to hell with the big ones!

Tuesday was 1-hand kettlebell swings. 10-ladder (up and down) for time and weight.   For the "Gettin' Stonger" crew we were to go as heavy as we can, still maintain form and finishing within 20 minutes.  
We haven't done this in a while, but last time we did I used the 16kg, and finished in 8 1/2 minutes or so.  This time, I was going for the 20kg.  I did ok on the way up, looking at it, after the fact, I think I could have pushed a bit more on the upside.  By the time I was going down, not so much.  by the 8th on the way down, my back was starting to lock up, so it was a chore to get through both hands.    Overall, I did ok....not spectacular.  I finished in 13:35.

Wednesday, we did a bit of a mishmash.  2 rounds of a heavy stations which included:
Pull-to-inverted hang - or in my case, jump to inverted hang, I got in 5 of these each round.
Box jumps (20") - I was able to get in about 10 of these each round.

Front Squats (95#) - not sure how I did on these, I know round 2, I definitely did better than round 1
Burpees - ummm...hate them.  3 maybe 4
Power Cleans (95#) - again, not sure what I got. I know round 2, I wanted to get to 40, so the last one, was off-kilter and a bit of a messy clean, but I counted it.
round 1 my total score was32, round 2, I got to 40
After that we did  max rep pullups, dead hang.  I started off in one red band, got in about 3.  Second round I did the static hold and slowly lower thing, so that one is harder to quantify.

Saturday we did Lynne:As prescribed: 5 rounds for max reps of bodyweight bench press/ pullups.
UGH! All I'm gonna say.  For all the work I'm putting in, I just appear to keep sliding on down.
Bench - I did 135# got in 5, 5,5,5, 4.  less reps than last time I did this, and that was less than the time before.  Can ya see the downward spiral??  this is just showing me proof positive that if I'm not getting weaker overall, my big 3 are going down.
Pullups - these I did ok on.  If I hadn't I could very easily have turned into a sniveling mess again.  BUT, these were pretty good.  I used 2 minis, kipping, and got in - 9, 13, 12, 9, 10.  I really want 20 - but I'll take those, they were higher than last time, and with smaller bands.

Tonight - kinda sucked.  Again, brought home the fact that my major lifts are swirling in the toilet.  Not only are they weaker, but form is going to hell to boot.  Not sure what the heck that's all about, but it's uber-annoying.
We did3-5 reps of Back squat & overhead press, 3-5 times.
Back squat - 165, 175, 185  what was wrong with these? I barely made depth, knees were wonky, hips coming up before the chest.  Basically most of it.  Were they huge and dramatically bad, probably not, but definitely not up to par.
OH press - 95, 105 x4, 105  Yep, failed at 105 for 5.  Again, not sure what the heck is going on...but these kinda felt marginal at best.

Perhaps it's time to bag the big 3 for a while and focus on Oly lifts, or pullups or.....something...anything else.    Much as I try not to let this downward ride in the toilet bother me, it does......not much else to say about it.

Barbells, barbells everywhere!!

Turkish Getups on Thursday. YAY!!! Much to Patty's chagrin, this is one of my favs. There's nothing cooler than a heavy barbell TGU!  All day, I visualized it - I was gonna do a 75 lb barbell TGU! It was gonna happen and it was gonna be pretty!  Before started, we embarked on a conversation weighing the difficulty levels of the TGU - kettlebell versus barbell.  I went with my beloved barbell.  I started light, at 45, then 55.  The at 65, the unthinkable happened,  I could not do the get up part of the TGU with the 65 lb barbell. What evil, dastardly plot is this???  I tried again -it just wasn't going to happen.  Off to Plan B - I threw the barbell aside and decided to try the 24kg kettlebell (aka 53 lbs).  It is completely different. Easier? perhaps. Harder? maybe.  Just different, amazingly different for basically the same move using just a different utensil.   For the last round, I stayed with the KB - obviously the barbell wasn't giving me the love that I had envisioned earlier in the day!  This time I did the 28kg, or 62 lb - it went ok - not fantastic, I failed at the very end of my last one. I am not sure which is harder, but, I must say - the KB is a heck of a lot scarier than the barbell TGU.  When you get to kettlebells that heavy - you're looking at a monster cannonball that can come down and smash into your face.  The good thing though, is that gives you a bit more incentive to hold that puppy high in the air! Overall, not quite what I had hoped, but I threw in some unexpected variety to mix it up, and was fairly successful at it.



Saturday we did Lynne - 5 rounds for max reps of bodyweight bench press, and pullups.  I wasn't sure how well I would do on these. 1. It was 7am.  2. I took a walk with the Captain the night before.....the walk was a bit long.  
For the bench, I did the same weight I've been doing with Lynne, 135.  Pullups, one red, one mini, kipping.  I cannot remember exactly what I did - I think the Bench averaged to 6 or 7 per round, and the pullups about 10.  I am doing some strange moves when it comes to my bench - my left shoulder is not staying on the bench and it's making me go all wonky.    I'm not certain what is causing that, but it's wrong, I know it - I can feel it.  However, I did end up doing better on this than I did last time, which shocked the heck outta me.



Today -High-intensity Stations
5 rounds of 1 minute each of:
Thrusters (95/65#)
Power cleans (95/65#)
Pull-to-Inverted Hang
YAY!! Only 65 lbs!!!  I can't tell you the last time I only did 65 lbs on something.  I was actually kind of looking forward to this one.  Although, in the pit of my stomach, I kind of had a sinking feeling that I would have to do this at 95 lbs.  I was hoping 65, but had a tiny inkling that 95 was going to be my fate.  Well, when it came down to it - it was a "95 is the Getting Stronger weight, but if you need to work on your metcon...."  CRAP! It was up to me.  Most people would think that would be a good thing...I'm not most people.  In general, I like knowing there's just no choice in the matter.  In reality, my options were to do the 65#'s - but I better do a heck of alot of them - or do the 95#, and see what that brings.  I went with the 95#'s.  Not sure if it was the easy way to go or not.  Here's kind of how it went.
Round 1 - Pull to inverted hang - I jumped and got 5 of them, then the power cleans, probably 7 or 8, and the remainder were Thrusters - to get to a final score of 17.
Round 2 - Michael wanted to switch rings - ok sure. I did one.......then tried about 3 more that ended up being knees to elbows. OK, one it is.  Powercleans, I wailed through - I believe I got in 9 or 10.  Then struggled through 5 or 6 thrusters for a total of 16.
Round 3 - Again -1 jump to inverted hang.  Yep,  one.  The rest I did about the same as round 2.  I scored this one at 15, but I forgot to add in my single JTIH...so in reality it was 16.  Not that it really matters.
Round 4 - I changed the box under the high rings.  This helped. I actually got in 3 of the pull-to-inverted-hangs.  The cleans brought me up to 11, so 8 of 'em.....and then 5 thrusters for a total of 16.
Round 5 - I got in 4 pull to inverted hang, 8 cleans (brought me to 12), and 5 thrusters.  Overall score - 81 or 82. Not spectacular - I should have been able to hit 90.  I agree with Patty - I gotta figure out how to dig a little deeper. 
However, today was definitely a sweat inducing doozy!!  It actually felt good to sweat that much...I think I'm nuts!!   

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.

Running around Lynne

After being vastly disappointed that I had to miss the long awaited "Dirty Dozen", I was appalled that I was about to have a workout inflicted on me that was nothing but running.  Now really, have I mentioned that I don't like running?  I thought so.  Well, I have to say, this brought out little Miss PPP  (AKA Polly Pissy Pants).    Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you think about it, little Miss P, didn't hang out too long, instead, I ended up trying to bolster the spirits of the other "I'd rather stick my big toe into a vat of sulphuric acid than run" members.  (Ok, maybe not all of them despise running quite THAT much...but still, you get the drift!)

So when the time came, to do the workout  - 200 meter run -8 rounds for time - I had actually kind of psyched myself up.  I went in with the spirit of "I'm going to be the next Joe G - making vast improvements never seen before...amazing to the eye!"  Yep, a bit like superman or any random super hero.  That is what I have determined I'm going to strive for.  If my freaking butt won't shrink despite my finest efforts, then if I'm putting all this work into it, at least I'm gonna do some amazing things!!

Round 1 - my immediate goal was to keep Luke in my sights.  First round, I actually did pretty good.  48 seconds.  Not a world record by any means, but it was 10 seconds faster than my first round the last time we did this.  I was hopeful.

Round 2 - Holy moly - rest is over already?? YIKES!  Still - I managed to eek out a 49.  I can live with that.

Round 3 - the 2 minute rest is over before I could blink!  This time....50...and so the slippage starts

Round 4 - 53 seconds  OY!

Round 5 - 57 or 58 - I just stopped caring.....couldn't breathe.

Round 6 - 58 or 59 - really had a hard time getting through these rounds....REALLY!

Round  7 - 60 seconds - YIPES!! That's longer than it's EVER taken.....

Round 8 - 57  - ok, at least it was under a minute.

So - overall, I'm not certain if I ended up doing better than last time or not.  I kicked it up a notch the first 3 or 4 rounds, but then was totally gassed for the last 4.  Not an ounce of energy was left!

Today was Lynne.  Max rep bench press/max rep pullups - 5 rounds.  Bench Press was supposed to be body weight. HA!  So it was BP at a weight you can do about 10 reps of.   My shoulder has been a bit off since the dips of Friday night (I think that's what sparked it, not sure though.) Nothing bad..just off.  It actually felt great this morning when I got up, but as the day progressed it got twingier.  Apparently working is bad for me! I think I might have to quit my job for the sake of my shoulder...hmmmmmmmm..........

I digress into daydream land.  Back to reality. YIKES! 

So - rather than trying to do body weight bench presses, which I know are ridiculous to think about, I went with 125.  I believe that's what I did last time too, I just wasn't sure whether to go up or not because my shoulder was making feel a bit off.  I did pullups - kipping style, since I have that now, more or less, in the red bands

Round 1 - 12 BP/11 PU

Round 2 - 11 BP/11 PU

Round 3 - 9 BP/9.5 PU - yep - last one was eye level, so I counted it as 1/2.

Round 4 - 8 BP/9 PU

Round 5 - 7 BP/9 PU

Not too bad - bench should have been better, but I was happy with the pullups.  Now I need to see if I can get into the minis so that I can eventually get out of the bands altogether.

There wasn't a whole lot of rest between rounds, and by the end, my biceps were numb.

I still like Lynne.  Gimme Lynne over running any and every day!!

The Good the Bad and the....not so pretty!

The Good:

Yesterday we did Lynne - Max rep Body weight Bench Press/Pullups - 5 round.  Ok - body weight bench press...that's a bit of a concept, fortunately, I have plenty of time to wrap my mind around it before it becomes a reality.  Instead, I did the BP at 125.  Got in 11/8/8/8/6.  So, I feel good about that.  Although I'm still a bit puzzled about how I can do 11 at 125, but can't manage to eek out 3 at 145.  GRRRR.  Pullups were red band, jumping....got in an average of 10 per round.  I can't wait to be outta the bands!

The Bad:

Hang Power Cleans...3/3/3/3/3.  Have I mentioned lately that I hate cleans?  HA! yes, I know this is a frequent chant of mine....unfortunately, it is very true.  I find them extremely awkward, and funky....you would think by now I'd be getting used to them..but alas, no.    I did 75/85/95/105 - "pulled a Patty", completely got into my head, couldn't come close to the move. Ended  up doing this set as pull from the floor squat cleans.  Last set went back down to 95.

I'm not really thinking the form was that good...in fact, I would bet it was a bit wonky - especially the last coupla sets.

The not so pretty.....
Today, I have he legs from hell. Basically, it feels like someone took 2 big slabs of meat, beat the living crap out of them, then somehow, connected them to my nervous system and stapled them to the front of my legs. In other words, they are in more pain than I recall feeling in a VERY long time. In theory, it's a good pain, but when you moan and groan just trying to sit down....it's really not so good. Not to this degree at least. All thank you to those blasted jumping squats!  Seriously, need to send the genius who created that to the looney bin!