Saturday

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. Squat snatch clusters, 5 x 1.1; :10-:15 between singles, 2:00 rest
+
AMRAP in 8:00:
1 muscle-up
1 front squat from the ground, 145
2 muscle-ups
2 front squats from the ground, 145
3 muscle-ups
3 front squats from the ground, 145
and so on...
+
3 sets not for time:
:10-:15 L hang from bar accumulation
:10-:15 L sit on parallettes
5 moderate DB upright rows (both arms at same time)

AM

35:00 of row, wallballs, run, FLR

+

shoulder pre-hab

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. 120, 120, 120, 125, 125(1.F)

+

4 + 4 MUs

+

complete
0:15 across for both
35/hand


Snatches felt better than last week, but still not crisp at all.  There was a couple of weeks where they were feeling great, I don't know what happened to that.  

Muscle-ups felt awesome again today!  I did the set of 2 unbroken, otherwise all singles with reasonably high catches.  Attempted a double on the very last set at the buzzer to close out the round of 5, but it wasn't even close.  Probably took just a hair too much rest between singles, I could probably push the pace a bit without risking failure.  But, here's why I didn't push it:

First time squat cleaning since pre-surgery, and it went terribly.  Warming up, 125 felt like 175 and I just lost all motivation to do this entire workout.  I just got really sad thinking that something that I have classically been good at is now a huge weakness and I don't have anything that stands out as a strength anymore.  Only squat cleaned the first 145, and I could barely stand up with it, so I ended up power cleaning then front squatting.  In metcons, no belt, and no wrist wraps (which was also challenging, I rely on those a lot but I didn't want to wear them on muscle-ups).  This blows.

Didn't even want to do the not for time stuff, I just wanted to go home.  

Saturday

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. Squat snatch clusters, 5 x 1.1.1; :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
+
5-4-3-2-1 for time:
Muscle-ups
Wall balls, 30 to 9
+
3 sets not for time:
:10 L hang from bar accumulation
:10 L sit on parallettes
5 moderate DB upright rows (both arms at same time)

AM

45:00 complete of row, handstand walk, jog, FLR

+ a little shoulder pre-hab

PM

MobilityFit clinic

+

A1/A2. complete 

B. 115 across

+

9:32

+

complete
35/hand


Didn't want to rush through either the AM or PM session today, so opted to train after the mobility clinic.  Also, figured that would serve as most of my warm-up...

Snatches didn't feel very crisp today, so decided to stick with a moderate weight that carried no risk of failure.  Probably a 50/50 split of true squat snatch and low/parallel power snatch.

Muscle-ups felt terrible today.  I don't know what I'm doing wrong or differently.  All singles, no fails but almost all extremely low catches.  And no discernible kip on the dip, which made a few of these very, very slow lock-outs.  This is so aggravating.  30lb wallballs were challenging; hit myself in the face once, lost my balance more than a few times, but never dropped the ball within a set.

L-sit on parallettes was surprisingly challenging after the L-hang.  Normally 0:10 wouldn't be anything to write home about.

Really enjoyed Drew's clinic.  Honestly, my biggest take-away was that I've been doing a pretty good job keeping up with lower body mobility on my own.  None of the stretches was particularly unpleasant, and nothing felt tight or like it really needed stretching.  After the clinic was over, I asked Drew about that pesky trigger point on the outside of my upper calf (right below the knee) which has been bothering me the entire time that my knee had been injured, so... 16 months? I can't get to it on my own, and Balza has only been able to get it once, so Drew suggested dry needling.  Now that I have real health insurance, I might see if he can knock it out.  It's more of an annoyance than anything, but I'd be very happy to see it go.

Saturday

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. Squat snatch clusters, 3 x 1.1.1.1.1; :10 between singles, 2:30 rest
+
For reps:
5:00 muscle-ups
:60 rest
3:00 wall balls
:60 rest
:60 double-unders
+
3 sets not for time:
:15 L hang from bar accumulation
6 moderate DB upright rows (both arms at same time)

AM

20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

+

10:00 mobility

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. 115, 120, 125(F#4)

+

12

70, 14 to 9'

74

+

complete with 35/hand


Everything felt great today!

Snatches felt really crisp for the most part; didn't video, but I'm guessing 90% of these were a low power, not full squat.  Don't really know what happened on that one miss, I think I just got a little lazy.  Took an extra 0:10 then hit the 5th rep, no prob.

Muscle-ups felt really good... don't think I can really score much higher than this until I'm stringing some together.  Did 3 in the first minute, then 2 in minutes 2-4, and 3 in the last minute.  No fails, no issues, but not confident at all to try for any doubles. 

Wallballs felt pretty good in the beginning.  Broken 20/15/15/10/10.  Shoulders got pretty fatigued in the last minute.

Double-unders cooperated for the most part; tripped at 41, then small sets after that.

Sad to see Kellie go... it was so nice having her around this week! 

LOVE

Saturday

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. Snatch gauntlet, 1-1-1-1-1-1-1 tough but not maximal; begin a rep every :90-2:00
+
AMRAP in 12:00:
1 muscle-up
5 wall balls, 20 to 10'
+
3 sets not for time:
:10 L hang from bar
6 light DB upright rows (both arms at same time)

AM

skipped

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. 115, 120, 125x5

+

13 (+1 MU fail at the buzzer)

+

complete with 30/hand 

So happy Kellie is here! She landed at 5:40am, so skipped the z1.

Snatches didn't feel nearly as crisp as last week, but no misses. I didn't video these, but I have a feeling all were power except the very first rep at 125 which was decidedly squat, my knee told me so :/ Fuckkkkkkk.  It doesn't hurt like it used to, but it's not 100%.

AMRAP was just okay - wallballs were really tough, and had a few reps that didn't quite make it to 10'.  The first few muscle-ups were pretty easy, but had to slow down a touch in the middle when I started catching them really, really low.  Also I felt really crowded during these, there were so many people right around the rings that I felt a little less comfortable generating a big kip, which sounds stupid because I probably wouldn't have kicked anyone.  Had 0:10 left after the 13th round of wallballs, and I knew before I even jumped up to the rings that it wouldn't happen, but tried anyway.

Saturday

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. Snatch gauntlet, 1 every :60 starting @ 85 and adding 5 every :60
+
AMRAP in 10:00:
90 double-unders
60 wall balls, 14 to 10'
max rope climbs in remaining time
+
3 sets not for time:
:25 L-sit on parallettes
6 light DB upright rows (both arms at same time)

AM
45:00 complete, just row, mobility and shoulder prep

PM
A1/A2. complete 

B. 140 (PR +5 for any snatch, and it was power!), 145Fx2

+

8

+

complete, 30/hand 

+

bonus 800m sled drag with Chels, 60

Another solid training day. 

Super happy with the snatch PR!!! I have video, but it's too ugly to post (just kidding, I posted it here: 125-130-135-140-145F-145F).  Everything up to 135 was pretty crisp, all power (this is so weird). Soft elbows on the catch on the 140, and feet were pretty wide, but the pull felt really good. Two nice pulls at 145 to chin level, this will come soon. I love gauntlets. 

10:00 piece was tough. Double-unders cooperated for the most part, tripped at 60 and 79. Wallballs to the 10' target got tough, broken 15/15/10/10/10, and really focused on depth.  Arms/shoulders were pretty tired when I got to the rope (4:30ish), and grip got completely blown up after the first 2 or 3 climbs. Finished the 7th climb with 1:10 to go and completely bitched out and decided that wasn't enough time for 2, so rested until the 9:30 mark then did the 8th climb. Way better than it used to be, but still not satisfied. 

Saturday

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. 1 hang squat snatch + 1 squat snatch, 1-1-1-1-1 starting moderate and adding a bit each set; :10 between movements, 2:00 rest
+
For time:
5 muscle-ups
15 wall balls, 14 to 9'
4 muscle-ups
15 wall balls
3 muscle-ups
15 wall balls
2 muscle-ups
15 wall balls
1 muscle-up
+
3 sets not for time:
:20 L-sit on parallettes
8 light DB upright rows (both arms at same time

AM

40:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off twice for a few minutes of mobility

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. 115, 115, 120, 125(1.F), 125 (videos)

+

10:47

+

complete 

20, 25, 25lb dumbbells

+

bonus 800m sled drag with Emily and Chelsea, 45 on the sled 

Today was great. I have some fun stuff this week, this is very exciting. 

Snatches felt off today, I don't really know what the issue was. I videoed all these to watch technique, and noticed that hip extension seems kind of pathetic, and also noticed that every single one of these reps was power. Errrrrr yeah, I have absolutely zero sense of this while I'm snatching, I just try to get under it and then stand up without really paying attention to where parallel is. I knew none of these reps was a super deep catch, but I was really surprised to see how high some of them were. Can I just think of snatching as snatching, and not distinguish between power and squat? 

Muscle-up / wallball thing was really fun. All singles on the muscle-ups, a few really low catches but no misses; toyed with the idea of trying a few doubles, but I wasn't catching any of them high enough to feel confident for a double. Wallballs all unbroken, no issues at all. 

0:20 L-sit is about the limit of making these pretty.

Added the sled drag because I was done early, it was a nice day, and all the cool kids were doing it. 

Saturday

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. Squat snatch, 10:00 tech/speed work - you pick the loads according to feel, but nothing heavy
+
AMRAP in 10:00:
1 muscle-up
5 wall balls, 14 to 9'
+
3 sets not for time:
:15 L-sit on parallettes
4/side light/moderate DB upright rows, 3110

AM

30:00 of row, jog and freestanding handstand push-up practice

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. up to 113, 4 easy singles there 

+

11 + 2 wall balls 

+

complete 

30, 30, 35lb dumbbell 


Today was pretty good!

Snatching felt great.  Super solid.  

Muscle-up / wall ball thing was fun!  No misses on the muscle-ups, but a few in the middle were caught dangerously low, so I slowed down a touch.  Tried not to watch the clock, but I was probably taking about 0:20 transition time after each set of wall balls to chalk up and prepare.  Wall balls super easy, no issues at all.  

Saturday

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. Squat snatch, 10:00 tech/speed work - you pick the loads according to feel, but nothing heavy
C. Muscle-ups, 12 x 1; begin a rep every :40
+
3 sets not for time:
:12 L-sit on parallettes
6/side light DB upright rows, 3110

AM

37:15 complete, consisting of:

5 sets:

500m row

couple minutes of mobility 

+

3 sets, easy:

10 wall balls, 14 to 9'

0:30 single unders with heavy rope 

5 kipping handstand push-ups 

PM

@ DSC

A1/A2. complete 

B. complete up to 103

C. complete 

+

complete 

20, 30, 30lb dumbbell 


Today was the Dynamic Nutrition seminar at DSC - so glad I was able to meet Mike while he was in the neighborhood, and that Chelsea and Emily came with me!  Plus, he gave me a shirt! I'm blown away by how knowledgeable Mike is about pretty much everything that has to do with fueling and nutrition, and how he is able to make really insightful comments and suggestions to a cross-section of people with widely variable goals based on pretty limited background.  Really happy that I made the decision to work with him!  I felt very lucky that I get so much one-on-one time with him every couple of weeks.  He's the best.  Speaking of, I told him how last week I was insanely hungry (beginning on Saturday), went over on macros on Monday (gelato) and Tuesday (1.5 quest bars), he bumped my carbs by 20g to 260g on Wednesday and on Thursday I felt the best in training that I have in months, and he said that's a pretty clear sign that I need more food.  He's having me add a second refeed day on Tuesdays, so now I'm hitting 150P/60F/260C on training days and 150P/55C/300C on off days.  I'm relieved and pretty excited there is more food in my future.  Being hungry sucks.

Also enjoyed the opportunity to train in a different space today, although I won't lie, I was very apprehensive about hitting muscle-ups on the clock on unfamiliar rings. Chelsea reminded me that it's good practice for competition, which is 100% true, but I'm still not as confident as I'd like to be with these yet. I actually liked their rings a lot, they were hung from the rafters but the ceiling was low, so the strap length was similar to what I'm used to.  I had a choice between skinny or fat rings, and you'll be proud to hear that I chose the fat rings.  The texture was very different from ours (smoother, but at the same time stickier, which sounds paradoxical but was quite nice), and these mostly felt pretty good.  A couple of high catches, but mostly medium and none very low.

Snatching also felt pretty good - I felt like I was hitting really solid positions, but the bar felt much heavier than it should.  No issues at all dropping into a squat (although I accidentally power snatched a few, just because that's what I'm used to now).  This is exciting; more snatching please!  I'd still like to hit 150 by the end of the year... 

By the way - sorry for the weird AM structure this morning - I intended to cycle through all those things as a RTW, but then I just didn't feel like doing anything other than rowing.  Rowing at a Z1 pace was much faster than usual though, which was very strange (2:18-2:22 pace, normally right around 2:30).  I'm crediting the carbs.

We brought our own microwave because we are that neurotic about hitting our macros

So grateful to be working with this guy!

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...