Thursday

60:00 brisk walk w/ Dad

Wednesday

easy hike/swim or OFF

Off - interviewed from 9am-6:30pm, which is the ninth circle of hell for an introvert. And I'm doing it again tomorrow. 

Tuesday

8 sets:
500m row @ 90%
2:00 walk rest

@ CrossFit Active Performance 

1:59.3

1:59.2

1:59.2

1:59.1

1:59.2

1:59.2

1:59.4

1:59.2

Oh. My. God. 

Monday

AM:

For 10:00:
Evens: 1 muscle-up
Odds: 4 alternating weighted pistols - start light and add a bit/set if possible
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 2 strict handstand push-ups
Odds: 8 tough overhead kettlebell swings
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 3 unbroken rounds of [1 toes-to-bar + 1 CTB pull-up]
Odds: 8 wall balls, 20 to 10

@ CrossFit Active Performance

complete
no fails
10, 18, 26, 35, 35
+
complete-ish
2, 1-1, 1-1, 0-0, 1-0
70lb
+
complete

PM

2h hike w/ Mom 

Muscle-ups were super easy today - butttttttt, on skinny rings.  I have a much, much easier time of pulling harder/higher on the skinny rings.  Felt like I could have gotten 3 in a row today if my hands weren't in such rough shape.  At least I think I've identified the problem... so I guess it's just figuring out how to translate the same pull onto the fat rings. 

Weighted pistols were surprisingly good, held the KB in the front rack and held my foot with the opposite hand.  Nothing in between 35 and 53, and wasn't feeling that big of a jump...

Strict handstand push-ups are getting better with the continued exposure, but still pretty terrible.

70 is the heaviest KB they have, but it was heavy enough for this today.

TTB/CTB complex was tough on their slippery bars, had to reset my hands and the swing on the 3rd CTB each time.

Heavy/high wallballs are feeling pretty good these days!

Love the hiking out here... Mom says the trail was 8 miles but I think closer to 6. Gorgeous day. 

Sunday

60:00 brisk walk w/ the fam

Happy to be home :)

Saturday

AM
For time @ 90%:
1000m row
25 double-unders
750m row
50 double-unders
500m row
75 double-unders
250m row
100 double-unders
+
10:00 shoulder mobility

PM
10:00 practicing unbroken sets of 1 toes-to-bar + 1 CTB pull-up + 1 bar muscle-up
+
A. Hang squat clean, build quickly to a tough single
B. Front squat, 3 x 2-3, 20X1; 2:30 rest
+
5-4-3-2-1 for time:
Muscle-ups
Hang power cleans, 125
Front squats, 125
+
3-5 sets:
2:00 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
2:00 AirDyne @ 50%
2:00 hip & ankle mobility

AM

17:45

+

complete

PM

complete 

+

A. 195 (PR +15)

B. 205, 220, 230(1)

+

DNF

Rounds of 5 and 4 complete

+

4 sets complete 

Row felt excellent this morning (Rowing Wednesdays are paying off!).  2:20/2:12/2:05/1:59.  Double-unders went okay, not nearly as bad as earlier in the week but not as smooth as I would have liked.  Mostly sets of 20-40 (first 25 unbroken).

Couldn't get the TTB/CTB/BMU complex, but did get 2 bar muscle-ups alone.  I was close on a couple of attempts of the complex; might be able to get it next time.

Hang squat cleans felt super crisp and easy today!  Felt really fast under the bar again.

Front squats felt heavy.  Maybe could have gotten a second rep at 230 but it would have been ugly as shit so I just racked the bar.

Had flashbacks to the CLB workout on the 5-4-3-2-1 piece.  I was fully expecting this to take me 30-40:00, considering how shitty my muscle-ups have been recently.  Finished the 5 MUs in 6:00, no fails within the set but took plenty of rest in between attempts.  Barbell complex was fine, unbroken.  Failed to turnover a few MUs on the round of 4, but finally finished those and finished the barbell complex.  No idea of the exact time, maybe 17:00 or so?  On the first muscle-up of the set of 3, I overrotated and fell through the rings, which I've never done before, and it scared the shit out of me.  Rested several minutes then failed 4 more attempts - I was a little skittish of being as aggressive and failed to turnover any of these.  Called it at 32:00ish when I just kipped and didn't even try to turnover.  At least I wasn't failing the dips today... still not kipping properly, but the ones I did make went better today than they have in a couple of weeks.  Sigh.  One of these days I would like to complete a workout with muscle-ups in it :/

Friday

30:00 swim @ Z1

subbed 30:00 AirDyne @ Z1
+
a little mobility

Opted for an afternoon nap instead of swimming after last night's work function... didn't drink, but being up and social until 1:30am took its toll.

Thursday

A. Squat snatch, take your time and build to a max for the day
+
15-12-9 for time @ 100%:
Power cleans, 85
Burpees
+
12:00 rest
+
15-12-9 for time @ 100%:
Thrusters, 85
CTB pull-ups

A. 130, 135Fx3

+

4:27

+

7:38

Had to train in the AM again due to another work commitment... 

Super happy to snatch again!!! Seriously, this is very exciting.  Matched my current PR (130) on the first attempt, and was pretty confident about getting 135 today.  Caught it overhead 3 times, but with soft elbows all 3 times and lost it.  It'll happen next time.  Felt super fast under the bar today.

The power clean/burpee thing was really fun!  I slowed down during the 12 burpees, but other than this, moved pretty well throughout.  PC broken 9/6, 6/6, 9UB, and felt super easy.  Probably could have gone unbroken throughout, looking back.

On the other hand, the thruster/CTB thing was AWFUL.  Jesus.  I felt pretty much recovered after the first piece, but for some reason this whole thing was still terrible.  The thrusters today went much better than the thrusters in that shuttle run thing from last week, there wasn't nearly as much pausing at the top.  Broken 9/6, 6/6, 9UB.  CTBs felt good today, but I stood around way, way, way too much in between sets.  Broken 5/5/5, 4/4/4, 3/2/2/1/1.  I just couldn't make myself jump up to the bar, I don't know what my deal was with that today.  It felt like 100%, but the time ended up being pretty pathetic.

Wednesday

AM
3 sets @ 70%:
5 ring dips, emphasize the kip
6 alternating pistols
250m row
2:00 walk rest
+
For time @ 70%:
400m run
15m handstand walk
100m Farmer's walk, 70/hand
10 wall walks
30 AirDyne calories

PM
10:00 light scap activation
+
10 sets:
500m row @ 85%
2:00 walk rest

AM
complete
+
12:16

PM
complete
+
2:00.1
2:00.0
1:59.9
2:00.0
2:00.2
2:00.0
2:00.1
2:00.1
2:00.1
2:00.0

Really enjoying the current trend of some different stuff in the AM! 

Trying to figure out how to kip... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Pistols were fine, I keep anticipating my knee hurting but the cortisone is still magic.  It's kind of like the TV is on mute, and you should be hearing the sound but you don't.  It's weird, but I'll take it.

Run felt good.  Handstand walk unbroken.  Farmer's walk felt heavy.  Wall walks were excruciatingly slow.  

Rows are getting pretty challenging.  Eeesh.  I kinda like it, though.  

On another note, I weighed myself this morning, and, for perhaps the first time in my entire life, I was disappointed to see that I had not gained any weight.  I was thinking that the only explanation for my new-found inability to dip out of muscle-ups was that I was up a few lbs, and I was okay with that, because that meant there was an easy explanation and a problem to be solved.  Unfortunately that turned out not to be the case, I've been steady at 163-165 since mid-November (164.6 today).  Sooooo... what the hell is going on?  Bueller?

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1
+
AMRAP in 5:00:
Strict handstand push-ups
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

PM
20:00 to establish:
1RM power clean
2RM bench press
3RM overhead squat
+
5 sets for even times:
2 muscle-ups
10 wall balls, 20 to 10
50 double-unders
3:00 walk rest

AM

complete

12 strict HSPUs

PM

175, 185Fx2

155

185

+

errrrr... more for completion than for even times...
4:22 (1-F-1)
3:06 (1-1)
4:56 (F-1-1)
4:25 (1-1)
5:30 (1-F-F) 

Well... Today went better than last week, but still kind of a rough day.  What the hell, man. 

Strict handstand push-ups went SO much better than last week.  Opened with a double, then all singles.  No fails.  Used the blue gymnastics mat (last week just used a yoga mat on the hard floor) - I think I felt safer to drop more quickly and not have a 0:03 negative lowering my head to the floor, that made a huge difference...

Ended up doing the PM session just 2h after the AM... had a meeting at work at 4pm and it was stressing me out knowing I wouldn't get to the gym until 5:30-6.  What am I going to do when I get a real job? :/

The weightlifting stuff was super fun (surprise, surprise). Went REALLY fast through the first two movements - started on the OHS with 12:00 remaining (and didn't even use all that time). Caught the 175 power clean really low, so low that I pulled up my knee sleeves for two attempts at 185 but I couldn't commit. Made 20lb jumps on the bench press - 155 was a true 2RM today, the second rep was a struggle. Made large jumps on the OHS also (125-145-165-185). Failed the BTN jerk at 185 twice before getting it - once it was overhead, the squats were easy. 185 matches my 1RM, so that's neat. Pretty sure I could OHS 200lbs if I could get the BTN jerk... or maybe I should play with OHS from a regular front rack split jerk... 

So apparently my new thing is not being strong enough to dip out of muscle-ups.  This is alarming and extremely uncool.  I don't know why I'm struggling so much with this recently, it never used to be a problem at all.  Just like last week, even the successful makes were shaky on the lock-out.  I was going every 0:60 for the first two rounds, but then ended up resting closer to 0:90-2:00 on the last two rounds.  Called it on the last round even though I only made one, I could tell that my arms were just shot and I wasn't going to get another one.  Wallballs were unbroken-ish, I never dropped the ball but had a hard time catching a few attempts and had to reset.  Also, the target on the rig is so much easier than the line on the wall. Double-unders were SHIT today, like, literally worse than they've been in years.  Blahhhhhhhh.

Monday

Mobility @ home 

Sunday

A. Split jerk clusters from blocks, 5 x 1.1 moderate; :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
B. Hang power snatch, build quickly to a moderate, crisp single
C. 1 snatch-grip deadlift + 1 snatch pull, 4 x 1 starting @ 1RM snatch and adding a little from there; 2:00 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 3 touch-and-go power snatches, 95
Odds: 5-10 unbroken CTB pull-ups
+
3-5 sets:
2:00 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
2:00 AirDyne @ 50%
2:00 hip & ankle mobility

A. 185 across
B. 115
C. 135, 145, 155, 160
+
complete
5 CTBs across
+
5 sets complete

Solid day.  Switched my schedule around and ended up training after the kids' class - this was really nice...

Completely misread my programming and thought I only had 2 sets of split jerk clusters, then when I was writing down my results I realized it was 5 sets.  If I had realized it was 5 sets in the beginning, I may not have gone quite as heavy, but since I was already 2 sets in, I decided to just keep 185 on the bar and see what happened.  This was definitely the upper limit of moderate...

Hang power snatch felt good, 115 was nice and crisp but caught it just a hair above parallel, so called it there.

Snatch-grip deadlifts and snatch pulls felt heavy today.

TnG power snatches were no problem at all at 95.  Hands are in rough shape though (including a big rip from yesterday's BMU practice), so went with the lower end of the CTB rep range.  These felt solid today, though, definitely could have hit bigger sets.

Really loving the return to the higher volume days this week... feels good.

Saturday

AM
For time @ 70%:
1000m row
50m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
750m row
75m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
500m row
100m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
+
10:00 shoulder mobility


PM
10:00 bar muscle-up practice
+
A. Front squat, 3 x 3-5, 20X1; 2:30 rest
+
10:00 legless rope climb practice - don't die
+
For time:
15 burpees
30m shuttle run (15m out & back)
200m row
30m shuttle run
20 thrusters, 80
30m shuttle run
200m row
30m shuttle run
15 burpees
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

16:58

+

complete

PM

complete - none today :(
+
A. 155, 175, 195(5)
+
complete - also unsuccessful
+
6:05
+
complete

AM piece was a really fun change of pace!  Loved it.

Timing was off on the bar muscle-ups today - I wasn't being patient and letting my hips come up and was trying to turn over too early.  Meh.  This is annoying.  They felt so easy last week!

Front squats felt excellent; started on the conservative side, but knee feels great.  

Legless rope climbs were kind of disastrous today.  I feel like my fingers aren't strong enough to do these.  It's not really grip strength, or at least what I think of as grip strength, it's like the actual finger muscles that feel weak.  Made it 3-4 pulls every attempt but then just couldn't hold on for another pull.  Also annoying.  But, I didn't die! So there's that.

The for time piece was SO FUN! I should have gone faster in the beginning, but had a really nice negative split.  The thrusters were surprisingly terrible, this was by far the worst part of the whole thing.  Broken 10/5/5 with too much resting in between sets.  I think the 20 thrusters took 2:00 exactly.  Rowed at a 2:05 on the first row and 1:55 on the second row.  Last 15 burpees done AFAP, just over 0:30.  Breathing was really high throughout the whole thing, but it was kind of fun to push through the high breathing and just keep going.  Except for during the thrusters.

Friday

30:00 swim @ Z1

Had a lot of energy and felt like doing something a little different today... (Sorry, Stephen)

For time:

500 free 

Rest 5:00 

500 free 

10:06

+

9:51

Did a 500 free for time several months ago (just for fun) and was curious to see how much I've improved. The answer: a lot. 10:45 in September and there's no way I could have done it twice. Felt like a nice 80-85% today, and I could have done it a 3rd time. Perhaps next week!

Thursday

A. Power clean, build quickly to a single @ 80-90%
+
5-4-3-2-1 for time:
Power cleans, 125
Ring dips
+
5:00 @ 80% of [5 fat bar pull-ups + 30 double-unders]
5:00 rest
5:00 @ 80% of [10 row calories + 10 hand-release push-ups]

A. 165 (89%)

+

2:20

+

4 + 3
+
4 + 5

Power clean felt good, made large jumps (125-145-165) and done in nanos.

Power clean / ring dip thing was super fun!  Power cleans were fast; strung some together but switched to singles as soon as I felt like cycle time was starting to slow.  Ring dips felt really solid, broken 3/2, 2/2, 2/1, 1/1, 1 and all pretty much strict (classic).  Played around with kipping afterward; it still eludes me.

Both 5:00 pieces felt really good aerobically.  3/2 then mostly singles on the pull-ups; double-unders were shit today (only one set unbroken).  Rowed at 900-1000 cal/h and HR push-ups were easy.

Wednesday

AM
3 sets @ 70%:
250m row
4 alternating pistols
12 burpees
2:00 walk rest
+
3 sets @ 70%:
200m run
8m handstand walk
25m Farmer's walk
2:00 walk rest

PM
10:00 light scap activation
+
8 sets:
500m row @ 85%
2:00 walk rest

AM

complete

+

complete with 70lb KBs

PM

complete
+
2:01.4
2:01.3
2:01.4
2:01.4
2:01.5
2:01.4
2:01.3
2:01.2

This was the best AM session, ever! So much fun.  Not gonna lie, I was nervous about the pistols.  The first round was a little rough, but got better in round 2 and they were pretty smooth by round 3.  Wore bees knees and nanos.  Also, really enjoyed the running - it's been a while.

Rows felt SO MUCH BETTER than last week.  Felt awesome aerobically and the grip fatigue wasn't nearly as bad as last week.  The 2:00 rest was short but not so short I panicked like last week.  Although - pace was much harder to hold steady, bounced quite a bit from 1:57-2:03 and adjusted as needed in the final 200m to hit a 2:01 average...

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for max strict handstand push-ups

PM
A. Clean thruster, build to a 1RM in 10:00
B. Close-grip bench press, build to a tough set of 2
+
3 sets @ 70-80-90%:
3 muscle-ups
15 wall balls, 20 to 10
75 double-unders
3:30 walk rest

AM

complete

this did not go well

PM

A. 155, 165Fx2

B. 154

+

DNF

this went even worse 

Today was a struggle.  Which sucks, because I was really looking forward to it. 

Strict handstand push-ups:  1, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1 (made up the two missed singles after the 30:00, for a total of 6). Tried for a double on a couple but I ended up resting at the bottom and losing tension and falling over.  I think I'm controlling the descent too much.

Thrusters felt great through 145.  155 was a little shaky on the push press, but the clean felt awesome.  Made the jump to 165 and cleaned it easily twice but the bar got stuck at forehead level both times.  Knee felt GOOD, absolutely zero pain.  Cortisone is magic.

Bench press felt better than last week.

I was so excited about the increasing effort piece.  Went through the first round nice and easy, time was somewhere around 5:45.  Did one MU every 0:60, broke the wallballs 8/7 and 25/25/25 on the double unders.  Started the second round, and decided to push the MU pace to one every 0:45 - got two, then failed 2 or 3, then finally got the 3rd.  Wallballs 8/7 and double unders 25/25/25 again, faster transitions.  Then I started the 3rd round and failed 5 muscle-ups.  I was waiting a full 2:00 by the end and still failing, so I called it.  Moved on to the wallballs, did 15 unbroken and only tripped once on the double unders at 39.

Here's the problem: I turned over every single attempt today, I got stuck in the dip every time - even the successful reps took like 0:10 to lock out.  This is not okay.  This has never happened to me other than during 15.3.  If I was embarrassed and annoyed at failing the dips in 15.3, multiply that by 1000 today, in a laid-back training piece and on day 1.  Stephen mentioned that it might be because of the strict handstand push-ups this morning.  That's really sad if 6 strict handstand push-ups renders me incapable of a fucking ring dip 8 hours later.  This was the worst.  

Monday

mobility @ home

Sunday

A. Split jerk clusters from blocks, 3 x 1.1.1 moderate; :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
B. 1 snatch-grip deadlift + 2 snatch pulls, 3 x 1 starting @ 1RM snatch and adding a little from there; 2:00 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 5 touch-and-go power snatches, 75
Odds: 4-8m handstand walk
+
3-5 sets:
2:00 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
2:00 AirDyne @ 50%
2:00 hip & ankle mobility

A. 155, 165, 175
B. 135, 145, 155
+
complete, 8m across
+
3 sets complete


Nice day :)

Split jerks felt really crisp and easy.

Snatch grip deadlifts and snatch pulls felt great at 135 but got heavy at 155.  Able to pull the bar really high on all of these, even if it felt heavy, which is encouraging.

EMOM was really fun!  I love a good EMOM.  Both of these movements were easy today.

Plus, I did another bar muscle-up just to prove yesterday wasn't a fluke.  Only one though, the bottom of my sternum is super bruised from slamming into the bar on failed attempts.  Eesh.

Saturday

AM
10:00 @ 70% of [300m row + 30m/side moderate 1-arm overhead DB carry]
5:00 rest
10:00 @ 70% of [20 AirDyne calories + 20m/side moderate 1-arm Farmer's walk]
+
10:00 shoulder mobility

PM
10:00 bar muscle-up practice
+
A1. Front squat, 3 x 3-5, 20X1; :60 rest
A2. Fat bar strict pull-ups, 3 x 10 accumulated; 2:00 rest
+
For time:
125 double-unders
25 burpees
5 rope climbs
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM
complete with 40lb DB and 53lb KB

PM
Complete - got my first bar muscle-up, then 3 more! :D

+

A1. Skipped

A2. Complete 

+

7:57

+

Complete 

HOLY SHIT, I was not expecting to get bar muscle-ups today! I've never even been close before, and I thought these would take the same amount of time and effort practicing as ring muscle-ups. These are easy, really looking forward to stringing some together soon. I can't think of it as a CTB pull-up, it's more of an aggressive hip drive just like on the rings. Hooray! This was awesome. 

Skipped the front squats - knee feels really good, but it's still stiff and a little more swollen than normal, so I wanted to give it another day post-cortisone before really starting to use it. 

Fat bar pull-ups were fine. 

Ugh, rope climbs. Double unders were fine, opened with 58 then sets of 20ish to finish. Burpees were steady, took a little break at 15 because I was being a little bitch and knew I would be resting before the rope climbs anyway. Was staring at the rope at 3:50 but then didn't go for a full minute, then went every 0:45 for the remainder. They felt fine, my footwork was really good again. I just don't trust it when I'm breathing. Which is probably why Stephen is making me do them when I'm breathing. 

Solid day. Onward! 

Friday

30:00 swim @ Z1

Knee is still pretty stiff and full, but the swim actually helped loosen it up a bit. Can already feel the cortisone working its magic... 

Thursday

AM
mobility @ home

PM
A. Power clean, build quickly to a single @ 80-90%
+
5-4-3-2-1 for time:
Power cleans, 125
Ring dips
+
5:00 @ 70% of [10 kettlebell swings @ 53 + 50 double-unders]
5:00 rest
5:00 @ 70% of [10 row calories + 10 hand-release push-ups]

DNS, cortisone shot


Saw Tim McConnell this afternoon.  Over the last several weeks, knee has deteriorated back to where it was in December (pre-cortisone shot), so I wanted to get a clearer picture of what I needed to do moving forward and make sure I wasn't being stupid.  Turns out, the meniscus IS torn (posterior aspect of medial meniscus), but it's not intra-articular, meaning that it's not displaced or mechanically unstable - or, at least, it wasn't in December.  He brought up the MRI images again, and it's actually pretty clear that it's like a slit through the middle.  He said it's possible that it's worse now, or could get worse in the future, but the treatment would be the same (scope/clean-up) unless there was ACL involvement, which he said was pretty unlikely.

I explained that our team is on the bubble for going to Regionals, and I'm on the bubble of being considered for the team, and asked if it would be irresponsible to train hard on the knee for the next month or two (ie, pistols).  He said that if it were him, he would be training for Regionals, no question.  He offered a second cortisone shot to tide me over, explaining that it's only blunting symptoms and not treating the problem, and that surgery will be required ultimately, but since I responded well to the first one and it's been more than 3 months, he thought it would be a good choice for the short term.  We're planning on surgery in June, unless something drastically changes.

Bottom line: I want the 4th spot.

Wednesday

AM
4-6 sets @ Z1:
30 AirDyne calories
10 unweighted walking lunge
10 unweighted hip extensions, 10X1

PM
10:00 light scap activation
+
10-8-6-4-2 for time:
Wall balls, 20 to 10
CTB pull-ups
+
6 sets:
500m row @ 85%
2:00 walk rest

AM

6 sets complete

PM

complete
+
4:39
+
2:02.1
2:02.0
2:02.0
2:02.0
2:01.9
2:01.7

Everything felt like it took more effort than it should have today.  The 20lb wallball felt better than I thought it would, intended to do all sets unbroken but had 3 missed reps on the set of 8 where I just completely failed to hit the target and let the ball drop.  Did a fairly good job of getting right back on the wallballs, but rested too long before each set of CTBs.  Broke these 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 3/1, 2.  They felt fine, just slow.  Not my best effort.

It was hard to hold a 2:02 today on the rows.  I was aiming to hit 2:01 across all sets, but when I was struggling to keep 2:02 on the first one, I adjusted my goal.  Kept the s/m at 29-30 on the first 4 then went back to 26ish and harder pulls on the last 2.  Grip was super fatigued and the 2:00 rest FLEW by each time.  I'm getting much better at picking a target pace and holding it +/- 0:01 the whole way through, previously I would watch the projected pace and let the actual pace bounce around quite a bit as long as it averaged out to where I wanted it.  Happy to be consistent, but this was tough today.  

Seeing Tim tomorrow... eeeeeeeeek.  I'm nervous.

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 3 kipping handstand push-ups

PM
A. Muscle-ups, 10 x 1; begin a rep every :60
B. Close-grip bench press, build to a tough set of 3
+
3 sets @ 70-80-90%:
3 rope climbs
6 wall walks
12 toes-to-bar
24 AirDyne calories
3:00 walk rest

AM

complete

PM
A. complete, no misses
B. 149
+
6:55
5:47
4:56

Handstand push-ups felt really good this morning!  Played with bringing my knees down while I was lowering my head so that I don't rest at the bottom - this is a big improvement.  Videoed a couple, and I still am only using like a half of a kip...

SO RELIEVED that today was a good day for muscle-ups.  No misses, and even hit a double on the 10th set.  All on the fat rings.  If only I could figure out how to kip the dip...

Bench press felt heavy.

3 sets were good, the last set was definitely tough.  Rope climbs actually felt surprisingly good, I had a really good lock on the rope with my feet today.  Wall walks were easy.  Toes to bar broken 6/6 on the first two rounds and 4/4/4 on the last round.  Easiest to manage pace on the AirDyne, over a minute difference on this piece alone from the first round to the third...

Monday

30:00-60:00 easy aerobic recovery of choice, swim preferred

swim, 48:30 complete

Sunday

For 12:00:
Evens: 1 muscle-up
Odds: 2-3 handstand push-ups
+
Not for time:
1600m sled drag, light outdoors

DNF, disaster :(
+
complete with 80 on the sled


I had been looking forward to this muscle-up/handstand push-up EMOM all weekend. What a fun way to work on two big weaknesses! Unfortunately, today was a shit day for muscle-ups.  The fat rings are not my friends.  I felt super heavy and sluggish, with absolutely no pop to turn the rings over.  I failed 2 or 3 while warming up, then got one, then started the clock for the EMOM, then failed 4 or 5.  Then got one, then restarted the clock for the EMOM, did one set of handstand push-ups, then failed 4 or 5.  Then got one more (3 total muscle-ups today), did another set of handstand push-ups, then failed 4 or 5 more muscle-ups and called it.  I was going one attempt every minute, even if I failed - I wasn't fatigued at all, I just wasn't being aggressive and I knew it but I couldn't seem to do anything about it. 

I've always had issues with muscle-ups on Sunday mornings, even when I was working on them in the fall before I had gotten my first one.  I'm guessing that part of the problem is that I tend to eat breakfast too soon before training - when I'm successful on Saturday mornings, it's always been after Z1 and fasted, and when I'm successful on weekday afternoons it's been at least 3 hours since lunch.  Another part of the problem is the shit food I've been eating all week - I was so freaking clean throughout the entire open and this week has been a hot mess.  Coupled with the reduced training volume, I'm pretty sure I'm sitting 5-10lbs heavier than I was at the beginning of the Open.  I was in a really good place before the Open, I felt like I had everything dialed in.  I really hope that everything will improve with getting back on track with normal food and normal training this week.

So after the muscle-up cluster fuck, I did 6:00 of 3 handstand push-ups EMOM.  These felt great today, no fails.

At least it was a gorgeous day for a sled drag.

Saturday

A. Power snatch, build quickly to a tough single
B. Clean pull, 6 x 1 starting @ 185 and adding a little from there; 2:00 rest
+
6 sets @ 90% aerobic:
500m row
2:00 walk rest

A. 130 (PR +10)

B. 185-210

+

2:04.0

2:03.6

2:03.4

2:03.1

2:02.8

2:01.3

So... I still hate power snatching, but matching my squat snatch PR was pretty cool.  Can't wait to see where my squat snatch is whenever I'm allowed to do that again.

Clean pulls were super easy, added 5lbs each time.  Felt like I could clean 210 today.

The first couple of rows were tough (wasn't really warmed up aerobically at all for them), but settled into a nice pace on the last two.  Trying to get more comfortable breathing at a higher stroke rate (29-30 for the most part).

Knee is being real shitty today.  FML.

Friday

AM
mobility @ home

PM
60:00 of easy AirDyne and mobility
+
800m sled drag with 45 on the sled

Very dull couple of days sitting in front of a computer at work, which is atypical.  Needed some social interaction and to move around a bit this afternoon.

Thursday

30:00-60:00 swim easy

46:00 complete

Man, I really missed swimming! This felt awesome today.

Saw Balza again. We're kind of at an impasse, he's worked through literally everything from the hip to the foot, and found a couple of issues but the knee isn't really responding to any of this. His recommendation is to go back to see Tim.

Wednesday

AM

mobility @ home

PM

A. 1 KB snatch + 1 KB windmill, build to a tough single/side
B. Clean-grip deadlift, 12 x 1 @ 1RM clean, 10X0; begin a rep every :30
C1. 1-arm DB shoulder press, 2 x 5-7/arm, 20X1; :30 between arms, :60 rest
C2. 1-arm DB row, 2 x 7-10/arm, 21X0; :30 between arms, :60 rest
+
10:00 focused mobility work of choice

A. 53

B. complete @ 201

C1. 30(7), 40(7)

C2. 40(10), 50(10)

+

complete

Super chill day.  KB snatch was a little dicey, failed the 53 on both sides before getting it successfully.  Once it was up, the windmill was easy.

CGDL were super fast and easy.  DB stuff was fine, nothing to report.

Feels like the offseason.