December 31st, 2012

Workout of the Day

A. Five sets of: Front Squat x 1 rep

1. 75%

2. 80%

3. 85%

4. 90%

5. 95%

B. Take 10-15 minutes to build to a heavy-ish Clean & Jerk

C. Against an 8-minute running clock, perform the following in order:

Complete rounds of 21, 15 and 9 reps for time of:

95/65 lb. Thruster

Pull-Ups;

and then,

using the same barbell, build the barbell and establish a 1-RM Clean & Jerk in the remainder of the 8 minutes.

POST TWO SCORES – You must post two scores; (1) time to complete “Fran”, and (2) heaviest successful clean & jerk within the 8 minute period.

TOTAL SCORE – Your total score will be your 1-RM Clean & Jerk in lbs, PLUS or MINUS 1 lb for every second under or over two minutes (for males) or 3 minutes (for females) it takes to complete “Fran.”

A. 220, 230, 245, 260, 275 (Based on estimated 290 max 1RM)

B. 205

C. 4:16, 195, 59 (195 – 136)

Front squats felt great. Clean and jerk…not so much today. 4:04 is my best Fran time to date, so I guess I shouldn’t be too unhappy with my time. But I am. I was hoping that I had gotten faster. Never really got my breathing slowed down enough after Fran to nail a decent clean and jerk. I had a great week otherwise and I am really pleased with my overall progress since I started following the competition programming from CF Invictus.

A.Three sets, not for time, of:
Butterfly Pull-Up x 6-12 reps
Kettlebell Snatch x 8-10 reps
Burpees x 8-10 reps
(For each movement, work to establish fluidity, speed and rhythm.)

B. Five sets of:
Bench Press x 5 reps
Rest 2 minutes
Weighted Pull-Up x 2-3 reps
Rest 2 minutes

C. Every three minutes, for a total of three sets, complete the following:
Row 500 Meters
50 Double-Unders

Rest the remainder of the three minute period before beginning next round at the 3 or 6 minute mark.

Part A.
Butterflys: 12 broken reps (6/6), 8x (pretty ugly, but unbroken), 10x (same)
KB Snatch: 10 x 53# KB all 3 sets
Burpees: 10 x3

Part B.

BP 245×5, 235×5, 235×5, 235×5, 235×5
WPU 53×3, 63×3, 71×2, 71×2, 73.5×2 (all strict pull-ups and KBs as the weight, except for 2.5 plate added on the last set)

Part C.

50 (not by much), 35, 50 (at the buzzer)
Did not keep track of time for each round, just tried to finish the 50 double-unders inside the 3 minute time cap. That was tough enough for me today.

Butterflys are coming along a little. Went up too fast on the bench press out of the gate without enough warm-up and came close to pulling something. Had to back down a little. Still a tough weight to get the 5th rep with on sets 3, 4 & 5. Liked part C. Tough (for me) to get the double-unders under that time cap, but feel progress with them. Good one.

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Muscle-Ups x 2-6 reps
Unbroken Double-Unders x 30-50 reps
Unbroken Strict Handstand Push-Ups x 6-12 reps

B. Eight sets of:
Rack Jerk x 1 rep
Rest as needed between sets.
(Build to a heavy single.)

C. Two sets of:
Row 2000 Meters
Rest exactly 4 minutes

A. Muscle-ups: 3 each round, broken
Double-unders: 33, 29, 32
HSPU, strict: 6, 5, 5

B. 185, 205 (F), 205 (F), 195, 200, 205, 210 (F), 210

C. 6:54, 7:17

Jerks felt super heavy today. Failed a couple of times at what should be an easy weight for me. Focused on technique and rallied towards the end. Last set I finally felt that I got the timing on the dip and drive for the jerk that I had been missing today. Good one to end on.

Given some extra motivation via the coaching points on the CF Invicutus blog. PR’d by 15 seconds on a personal best time for the 2K row that I have not beaten in 2 years. It has been a long time personal goal to break 7 minutes. I know that is not a super-fast time for a competitive rower, but it is relatively fast for a crossfitter. I had to push well into the uncomfortable zone again to come close to 7 minutes on the 2nd row.

December 27th, 2012

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Handstand Walk x 10-15 meters
L-Sit x 20-30 seconds
Rope Climbs x 1-2 ascents

B. Deadlift
Set 1: x 6 reps @ 75% of 1-RM
Set 2: x 5 reps @ 80% of 1-RM
Set 3: x 4 reps @ 85% of 1-RM
Set 4: x 3 reps @ 90% of 1-RM
Set 5: x max reps @ 90% of 1-RM
Rest as needed between sets.

C. Three rounds for time of:
30 Wall Ball Shots (30/20 lbs.)
25 Pull-Ups
20 Burpees

A. 10m of HS walk practice x 3 (broken), 25, 21, 21 on L-sits, 2 x 3 on the rope climbs
B. 6 x 330, 5 x 350, 4 x 375, 3 x 395, 3 x 395
C. 13:05 (20# med ball)

No 30# med ball. I should have asked Santa for a heavier med ball and kettle bell.

WOD:

10K row

Time - 40:30

I was shooting for a 10K, but I was going to bail at 30 to 35 minutes if that felt like too much. Hit 7K feeling pretty good, so I went for it. Great post-holiday indulgence workout. Ate tons of 'bad' (tastes so good!) food Saturday and Sunday. Hopefully that one last splurge will blow out my need for too many sweets between now and the sectionals starting Feb. 22.

December 24th, 2011

12 Days of Christmas – Invictus Style

1 Lap (300 Meters)

2 Snatches (155/105 lbs)

3 Thrusters (155/105 lbs)

4 Muscle-Ups

5 Burpees

6 Toes to Bar

7 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

8 Kettlebell Swings (48/32 kg)

9 Box Jumps (30″/24″)

10 Handstand Push-Ups

11 Ground to Overhead (155/105 lbs)

12 Man-Makers (55/35 lb DBs)

Time - 1:45:20!

32 kg KB swings and 45 # DBs for the ma-nmakers. No 48 kg KB or 55 # or 50# DBs available at our gym (I will admit, I was not really disappointed by that).

But all the movements that I could/should have scaled were things that I needed to work on (135#+ snatches, thrusters, GTOs in a WOD or muscle-ups and HSPUs when fatigued) , so I just decided to go for it until I started to feel like my form broke down below 80% to 90% or I felt like I was in danger of tweaking something. Went at a pretty steady pace (not very fast thought) until rounds 11 & 12 and never really felt too bad. Man-makers were horrible at the end though. I did not feel too badly worn out an hour after the WOD, at least no worse than after Murph or Eva. I definitely feel that I have earned some holiday treats!

December 23rd, 2012

WOD:

A. Three sets for speed and efficiency, rest as needed between movements:
Butterfly Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups x 8-10 reps
Burpees x 8-10 reps
Handstand Push-Ups x 6-12 reps

B. Take 15-20 minutes to build to a heavy Snatch

C. Take 15 minutes to build to a heavy Clean & Jerk

D. Three sets of:
Front Squat x 2 reps @ 90% of your 1-RM
Rest as needed

A. C2B butter flys practice each round (8 attempts, some more legit than others)

Burpees 10/10/10
HSPU 6/4/5

B. Snatch: 175
C. Clean and jerk: 215
D. Front squat: 260 x 2, 260 x 2, 265 x 2

HSPUs were coming really hard today. I was shooting for relatively fast and unbroken, although I realized afterwards that was no specified. But my shoulders still felt a little tired even after a day of rest. Not too bad though, just a little off.

Decided to push for a full squat snatch whenever a ‘snatch’ is rx’d, unless it is a metcon and it is not specified, which I probably should be doing anyway. My best power snatch is 195, but my best squat snatch was only 157#s until today. So a 18# PR today. Not bad! Clean and jerk was OK, but not great (PR is 230 from just a little while ago). Olympic lifts feel much better after only a few weeks of following the CF Invictus Competition programming. Soooo glad I gave it a go.

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Muscle-Ups x 2-6 reps
Unbroken Double-Unders x 30-50 reps
Quick and Smooth Burpees x 8-10 reps

B. For time:
Row 1000 Meters
10 Burpees
15 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

Rest exactly 6 minutes, and then . . .

C. For time:
Row 750 Meters
15 Burpees
20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

Rest exactly 6 minutes, and then . . .

D. For time:
Row 500 Meters
20 Burpees
25 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

A. Unbroken Muscle-Ups 1/1, 1/1/1, 1/1/1 (broken)
Double-Unders 20 (+30 broken), 24 (+26 broken), 36 unbroken
Quick and Smooth Burpees 10,10,8

B. 5:22
C. 5:11
D. 5:03

Still struggling a bit with muscle-ups & double-unders. Both felt a little better today. Enjoyed (in a CrossFit sort of way) the WOD. Rests and rep scheme made it possible to hit each round pretty hard. Much better on C2Bs than the last time we did them. Finally getting the kip down for these again. I got 5-6 unbroken each round to start off. Then I had to break them up in bunches of 2-3 reps and eventually went down to singles for the last 3-5 reps of each round.

December 20th, 2012

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:

Bounding Box Jumps x 8-12 reps

Pistols x 4-6 reps each leg

Toes to Bar x 10-12 reps

B. Six sets for max reps of:

30 seconds of Thrusters (155/105 lbs)Rest 2 minutes and 30 seconds

C. Three sets of:

40-50 Unbroken Russian Kettlebell Swings (32/24 kg)Rest 90 seconds

D. 400 Meter Farmer’s Carry – walk slow with a heavy load

A. BJ 24" 12/12/12..Pistols 6/6/6...T2B 12/12/12

B. 47 reps @155#s (9/9/8/7/7/7)

C. 2 pood KB Swings. 50, 45, 25.

I broke as much mentally as physically at 25 reps during the 3rd set of part C. Wasted about 60-90 seconds being mad at myself, than did another 20 reps.

D. Carried a 115# barbell in each hand for the Farmers Walk .

Went waay to heavy on this. Did not time it, but I estimate it took about 25 or 20 minutes. Barbells are such a pain to balance. Very broken up. Should have gone lighter

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:Handstand Walk x 10-15 MetersL-Sit x 20-25 seconds15′ Rope Climb x 1-2 ascents

B. Five sets for times of:315/225 lb. Deadlift x 3 repsHandstand Push-Ups x 6/4 repsRest 60 seconds

C. On the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes:5 Pull-Ups10 Push-Ups15 Squats(If you fail to complete a round in the 60 seconds, finish it and skip the next round, then pick up on the following minute. Note the number of completed rounds and which, if any you tripped up on.)



A. HS Walk x 10m (broken, but better), L-Sit 25, 20, 21, Rope Climb 2/2/2

B. Deadlifts @ 315#s. Total time 8:43. Times per round were:0:290:280:290:55 (HSPUs broken up)2:22 (very broken up HSPUs. Failed at least once.)

C. Got all 10 rounds complete. Push-ups broke up during 6th round after 6 reps. 6/2/2 rounds 8, 9 & 10. Still pretty doable to still get all the reps in per round even with the push-ups broken up.

I am a little ticked off that the HSPUs took me down so hard, but extremely happy with how much better I am on those already (Thanks CJ Martin!). Part B. would have been an absolute crippler for me even a month ago. 315# deadlifts x 3 reps felt only moderately heavy and they were all unbroken. HSPUs were unbroken the first 3 rounds. Struggled a little the 4th round. Then failed about 85-90% of the way up on the 3rd rep in the 5th round and had to rest quite a bit to get the last 4 reps. Good one!

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Bounding Box Jumps x 8-12 reps
Pistols x 4-6 reps each leg
Toes to Bar x 10-12 reps

B. Five sets for times of:
15′ Rope Climb x 3 ascents
185/125 lb. Squat Clean x 6 reps
Row 350 Meters
**Rest exactly 4 minutes between sets.**
(These should be sprint sets. Get through them as quickly as possible, and then recover and try to beat that time the next set. Note set times individually.)

C. Three rounds for time of:
15 Toes to Bar
30 Double-Unders

A. Bounding Box Jumps 12/12/12..Pistols 6/6/6…Toes to Bar 12/10/10

B. 2:55, 2:51, 2:59, 3:30, 4:05
C. 4:08

Squat cleans were brutal! They really slowed me down during the 4^th and 5^th sets. Did not plan ahead for the amount of time the intervals would take and had to do part C later (4 hours later) because I had to teach a class. Fell apart on the T2Bs to some degree and not sure it would have been better had I done it directly after part B. Awesome programming. After only a few weeks, I can’t imagine going back to just doing the mainsite WOD now.

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Butterfly Pull-Up x 6-12 reps
Kettlebell Snatch x 8-10 reps
Burpees x 8-10 reps
(For each movement, work to establish fluidity, speed and rhythm.)

B. Three sets of:
Deadlift x 4-5 reps @ 20X1
Rest 15-20 seconds
Handstand Push-Ups x Max Reps
Rest 3-4 minutes

C. Seven rounds for time of:
7 Ring Dips
7 Burpees
7 Pull-Ups

A. Butterfly Pull-Up 'practice' x 3 (still working on getting these), KB Snatch 10x1.5 pd/53#, 10x1.5 pd/53#, 8x2 pd/72#, Burpees 10, 10, 10

B. 315#s/8 HSPUs (all strict), 335#s/7 HSPUs (all kipping), 335#s/7 HSPUs (5 strict + 2 kipping).

C. 8:04

Butterfly pull-ups are a skill that I would love to pick up. They are still a work in progress. Continue to be awkward on kipping HSPUs, but getting better. Tough metcon at the end! Ring dips were broken up pretty good by 3rd round onwards. Pull-ups & burpees all unbroken, good rep scheme on this WOD for that.

Regarding the deadlift in this wokout, the '@ 20X1' refers to the tempo for the lift.

Deadlift x 4-5 reps @ 20X1

The First Number – The first number refers to the lowering (eccentric) phase of the lift. Using our deadlift example, the 2 will represent the amount of time (in seconds) that it should take you to descend to the ground with the bar from the finish/standing postion. (The first number always refers to the lowering/eccentric phase, even if the movement begins with the ascending/concentric phase, such as in a pull-up.)

The Second Number – The second number refers to the amount of time spent in the bottom position of the lift – the point in which the lift transitions from lowering to ascending. In our example, the prescribed 0 means that the athlete should reach the bottom position and immediately begin their ascent

The Third Number – The third number refers to ascending (concentric) phase of the lift – the amount of time it takes you to get to the top of the lift. The X signifies that the athlete should EXPLODE the weight up as quickly as possible. In many cases, this will not be very fast, but it is the intent that counts .

The Fourth Number – The fourth number refers to how long you should pause at the top of the lift. Take, for example, a weighted pull-up prescription of 20X2, the athlete would be expected to hold his or her chin over the bar for two seconds before beginning to come down.

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Handstand Walk x 10-15 Meters
L-Sit x 20-25 seconds
15′ Rope Climb x 1-2 ascents

B. Take 15 minutes to build to a heavy Clean & Jerk

C. Three rounds for time of:
135 lb. Power Snatch x 10 reps
24″/20″ Box Jumps x 20 reps


A. HS walk: 10m (broken up) x 3, L-sits: 25, 20, 15, Rope-climbs: 2 x3
B. 230 (5# PR!)
C. 6:08

I made some progress on the handstand walk, I got a couple 5-6 step walks in there. L-sits are better than they used to be too. C&J felt much better today. First PR that I have had on that lift in about a year, which I would directly attribute to the focus on Olympic lifts these last 2 weeks (thanks CJ Martin!). Stopped with the PR, but felt like there is still more in the tank for next time.

Liked part C. Great short, challenging WOD. I am pretty good at power Snatches @ 135, but box jumps are one of my weaknesses. The two together were rough and my quads and hips were feeling it in the 2nd & 3rd round. I went really hard out of the gate on the 1st round and got through the power snatches 5/5, then slowed down a little on the box jumps. Then almost all singles on the 2nd round of power snatches and very broken up box jumps. Even more broken up the 3rd.

December 13th, 2011 - Ten Minute Capacity Test

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Muscle-Ups x 2-6 reps
Unbroken Double-Unders x 30-50 reps
Unbroken Handstand Push-Ups x 4-10 reps
(aim for top end of each range, note how many completed each set)

B. For Max Reps: 3 Minutes of Double-Unders

C. “Ten Minute Capacity Test” For Max Reps (or Calories):
4 minutes of Rowing (for Calories)
Rest 60 seconds
3 Minutes of Pull-Ups
Rest 60 seconds
2 Minutes of Bodyweight Back Squat
Rest 60 seconds
1 Minute of 135lb. Shoulder to Overhead (the barbell must originate from the ground to begin your set – no rack)


A. MUs: 1/1, 1/1, 1/miss, miss
DUs: 26-21-16
HSPUs: 5, 4, 4
B. 110.
C. Row Cals = 82, Pull-Ups = 53, Squats = 19, STO = 20 TOTAL = 174

Part A: MUs were all singles, not a good a muscle-up day. I stopped on DUs as soon as I got tripped up. DU timing/coordination in general was off today. HSPUs were all strict. I practiced kipping HSPUs between part A & B. I need to start working those in on the unbroken HSPUs.

Part B: Not stellar for the average crossfitter, but a big improvement for me.

Part C: BW back squats were TOUGH after rowing. STO was a good score for me personally (I think), as I kept within 1 rep of my training partner Ryan who usually drills me on them for reps. Also, I felt like I was using my hips to power the weight up vs. my shoulders.

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Bounding Box Jumps x 10-12 reps
(if you cannot rebound from a 24/20″ box, choose a smaller box until you establish the rhythm)
Unbroken Pistols x 4-6 reps each leg
Unbroken Toes to Bar x 10-12 reps

B. Five sets for times of:
275/185 lb. Deadlift x 6 reps
Unbroken Burpees x 15 reps
Rest 3 minutes

C. Three rounds for time of:
Row 350 Meters
12 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups


A. Box jumps, 24″ 12/12/12...Pistols 6/6/6...T2B 12/11/12. I think I was ‘bounding’ during box jumps.

B. 0:53, 0:56, 0:53, 1:00, 0:57. I lost my pace on the burpees a little the last 2 rounds.

C. 7:32. I really struggled with C2B pull-ups today. Not a strength normally, but hardly strung any together past 2 reps. Row pace was about 1:50-1:52/500m 1st 2 rounds, then slowed down quite a bit the 3rd. Much closer to 2:00/500m.


I really, really like the CrossFit Invictus comptition programming. It is awesome to hit so many skills, time domains and different training stimulus in one session and not be totally obliterated the next day. Thanks CJ Martin!

December 12th, 2012

WOD:

A. Eight sets of: Clean + Front Squat
(perform one full/squat clean, stand fully, breathe and then descend for your front squat)

B. Three rounds for time:
20 Russian* Kettlebell Swings (32/24 kg)
10 Box Jumps (30″/24″)
 *Russian swings = only to shoulder height

Rest 5-7 minutes, and then . . .

C. Four sets for max reps of:
60 seconds of Wall Ball Shots
60 seconds of Rest
(Challenge yourself to get as far north of 100 reps as possible.)


A. 185, 195, 205, 215, 225, 235, 240. 245
B. 3:36
C. 114 (31/30/28/25)

Did not go for a PR today and worked up slowly because I tend to bend my arms too early when I get close to my max (my squat clean PR is 250#). I wanted to stay focused on form and opening my hips fully. We did Tuesday's WOD yesterday and either that or the squat cleans left my hamstrings and glutes just worked. They both had no go in them during Part B. Limiting factor on Wallballs was part shoulders tired/part lack of muscular endurance/part mentally letting myself get negative. Dropped med ball once during 3rd round and twice during the 4th. cost me 2-2.5 reps each drop.

Feeling pain and injury free. Yay! We will be skipping ahead to catch up with the current WODs for CrossFit Invictus on Monday morning.

WOD:

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Muscle-Ups x 2-6 reps
Unbroken Double-Unders x 30-50 reps
Unbroken Handstand Push-Ups x 4-10 reps
(aim for top end of each range, note how many completed each set)

B. Six sets of:
Snatch Balance + 3 Overhead Squats
Rest 2-3 minutes
(build to the heaviest set you’re capable of)

C. On the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes:
Pull-Ups x 10 reps
Handstand Push-Ups x Max Reps
(score total number of pull-ups & HSPUs completed in the 10 minutes)


A. MU: 1/1, 1/1, 1/1 (Can sometimes get a double on MUs, but not today), DU: 21, 30, 28 unbroken, HSTPU: 5, 3, 4
B. 115/135/145(F)/145/145(F)/145
C. All 100 pull-ups and 23 HSPUs (5/3/2/2/2/2/2/2/1/2)

Part C was tougher than it looked on paper. Still struggle with timing on the Snatch Balance.

December 7th, 2011

Workout of the Day

A. Complete as many reps as possible in 4 minutes of:

1 205# Clean (power or full), 1 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up

2 Cleans, 2 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

3 Cleans, 3 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

4 Cleans, 4 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups. . . and so on up the ladder

***Rest exactly 8 minutes, and then:***

B. Complete as many reps as possible in 4 minutes of:

1 155# Clean (power or full), 1 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Up

2 Cleans, 2 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

3 Cleans, 3 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

4 Cleans, 4 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups. . . and so on up the ladder

***Rest exactly 8 minutes, and then:***

C. Complete as many reps as possible in 12 minutes of:

250 Meter Row

25 Kettlebell Swings (32 kg)

50 Double-Unders

A. 5 rounds + 3 C2B

B. 6 rounds + 1 C2B

C. 2 rounds + 23 KBS

A&B: All power cleans. Chest to bar pull-ups kicked my butt today, pull-ups have been a relative weakness lately.

C: 'Died' a little during part C. Went pretty hard on both part A & B and then struggled with both double-unders & 2 pood KB swings during part C. But even rowing was hard at that point.

December 6th, 2012

WOD

A. Three sets, not for time, of:
Unbroken Box Jumps x 10-12 reps
Unbroken Pistols x 4-6 reps each leg
Unbroken Toes to Bar x 10-12 reps

B. Five sets of:
Power Clean x 2-3 reps
Rest 20 seconds
Deadlift x 3 reps @ 80-85% of 1-RM
Rest 3 minutes

C. Five sets for times of:
350 Meter Row
15 Toes to Bar
Rest 2 minutes


A. 12/12/12 Box Jumps...6/6/6 Pistols...12/12/10 T2B
Pistols felt good. Still a little wobbly at the top coming up, but 150% better than a few months ago. Tweaked my kipping technique a little to bring more hip vs. into my kip during the 2nd & 3rd round. Don't 100% have the hang of it yet. May have hurt me on the intervals at the end too.

B. Power Cleans: 225/225/225/225/225...Deadlifts: 375/365/365/365/365 (may have been a little heavy on the DLs, should stick closer to 80% vs. 85% next time).

C. 1:44, 1:45, 2:06, 2:22, 2:31

T2B were unbroken the first 2 rounds, then grip fatigue set in and I my midsection started to wear out. Got about 8, 7, 7 unbroken 2TB starting out on the 3rd, 4th and 5th round and then had to break them up a lot to finish each round.

I am pretty decent rower when there is no squat type movement in the rest of the metcon WOD, so my pace ended up being 1:43 - 1:45/500m for the 1st three rounds. Then I backed off hoping that if I saved a little 'juice' I could get more T2B unbroken. I could not. I should have kept the 1:45 pace. It felt good at 350 meters.

Kind of a disappointing day, but I just wasn't feeling a good Olympic lifting day was in the cards. I was super stressed about some major changes at work and I don't do well on the snatch and jerk when my head is full of other junk.

The last few days have been pretty tough and I felt they were good training days, so one bad day does not put a damper on those. Another day of interesting training and then a day off. I am really enjoying the CrossFit Invictus training. Lots of weakness work.

December 5th, 2012

Workout of the Day

A. Olympic Lifting Skill Complex – Snatch (3 reps of each, ONCE through the complex)

Snatch-Grip RDL

Snatch Pull from Below Knee

Muscle-Snatch

Overhead Squat

Snatch Push Press

Snatch Balance (fast to receiving)

Hang Power Snatch

Snatch from Below Knee

(Perform with empty barbell.)

B. Take 15-20 minutes to establish today’s 1-RM Snatch.

C. Take 15-20 minutes to establish today’s 1-RM Clean & Jerk.

D. For time:50 Ball Slams (60/40 lbs)

Not a good Olympic lift day. Did not have my head in the gam due to stressful day with my work. Could not focus and never really got into a good groove.

A. Complete

B. 175

C. 205 power clean and jerk

D. 2:30 (25 unbroken w/20# ball, the heaviest in our gym. Need a heavier ball)

December 4th, 2012

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

Row 250 Meters
10 Dumbbell Push Press
10 Dumbbell Front Squat

Rest 8 minutes..and then,
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

20 Jumping Lunges
20/15 Hand-Release Push-Ups
10 Pull-Ups

Rest 8 minutes...and then,
Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

20 Box Jumps (24″/18″)
15 Toes to Bar
10/5 Ring Dips

1. 3 rnds + 10 m

2. 2* rnds + 7 DUs

3. 3 rnds + 5 BxJmps

A.
Three sets, not for time, of:
Muscle-Ups x 4-5/1-2 reps
Double-Unders x 30-40 reps
Handstand Push-Ups x 8-10/4-6 reps

B.
Eight sets of:
Snatch Balance x 1 rep
Rest as needed.

C.
For time:
50/30 Handstand Push-Ups . . . with a catch.
Every time you come off the wall you must run 100 meters @ 80-85% effort before resuming with handstand push-ups.

A. Muscle-ups 3-3-3; DU’s 30-30-30; HSPU’s 3-2-2
B. 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 (F), 175(F), 170 (F), 155 (did not want to end on failure)
C. 16:42 scaled to HSPU to 1 abmat

Scaled the reps on part ‘A’ a bit to fit where I am at. Muscle-ups are little weak compared to where they were a year to 6 months ago. Just geting my HSPUs back on track too. Regressed on them quite a bit to the point to where I could only get 2 at a time about 6 weeks ago, but have been focusing on them a bit in ‘grease the groove’ fashion since. Now I can do 9 HSPU totally fresh, but I fall off pretty quickly after. I need to build on the ability to do them in large amounts/volume.

165 matches my best snatch balance. Need to work on speed, timing and confidence with this lift. Should be able do more.

Went for all 50 reps w/1 abmat vs. scaling amount. Went 9 first round…4,4,4 for awhile then 3,3,3 at about 23 reps and 2,2,2 from 40 on. Needless to say, I ran a lot!

December 1st, 2011

A. Three sets, not for time, of:

Double-Unders x 30 reps

Pistols x 5 reps each leg

Handstand Walk x 20 meters

B. Four sets of:

Deadlift x 5 reps

(build to a heavy 5 over the four sets)

C. Five sets for times of:

-Deadlift x 8 reps @ 85% of today’s 5-RM

-Unbroken Wall Ball Shots x 25 reps

-Rest 3 minutes

A. Unbroken double-unders 1st 2 rounds, then lost them a little the 3rd. Pistols felt good, finally getting the hang of the balance for these. Handstand walks were scaled to 1.5 to 2 minutes of handstand walk practice per round. I am train wreck on these. If I had gone for the 20 meter distance, part A would have taken 20 minutes longer.

B. 365 #s x 5

C. Used 310#s for the deadlift on the wod. Had to break them up a bit. All wall balls were unbroken. Total time 19:36. Intervals 1:27, 1:27, 1:31, 1:34, 1:37.

November 28th, 2011

Light warm-up

WOD:

For time:
15-12-9
- Thrusters w/135#s
- Weighted pull-up with 45#s

Time: 11:40

Did pretty well on thrusters. 7 unbroken the first round and 5 unbroken the 2nd 3rd. Weighted pull-ups were disappointing. 3 minutes of thrusters and 8:40 of weighed pull-ups.

Vacation from the mainsite

I decided that I need to do something a little different to keep progressing a few months back. I experimented a little bit doing my own programming and mixing in some weakness WODs (most that Jeff Vale programmed for me), CF Masters WODs, WODs from CF One World with the mainsite programming and some extra strength and skill work, but it was haphazard and I was not getting the great results that I felt that I could had the programming been coordinated by someone looking out for the bigger picture and tying all the programming together.

I felt I really needed to just give it up to someone else to tie it all together.

I have always appreciated from afar the programming of the OPT 'Big Dawg' blog, CF Oneworld and CF Invictus. Of all 3 of these, CF Invictus stands out as the most balanced, organized and well-rounded, while still maintaining the variety that makes CrossFit so awesome and powerful. CJ Martin (owner of CF Invictus) also programs a lot of my weaknesses into his WODs and mostly in the time domains that I feel are the most powerful for promoting overall progress in all areas of fitness. They also kicked off a new programing format on 11/28/11, which prompted me to get off my butt and start doing something different now rather than later.

I will be doing 'Nuts' as my last mainsite WOD and then starting up on CF Invictus WODs a few days behind their order on their site in a few days. I am pretty excited about this change. I am hoping for big changes.

Warm-up:

Warmed up with a couple rounds of muscle-ups and box jumps. 2 Muscle-ups all 4 rounds, but 10 x 24" box jumps the first & second round and 7 x 35" box jumps the 3rd and 4th.

4 sets of:
- Cleans 1,1,1,1 (10 seconds ret between reps)
- Heavy KB swings 10-15 reps
- 3 minute rest

then...

3 rounds of:
- 250 meter row
- 20 Wall ball shots
- 20 KB swings w/2 pood KB
- 3 minute rest

Part 1: 225#s all set of cleans and 10 x 2 pood KB swings
Part 2: 2:25, 2: 37, 3:02

Fell apart on 3rd round. Happy with 225 cleans, although arms bending too so during 3rd and 4th round.

Warm-up:

3 rounds of :

30 double-unders

1-3 muscle-ups (just by feel)

10 box jumps

WOD:

'Michael'

3 rounds for time:

- 800 meter run

- 50 back extensions

- 50 sit-ups

Time: 25:47

Probably a 3 minute PR. Not sure (been forever since I did this WOD). Back extension are still a huge weakness in this WOD for me, although I am little better on them when the reps per round are 25 or less.

WOD:

Part 1:

Bear Complex:

- 15 minutes to work up to heaviest weight that can be used for 3 times through the Bear Complex (Power Clean, Front squat, Push Press, Back Squat, Push Press)

Part 2:

2 - man 'RJ' Hero WOD:

Broken up anyway between 2 people:

2.5 mile run

25 rope climbs

250 game style push-ups

Score: 185 # on Bear, 22:27 on team 'RJ'

November 23rd, 2011

WOD:

5 rounds for time:

- 3 HSPUs

- 5 x 315 # Deadlifts

- 100 m run

Time: 8:44

All HSPUs unbroken

WOD:

2011 Open WOD #2

15 minute AMRAP

- 9 Deadlifts w/155#s

- 12 Games style push-ups

- 15 Box Jumps

Score: 7 rnds + 10 box jumps

After WOD, Push Press practice

Unbroken sets of 12, 9, 7 w/115#s and a 1 minute rest between sets.

Not happy with score, worse than last year.

November 21st, 2011

Warmed up with snatch practice:

Hang Squat Snatch 4 x 2

(95, 115, 135, 155 (F))

Squat Snatch 2 x 2

(155, 165 (F))

WOD:

20 minute AMRAP

-10 TGUs (R) w/1.5 pood

-10 TGUs (L) w/1.5 pood

-20 KB swings w/1.5 pood

-20 Box jumps, 24" box

-10 KB OHS (R) w/1.5 pood

-10 KB OHS (L) w/1.5 pood

-20 KB swings w/1.5 ppod

-20 Box jumps, 24" box

Score: 1 round + 4 TGUs (R)

Need LOTS of work on TGUs and KB OHS!

Very light warm-up

WOD:

Thrusters

1-1-1-1-1-1-1

195-205-215-215 (F)-205-205-205

...then about an hour later...

10 rounds for time:

- 10 ring dips

- 10 pull-ups

Time: 23:26

Got 8 ring dips unbroken 1st round

Pull-ups were 10 the 1st round and then 7/3 the rest of the rounds.

Warm-up

Burgner warm-up (Snatch)

4 rounds of 1 muscle-ups, 2 HSPUs

WOD -

Three rounds for time:

24 GHD sit-ups

15 Wallball '2-fer-1' w/20# ball

Time: under 7 minutes (stop watch malfunction)

I stink at Wallball 2-fer-1s. I should be able to go way faster on these.

Played around with TGUs after (a weakness) and single KB push jerks. Really weak on the TGUs. I need to practice those a lot.

Warm-up:

Muscle-ups and HSPUs, burgner warm-up

WOD:

12 minute AMRAP

- 3 HSPUs

- 5 Deadlifts w/275#s

- 7 Pull-ups

- 9 Box jumps, 24 inch

Wait 5 minutes, then

- 500m row for time.

7 rounds + 3 HSPUs, 1:43

Cash-out:

Unbroken push press with 95#s, wait one minute, repeat until only 9 are possible.

15, 12, 12, 9

Notes: 7 rounds was not bad, but should be faster. HSPUs were all 2+ 1. Deadlifts and Boxjumps all unbroken. Set rower on 3. Way too low. Made the row overly tough. Another night WOD (I need the light of the day!).

November 15th, 2011

WOD:

5 rounds for time

- 5 SDLHPs w/135#s

- 5 Clean & Jerks w/135#s

- 5 Power Snatchs w/135#s

Time: 7:15

Pretty happy with the time, but I think I could have gone faster. These lifts, at this weight and rep scheme are right in my wheelhouse. Technique on all the 3 lifts was mediocre at best today. Another 'night' WOD. Looking forward to getting back to working out during the day again when my schedule changes back to normal.

Warmed up with some double-unders, HSPUs, muscle-ups and light push press. Got a 2 rep and 3 rep unbroken set of HSPUs, but that was it today. Working out a night at the end of the day threw me off a bit.

WOD:

'White'

5 rounds for time of:

15' Rope climbs x 3

10 Toes to bar

21 Walking lunges w/45# plate held overhead

Run 400 meters

Time 24:57

Hard to maintain a good pace on this WOD. 1st round was 3:42, just flew by. Significantly slower later rounds.

Did this WOD at the end of very long day (got up at 4:15 and did WOD at 7:00 PM). It was dark, cold and rainy on the runs. Wet shoes + rope climbing = >:(

Felt good with time considering.

Light general Warm-up

A little HSPU practices

Got an unbroken set of 5 HSPU

WOD:

'Murph'

1 mile run

100 pull-ups

200 push-ups

300 squats

1 mile run

Pull-ups, push-ups and squat partitioned as needed

42:05 (PR by more than 3 minutes)

Felt pretty good with setting a PR on a day I was not feeling 100%. I am still not near a really decent time, but for 220-225# this is not bad. Did the WOD with Ryan and the nearly superhuman Jeff Vale at CF Snohomish very early in the morning. Good times.

Warmed-up with chest to bar and HSPUs practice (got 4 HSPUs unbroken, which is good for me lately).

WOD:

10 rounds for time:

- 10 Deadlifts w/225#s

- 6 pull-ups

- 8 sit-ups

- 10 push-ups

Time: 18:34

I probably could have shaved off a minute or more if I gamed the WOD a little more, but my main goal was getting the reps on each exercise unbroken. I did that through all rounds (slight pause last 1-2 reps on pull-ups and push-ups rounds 9 & 10 without coming off the bar or out of the plank).

WOD:

5 rounds for time of
Run 200 meters
20 Pull-ups
Run 200 meters
20 Push-ups
Run 200 Meters
20 Sit-ups
Run 200 meters
20 Squats

Time - 38:01

Worked out in the afternoon after a super huge breakfast at The Maltby Cafe. It was a work related meeting. Working out in the afternoon is really not my thing, so I was happy with this time. Pull-ups and push-ups were broken up pretty good. Lots of work to do on those exercises.

Strength work:

Deadlift 5-5-5

WOD:

'Diane'

21-15-9
225# Deadlift
HSPUs

DL: 365, 375, 375

WOD time: 40+ minutes

Argh! Imploded on the HSPUs. Got stuck at about 18 on the first round and then spiraled down from there. Last time did this is 15 - 16 minutes! Oh No! I have totally lost my HSPU mojo!

Deadlifts at 225# felt easy.
First time fully Rx'd. 45 HSPUs suck (as bad as you think they would). Last time I did a similar WOD (21-15-9, SDHPs w/95#s & HSPUs), my time was 25:11!!! So the time for the HSPUs was improved by at least 10 minutes!

WOD:

'Elizabeth'

21-15-9
135# (sqt) cleans
ring dips

Time: 9:07 (2:30+ PR!!)

Need to work on unbroken squat cleans and front squats.

I did a WOD at CrossFit Aspire in Cherry Hill, New Jersey today:

Strength:Back Squat 5, 5, 5

Metcon:
50 Mountain Climbers
15 Front Squats w/155#s (apprx 50% of back squat weight)
50 Double Unders
40 Mountain Climbers
12 Front Squats
40 Double Unders
30 Mountain Climbers
9 Front Squats
30 Double Unders

295, 305, 315
Time: 13:48

I got up to 315# X 5 on the back squats, which I think is a PR (can’t recall the last time I did a 5 rep set of back squats). Then the direction that we were given for the front squats weight for the metcon was to use a weight that was about 50% of the back squat 5 rep weight.

High rep mountain climbers in a WOD are horrible. They killed me! As did going straight from them right into heavy front squats. Time 13:48. Humidity here in New Jersey is much different than what I am used to. Felt like I was in a hot yoga studio during this WOD.

WOD:

5 rounds for time of:
- 10 OHS w/120#s
- 15 pull-ups

Time: 24:00

I did this WOD @ LA Fitness in Mount Laurel NJ. No bumper plates, so I could not drop the bar and therefore I could not push too hard towards failure. As I result, my time sucked. I did take the weight from a rack, because I was going to have to be snatching the weight up sooo many times. I lost it once and and failed inside the rack and strained my forearms a little trying to 'catch' the weight before it clanged into the squat rack.

Oh well, pretty good on pull-ups today and got in a truckload of OHS.

WOD:

'Room Service'

20 rounds for time:
- 5 push-ups
- 5 sit-ups
- 5 squats

Time: 8:57 (3:09 PR!)

Had a really bad go of it yesterday, so this was a built of a confidence builder. Still on the road for at least a week. Going into a global gym tomorrow morning and then may hit a local CF gym in New Jersey later this week.

FAIL!!!

Arrived at my hotel (in Mount Laurel, NJ) at about 12 midnight Thursday. Had trouble getting to sleep and then woke up early. Took a 'rest' day Friday, but worked about 12 hours and did not sleep well Friday either.

Went to a local high school track to run a 5k. Got to about 2 miles at a decent pace and then started to muscle cramp up in my upper abs. Ran another lap and the cramps got worse. Stopped running with 3 laps to go at 18:30. Cramps were bad enough to bend me over. Walked around for about 20 minutes and the let up. Dehydration? Not used to the local humidity? I am a giant poof?

There was a pull-up bar at the track, so I did 5 x 8 of wide grip pull-ups alternating pulling to the front of the neck and the back of the neck. Then did 5 sets of unbroken double-unders. Neither were for time.

To add to the fun my right foot started to hurt in the same way that it did about 6 months back. I have a pain ball with me and rolled my foot a couple times today and it seemed to get better.

Not a good day.

Kind of short on time today. Flying back east for work.

WOD:

Back Squat 3-3-3-3-3

Double under practice for 5-10 minutes

50 knees to elbows for time.

Bsquats: 265-286-305-325-330

50 K2Es time was 3:52


Back squat weight not a PR (337x3 is my PR). Started to loose form and since I was going to be on airplanes all day and not able to stretch, etc., I did not want to tweek something.

Going to rough finding time and a place to train this next couple of weeks, living out of a hotel room and working 11-12 hours a day.

WOD:
5 Rope climbs (15')
5 Clean & Jerks, 145#s
4 Rope climbs
4 Clean & Jerks, 165#s
3 Rope climbs
3 Clean & Jerks, 1855#s
2 Rope climbs
2 Clean & Jerks, 205#s
1 Rope climb
1 Clean & Jerk, 225#s

Time: DNF!!!!

Failed over and over again at 225, did not get under the bar fast enough/hestiated during the jerk. Could not get my timing right and could not muscle it up. Most likely this is partially due to a little fatigue from 'Freddy's Revenge still, but very frustrating regardless

Like I said back in August 'Need to work on split jerks and push jerks.'

Double-unders - I don't hate you, but I don't like you either.

WOD:

5 rounds for time of:
- 35 double-unders
- 200 meter run

Time: 9:31

Not bad for me on a double-under WOD (a weakeness). Went unbroken on the DUs the first round and then tripped up a couple times the second. Not bad the rest.

Still a weakness, but getting better.

WOD:

'Freddy's Revenge'

5 rounds for time:
- 5 Shoulder to overhead, 185# (from a rack)
- 10 burpees

Time - 16:31

Don't get me wrong, 185#s is heavy on any given day. But tonight it felt like 1000 lbs. First round was about 2 minutes, but the wheels came of the bus immediately afterwards. Definitely feeling that this is the 4th WOD in 3 days, but still need a lot of work on my jerks. Did almost all of them behind th neck. Really hard to catch 185#s on neck without banging myself up. Took a least two really hard shots to the neck. Ouch!

September 17th, 2011 - 2nd WOD

WOD:

Rest 60 seconds between sets:

Deadlift

2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2

375#s

Goal I set for myself was unbroken doubles with a challenging weight in straight sets across all 10 minutes. Got it.

Working in a few double workout days to get ready for a 3 day beat down in a few weeks at CrossFit Taranis Winter Challenge 2011.

September 17th, 2011 - Fight Gone Bad

WOD:

'Fight Gone Bad'

3 Rounds of:

- Wallball shots, 20# ball (for reps)

- Sumo deadlift high-pulls, 75#s (for reps)

- Box jumps, 20" (for reps)

- Push presses, 75# (for reps)

- Row (for calories)

* one minute rest

One minute stations for each exerise, no stop or rest in between exercises. There is a one minute rest after rowing station before the next round is started. One point for each rep/calorie on the rower.

Score: 318 (40 point PR from 278 last time)

Finally broke 300! Still more work to do on the push press at light weight.

September 13th, 2011

WOD:

Squat Cleans 1,1,1,1,1

225, 240, 250 (F), 250 PR!, 250 (F)

I had planned on hitting rack jerks and clean pull after the squat cleans, but I was pretty zapped after the Squat Cleans alone. I did play with both a little, but all my 'pop' was gone.

Only a 5# PR, but after no increase on my clean for so long I will definitely take it. Weight felt good/not crazy heavy, just did not reach full extension and bent arms on heavy reps (when the arm bends, the power ends) when going into 2nd pull. Will work Hang squat snatch and hang squat cleans at moderate weight, concentrating on form, next couple of weeks.

Skill practice:

3 rounds, not for time, of:

- 5 rope climbs

- 30 double-unders

This was 'practice' and not a timed WOD, so I took lots of rest and just concentrated on getting up the rope as fast as possible, locking in first foot lock on the rope and the getting double-unders as unbroken as possible. Rope climbs still a little rusty, but double-unders felt good.

WOD:

10 min AMRAP

- 3 HSPU

- 6 C2B pull-ups

- 9 Box jumps, 24"

6 rounds + 1 HSPU

Went to a wedding in California over the weekend and ate and drank too much. Affected me a little today, but mainly I just *suck* at HSPUs. The C2B pull-ups and box jumps (at this amount particularly) were all unbroken and very doable. HSPUs just have not improved lately.