Wow...apparently I've been sandbaggin'!

Yesterday was a very interesting day.  It started bright and early with a 730am workout. OY!  The workout was a new one. 
3 rounds for time of:
- 12 pullups
- 12 jump squats (35#)
- 12 ring dips
- 16 kb swings (24 kg)
 Pullups were kipping in a red band and a mini band, Ring dips were using a blue band.  In retrospect, I probably should have gone with a lighter band on the dips...in fact, Jonathan pretty much said as much.  I went with the blue because I had recollections of doing multiple dips with a red band and getting through it - barely and half assed.  So I went with the blue, thinking full range of motion - but it was modified too much - I'll admit it.  I finished in 12:10 I believe.

Upon arriving home, my phone rang - it was the Doctor's office, wanting to know if I could come in early...HELL YES!  Less time to think about this whole procedure thingy and let my nerves take hold.  I took a quick shower and we headed to Louisville, for my, now 10am appointment.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I don't think it was quite the surgical looking room that I got.  Then as I sat there, I was hooked up to blood pressure moniters, heart rate moniter, EKG, an IV, and oxygen (which actually kind of smells bad!).  It was very surreal.  As they injected the drugs - the "conscious sedation" drugs (which apparently means that I was awake and helpful during the whole procedure, but have zero recollectioin of the whole thing.), the said I should start feeling dizzy in about 30 seconds.  I laughed, and remember stating "30 seconds??  I'm feelin' that now"  End of memory.  Next thing I knew I was in the recovery room, Sean was there, and I was hiccuping like mad.  We got home and I slept....ALOT.  Other than a sleepy afternoon - no repercussions.  End result - nothing conclusive- not enough damage to make a call without the biopsy results.  So, another 7-10 days before we know the truth. The good thing is that at least I can take the gluten and crap out of my diet -  I no longer have the excuse that kicks the door open.  Gluten was my gateway drug to pizza and ice cream - now it's gone....whether for good or not, we'll just have to see.

Today we did Diane - 21/15/ 9 reps of Deadlifts - 155#, and Handstand pushups.
Deadlifts were no problem - I did the 21 in a set of 15, and 6, the 15 set I did in 10 and 5, and the 9 set was unbroken.  The handstand pushups were bar assisted. Not sure how I broke these up.  But, again, I was told we need to make 'em harder.  oh yay.... Not sure what that means other than trying to really do them...ZOIKS!  I finished in 9:19? ish....something like that.  Overall not bad, just not sure what Diane will bring next time she comes around in the handstand pushup department!!

So, 2 thing in two days that I went too light on - guess I have some sandbagger in me too!

Mish Mash of fun!

Tuesday: Functional Focus - Slosh Pipes, Tires, Rope Climb

This was low key - super fun day.  Almost like those old gym classes from grade school, but more fun.  Slosh pipes are PVC tubes partially filled with water that you have to balance overhead.  Sounds easy and simple right? HA! Not quite as simple as it sounds. Although, I probably could have/should have gone with  one that was a bit bigger/heavier.  The one I used was pretty light - and relatively easy. The next one up though, was a huge pipe, that my tiny little hands couldn't get around very well.  Unfortunately, I couldn't even really try that one  - the boys were using it.  Except Luke - he went for the mambo-super jumbo pipe.    Next we climbed the rope.  All I can say is that I tried.....   I was looking at it with dread, knowing in my heart that if by some miracle, I actually was able to climb the silly thing, I would probably freeze up when I looked down.  Ok - definitely not the mentality to go in with.   I'll try almost anything -but when it comes to heights, I know what they do to me - refer back to the Hawaii trip if you need a reminder!  So, I gave it the ol' college try.  Wrapped my feet, held the rope and kind of jumped a bit so I was off the ground.   Then, it came time to try to actually climb, so I go to move my hand up the bar. Disconnect. The hand would not let go of the rope. It downright refused.  Somewhere in it's pinky finger of a brain, it knew that if it let go, I would fall to my imminent death. My hand did not realize that I was MAYBE 1/2 an inch off the ground, and death from that height would be downright close to impossible.   I guess I need to work on the release mode!  Tire flipping was good -they are some big ass tires.  I can't quite get the correct motion - it's a two step process for me, but I can do it.  I was a bit bummed, and this sounds strange, but Patty and Cheri R had some big bruises on their arms from it.  I got nothing, strangely I felt a bit ripped off.  Wonder what that means?

Wednesday: Lynne - Bodyweight bench press/Pullups - Max Reps, 5 rounds

The point this time was, if you are not able to do bodyweight bench press, do a weight that in the last round you will end up with 3-5 reps.   I've been doing these at 125, and getting in 12-7.  Knowing the huge differential 5 pounds makes on the bench, I went with 135, to see how that would go.  It's 20 lbs less than my 1 rep max.  On Bench I did 7/6/6/5/3 - that last set, I probably could have/should have done more, but I didn't set myself correctly, and didn't realize how off  I was until I had started. Trying to correct with 135 bar above you - kinda difficult.   Pullups, I did kipping in the red bands.  I believe I got 10/11/10/10/9 one of those rounds may have had another 11 in it, I'm not certain. Last round I was going for 10 - but then Tricia made a comment about how the bands made my boobs look good (???? must have lifted and separated???) - and that just ended it.  I busted up! So only 9 the last round.  I have to say again, though, I'm jealous of her pullups - they are probably some of the prettiest in the gym, even if she is still using the bands, it's all muscle!

Thursday:   Double under Doody! (yes, as in poo-poo, ca-ca!)

I'm not certain what got in my mind, but I wasn't signed up for this one, was quite ok with it for the most part.  Then came that tiny little guilty part of my mind, bursting on the scene, telling me I was being a big old wimp.  So, what did I do??  What any rational, sane person would do, I posted my mental dilemma on Facebook, so someone could help me decide - to go or go ahead, take a day off !!  Now really, what did I really was going to happen???  Shockingly, I was talked into going.  Here's the gist of the workout.

50 double-unders- these weren't good, but weren't terrible, I got in 30 to Joe G's 50
50 box jumps 16"- these took a while....I was stepping down trying to coddle my ankle a bit.....
50 double-unders - started these when Joe G was starting his 3rd round of DU's - I was at about 27 to his 50.  slowing down.
50 situps - these were fine, although I did have to pause more than usual.
50 double-unders - slow.  I think Joe G finished when I was working on these...
50 supermans - these were slower than you would have thought.  I did the back extensions on the GHD thingy.  Had a lot of back and hammy crampage.
50 double-unders- there were about 3 or 4 minutes left before time was gonna be called.  Trying to do DU's, with back muscles cramping and hamstrings aquiver, is a bit of a disaster.  I attempted it though.  Did about 25 single missed attempts before landing one.  Needless to say, this is where I ended.  Time was 26 minutes and more than 30 odd seconds.
200 m run
50 double-unders
Didn't get to the run (not that I would have been able to run anyway, as locked up as my back was!), or the las set of DU's.   I probably would have been more bummed about that if I didn't need to immediately stretch the crap out of my back.    Once I did that, all was fine with the world.  I think I'm the only one that has back muscles cramp up on them, it's kind of peculiar.

Friday: "Diane"  21, 15, 9 reps of Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushups.
The goal of this one was, no matter what the modification on HSPU's - full ROM.  Did I accomplish that??  not really.  I did them with feet hooked on the bar.  Here's the scooper:

21 rep set: Deadlift - no problem, a little difficult because my back muscles were sore from yesterday, but that didn't affect anything.   HSPU's - did about 6 or 7, full ROM - then had to upright myself for breathing purposes.  After that they came slow, a couple at a time.  I have to admit, there were a couple lame ones in this set.  

15 rep set - again DL's, no problem.  HSPU's - got the first 5, then it came slower.  These were better than the 1st set.

9 rep set - DL's fine.  HSPU's - Did a set of 5, then 4 - these were all good.

I think on the first couple I wasn't setting my hands correctly - because the last set of 9, where I was doing the full rom, felt alot better than the post first 5 or 6 in the first two rounds.  I'm almost positive that played into it...but I could be wrong.   Completed this is 13:27?? 13 minutes, again, not sure about the seconds, but it was a good 4 minutes longer than last time.   I would say on average, overall - I would rate myself at about 90% range of motion. Some were 100%, some, not so much.

Overall - a good week.

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!

Diane update and THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!

Diane 21/15/9 - Deadlift 155#, Handstand pushups. Handstand pushups were done with hooked feet.   Last time I did these in 9:04, with what I estimate as as 1/2 ROM.  This time 9:03, with about 5  decent ones...then the range of motion dissipated into nothingness.  Next time, I'm working the range of motion on these and the time will have to suffer a bit.

Now - the coolest thing ever!!

Tonight, we did "Pull to Inverted Hang"  max reps in a 1 minute for 10 minutes (2 minute rest in between).  Last time we did these, I ended up doing the wacky wall walkers.  This time, as we were talking about it, I'm not sure what got into me, but I not only got my first one, but then proceeded to do 40 more!!   To say I was excited about this, would be a gross understatement.  I morphed into a strange combination of myself and Nadia Comenici.  

Out of nowhere came this fantastic prowess.....like a cat, I jumped, curled then unfurled my legs as I was upside down. I couldn't see it myself, but I can only imagine it was MAGNIFICENT!

Okay, shocking as it may be, that may be a bit of an exaggeration!!  But it was fantastic, and completely out of nowhere.  I ended up doing something like 5/4/4/5/4/4/4/3/3/3.

Not a plethora of them, and in reality, they had to go on the board in blue, because I didn't just power myself up, I did have to jump - BUT...I can hang upside down on the rings now.

Yep...I'm cool!

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.