Friday - 24 weeks post-op

A)
Front squat
3-3-2-2 moderate/tough, 20X1; 3:00 rest

173(3), 193(3), 203(2), 213(2)

B)
3 sets
15 Russian kettlebell swing
10 Assault Bike calories @ high effort
2:00 walk rest

Complete with 70
~75 RPMs

C)
3 rounds for time @ high effort
15 perfect unbroken Australian pull-ups
15 air squats
30 double-unders

4:43
First round unbroken with bar on 8th hole
Second round broken into 3 sets with bar on 8th hole
Moved bar to 6th hole for the third round but still had to break into 3 sets

Friday - 22 weeks post-op

A) 3 sets: 5 front squats (barbell) - you choose weight 250m row @ high effort 2:00 walk rest

113 across Row ~1:47/500m No issues with the front squats, but didn't feel like being overly aggressive on day 1

B) 3 sets: 10 moderate/tough Russian kettlebell swings .3 mile Assault Bike @ high effort 2:00 walk rest

70 across Misjudged how long 0.3 would take (0:43) and went out way hot on the first one (76-78 RPMs), then settled in to 66-70 RPMs for the remainder

C) 3 rounds @ high effort: 10 Australian pull-ups 20 air squats 30m Farmer's walk

4:55 with 53/hand Bar on 12th hole down - got very tough on the second and third rounds; slowed down to ensure every rep was still perfect

Friday

A. Safety bar squat, 12 x 3 @ 70 bar + chains, 10X1; begin a set every :60
B1. Seated L-arm DB shoulder press, 3 x 5-6, 21X1; :60 rest
B2. Bent-over L-arm DB row, 3 x 5-6, 20X1; :60 rest
+
3 rounds for time:
.4 mile legless Assault Bike
30 air squats
20 DB anchored sit-ups
+
3 sets:
20/side light lying 1-leg banded curls
20/side light seated banded leg extensions

A. complete 

B1. 30, 35(5), 35(5)

B2. 45, 55, 65(5)

+

7:57 (armless)

+

complete with thin black band 

Fully intended to blow off training today after having 2 beers at work, but then found myself at the gym anyway. Didn't feel like doing anything, then convinced myself to sit on a bike and watch regionals, then got really sad that after this week all I'll be doing for weeks is sitting on a bike and wanted to squat while I still can. And then I just ended up doing everything. 

Squats felt better than last week, but still heavy. Felt like I was recruiting my hamstrings more than I ever have, which was kind of weird but not in a bad way. 

Everything else was fine. 

Friday

AM @ MobilityFit
22:00 Assault bike
+
dry needling (less death)
+
2 sets:
crossover symmetry, rows, As, subscap, pec minor 
banded tricep pull-downs
isometric lower trap hold
isometric subscap hold

PM
A. Safety bar squat, 10 x 3 @ 70 bar + chains, 10X1; begin a set every :60
B1. Seated L-arm DB shoulder press, 3 x 6-8, 21X1; :60 rest
B2. Bent-over L-arm DB row, 3 x 6-8, 20X1; :60 rest
+
For time @ 90% effort:
50 air squats
50 arm-less Assault Bike calories
50 air squats
+
3 sets:
20/side light lying 1-leg banded curls
20/side light seated banded leg extensions
:30 hollow rock

A. complete 

B1. 25, 30(7), 30(6)

B2. 25, 30, 40

+

7:02

+

complete with purple band

Tested out some stuff very, very gingerly at MobilityFit. The broken glass pain is gone, but the anterior capsule still feels "off" and all the muscles are angry.  Drew dry needled literally everything, a couple of rough spots but overall much, much better than Wednesday. The plan for the time being is to keep scaps activated and engaged, strengthen internal rotators to improve stability, and not piss off the joint. Everything else is on hold for the time being. 

Shoulder actually complained a LOT on the squats. I almost called it two sets in, but then kept talking myself into "just one more minute." It's been a couple of hours and it calmed down, so that's encouraging. Weight felt fucking heavy after the week off. To be honest, that's why I didn't quit - I can't lose the squatting progress on top of everything else. 

Felt super weird to only do the dumbbell stuff on one side.

Hit pretty much exactly where I thought I would on the for time piece. First 50 squats were super fast with no pauses. Biked at ~58 RPMs, a little over 10 cal/minute. I didn't realize how helpful arms were on the bike. Second round of squats was so hard, my quads were completely toasted. Paused a few times but still pretty fast. Yuck. 

The banded stuff really sucked today. Maybe purple isn't "light," or maybe it was the squat/bike thing. Either way, tough. 

Trying to get my head right for a long road ahead with the shoulder. I just thought the hard part would have been over by now. Drew admitted that the next few months are going to be long, slow, and frustrating, and even after months of therapy I may still have problems with it. It's hard to accept. 

Monday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Wrist flexion stretching, kneeling w/top of hands on ground and fingers facing toward feet, rotate locked elbows forward and lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
A2. Wrist extension stretching, kneeling w/palms on ground and hands supinated so fingers facing toward feet, lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
B. Safety bar squat, 3-2-2-1-1-1 all heavy, 20X1; 3:00 rest
+
8 sets:
:20 air squats
:10 rest
:20 double-unders
:10 rest
+
15:00 mobility of choice

AM

5 sets: 

5:00 Assault bike

walking lunge to GHD

15 hip extensions

walking lunge to erg

500m row

walking lunge back to Assault bike

(54:00)

+

MRI

+

Mobility Fit

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. +170(3), +190(2), +200(1), +210(1)

+
complete
+
complete


Woke up at 2am filled with anxiety, which I still haven't shaken off.  I feel like I'm going to throw up, I'm so stressed out about this shoulder situation.  Had a full-on panic attack this morning at the MRI place, like heart racing and couldn't calm down, which I brought with me to Mobility Fit.  Kirk and Drew both thought I was overreacting, until I showed them what happens when I raise my arm over my head, and then they both gasped and said "WHOA."  Immediately, Drew checked on my insurance to see how many visits I had left (answer: plenty) - he said he's not a betting man but he guarantees that I'll be having surgery, and sooner rather than later.  Drew took a video of my shoulder dislocating and shot it to Tim, who responded within 10 minutes saying that the MRI hadn't come in yet, but that's a torn labrum.  Drew and Kirk spent a full 40 minutes trying to calm me down (oh, did I mention that I started crying?).  They're like "Don't worry, we do things differently, the recovery is much faster than you think," to which I responded "yeah, but how will I GET here?!"  I asked if there was any way that it would heal on its own, and they both almost started laughing, and were like "errrr... no."  So that was my morning.  I still want to hear it from Tim.  I'm terrified that either 1) the MRI will show nothing, and he'll say there's nothing he can do, or 2) the MRI will show that it's really, really fucked, and he'll say there's nothing he can do.  At this point, I'm almost okay with having surgery if that means it will be fixed.  Two more days.

I still don't understand how this happened.  Was it really just a freak thing?  Is my luck really THAT shitty?  No one who started at CSC has had an injury bad enough to require surgery (except for the obvious, sorry Stevo, you still win) - and now this will be my second surgery within a year.  What the actual fuck.

Totally overshot on the safety bar squats... I wanted to hit 200 for 2 and chickened out, then BARELY made 210 for 1 - and I don't think it's even possible to bail out of these, so I don't know how to make these heavy but doable.  Should I have asked for a spot? Wore Olys and a belt, but no sleeves.  Sorry for messing up the rep scheme.

Air squats felt good, I didn't count all the rounds, but the ones I did count were 20 reps in 0:20.  Really tried to bury the depth.  Double-unders were shit today, only one round was unbroken for the full 0:20.  Didn't count reps.

Monday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Wrist flexion stretching, kneeling w/top of hands on ground and fingers facing toward feet, rotate locked elbows forward and lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
A2. Wrist extension stretching, kneeling w/palms on ground and hands supinated so fingers facing toward feet, lean back w/fingers pressed into ground, 2 x 10 reps w/short pause @ end range; :30 rest
B. Safety bar squat, 3-3-2-2, 20X1; 3:00 rest
+
For time:
100m heavy sled drag
75 air squats
50 Assault Bike calories
+
15:00 mobility of choice

AM

60:00 mixed AirDyne and mobility

+

60:00 @ MobilityFit, all shoulder stuff 

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. +120(3), +140(3), +160(2), +170(2), no gear

+

10:21 with 180 on the sled 

(50 calories in 4:18)

+

complete


I'm so over being injured.  This sucks. 

Saw Kirk this morning.  He suggested that, since I have decent health insurance, I should go ahead and get some imaging done on my shoulder, just so we know what we're dealing with, what kind of timeline to expect, and how aggressive we can push it leading into the Open.  He doesn't think there's going to be anything severe, but he said that if I'm still having significant pain in another week or two, I'm going to wish I had gotten the MRI sooner and not be in the dark so close to the Open.  Being a scientist, I guess more data is always better, and I don't have a copay, so there's really no harm.  Made an appointment with Tim for Wednesday.  Silver lining, I guess, hehe.

Really not a fan of the safety bar. Because there's no way to bail, I'm hesitant to go heavy.

Alternated forward/backward every 25m.  Broke the air squats into 3 x 25, and just paused long enough to shake things out.  Felt good with the effort on the assault bike, maintained 56-60 RPMs through 45 calories, and sprinted the last 5.  That made me want to vomit and poop my pants at the same time.  Gross.


  

Wednesday

AM
1200m light sled drag, alternate forward & backward as desired
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Back squat w/chains, 8 x 3 @ 45% 1RM on bar, 10X1 - emphasis on depth & speed; begin a set every :60
B. Axle overhead walking lunge, 3 x 20m @ 75; 2:00 rest
C. Weighted supinated CTB pull-up, 3 x 3-4, 31X0; 2:00 rest
+
For time:
75 toes-to-bar, 30 double-unders every time you come off the bar
+
3 rounds as cool-down:
250m row
25 air squats

AM

complete with 45 on the sled

PM

A. complete with 135 on the bar

B. complete 

C. 20, 25, 30(3) @ 165.5

+

9:20

+

complete


Meh.  Today was rough.  Felt more beat up than I was expecting.

Back squats felt better than last week, but still felt heavier than I would like.  

Axle lunge was fine.  Didn't wear any gear, would probably prefer to wear at least wrist wraps next time.  

Weighted CTBs felt excellent.  Extremely relieved to find that my two weeks of not counting, drinking a fair bit, and dozens of Christmas cookies didn't show up on the scale.

TTB/DU went about exactly as I thought it would (terrible).  My grip felt fatigued before I even started, and no amount of rolling or stretching helped.  Did 9 sets of double-unders, all of which were unbroken which was a happy surprise.  Stopped at: 15/25/32/37/42/47/52/57/64/75.  I lost my ability to kip more than 5 reps early, but it didn't occur to me to hang on and do a few strict after the kip was gone until closer to the end (explains why the last two sets were bigger). I don't know how to do better - grip fatigue is still such a big weakness.  Probably could have snuck out with 8 sets of double-unders if I added just one or two strict to each set of 5 kipping in the middle, but it still wouldn't be a good score.  (Edited to add: remember when 75 TTB for time in sets no smaller than 5 took me 22:57?  One of my first SHE testers in September 2012.  Sigh.  Progress.  Still not satisfied.)

I have a feeling I'll be more sore from the air squats than from everything else combined.  Some cool-down.

Saturday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A. Power clean, build to a heavy single
B. Double overhand Romanian deadlift w/straps, 5-5-5, 4010; 2:30 rest
C1. DB shoulder press from seated on floor position, 3 x 4-6, 20X1; :60 rest
C2. 1-arm DB row, 3 x 4-6/arm, no tempo but still ensure a high elbow @ the top; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
2000m row @ Z1, off every 500m for 4-6 touch-and-go double-overhand axle deadlifts - add a little from last week

AM

@ home

30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 10 perfect push-ups + 10 air squats

PM

A. 160, 165F - nanos, no belt, no hook grip

B. 145, 165, 175

C1. 35, 40(4), 40(3)

C2. 60, 65, 70(4)

+

complete 

6 across with 120


Thumb is still broken.  I tried hook gripping an empty bar; this did not go well.  Getting annoyed.  Bar flew out of my hands on the pull at 165.  The 160 does not qualify as a heavy single.  The first pull of the ground feels ridiculously light, but as soon as I start to pick up speed I can't control the bar without a hook grip.

Romanian deadlifts felt good.

DB shoulder press was very challenging today - the actual pressing felt much more difficult than last week, and it was almost impossible to get the 40s to my shoulders from a seated position.  I don't know how I could get anything higher into the starting position, unless I recruit an assistant...

Dumbbell rows felt excellent!  

Axle deadlifts went better than last week - I changed my grip, and feel a little more secure with all my fingers and thumb wrapped the same way over the bar (so then I can rotate my wrists a bit to keep the bar in my fingers), as opposed to gripping the bar with the thumb wrapped one way and the fingers around the other way. 

Pleasant afternoon with my two best buds.  Really fun to watch Austin smash that workout.

Saturday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A. Power clean, build to a moderate touch-and-go double
B. Barefoot single-leg Romanian deadlift, build to a very heavy triple/leg
C1. DB shoulder press from seated on floor position, 3 x 6-8, 20X1; :60 rest
C2. 1-arm DB row, 3 x 4-8, no tempo but still ensure a high elbow @ the top; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
2000m row @ Z1, off every 500m for 5-10 touch-and-go double-overhand axle deadlifts - you pick the weight

AM

complete @ home

30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5 for 10 air squats + 5 perfect push-ups + 0:30 handstand hold against the wall

PM

A. 145, 155x1 - nanos, no belt, no hook grip

B. 145, 155x1/each leg

C1. 25, 30, 35(7)

C2. 55, 60(4), 60(5)

+

complete

6 across with 110


Picked up the cold that's going around... woke up feeling pretty shitty.  Grateful for a kind of chill day, and hoping to feel better by tomorrow.

I don't feel comfortable cleaning anything over 155 without a hook grip - the bar slipped out of my hands on the one rep at 155, so called it there.

The 145 single-leg RDL wasn't "very heavy", but I couldn't get a second rep at 155 (tried twice on the left, only once on the right). I think the issue was mostly balance, but my upper quad/hip flexors felt really tight at the heavier weight.  Pretty sure I was still doing a 31X1 tempo on these, even thought it wasn't specified.

DB press from a seated position was very strange, it was so hard to clean the 35lb dumbbells! I now have a much greater appreciation for the paraplegics who are cleaning barbells and shit.  That's hard.  Dumbbell rows were the same as usual.

As far as I can recall, that was my first time deadlifting the axle bar.  My child-sized hands were not amused.

Saturday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A. Power clean, build to a moderate touch-and-go triple
B. Barefoot single-leg Romanian deadlift, 3 x 3-4/leg, 31X1; :90 between legs
C. Shoulder press, build to a max
D. 1-arm DB row, 3 x 5-10, no tempo but still ensure a high elbow @ the top; :60 between arms
+
2-3 attempts:
best row pace in 5 pulls - yep, one more week here
full recovery
+
10:00 row @ 70

AM
43:00 complete @ home
AirDyne, mobility, push-ups and air squats

PM
A. 145, nanos, no belt, no hook grip
B. 125, 135, 140(3)
C. 120 (PR +5), 125F, 122F
D. 50, 55, 60(6)
+
1:25
1:25
1:26
+
complete

Buying my own AirDyne was the best decision ever.  Slept in AND did my AM session!

Power cleans felt solid, but 145 felt like a moderate place to stop.  Getting used to not hook gripping (I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing).

Single leg RDL was fine; balance started to become an issue as it got heavier.

Shoulder press felt FANTASTIC.  120 went up super easily, so put 125 on the bar, and failed immediately.  Tried 122 and this was actually pretty close, hit a sticking point pretty high and thought I had it for a minute there, but not quite. 

Dumbbell rows were much more fun without a tempo.  Grip is still the limiter (surprise surprise).

Alright, I'm satisfied that I just cannot pull faster than a 1:25.  Stupid.

Monday

Back @ CSC!

Easy AM work of choice 

60:00 of AirDyne, mobility, row and air squats

Saw Tim for a follow-up this afternoon - he's happy that the knee is doing well! I'm cleared for anything I want to do, just start off easy, and no reliance on knee sleeves. He shares my concerns about subpar quad and hamstring activation, and did a few tests and was able to easily see that the left is way weaker than the right. He said to keep an eye on it and make sure stuff doesn't get too off balance, as that would put the knee at risk for patellar femoral problems. I told him I had been doing a lot of posterior chain stuff, and some single leg stuff and he said this was all great and keep these in the mix. No follow-up needed, as long as things continue to go well!

Since I was all the way up there already, I had Tim look at my thumb.  He could tell just by looking at it that it was broken but wanted to do an x-ray to make sure it wasn't an avulsion fracture, which would need to be pinned. The x-ray shows that it's stable but broken pretty much clear across the joint. He could already see that it's been healing, and expects it to be good to go in another three or four weeks. I can do whatever I like in the gym as long as it doesn't hurt - except absolutely no hook gripping for at least the next three weeks. Apparently hook gripping with this type of fracture could pull the bone completely away from the joint …oops.... 

Thursday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A. Hang power clean, 10:00 to build to a moderate single - stop before feet move out
B. Clean pull w/drop from top, 2-2-2 @ 105-110% of A; 2:00 rest
C. Single-leg Romanian deadlift, 2 x 8-10/leg, 31X1; :90 between legs
D1. Shoulder press, 3 x 4-5, 21X1; :60 rest
D2. 1-arm DB row, 3 x 4-5/arm, 21X0; :30 between arms, :60 rest
+
12 sets:
:30 bike @ 80% aerobic - above Z1
:30 bike @ 50%

@ Active

AM

70:00 complete with bike, mobility, row, air squats, FLR and legless rope climbs (video)

PM

A. 145 in nanos, no belt

B. complete @ 155

C. 85(10, but wobbly), 85(9, still wobbly)

D1. 95, 100(4), 100(4)

D2. 55, 60, 65(4)

+

complete 

I really, really enjoy the unstructured round-the-world.  Cycled through bike, mobility, row and FLR until I was nice and warm, then added in the air squats and legless rope climbs in the second half.  Knee ROM continues to improve, was getting substantially deeper than just the other day.  Saw the class doing rope climbs, and wanted to throw those in the mix but one regular rope climb without socks burned the shit out of my leg, so I decided to work on legless.  I was very surprised at how easy these felt, compared to the last time I tried!  Not confident at all at the top to touch a target, but did 5 legless to the top of the rope before the knot (at least 10', definitely not more than 12').  That was neat.

Felt kind of drained going into the PM - all the sun is catching up with me. 

Feet were great on the 145 HPC but elbows weren't very fast so called it there. Clean pulls were fine. 

Struggled with balance on both legs on the Romanian deadlifts, and couldn't feel the left hamstring activate until the very last few reps on the second set. Merrrrrrr this is annoying. More of this, I guess. 

Bar felt heavy on the shoulder press, so I was surprised to hit the numbers I did. Dumbbell also felt heavy but grip was better than usual (despite fat handles). 

Only one more training session at Active! Loving being home, but I miss CSC. 

Monday

AM
20:00 bike @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 3 controlled deadhang to inverted + 50 single-unders w/heavy rope if available
+
20:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work - work on knee flexion ROM

PM
A1. Romanian deadlift (use straps if needed), 3 x 3-4, 41X1; :60 rest
A2. Close-grip bench press, 4-4-4, 21X1; :60 rest
B. Goblet squats to parallel (no bench), 3 x 15 very light, 2111; :60-2:00 rest
C. DB weighted Peterson step-ups to box @ mid-shin, 3 x 15/side heavier than last week; :60 between sides
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 5-10 glute-ham sit-ups

@ Active 

AM

complete https://youtu.be/vkCoCyF4jvw

PM
added muscle-up practice, including 4 sets of 2 and one set of 3 (PR) https://youtu.be/YD8NcYLRboY
+

A1. 155, 165, 175

A2. 139, 144(2), 144(4)

B. 18 across 

C. 20/hand across 

+

complete, 10 across 

Today was pretty great.

Spent a ridiculous amount of time on stretching and mobility this morning - which makes a HUGE difference with how well my knee tolerates flexion.  It was stiff and uncomfortable before doing any mobility, and couldn't get below parallel without forcing it, but after about 45:00 of doing every stretch and mobilization I could think of, I couldn't tell a difference from right to left, and wasn't hesitating at parallel.  Still not super deep ROM (but when have I ever?), but I'm consistently getting a hair below parallel with no pain whatsoever after all the mobility.  Did probably a total of 35-40 air squats throughout the 45:00.

Wanted to practice muscle-ups today; these felt awesome.  I'm consistently catching the first one much higher than usual, and haven't missed a double in the last 3 days that I've tried.  And got a triple!  Excellent. A couple of the coaches remembered my flailing and failing from January and were pretty impressed with the progress, so that's neat.

Hook gripped the RDLs today - made a huge difference in being able to hang on, but there's a distinct possibility that my thumb might actually be fractured.  I'm just going to keep taping it and ignoring it.  As the weight got heavier, I felt like I was driving through my right leg more than my left, which I tried very hard to correct but it was still noticeable.

Should have had the 4 reps on all sets of the bench press, but my spotter (cough cough Kellie) dripped her sweat on my face and I got distracted and just set the bar down on my chest and couldn't finish the rep.

Goblet squats felt fine.  Didn't really stop myself at parallel, but I don't think ROM is much deeper than that at the moment anyway.

Petersen step-ups are literally the hardest part of my entire week.  So difficult.

Thursday

AM
30:00-60:00 round-the-world of choice or swim

PM
A1. Romanian deadlift, 3 x 5-6 loaded according to feel, can be aggressive if knee allows, 41X1; :60 rest
A2. Close-grip bench press, 6-6-6, 21X1; :60 rest
B. Air squats to bench just at parallel, 3 x 12, 3111; :60-2:00 rest
C. Peterson step-ups to box @ mid-shin - physically touch the working quad w/your hand to ensure activation, 2 x 20/side unweighted w/controlled descent; :30 between sides
+
20:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for :45 front leaning rest on rings emphasizing keeping quads flexed

@ Active

AM

60:00 complete with Assault Bike, row, strict toes-to-bar, push-ups and freestanding handstand holds

PM

A1. 123, 133, 143(4)

A2. 124, 129, 129(5)

B. complete 

C. complete 

+

complete on Assault Bike 

ROM is completely back to 100% on the erg, pain free! 

PM session was much tougher than it looked on paper - legs are dead. Knee feels fine, though! 

Grip was the limiter on the RDLs - normally I would hook grip these, but my thumb is still jacked up from the other day. Getting better though, pretty sure it's not life-threatening. 

Tempo got to be tough on the cgbp. Had a spotter but chickened out on the very last rep. 

Set up the bench to just a hair below parallel - two 45s and a 25. No sharp pain at all, but knee is still pretty tight. 

Holy shit, the Peterson step ups were SO HARD. Jeez. Quads were definitely active, but so were glutes and hamstrings. Both legs were equally challenging. 

Legs were fried by the time I got to the bike, and had a very hard time keeping quads flexed for the entire 0:45. Leftie is still behind. 

Thursday

10:00 light scap activation
+
A1. Shoulder press, 4 x 2-3, 21X1; :60 rest
A2. DB upright row, 4 x 1-2/arm, 3010; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 8 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 6 easy air squats
+
3000m row @ 80%

Complete

+

A1. 95(3), 100(3), 105(2), 105(2)

A2. 45(2) x4

+

Complete

+

13:55.4, 2:19/500m avg 

+
gymnastics clinic

Shoulder press felt good, happy to hit 105 for 2, twice!  

Since I did the 45lb DB for 3 reps on the upright rows last week, I assumed I'd be able to get the 50 this week - NOPE.  Couldn't pull it all the way up, got stuck at chest-level.  So stuck with the 45.

Rhythm on the CTBs was all over the place.  Only one set was in rhythm for all 8 reps, and that was the one set I did on the taped bar.  

Air squats felt fine; knee has been a bit achy today, but the air squats didn't seem to affect that at all.

Row felt really good; played it safe for the first half (2:20-2:25/500m) - faster than a z1 pace, but wasn't sure how fast I could push it and still stay 80% for that long of a row, so I kind of just settled in to something that felt comfortable.  At 1000m left, I picked up the pace to 2:10-2:15, then under 2:05 for the last 500m.  Maybe this got to be closer to 85% at the end, but breathing felt good and I was in the mood to take the challenge today.

Gymnastics clinic was super fun, as per usual.  Did a bunch of bar muscle-up progressions and had a handstand walking contest with Jeff and Brandie - we all tied at just under 80' (the distance of the floor). Only touched the rings a handful of times; hands were very tender by this point and also I've gotten used to our rings and these are very, very different, and I didn't want to "tape over" what's been working for me.  Oh, and of course, tumbled a bit :)

Thursday

10:00 light scap activation
+
A1. Shoulder press, 3 x 3-4, 21X1; :60 rest
A2. DB upright row, 3 x 2-3/arm, 3010; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
For 14:00:
Evens: 7 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 5 easy air squats
+
5 rounds:
:18 row very hard
2:42 row @ 70% effort

Complete 

+

A1. 90(4), 95(4), 100(3)

A2. 45(3) x3

+

Complete

+

Complete 

Today was a good day!  I wasn't sure when I was warming up (feeling every bit of day 3).

Shoulder press felt a lot stronger than last week. Used a men's bar, which probably doesn't make much of a difference, but it's worth noting.  Was barely able to keep the tempo on the upright rows, so didn't go up in weight. These are tough.

EMOM was nice and easy; CTBs felt good and knee continues to behave.  I don't want to get my hopes up, but... it feels good.  

Added in 5 muscle-ups (no misses!) after the EMOM and before the row, bringing my lifetime total to 31, and completing 30 for time in 30 days.  Considering that 17 of these were within the last 3 days, I'm pretty sure I'm going to shatter that very soon.  And, I'm very happy that I can do them when my arms are tired.  Thumbs up.

The row was much better than last week.  Took the 70% real slow (2:30-2:35/500m), but then I felt recovered enough to push the "very hard" much harder (1:37/500m).  Grip still got fatigued by the end, but this was almost pleasant today.

Thursday

10:00 light scap activation
+
A1. Shoulder press, 2 x 4-5, 21X1; :60 rest
A2. DB upright row, 2 x 3-4/arm, 3010; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 4-8 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 5-8 easy air squats
+
5 rounds:
:15 row very hard
1:45 row @ 80% effort

Complete

+

A1. 88(5), 93(3)

A2. 40(4), 45(3)

+

8, 8, 8, 6, 6, 6 CTBs

5 air squats across 

+

Complete

Upper body felt kind of fried going into today's training. Even the scap work felt tough today.

My shoulder press is just sad; I know I haven't been doing much of this type of stuff at all, but I'm still slightly surprised that I haven't gotten any stronger here (I hit 93 for 4 in August 2013...).

Felt myself starting to lean to the opposite side on the heavier upright rows, so stuck to 3 reps to minimize this.

CTBs didn't feel as easy as last week, but rhythm was still good.  Felt like I was going to rip, so cut the reps down in the second half.

Knee felt great today on the air squats; stuck to 5 reps just to be safe, but it felt good throughout.  No "weird" feeling, no sharp pain, no pausing around parallel.  Achy now, and that spot on the back corner is still there, but nothing out of the ordinary.

I can't decide if I liked the structure of the row sprints or not.  I think it was just a long time to be pulling, my forearms were getting super fatigued.  Very hard would get down to 1:40/500m, 80% was around 2:25/500m. Before starting, I thought that 80% would be closer to 2:10/500m, but that proved to be way too ambitious after sprinting...

Thursday

AM (made up from Tuesday)
shoulder prep
+
30:00 Z1 of choice, off every 5:00 for 5-8m handstand walk

PM
10:00 light scap activation
+
A. Split jerk, build to 80-90% of 1RM
B1. Shoulder press, 2 x 5-7, 21X1; :60 rest
B2. DB upright row, 2 x 4-6/arm, 3010; :60 between arms, :60 rest
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 4-8 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 5-10 easy air squats
+
For max meters:
:90 row

AM

complete on the AirDyne

PM

Complete

+

A. 175, 185Fx2

B1. 75(7), 85(5)

B2. 20(6), 30(6)

+

8 CTBs across 

10, 10, 9, 5, 5 air squats 

+

433m (1:43.8/500m avg)

Handstand walking was super easy again today. Played with going a bit faster while maintaining good positioning. 

The jerk event on Saturday got in my head. Jerks have been feeling so good recently that I was thinking of opening with 185 at the competition, so I wanted to hit that today (90.2%). I jinxed myself by telling Chelsea before I started that I hadn't failed 185 in months. Jumped 125-145-165-175-185. 175 felt effortless. The first attempt at 185 was just a little forward, and I over corrected on the second attempt and lost my balance backward (never done that before). Soooo now I'm thinking to be safe I should open with 175 on Saturday. We'll see. 

Shoulder press was hard, the 5th rep at 85 wasn't pretty. Upright rows were weird, felt 'em in the front of my shoulder. 

CTBs felt excellent today (regular kip). Knee felt totally fine on the first two sets, which is why I went with the 10 reps, but then on the 9th rep of the 3rd set something didn't feel right. It's been achy on and off all day today, but I didn't get that "weird" feeling when squatting (which is why I took the chance with the upper limit of reps). And now it is just constantly hurting. UGHHHH this is the worst. 

Went out a little too hot on the row- saw 1:39 and panicked a bit. Held 1:41-1:43 for a bit, but drifted up to 1:45-1:46 in the last 0:30 or so. The average pace is exactly my 500m PR, and I can't imagine holding on to that for an additional 70m... 

Sunday 22 June

3 rounds not for time:
25m bear crawl
60 double-unders
50m Farmer's walk, 70/hand
+
4 rounds for time:
400m run
50 air squats
+
800m sled drag, add 5-10 from last week, alternate forward & backward as desired but stay moving throughout

complete; all double-unders unbroken! 
+
16:56
+
complete with 115 on the sled

Hooray! My double-unders have returned! 60 unbroken matches a PR, and I did it 3 times!  Kind of wish I had just gone for max unbroken on one of the sets, they were feeling that good.  I think all the shoulder exercises are really helping, because my shoulders weren't fatigued at all, which was a new experience.  Also, FW with the 70lb KBs was stupid easy after getting used to the turrets.

Legs got really tired mid-way through the run/air squat piece.  Started taking mini-breaks on the air squats (just pausing at the top).  Surprised that I was having trouble with these today, since they were super easy last week.  Not having rest between rounds REALLY made a difference on how the runs felt...

That sled drag was no joke today.  It wasn't too grindy, but it was hard to stay moving and I alternated backwards and forwards much more than usual.  I'm sure the heat didn't help, but I guess it's summer and if I want to come in the middle of the day on Sundays I had better get used to it.

Sunday 15 June

For time @ 90%:
50m bear crawl
150 double-unders
100m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
+
4 rounds for even times:
400m run
40 air squats
3:00 rest
+
800m sled drag, add 5-10 from last week, alternate forward & backward as desired but stay moving throughout

6:52

+

3:35

3:33

3:28

3:21

+

complete with 110 on the sled

Double unders were shit again today - what happened to them?  Was I dreaming that there was like a 2-week period where they were decent? Grrr.  Bear crawl took a little over a minute, DUs took about 3:40, then FW took about 2:00.

Run/air squat piece was kind of fun, but it actually made me miss my wallballs (what? I know!).  Didn't warm up much (at all) for this, so I think each round got a little faster just because I was getting used to running.  Wasn't consciously trying to speed up, but still have a hard time pacing: I have only 3 speeds: z1 jog, medium running speed (used today), and sprint.  Air squats were consistent and fast.

Sled drag was surprisingly good today - struggled more with 105 last week than with 110 this week.  

Shoulder feels great when I leave it alone, but periodically I keep testing it to see if it hurts and it does :( Continuing the mobility/ice routine. Seeing Drew Cook on Tuesday.