Sunday 12 January

2 rounds of:
2:00 of [8 deadlifts @ 155 + 8 box jumps, 20"]
3:00 rest
2:00 of [4 power cleans @ 135 + 20 double unders]
3:00 rest
2:00 of [4 power cleans @ 135 + 8 box jumps, 20"]
3:00 rest
2:00 of [4 front squats @ 105 + 20 double unders]
3:00 rest
+
10:00 AD @ z1

2 rounds + 8 DL / 2 rounds + 1 DL
1 round + 4 PC / 1 round + 3 PC
1 round + 3 BJ / 1 round + 3 PC
2 rounds + 4 FS / 2 rounds + 1 FS
+
Complete

Another off day.  Everything felt heavy.  No misses on the PCs, but started resting longer and longer between singles as I got tired and form started to go.  Double unders were a hot mess today.  Naptime.

Saturday 11 January

A. Build to a max squat clean in 15:00
B. Back squat, 6-4-2 @ 65-75-85% 1RM; rest 2:30
+
2 sets:
2 minutes of [6 front squats @ 95, from the ground + 6 box jump overs, 20"]
2:00 rest
+
5:00 AirDyne for max calories

A. 165
B. 185(6), 215(4), 245(2)
+
2 rounds + 4 box jump overs
2 rounds + 3 box jump overs
+
86 calories

Kind of an off day - blame some less than optimal nutritional choices yesterday.  Squat cleans did not feel crisp at all.  Back squats felt heavy.  The 2 x 2:00 AMRAP things were tough - legs were like jello and had a hard time jumping onto the box right away.  Pussed out on the AD - didn't feel like doing it.  Wanted to maintain 1200 cal/hr for the whole 5:00 (I've done that before - got 98 calories) but only lasted one minute.  Hovered around 1000 for minutes 2-4, and sprinted the last minute.  Meh. That's a pace I can maintain for 10:00.

Thursday 9 January

5 sets for even times:
20 AD calories
12 alternating pistols
0:90 rest
+
A. Deadlift, 10-10-10-8-6 @ 50-80% 1RM; rest 2:30
+
3 sets:
10 banded good mornings, 30X1
0:45 rest
10 weighted hip extensions, 2012
0:45 rest

2:25
2:15
2:04
2:17 - had to repeat one rep
2:10
+
A. 155(10), 185(10), 205(10), 225(8), 255(6) - mixed grip, women's bar
+
complete with purple band and 20lb DB

AD about 80-85% - somewhere near 900-1000 cal/hr.  Used the bees knees for pistols - it didn't take very long at all to pull them up after the AD.  Happy with how much smoother these have gotten!

Had another appointment at Airrosti this afternoon.  Shoulder feels 100% except for being a little tired and sore - but the pain I've had constantly since Thanksgiving is completely gone.  The diagnosis today was a little different - he pinpointed where I was having the most pain to the insertion of the infraspinatus on the humerus, and then realized that a bunch of stuff behind my shoulder was being overused or wrongly used because I don't know how to activate my lower traps and lats.  It sounds like this will be a recurring problem unless I learn to do things correctly.  Stephen has some good ideas of what I can start doing once I have the go-ahead.  Still foam rolling the crap out of it, and going back next Wednesday.  Really relieved that the pain is gone though - I was starting to think it would never completely go away.

Wednesday 8 January

A. 1 squat clean + 1 front squat, 12 x 1, begin a set every 0:60
+
10 sets for equal times:
100m shuttle run (4x 25m)
10 box jumps, 20″ (step down)
15 double unders
rest 0:60

A. complete @ 155 - cleans felt heavy today.  No misses, and no really ugly reps, but every time I caught it I was a little surprised that I didn't fail.  Progress!
+
1:18
1:28
1:15
1:17
1:13
1:15
1:13
1:12
1:13
1:10

All double unders unbroken except for the second round (three trips).  Kept a nice pace on the box jumps and tried to transition quickly.

+ ~2 hours of shoulder mobility between AM, noon, afternoon and evening.  Definitely feeling improvement since Monday's Airrosti visit.

Tuesday 7 January

AM:
35:00 AD @ z1

PM:
A. Front squat, 8 x 2 @ 75-85% 1RM; begin a set every 0:60
B. 1 clean-grip deadlift + 1 hang squat clean + 1 squat clean, 5 x 1; rest 2:30
+
5 sets:
0:45 power cleans @ 135
0:45 rest
+
for 10:00
evens: 0:30 AD @ 85%
odds: 8 box jumps, 24″

A. complete @ 205 - last couple of sets were tough (82%)
B. 155, 165, 165, 165F.1, 165F.F - cleans felt GREAT until I lost my hookgrip on the first failed hang clean and smashed my thumb - getting aggressive and getting under the bar got in my head after that.
+
6, 4, 4, 5, 4 - all singles.  the first one or two reps of each set were pretty easy, but form deteriorated a bit after that...
+
complete; ~1100 cal/hr

+ Including a shit-ton of shoulder mobility throughout the day...

Monday 6 January

Airrosti appointment
+
45:00 z1 AD / mobility combo
+
90:00 massage

Shoulder diagnosis appears to be something like: deltoid shut off, triceps tried to compensate but couldn't keep up - which explains the worsening elbow pain over the past few weeks.  Significant weakness when isolating the delt or triceps compared to the other side.  Also, lat is super, super tight.  I see lots of foam rolling in my future.

Sunday 5 January

35:00 AD @ z1

rest 90 minutes

5 sets for times:
5 power cleans, 145
10 ring rows
0:60 rest
+
5 sets for times:
250m row
10 box jumps, 24″
0:60 rest
+
AMRAP in 5 minutes:
10 front squats, 95
10 ring rows
20 double unders

1:10
1:11
1:25 - last PC was super ugly, took about 10 steps with it before it was stable
1:10
1:13
+
1:37
1:41
1:37
1:39
1:38
+
3 rounds + 8 front squats

Today was a great day!  Woke up this morning with my shoulder feeling almost 100%.  It's still weird in some positions, but definitely a good sign.  Really happy to get all the power cleans at 145, and only a couple were ugly with most of them flying up easily.  Shoulder still doesn't like cycling the barbell down after a clean, so did all singles (probably would have done all singles anyway - 145 is heavy for me).  Maybe taking a month off of Oly lifting was a good thing!  Rows and box jumps were really consistent; rowed at 2:00-2:02.  The last AMRAP was deceiving - I got really tired after the row/box jumps.  Had a hard time getting started on that one, then just tried to keep a steady pace and not take too much time transitioning between movements.  I should have finished the last round of front squats, but dropped the bar at 8 with 10 seconds to go.  Also - tried hanging from the bar and had very minimal shoulder discomfort, so that made me happy :)

Saturday 4 January

35:00 AD @ z1

rest 90 minutes

A. Back squat, 6-4-2 @ 65-75-85% 1RM; rest 2:00
+
2 sets for equal times (85-90%):
50 AD calories
rest 3:00
+
For time:
1500m row

A. 185(6), 215(4), 240(2)
+
3:02
3:05
+
6:09.2 – ugh. went out way hot (1:50) and crashed in the middle. typical.

Back squats felt excellent today.  Holding the barbell in that position is still slightly uncomfortable on my shoulder, but it was much better than a month ago.  AD felt good.  Row felt terrible.  I've been spending a lot of time on the AD lately, and it seems that it is paying off.  I rowed once this week, but other than that haven't rowed in a month and I definitely felt uncomfortable on it today.  Rowed the first 500m at 1:50 and crashed with 1000m left.  Slowed down to 2:05-2:15 for the middle 500m, and tried to pick it back up in the last 500m but was still struggling down to about 200m left, when I finally was able to get back to the low 1:50s.  I always seem to go out at an unsustainable pace (see 300FY).  Ughhhhhhh.

Friday 3 January

50:00 AD @ z1
+
lots of mobility throughout the day (perks of working from home!)

Super sore from yesterday - legs (front squat) and back (deadlift) and arms (ring rows).

Thursday 2 January

A. TnG deadlift, 10-10-10-8-6 @ 50-55-60-65-70% 1RM; rest 3:00
+
For time:
25 front squats, 85
30 AD calories
20 front squats, 85
30 AD calories
15 front squats, 85
+
rest exactly 4:00
+
5 rounds for time:
12 ring rows
12 box jumps, 24″
+
3 sets:
8 banded good mornings; rest 0:45
8 weighted hip extensions @ 2012; rest 0:45

A. 155(10), 175(10), 190(10), 205(8), 220(6) – all clean grip
+
8:50 (25 UB, then 11/9, then 15 UB)
+
6:40
+
complete; purple band for good mornings
complete with 20lb dumbbell

Happy to be back to a somewhat normal training day.  Decided to do clean-grip deadlifts (it wasn't specified).  Front squats felt good; could have done all sets unbroken but had a mental fail on the set of 20.  Ring rows started out easy, but rounds 4 and 5 were pretty tough - I haven't used my arms in a month!  Box jumps felt great - did almost all of them at a steady pace without backing up a step like I usually do.  Banded good mornings are weird and I'm not sure I was doing them correctly.  Good day!

2013 recap

These were my 2013 goals:

finish in the top 250 in the Central East region nope, finished 472. but this was top 15%, compared to 39% in 2012.

100 double unders nope, but I've gotten much, much more consistent at hitting sets of 20-40 within a workout

300FY = 180 nope, maybe next year. I did improve from 150 to 162.

snatch 125lbs hit 125 back in August. While I am somewhat disappointed I haven't added to this, I am SO consistent at snatching now, and can hit 125 every single workout. I've even done 125 for a double (in October). Can't wait to see how much this improves in 2014.

overhead squat 150lbs nope, didn't come up in programming. Got 145 back in January, so pretty confident that I can beat that.

back squat 250lbs blew this one out of the water. Hit 240 in January. Got 280 in November, and can squat 255x2 for three consecutive sets. Success.

front squat 215lbs major, major success. 195 last December. 220 in April, but it was the ugliest front squat in history. Seriously. Stephen wouldn't even let me see the video. Got 250 in November, and can front squat 225x2 for three consecutive sets. Boom.

deadlift 325lbs nope, didn't come up in programming. I'm dying to test this. Got 315 in May.

clean and jerk 170lbs major success! At the end of 2012, my max squat clean was 135. In November, clean and jerked 180. yes.

row 1k in less than 3:50 almost. got 3:50.7 in January, and it hasn't come up since.

row 2k in less than 8:00 nope, never came up in programming. I don't think I could do this currently unless I start training specifically for this.

run 3k in less than 17:00 not quite. ran a 3k on the track in 18:23 in July. sub-17 might be doable now... next OPTathalon?

sub 10:00 Karen nope. 10:38 and that was during the open workout. I hate Karen and am not looking forward to testing this again, but confident it will be under 10:00.

sub 6:00 Fran not quite, but much, much improved. Went from 10:33 in Feb 2012 to 7:34 in April 2013 to 6:39 in July 2013. constant improvement.

consistently do butterfly pullups not really consistent, but if I'm not fatigued I can do small sets of 5 or so. Big 2014 goal.

improve pistols yes and no. With the bees knees, I'm SO much better at them! Without... well... there's a lot of falling.

improve handstand pushups these are really a work in progress, but I'm counting it as a success this year. I've improved A LOT. In September, 10 HSPU took about 15 minutes to complete. On December 1, did a workout with 45 HSPU, 30 deadlifts and and 90 double unders in 22 minutes. Success.

improve ring dips same as HSPU. WAY better than they used to be, but still not my best move.

get a muscle up nope, and didn't put in the work. 2014.

walk more ehhh, went in phases. not really.

watch less tv nope. fail.

spend less money ehhh... no. fail.

I'm so, so happy with my progress in 2013. I made a lot of mental progress as well. I learned so much about myself and about why I do this, and had a lot of fun in the gym. I've been eating rice since April and playing with Eat to Perform since August, and plan to continue that with some tweaking into the new year. Carbs have been my friend this year. Alcohol consumption has decreased from 5-7x/week (circa 2011-early 2012) to perhaps once per month or even once per two months. I feel amazing and I am happy. This was a really great year and I'm so excited for what's to come.

Wednesday 1 January

A. 3-position squat clean (high hang, mid-thigh, below knees), 5×1; 2:00 rest
+
16 sets:
0:45 row
0:15 rest
0:45 box jump overs, 20″
0:15 rest

A. complete @ 105 – kept it light just to be safe, but happy to be cleaning again!
+
complete @ 85%; rows at 2:00/500m; lost count of box jumps. this was the longest 32 minutes of my life.

Tuesday 31 December

50:00 AD @ z1

Just wanted to get some blood moving after sitting on a plane all day.  Happy to be home at CSC :)

Shoulder is still feeling less than 100%.  Going to Airrosti on Monday.  In the mean time, planning to test out some different movements because I'm getting awfully sick of the airdyne.

Monday 30 December

A. Front squat, 8 x 2 @ 75-80% 1RM; begin a set every 0:60
+
20 sets of:
0:30 AD @ 85%
0:30 AD @ 50%
(2:00 walk rest after set 10)

A. Complete @ 195 - felt really good!
+
Complete