Full body

Sarah Hopping: Jerking, not pressing, which is what I did.

I decided to try Gwen today, which didn't leave any time to do much else afterward. The weather was so crappy that I couldn't stay at the gym too long so I'd get home at a decent time.

Gwen: 15-12-9 clean and press

This is not a timed workout, so there isn't a score to speak of. I did lots of warming up with an empty bar and then 65lb until I felt ready to go. I used 85lb for the 15 rep set, and 90lb for the 12 and 9. In retrospect I was a bit conservative with the weight I used; I probably could have gone 5lb-10lb heavier. That being said, after reviewing my video, I think too many of my presses were a bit dodgy, and using more weight probably wouldn't have helped. It looks like I'm leaning back too much and my head isn't "going through the hole" between my arms. On top of that, my legs clearly don't lockout too well when the bar is overhead, although I don't know if that would count as a no-rep. 

As many people noted on the CrossFit site, my grip and forearms were fubar at the end of each round. I rested 6:30 after the first set and 7:00 after the second. That's a total of 13:30 minutes of rest time, so no wonder I didn't have much time for a longer workout session.

The camera position for the first set is bloody ridiculous!

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Leg presses
8 x 160lb, 180lb, 200lb, 210lb, 210lb

Not a great workout today, as I would have liked to do more, but a combination of the weather and the rests during Gwen meant I had to rush off.

Full body - Conditioning

Personal torture with Paul.

I think this may be the toughest workout I've ever done. Hurt. Like. Hell.

3 rft; all at 95lb, no rack or dropping the weight
10 clean and press
10 floor press (bench presses, but on the ground)
10 thrusters
10 back squats
10 hang squat cleans
10 lunges (5 per leg)
Time = 37:27

I had to redo one rep - can't remember what it was - because I dropped the weight, rather than lowering it under control.

I "trained angry", which can sometimes be useful, but my focus wasn't 100% today because I had a lot on my mind. I'm not sure if it would have made a difference to my score, but I felt like I went as fast as I could from the start, rather than pacing myself as I usually would. Regardless of strategy, this was a frigging tough workout. It was my breathing that slowed me down more than anything, and the reason why I needed lots of rests. 

The technique on some of my hang squat cleans wasn't too pretty as my elbows were almost pointing down, rather than my arms being parallel to the ground. I can obviously do better at only 95lb, but damned if I can when I'm that bloody knackered. Still, I'm surprised Paul didn't call me on them!

It's now four hours after my workout and the pain is starting to set in, especially in my pecs. I might go swimming tomorrow, but I'm glad it's a rest day.

Full body: Heavy weight and conditioning

I decided to revisit a whole workout from about a year ago. This was originally done as a personal training session on November 26, 2011. Yeah, I know yesterday would have been more symmetrical, but I didn't think of doing this until this morning.

Clean and push press (t&g; 2 second lockout)
95 x 3
105 x 3 (only did 2 last time)
110 x 2
115 x 1
120 x 1 (but not a full 2 second lockout)

I only just checked out the video from last time and realized I did squat cleans back then. However, today I only did power cleans. A year ago I failed the press at 115lb several times, but I managed a single at both 115lb and 120lb today. The heavier lift stayed up for about a second before I had to drop the bar. Coincidentally and bizarrely, looking back on that video I noticed I wore exactly the same shorts and shirt today!

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Cindy on Steroids: Amrap 20
5 wide grip pull-ups
10 clapping push-ups
15 jump squats
Score = 10 + 1 pull-up

That's significantly better than last year, when my score was 9 rounds and 5 pull-ups. I can't remember if I used any type of strategy back then, but today I did a kind of "death by" technique. I would complete a round - which always took over a minute - then rest for the remainder of the two minutes. I would only get into position for the pull-ups when my watch approached the end of the second minute. This seemed to work quite well, hence the improvement. All of the pull-ups were unbroken, except for the 10th round, which was 3 and 2. The first round of all three moves was completed without any breaks.

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Each for time: 15 sit-ups (strict) and 30 bicycle crunches per side
59, 1:15

These were tougher crunches than a year ago, but I still beat both times, which were 1:05 and 1:25.

Overall, a decent workout today.

Upper body

Personal training with Paul

Clean and press - 10 minutes to find 1RM
Final weight = 125lb (?)

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Rack bench press (7 holes, small bench)
95 x 5 then 20 push ups
115 x 5 then 20 push ups
125 x 5 then 20 push ups
135 x 5 then 20 push ups

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Cable row
100 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups
110 x 10 then 10 neutral grip pull ups

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Working on strict sit ups, 10 rep sets

Conditioning and Bodyweight

Grace: 30 power cleans and push presses @ 105lb
Time = 8:15

The last time I did Grace - with the same weight - was in late November 2011. Back then, my form was bloody awful, with the bar going in front of me instead of straight overhead. Although I didn't video myself this time - the gym was a bit busy near where I was training, and I feel a bit intrusive if I video people working out near me - but I think my form was damn near perfect today. I could see from the mirror that the bar was overhead each time and that my arms locked out. On top of that, my time this morning was quicker by over 30 seconds, so I'm very pleased with that.

I rested for six or seven minutes because I planned on doing Fran as well, but my left shoulder felt a bit dodgy when I started doing thrusters. It feels fine now, but at the time the Grace push presses had obviously taken their toll.

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RFT:

50 pull-ups (kipping allowed)
Time = 6:14

Rest exactly one minute.

50 dips
Time = 8:01

Conditioning

Okay, let's try again...

5-4-3-2-1
Clean and press @ 110lb
C2B kipping pull-ups x 2
Box jumps @ 24" x 2
Over the bar burpees x 2 (each side = 1 rep)

Time = 14:16

That's one second slower than last time! However, back then my wrists were still causing problems so I'd used two 50lb dumbbells; this time, I went for a 110lb barbell. That box jump crap was still at the back of my mind during the warm-up, but I seemed to be okay during the actual routine. Yeah, it's a little slower - one second! - but the barbell felt tougher than the dumbbells.

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2 round for time:
20 pull-ups (strict!)
50 push-ups

Time = 11:12

Maybe the strict pull-ups do make a difference. Meh! :-) Still, only 13 seconds slower than my target...

Upper body

I am soooo tired this morning. Who would have thought that moving a few streets away would screw my daily routine? I woke up early today, showered, then cycled to McDonald's for coffee and oatmeal. After I was suitably caffeinated, I cycled to the gym and did a short workout.

Bench press - small bench, 6 holes
105 x 2
115 x 2
125 x 2
135 x 2
140 x 2
145 x 1

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Power clean and press
85lb x 3
95lb x 3
105lb x 1
115lb x 0
115lb x 1

After the bench presses - which were okay, but nothing special - I felt like I had no energy left. I've got to sort myself out quickly and get my training back on track.

Full body

Mean trainer wants me to do box jumps. Don't wanna!

Personal training with Paul

Fuck my brain! I don't know what happened during the warm-up for the first routine today, but there was something in my mind that stopped me from doing box jumps at a height I know I can kill. I'd get ready to jump, but my thighs would start shaking and my feet would refuse to leave the ground. In the end, I had to remove some risers and do the jumps pretty low.

The weird thing is, I wasn't looking forward to my last PT session, but did quite well; this time, I was up for it and couldn't kick it into gear. WTF?!

5-4-3-2-1
Dumbbell clean and press @ 50s
C2B kipping pull-ups x 2
Box jumps @ 24" x 2
Over the dumbbell burpees x 2 (each side = 1 rep)
Time = 14:15

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3 rft:
10 knees to elbows
10 dips
20 sit-ups
Time = 11:25