Puzzlement..

Tonight was a  bit of a new one, but not all that new. Strict Press/Front Squats 3/3/3.

The Press, I did 85/105/110x2.   Front Squat - 125/145/165x1

Not sure what's going on, but I'm all wonked out.  Presses are stuck, and I should have been able to get the Front squats without too much of a problem, but I couldn't.I seem to be moving almost in a backwards pattern, and I'm not certain why.

Me, being a bit analytical about myself, must try to figure this out, so I've been mulling this over in my mind.    Could it be the fact that the last 6 weeks have been a bit inconsistent for me training wise? Possibly....Hawaii, Omaha had to have thrown a bit of a wrench into it. There is the huge stress, and suppressed emotional experience of layoffs and paycuts that wreaks havoc on you mentally.  The whole thyroid thing?  Perhaps, at least in theory, but I really feel fine, so, I'm not really convinced about that one.  

I know I backed off a bit on the whole competitive thing a couple months ago - that whole scenario was getting to me mentally in a bad way - causing me to like it less, so I recognized it, and backed off, decided to only compete with myself.  Did I back off too much?  Let too much of the "tiger" go?

I dunno - perhaps a combination of it all...or an off day??  I'm just not sure....but I know I wasn't feeling like I was at my best tonight.  I've been off, I just can't pinpoint exactly why, but I don't think I like the backward momentum that I seems to be setting in.

I guess we'll give it a week or two and see if this is just a wonky week.  I'm a bit puzzled about the whole thing.

Now - the good news - we went to dinner tonight at Olive Garden - can you guess how many breadsticks  I had???

If you guessed a big fat zippo, you are correct!! Not a one.    YAY ME!

Monkey ladder

Well, the monkey is still alive and kickin'!  After raising my thyroid prescription to very high levels.....it's still wonky - so now we are entering epic levels.  If this last one doesn't work, it's to an endocrinologist I go.  It's very strange that after 25 years on thyroid meds, they decide to bonk out and fail. Now, my theory is that I have so much muscle mass now that it's messing with the absorption (yeah, I kind of choked on my cookies on that statement too! BAHAHAHA!)  Ah well, I guess we'll see in a month were this sucker lies.  Again, looking at the positive side of life, at least there is a bit of a reason why my butt size isn't shrinking.  Sheesh, can you imagine what it would be doing if I weren't working out and mostly eating good??

Oh - here's the kicker on that one...when the doctor said she was going to raise the dose - she also said to call her immediately if I got any heart palpitations or anything...ZOIKS! - ok - that part did kind of throw me.

Anyway - today was the one-handed Kettlebell ladder.  I finished 8:34.  As much as I've been feeling the 2 handed swings lately, I did NOT feel the one handed swing love.  I seem to be stuck in a perpetual 8-1/2 minute rut on this one.  I was actually hoping to get closer to 6...but nope.  I ended up stopping, and once you stop once, that's all she wrote, the next stops come easier.  I did feel the deterioration in my form pretty significantly tonight as my butt started to cramp and I was trying to catch a breath...threw off the rhythm etc.  Just not my best overall performance.  Not sure if the whole thyroid thing threw me off a bit or what.  It's definitely puzzling to me!

A week's worth of spouting off!

Sheesh, darn tootin' near a full week behind!  Traveling kind of messes with things!

I'll start at the beginning...

Monday: Nicole -  400m run, max rep pullups.  As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes.

Nicole is not my favorite.  1. I hate running.  2. pullups frustrate me.

Overall, this was just a weird night all around.  I went to the 530p  class, and it was the strangest atmosphere that I've ever experienced.  The 530 group doesn't normally intimidate me, or throw me off too much, but it is different that the 630.  It's not quite as loud and rambunctious as the later class, more focused, but still an all around friendly atmosphere.  Monday was not the typical 530 group, and for some reason there was a palpable tension in the air with a couple of the other people, creating an added tension with everyone else.  Not sure where this came from, or what caused it, but it did make things very uncomfortable.  So, first lap of the run, I kind of ran along with Patty and told her this was not a typical 530 atmosphere, because she was swearing off ever coming again.  Then we continued on.  Pullups, I tried my new kipping maneuver in the red bands - I didn't exactly stack up the numbers!  I ended up getting in 5 rounds + 200 meters and 20 pullups.  Pullups were far less than last time, but last time I had jumping pullups from the low bar, so although less in number, more effective.

Tuesday: Z's birthday.  His choice.  What does he choose?? Why DeFyght Gone Bad of course! We did it a bit differently this time - it was based on Task Priority:

3 rounds for time of:
- 20 Wallball shots (16 lbs)
- 20 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (55 lbs)
- 20 Box jumps (16")
- 20 Push press (55 lbs)
- 40 Double-unders
- 1 minute rest (self-timed)

I started with the box jumps, and continued through.  There was a 25 minute cutoff on this one.  I failed miserably in getting through all 3 rounds, primarily because of the double unders.  I can get them, but I'm not exactly a speed demon on them.   I got through 2 rounds, saw time was coming to a close, bailed on the last rest minute, and started with my box jumps.  Once I completed those I knew we were within 3 minutes or so of time being called, so I whipped out my push presses and went straight into the high pulls.  I knew I had a better chance of at least finishing what I started before time was called if I went this route rather than going in order.  The DU's were gonna take me forever.  So, I missed on finishing 3 rounds by Wall Ball and DU's.  DRATS!

Wednesday: Back Squats - I was in Omaha - so missed out on heavy squats again! Cripes it's been months since I've done these for weight.  Just bad timing.

Thursday: 3000 lbs overhead anyhow.  This looked like a cool one!  I was still in lovely Omaha so missed it.  Next time though, it will be a really cool way to work/practice snatches!

Friday:  A whole new stations - 3 rounds.  1 minute at each station/1 minute rest in between rounds.

- Split Jumps
- Sandbag cleans (50 lbs)
- Kettlebell swings (16 kg)
- Burpees
- DB goblet squats (25 lbs)

- Pullups

Split jumps are basically jumping lunges.  Round 1, my ankle did not like these so much, but it loosened up a bit after that.  I managed to get an average of about 22 per round on these.  

Sandbag cleans - I believe, overall, I brought my score to around 35 , so 13 -15 per round.  Although on the first round, as I was coming to the end of the minute, I brought the sandbag up, plopped it up, and there was a metal hook or something underneath that landed square on the top of my shoulder!! OWIE!! Yes, I do believe that will be one big nasty bruise when it forms!  Kettlebell swings, overall I cranked these out.   Burpees, blech!  I eeked out a measly 3-5 per round.   The Goblet squats - it depended on the round.  Round 1, I got in quite a few.  By round 3, my thighs were torched, so it was not nearly as many.    Pullups - well, I did them with the fancy kipping move in the red bands, but I really don't have high numbers on these yet.  I can still only manage 3 at a time.  Which equated to about 4-5 per round.  

Overall - I can't remember my score at all - I think it was 89, 78, 67 ish....I know those aren't the numbers at all - overall score was 200 and some odd amount...maybe 220??  Dunno, this one took alot more out of me than I expected.  So in the end, my final number did not register in my brain at all!

Friday night, we went to Joe G's hockey game.  Wow! It was good to be back in the rink, even as a spectator, it made me miss the old roller hockey days.  We may have to have a Genetic Drift reunion!

Saturday:  Power Cleans 5/5/5/5/5

Olympic lifting is not my forte.  When the weight hits a certain level, I lose any form I had completely.   I'm going to work these and a couple other things using the "Kaizen" theory.  That article, I think was the best one that Jonathan has written, primarily because it definitely "spoke to me".   In other words, as I was reading, I saw myself, and recognized the points being made, whether the article was written with me in mind or not.  It's a good reminder for how to better yourself in all kinds of aspects in life.

So, I went into today with this in mind, I started at a relatively low weight and only went up by 5 lb increments, so I could pinpoint the exact weight that I start pulling too soon on these Oly lifts.  I started at 75, went to 80, 85, 90, 95,    At the 95 lb range, I started to do the usual pull too soon, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was in the past, so I guess we'll see.  Perhaps it was the 5 lb increments that kept me better in line.  I'm not certain.  But I have a plan in my head to get these moves better at higher weights.....we'll see how it works.  Only time will tell.

Went to the Olympic lifting competition afterward.  We only stayed for the snatches.  

All the boys did awesome!  I have to say, this is the first time I've ever seen Rich psych himself out of a lift.   He did what I usually do, which was a bit strange.  Goes to show he truly is human.

Sweetness!

Yippee!!! What a fabulous day!!

We worked on the Functional version of Diane.  Meaning it was deadlifts and handstand pushups but form was everything.    Deadlifts were no problem, we did them at 155.  Handstand pushups  had to be head to the ground, full range of motion.  At first we kind of divided into two groups, "the boys" - who started off working on full handstand pushups, and "the girls" who started with feet on the box, to see if we could get full ROM.

I started off, with feet on a box, these were good.  Next round then we moved to my beloved upside down rubber band contraption - this was the test to see if we could play with the big boys. I believe I started with my hands in a funky position - got through about 3 or 4 then nothin!  Just as I was about to be sent back to the box, Patty pipes up and says that I really can do it.  I surely hoped so!! I really wanted to play in the big bands!   So, I gave the last another shot and although not spectacular, it was good enough to go to the big boy side of life!!

When I did the handstands in the boy position - it was definitely easier, despite being strapped into the same bands.  The bar is about 2 inches higher, and I think that added just enough extra tension in the bands to make me feel light as a feather...HA! ok, perhaps that is a slight exaggeration, but it was definitely alot springier!

Now - the happiest moment of the day......With the new pullup rule, I didn't realize that if you can do 3 deadhang pullups in the bands, you can then start working on kipping - still in the bands.  I thought kipping was denied until you could do 3 unassisted pullups.  I was wrong.  Tried the kipping move last night - not so good. This morning I tried again, and by George I think I got it!!  I have to say, even if I was in the bands, it was the coolest to swing away and then hoist on up, then down, then up (I got about 3 good ones in a row!).  If I was this excited about doing it in the bands, I can't imagine what a freaky nutcase I'll be when and if I ever get them unassisted.

Gotta say, overall, for me, today was the high point of the week.  Even though I was strapped into about 18 different bands, I felt pretty darn-tootin' cool!

Annie, Cindy and a coupla Snatches

Wednesday we hit Annie again -Annie -50-40-30-20-10-rep rounds of: Double Unders and Situps.

I actually had a moment where I strung together, 7 or 8 in a row - and they almost felt natural....normal.  It was strange.  I ended up finishing this one a couple minutes quicker than last time.  Out of the blue, I stopped having to jump 3 times before starting on the DU's.  Before this, I would jump 3 times, land one, single, double, single double (at least if I could string them together!!)  This time, I still have the single in between, but I started off on right away, no warming up into them.   I finished in 16:10, which is 2 minutes faster than my last time, and strangely enough, I probably could have taken more time off.  I stopped and had to retie my shoe a couple of times before giving up and kicking them off!  So - I'm quite pleased with the results on this one!

Thursday:  Snatches 3/3/3/3/3.

Let me start this off by saying, I have been asked a couple of times this week if I'm going to compete in an upcoming Oly lifting meet.  I was a bit surprised, because I didn't recall hearing anything much about it.  Well, after confirming with a couple people - apparently I have selective hearing when it comes to competitions.  I think I put my fingers in my ears and say LALALALALALAL!! ....if not out loud, then definitely mentally.  All I'm gonna say is, I'm not competing in anything anytime soon.  I believe this workout proved without a doubt that I just don't have the technique down once the weight hits a certain point - and that point isn't a heavy weight by any means.  I basically did a whole lotta reps at 60 lbs, and a couple that were not so good at 75 and 80.  I think it's the lifting off the floor part that's throwing me, but I'm not certain what to do about it.  However, I am glad that me thinking I'm not up to speed for competing level is not all in my mind.

Today - mini Cindy -  5 pullups/10 pushups/15 squats - as many rounds as possible in 10 minutes, 5 minute rest, then do it again.  This time the focus was definitely on working harder, not faster.  So pullups were dead hang - meaning before you start pulling your feet were off the ground, not a chance of pushing off if you wanted to.  I did them in the red bands.  Regular pushups and Squat as usual.  The pullups, I tried to get 5 good ones, where  I was over the bar.  Round 1 - I think I accomplished that.  By the end I think I probably averaged about 3 good ones a round, 1 -eh, otherwise known as not exceptionally fabulous by any means, and 1 that ended up being a whole lotta pulling, with bar at eye level.

The first set, I only got in 3 round, plus the pullups and 3 pushups.

The second set, I managed to eeek out...a whopping 3 rounds.

So - like I said - definitely not going for speed and the regular jumping pullups.  These were much slower. Do the first 2 or 3, then rest.......for a while - until you're pretty sure you won't be pulling for nothing.  Overall, I'm ok with it, because thinking about it - I just did 35 dead hangers in the red bands. - ok - so maybe only 24 (random number!) were of exceptional quality (heehee!), but it works.  Ironically, I have suddenly become more comfortable in the overhand grip - not so sure about the thumb around the bar though. I know it's a mental thing, but it was funky! Oh yeah - and it was even better since I imbibed a bit too much on the tequila last night!! OY!

Hey, get this - I met a girl, who goes to some gym downtown - I'm not entirely sure if it's crossfit or not...but this is the workout she did that day - talk about a freaking nightmare!!  It was Step ups (not sure how high the box was) and Burpees.  Doesn't seem so bad, huh?......until you hear they did it Annie style...50/40/30/20/10!!!! JINKIES BATMAN!! That's 150 burpees!!  I think it would take me a good hour and a half - and by about #75 I'd be laying on the floor twitching.  So, next time I see something wretched come up - including the plate drags, bear, KB hell, etc....I'm gonna have to remind myself that it could be much, much, much, much, much ..........much.....worse!

First of all - I must throw out how disconcerted I am about this whole new rule thing on pullups!!

Fresh off the gymnastics cert, Jonathan suddenly gets it in his head that no one can do kipping pullups until they can get at least 3 dead hangs.   Not that I can do kipping pullups either, but I at least feel like I'm closer.    I think there is an evil plot against me on this one - Destiny apparently doesn't want me actually succeeding and really doing a workout that includes pullups, the way it's supposed to be done, until about the year 2015.  ARGH!  Have I mentioned that I'm really starting to HATE pullups...and the aggravation they cause me??

Onto better subjects.....

Bench Press - 3/3/3/3/3 - with 2 second pause.  The point of this one was not to go to failure.  Like last Friday, this has been a week - ok, so it's only Tuesday so far, but it's been a miserable week.  I'm mentally and emotionally depleted.  I've been stress eating on crap like there is no tomorrow, which has caused me to feel like ca-ca the last couple of days - basically it's almost like having a food hangover.  So - I wasn't expecting a whole lot on this one.

The 2 second pause wasn't just a 1, 2 count - it was "one.....one......thouuuusand.......two........one......thouuuuusand"  

I ended up doing 115, 125, 135, 145 x2 (I failed miserably on the "don't go to failure" rule), 135.

The weird thing, is these didn't really feel bad - even the 145 - I did the second one, and I thought I could do the third.  I think during the long pause I took a bit of a nap though, and recovering from that was apparently just not gonna happen!  So, I got a tiny bit of a reprimand for that!  I think this is the first time I've done 2 at 145 with a really long pause though!

Today was the bear:
5 rounds of 7 "reps" of the sequence:
- Power clean
- Front squat
- Push press
- Back squat
- Push Press
Evil, evil bear.  Again - I'm feeling like a whipped puppy, so I didn't hold out much hope for doing well.  I kind of surprised myself.  Not that what I did was necessarily pretty, and it was really, super hard.  Actually - I think the hardest part of the Bear is the fact that you cannot set the bar down until the 7 reps are done - that is just painful.   I ended up doing 85/85/90/90/85 for a total score of 435.  Shocked myself!...although, again, I can't say that it was necessarily a pretty thing.  

10 stations....1 drained chicka!

Today was a tough day....I went to the gym but I was just tired.  Completely mentally and emotionally drained.  I learned about a friend that suffered a tragedy last night, and it was just an all around tough day at work.  So, going to the gym, I was drained.  Just not really feeling spunky and full of gusto.  Tonight was Filthy 50 done stations style.  2 rounds. We got there and it was just Patty and I.  Uh oh, that's never a good thing with stations.  To make matters a tiny bit worse, Rich was going to stay and help coach. Oh crap! That means one on one training for a stations workout.  This is gonna hurt.  

1. Box Jumps 20' - I started on these, and it actually wasn't so bad - although with the one on one situation, I had to land square in the middle of the box.

2. Knee to Elbow - These are starting to be like pullups - slow and deliberate.  Oh - coaching correction on this one was tip my hips up more on the lift.

3. Walking Lunges - I must say, I nailed these - wait - no not quite, had to keep my weight on the heel.  Almost forgot that one!!

4. Jumping pullups - Again, slow and deliberate.  Apparently I  jump in one position, land in another and have to reset, rather than just jumping again.  I tried it that way, just landing and jumping,  and it was wonky! So, I'm assuming when I do these, something is awry causing me to land funky.

5. Wall Ball - 16# - HEY! - I think these were all good.  I don't recall any corrections.  Woo hoo!

6. Kettlebell swings - 12kg - I think these were fine too - I've been feeling the swing groove of these lately, not sure why, but when I do them, I'm going higher and standing taller in the top position -at least I feel like I am.

7. Double Unders - no love here.   I don't think I landed a single one.  I have to be the right amount of tired to do these, and I think my lack of oxygen killed my coordination.

8. Push Press -35# - Again, my biggest issue with these is lack of oxygen, and they are so light, that I tend to try to just overhead press them rather than push press. 

9.  Back Extensions - got through alot of them then...HELLO CRAMPAGE!! ZOWIE!  Overall, no real corrections, except towards the end - then I had to do "full range".

10. Burpees - Yeah - sucky way to end.  I had to make sure my position on the pushup was correct.

By the time I hit push press in round 2 - I was almost wondering if I might be on the verge of vomit, I was lacking so much oxygen.  Now, that didn't happen, I think in reality I would probably pass out before going that route, (BLECH, not a fan of the vomit comet, haven't visited that one in years, and soberly....probably decades!).

I'm kind of surprised that the lunges didn't bother me - my right knee has been a bit funky the last couple of days.  If I had to guess, I think when I tried to run the other night when my back was getting all knotted up,  I must have had a funky gait.  I can't quite pinpoint when it hurts, sometimes it's when it's bent....and yet squatting, not a problem. So...it's a funky thing.

Round 1 - I got 157, Round 2 - 150 for a total of 307. About 50 higher than last time. I'm happy with that, especially with my energy level coming in.

Now - after my little pullup hissy fit yesterday, I've tasked both Rich and Jonathan with their sole mission for the weekend.....find out why the hell I can't get over the silly bar!!  Their goal - get me my pullup by next week.  No small feat there!!  HA!   Oh well, I think I'm about to get desperate on this front.  Stress, makes pullups essential to my well being.  The more stressed I am during the day, at work, etc, the more vital it is for me to actually be able to do these.

I think I'm a bit of a nutcase.

Yes, It's another Pullup tirade!!

ARGHH!!!!  Son of  scum sucking, lint licking, two bellied frog!

Ok - melodramatic enough??  Here's the thing - I'm a big denier - I can deny anything until it suddenly comes up and slaps me in the face.    Well, I've been suppressing my anger and frustration with these pullups - although, I'm sure some people would say, not very well.  I try to come up with a nice rational plan, but when something like today comes up and gives me a big swift kick in the gut - that denial pimple pops!

 I know - some of you are probably saying to yourself "Really?? This again??"  But, I am annoyed, and I'm just gonna say it.  I'm not a weak girl......I may not be the strongest in the world, but I don't think I'm weak, so why is the stupid-ass pullup the hardest thing on the planet??  It's a bit assinine and ridiculous.   It probably wouldn't annoy me so much if it didn't screw up all my other stuff.

So - you're asking yourself, sheesh, what brought on this tirade??  I'll tell ya.  Fran did. 

Last time I did Fran - I finished in 6:26, this time, 9:18 - almost a full 3 minutes longer - or 50% longer.  Well, were the modifications different??  The only modification was the bar I was on.  I was not on the low bar, I was on the high bar, still in the stinkin' red bands....  Big whoop!  Ok - rationally, yes they are harder on the high bar, but 3 minutes harder?????  REALLY????  ....and what is this new thing I have going on, where I have to pause and take a big breath before actually doing the pullup??? Where is that coming from??  ARGHHH!!! GRRRRR!!!! ......and a bunch of other not so nice words!

Now, onto nicer things....the Thrusters - 65lbs - no problemo.  Criminy if Fran were Thrusters and.....well, almost anything but those stupid, sumbitch pullups, it would be downright pleasant!  So - long story short, thank you to my sad attempts at doing pullups, my time sucked wind, and I ended up adding alot to my previous time.  I really wouldn't have an issue with it, if I could actually DO a real pullup!!

Ok...enough with the pullup frenzy I seem to have worked myself into.

Onto more pleasant things....yesterday.

Renegade Rows - 7 sets of 10 - 3 count.

This one must be like I imagine childbirth is, I forgot the painful aspects to it.

I did mostly dumbbells, one set with Kettlebells.  20lb/25lb/12kg KB/30lb/35lb/35lb/20lb.

Hard...all I'm gonna say - much more difficult than I recalled.  I think my biceps were full on Arnold size - scared the hell out of me!!  See - if I can grow Arnold like biceps, why can't I do a freaking pullup???  

evil evil pullups.............miserable rat bastards........

Fun-ness!!....and not so Fun-ness....

Yesterday, I must say we did a fan-tabulous workout!! I think this may actually be one of my favorites. There is no name for this particular load of fun-ness but here it is:
30, 20, and 10-rep rounds of:
- KB swings (16 kg)
- KB Floor press (16 kg)
- KB Goblet squats (16 kg)
- Feet-to-sky
I finished this in 12:59. For some reason this didn't feel too difficult. I think it's because I had it in my mind that there weren't going to be enough 16kg kettlebells, so I was convinced that I was going to have to do the 20kg. Naturally after psyching myself up for 20kg, only having to do 16kg was a breeze! Ok - perhaps a breeze is overstating it, but the 16kg felt good.

Today:
3 rounds for time of:
- 7 Deadlifts (95#)
- 7 Squat cleans (95#)
- 7 Push presses (95#)
400 meter run

Because this was such a joyful one, let me take you through this experience step by step.
Round 1 - Deadlifts - EASY! 95lbs was a piece of cake.
Squat Cleans - 1, 2, 3...tried the 4th...hoisted the bar up, squatted down...whoops, caught the bar a bit tooo much on my heels, ended up on my ass. Now, here's where I improved - I actually DID dump the bar this time!! Big step for me in overcoming my bar dumping issues!! Back to it: redo 4, 5 , 6. rest a bit then hit 7...straight into:
Push Press - cranked these out.
Run - I actually DID run most of the first 400 meters.
Round 2 - The lifts were fine. Cleans were the slowest. Then onto the run....this is when I really started to feel my back muscles started locking up. Took me a while, but got through it.
Round 3 - Deadlifts, although light, were harder because my back muscles were so tight, Cleans, again, slow, but got through 'em. ..and the Push press was the easy part. Then came the "run"...yeah, not so much. I would go about 50 feet, and big crampage, so I would try to do a wiggle walk to break it up. Didn't really work so well. Last lap - Jonathan yells out - "Don't let Z pass you" ....Ok. That didn't work so well either...I saw him, decided to give it a shot - I can make it ....yep, not so much. The back muscles just didn't want to go. So, back to the walk...until the very end. I ran to the finish, then immediately laid on the floor and stretched the crap out of my lower back. The really irritating part is that 3 minutes later - not an ounce of pain..all fine! ARGH! It took me 19:37 to finish - YIKES! Next time, I'm sure it will be better, but sheesh, that seems like a long time!

Mish-Mash

Kind of a mishmash of stuff the last coupla days.
Thursday was a brand spankin' new thing. It sounds rather horrible, but it really wasn't bad:
- 5 minutes turkish getups for reps (16 kg)
- rest 2 minutes
- 5 minutes cleans for reps (95#)
- rest 2 minutes
- 5 minutes Handstand pushups for reps

Whether this workout was meant this way, or not, I'm not certain, but what I really liked about it, is that it was the right amount of balance between cranking out the reps, and focusing on form. This was not designed to go nonstop for 5 minutes.
The TGU's were no problem, I ended up getting in 13, this was actually alot less than I thought I would get, I guess they take longer to do one than I realize. I had a momentary pause, but never really took a break.

Can't really say that for the cleans. I went for the full pop, 95# on them. There was definitely rest in between. You had your choice whether to do full squat cleans or power cleans. I went with the full squat - for the added leg work?? Not sure why, it just happened that way. I got in 18, which I was ok with, because I felt overall my form wasn't really shabby on them. A couple were not so good, but overall, they felt better than they had in a while.

Handstand pushups, I did with Hooked feet on the bar - on average, probably 1/2 range of motion - some were more, some were less. I think I got in 27 or so of these. After the other two, it was a bit woozy-ing to be upside down, and my head was dripping like a waterfall! Overall, I probably could have gone at this a bit harder, especially on the cleans. But I did want to actually do as many of them correctly as I could - and still get up from the squat. Towards the end...there was some definite leg burn going on.


Friday was Functional Focus Day!! Woo hoo! I love FF days! When I showed up it was me and the boys. The big boys - the "A" game boys. The Top Dudes of DEFY! As we were warming up we were chatting about yesterday's workout, most of the boys take Thursday off, so none of them got to do the workout up above. They all had kind of a sad little puppy dog look to them about it, and it was readily apparent that several of them would prefer to do yesterdays workout than todays functional focus. Well, when Jonathan looked at me and asked if I would be up for repeating yesterday's workout, who was I to deny them??? I said sure. I knew the TGU's and cleans were not going to be a problem, ironically it was the HSPU's that I wasn't sure about. On the second or third verification from J that this would be ok instead of Functional Focus, I said, how about if the boys do the workout, and I'll kind of do my own thing. The FF was based on Cindy. So instead of 5 minutes of TGUs, cleans, and HSPUs. I did 5 minutes of pullups/pushups and squats - not for numbers but focusing on better form.

Pullups, of course sucked. Although I have decided I'm going to try a different method on these. I'm working both grips. I am in the red bands until I can get at least 7 nonstop deadhang, feet never touching the ground with both grips. Once I can do that, I will move to the minis. In my mind, if I can do 7 nonstop deadhang in reds, I should be able to do 2 or 3 in the minis. Once I reach 7 in the minis, I should, in theory be able to do at least one true dead hang. This could be more of my pullup BS thinking, but I'm going with it for now. Testing this one out.
Pushups - I worked on form, and I think it's getting better. I tried to keep my elbows in, shoulder blades squeezing together, and I don't think I did bad on those.
Squats - were fine, I did air, and overhead and front with pcv pipe. Front squats with the PVC are weird. All I'm gonna say...the pipe is too light to truly get the correct feel.

Deadlifts 3-3-3-3-3. Today was not my deadlift day. I started at 245 (I meant to start at 255, but encountered some really bad math on my part!), then 255. Apparently last time I did 3's on these I went as high as 270. So for the 3rd round I tried 275. Got 1 in. Tried it again the 4th round. Nope. Got the bar off the floor - supposedly the hardest part...but after that, it wasn't moving. Big strike out round 4. Last round I went down to 255. Thinking I took 20 lbs off, this should not be a problem. I got in the 3 reps, but they were sad and ugly....and heavy. There were a couple things going on that probably affected my performance, which, I won't necessarily get into - but definitely affected my focus on doing the actual lift itself. I'll leave it at that. I don't feel like I've had a really good DL day in a while - actually since last time I broke through to the 255 PR - many months ago. That day, the DL's felt unlike they ever had before, or have since. I'm not sure what I did that day, but I'm ready for one of those again in the DL arena.

I figure the Hawaii effects must have run their course by now, so now, no excuses - time to kick it up a notch.

Ouch....a plan.....and the freakin' pullups!

Yes, I am a hypocrite - I've been nagging at Patty because she's been neglecting her blog - BADLY!....and here I am, slackin' away.  Back away from the Facebook addiction!  Just take a step back.....you can do it...

Week 2 after the Hawaii trip - things are getting better, but not quite back to normal.

Monday:

Jumping Squats/Overhead Press 35#: 50/40/30/20/10 - the one workout that is very consistent in it's painful after effects.  I definitely felt this one in my endurance.  The first 20 or so, kind of bugged my ankle a bit (I believe I've got some tendinitis flaring a bit, not in last year's ankle, but the other one.).  After the first 20 or so it seemed a bit better.  I finished this is 16:54 - 8 seconds longer than the last time.  Doesn't seem so good - but last time, it was just me and Joe G, so I was trying to keep up with him, and it was when I was rockin' everything out. So, overall, I'm ok with the time. I definitely have a love hate with this one. Hate it when doing it....love the feeling right after - hate the effects 2 days later.

Tuesday:

Bench Press: 12/12/12/12 - Huge relief that this is not a big leg workout.  We have never done sets of 12 - so I wasn't really sure where to go with this one.  I like to think I can Bench Press with the big boys...but not so much, which, I guess is ok, since I'm a girl! :)  

I can't tell you how I did, good, bad or ugly, because I just don't really have a line to base it off of.  I did 95 / 115/120 (10, then 2), 115 (10, then 1).  

I've decided that I think I'm shootin' for 185 by the end of the year, or if I do actually compete in November - by then.  I think 185 for a girl is pretty darn good. 

Today:

Jumpin' Helen - 200 jumps, 21 KB swings (16kg), 12 pullups (red bands/highbar) - 3 rounds.

Well........ I cruised through the jumps, and my KB swings felt awesome - I think they were downright good, form wise, I could be wrong.  Not sure what that was all about, but they definitely felt good.  Then onto pullups.   Pullups.......are slow.  I'm not certain why they have gotten so slow - my only thought, guess....is that I've gotten to the point that I won't let myself just jump, and play on the momentum.  Instead I am doing one - maybe two at a time. Taking the big deep breath before I do them, then making sure I have enough to actually either get over the bar or come to what I perceive as "close to over".  I don't know if this is good or bad.  My time (15:54)  increased by at least a full minute over last time we did jumpin' Helen, but I know I'm not bouncing through the pullups.  So, I just don't know...I think the pullups are confusing me, because it's basically the same modifications - but how much I'm jumping, how much I'm pulling, am I REALLY getting over the bar, etc...are so subjective at the time.  I think I'm working harder on them, to actually make them closer to legit, but in reality, I'm not certain.

Freakin' pullups....

Now, in other pullup news, I tried the regular pullup grip dead hang in the blue bands yesterday, and they weren't bad at all. ....yes, I broke my vow and stepped back into the big blues to see where I was with the different grip.  Shocking, I know!

Today, I tried it in the red bands and was able to get one or two in, again with the "pullup" grip.   

Again, I say.....Freakin' pullups....