Kicking and Screaming

WOD

run 400m (1:04*, 1:24,1:27)
kettlebell swing, 1.5 pood, max reps (15, 25, 35)
rest 5:00
3 rounds

* PR by 8 seconds, finally ELITE!!! It was crazy. Thanks Ben for coming out the gate fast and keeping it close.

"Go out strong, not slow. Then put the hammer down."
Larsen Jensen, 400m freestyle American record holder

Notes: Another Crossfit Ventura jem. Last day of workouts, I'm starting the taper for my challenge. I don't have records from high school Track days, but that might be my fastest 400m ever. I ran the first 100m not super fast, picked up the pace for the next 100m, and kicked like a bastard mule for the last 200m. 5:00 mile is possible. BELIEVE.

Training Hard and Smart

WOD
1) max muscle-ups, 10*

2) front lever for time, 7 seconds


3) dead-stop front squats, triples, 135, 185, 195, 205


4) 250m row (:45, :47,:48,:48,:49)
rest 1:30
5 rounds

* PR-By 3

Notes: The muscle-ups felt smooth. The front lever felt/looked like crap but was my longest. I couldn't find my balance point or hollow position. Dead stop front squats are another great transfer exercise for Olympic lifting. I was planning to man up and go for 210, but lost the rack. They rank #3 on the list of most unpleasant barbell activities. Here is the list:

#1 Squats @ bodyweight, max reps, 20+: Advanced, 50+ : Elite or masochist

#2 Jumping squats @45 lbs, max reps in 1 minute, 1st rule: must break parallel, 2nd rule : feet must leave the ground, 40-50 : You're good, 50+: You're GOD.

#3 Dead stop front squats, triples : hard, 5X5 : you will not be walking out of the gym.

The row went well considering I decided to sell-out, go as fast as possible on every interval. Matt C. and I had a great conversation about fitness today. Part of it concerned the best way to play the game, aka get the highest score. Anyone that works out with me knows that I strategize very well. Rarely, do I sell-out. I do sell-out on new workouts. "Balls to the wall " is good frame of the mind to have access to but constant application flies in the face of smart training.

Another Bites the Dust

WOD

1) 21-15-9
pistols, left leg
pistols, right leg
elevated push-ups
time : 4:24

rest 5 minutes

2) 35 lbs X 2, clean and jerks
max rounds in 10 minutes: 100*

* PR!! Long time coming.

Notes: Felt good after yesterday's active recovery. Matt C. came out of semi-retirement to workout with me, which was very nice. Pistols felt easy. No more pistol workouts until my challenge. I am very siked about attaining elite level on the clean and jerks. No more clean and jerk workouts until my challenge. Yeah!

Dropping the Hammer

WOD

1) 100m sprint X 5, (sub :15,:15,:15,:16,:14*), rest as needed

2) Tabata row (meters : 99, 100, 98, 97, 96, 98, 98, 96)

rest 15:00

3) Tabata row (meters : all 100+)

The shoe of champions

4) L-sit, 10s on 10s off, 6 rounds

"Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
Do you know that you can use it?"
- The Clash

* PR!!! That might be the fastest 100m I have ever run, including my 4 years of high school varsity track

Notes: Something click in the last 100m sprint, a combination of anger and desire. I forgot to switch to All-stars for the first row intervals. Once I switched, it was a cake walk. By cake walk, I mean I couldn't see and felt like puking at the end.

Slow Learner

WOD

Snatch, 1 RM, 155*


Snatch, 65

Snatch, 95

Snatch, 155
Warning: The form is so bad it might permanently damage your own Olympic lifting.

* PR !!

Notes: I was tight and tired from the Down Ladder of Never Ending Pain. It was difficult to get in the bottom position. I went back to my old friend, the power versions. I did an OHS after each Snatch as penance. Notice how far forward I am on the 65 Snatch. I clean it up a little on 95 Snatch. The PR snatch was a pile, at least I had heart. On the next cycle, I'm dropping down in weight and working on form. I need to pull back towards my body and get in the bottom position. Some OHS would help.

Playing the Sun

WOD

1) Muscle-ups, Grease The Grove

2) 400m, run*
50 sit-ups
50 squats
400m, run
40 sit-ups
40 squats
....
400m, run
10 sit-ups
10 squats
Time : 14:32

* PR - 1:14 !!

Notes: Muscle-ups felt great. I joined Crossfit Ventura for the workout. The PR in the 400m is only by 1 second, but I'm taking it. I said no more air squats, but it is impossible to say no to Colin & Huff. There are rumors of an affiliate gym opening mid-Aug. That would almost be cheating for my challenge.

A Day at the Beach

WOD

1) various class "A" moves, e.g. muscle-ups, levers, and flags

Monkey Hangs
I was psyched because there are no pull-up bars in SB long enough to do them.

Campusing
These bars are not close together.

The Transition
Enjoying the view from the top

2) rope climb #1, 15', no feet, up and down
rope climb #2, 15', l-sit, up, down, and up
Making no feet rope climbing harder

3) pull-ups, max reps : 26*

* Personal Record

Notes: Went down to Venice and Santa Monica Beach. Santa Monica Beach had better toys, but less history. Played on the beach all day and had too much fun. The rope climbs felt easy, really boring campusing. I found a set of bars that were perfect for kipping pull-ups, i.e. thin with little bounce, It was easy to set a PR. I had more pull-ups in me but want to save something for climbing tomorrow.

On Fire !!!

WOD

1) Back squat, singles, 275, 285, 295, 305,
(all sets had additional 40 lbs of chain)

2) "Angie"
100 pull-ups
100 push-ups
50 GHD sit-ups
50 sit-ups
100 squats
time : 16:35*

* PR by 3:30 minutes

Notes: I am starting to mutant, 4th day on and setting a PR. The squats felt great. The chain helped the walk out because it punishes fast, unnecessary movement. In addition, I was walking out 345 but only had 305 "in the hole". I love working out outside but air quality was low because of the Gap Fire. I am a geek, here are the splits: 6:30, 8:20, 13:10, 15:03. Last time, the pull-ups took 10 minutes. The best place to make up time is the GHD sit-ups. Those are freaking hard, but I getting better at them.

Semi-submerged truck tires

WOD

1) max HSPU : 12 *

2) bench, 3X1, 215, 225, 235(f)

3) bench, 3X3, 195

4) 200m (and change) sprint
15 GHD sit-ups
14 GHD back extensions
4 rounds : 9:42

* PR by 3 !!

Notes: The HSPU felt easy. All the shoulder pressing helps. I had MC hold my legs, instead of doing them against the wall which resulted in less stress on my lower back. Every rep was nose to ground, i.e. almost full ROM. Need to get parallelettes. I suck at bench in general and specificially now since I haven't been doing it. I created a checklist of exercises and plan going through the list before repeating (unless I have a glaring weakness). WARNING: Another Crossfit criticism/poopstorm. There is not enough bench in crossfit. It is a good movement, builds muscle, and makes people stronger. There are many good movements that never/rarely appear in WODs, e.g. farmer's walks and TGU. Most crossfitters need more muscle and all crossfitters need to get stronger. Having more muscle and being stronger usually makes met-con easier. I have a former "bodybuilder" working out with me now. He has lots of experience with bench but not going heavy. He gets plenty of going heavy working out with me. The circuit felt slow. GHD sit-ups are no joke. Subjectively, twice as hard as back extensions.

Mouth Bleeding

WOD

1) Snatch, 3X1, 115
GET UP!!

2) Clean, 3X1, 155, 185, 205*

205 started to run away from me so I chased it down.

3) OHS, 3X1, 135, 155, 185(f)

This is the heavy miss. Lots of heart. Not enough strength or technique.

* Personal Record (by 20 F**KING lbs)

Notes: I'm bringing it. My Olympic lifting technique is garbage because I don't have a coach. I get by being relatively strong. When the weight got heavy I would switch to Power versions, instead of Full versions. Today I dropped down in weight and was doing Full versions. I'm tearing myself down to build back up. I felt very good on the cleans and went for a PR. I went for a PR on OHS but had to make a 30lb jump. It was too much.

Two-a-days (again)

WOD

1) max rounds in 2 minutes
rest 2 minutes

sit-ups : 90
push-ups : 79
squats : 112
supermans : 60

then
400m X 3
not for time

rest 1 hour

2) 100 ft walking lunge
max pull-ups (26*,15,9,9,6)
20 pushups
5 rounds
time: 9:22

* Personal Record for pull-ups !!

Notes: I joined Crossfit 805 for #1 and Santa Barbara Crossfit Community for #2. It was very motivating to workout with other people. This is the start of a great community. The workouts were very similar to Physical Fitness Tests for the Armed Forces (without the 3 mile run). I scored high but not perfect. I had ridiculous DOMS in my legs for the next two days. I have the endurance for my challenge, but still need more strength.

Under the bar

I finally got around to Olympic lifting. I lowered the weight and increase the reps.

Snatch: triples 65, 95, 95, 115, 115

Clean: triples 115, 135, 155, 185 (f), 185 *

* only a double but still a PR!!

The bar path is much straighter when compared to the earlier videos. However, I noticed in my Snatch videos I look down. I don't think that is optimal. The bar goes forward on the missed clean. I am still more comfortable power cleaning than squat cleaning. Overall, I need to work on full/triple extension.

Circuit
25 burpees
25 OHS 45 lbs
25 swings 1 pood
3 rounds in 11:47

Warmup

I started with a test of HSPU.

I got 9 solid and so very close to the 10th. Notice how much my back curves as the reps go up. I need to focus on being tight and straight. Another event in the I-am-not-worried category.

I spent the rest of the day working on different techniques and getting my mind back in the game.
Tomorrow will be the first full day back.

Tonnage

I was disappointed with my performance last week with weighted mu. I hit it again this week, but I only had time for one set. I decided on +25lbs.

It felt easy so I did it again. New PR!

I changed venues, but was still short on time.
WOD:
3X3 pull ups, 90 lbs, rest 1:00
3X3 hang power cleans, 155 lbs, rest 1:00
3X3 deadlift, 315 lbs, rest 1:00
dips and abs

Total time : 30 minutes
Total weight : +6 tons

Tonnage

Lots of pressing

I rolled to the commercial gym near work. I hate it. I would prefer to be outside. In addition, most people are bodybuilding. There are very few athletes that work out there. It does have a uses: I wanted to bench. All 13 of them were full, but all 3 power racks were open!! I took it as a sign to shoulder press. Triples : 135, 145, 140, 140, 140.

Then I tested my 35lb X 2 dumbbell clean and jerk in 10 minutes. I ended up with 94. That is pretty good, considering I have never done it before. The biggest issue was grip. Weird. I'm putting it in the I-am-not-worried category.

"Cross Training"

One of my events is 15 muscle ups (mu). On any given day I good for 6 or 7. Today I tried going for max weighted mu. Typically, stronger is better. If each individual mu is a lower percent of my max, it should be easier to do 15. I did a couple unweighted to warm up. Then I did +10 lbs and +20lbs very easy.It's all easy til it's heavy. For me that was +30lbs. I failed once without trying. Then I tried and got so very close.

My goal is +50lbs in 3 months. Then 15 will be "easy"

I was fooling around the rings and remembered than I never have done an L-sit for time. unfortunately, it was already after I did a long L-sit to warm-up. The second one, which was officially timed, was 40s. My goal is 1:30. That might appear to be a big difference. I am still putting it in the I-am-not-worried category because it was my first one and for the challenge it will be on the parallel bars.

About 30 seconds or 30 years in,
depending on official time or how it felt.


I finished up with 100 1-pood swings for time. 3:15 (previous PR 4:40).

Another day at the office ... oops I mean The Shed

I started out with a little test ...

42 ring push ups PR! (previous 33 8/18/07)

WOD:
row 1000m
5 rounds of
20 push ups (floor)
50 squats (air)

1000m in 3:35 total WOD in 11:30

Date with Helen

WOD: "Helen"
run 400m
21 swings 53lbs
12 pull ups

3 rounds

I sent two PRs today!! The first 400m was 1:15 (previous PR 1:16 7/7/07) and total time 9:20 (previous PR 9:41 11/11/07).

No Bad Days

I went straight at my weakness today: the snatch. It is hard, technical, and scary. I can do the slow lifts well, squat and dead lift. I am a grinder. There is no grinding the snatch.

Warm up:

OHS 3X10 dowel
Burgener warm up 45 lbs
drop snatch 3 X 65 lbs

snatch:

65 X 3
95 X 1
95 X 1
95 X 1

115 X 1

135 miss
135 miss

135 X 1 (Power style to make sure I made it)

clean:

135 X 1
155 X1
185 X 1 (PR!)

205 miss
205 miss

I don't like missing a lift.

My snatch is still horrible, and I missed a 205 clean twice. Bad day? NO WAY. I had fun hanging out and training.

Baseline

Goals are important relative to the starting point.

Goals/Current Personal Record & Date

25 pistols each leg / 25 pistols left 10/23/07, 32 pistols right 7/7/07
350 lb back squat / 345 lb back squat 10/23/07
60 ring push ups / 33 ring push ups 8/18/07
262.5 lb bench press / 245 lb bench press 10/23/07
20 ft rope climb, 2 trips touch and go, no feet / N/A
15 X 175lb overhead squat / N/A
100 X 35lb X 2 dumbbell clean and jerk in 10 minutes /N/A
400m run in 1:04 minutes / 400m run in 1:16 minutes
437.5 lb dead lift / 400 lb dead lift 1/13/08
175 lb shoulder press /160 lb shoulder press 8/8/07
10 handstand push ups / N/A
262.5 lb clean /175 lb clean 3/20/07
15 second front lever / N/A
131.5 lb sandbag carry 1 mile / N/A
800 m run in 2:20 minutes / 800 m run in 2:50 minutes
500 m row in 1:25 minutes / 500 m row in 1:37minutes
30 inch vertical jump / N/A
50 ring dips / 20 ring dips 4/15/07
175 lb bar dip /130 lb bar dip 10/23/07
40 dead hang bar pull ups / 25 dead hang bar pull ups 6/10/07
175 lb bar pull up /135 lb bar pull up 2/12/08
15 ring muscle ups / 7 ring muscle ups 2/5/08
1:30 minute L-sit / N/A
6K row in 20:00 minutes /5K row in 20:40 minutes 12/5/05
218.75 lb snatch / 135 lb snatch 11/14/07
"Mary" - 10 handstand push ups, 10 pistols, & 15 pull ups X 15 in 20 minutes / N/A
1600m run in 5 minutes / 6:35 8/23/06

First, I need to establish a baseline on all exercises. Second, my olympic lifts need to go way up (clean + 87.5 lb, snatch +83.75 lb).