Week 2 of Training

6.24 - 6.30

Monday

A.  Snatch - 3 @ 75%, 3 @ 80%, 3 @ 85% (175, 185, 195)

B.  Squat clean - from pause @ knee, 1.1.1.1, rest 3 minutes (225, 245, 255, 265

+

12 minute amrap

7 hang squat cleans @ 175/115

7 muscle ups

7 T2B

(3+13)

Snatches were all done as singles at 175, 185, 195. Rested about 60-90 seconds between each. Squat cleans were 225, 245, 255, 265. The pause was an excellent tool, as it ended up forcing me to pull higher on my hips, which is something that I have been working on. The amrap ended with me getting under my goal of 4 rounds.  My hands were shredding and it got in my head on the last set of muscle ups. Going to start finishing my last round on amraps like these even after the clock expires.

Tuesday

A.  DL cluster, 1.1.1 x 3, rest 15 sec., rest 2 minutes (409, 419, 419)

B.  Power snatch, 3 TnG reps; EMom x 10 (155)

+

4 rounds for time:

400m run

30 power snatch @ 75/55#

(18:07)

Redemption on the deadlifts this week. Got 409 for the first cluster and 419 for the last two.  Did these all with a hook grip and focused on keeping my hips low and getting a dynamic start. These essentially became Clean Grip Deadlifts. Not the best tool for training touch and go, but there will be plenty of time for that as we get closer to competitions. For now I think I need to break the ground more dynamically, which will hopefully translate to a higher 1RM and more explosiveness on my cleans. The power snatches were done with 155, which was a little lighter than I had in my head going into the day, but it turned out to be some good practice. My mind kept thinking back to 12.1 and how I had to do singles with 165 when I really should have banged out some doubles or triples as the clock started to wind down. 

The conditioning here was just a grind and came down to keeping the rest between the sets of snatches as short as possible. Still need plenty of work on that, but this was a good start.

Wednesday

30 mins of Z1 biking and rowing

Mobility

Did this right out of bed at the school gym. Felt great to get moving nice and early and definitely helped get rid of some of the soreness from the previous day.  Aiming to do this every week.

Thursday

A.  Snatch x 1 + snatch balance x 3 x 4 (189, 194, 201, 211)

B.  Split Jerk cluster, 2.2.2 x 3, rest 20 sec., rest 3 minutes (221, 231, 231)

C.  6 minute am rap of 10 UB CTB pull ups (6 sets)

D.  Reverse Hyper - 3 x 12, rest 2 minutes (66, 90, 90)

Snatches and snatch balances felt a little off today. Was really focused on bringing the bar down safely and smartly between reps and it took a little away from my thoracic extension in my warm up.  Need to start throwing more mobility work for this in every day sessions. One of the last pieces of my mobility puzzle.  The jerks were stupid as usual. Need so much work in this area, they just never feel consistent. Each jerk is a mystery as to how I am going to land or feel in the catch. Something that needs to get better. For the CTB, I decided to focus on my butterfly and did a set on the minute for the 6 minutes.  These felt pretty good, hands got chewed up a little. Perrin told me afterwards that my right foot was doing something weird on the kick, so I will have to film myself next week and see what's going on.  Glad to see the reverse hyper programmed in. Posterior chain work is something essential for longevity and success in this sport, and these are one of the best ways to build it. Will probably do these once a week from now on even if not in the programming. 

Friday

A. Squat clean + split Jerk, 8 x 1 - building (205, 215, 225, 235, 245, 245, 255, 265)

B. 1 1/4 FS @ 65% of 1 RM; 5 x 3, rest 2 minutes (230 for all sets)

+

For time:

1K row

200 wall balls

1K row
(18:07)

Clean and jerks felt a lot better than the jerk clusters did the day before. 245 felt slightly off the first time, so I did it again and then made it through 265 easy. The front squats were good, not much to say about them.  The conditioning could have been a little faster. First row was at a 2:10 pace because I was aiming to not even have my heart rate rise in order to just attack the wall balls. These went 30, 20, 15, 15, 10s until 180 and then a quick 7,7,6.  Last row was in 3:45ish while hitting a 1:32 for the last 200 meters. Was happy with this, but probably could have pushed a little harder on the wall balls.

Saturday AM

Airdyne work

30 sec. @ 325-350 watts

30 sec. off

x20

+

20 sec. row sprint @ max effort

rest 2 minutes x 6

Saturday PM
A. Close Grip Bench Press 4x4 @ 225
B. Arnold Press 3x10 @ 35# KB each hand
C. Weighted Dip 4x5 @ 50#
D. Dynamic Finisher


Done. Airdyne felt a little rough near the end. Hovered between 332 and 361 watts mostly. Occasionally would slack to 310 and then had to pick it up. Looking forward to doing more of these. Rows were good. Started with the damper on 5 and did 114m. Then put it to 10 for the last 5 and did 124, 123, 123, 125, 125 which was basically a 1:20 split time.
Afternoon session came together outside of the programming. Figured the week was over and wanted to hang out with Marc and Brendan, which tends to involve weights. Decided to work on some pressing and upper body strength since there is a day of passive rest tomorrow.  Hopefully I won't be too sore after this.

Great week all around

Music of the Week

Figured I would start putting a little bit of the other half of my life (there are many halves) on here every now and then.  As some of you may know, I am an avid collector of vinyl records and a general music fiend.  I spend equal amounts of time cruising music sites like Absolute Punk as I do on training blogs. Music is essentially omnipresent in my life, whether it be in the apartment, on the commute to and from school, or in the gym. So here are a few songs from the albums that I have been listening to this week, inside and outside of the gym.

                                             Night Verses- Time Erases Time

                                                            Matthew Vincent- Muslin

                                                The Wonder Years- A Raindance in Traffic

Rest of Last Week

Failed to post daily after Tuesday this week. Filling in the rest of the week now.

Wednesday
Rest Day
Went to the gym and rode the airdyne for 30 minutes or so then did about 45 minutes of mobility. Still trying to work out the knots in my calves from those double unders.

Thursday
A. Snatch Grip RDL 2.2.2.2 (165, 180, 190, 205)
B. OHS @ 33X1 3x5 (180, 190, 205)
C. Butterfly CTB Pullups 4x10-12
D. 75 GHD Situps for time (2:47)

Changed the snatch balances in the programming to RDLs to work on my lower back strength and some pulling ability.  The OHS involved a 3 second descent and a 3 second pause at the bottom. Really was good to work on the stability. Legs were never a problem here. Butterfly CTB felt way better than they ever have.  The GHD situps were done in 40, 18, 17. The breaks in between sets just being a few seconds resting at the top to catch my breath and curb the dizziness. Hip flexors have been tight ever since.

Friday
A. Squat Cleans complete 5 reps at 255, 3 reps at 270.
+
5 rounds
5 Squat Cleans @ 225
50 Double Unders
(9:53)

Cleans felt great. No misses, worked on pulling higher on my hips.  The conditioning piece came down to keeping the rest between cleans as short as possible. Double Unders were unbroken each round.

Saturday
Run 1 mile @ 80% (6:34)
Row 2k @ 90% (7:52)
Run 1 mile @ 95% (7:28)
*no rest in between efforts*

These percentages are perceived rate of effort. Micah suggested that 80% be equivalent to what I would do for a 1:1 work rest ratio. With this in mind, I am happy with my first mile time and definitely felt like I could have repeated it with rest. However, the 2k row was far from rest, and the last two parts of the workout became about trying to hang on at a fast pace. I should definitely be able to knock off at least 30-45 seconds off that row once I am at the level I want to be at. The last run could have been under 7, my calves just started to seize up from the double unders on Friday.  Doing this at the track with everyone was a blast. Hope to do more of the running workouts there in the future.

6/18/13

Had a test today, so was a little burnt out when training rolled around.  However, we had 8 people all doing the work together, so the environment brought me back up and we had a good session.

Warm-up:
3 mins of Airdyne
3 rounds not for time of:
8 GHD Situps
8 Back extensions
6 Butterfly Chest to Bar Pullups
3 Strict HSPU + 5 Kipping HSPU

A. Deadlift 2.2.2.1.1.1 (407, 417, 377, 377, 377, 377)
Something tweaked in my side/lower back area (I should probably have a better anatomical description of that based off of my studies) and backed down for the last four sets out of fear of injuring something. Hopefully can do the deadlifts next week at 405-415 without any trouble.

B. EMOM 10: 2 Touch and Go Power Clean + Push Jerk at 70%
Did these at 185.  Second set I missed my second jerk forward, so on set three I finished the second rep with two jerks.  Everything else felt pretty good. Need to work on positioning coming from overhead back down to the hips. Probably should try bypassing the shoulders on the way down. Felt slightly off balance on a couple.

C. 3 Rounds for time of
     15 HSPU
     30 KB Swings 70#
     500m Row

Took me 14:24, and I finished right behind Chandler. Was trying to keep pace with him as best I could, but my back/side wasn't letting me hold onto the kettlebell on the last set and I couldn't catch up. HSPU felt surprisingly good. Rows could have been a little faster.

6/17/13

Today was the first day of actual training (aka not testing).  Managed to do the workout with Jeff and Kevin, which made the day much more fun. It is always better to train with people, and everyone seems to be making an effort to coordinate times for the future, so this will hopefully be an ongoing thing. The day was as follows:

Warm-up:
5 mins of Airdyne
3 rounds not for time of:
3 Sotts Presses with empty barbell
10 Toes to Bar
10 Shoulder Taps against the wall
20 Double Unders

A. Snatch- 3 reps at 165, 3 reps at 175, 3 reps at 185
Did these as 3 drop and go at 165 and then singles alternating with Jeff for the last 6 reps. Felt fast under the bar, hip felt a little funny in the bottom getting out of the squat, but this subsided for part B, so nothing big.

B. Front Squat @ 23X1 3x3
2 seconds down, 3 second pause at the bottom, up as fast as you can, 1 second pause at the top. Did these with 275 for the first set, 289 second, and 301 for the last one. Felt great.

+

8 minute AMRAP of:
2 Front Squats @ 225# (Had to be taken from the floor)
4 Muscle Ups
(7 Rounds + 3 reps)

Wanted 8 rounds, so not too pleased, but the work felt good.  Squat cleaned the first rep each time and wasn't close to failing any.  Muscle ups were unbroken for the first 4 rounds, sets of 2 after that.  Should have pushed another set or two of unbroken reps to make some time there.  Spent a little too much time looking at the bar before picking it up before the squats.  Need to work on that.  Pleased with the day overall.  Excited for tomorrow.

Testing Week 2

The second week of testing was completed this past week. The schedule called for a rest day on Wednesday, but I had to move the Saturday workout to Wednesday due to being out of town for the weekend.  Active rest was performed on Saturday after 5 days in a row of testing.  Another good week, but looking forward to doing some training rather than testing next week. Excited about what's coming.

The week went as follows:

Monday

A.  FS - build to max single (345#)

B.  weighted pull up - max single (123#)

+ 

7 -- > 1

thruster @ 155/105

muscle up

(10:22)

Tuesday

A.  DL - take up to max w/ perfect form - record this if possible (425#, missed 465#, have done 485# in the past, just didn't have it this day).

+

50 CTb pull ups

100 wall balls

50 burpees

(12:04)

Wednesday

1K row TT (3:18)

-rest 10 minutes

2K row TT (7:18)

Thursday

power clean - build up to max (275#)

+

8 minute am rap of power cleans @ 90% of 1 RM (16 reps at 246)

-rest 2 minutes-

8 minute amrap of 50 unbroken double unders (8 sets of 50 with 3 trip ups)

Friday

20 minute amrap

20 thruster @ 135/95#

20 pull ups

20 cal on aD

(4 rounds+1 thruster)

Saturday

7 mile hike for active recovery

Sunday

Light airdyne, mobility, handstand and toes to bar practice

Testing Week 1

Unfortunately, as the Mid Atlantic Regionals wrap up this weekend, I am writing from my apartment in Philadelphia rather than Landover, Maryland.  After a hectic first year of physical therapy school, making regionals as an individual was not in the cards.  But that year is behind me, and I am focused on making this upcoming year of training and school be as effective as possible.  

This past week was the first week of new training programming via Jason Leydon from Crossfit Milford.  He is programming for our competitive trainees at Crossfit 215 for the future, and the first week was comprised of a series of testing workouts. It was a solid week of training, which already has taught me a lot about myself. Quite a few things to work on in there, but am excited to see what comes about.  The week went as follows:

Monday
A. Snatch 1RM (225#)
B. 30 Squat Cleans for time @ 225  (8:01)
C. 30 Muscle Ups for time (6:03)

Tuesday

A.  power clean + split jerk - 1 RM (255#, missed jerk at 265#)

B.  80% of A - 2 reps EMOM x 8 (205#)

+

5 minute amrap kb swing @ 70/55# (93)

4 minute armap double unders (196)

3 minute am rap cléan and jerk @ 95/65# (28)

2 minute am rap box jumps @ 24/20" (37)

1 minute row for cal (20)

Wednesday

off

Thursday

A.  Back Squat - build to 1 RM (365#)

-rest 10 minutes

B.  90% of A, 1 x am rap @ 30X1 (330x4)

C.  amrap CTB pull ups x 1 (22)

D.  amrap pull ups x 1 (42)

Friday

A.  Squat clean - build to max (295#)

B.  2 TnG power snatch @ 60% EMOm x 8 (135#)

+

For time: 

50 HSPU

50 t2B

1K row

(12:23)

Saturday

10 minute max cal on AirDyne (215 cal)