Weightlifting practice

Went to my first weightlifting practice in a billion years. And I arrived late, per usual -- I just can't be on time for Saturday morning at 10am. heh

With the status of my back*, my plan was just to work my speed and bar path at light weights. Coach approved.

2 front squat + 3 back squat + 1 jerk behind the neck4 sets at 70%

I worked up to 65#. The back definitely got a lil "twingey" when I was squatting. Also, I hate jerking b.t.n. at light weights -- love it at heavy weights, though.

Power snatch - 2 reps
4 sets at 80%

Did full snatch, and slowly lowered the barbell through each of the positions to set back up for the 2nd snatch. Worked at 65#.

Power clean - 2 reps
3 sets at 80%

Full clean. Worked at 85#.

--
Get Strict - A
Did 3 sets of 10 strict pullups with the skinny band. They were still broken up: 6-2-2, 7-3, 6-2-2. I was pumped the second set I got 7. Can't wait to get all 10.

I skipped my assistance exercises. Booo on me for that.

I do feel like with these long sets I'm learning the way to fire my muscles at each point in the movement. For me the issue has always been the bottom. I am doing my best to eliminate using any "shoulder pop", and start from a true dead hang. Husband says a tiny pop is OK by Marine Corps standards -- so my ultimate goal will be to do 10 strict with no bands and maybe an itsy bitsy shoulder pop to get out of the hole. :)

--
Here's the deal with my back... It's not that I am in pain in my trouble spot. It's just that I can feel when I'm moving that muscle, in a way that's not normal. For example, if you "felt" your bicep flexing as you sipped from a glass of water, that would be weird. Well, I "feel" my Q.L. "flexing" as I squat, or lean over or put on my socks and shoes.

So while I have had any big "tweaks" -- that is my word for super excruciating muscle spasm things that were happening before I took a ton of rest -- after a few good workouts, I can "feel" my trouble spot.

It's so hard to know how to respond when coach is asking me "how's the back feeling".

Friday AM AMRAP

Saw this WOD last week sometime, and knew I wanted to put it into our morning rotation at the base gym.

We had to substitute hang squat cleans for squat cleans, due to lack of bumpers. We scaled down the weight of the cleans and push press. We did AbMat situps instead of toes to bar, because there just aren't enough appropriate pullup bars to do pullups and T2B with 4 people. And we each started at a different point in the rotation to help with crowd control.

"Christina"
AMRAP in 20 minutes:
9 pullups
9 hang squat cleans (65#)
9 kettlebell swings (35# / 16kg)
9 AbMat situps (I added a 12# med ball)
9 push press (65#)
9 burpees

Results: Started at KB swings; finished 3 full rounds plus KB swings and AbMats of round 4

The weight on the hang squat cleans felt heavy to me at first, but I think I was using too much arm. Once I got more tired and started "popping and dropping" things felt a lot better.

Got 5 pullups in a row on each of my 3 sets of kipping pullups. Booyeah! It's all mental for me, not physical -- I'm getting myself back on the "no less than 5 to start" train, and it feels good.

Again today it wasn't strength, but just cardio/endurance that really held me back. 

--
Had originally planned on doing another "A" day for my pullup program today, but I'm hurting. I will get it in after weightlifting practice tomorrow morning.

Begrudging workout

Did you ever just sit there for a good 20 minutes alternating between talking yourself into working out, and talking yourself out of it?

That was so me yesterday. I coached at an odd hour -- 11am -- and with the rest of the day to schedule as I wanted, I realized I should just do the WOD. Yeah, I was wearing pants not shorts, blah blah blah. I am always good at coming up with clothing-related excuses.

Anyway, I made myself do it. So that was good. :)

--
WOD:
"Karen" PLUS
150 wall ball shots
150 AbMat situps
Partition reps as desired.

Results: 16:24, 14# med ball -- 3 sets of 50 each

My original thought was that since I haven't ever done "Karen", I should do all 150 wall balls, then move on to situps. Obviously I abandoned that plan. :)

The biggest hurdle to overcome on this WOD -- and it's been a theme lately -- is just my lack of conditioning. I got to the point where I did 10 wall balls, and I was sucking wind like I just sprinted 400 meters. I had to actually slow down the pace of the wall balls so I could string more together. I was strong enough to do them super-fast, but my cardiovascular system couldn't keep up.

So, mission accomplished -- I've gotten A LOT stronger. But now I am having a "come to Jesus" moment about how I also need to stay on top of my conditioning.

TGU's are ruining my shoes

Another nice relaxing WOD at the gym on base. I used to hate working out there, but I truly love my AM workouts with friends these last few weeks. Sucks that I'm moving 30 minutes away to be closer to the gym I coach for now.

3 rounds:
15 wall ball shots (used 12#)
10 Turkish get-ups, each side (20# kettlebell)
15 knees to elbows

No timer on this one.

My friend did 10 total the first round, and stuck with that. I did 10 each side, then 8 each side, then 5 each side. Went for 5 in a row each arm, but the left arm was too weak. I think I was doing 3's by the last round on the left.

The part where you "bridge" your hips up, and then sweep your leg through and put your knee down -- well I guess I scraped my shoe on the ground a lot, because I'm missing from rubber. The toe rubber of the Nike's I've been wearing do not hold up well from burpees, pushups or TGUs. Boo.

--
After the WOD I did the "B" day from my pullup program.

On the minute for 10 minutes:
6-10 second hold with chin above bar. Used pullup grip.

One the minute for 10 minutes:
6-10 second negative. Had to switch to a station with neutral grip for first 7 sets, then I did a wide-ish pullup grip for the last 3 sets.

Base gym FAIL

I went to the base gym to do today's WOD, thinking they would have a 1.5 pood (55#/24kg) kettlebell. But the heaviest they had was 40#.

The kicker? I have a 45# kettlebell at home.

[facepalm]

Oh well, I tried. :)

--
10-8-6-4-2-4-6-8-10
double unders
AbMat situps w/ med ball (12#)
kettlebell swings (1.5 pood - used 40#)

Results: 10:13

Finished up with a 60 second handstand hold, 3 sets of 5 kipping pullups (actually got 5 in a row the last set), and 3 Turkish get-ups on each side with a 20# kettlebell. Then they kicked me out because it's a holiday and they were closing at 6pm.

Weightlifting, Get Strict

Wanted to do some weightlifting practice today, but didn't want to drive the 25-45 minutes to one of the gyms with a platform. So I did what I could in the gym on base.

Front squat:
3-3-3-3-3
85-95-105-115-125

I paused at the bottom on all sets except the last. I really wanted to retest my current 3RM of 135, but didn't want to push things with my back, or with dropping weights in a gym where they're not supposed to be dropped. :)

Split jerk:
3-3-3-3-3
45-65-85-90-95

Not heavy, just getting back in the groove after a few weeks of not practicing. Didn't feel like I really got my speed until the last 2 sets. This weight felt kinda heavy for some reason!

After the weightlifting work, it was time to start a new pullup program that I came across online.
Get Strict, from CrossFit Virtuosity

Today was a volume day.
A. 3 sets of 10 strict pullups
used my skinny band; sets were broken -- 6-2-2, 7-2-1 and 6-2-2

B. 3 sets of 10 --superset of barbell row and pushups
45# barbell
pushup sets: 10, 6-2-2, 6-2-1-1

Going to failure

Wanted to find a good upper body strength component for today's workout at the gym on base, so I Googled "press push press jerk".

This lovely popped up, and 4 of us tried it out this morning. 8 thumbs up!

3 rounds of shoulder press – push press – push jerk
With a weight you can shoulder press for 6-8 reps and without racking or dropping the bar do shoulder presses until failure,  then push presses to failure, and then push jerks to failure.
Rest 2-3 minutes between sets.

Results:
Used the 45# barbell.
Round 1: 14 - 12 - 3
Round 2: 7 - 10 - 4
Round 3: 9 - 7 - 6

Tried to push (power) jerk, but it just feels so awkward to me now. By round 3 I just did a regular (split) jerk, and felt a lot better.

To finish up, we did a quick untimed metcon.

10-20-30-20-10
walking lunges
situps

We were all grunting on the lunges by the end, so I think it was good. :-D

Rinse, repeat

Was pressed for time Wednesday morning, so we did a slight variation of what we did last Friday.

21-15-9
kettlebell swings
kettlebell goblet squats
pushups

I used a 40# kettlebell this time. It's time to enforce my rules of nothing smaller than 45# again. Swings get me out of breath, but strength-wise they are easy for me at 35# and 40#. Goblet squats were definitely more challenging with 5 more pounds.

Pushups need MAJOR attention -- i.e. regular practice.

Back squats and a quick metcon

At the gym on base this morning.

Back squat: 5x5
95
105
115
120
125



Still holding back from anything really heavy, since the back issue hasn't been resolved. Oddly, today it only twinged when I was re-racking the barbell.


2 rounds:
20 OHS (45#)
15 pullups
500m row

Results: ~15mins

Swing, squat, push

Met a friend for a quick morning workout at the gym on base. I knew she was pressed for time, so I came up with a quick full-body WOD.

20-15-10-5
kettlebell swings
kettlebell goblet squats
pushups

Not a clue what our time was, but it definitely got my heart racing. I should've done swings and gone right into squats, but I was too out of breath! It wasn't a strength issue, that's for sure. My pushups need more attention -- they really sucked this morning.

We hit the pullup bar for a few kips and a few deadhangs to finish things off.

Band Assisted Muscle Up

For your viewing pleasure, in case you were wondering what the heck I meant when I said "band assisted muscle up" earlier. :)

Garage workout

Warm-up

3 rounds:
3 pullups
6 pushups
9 squats

WOD

5 rounds:
10 KB deadlifts (40#)
10 DB front squat (12# dbs)
10 DB push press (12# dbs)
5 band-assisted muscle ups
20 Abmat situps

Results: 21:43

POSE-y

30-35 minute POSE run with husband. He now has Vibram Five Fingers, and I think I'll be getting a pair as well.

When you can't feel your calves, that means you're doing it right, right? (They're still tight and sore 2 days later)