Monday

OFF or Z1 active recovery of choice

just mobility @ the gym

Alright, knee feels good and I'm getting antsy to start testing it out a bit more.  Even though I've been saying that my knee feels good for a while now, I think today was the first day where I really couldn't tell a difference between left and right at all. Didn't pack shoes today, so did all the mobility and knee ROM stuff barefoot, and I really liked it. 

Sunday

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. Muscle-ups, 6-10 x 2 unbroken; begin a rep every :90
+
15:00 @ 85%:
9 kipping handstand push-ups
15 row calories
9 burpees
12 toes-to-bar
27 double-unders

A1. complete 

A2. complete 

B. 5 singles complete (failed #6) - back on fat rings :(

+

3 rounds + 14 calories 


Ugh, muscle-ups felt terrible today.  I don't want to be reliant on the skinny rings, but they're ridiculously easier.  Forcing myself to get comfortable on the fat rings for now.  Caught all of these very low and had absolutely zero momentum coming out of the first one to generate a kip for a second attempt.  Just called it when I missed #6 - pretty demoralizing after how easy they felt in CA.  I've done one double before on the fat rings (and at the end of 10 EMOM if I remember correctly), so I know I'll eventually get these.  It's just frustrating.

Enjoyed all the movements in the 15:00 piece, but it was tough and 15:00 felt like a very long time.  First two rounds of HSPUs unbroken, then 5/4 for rounds 3 and 4.  I'm shocked at how much these have improved, it's crazy.  Row and burpees were steady; did the first round of TTB unbroken, then split 7/5, 6/6.  Only one set of DUs unbroken, one trip on the other two rounds.  Transitions felt slow.

Saturday

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

PM
A. Power clean, 10:00 to build to a tough single - stop before feet move out
B. Clean pull w/drop from top, 1-1-1-1-1 @ 110-115% of A; 2:00 rest
C. Barefoot single-leg Romanian deadlift, 2 x 6-8/leg, 31X1; :90 between legs
D1. Shoulder press, 3 x 3-4, 21X1; :60 rest
D2. 1-arm DB row w/straps, 3 x 3-4/arm, 21X0; :30 between arms, :60 rest
+
3-5 attempts:
best row pace in 5 pulls (recommend damper @ 10 and long, very aggressive pulls right from the start)
full recovery - go again when you feel like you can rip it
+
1500m easy row cool-down

AM

60:00 complete with row, mobility, 20" box jumps and 6lb wallballs

PM
A. 145, 155F - nanos, no belt, no hook grip 

B. complete @ 165

C. 85, 95(7)

D1. 100, 105(3), 105(3)

D2. 65, 70, 75(3)

+

1:28

1:27

1:26

1:26

1:26

+

complete

Cycled through row and mobility a few times, then switched the mobility for air squats and step-ups, then graduated to box jumps and wallballs.  Box jumps felt great, no issues whatsoever. Wallballs also felt great, I didn't video these today but I know I'm definitely going as deep as I always have, and if that's not ATG, I'm not going to stress over it.  Tried one wallball with the 14lb ball, and while I think my knee would have been fine, my thumb was not.

Power cleans felt super crisp and easy through 145, although it felt super weird to do these without a hook grip (I hook gripped these while in CA when I thought it was just jammed and I told myself to just suck it up). Pulled 155 plenty high, but wasn't able to get my elbows around fast enough and caught my thumb a little weird, so I called it there. Clean pulls were okay. I'm really digging doing some of this stuff without all the gear. 

Single leg RDLs went much better this week, perhaps because I was barefoot? Not nearly as wobbly. 

Shoulder press and dumbbell rows felt great. 

Kind of annoyed at the row sprints - pretty sure that with practice and better technique, I could get below 1:25. 

Friday

90:00 massage
+
maybe some mobility, if my day goes as planned

Thursday

AM
1600m very light sled drag, alternate forward & backward as desired

PM
A1. Bear crawl, 3 x 10' forward + 10' reverse, slow & controlled keeping hips level; :60 rest
A2. Deadbug w/hands pressed into wall, 3 x 12 alternating breathing out hard each rep; :60 rest
B. Weighted supinated CTB pull-up, 4 x 2-3; 2:00 rest
+
3 rounds for time:
6 strict handstand push-ups
3 rounds of [2 toes-to-bar + 2 CTB pull-ups]
18 kettlebell swings, 53
+
2-4 sets:
300m run @ 90% aerobic
:90 walk rest

AM

complete with 45 on the sled

PM

A1. complete 

A2. complete?

B. +15, +20, +25, +30(2) @166

+

7:26

+

3 sets complete 

Loved the AM sled drag! Wouldn't mind doing this every week, while the weather is nice.

Bear crawl continues to be very easy, but I have absolutely no idea if i was doing the deadbugs correctly. I watched a number of videos and they all pretty much said the same thing, but this felt like relaxing yoga hour, not one of the "best abs exercises EVER". 

Weighted CTBs felt very strong. 166 includes belt (161.7 @ home). 

3RFT was fun! Shockingly, the strict handstand push-ups were the easiest part of the whole thing...! All broken 3/3 with minimal rest. Did all the TTB/CTBs unbroken (so 12 total), all in rhythm until the very last 2 CTBs on the 3rd round, but didn't drop off. That was fun. Definitely hesitated picking up the kettlebell - this was the hardest part of the whole thing, but all unbroken.  Thumb was fine on the swings until just about vertical, so most of the reps were about 1" shy of completely overhead.  First round was done in 2:04, so definitely slowed down a bit as the rounds went on (all in the transitions).

Knee felt great on the first two runs, then as soon as I started the 3rd, it started to feel like it was getting a little swollen.  No pain, but I'm still hesitant to push through it if it's not feeling great, so I finished out the 3rd run and called it there.  The easy jogging from the RTW on Tuesday morning bugged it a little too, but it seems like running is the only thing that is aggravating my knee right now, and it goes away pretty quickly, so I'm not worried.

Also - I noticed something, as I continue to work back into squatting.  When I'm setting up for a squat, I flare my right foot out more than my left.  I *can* squat with my feet both pointing directly forward, but what feels more natural to me is to flare my left out maybe 10-15 degrees, and right maybe 20-25 degrees.  Now that I think about it, I know that I've always done this - I distinctly remember setting up for heavy back squats, unracking the bar, taking two steps back, then adjusting my feet and flaring only my right foot, it became almost a ritual.  Anyway, while I was in CA, I went with Kellie one day to her recovery/PT guy (like a one stop shop for Drew Cook, Balza and Pete, except none of the fancy degrees), and he noticed that when I walk I flare my right foot out more than my left, and suggested that was contributing to my left knee issues, and almost certainly originates from when I fucked up my right ankle in back high school.  Since then, I've made a conscious effort to walk with both feet pointing forward, but it wasn't until today that I realized I squat with my right foot flared out too, and I wonder if that's how I tore my left meniscus.  

Wednesday

AM
4000m row @ Z1
+
20:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work - work on knee flexion ROM

PM
A. Barefoot KB goblet squats, no sleeves, 3 x 6-8, 4211; :60-2:00 rest
B1. Romanian deadlift w/straps, 4 x 2-3, 41X1; :60 rest
B2. Close-grip bench press, 3-3-3-3, 21X1; :60 rest
C. DB weighted Peterson step-ups to box @ mid-shin, 3 x 20/side :60 between sides
D. Banded terminal knee extension, 1 x 30/side; rest as needed
+
3 rounds easy:
2:00 AirDyne
12 glute-ham sit-ups
15 light reverse hypers

AM

complete

PM

A. 35, 45, 53

B1. 183(2) across 

B2. 144, 149, 149, 149(2)

C. 20/hand across 

D. complete with green band 

+

complete 

90 on the RH

Austin showed up for his Z1 at the same time I did, which was a real treat.  Made that 4000m fly by!

Barefoot goblet squats felt really, really good.  No issues with the knee.  Interesting to note that depth is not a problem AT ALL on goblet squats.  I don't get it. 

When I was putting the kettlebell away, I picked it up weird and banged my broken thumb into the side of my leg, and heard and felt a large crack, which was very painful.  It kind of calmed down though, and I'm not sure if I did any additional damage or not.  It's not blown up like it was when I initially broke it, so I don't really think it's broken worse, but I don't know what else other than bone would have made a sound like that.  This is stupid.

Couldn't hold on to the heavier bar for the RDLs, even with straps.  Tried really hard to drive through both legs equally, but not sure how successful I was.

Bench press felt heavy; no spotter and chickened out on the last set.  The second rep was a struggle, so just racked it.

Petersen step-ups continue to be the hardest part of my week.  I think the box was just a little higher today than the box I was using at Active (middle block + rubber top), and had to take at least one small break in all sets of 20, on both legs.

Terminal knee extensions were interesting, I did my good knee first and thought I must have been doing them wrong because they were pretty easy, but then on my left knee I could definitely tell a difference.

Sigh.  One day, I'll be healthy.  Or dead.

Tuesday

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

PM
A. Split jerk, build to a heavy (not max) single
B. Power snatch clusters from blocks (mid-thigh), 5 x 1.1 adding a bit from 08.16 :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
C1. Weighted walking lunge steps, 3 x 15m moderate; :60 rest
C2. Ring rows, 3 x 5-8 in challenging set-up, 20X2; :60 rest
+
5 sets:
5 burpees
5 heavy Russian KB swings
100m row @ high effort (whatever that means for you now)
3:30 walk rest
+
800m walk cool-down

AM

35:00 complete with jog, mobility, ski erg and 6lb wallballs

PM

A. 185

B. 100, 100, 100, 105, 105 - no hook grip

C1. 40/hand across 

C2. 8 across 

+

0:48

0:47

0:46

0:46

0:46

with 88lb kettlebell
+
complete

Air squats were feeling pretty good this morning, so tested out some 6lb wallballs - no pain at all, but video revealed that depth continues to be a problem.  I seriously feel like I'm going ATG, but I'm barely breaking parallel, if at all.  Is this how my wallballs have always looked? My knee doesn't even feel that tight anymore, and with all the time I've been spending on lower body mobility, I don't really think that's the problem... Grrrrr.....

Split jerks felt pretty good; wore Olys and a belt, but after I was done I was thinking that I might have preferred jerking belt-less.  Something I might play around with.  

Power snatches were really, really tough.  This is a challenging weight for me in this set-up already, but then not being able to hook-grip made these feel even tougher.  No fails once I started, but missed 100 on the very first attempt then re-started the whole thing a few minutes later.  I took exponentially longer in my set-up for each attempt (so much that the 0:10 between singles drifted toward 0:20), making sure the bar was exactly where I wanted it in my hand and concentrating on tight lats.  I just don't feel aggressive at all when I feel like the bar is going to fly out of my hands.  Now that I'm writing this, this is how I was feeling when snatching with the men's bar, but I was able to tie my 1RM without a hook grip, so maybe I should just grow a pair.

I don't know why it didn't occur to me to just HOLD the weights for the weighted lunges last week... this was so much easier.  Similar set-up on the ring rows as last week, just an inch above horizontal at the bottom position, arms straight underneath the rings.  Last couple of reps on each set were definitely tough with this tempo.  I guess adding a box under the feet is the next progression?

Loved the 5 sets - this is definitely my favorite type of unpleasant training.  Considered the 100lb kettlebell, but I'm glad I didn't... no hesitation picking up the 88, but I think I might have taken an extra breath to pick up the 100.  Never broke under 1:35/500m today.

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.... 

Sunday

OFF for travel

Kind of bittersweet leaving today... probably the last time I'll see my house (it's in Escrow) and probably my last 2+ week vacation, considering I'm starting a real job and have to accrue vacation days like an adult.  This was a perfect vacation, incredibly relaxing and a good re-set before starting the next chapter.  Once again, super grateful for the hospitality at Active.  It's really fun to be able to share this with Kellie (and my mom is still thinking about joining, but hasn't pulled the trigger yet).  Pretty cool to not only keep up with training while on vacation, but to hit a couple of PRs in there as well...

Saturday

OFF or easy recovery of choice

60:00 stroll around Dana Point harbor 

+

3 hours of walking on the beach, swimming in the ocean and lying in the sun 

Adios, Cali. 

Friday

AM
30:00 walk

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. Muscle-ups, 6-8 x 2 unbroken; begin a rep every :90
+
10:00 @ 70% of [7 handstand push-ups + 14 double-unders + 21 AirDyne calories (14 Assault Bike)]
5:00 walk rest
10:00 @ 70% of [15 burpee toes-to-bar + 30 row calories]

@ Active

AM

subbed walk on the beach in the PM

PM

A1. complete 

A2. complete 

B. 8 sets, missed the second rep on sets 1, 3 and 8

+

3 rounds + 7 calories (Assault Bike)

2 rounds + 1 burpee TTB

Muscle-ups weren't quite as effortless as they were the other day, but I'm very happy to hit doubles more consistently. Hopefully I can replicate this on the fat rings when I'm back at CSC. 

Again, pushed the 70% to 80-85%. Maybe I'm just out of shape. All HSPUs and DUs easily unbroken, spent the majority of the time accumulating calories. Burpee TTB were slow, and the combo with rowing kicked my ass. 

Good day :)

Also - Mike is shifting my macros just a touch... 90g fat, 190g carb, 165g protein. 

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. 

Wednesday

30:00 easy swim or hike

22:00 swim
+
15:00 walk home from the pool
+
4 hours floating on a raft in the backyard
+
30:00 walk after dinner

Tuesday

AM
5000m row @ Z1, off every 1000m for 10m single-arm overhead DB carry (switch hands @ 5m)

PM
A. Bear crawl, 5 x 10' forward + 10' reverse, slow & controlled keeping hips level; :60 rest
B1. Weighted supinated CTB pull-up, 3 x 3-4; :60 rest
B2. 1 toes-to-bar + 1 CTB pull-up, 3 x 5 (so 10 reps total, 5 of each, goal is unbroken); 2:00 rest
+
10:00 @ 80%:
3 strict handstand push-ups
15 unweighted hip extensions
25m Farmer's walk, 70/hand
+
3-5 sets:
200m run @ 90% aerobic
:60 walk rest

@ Active 

AM

complete with 65lb dumbbell 

PM

A. complete

B1. +9, +14, +18(3) on fat bar 

B2. complete on fat bar

+

6 + 3 strict handstand push-ups 

+

3 sets complete 

DB overhead carry was pretty easy, but 65 was the heaviest they have. 5m felt like too short of a distance before switching... 

Pull-ups felt good. Added in a lot more of the wrist stretching, this helped. Not sure on total weight pulled, their scale was missing. Same deal as last week on the TTB/CTB combo - regular kip out of the TTB, butterfly out of the CTB and right back into a TTB. This was fun!

Felt like I was doing hip extensions for the full 10:00. Lower back got a little bit blown up toward the end. All strict HSPUs unbroken! Lots of walking between stations but no hesitation as soon as I got to the next movement. 

Knee complained quite a bit on the runs, and started to swell up within the first few steps. Pushed the pace on all 3 runs, but only did 3 just to be safe. It hasn't been this swollen in weeks, which pisses me off. Tim said to expect this to happen for a while, but it's still annoying. Blah.