lift, and press, and squat and hoist...

Thursday 5,000 lbs floor-to-overhead - I debated on this one whether to completely toss aside the time element and increase the level of difficulty by doing full squat cleans and overhead presses.  My initial thought was at 85 lbs - but in reality, I was pretty sure there was no way I was getting in 59 strict presses at 85 lbs.    Then I thought maybe I would go the 65 lbs route, but I did a couple full squat cleans, and I was not feeling the squat clean love.  After all the debate in my head,  I ended up doing 50 power clean & jerks at 100 lbs.  Time was not spectular, but not terrible.  I finished in 12:31 - about a minute longer than when I did 59 at 85 lbs.

Friday was squats/box squats for Gettin' stronger.  I haven't a clue what I did.  I lifted, and it was heavy, somehow, for some reason, that's about all I remember.  I think I ended with 5 reps at 185, but I can't really tell ya for sure!  Because I had just taken a week off, I decided to stay so that I could get a weeks worth of workouts in about 36 hours.  The regular workout was one straight from the twisted mind of our dear coach, Jonathan.  This Crossfit beauty was:
200 m run
25 pullups
50 kb swings (16 kg)
25 dips
50 lunges
25 knees-to-elbows
50 situps
25 Wallball shots (16 lbs)
50 box jumps (16")
Everyone starts with the run, from there, it can be done in any order.  We started with the run, or in my case, the wog.  After that it was box jumps, 50 box jumps is a plethora of them, in case you didn't realize it....  After box jumps  I went to sit ups.  I figured it would be a decent place to catch my breath.  After the situps it's all kind of a blur - I know at one point I was thinking I would do all the 50's, then I looked, and the dawning realization came to me.  This was a bad idea.  There is alot of really hard stuff in the 25 category! So I mixed it up.  Not sure what order I did them, I know I started with box jumps, and ended with the Kettlebell swings.  The middle is a blur... My end time was 22:something.  When I went to write it up, I had the initial thought that "oh goodie, the only thing modified was my pullups"...Ummm -no.  I forgot the blue banded dips, the KTE's which were nothing but jump, and of course the pullups which are perpetually a blue mark for me.

Saturday was 2 hours of Bench - sets of 5.  I started big, although, I should have been able to do it no problem, my bench was a bit on the weak side. I started at 135 - only got in 4, then went down, to 115, 120, 125, 130.  Afterwards we did some narrow grip benching - which is odd. I ended at 115, which seemed to be about the right weight for me.  I'm not sure why my bench feels perpetually off, but it's been a really long time - probably close to a year since I've felt a really good bench press day.

Tonight was Deadlift - 5/4/3/2/1    Deadlifts felt heavy tonight.  Shocking, I know.   I started at 225 for 5, then 245 for 4, 265 for 3, then I went to 275 for 2, and my head popped in.  The little game my brain plays with me at 275....I couldn't do it, I would get it off the floor, then feel the slightest hint of my back rounding, and down the weight goes.  I ended up throwing on a weight belt and lifted it no problem.  It was ridiculous!!  However, I think I may have to belt up at the 270/275 weight for a while, until I get over this mental block.  I belted in, and did 1 rep at 300.  Not easy, but really, not that difficult.  Like I said the 275 mental block is ridiculous, and I know it.   I really need to work the DL's a bit harder if I'm going to be using a belt.  In my head, I should be able to do 350 right now if I really tried.  I really want 400 by the next time I compete.  If little tiny Heena can do it, so can I!!-

Hacking up a Quarter....BAD!

Hack Squats yesterday. These are the funky things - kind of like a trying to do a deadlift with the barbell at your heels instead of your toes.  Weird, yes.  Last time I did these, I kept getting the bar stuck on my thighs.  This time, not as much - not that the last couple were spectacular, but it wasn't quite the issue.  Did I suddenly lose 8 inches off my thigh circumference or something??? Hardly.  But - the form part of it clicked a bit more.   We did these 5/5/5/5/5  I did 115/125/135/145/165.  I got nowhere near Patty's 210....but I at least beat my last weight by 20 lbs.  Nice job Patty!

Today was Quarter Gone Bad - 5 round - 15 sec work/45 rest of Burpees, Dead hang pullups (supposed to be weighted, if you can pull your ass over the bar without being strapped into a bouncy band), and Thrusters.  With this one, because the actual work time is 15 seconds, the point is to go bigger, badder and heavier for the 15 seconds.

Burpees - well, burpees are burpees - no need to make them any more difficult - because they suck enough the way they are.   I got in 3 the first round, and 4 the remaining.

Pullups - well, HA!  My pullups are still off, but they are getting a tiny bit closer to where they were before vacation.  I ended up doing these in the red bands - from a complete dead hang - no floor action once I went up.  I got 4 the first round, and the next 3 rounds and 2 the last (I had a 1/2 in there, but 1/2 don't really count!)

Thrusters - I went for the fully prescribed weight on this one - 95 lbs. This was the first time I've done 95lb Thrusters - I'm ok with them at 65 lbs, and last time I did this one, I did 75 lbs. Let me tell ya - 95 - not so fun.  Shockingly much heavier than 65.  I got in 5 per round, with one round hitting 6.

Overall - my score was 60, 5 less than last time, but last time was blue bands and 75 lb thrusters.  So - pretty good. 

Daniel...HACK HACK HACK

Strange the body physics....it's been a bit peculiar the last couple of days.

Yesterday we did Daniel - 50 pullups/400 m run/21 Thrusters/800 m run/21 Thrusters/400 m run/50 pullups.   Pullups were Red Bands on the high bar. (I just realized I have this strange uncanny need to capitalize Red Bands....hmmmm, wonder what that means??)  I set myself up on the high bar - because they were going to have to be jumping pullups, I grabbed a 35 lb weight for my feet - probably should have gone with the 45, because to say my pullups were lame would be a vast understatement.  Yeah - I got in some good ones - but by the end - pure suckage - my nose was barely hitting bar level.  Ironically, I didn't feel like I did too bad on the running part, yes, I had to walk in parts, but I don't think I did too bad.  The thrusters (65#), were no problem. I broke them into 3 mini-sets - 11/5/5.  Next time, I'll have to try to make it just 2 sets - or if I'm feeling really ambitious, try them all at once. (of course, then I'll be walking the first 200m of the next run, trying to get my legs back!)  Overall, my time was a whopping 6 seconds faster than last time, so 25:46.  I think I can thank those dastardly pullups for not getting a better time!  Now - as for the dynamics on this particular workout, my sister Mary was there, and we were chatting - she is not such a big fan of the weight lifting thing (trying to bond with it), I, on the other hand am not such a big fan of the cardio thing (again, I too am trying to bond with it).   Now - if you were to combine us - we would be a pretty formidable combination.

Today we did these funky ass things called "Hack Squats".  Wow!!  You know how I'm always saying my bulging biceps are preventing me from going all the way up in my pullups?? Well, same thing here, only it's the gigantic-uber muscularity of my quads and derriere preventing me from doing these.   Never having done them before, I started low. 

65  /85 /105 /125-whoops, got 2 in, then it kept catching on my bulging quad muscles!! DRATS

125 again - ok /145 - 1 maybe 2 ok - the rest NSG (not so good) - meaning it was another leg thing.

So, watching people do these, and trying desperately to do them halfway decently myself,  I've come to the conclusion you need to have 2 things to really kick some wild turkey butt on the Hack Squat - 1. apelike arms  2. toothpick legs.(yes, apelike and toothpick may be a bit of an exaggeration....). 

Needless to say - my arms - not so long.  My legs - not really toothpicky - so this is definitely not my best lift.  Not by a mile!

I was super happy to see that Patty did so well though!  Patty hit 185, and I'm guessing she barely broke a sweat!   I'm very happy for you Patty - and yes, you know that tiny little bit of jealousy that you sometimes tell me you feel??  Well, guess who has it now!!