BBG- 15 min to establish a 1RM Snatch

Conditioning- 4 Rounds for total working time of

• 15 Power Snatch (75/55)
• 10 Strict Ring Pullups (rings touch chest)
• 15 Burpees
• 1 min rest b/t rounds

Roll & stretch, PVC practice on snatches from high hang, hang and mid-shin position.

Following that, started on snatch work, starting from 65 pounds for a warm-up, for three, up to 80x3, 85x3, 100x3(!!!) and attempted 110 three times, but couldn’t quite get up with it. I’m damn close though. Also I get my feet too wide with heavier weights, I need to be more conscious in it, but even so today was a pretty big day for me all in all.

For the workout, started with 65lb on the bar and ring rows subbed for ring pull-ups. Wasn’t long before I was walking up my burpees, and after two rounds I dropped my weight to 60 lbs on the bar. Nothing to say on the ring rows. Last round of burpees I caught something of a second wind, and managed to get ‘normal’ burpees for the first seven or so, before having to walk the rest in.

Split/Final Times:

2:34

7:49

13:00

14:35

Strength/BBG- Make up yesterday’s Tempo HBBS

• 5×2 Tempo HBBS @ 80%, rest 2:00

Conditioning- For time:

• 7 Rope Climbs
• 14 Thrusters (95/65)
• 25 HR Pushups
• 5 Rope Climbs
• 10 Thrusters
• 25 HR Pushups
• 3 Rope Climbs
• 6 Thrusters
• 25 HR Pushups
• 20 Minute Cap

Rolled out some of the soreness and stiffness from Monday, hamstrings and glutes were ridiculously sore. Warmup of two rounds monster banded squat walks and lateral walks and 10 push-ups. Followed by twenty banded squats, changing the last few into the tempo described above. 

Strength/BBG, warmed up with just the bar, then went up 95-115-120-125-130, as it’s being stressed that we work on good form and the tempo being more important than hitting the high weight right off the back. After all, if you’re doing it wrong but strong, you’re still doing it wrong. And you risk hurting yourself.

For the workout itself, I was pleased that I could help a few people demonstrate the way to cinch the rope in with your feet for rope climbs. Got the first five done, before finding I just couldn’t really hold the rope any more.. so went to the scaled/substitution, which is lifting and lowering yourself on the rope by hand, from laying flat on your back to standing upright and reverse. 

Thrusters I started at 75, proved a little too heavy to have the asked for 7 unbroken to start with, so after three I stripped to 65 instead, which suited me much better for the workout.

Push- ups were.. not great, but tried to keep it to five at a time with minimal break/rest time, though that grew longer and longer. Switched to kneeling push-ups for the last round only. 

Final time: 16:54

BBG- 15 min Snatch technique work

Conditioning-10 min AMRAP of

• 6 HSPU 3 wall-walks up and down
• 30 BB Lunges, front rack (95/65)
• 60 Double Unders 120 singles

Foam roll, 500m row (1:52 @~60%) and stretching exercise, PVC work.

Group snatch technique work was done with PVC pipe and no weights used, from the high hang position, then down to the hang position just above the knees, and finally down to mid-shin. I found just how much tension the proper position will load onto the hamstrings, and trying to go down and hold in each of the three positions (in particular the latter two) became really difficult. Not unexpected, but still startling.. Coming back up in slow motion from mid-shin to hang, my legs were actually quivering, muscles spasming in that range of motion. Interesting having a very obvious and real highlight of a weakness like that.

The WOD, not a lot to say, other than the substitutions/modifications listed above. I won’t say that the wall walks were easy, but they were less difficult than I had expected, while still providing a challenge in the second round. Lunges were done at 65 lbs. 

Made it through one full round, and then wall walks + all 30 lunges of the second round during the 10 minutes. Not exactly pleased, but I’m still trying to recover lost ground from my hiatus, so I can’t be too hard on myself.

Strength: 5×3 Bench Press- heavier than last week, rest 2:00

Conditioning: “Power Elisabeth”- 21/15/9 reps for time of

• Power Clean (135/95)
• Ring Dips

Warm-up of 3 rounds 50’ prowler push down & back, 10 back extensions, 10 push-ups. Never done prowler runs (before now), that’s an interesting thing. Not sure if I like them or not. Haha.

Bench press started with a warm-up of 3x95, then went to working sets of 115, 120, 125, 130 and 135. 125 is where it started to get challenging, 130 was tough to do, and supposedly I got all 3 at 135 without assistance from my spotter, I’m not so sure, but okay.

WOD I used 75lbs for the power cleans to keep a weight that was good for a quick workout but still heavy, and the way it hit the ground when dropped, sounded heavy enough. First set was seven, fifteen, nineteen and complete for breaks, ring dips were bandedand similar breaks, getting some stability there.

Second round was six, ten and complete, a little smaller sets on ring dips.

Third round, four and done, six, eight and done.

Final time: 6:51.Last one to finish but I don’t mind so much, it was still a fairly ‘quick’ time, which is kind of a sign that I picked (about) the right weight. 

BBG: 15 min. Hang Snatch technique practice, focus on absolutely perfect technique.

Conditioning: For time-

• 30 Push Press (115/75)
• 30 Over-The-Box Jumps (24/20)
• 30 Pullups Banded
• 30 HSPU 45 push-ups

Trying a new format for this, more condensed and concise instead of “Dear Diary” style, notes to myself more than anything, unless those of you out there really care to read all those details. :)

Foam roll and stretch, row 500m (1:55 @ 65%)

BBG: Working with just the bar, and I was debating whether to actually go up in weight, but stayed there. Probably should have gone up, at least to 65 from 45, would keep me down on my feet while doing the pulls.

Workout: Push press at 80 lbs, 12 unbroken, next 10 unbroken, finish set. Handily done with catching the downward motion of each press in the set position to start the next one. Like a spring or piston, essentially. Box jump overs all thirty steady with no break other than pause on landing. Pull-ups were pretty steady all things considered, two to three pauses through all thirty, then on to the push-ups, first twenty done planked, remaining 25 done from the knee in sets of five at a time.

Final time: 10:34

Afterwards my chest and shoulders were blown and completely shot from all the pressing motions, haha. Gonna be sore from this.. 

Skill- 15 min skill practice, athlete choice of:

• Pull-ups
• Muscle-ups
• Ring dips
• L-sit holds
• HSPU

Conditioning- For time:

• 400m run
• 30 Clean and Jerks (135/95)
• 400m run

Foam rolling and lacrosse ball, still can’t get used to the feeling of the lacrosse ball rolling around in the muscle tissue after I’m done, or so it feels like..

Warm-up of two rounds of 250m row (:56 and :57) , 15 back extensions, 15 GHD sit-ups, and 10 push-ups. Dropped the sit-ups to ten each round, and only did five in the second, as my back was starting to feel tense and tightened during.. Plank on ten push-ups at a time was actually really easy, but that’s probably because it was during the warm-up and I was fresh, versus in the middle of the workout. Haha.

For the skill work I decided to work at pull-ups, starting with a band as from before but it rubbed on my stomach after several reps, even with a shirt on.. even now after the fact I’ve got a nice rash there, looks lovely. Instead I went and moved to a higher bar with no band, just to see what I still have in capability for pull-ups.. Grip strength still sucks for anything beyond maybe 4-5 at a time, but at least I haven’t forgotten all of the muscle memory for kipping pull-ups, though I’m sure there’s still a long way to go on refining the motions, making them more efficient.

For the workout, while I didn’t think it was going to be cake, reading up on the website, it seemed almost ‘wrong’, like there should be more to it, compared to our more typical workouts. Reading back in my entries, looks like the last time I did Grace (30 C&J for time) I did it with 105 lbs in a time a little under seven minutes.. Of course, I realize more after the fact that that was while I was in the gym regularly, versus coming back after a rather lengthy hiatus.

First 400m run, a lap around the building, wasn’t really bad at all, came back in at 2:26 elapsed, and that was without going at full speed around. Then started the clean and jerks at 105#.. was a little bit too heavy for me to just go touch and go even being rather fresh into things. After going one at a time up to the eleventh rep, I decided I had to go to a lower weight to keep my time manageable. While I could DO the thirty at 105, it would take me longer than the average times already posted. Took off fives to go down to 95 lbs. for the remainder, and even at that weight it was still mostly one at a time, with the occasional second thrown in before I dropped the bar and started again. 

Just gotta keep going, so I get back into whatever poor condition I left in back in September, because if performance of late as a whole is any indication, I’m somewhere below that, which isn’t entirely surprising given being gone nearly 6 months. 

Second run was not nearly as easy or neat as the first one, just dripping with sweat, heartrate up and trying to get deep breaths in.. Between slow jogging and walking on breaks as little as possible, I somehow eventually made it around the building with some serious cottonmouth..

Final time came to 13:26 between both laps and all 30 C&J (11 @ 105# and 19 @ 95#)

Strength- 5×3 Tempo HBBS @75%, rest 60 sec.

• Tempo= Quick descent, 5 second pause @ bottom, bounce and quick up.

Conditioning- For time:

• 20 Wallballs (20/14)
• 40 Pullups banded
• 20 WB
• 40 Box Jumps (24/20)
• 20 WB
• 40 Ring Dips Push-ups
• 20 WB
• 40 KBS (24/16kg)
• 20 WB

*Strict 20 min cap.

Began with the usual foam rolling and lacrosse ball work, which fortunately has continued to alleviate the stiffness in my left shoulder; it’s not gone completely, but it’s definitely reduced, and has improved the ease and range of motion there.

Warm-up was two rounds of one minute jumping rope and one minute holding a plank position from the elbows. Jumping rope isn’t bad, even at a steady pace, the planks however, I started with the first thirty seconds or so, then had to pause and relax, then go again.. and could only hold for maybe fifteen seconds this time, and fought to get back up and get the remaining fifteen seconds. No break between jumping rope and planks, so right between one and the other. The second round of planks was considerably worse than the first, twenty seconds off the bat is being generous, followed by no more than five to ten seconds for each attempt in the remainder of the minute.

Second part of the warm-up consisted of resistance bands on the ankles with a low, wide-legged squat, with twenty short-shuffling steps laterally down, and twenty back, all while keeping low in the squat and with a wide stance, to help build strength in the inner thigh muscles. Following that, moving the resistance band up to just under the knees and doing twenty body weight/air squats, in the “tempo” pattern listed above, holding in the bottom for a five count before bouncing and springing out sharply.

For the strength portion of the workout, 75% of my (admittedly estimated, and it’s been a while since I’ve tried to max) back squat is 150 lbs.. I tried to start with a working set at 135 lbs and work up from there, but after the first three (including the pause) I felt short of breath and light headed and dizzy.. 150 probably should wait. I rested the minute, before doing another 3x135 with the same feelings in my head following the lifts. After that I switched to a lower weight, though I may have undershot my goal, dropping to only 95 lbs. All the same, afterwards I was getting encouraging feedback and compliments from Matt, so that’s something, perhaps.

At this point it was time to get everything set for the bulk of the WOD, which looked really horrible, even as many of these tend to go. Band for the pull-ups, 14# ball, 36lb kettlebell, 20” box and doing push-ups for my modifications.

The wallballs were pretty ugly to start out with, even when I was doing them last I was far from the biggest fan, but it just was a mess finding a rhythm and managing good form.. I slowly, slowly sloughed through the first 20 and moved on to banded pull-ups .. these also felt pretty ugly, and I had a lot of swing at the bottom, coming down from the bar, which Matt pointed out to try to keep my feet under me as much as possible. I did what I could to make a conscious effort and correct it, and got positive feedback both at the time and more after the workout at how well I did as a result. All the same, It started to slow down, with maybe two or three pull-ups at a time, even with the band being in play. I will say that I could feel the motion of a kipping pull-up in using the band, which is good, as that’s more or less the motion and rhythm that’s encouraged in us doing the exercise, and the end-goal.

Twenty more wallballs, and this time I broke it down into five at a time, and while it wasn’t intentional, I kept with this scheme for the remainder of the twenty minutes, as it became the easiest way for me to do a good amount of work with (ideally) the least amount of rest..  Then came box-jumps, slow and steady, and I’m almost positive that I miscounted my reps during this, and decided to err on the side of too many rather than not enough. By the time 40 rolled around I had probably done 45 to 47, at a guess, but that’s okay. 

Back to the wallballs, 4x5 til it was done, and then forty push-ups.. Started going in rounds of five for these too, just to see how it would work out, and honestly, it wasn’t so bad.. maybe a little slow, but I managed to keep plank for the whole segment, as opposed to having to go to knees somewhere along the line. The last five however were getting to the limit of things, breaking down into one by one, instead of a whole set of five done as one.

By this point time was running down, and I could only manage three more wallballs before the twenty minute cap hit, as my elbows and shoulders felt completely blown by this point.

Total “score” of all reps completed, 183.

Strength: 5×3 Bench Press- heaviest possible, rest 2:00

Conditioning: 5 Rounds for time of:

• 20 Split Jumps
• 5 Power Snatch (115/75)
• 20 HR Pushups

Warm-up consisted of three rounds of a bear crawl down the mat, maybe ten or fifteen meters? Walking lunges back the same length, and ten kettlebell swings (36 lb.)

Next were some stretching exercises, holding a band and leaning back and down, one minute hold for each side, then what was billed as a ‘shoulder reset’, holding a kettlebell out overhead while lying on the ground, similar to a Turkish Get-up, elbow locked, but making a point to push your shoulder down and into the ground, rather than locked out and “active”.. Might have to try that more, with how my shoulder has been bothering me of late.

On to the bench press, something that I have rarely seen come up in programming at either of the gyms I’ve attended to this point. Started with practice sets of 95 and 110, then moved on to working sets in increments of five pounds, beginning at 115. Honestly hard to say if it’s just been a while since I’ve benched, or I’ve improved or grown stronger, or what, but the first few sets were “easy”, fast.. it wasn’t until 130 that it started getting heavy.. and 135 I got the first one but had to have spot assistance to get the last two. That said, it’s still a PR and a 1RM for me to hit 135 on a bench, so I’m very happy about that. 

As for the workout, well. I was kind of okay when I got up this morning and all bleary and sleepy-eyed saw three rounds, turns out it’s five. Oops. Uh, anyway, started with the twenty jumping lunges, and did 65 pounds on the bar for snatches since my shoulder’s still bothering me, even seventy-five was enough weight to pressure it.. Still, at that lighter weight, it enabled me to more or less do touch-and-go for all five reps, all five rounds. I did end up taking a break for 2/3 on round.. four, I think, but by then I was kind of dying, after the first round both full plank push-ups and jumping lunges were changed and down-shifted to kneeling push-ups (still hand release) and walking lunges up and down.

The lunges scaled back were just fine, but the pushups remained pretty doggone awful. the first five of every round I could knock out in one go, the remaining 15 were usually grueling, or at least that’s how it felt. The last five of the fifth round were literally one by one by one until everything was finished, then I just kind of laid there on the ground for a bit. I’ve yet to find a really good way to lay that gives your arms a rest or chance to un-knot during push-ups, I just kind of lay face down, cheek to the floor with arms at some awkward angle. 

At some point during I was wondering how I was going to finish the whole five rounds of this mess, but somehow I pushed myself through, and that’s really what’s key about all this, learning to keep going, to persevere til it’s finished.

Final time: 15:52

BBG-

• Every 20 sec for 4 min: 1 Snatch @ 75%
• Rest 3 min
• EMOM for 8 min: 1 Snatch @ 85%

Conditioning- For time:

• 50 Double Unders Or 100 Singles
• 5 Split Jerks (135/95)
• 30 Pullups Ring Rows
• 10 Split Jerks
• 30 Pullups Ring Rows
• 5 Split Jerks
• 50 Double Unders Or 100 Singles

Warm-up consisted of 500m row (1:55 @ ~60%) and some stretching exercises, then PVC passthroughs, overhead squats and snatch balance practice. 

Moved in to the snatches nearly immediately, started with 75 pounds on the bar but was advised to drop it to 65 due to the frequency of the first half. Slowly (as in over the course of the first four minutes) I became more and more conscious of my form and the bar path from ground to overhead. Gradually reining it in closer and closer to the body, so that by the last rep, it felt (at least) smooth and easy. Just need to keep working on proper form, being conscious about it so much that it becomes unconscious to do it correctly from the start. :)

Then went back up to 75 pounds for the 85% portion, and it’s worth noting that all of these from the start of the clock were being caught in the squat position. Maybe not cleanly, but that’s the position we were to aim for. The next eight minute snatches were still form-conscious, but with some practice in, it felt easier to know what I was aiming for, what to do and not to do. I still think I’m a long ways from being anything pretty or competitive though. 

Just moved both the plates onto the bar for the meat of the workout, 95 pounds was what I was wagering would be about ‘right’ for me to do for the chipper. Rings were set, got my rope, and got started. As much as I would (still) like to do double-unders, I didn’t want to go right into practicing them during a workout suited for speed (most times posted were between seven and ten minutes).

That said, got through the first hundred jumps quickly enough, singles are hardly a problem. The split jerks, 95 lbs. would turn out to be the right weight, however the first of five reps, I was not quite prepared, I nearly threw the weight completely, arms kind of all over the place, not sure what I was thinking about.. Reset myself and continued, the other four were much better (at least by comparison)!

Ring rows, burned through the first ten in one go, the remaining twenty split up into slightly smaller chunks, but taken care of maybe five or six at a time even so. Ten more split jerks, and these were broken down into a rhythm of one-two-rest-one-two.. all the way through, though the breaks seemingly grew longer each time. Not that surprising.

Thirty more ring rows, and these definitely were slower than the first, aiming for five at a time, and even then pausing now and again, doing two and three before no time at all.. Eventually (from my point of view) those were done, and five more split jerks.. I think those were done one, one, two, and one.. 

And more jumping rope! First twenty five, faltered, again at 60, and then finished completely.

Final time came to 10:54  so I’m pretty pleased, using other posted times as a sort of gauge let me know that I didn’t go too heavy or too light on weight or adjustments of the movements. It was all about as miserable as I expected, but I do love snatches probably the most of any lift, and need to get better; split jerks are good too, and seem less common in our programming than push jerks and other movements.

BBG: 7×2 Hang Cleans+ 1 Push Jerk- heaviest possible, rest 60-75 sec

Conditioning: 3 Rounds for time of

• 15/12 HSPU Modified to box pushups
• 40 Split Jumps
• 15 Pullups Modified to ring rows

Warm-up with some foam rolling and lacrosse balls to work on sore spots, then two rounds of bear crawls down and back, 15 sit-ups, 15 back extensions, and 10 front squats and push jerks with a PVC pipe.

BBG I started at 95, went 95,115, 115, 115, 120, failed two attempts on number six, and finally got the sixth set with 120, stopping there. Between the back extensions and some of these lifts, my back, especially the lower back, felt lit up like a fireplace. Since, it’s loosened back up, but in a way I’m glad to feel things that I haven’t felt in exercises in the past.

For the workout, as I noted in italics before, it was modified in two parts, with only the jumping lunges remaining as prescribed for the workout. The first round of declining pushups was pretty quick and out of the way.. then the lunges. Ugly, ugly things, and three rounds of them.. It wasn’t a pretty picture, as I’ve become fond of saying. Even the first round felt slow, then hitting twenty of forty, it was that feeling of “Oh, crap, I still have this many more still to do..”

But what can you do, but just keep going.. So on to the ring rows, five, five and five, and start round two. Pushups were a little slower but still out of the way too soon to bring me back to lunges. These were even slower, as by now my inner thighs were burning and locking up, it was pretty unpleasant, but still a matter of just hanging through it all.. Rows came broken into smaller sets, starting five, then threes and twos.

The last round of push-ups by this point had become slowed down to nearly one by one with a few brief rests, and the burn in my legs for the lunges was bordering on unbearable, I half-collapsed more than a few times, trying to just keep myself upright at all. I don’t even remember the count, but I know I paused/fell at fifteen, then twenty, twenty five, and the last ten.. on the last ring rows, I did .. seven? Unbroken, trying to get them all, and just finished up and kind of died. 

Walking was hard immediately after.

Then 13.4 was announced, that’s going to be its own kind of fun! But more on that later. :)

BBG: 7×1 Low-Hang Clean (3 count pause) + Vertical Hi-Hang Clean+ Jerk – heaviest possible, rest 60-90 sec. Modified: Front Squat + Front Squat & Push jerk.

Conditioning:

1 minute ME Muscle-Ups Modified: ME Ring Rows

*Rest 1 minute.

3 rounds for time of:

5 Wall Walks
50 Double-Unders M: 100 Singles
5 Push Jerks 155/105#

*Rest 1 minute.

1 minute ME Muscle-Ups

Warm-up of “monster walks” with elastic resistance bands on the ankles - wide, exaggerated stance, down in a squat, and take broad steps forward, staying with legs spread and low in the squat. Really a good stretch, and you do twenty paces in that, you definitely feel it, especially with stronger and stronger resistance bands. Then ten more paces doing lateral walks, again with wide stance and in a squat, making little shuffles, keeping the legs spread wide in the squat. Ten in each direction.

Next in warmups were fifteen kettlebell swings, 1 pood/36 lb, then all of this through a second time. It *definitely* gets you stretched and warmed up, man do I feel it in my legs after those resistance exercises.

Was told to modify the BBG complex into a pair of front squats transitioning into a push jerk , along with a few others in the class. Only a handful that’s presumably been coming regularly did the complex as described above.

Started with just the bar to demonstrate the movement and make sure I have it smooth, then went up to 95 pounds for the first actual set. No real problem there, moved to 115 for the next set, a bit heavier but still manageable, went for two sets before bumping up to 125. Got the fourth in, but on sets five and six, while I could do the front squats with a little difficulty, the jerk proved to be to much to get, fast enough. Or I wasn’t dropping under fast enough, more likely. Dropped back down to 115 for the last set and managed it with no real problem.. so while it’s possible it’s a wall on muscle fatigue, my money’s on just not being fast enough on the re-dip.

For the workout, whoo boy. This looked fun.. for.. uh.. some values of ‘fun’. I’m not quite sure about the decision between ring rows versus muscle-ups, in terms of work involved, honestly. Ring rows seem easier for me to manage a grip on versus the bar, and adjust on the fly depending on how close to horizontal your body is.. I wonder just what the comparison between the two is. 

Regardless, in the first minute’s span, got 22 ring rows in before kind of pooping out. I guess that’s kind of okay, haha. Still kind of coming back to life in the gym, as it were.

Wall walks we were provided the option to substitute out push-ups at a 1:2 ratio, I figured I’d try at least, and if it all went to pot, just switch to push-ups. I managed 3 out of the 5 before figuring I’d probably end up on my face if I continued.. did the remainder of the set in doubled push-ups. 

Jump ropes weren’t really any issue, aside from on rare occasion stumbling onto it or snagging it on the barbell on the ground behind me. AND THOSE JERKS. Clean from the floor for the first one, and ideally not have to clean it again until the next set. First round, that was just fine!

Second round, I got three, cleaned and did the other two, oh well! Third round was Clean, three, clean, one, clean, one, oi! What a mess. But also the last of those. Rest a minute, and then the last minute of work for another rush of ring-rows.

Settled in and grabbed the rings, did the best I could to keep at it and I think I did pretty well.. Only took one or two rests during, for just a breath or so, and got right back on. By the time the minute elapsed, managed another 23 rows, not too bad I think all things considered, more than I started with..

Not counting the ring rows and minute rest, the three rounds in middle took 9:09. Decent, though I didn’t check others’ times through it all. Still can be pleased with myself, even so.

BBG: 7×1 First Pull+ Hang Snatch- heaviest possible, rest 60 sec

Conditioning:

3 minute AMRAP of:

Burpees (to a 6″ target)

*Rest 2 minutes.

5 minute AMRAP of:

30 Double-Unders
15 Power Snatches 75/55#

Modified - Snatch Balance for BBG, Singles for Double-unders, and 65# power snatches.

I was concerned about coming in tonight for both the burpees and the snatches in the workout, as following the high volume of push-ups in the workout Friday, my right arm was pretty sore near full extension. I asked Matt about it beforehand, and was told it was very likely just muscle pain from all that work, in my bicep. After the warm-up of some rowing (500m) and general stretching exercises, it actually felt a lot looser and less painful, so I figured I was good for the workout.

Was told to show form on an overhead squat first, then afterwards was put on doing snatch balances rather than the hanging snatches. Fine by me, it’s more a work on form and muscle memory, kind of a thing for me right now as I’m trying to get back into the swing of things and knock off all the rust so to speak. 45 on the overhead squat, 65 pounds for the first two snatch balances, and the remainder at 85 pounds. The last few it seemed to kind of settle in how to get under it, it feels heavy, until you slowly start to realise that the bar more or less stays stationary, you push yourself beneath it as quickly as possible, and as deep into the squat as possible. Will have to practice more.

Burpees! Who loves burpees? No one loves burpees. At least it’s only three minutes’ worth. But that also means you go all-out redline for those three minutes. Or attempt to at least… Started off decently fast, I guess? But quickly fell out of that, can’t claim any surprise really. If I had been on all this time and I managed my total of 37 in three minutes, then I might be a little disappointed. But I kept going as best I could, even walking up the burpees if I had to, for the full time. Rest, call out score, catch breath for part two. 

Aside from being a little winded, the single-unders for jumping rope weren’t really much of an issue, it was more in the power snatches. They quickly drained away what little stamina I had recovered in two minutes’ rest, and slowed me down to doing one or two at a time, occasionally I’d have a burst of energy to pull three. Got one set, and one whole round down, more jumping rope. It was a little more jerky on this second round, being worn down and dripping with sweat, but with a couple starts and stops, all thirty were completed. Back to the snatches, and slower than before what with gasping for breath and all.. Managed to complete the second set of 15 as time was called.

Two full rounds completed, not the best potential, but the best that I can do in current circumstances, I think. Once I get moving again the potential should be greater..

I’ll just go with what my shirt said for the workout,

“Do More.

Suck Less.”

Strength- Top Pull Deadlifts: 5X3 @ 70% – rest 90 sec. DEMO VIDEO

Conditioning- For time:

Run 800m
50 Pull-ups
75 HR Push-ups
Run 800m

It’s good to be back, it really is, even for all the suck and the pain that’s associated with workouts. No disrespect to Evan and CFM at all, you guys are great people and really did a lot to get me on this track, Matt just happens to be closer and thus more convenient.  I think I’m going to do just fine here, one big thing I’m noticing, that Jarrod had mentioned, is they are real sticklers for proper form in all movements. Even the stretches we did before any workouts were working muscles in ways I’ve never felt before, and are designed to help in strengthening the body for deadlifts, squats, cleans, and so much more. 

Then these top-pull deadlifts, apparently also called Romanian deadlifts.  Between being gone so long and needing work still on my form, we went lower than 70%, staying at 135lbs. for warm-up and the five sets of three. Again, form, form, form. It’s key. You do it poorly, you do it wrong, and not only do you make slow progress, you risk injuring yourself. That’s not what I’m about. Or at least, that’s how I’m trying to be, here. 

Settled in with a mixed grip (dominant hand over, other hand underhanded grip) and worked through sets of three with a rest in between, with Matt watching for form and frequently yelling at me to correct it. By the last two sets of three, I was working on it all with (near-)perfect form. Need to reset a lot of muscle memory, right now I’m just way to conscious of it all. Pushing the butt back, keeping the chest upright, the back straight, and no bend in the knees until the bar slides down past them.

I guess I look at it as something like, CFM got me started, taught me the basics, showed me how to do things, while VTG will be the finishing school of sorts, honing those skills and refining what I know. I look forward to what potential I can find, once I take a few weeks to knock off several months of rust.

For the WOD itself, we were given the option to run or row the 800m since it’s snowing outside. I actually opted to run out in that mess, because even if I’m not great at rowing and need the practice, I know that despite it being mostly in the legs, my arms were likely going to have none of that after 75 hand-release push-ups. Not that running was going to be much better in shorts & teeshirt in 34 degree snow flurries.

Yeah, the run wasn’t really any kind of improvement. A little winded towards the short sides of a more elliptical path around our building, then came back in after two laps. Ring rows were my substitute for full-on pull-ups, but still challenging to do fifty of. Worked in sets of ten, then five at a time, very very brief (as much as I could manage) rests before starting the next set. I like the programming here, modifying stuff from Outlaw to suit those of us slightly less-capable. 30 Muscle ups -> 50 pull-ups (modified as needed) and 75 push-ups (again modified as needed).

The push-ups were a little rougher, for me.. the first twenty I did in sets of ten, and full planked push-ups, to boot. Then it kind of broke down from there, rather rapidly, haha. The remaining 55 were done from my knees, and done in sets of five, then two to three at a time. Not pretty, but I can only go so hard, my elbows and shoulders were burning and screaming by that point. Again though I tried to keep the breaks as short as possible, which was met with varying success.. Ultimately finished all 75, and back outside.

Last 800m/2 laps/ 1/2 mile was even more ragged and poor than the first, but I can’t really claim surprise at that. Frequent alternation between walking and slow “running”/jogging was pretty much the norm.. made a push on the last little leg, to get to the door back inside, and hit time at 20:39. Oh, did I forget to mention the 21 minute time cap? Yeah..