Conditioning

I haven't used a picture of a male athlete for nearly a month.
Oh, well...

For time:
50 skips (x 2)
50 burpees
50 thrusters @ 20s
50 sit-ups
50 push presses @ 20s
50 leg raises/hip raises
50 traveling lunges (50 steps)
50 dumbbell swings @ 30
50 dumbbell snatches @ 25
50 jump squats

Time = 32:41

Real life got in the way of my planned pushing workout today and I didn't have time to go to ABsolute Fitness this morning. It wasn't until 6:00pm that I was able to take a break from work, but I was only able to get to the Stonecroft gym. I spent a good 15 minutes stretching and warming up, especially as my right calf is still hurting from my cramp spasm after Saturday's PT session.

I adapted today's main site WOD by substituting some movements for the RXed ones; for example, thrusters with dumbbells instead of wall balls, and leg/hip raises instead of knees to elbows. Some of the changes were due to the equipment that was available, and some were because I don't have the skills (100 single skips instead of 50 double-unders).

Perhaps because it was later in the day, but I felt pretty lethargic at the start of this routine. However, I gradually felt mentally more energized as I progressed, although I was obviously becoming more fatigued. I was alone in the gym until the dumbbell swings, and I think I scared the crap out of the geezer who came in to use the machines. I was grunting and sweating my ass off, then I managed to gasp "Enjoy your evening" when I left. I'm probably the first person at Stonecroft who's done metcon training!

Legs

A short-ish workout today, but I know my legs are going to hurt like a bitch tomorrow.

Romanian deadlifts
95 x 8
115 x 6
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 3, 3

Searching my blog, I can't find any record of me doing Romanian deadlifts before, other than with the trap bar. I think this might be the first time I've done them, and I really wasn't sure what weight to use. With both sets at 185lb I could feel my form starting to break down, so I stopped at 3 reps each time, even though I might have been able to knock out another one.

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5 rft:
Back squats (a2g) - 10 x 135
Traveling lunges - 25 per leg
Time = 15:57

I pretty much made this up on the spot, and towards the end of the first set of lunges I knew it was going to be painful! The first set of both moves was unbroken, as were all the subsequent lunges. However, the squats had to be broken down into 5 and 5 for the remaining four sets. They weren't heavy, but the sheer number got the better of me. At the end my quads were burning like someone had poured acid on them.

21-15-9

Lindsey Valenzuela

This morning I started with the aborted lunges and snatches from yesterday. 

21-15-9 rft
Traveling lunges @ 35s (per leg)
Dumbbell snatches @ 35s (per side)
Time = 14:51

Yesterday I attempted this with 25s, but I decided to go a bit heavier because I was starting my workout with the routine, which meant I was much fresher. I spent plenty of time stretching out my glutes and quads beforehand, which was especially important because (a) my legs were quite stiff from Wednesday's exercises and (b) I went for an early morning bike ride and really pushed myself for speed. It was so damn cold when I set off to McD's (-5!) so I needed to pedal hard just to get warmed up! 

Anyway, I'm glad I was able to actually complete this today. The lunges were tough, but not as bad as I expected. The snatches, on the other hand, left me gasping for breath.

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I did something that was pure weight, just to allow myself to feel fresh again before my final routine.

Barbell curls @ 60lb; relative max reps - 12, 8, 6, 6, 5

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21-15-9 rft
Wide grip strict pull-ups
Strict sit-ups
Time = 9:18

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I was going to do some box jumps, too, but I realised that I only had nine steps for one side, with 10 on the other. There was a yoga class in session, so I didn't want to disturb them. Of course, it only occurred to me later that I could have simply done a routine with a lower height for the jumps. D'oh!

Full body

Personal training with Paul

A lot of relative maxes to start...

Squat cleans
95lb x 8, 8, 5, 7

I lost concentration during the first set and my grip failed, causing me to drop the bar. That pissed me off; there was no reason for me to fail.

Military press
65lb x 10, 8, 6, 7

Neutral alternating pull-ups
10, 8, 6, 5

Dips
12, 8, 9, 7

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Amrap 10
10 x traveling lunges @ 20s (per leg)
10 x burpees
10 x sit-ups (strict)
Score = 4 rounds + 3 burpees

After a disappointing first set of squat cleans to start the day, I was quite pleased with how I finished with this short amrap. The lunges burned my quads, but I kept going and never broke them up. The burpees burned my lungs and I had to take a rest during the first three sets, but not the fourth. I wanted to, but I kept telling myself that this was only a short metcon, so just keep going! The sit ups weren't too bad. They started to hurt, but not enough to force me to take a break, other than a couple of breaths in the final set.

Legs

This morning I decided to skip breakfast, and just shower before heading to the gym so I could train earlier (7:30am). I figured that would save me some time, as I could eat my usual oatmeal afterward while checking my email. However - and this seems bloody obvious now - I ran out of fuel halfway through today's session, and I got fatigued too quickly.

Back squats
95 x 10
115 x 10
125 x 10
135 x 10
145 x 10
155 x 9

I had originally planned on mirroring Paul's routine from last week, scaling his weights by roughly 70%. That would have meant three sets using 95lb, 135lb and 155lb. However, after the first set I remembered that I had done a five set routine with Paul, with 10 reps per set. I decided to switch to that instead. Last month I got to 7 reps at 155lb, so there was a slight improvement today. All reps were a2g. During the heavier sets, I took a brief pause at the top - a couple of breaths - then squatted down again.

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Bulgarian split squats (small bench) 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
95, 115, 130

It's been a long time since I've done BB split squats and it's time I added more variety back into my leg days. At 130lb I was wobbling all over the place and I really struggled to keep my balance, especially when I had my right foot back on the bench. I was so unstable that it actually felt unsafe, so I decided to quit after three sets. I rested a while, then attempted a few reps with 60lb dumbbells instead, but I still didn't feel stable. I think this was due to the aforementioned fatigue. Of course, the 69 barbell squats I did earlier might have contributed to this.

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30 traveling lunges @ 55s

The workout started well, but I'm very disappointed with the poor performance during the split squats. My morning schedule is still inconsistent since the house move, but I don't want that to interfere with my training progress. Maybe I need to reevaluate how I train. I remember reading that Angie Pye simply does the main site WOD each day, and that's all. Perhaps I should do something similar, and train for less time each day, but with more intensity.

Legs

Best use of the Union flag ever!

I should preface this with a note that I cycled for a total of 40 minutes this morning - to and from McD's - about two hours before today's leg session.

Back squats (a2g)
135 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5
180 x 5
190 x 5 (PR)

Pretty pleased with that. Last time I only managed 3 reps at 190lb. I did a couple of warm-up sets, which felt harder than I expected. I thought I'd put a 25lb bumper on each side, but I'd absentmindedly used 45lb plates! Muppet. Still, that means I did two warm-up sets using the same weight as my first work set.

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50 x deadlifts @ 185lb
15-11-8-8-8 reps = 5:16

I had a pounding pain at the base of my skull during this routine, and it definitely slowed me down. I think it was probably stress and lack of sleep.

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100 x traveling lunges
Time = 3:06

Legs

Even though I didn't set the world on fire today, it still hurt like hell.

Superset - front squats/back squats, breaking parallel
115 - 3 & 3
135 - 3 & 3
145 - 3 & 3
155 - 3 & 3
165 - 1 (regular grip)
165 - 2 (crossover grip)

Just couldn't get my act together today. I started off going a2g, but couldn't maintain the depth when the weight started increasing. By 155lb, I was still breaking well below parallel, though. During the first front squat at 165lb, using the proper grip, I felt like I was losing hold of the bar, so I racked it. After resting for a minute, I tried again with a crossover grip, but my balance was off and I started to fall forward coming back up from the third rep. I had to drop the bar on the safeties. I didn't video this, so I can't assess where it started to go wrong.

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Deadlifts (deficit)
140 x 10
185 x 5
210 x 5
230 x 5
255 x 4
270 x 2

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Superset
Leg extension - 3 x 12 @ 95
Traveling lunges - 3 x 6 per leg @ 35s, 40s, 40s

Legs

Jenny Lebaw

Fifties

50 traveling lunges @ 52s (25 per leg)
Time = 4:08

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50 back squats @ 125lb, a2g
Time = 7:34

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50 trap bar deadlifts @ 185lb
Time = 5:24

Short, but not very sweet, today; lots of reps with fairly light weights. I was also going to do 50 single leg extensions (25 per leg) but ran out of time. In retrospect, I probably should have sandwiched the lunges between the back squats and trap bar deadlifts so that I did a hamstring and glute dominant routine between two quad dominant ones.

As the times show, the back squats were the toughest, and were the routine that required the most rest breaks. I nearly toppled over at the end because I was so dizzy.