Full body: Conditioning

Personal training with Paul.

Bloody hell, I've got to stop suggesting workouts to Paul. Today's was a killer. I stumbled across a metcon on a Guelph box's website and sent it to Paul because I thought he might like to try it. But no; he made me do it instead (I'll be bloody pissed if he doesn't give it a go!)

2 rounds of max reps:

Burpees: 40 + 29 = 69
Chin-ups: 37 + 27 = 64

Push presses @ 95lb: 27 + 23 = 50
Back squat @ 45 lb: 52 + 40 = 92
Knees to elbows: 27 + 27 = 54

3 minutes per station; 30 seconds of "rest" to transition to the next station.

3 minutes of rest between rounds.

Total reps = 324

Score = 383

There's an option of doing knees to elbows or sit-ups instead, but the k2e reps count double, hence my total score is higher than the total reps.

The presses were the toughest, simply because of the weight. I was pleasantly surprised that my second set was only four reps fewer than the first. The back squats were surprisingly hard because they took my breath away. I took some long breaks during the second set because my head was spinning so much. There was only one failed rep in the whole routine - a chin-up - and the k2es, which were the last movement of each round, were done on auto-pilot. I shut off my mind and just concentrated on getting through the next rep. I've never know 30 seconds pass so quickly nor 3 minutes go so slowly.

I finished off with some sit-ups, none of which was timed.

Full body

I wanted to do some conditioning work today, but I had the most godawful headache. I don't know if it's related, but I decided to cut way back on my caffeine intake. For the past few weeks I've been having some heartburn in the morning, and I couldn't figure out why. I haven't changed from my usual breakfast - oatmeal, 1% milk, flax seed, raisins and apple sauce - so I didn't think it could be that. Then a couple of days ago I read a blog post where the writer said that he'd stopped drinking caffeine because it was causing GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease), and one of the symptoms is heartburn. Decaf coffee is fine, so I've been only drinking that for the past two days. However - and I don't know if this is the cause - I've had a thumping headache for about a day and a half. Perhaps I shouldn't have gone cold turkey, so I'm going to allow myself some caffeine first thing in the morning, but a greatly reduced amount.

Anyway, I took an ibuprofen before I headed to the gym, and that helped somewhat, but there was still a residual ache at the back of my skull that I found distracting more than anything else, so I opted to do some weight work instead of some fast-paced metcons.

Back squats
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 5
195 x 4

That's one rep more at 195lb, plus I think my form was much better today (full rom).

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I copied part of Paul's workout from a short time ago, just to see how I measure up. Paul's scores are in brackets.

Push-ups - 34, 22, 16 (40, 21, 20)
Paul beat me by nine reps in total, but at least I managed one rep more in the second set!

Chin-ups - 15, 10, 9 (15, 10, 9)
I shouted the loudest "Shit!" when I tried and failed to get a 10th chin-up in the last set!

And to finish off...

Leg raises - 21, 17, 12

Upper body

I ate a hell of a lot of food yesterday, but it was all "clean". I would have treated myself and eaten some apple pie IF SOMEONE HAD BOTHERED TO BRING SOME!

Push press - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3, 3
85, 95, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125 (2)

I've put that I managed two reps at 125lb, but - to be honest - they weren't great. I got the bar overhead, but it came down pretty quickly both times. I was doing pretty well up to that point, too, and I felt like I got plenty of power from my hips and shoulders up to 120lb.

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5 rft:
5 power cleans @ 115lb
10 dips
Time = 8:59

All of the cleans were unbroken, although they weren't all t&g. About halfway through this routine I found that my form improved significantly by keeping the bar close to my body during the cleans. However, this new-found knowledge came at a price; when I brought the bar up my shins, I ripped off the deadlift scab on my right leg from a couple of weeks ago. I could feel the blood dripping down and pooling on my top of my sock! Also, I noticed that there were spots of blood on the carpet by the dips station. Ew!

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Chin-ups (strict), max reps
10, 7, 5, 5

Last flex of 2012!

Death by...

I felt a bit meh today - no idea why. I'd planned on doing either Angie or Barbara today, or even Cindy Max, but when I got to the gym, the pull-up rack was being used. I must admit I was secretly pleased because it meant I couldn't do kipping pull-ups. Yeah, I know I was being damn lazy, but hey, I'm being honest here. I did a few shorter routines instead.

Alternate sets
Incline dumbbell curls - 25s x 10, 27s x 5, 5, 5, 4
Skull crushers - 22s x 12, 25s x 9, 7, 7, 8

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Death by military press @ 65lb
Score = 8 rounds + 7 reps
1 round increase.

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Death by chin-ups (strict)
Score = 8 rounds + 5 reps

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Death by sit-ups x 2
Score = 12 rounds (24 sit-ups) + 14 reps
Another 1 round increase.

I got to the end of the 12th round and immediately started the next one, as there wasn't even time for one second's rest.

Full body

Personal training with Paul

Complex: 1 power clean + 5 front squats
115, 125, 135, 140 (4 squats), 140 (3)

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Alternate drop sets

Weighted pull-ups - 25 x 9, 5, 4, 4
Pull-ups - bw x 3, 4, 3, 3

Military press - 65 x 9, 7, 7, 5
Push press - 65 x 7, 8, 6, 6

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Death by burpees
11 rounds + 9 reps