Hart's Hill
5 bounds x 5 (roughly 48' covered)
50yd Sprints x 10 (:75 Rest)
- Stayed with the same volume this week because of the comp coming up. I probably will skip the hill next week altogether until the comp is done. Took the rest time down to see how my lungs and legs would respond. Still felt real good. Actually, I think I recovered faster and better than last week when I gave myself more time.


6.27.12
OWOD
Snatch - 20:00 to a heavy single (more like 30)
bar progressions
95(3)-115(2)-135-155-165-175-185-195-205- 215 - 215 - 215 -215 - 215 - 215
- As I headed North on this one I was feeling really good. I actually thought til 215 that it might be a PR type of day. 207 is 90% so I'm still working in the range that I would like to be in. I would like to be a little more consistent heading into the comp, but we'll see. Turnover is killing me right now. I was supposed to some Snatch pulls, but with all the misses today I figured I would skip them. I recorded my 3rd attempt, but of course I made it easy so the vid wasn't much help. I used straps today once I got above 200 because my forearms were just fatigued...maybe from golfing...I don't know.

Back Squat - Doubles; 10:00 EMOM @ 80-90%
135(8)-225(8)-315(5) ---
365 - 365 - 365 - 385 - 385 - 385 - 405 - 405 - 405 - 405
- Needed some nice heavy lifting to blow some frustration off from the Snatch work. Been wanting to do some ME work on squats for awhile now. Looking back I would have done 365 x 2, 385 x 2, 405 x 3, and 415 x 3. Don't get me wrong those last 4 sets of 405 were well earned, but I would have like to have gotten to 415 for at least 2 sets. Not gonna get back to 500 taking the easy way out. I have to keep that in mind when going under the bar more consistently.

WOD
10-1
  KB Swings (53#)   (All UB)
1-10
  Box Jumps (30")   (yep..I had some misses and pauses)
= 5:27
- I've never done tall box jumps before and now that I've done em...I don't get all the fuss about em. If any thing they seemed a little easier to rebound off of them because you had to slow down and step off correctly. Once you get used to the drop, I don't think it's any different than a regular 24" box. KB swings were money tonight, usually they tear my POC up. I should have used the bigger bell, but I was more focused on working the box jumps than anything else.

Rough Morning

Been feeling a little tight, but good energy wise. I got some running work in yesterday and woke up early for an Oly session today. Getting my body moving early in the morning is proving to be pretty difficult.

6.21.12
Endurance WOD
200m x 10 (:90 REST)
*keep splits within 2-3 seconds
Runs 1-5 = :39-:42
Runs 6-10 = :40-:41
- This started off as a mess. I really wanted to get on a track to do this WOD so I wouldn't have to deal with any sharp turns or down and back business., but it didn't work out that way. I took a tour of 3 local high schools and arrived at each one to find the PE classes or football programs using them or it was under construction. After all that, I ran at home. Recovered well between runs. Solid effort.


6.22.12

OWOD
Snatch - 20:00 to establish a 1RM
bar progressions
115(3)-135(3)-155-175-185- 195 - 195 - 195 - 195
 5:00 REST
Power Clean & Push Jerk - 20:00 establish a 1RM
135 - 185 - 225 - 245 - 275
- Late night at the drive in made for a rough morning. Visited my buddy down at TIU for this session. I remember the equipment being in slightly better shape and I'll leave it at that. It was different and that was probably good. I've gotten pretty comfortable lifting at Prevail and using the same equipment all the time.  I think it was good mentally just to adapt to a different place and equipment. I had a poor attitude from the beginning and that carried over into my lifting. Cashed in my chips early.


 WOD
50 DUs   [UB]
10 Cleans (135#)   [UB]  
40 DUs   [1 MISS]
8 Cleans (145#)   [5-3]
30 DUs   [3 MISSES]
6 Cleans (155#)   [3-3]
20 DUs   [1 MISS]
4 Cleans (165#)   [UB]
10 DUs    [UB]
2 Cleans (175#)   [UB]
 = 6:35
- Frustrated about this morning's Oly session I snuck in to Prevail this afternoon to do yesterday's WOD. Heard some times from friend's and wanted to see what I could do with it. The clean ladder was supposed to start at 115# and end at 155#, but I felt that was too light for me, plus I'd rather just start with a plate on the bar.
  Transitions were fast. I used clips for the round of 10 only. Lost my grip on the bar in the round of 8. Dropped the bar in the round of 6...legs were starting to burn!! Had some misses on the rope, but it never took me long to get it together again and start swinging. I was pretty winded after the first two rounds. Happy with this one. Definitely allowed me to get some frustration out!

Cash Out
GH Raise - 3 x 8
Hip Exten. - 3 x 10 (25#)

Not Fast Enough

Got up early today for some Oly work at Prevail. Felt a little stiff, but well rested. Need to get my morning mojo back because I sure didn't have it today.

OWOD
Snatch - 7 x 1
Bar Prog.
95(3)-135(3)-155-175 ---
185 - 195 - 205 - 215 -215 -215 - 205
- Wheels just fell right off this morning. I felt good through warm ups and solid on the ladder up. I stuck 205 clean and at that point thought I'd be moving up to 225-230ish again today....insert SCREECHING BRAKE NOISES. I got to 215 and fell apart. I don't know if my back just started to fatigue or what. My pull started coming out and when I tried to bring it back in on the next two reps everything just felt off. Following my 3 strike rule, I brought it back down to 205. I got it, but it was UGLYYY!! Some days you got it and some days you don't. Added some more volume to the body this week probably just needing some time to adjust.

Back Squat - 5-3-1+@75-85-95% [425]
225(8)-275(5) --- 320 - 365 - 405(6)
- Surprise Surprise!! I got under the bar at 225 and thought 405 was gonna be pretty rough today. Thought the same thing after hitting 365 for 3. The bar felt light at 405 for some reason and I hit 3 without pausing and gained some motivation for 3 more. I found a nice bounce out of the bottom and called it at 6. 7 or 8 was a definite possibility!

Snatch Pulls - 4 x 3 (heaviest possible)
225 - 235 - 245 - 255


WOD
"Jackie"
1000m Row   [3:43; 20 s/m; damper@6]
50 Thrusters (45#)   [all UB]
30 Pull Ups   [15-5-2-2-2-2-2]
= 7:21 (:54 PR from Dec 11)
- Real happy about this one! Last time I blew everything I had in row and died on the thrusters and finished with a time of 8:15. A took this one on a little smarter this time. Took my time on the row, I think it was probably still a little too fast. Very pleased I pulled the thrusters off UB. I had a lot of pauses to shake my legs out, but I never dropped the bar (CT made sure of that). Got to the pull up bar and was hoping to get 20 on the first set, but couldn't. I probably could have gutted out a 3-3-2-2 on the last 10 to shave off a few more seconds, but oh well.
 I was real happy to see this one come up for two reasons. Two of my best friends did it recently and they both beat me, so I was anxious to settle the score (I lost to the small one by 6 seconds and smoked the big one by about 40 seconds). The competition I will be participating in has a modified Jackie as one of the WODs I will have to do on day 2, so this was a good practice session.

That's Alot of Suck

Got up nice an early while the weather was still nice and headed out the door for the first hill run of the Summer. I've been running hills since I was in high school for conditioning. "The Hill" was a terrible thing. I have many fond memories of it and have yet to find a hill that even comes close to it's nastiness. I hated it while I was in high school, but I never stopped running them after I graduated because I learned they were one of the best things out there to develop leg power and lung capacity.

Hill Work
4 bound x 4
50yd Sprints x 10 (60-90 sec REST)
- Wanted to find out where my legs were on this first run so I kept the volume on low side. Goal was to remain fast through the sprint. As my legs get stronger I plan on adding volume/length of runs. Felt pretty good when I was done.

Strength
Push Press - 5-3-1+@75-85-95% [255]
bar(12)-95(8)-135(5)-165(5) --- 195 - 220 - 245(4)
- Presses felt good. Didn't think I had 4 in the tank at 245, but CT convinced me otherwise.

WOD
12:00 AMRAP
   200m Run
   10 Burpee Box Jumps (24")
= 5+200m
- This was terrible! It was hot and humid. I was hurting. I made it inside the door from the run right as time expired and I was done! Goal was 5 rounds at the beginning of the WOD so I'm happy I got it because after 3 rounds I didn't think I was gonna make it. That was a tough one.

Cash Out
HSPU practice

Three Wheels

Woke up excited for the week. My wife is on vacation this week and we got to celebrate out 6 year Anniversary today. Got some fun things planned this week with family. Early morning workouts start tomorrow.

OWOD
Clean & Jerk - 8 x 1
bar progressions
135(3+1)-155(2+1)-175(2+1)-185(2+1) ---
205 - 225 - 245 - 265 - 285 - 295 - 305 - 315 PR!!
-  Wasn't quite sure what to expect tonight. I was feeling well rested heading into the gym. I was dripping in sweat by the time I finished warming up. Feeling a lot more confident with heavier weight and a lot more comfortable with the changes I've made to my set up. Was catching the bar a little off during my first few working sets. I got into a groove at 285 and just kept moving. This was a big PR for me. I've cleaned more this when I was younger, but I've never been able to put this much over head. My goal was to try and be better than I used to be...today I did just that!!

Clean Pulls - 4 x 3 (heaviest possible)
315- 325 - 335 - 345

DH Pull Ups - 5 x 3 w/ 53#

Clean & Jerk 315#