Squatting and lifting and getting up again...

On Tuesday we did a warm up with Mini-Cindy, so the night took off with 10 minutes of 5 pullups, 10 pushups and 15 squats.  I managed to run through this, and don't think I did too-too shabby.  Not a world record by any means, but I did get in a total of 6 full rounds plus the pullups and 7 pushups of the 7th round. PHEW! That's a warmup that'll bust your ass! We then moved onto practice of the Handstand push up and Pistols.  We did a couple rounds - for the HSPU's final round we were to go to a level that was challenging but do-able for 5.  I went a big Green and blue.    In retrospect, I probably should have gone with double blues.  It's strange though, I was green and green last time we HSPU's - of course, we had tireflips and front squats thrown in...so I guess that isn't really the same thing.

Wednesday we did Back Squats - 5/5/5/5/5.  I don't know that I really even want to write down the scores.  My squats are off... I'll just leave it at that.  Of course, I'm not leaving it at that.....
I have to record, even my sad days.  I did 145/165/175/175/165   I just couldn't get them looking good.  My knees were all akimbo, but I think I was doing better at not relaxing at the bottom.  Just not the best squat day overall.

Thursday -Turkish Get-up for weight.  My Turkish Get-up Mo-jo has got up and run!  I thought this was going to be my 75lb barbell night.  Alas, the evil demons that destroy balance were all at play.  I started with the 45 lb barbell.  Then 65.  Then I tried the 75....and my wrists wouldn't hold it steady.  It wasn't necessarily the TGU part that gave me a rough time - it was the bar balancing.  So, I went to the cannonball balancing overhead for the last one.  It was the 32kg kettlebell, and I did that no problem..  Although the boys tried to talk me into the 80lb KB...I must admit, I may have been able to do it, but just looking at that sucker got into my head - there was no way in hell.  I had brief, flashing images of a face devastated by a kettlebell bigger than my head.   So, I wussed.

Saturday was Deadlifts.  Sets of 5.  I did  185/215/235/255/285...Holy crap - I just did 285 for 5?? Okay -lets try for 310 for 3.  BAHAHAHAHA! That was a bit ambitious - actually, I think I just had nothing in me.  I didn't even get it up for one.  Ah well, I think next time it will be there, as long as I don't do 5 at a ridiculously heavy weight just prior.

Tonight was back squats 5/5/5, front squats 3/3/3.  Back squats I did 165, 185, 195.  Apparently, my knee buckling wasn't really apparent until the 195 - so that's an improvement over last time.  Front squats - I totally sandbagged the first round at 95lbs.  I then faced the fact that I was indeed not pulling my weight...so I went to 145.   ....and 155 I got in two, then failed the third....went back and got it, but it was ugly.  Front squat = Not so good.

I have adjusted my goals though.  Rather than a number - my goal before the next competition is:
Squat - 1.5 times bodyweight
Benchpress - bodyweight
Deadlift - 2 times bodyweight.


Currently my squat is about 1-1/8 bodyweight, bench- 3/4 bodyweight, and Deadlift 1.5 x bodyweight.  So, I'm kind of almost there, just need the weights to go up a bit and the other weight to go down.

Playing in the Park with Cindy

We finally have a nice weekend so rather than working out indoors, it was a "play in the park day!"   Sounds fun - but it did entail alot of running.  Now, thinking about it - of course it entailed alot of running - what else do you do in a park that is nothing but a bunch of grass??   We brought every last "ball" from the gym - the slamballs, the wallballs, the medicine balls, even the bitsy balls! Along with a few Kettlebells.  We played the run and toss the 14# ball overhead - better catch it or your whole team does burpees!! Yes, there was definitely a certain grade school gym quality to the whole thing, that made it fun, charming, endearing...yet a tad bit horrible.  Strange combination, I know - but I've never been much of an athlete!   We also played - "Clean your house".  2 teams - lined against each other, a bit like dodgeball, only the point was to get all of the balls on the other teams side - not to hit each other.  So there were balls flying everything from a 2 pounder to 25 pounders.  I believe I am the only one who got nailed.  Shocking, I know!

While it may have brought back some tiny flashes of childhood gym horrors, it was actually fun. (I'm totally exaggerating the gym horrors - I actually liked my grade school gym teacher - Mr. LeMieux! )

Today was Cindy - although it hasn't been that long, it seems like it's been a while since we've done Cindy.  (5 pullups/10 pushups/15 squats - AMRAP 20 minutes).

This was a bit more focused on form and full range of motion.  So pullups high, pushups low, and squats - hip below knees.  I actually didn't get any corrections tonight - so I must have done better.......

I was in the red bands and did kipping pullups.  Tricia and I were totally on pace with each other - in fact we both ended up finishing 9 rounds, and 3 pullups.  EXACTLY!   I have to say though, I am super-uber jealous of Tricia - she has some downright pretty pullups and it's all muscle!  So, while we were on pace, if this were a competition, if ya ask me, she'd get the prize for the quality of her pullups.   

I'm beginning to think I'll never get these things - stupid pullups.

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!

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.

Vacation-Crossfit=UGHHH!!!

Well, I guess I'm back from vacation, but 11 days off is not such a good thing.

We will just start with the lack of coordination of Monday's Clean and Jerks. 3/3/3/3/3.

For some reason, when cleans get heavy, I can't figure out the lift off the floor without pulling thing.  I'm ok - not spectacular by any means, but can do them kind of ok until I hit about 95-100 lbs...then they start really turning astray.  I did these at 85/95/105/115/115.  Ah - the jerk part of the clean and jerk is SOOOO much easier!

Cindy yesterday about killed me.  I can generally do pushups - 10 in a row until round 5 or 6 - then break at 7 or 8.  Nope. Not yesterday.  Yesterday, at about round 4 I started having to break them up. I still got in 10 rounds plus pullups/pushups.  But that was a mere 5 pushups more than last time - and last time, I was really working the full ROM - even if it wasn't quite good enough, I was focusing more on "kissing the floor".  This time, I was just trying to survive - so I really didn't work hard on going down low low on them.  By the way - I've completely lost my pullup.  Before I left, I could do about 1-1/2 dead hang pullups in the minis.  I can barely do 1 in the reds. Not sure if it's the lack of sleep, bad eating from last week, weird eating this week (I thought I'd be eating out with a client for lunch/dinner/lunch - but this particular client says "I think we both have better things to do than sit and make small talk with each other" - WOW!!)  So, yesterday, I did not eat nearly enough, and when I found myself starving, I scrambled and ate crap.  So - Cindy nearly did me in.  Between sleep issues (did I mention I woke up at 330am and could not go back to sleep?), bad eating, and reaclimating to Denver and normal life, I've been feeling a bit off.

Tonight - DEFYght gone bad - 3 rounds

Wall Ball 16#

Sumo Deadlift High Pulls - 55#

Box Jump - 16"

Push Press - 55#

Double Unders

I about keeled over and croaked on this because I couldn't breathe!! I started with the Wall ball - otherwise I don't know that I would have scored as high.  Because I was able to do them after a rest each time, I managed to get in about 20 per round.   Which helped immensely.  I believe I ended up with 218 - I think it was 10 more than last time.. I could be wrong on that total though.  I counted the DU's the Patty way - only the ones I actually made - no counting the ones that got caught up in my feet.     I'm really surprised I did as well as I did - because I was toast....beyond toast.  Could not breath or catch my breath - THIS is where I definitely feel vacation took a hit on me!

Ugh - I almost think I'm gonna be off a bit until next week - when my body adjusts to mountain time, and I've had a couple days of normalcy.  We'll see.  Oh - and have I mentioned, that my body is more sore than it's been in a long long long time from these basic moves.  Yes, still not as sore as jumping squat days, and the pull to inverted hang day - but definitely worse for wear on these moves than I've felt in a while!

Cindy with some squats and KB's

Thursday was a heavy lift day.  Front squats 3-3-3-3-3 for weight.

My squats have felt a bit off lately, so I just didn't know what to expect.  I actually ended up getting a PR.  Set 1, 115 - no problem.  Set 2, 135 - ok heavier, no doubt about that.  Set 3, 155 - now we are in the heavy zone - this is my max.  I got all 3, and it wasn't too-too awfully bad.  Set 4 - 165 - got the first one, got the second one...third- ended up with a sit down and drop.  So 2 @165.  Set 5 was back down to 155.  The very strange thing is that these did not feel as awkward as they normally do.  Overall, I'm happy with the 165 PR on these.  It seems like since I started going "low" on the squats, AKA breaking parallel, I've stagnated a bit on the weight.  So, getting a PR in any way shape or form is a good thing.

Friday - Cindy.  I like Cindy - as difficult and taxing as she can be.
Complete AMRAP in 20 minutes of:
- 5 pullups
- 10 pushups
- 15 squats

Because I was really concentrating on doing "kiss the floor" pushups, my rounds went down.  I got in 10 round, + pullups and 7 pushups.  Pullups were in red bands, high bar with 35# weight underneath.  I was slower this time, last time I got in 12 + rounds.  I was really working on doing "kiss the floor" pushups...which really did slow me down a tad.  I thought my pushups were pretty good- but nope, they needed to go lower, so I was really concentrating on that.  Imagine my consternation, when I was told "they're looking a lot better, but you're still not breaking parallel"  WHAT?  What's this breaking parallel thing?  Apparently your elbows need to be higher than your shoulders for a true full range of motion pushup.  Cripes! I'm screwed.  I tried one, had to basically have my entire torso hit the floor - once that happens, you just lay there, there's no pushing up - as in push up style.  Yes, you can push off the floor - but not until you've relaxed a bit.  OY!  I guess I still have to work on these, darn it all, these are one of the things that I thought I only really had to work on getting the numbers up - but alas no.  So - this was KTFPUNQGE (Kiss the Floor Pushups - Not Quite Good Enough!)

Today: 1-hand kettlebell swings:
10-ladder (up and down) for time and weight.

(this ends up being 100 swings per arm)   I used the 16 kg again, and only managed to knock off a measly second from my previous time.  I finished 8:28.  On something like this, I think my "undoing" is that I will stop when I feel my form deteriorating.  I got through the 9 up on the ladder before having to rest, but didn't think I could do the next 10 per arm without form going to complete hell.  So I stopped to rest for a moment.  Of course once you stop once, the momentum is gone and there are a couple more rests on the horizon.  Either way - I'm ok with the 8:28.  I'm not certain how fast it's really possible to do this one. Yes, I could probably knock off 2 minutes - but any more than that, I'm not certain - you can only swing that sucker so fast.  So, I think I still wrestle a bit with the whole, "when you know your form is failing, do you rest or keep going" thing.  On the plus side - at least now I know when my form is going to hell, and don't have to be told that it is.

Now - onto a pullup update:  Unfortunately, there is none.  I can feel the kipping pullup in me so close I can taste it, and that sweet taste of success is truly one that I need and want!  However, I just can't quite get it. UGH!  At least I'm closer........I hope I get one before Hawaii - all I'm gonna say!  Next Cindy I do, I want it "as prescribed"  - even if I only get in two rounds!!

Snatches and the girls...

I seem to be a couple days behind - shocking, I know!

Thursday, was snatches....3/3/3/3/3.  

Snatches are funky things, but for me at least, make more sense than cleans.  Apparently, my instinct is to throw things overhead rather that to my shoulders.  We did 5 sets of 3.  Last time, my max weight was 75.  This time I did 65/75/80/85/95.   I screwed up a bit on the last round, and put the 5 lb weights on rather than the 2.5.  Needless to say, that jump up 10 lbs, kind of threw me a bit.  To say it was "not so good" would be the understatement of the year.  So - it's up officially at a NSG 95, but I'd say 85 was the weight where they still looked decent. 

Yesterday, we met up with Diane - 21/15/9 Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushup.  I have a bit of a fascination with the handstand pushups - I think I can pin this on my love of the upside-down rubber band contraption.  Unfortunately, it's not really possible to do Diane in my favorite do-hickey, so I opted for hooked feet on a bar.  My time increased - I think by about a minute - I ended at 9:03 ish...if I remember correctly. (I need to get better at writing these things down right away!)  I'm ok with the increase because if I am estimating correctly - from my upside down view - I was probably at about 1/2 ROM - versus last time, when I would guess-timate I was doing about a 1/4 ROM on average.  Still have a hard time catching my breath from the inverted position after cranking through the DL's.

Today was Cindy....I love Cindy, not sure why but I do.  Last time, we did this, I got in 11 rounds+ 5 pullups.  I did the pullups, jumping on the low bar, no bands.   This time, I did them from the high bar, red bands, of course, there was still a jump.  I wasn't going into this thinking I would do be able to beat my last score for a couple reasons....

1. a tad bit too much wine last night (yes, I know - no sympathy - but it still factors into your performance!) 

2. back in the bands.  It is definitely quicker and more efficient to live the pullup life free of the bands.  You don't have that couple second pause of getting into/out of them.  I got a brief taste last time we did Cindy, and I must say - I liked it!

However, I proved myself wrong with my low expectations.  I actually got in 12 Rounds + 3 pullups - which is a PR.  The first 10 minutes, I actually got in a full 7 rounds.  It's that last 10 minutes that I slowed down.  My speed didn't exactly increase either when,  I had to bring my elbows in for the pushups.  That threw me a bit.

Overall - there were ups and downs time/score wise the last couple of days - but I think I like where I am and where I'm going with all this stuff right now.  Unlike a couple months ago - I think my eyes are more open to the small improvements.