On Tuesday I was reminiscing about the Hopper event, thinking about where I could have done better. There are several obvious places. In the first WOD, my unfamiliarity with OH squats slowed me down because I was unsure of my ability having never done a high amount of reps before. My pushups were extremely weak at the time and I had never done a single bastard. For the deadlift, I know I could have pulled more weight then I did. With all those people around your adrenaline alone is good for blowing a PR out of the water. I would have planned my attempts differently. For the third WOD, I was still getting comfortable with double unders, I had never done a single push jerk (only split jerks) and I forgot to kip on the toes to bar.
Since the Hopper I have done high rep workouts with OH squats, my push ups have improved immensely and I have done many bastards. My deadlift is still right around where it was, but I have a better idea of how to compete with it. My skill level on double unders has probably increased the most since the competition along with my ability and comfort with the push jerk. I am confident that I could have dropped a few places if I were to compete in the condition I am in now.
With that being said, during my reminiscing, I was trying to imagine lifts that I am not, at least, comfortable with. I feel pretty confident that I can complete any workout I am faced with as rx'd. Except, probably, below parallel HSPU! Don't get me wrong, I am a slightly old, slightly rusted, in need of an oil change, MACHINE at 3/4range HSPU. When I am forced to go the extra two inches to the floor, well, then I become, embarrassing. My max head to floor HSPU's is 12. From there my sets quickly go down to 4, 3, 2, 1 and of course 0's. Muscle fatigue sets in fast for me on "dome to floor" HSPU. One of my strongest weaknesses (its a play on words), and something I surely need to work on.
So, Tuesday evening, after having this conversation with myself during my car ride home (sometimes out loud), I checked the already updated Crossfit.com website. The workout for Wednesday was a whole shit ton of HSPU's (weird right?). My debate from the time I looked at the workout until the time I arrived at the gym (about 21 hrs later), was, to RX or not RX???
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
strict dead hang supine grip pull ups
head to floor HSPU
41:00!!
I hope whomever is reading this (besides myself) gives me enough credit to realize that I decided to do this WOD as rx'd. I am confident that I could have done this workout sub 20 without going dome to floor on the HSPU's, hell, I have done 21 in a row before. I decided to focus on a weakness and not worry about the time. All 84 reps were done with my head touching the floor and no kipping. All pull ups were done strict dead hang with supine grip. They were actually quite enjoyable due to the amount of rest I got during the HSPU's. Many times I experienced complete muscle failure. I barely even broke a sweat, I just couldn't physically push myself up on some reps. I failed on at least three HSPU's. I had to take my watch off during this because I was so embarrassed about my time. Whatever, now that I look back, I think I did the right thing. I am much better at dome to floor HSPU's having done this workout rx'd. Although, I am still have a long way to go!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Morning Runs Are Fun Until We Start
AM: Sprints
2 rounds
800m sprint
(rest as needed)
400m sprint
(rest as needed)
200m sprint
(rest as needed)
1) 800m- 2.50 4) 2.52
2) 400m- 1.13 5) 1.13
3) 200m- 0.32 6) 0.31
To be honest, this was really hard. The combination of the early morning, fog and cold weather really made it hard for our bodies to wake up and breath. I felt so heavy, like gravity was trying to bring me down. As the rounds went on we got less groggy but all in all it was brutal. During my second 800m I thought I was going to make a bad time. My body felt tired and slow. When I finished and found out I was only 2 seconds off my previous time, I was surprised. In better conditions I think I could run 800m much faster. As for the final 200m sprint (I use the term sprint loosely, a sprint for me is equivelant to a backwards jog for most athletes), I can't go any faster then I did at my current fitness level. I ran as fast as I could the whole time. I never let up. I am just slow. To decrease that time I would have to work on my technique, which, definitely needs work!
PM:
5 rounds of "Cindy" (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats)
10 clean and jerks, 135 lbs
5 rounds of "Cindy"
10 clean and jerks, 135 lbs
5 rounds of "Cindy"
17:11
Yikes. During this WOD I wanted to quit, after it I was so proud that I finished. Its a smasher, hands down. No way around it. There is nothing in this WOD that you can fail on, nothing too heavy, nothing that requires a lot of rest. You're just constantly going.
I went first and had to endure the filthy stench of a large black man or his sexy latina girlfriend's flatulance. It screwed up my breathing. My brother went after me. The whole time this dude wass using leg press machine after leg press machine after hamstring machine, acting like he was advanced, giving his girl pointers and knowledge on proper ways to lift. Around Collin's fifth round of "Cindy", the dude loads up 4 or 5 (does it really matter??) plates on each side of the leg press machine (let me do the math, subtract the amount of weight that is supported by the machine and ground....he is essentially pressing 150 lbs on a guided machine with no use of stabilizer muscles, while sitting down of course), he is screaming
"ONE....TWWWWOOO.....THTHTHTHHHHREEEE......FFFFFFFFFOOOOOUUR" are you kidding me? He is breathing all heavy. Then he says to his girl who is on the other leg press machine (we all know one is certainly not enough)
"honestly, these two machines (pointing to the leg press machines) are the best exercises for your legs."
Wow, if I had a gun, I would have shot myself, and then, it got bad. Collin finished up his first 5 rounds of "Cindy" and began his clean and jerks. He was on rep 5 or so and Captain Ultra-Novice interupted him to give advice
"you want to make sure you exhale and breath when you press or you'll pass out, I learned the hard way." First of all Black Dyna-might be the dubbest mofo I have ever encountered, I guarentee you have never A) lifted enough weight to pass out from B) lifted weight that is not connected to something C) used a barbell D) pressed anything over your head, and E) that is incorrect!!!! How do you keep a tight core if you are exhaling on the way up? Wait, maybe you should coach Mike Burgenor because he has it all wrong! He says the opposite! You flipping retard, don't stink up the gym hopping from MACHINE TO MACHINE and feel it necesary to preach to people who are actually functional and fit. I did everything I could to stay silent. Thank goodness he started to sweat and had to leave.
2 rounds
800m sprint
(rest as needed)
400m sprint
(rest as needed)
200m sprint
(rest as needed)
1) 800m- 2.50 4) 2.52
2) 400m- 1.13 5) 1.13
3) 200m- 0.32 6) 0.31
To be honest, this was really hard. The combination of the early morning, fog and cold weather really made it hard for our bodies to wake up and breath. I felt so heavy, like gravity was trying to bring me down. As the rounds went on we got less groggy but all in all it was brutal. During my second 800m I thought I was going to make a bad time. My body felt tired and slow. When I finished and found out I was only 2 seconds off my previous time, I was surprised. In better conditions I think I could run 800m much faster. As for the final 200m sprint (I use the term sprint loosely, a sprint for me is equivelant to a backwards jog for most athletes), I can't go any faster then I did at my current fitness level. I ran as fast as I could the whole time. I never let up. I am just slow. To decrease that time I would have to work on my technique, which, definitely needs work!
PM:
5 rounds of "Cindy" (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats)
10 clean and jerks, 135 lbs
5 rounds of "Cindy"
10 clean and jerks, 135 lbs
5 rounds of "Cindy"
17:11
Yikes. During this WOD I wanted to quit, after it I was so proud that I finished. Its a smasher, hands down. No way around it. There is nothing in this WOD that you can fail on, nothing too heavy, nothing that requires a lot of rest. You're just constantly going.
I went first and had to endure the filthy stench of a large black man or his sexy latina girlfriend's flatulance. It screwed up my breathing. My brother went after me. The whole time this dude wass using leg press machine after leg press machine after hamstring machine, acting like he was advanced, giving his girl pointers and knowledge on proper ways to lift. Around Collin's fifth round of "Cindy", the dude loads up 4 or 5 (does it really matter??) plates on each side of the leg press machine (let me do the math, subtract the amount of weight that is supported by the machine and ground....he is essentially pressing 150 lbs on a guided machine with no use of stabilizer muscles, while sitting down of course), he is screaming
"ONE....TWWWWOOO.....THTHTHTHHHHREEEE......FFFFFFFFFOOOOOUUR" are you kidding me? He is breathing all heavy. Then he says to his girl who is on the other leg press machine (we all know one is certainly not enough)
"honestly, these two machines (pointing to the leg press machines) are the best exercises for your legs."
Wow, if I had a gun, I would have shot myself, and then, it got bad. Collin finished up his first 5 rounds of "Cindy" and began his clean and jerks. He was on rep 5 or so and Captain Ultra-Novice interupted him to give advice
"you want to make sure you exhale and breath when you press or you'll pass out, I learned the hard way." First of all Black Dyna-might be the dubbest mofo I have ever encountered, I guarentee you have never A) lifted enough weight to pass out from B) lifted weight that is not connected to something C) used a barbell D) pressed anything over your head, and E) that is incorrect!!!! How do you keep a tight core if you are exhaling on the way up? Wait, maybe you should coach Mike Burgenor because he has it all wrong! He says the opposite! You flipping retard, don't stink up the gym hopping from MACHINE TO MACHINE and feel it necesary to preach to people who are actually functional and fit. I did everything I could to stay silent. Thank goodness he started to sweat and had to leave.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The Weekend
The plan for this weekend was to focus on "Linda" on Friday and plan Saturday and Sunday according to how we felt.
Friday
"Linda"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
JMo- Bodyweight 190 lb
1-1/2 bodyweight deadlift (285 lb)
bodyweight bench press (190 lb)
3/4 bodyweight full squat cleans (142.5 lb)
30:24
CMo- Bodyweight 180 lb
1-1/2 bodyweight deadlift (270 lb)
bodyweight bench press (155 lb)
3/4 bodyweight full squat cleans (135 lb)
30:42
Another benchmark workout that went well. Of course, I am always going to look back and feel like I should have shaved some time off, maybe next time. This workout, more then most really takes a lot of mental strength. After getting through the pain of round one, you think, "I really don't want to do this anymore!" You start to feel like, it may never end. The weight continues to get heavier until you get to the round of 5 reps. Then you can see the light. Before I started I was worried about how my grip would hold up on the deadlifts, if I could even bench 190 once and how terrible the squat cleans would be. The result. My grip held up fine, it was a little tender around the round of 7 but became less of an issue in the later rounds. The bench press, wow, I am amazed that not only could I do 190 (without having benched in several months), but I could do it well! It was actually the easiest part of this WOD. Round 7 through 1 were done unbroken on the bench press. The squat cleans, well, they sucked. I probably wasted the most time here. Luckily, due to lifting heavy weight for the other two stations, 142.5 lbs felt relatively light, unluckily, I had to squat with it 55 times. Basically, I would bang out 5-6 cleans real fast and put the weight down. Then I would have to do sets of 2. I failed on one rep resulting in a sound that none of the bodybuilders had ever heard, the dropping of a loaded barbell. I could see it in their eyes when I had to bail, they were thinking "that dude should really wear some wrist straps so he doesn't drop the weight, or at least sit down when he does the exercise." By this time all the novice lifters had taken a rest from their rest to watch CMo and I murder "Linda." We tried not to get any sweat on the machines, we were unsuccessful.
Saturday
The soreness started to kick in my lower back about 30 minutes after we finished "Linda" yesterday. By the time we got to the gym this morning, it was fully kicked in my back and creeping to my pecs.
5 rounds:
5 hang power snatch, 95 lbs
10 pull ups
15 dumbbell swings, 52.5 lbs
20 sit ups
10:13
We had to think of a WOD that wouldn't require the full use of the muscles we utilized yesterday. Like I said, our focus for this cycle was "Linda," the rest of the weekend was to recover and maintain. This WOD was pretty good, not too difficult. I was able to do everything unbroken, and pretty much not stop. The only brief rest I took was to chalk my hands or, one time, my normal sit up station (the leg press machine I use to anchor my feet, at least its good for something!) was taken by man who thinks the leg press machine is a good way to build muscle, I became a little flustered but ended up doing one round unanchored. The swings were probably the hardest part.
Sunday
Soreness has completely set in my lower back, my chest and every muscle in my trap and scapula area. What should we do today? Use the only part of our body that doesn't hurt! Our legs.
Squats:
135x5
185x3
225x2
245x2
250x2
250x2
250x2
10 minutes after:
50 double unders
21-15-9
dumbbell push press, 40 lb
GHD sit ups
50 double unders
5:08
Well, the squats were fine even though I was sore as hell and pretty tired. Should have gone heavier but frankly, I didn't want to! My body just didn't feel like working efficiently. It took me a few sets to really get stretched out. For the met-con, I did the first 50 double unders unbroken, all of the push press and sit ups unbroken and the last set of double unders 35-15 just because I was tired. If I wouldn't have been such a pussy and just finished them all, maybe I could have got sub 5 minutes. Either way, today was as taxing as it needed to be. Time for a nap.
Friday
"Linda"
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:
JMo- Bodyweight 190 lb
1-1/2 bodyweight deadlift (285 lb)
bodyweight bench press (190 lb)
3/4 bodyweight full squat cleans (142.5 lb)
30:24
CMo- Bodyweight 180 lb
1-1/2 bodyweight deadlift (270 lb)
bodyweight bench press (155 lb)
3/4 bodyweight full squat cleans (135 lb)
30:42
Another benchmark workout that went well. Of course, I am always going to look back and feel like I should have shaved some time off, maybe next time. This workout, more then most really takes a lot of mental strength. After getting through the pain of round one, you think, "I really don't want to do this anymore!" You start to feel like, it may never end. The weight continues to get heavier until you get to the round of 5 reps. Then you can see the light. Before I started I was worried about how my grip would hold up on the deadlifts, if I could even bench 190 once and how terrible the squat cleans would be. The result. My grip held up fine, it was a little tender around the round of 7 but became less of an issue in the later rounds. The bench press, wow, I am amazed that not only could I do 190 (without having benched in several months), but I could do it well! It was actually the easiest part of this WOD. Round 7 through 1 were done unbroken on the bench press. The squat cleans, well, they sucked. I probably wasted the most time here. Luckily, due to lifting heavy weight for the other two stations, 142.5 lbs felt relatively light, unluckily, I had to squat with it 55 times. Basically, I would bang out 5-6 cleans real fast and put the weight down. Then I would have to do sets of 2. I failed on one rep resulting in a sound that none of the bodybuilders had ever heard, the dropping of a loaded barbell. I could see it in their eyes when I had to bail, they were thinking "that dude should really wear some wrist straps so he doesn't drop the weight, or at least sit down when he does the exercise." By this time all the novice lifters had taken a rest from their rest to watch CMo and I murder "Linda." We tried not to get any sweat on the machines, we were unsuccessful.
Saturday
The soreness started to kick in my lower back about 30 minutes after we finished "Linda" yesterday. By the time we got to the gym this morning, it was fully kicked in my back and creeping to my pecs.
5 rounds:
5 hang power snatch, 95 lbs
10 pull ups
15 dumbbell swings, 52.5 lbs
20 sit ups
10:13
We had to think of a WOD that wouldn't require the full use of the muscles we utilized yesterday. Like I said, our focus for this cycle was "Linda," the rest of the weekend was to recover and maintain. This WOD was pretty good, not too difficult. I was able to do everything unbroken, and pretty much not stop. The only brief rest I took was to chalk my hands or, one time, my normal sit up station (the leg press machine I use to anchor my feet, at least its good for something!) was taken by man who thinks the leg press machine is a good way to build muscle, I became a little flustered but ended up doing one round unanchored. The swings were probably the hardest part.
Sunday
Soreness has completely set in my lower back, my chest and every muscle in my trap and scapula area. What should we do today? Use the only part of our body that doesn't hurt! Our legs.
Squats:
135x5
185x3
225x2
245x2
250x2
250x2
250x2
10 minutes after:
50 double unders
21-15-9
dumbbell push press, 40 lb
GHD sit ups
50 double unders
5:08
Well, the squats were fine even though I was sore as hell and pretty tired. Should have gone heavier but frankly, I didn't want to! My body just didn't feel like working efficiently. It took me a few sets to really get stretched out. For the met-con, I did the first 50 double unders unbroken, all of the push press and sit ups unbroken and the last set of double unders 35-15 just because I was tired. If I wouldn't have been such a pussy and just finished them all, maybe I could have got sub 5 minutes. Either way, today was as taxing as it needed to be. Time for a nap.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)