Crossfit: Helen and Griff

I did both Helen and Griff yesterday. I knew whichever I chose to do first would greatly affect my time on the second. I did Helen first and finished in 13:26 (a new PR by 21 seconds) and then I did Griff, which took me about 3 minutes longer than the first time I did it.

I also tore another callouse. I think it was because I used parallel bars for the pull-ups on Helen which have a different effect on the hands when doing kipping pull-ups.

Crossfit: Squat 5x5

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

I figured I'd skip over Griff and do the 5-5-5-5-5 back squat today. Since Griff doesn't require a gym, I can do that over the weekend. I'm planning Griff, Helen, and/or the dumbbell snatch WOD for the weekend because none of them require me to go to the gym.

Back Squat:

5 x 135
5 x 155
5 x 185
5 x 200
5 x 200

I've done 5 x 205 before when doing a Stonglifts 5x5 routine but my form on the 5 x 200 today was much better (at least the first one was). Very little forward movement until the last couple reps of the second set of 200.

Oh, I also warmed up with 3 rounds of 5-10-10 of pull-ups, push-ups and squats. After the squats I did some ab work and 3x10 dips with a 12 pound dumbbell.

Crossfit: 080802

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Row 1000 meters
85 pound Thruster, 21 reps
15 Pull-ups

Row 750 meters
85 pound Thruster, 18 reps
12 Pull-ups

Row 500 meters
85 pound Thruster, 15 reps
9 Pull-ups

Rest 2 minutes between each round. Time each round separately and post times to comments.

This Crossfit-brand WOD looked pretty interesting and as usual, tougher to actually do than you'd think. I think I figured this out with after about the first 800 meters rowing at around a 1:52 per 500m pace. Why do I always look at a workout round by its individual exercises? It's like you see rowing and say, "that's not too bad", 85 pound thrusters are "10 pounds less than the 95 pounds I normally use" and "only 15 pull-ups?". But then you go and do them in a round as fast as you can and you suck wind.

Anyway here are my rounds:

Round 1: 7:31
Round 2: 6:40
Round 3: 5:03

Crossfit: Lynne

"Lynne"

Five rounds for max reps of:
Body weight bench press
Pull-ups

Post reps for both exercises in all rounds.

I used 185 because I'm around 183.

I did this yesterday:
4-14
4-14
3-10
2-10
1-8

My chest was still sore from the 100 dips from the previous day. I'm on vacation so I'm taking a few days off. I don't want to get so attached to the Crossfit WOD's that I don't take the time to make up my own workouts anymore. I can see that happening. I'll drive to the gym at work on my days off to do the Crossfit routine and that's exactly what I was trying to avoid. So I think I'm going to take 1-2 weeks off and not even look at the Crossfit website.

Crossfit: 080628

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For time:
45 Double-unders
135 pound Squat clean, 45 reps
45 Ring Dips
45 Double-unders

Post time to comments.

I took some Tylenol PM last night because I had a headache and when I woke up I was pretty groggy. Everything felt heavy and I felt pretty tired. Still, I was determined to take this one on as best as possible. The first round of double-unders went terribly. No rhythm and I couldn't string together more than 3-4 reps. The squat cleans were slow but good form. I started out doing about 5 before I needed to rest. I can normally get about 10 in a row before a rest. I finished up in sets of 3 which isn't so bad. I'm glad I finished all 45 reps. No rings so I did 100 bar dips. Someone was waiting to use theleg press machine which sort of interfers with the dip station and I wasn't being all that quick about the dip reps so I cut that off. Probably would have taken another 6 minutes to do that last 35 reps. The last set of double unders was pretty good. I was stringing 5-7 together in a row. Total time 34:32.

Crossfit:

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3 rounds for time of:
Run 800 meters
1.5 pood Kettlebell swing, 21 reps
95 pound Thruster, 21 reps
21 Pull-ups


My time: (as Rx'd)

1st round: 8:59
2nd round: 11:56
3rd round: 14:11

Total Time: 35:08

Phew, that was a killer. Mostly because you're sucking wind from the get-go. Running, thrusters, kb swings and pull-ups, you need a lot of air get through a round like that.

Crossfit: Fight Gone Bad

"Fight Gone Bad!"

Three rounds of:
Wall-ball, 20 pound ball, 10 ft target (Reps)
Sumo deadlift high-pull, 75 pounds (Reps)
Box Jump, 20" box (Reps)
Push-press, 75 pounds (Reps)
Row (Calories)

In this workout you move from each of five stations after a minute.The clock does not reset or stop between exercises. This is a five-minute round from which a one-minute break is allowed before repeating. On call of "rotate", the athletes must move to next station immediately for best score. One point is given for each rep, except on the rower where each calorie is one point.

Damn, damn, damn. Why don't I read the instructions! Well, this is good and bad. Last time I did Fight Gone Bad I scored a 282 and my goal for this workout was to break 300. But today I scored a 271. Why? Well, I remembered that the first time I did it I didn't fully lockout my hips on the box jumps. I was just jumping up to the box as fast as I could. This makes a big difference. Also, I remember the first time I did this workout, I noticed that by the time I got to the rowing station and got strapped in, I only had about 45 second of rowing work available. I didn't think that was fair so I re-set my timer to give me a full one minute. That's how I was able to get 15 calories on the rower but only managed 11 for each round today. That's not how it's supposed to work. So a score of 271 is great considering I made an exercise more difficult, the box jump and didn't reset for the row machine, I mean if I got 15 calories for each round today, my score would have been 283, one rep better than last time.

But here's the difference, I FORGOT TO TAKE THE ONE MINUTE REST BETWEEN EACH OF THE THREE ROUNDS!!!!!!! ARRRGH! So not only did I not get the benefit of the one minute rest between rounds, I also got cheated out of about 30 seconds worth of total wall ball time going from the row machine to the wall ball. At least I cheated up and not down. Is two minutes of rest and 30 seconds of work time enough for me to get 29 more reps and break 300? I dunno, stay tuned until next time.

Oh yeah, I should point out the wall ball is 15 pounds, same as last time but not as Rx'd. I don't have a 20 pound wall ball.

Crossfit: Snatches

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Snatch 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 reps

Post loads to comments.

Ok, it's official. I stink out loud at snatches. I did about 50 reps including warmups trying to get one good full snatch but the best I could muster was a catch in half-squat with a slight pause then somewhat quick drop to full squat and back up. I think that was with 75 pounds. I'm pretty sure the problem is shoulder flexibility as I just can't catch the weight at the bottom of the full squat. My arms don't get back far enough and the result is the bar falling forward. I did reps with 65 pounds, 75 pounds, 85 pounds and one with 100 pounds which was basically a power snatch caught in a 1/16 squat position followed by an overhead squat.

See, I'm the opposite of Brad who has been cautious on the overhead squat but apparently throws up snatches like he's tossing his mortar board at graduation day. I feel cautious on the snatches but overhead squats seem fine to me once I get the weight in the right place.

I think it might be good to replace wall-balls with snatches with a light bar in my warm-up.

It also doesn't help that my gym doesn't really have a good place for bailing out on a lift. I can probably get away with doing it once in a while. I don't think they have any stated policy against olympic lifts and bailing or anything like that and I don't want to be the reason they institute one so I'm sure part of it is mental as well. This is when I really would some weights at home where I could practice without worrying about making a scense but oh well. Adapt, improvise and improve I suppose.

Ooh, Fight Gone Bad for tomorrow. That should be fun. Last score was 282. I'm going to break 300 tomorrow just to make up for the terrible snatch performance.

Crossfit: 5k

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Run 5 K

Post time to comments.

Time: 24:42
Distance: Outside, somewhat hilly, approximately 5k.

Crossfit: 50 Muscle-ups

080621
For time:
50 Muscle-ups

Post time to comments.

I did 50 jumping muscle-ups in 12:30. I wore some skin off the upper portion of both arms too, ouch.

Then I did 50 regular pull-ups and 50 bar dips.

Crossfit: 080620

080620
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
65 pound Thruster, 10 reps
10 Pull-ups

Post rounds completed to comments.

10 rounds and then a half round (5 thrusters 5 pull-ups).

Tough one.

Crossfit: Total

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"CrossFit Total"

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

Post total to comments.

Eh, a good and bad day. I hit 230 again on the squat which is 5 lbs more than the last total but something I hit that max during the overhead squat, front squat, back squat workout. I also hit 140 on the shoulder press but there may have been a very slight push press. It's hard to explode on a max shoulder press without thinking there may have been a push in there. IF so, it was definitely a small one.

The deadlift is where I fot into trouble. I was feeling frisky and tried to deadlift 375 (25 pounds more than my previous max). I failed, twice and pretty much lost all my energy in the attempt because I then failed at 370, 365, and 360. I didn't even try 350 but I did do 315 twice.

Anyway, I'm just going to count the increase in squat total. So,

Last Crossfit Total:
Back Squat: 225
Shoulder Press: 135 (push press on 140)
Deadlift: 350
Total: 710

Today's Crossfit Total:
Back Squat: 230
Shoulder Press: 135 (small push press on 140, failed 145)
Deadlift: 350 (failed twice on 375 and once on 370)
Total: 715

Crossfit: 080617

080617
Seven rounds for time of:
75 pound Shoulder Press, 21 reps
21 Back extensions

Post time to comments.

I got a 30:29 but the back extension unit and the place where I can shoulder presswith a bar are on complete opposite sides of the gym and there's about a 30 second walk between stations. Looks easier than it felt but I need shoulder workouts because I think they are my weakest link. Currently, I can still use my arms which is a bonus. When I was warming up I had 65 pounds on the bar and was pressing it and for a second I thought, "Well, 10 more pounds isn't going to make a difference, this will be easy." Easy once maybe, twice too, even easy 12 times, 147 times however and it becomes more difficult.

Crossfit: 080616

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For time:
50 Sit-ups
50 Double-unders
50 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge, 50 steps
50 Sit-ups
50 Burpees
50 Sit-ups

Post time to comments.

22:28 As Rx'd. Sit-ups were done on an incline sit-up bench and I got a brush burn on my backside that still stings. I also have a couple of nice lash marks on my shins from failed double-under attempts. I figured walking lunge was 50 steps with each leg so that's what I did.

Putting Burpees after the double-unders and lunges was pretty sneaky.

Crossfit: Michael

"Michael"

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

Post time to comments.

My Michaels are always different and they're always on a day when I'm not at the gym so I always need to sub back extensions. Today I just did a sort of standing back extension with a 12-lb medicine ball. The track I use is 413m long so my 800m is really 826. The first 413m I ran was 1:33 and the first 826m was 3:22. I think maybe this weekend, I may try to run a sub 3:00 800m somewhere that's flat and measured and not a treadmill. I think I can do that. I could probably go to the highschool track one morning.

Round 1: 7:04
Round 2: 7:59
Round 3: 8:17

Total Time: 23:20

Crossfit: 080612

080612
Seven rounds for time of:
10 One legged squats, alternating
12 Ring dips
15 Pull-ups

1 - 2:30
2 - 3:25
3 - 3:59
4 - 4:37
5 - 5:14
6 - 4:41
7 - 4:30

Total time: 28:59

I did the usual warm-up, range of motion type things, samson stretch, but I omitted pull-ups and dips from the warmup and did 3x10 1-pood KB swings.

the only thing that wasn't as Rx'd was the one legged squats because I can't do them free standing I need to hold onto something and I'm sure I help myself up here and there but what are you going to do? The pull-ups slow me down at home because I can't kip as freely in the basement. But again, variety is good.

I finished up with some clean and jerks with the 1.5 pood KB and then some ab work.

Crossfit: Deadlifts

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Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3 reps

Post loads to comments.

Compare to 080425.

Didn't feel like resting today. I was scheduled for a day long business trip tomorrow so I made an effort to get to the gym today and count tomorrow as my rest day. I was a little concerned about doing deadlifts on a scheduled rest day but I felt pretty good during the warm-up so that concern was lifted.

Warm-up
ROM movements, arm swings, toy soliders, grape stompers, butt kicks, all that jazz.

3 rounds of:
10 reps - 15 pound wall ball
10 reps - back extensions

3 rounds of:
6 reps pullups
6 reps dips

Workout
On 080425, I started with 3x225 and finished with 4 sets of 3x295.

Today:

3x225 (Warm up)

3x305
3x305
3x305
3x305
3x305

I then did some bench presses and noticed how much I had improved on those I was benching over 200 pounds pretty easily and I've always been terrible at the bench press.

Then I did 3x10 side bends with a 24 lb bar held overhead and 100 v-ups (not consecutively, that'd be nuts).

Crossfit: Griff

080609
"Griff"

For time:
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards
Run 800 meters
Run 400 meters backwards

Post time to comments.

Warm up:
3 rounds of:
5 pull-ups
5 dips
5 squats
Plus about a 100m jog between the monkey bars and the parallel bars. So i did the pull-ups, jogged to the dip station, did dips and squats then jogged back to the monkey bars to start the next round.

1st 800m: 3:29
1st 400m backwards: 2:39
2nd 800m: 3:53
2nd 400m backwards: 2:37
Total Time: 12:40

Happy with this. It was outside and I think the track I run on is a bit over 400 meters. Hard to tell, I measured it with Google Maps. Yeah, I just measured it again and I get 413 meters once around the track. My best 800m time is 3:20 on the treadmill so getting 3:29 on a non-flat track on 826m is good in my book. I'm wondering if the backwards running is going to cause some soreness. It's an odd movement but I usually do it for bit when I cool down from long distance running, but certainly not a half miles worth, maybe 30 seconds at the most.

Update 1, Oooh, I cracked a top 5 on logsitall (for now):
Update 2, damn, down to 7th place. Eh, still top 10. :)
Update 3, Damn, down to top 10. But I would argue I should be nine because my 800ms were 826 and my 400m were 413. That's easily a 7 second difference. ;)

Crossfit: 080608

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Ten rounds for time of:
12 Burpees
12 Pull-ups

Post time to comments.


28:23 as Rx'd.

120 pull-ups isn't so bad, and 120 Burpees aren't stomch-churning, but put them together and it's a sweat inducing workout. I did this outside this morning, just as it started getting nice and hot and humid with the sun shining right in my face. I finished the first 5 rounds in 12:30 so I didn't lose to much steam over the second half.

Crossfit: 080607

080607

Five rounds for time of:
135 pound Squat clean, 7 reps
15 Handstand push-ups

Feet over the Smith Machine bar for the hand stand push-ups.

Time: 15:07