Crossfit: Hang Power Snatch

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Five rounds for time of:
95 pound Hang Power Snatch, 15 reps
Run 400 meters

I didn't do this yet but I'm about to. I'm leaving for a week of travel for work but I'm stopping by the gym first to do this workout. See how dedicated I am? I was practicing the hang power snatch yesterday in anticipation and I did few reps with 85 pounds so I think I can do this as Rx'd. Although, I anticipate much pain and I think my forearms will be very sore as well.

If I picked a good hotel, I should be able to update later tonight, if not I'll be too busy spraying for bed bugs.

UPDATE: This workout was a killer. I finished in 28:00. Sometimes I had to throw a little press in because I didn't get low enough to get straight arms but overall I did some pretty good power snatches.

Rest day tomorrow and then Tuesday morning I'll be dropping in at the local Crossfit gym.

Crossfit: Deadlifts

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Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 reps.

135x5 (warm up)

225x3
295x3
295x3
295x3
295x3

Crossfit: Angie

"Angie"

For time:
100 Pull-ups
100 Push-ups
100 Sit-ups
100 Squats

As RX'd, 27:26.

Rest Day

I definitely need a rest day but I still wanted to do something this morning so I went to the gym and hit the racquetball around for a while, then I worked on Overhead Squat form and did the Burgener warm-up just to get things moving and then practiced the form on the full squat clean.

I basically did a 25 minute warm-up routine which was beneficial in that it got sore muscle and joints moving. I wouldn't necessarily do it every rest day but it seemed to fit in here.

Crossfit: Weighted Pull-ups

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Weighted pull-ups 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

1xBW (180)
1x10
1x15
1x25
1x30
1x35
1x40
1x45(failed but did chin-up right after the failure at the pull-up)

Crossfit: Back Squat

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Back Squat 5-5-5-5-5 reps

135x5
165x5
185x5 (form was difficult on these but good overall)
195x5 (form not that great, no reason to move up in weight)
195x5

Crossfit Shoulder Press

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Shoulder press 3-3-3-3-3 reps


95x3
115x3
125x1, 120x2
120x3
120x3 (degenerated into a push press on these)

Bad workout day, lots of excuses. I ate like crap all weekend, drank too much beer, and my shoulder was sore from Friday's workout.

Rest Day

Crossfit: Michael

"Michael"

Three rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
50 Back Extensions
50 Sit-ups

Since it was so nice today, I rode my bike to the park (about 8 miles round trip) and did this workout there. I was kind of bummed because I couldn't figure out a way to do back extensions at the park. The picnic tables were occupied, the parallel bars hurt, and the bleachers didn't line up right, so I just subbed supermans. Personally, I think the 50 supermans were harder on me than back extensions, because I rarely do supermans, and at any rate it certainly didn't effect my time. The track I ran around isn't regulation and is about 420 meters around, so I actually ran about 840 meters.

Round 1: 7:52
Round 2: 8:12
Round 3: 8:08

Total Time: 24:13

Crossfit: Elizabeth

"Elizabeth"

21-15-9 reps of:
Clean 135 pounds
Ring dips

I mentioned before how I had a mental block about dipping under 135 pounds during cleans. It's like my body thinks it's going to get crushed if I dip under the bar with authority. Never mind that I shoulder press 130 pounds, and front squat 135 pounds easily. There's just some block that makes me dip under the bar timidly and results in the bar not getting to the rack position fully or quickly.

"What can I do to get over that?", I asked myself. "Do Elizabeth as Rx'd.", I answered, "no matter how long it takes." "That seems scary I said to myself." "I've never squat cleaned 135 pounds because of my stupid mental block and now you want me to do it 45 times?" "Yes," I said, "now quit being a sissy."

So that's what I did, as far as the full squat cleans go. 135 pounds, 45 times. At first many reps were really power cleans followed by front squats. My wrist and shoulder flexibility is improving but still tight. As a result, I sometimes don't get my elbows up enough and I don't grip the bar tight enough and this leads to the bar getting in the rack position with my pinky and ring finger slipping off the bar. That makes lowering the bar extra-difficult. After I noticed these errors, I started pulling through on the first pull and dipping under with authority and keeping a good grip on the bar and in the second and third rounds, the cleans got very smooth. Sweet.

As far as the dips go, I was going to bring my rings to the gym but figured I'd just sub bar dips x2 since I was focused on doing the cleans. I've seen suggestions that bar dips sub for ring dips at a 3-1 ratio but I think that's only for muscle ups*. I have rings at home and I know my bar dip to ring dip ratio is 2-1. I believe muscle up ratio is 3-1, as in 3 dips and 3 pull-ups for one muscle up. Because a muscle-up is much more than a ring pull-up followed by a ring dip, more than 2 ring pull-ups followed by two ring dips too. If you don't believe me, try one. I can't do one without jumping into it.

Oh yeah, my time? 35:12

Plenty of room for improvement but at least I kicked that mental block.

*My bad, it is 3-1 sub in the Crossfit FAQs. Damn, I'm going to bring my rings next time. I know for a fact that 21-15-9 rings dips is hella easier, at least for me, than 63-45-27 bar dips. I'm not just guessing either, I've done ring dips, and while they're harder, I know I could do 21 rings dips way faster than 63 regular dips, so be it, I half assed it on dips today. But I did do weighted dips yesterday and bench pressing after the Crossfit WOD because I didn't look at the next day WOD, so it's not a total wuss-out.

Crossfit: Nancy

"Nancy"

Five rounds for time of:
400 meter run
95 pound Overhead squat, 15 reps

I'm glad I worked on OHS a couple of days ago. I had no intention of doing this workout as prescribed as I had to bail a couple of times at 65 lbs. the other day. Even when I was warming up and getting my stations ready, just the bar seemed a little heavy. What was neat though was after the run in the first round, someone was using my OHS station so I grabbed the 6 foot 35-lb. bar for my first set and because it was shorter, my grip went wider than I usually go, right up to the collars. That pulled my shoulders back and I basically found the good OHS form, serendipitously. Still though, OHS are tough, by the last round my arms and my entire upper body were shaking trying to keep the weight steady. But at least I've got my form down.

Loads for the 5 rounds of OHS are 35-45-55-60-65

Round 1: 3:18
Round 2: 4:02
Round 3: 4:38
Round 4: 4:37
Round 5: 4:48

Total Time: 21:26

Rest Day

Yay for a rest day.

Crossfit: Hang Power Clean

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Hang power clean 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Results:
95-115-135(f)-135-135-135-135-140

I guess 140 is my PR. I've never done this workout before and I know I never just randomly power cleaned 140. I don't like my form on these though, I'm not dipping right. I think it's more of a mental thing, like being hesitant to drop under the bar. But I did thrusters at 135 yesterday so I know I'm not going to get stuck or anything. Anyway, afterwards I did about 35 reps with 65 pounds, just working on the form. I did eight sets because that first 135 failure was a mental failure, I wasn't focused and expected it to go up a lot easier than it did.

Afternoon Update: Owww...traps....so sore...

Crossfit: Quarter Gone Bad

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Five rounds for total reps of:
135 pound Thruster, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
50 pound Weighted pull-up, 15 seconds
Rest 45 Seconds
Burpees, 15 seconds
Rest 45 seconds

I was going to scale this workout but when I was warming up, I figured I'd give it a whirl as Rx'd.

Round 1: 3-1-4
Round 2: 2-1-4
Round 3: 3-1-5
Round 4: 2-1-4
Round 5: 2-1-4

Total thrusters: 12
Total chin-ups: 5
Total Burpees: 21

Total Reps: 38

I guess it wasn't completely as Rx'd though because I did a chin-up with the 50 pound weight instead of a pull-up. But I was completely under load for the 15 seconds workout period, for example the thruster sticking point was locking out at the top so the 2-reps were really when I failed to lock it out at the top on the third rep. Same thing with the chin-ups, I did one rep and then pulled and pulled for the second but I just couldn't get my chin over the bar. I almost had a second rep in the 3rd round but the dumbbell fell from between my feet and I nearly shot through the roof. Burpees are burpees, I probably should have done 5 for all rounds and I wasn't as intense as I should have been, I'll admit it.

Later I worked on my overhead squats and then did some dips/pull-ups.

Crossfit: 10k Run

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10k run: 56:31

Eh, not my best outdoor 10k. I have done it consistently under 45 minutes but I haven't run that far in a few months. I was also hungover which didn't help. Lots of hills on this run too.

But I will say that 10k has a way of clearing up hangovers, one way or another.

Rest Day

Since it's so nice I decided to take today off. I could have gone for today's WOD at Crossfit, run 10k, but I decided to take my rest day today instead of tomorrow. I had stuff to do this morning and then this afternoon I had to transplant a tree that had what could be the most vast root system I've ever seen. The neighbor's windows were rattling when I was chopping those roots. That was about a 45 minute workout so rest day my ass.

Crossfit: 080410

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Deadlift 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps


Awesome workout:

225
300
310
320 (Old PR)
330 (New PR)
335 (New PR again!)
340 (failed twice)

I was just gassed on the 340 try. The first attempt I didn't even get it off the ground, the second try I managed to get it off the ground but only about 5 inches before crapping out. I probably could have done 340 if it wasn't n the last rep. So next time this comes up, I'll try something like 225, 300, 330, 340, etc.

Crossfit: Kelly

"Kelly"

Five rounds for time of:
Run 400 meters
30 Box jump, 24 inch box
30 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball

Couldn't do it as Rx'd because I could only find a 15 pound ball. To compensate I made sure to throw it over the 10 foot mark each time, around 15 feet I would guess and the box was about 26 inches, so there.

Anyway:

1st round: 5:07
2nd round: 5:58
3rd round: 6:27
4th round: 6:38
5th round: 6:49

Total time: 31:00

Dang. I was hoping for an under 30 score. Oh well, next time. In addition, this workout is a killer. My 400 meters could have been faster, my box jumps were good. The wall balls were the killer because you get to the point where you can barely keep your balance at the bottom. I didn't take and measured rest anywhere. Rest was basically walking to the treadmill and getting it up to speed and then a few deep breaths before starting each station. Not sure if maybe 30 seconds of rest between rounds may have been a better idea.

Rest Day

I still went to the gym today but only did a warm-up and some hanging leg raises and L-hangs. Light workout about 20 minutes with warm-up and cool-down. Tomorrow's WOD (for me) doesn't involve direct abs or pull-ups so I could make sure I didn't work anything that's going to be targeted tomorrow. I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's WOD, looks like fun. I like the one's that look easy but experience tells you you're going to be pretty beat afterwards.

Crossfit: 080428

Tuesday 080428

Shoulder press 1-1-1-1-1 reps
Push press 3-3-3-3-3 reps
Push Jerk 5-5-5-5-5 reps


Shoulder Press: 125
Push-Press: 130
Push Jerk: 115

I'm assuming the ideal here would have been to move up in weight on the push jerk* but my shoulders were fried and I could barely hold decent form at 115. I was debating on whether I should do a rest day today or the workout. I sort of wanted to get back on the Crossfit cycle were I'm doing the 3 workouts in a row then taking a rest day. I swapped a rest day for a WOD on Friday so I'm off cycle now taking my rest day after the first WOD in the official "cycle". But I guessed that it really doesn't matter all that much as long as you're doing the workouts.

*Maybe not, I was looking at some of the comments and it seemed lots of people went down on the push jerk or kept it about the same as the push-press. I also didn't think about increasing the weight each time. I figured you stayed at the weight you chose. But to be honest. The shoulder press was 5 pounds below my PR. I probably could have went to 135 in the push-press so I guess the workout was better than I thought. I'm going to be sore tomorrow though. Good thing it's a rest day.

Crossfit 080406

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With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

I made it through 10:00 minutes and then I did 5 pull-ups in the eleventh minute. That's 53 pull-ups. I did it in my basement where I can't get a full kip in because I have to bend my knees to keep from hitting the floor. I also tweaked my right lat muscle on the very first pull-up so I was stretching it during the rest time for the entire thing. I'm sure that didn't help my score. I could have probably gone a couple more minutes if I went to the park today but it's rainy and cold so F that.

I then did some kettlebell swings (3x15) with the 1.5 pood bell, tabata squats (16 score), and hit the heavybag for 5 3-minute rounds.

Crossfit Total

"CrossFit Total"

Back squat, 1 rep
Shoulder Press, 1 rep
Deadlift, 1 rep


Back Squat: 220
Shoulder Press: 130
Deadlift: 320

TOTAL: 670

Saturday: Rest Day

Rest Day Today

Crossfit: Gwen

"Gwen"

Clean & Jerk 15-12- and 9 reps

Touch and go at floor only. Even a re-grip off the floor is a foul. No dumping. Use same load for each set. Rest as needed between sets.

I used 95 pounds. I'm still working on my form for Olympic style lifts although I can definitely tell my rack position is getting better. Many of the reps I noticed how the bar sat on my shoulders almost like it was made to be there, no pain, no slipping, nothing. Fatigue made me drop my elbows a few times leading to a bad rack position.

I can't say I did this as Rx'd because I re-gripped off the floor several times. It was more like:

8-4-3
6-3-3
5-4

for the reps of 15, 12, 9. But my forearms were on fire during this workout.

Technically this should have been a rest day for me following the 3 on, 1 off program but that's why I like staying a day behind the WOD. This morning when I woke up I figured I'd check the WOD, if it was some kind of Olympic Lift or something where a power rack and barbells were needed, I'd do it today. If bodyweight stuff I could do at home, I'd rest today. The gym I go to is on the way to work so it doesn't make much sense to take a day off today only to go to the gym tomorrow when I don't have to work. Plus, I didn't feel tired although my core is sore and I felt it on every C&J rep.

Crossfit: 080402

Crossfit 080402

Five rounds for time of:
30 Glute-ham sit-ups
25 Back extensions

Post time to comments.

1st Round: 2:11
2nd Round: 2:27
3rd Round: 3:06
4th Round: 3:08
5th Round: 3:48

Total Time: 14:42

I did the sit-ups on the back extension device at the gym so it wasn't quite the same thing as doing it on a horizontal glute-ham machine but I'm positive I got a similar workout because I was able to perform the leg straightening and noticed how that provides more power to the movement and after round 2 I started having thoughts of whether I really wanted to do all 5 rounds because my core feels like jelly now and I'm pretty sure it's going to be sore for a few days. I also did a 20 squats set @ 135 pounds, then 3 sets of 10 assisted pistols just for the heck of it and because I had some time to kill.

Crossfit 080401

Four rounds, each for time of:
800 meter run

Rest as needed between efforts.

1st round: 3:49
2nd round: 3:35
3rd round: 3:26
4th round: 3:21

TOTAL TIME: 14:12

Crossfit: Fran

"Fran"

Three rounds, 21- 15- and 9 reps, for time of:
95 pound Thruster
Pull-ups

This morning, as Rx'd, rounds of 4:36, 5:37, 3:59, for a total of 14:12 for the three rounds.

I need to work on my thruster with the bar in position on the squat. An improperly healed collarbone tends to interfere with the position of the bar in the rack position resulting in me holding more of the weight with my wrist to ensure it doesn't slip and bang the collarbone, which hurts, but also puts strain on my wrists. I think with better flexibility though I could find a better and more stable position for the bar.