Friday - 25 weeks post-op

A1)
Front squat
3-2-1-1-1 building so that last single is tough, 20X1; :60 rest

193(3), 213(2), 223, 233, 243F - really had no business going for the last one, 233 was pretty sticky

A2)
Strict ring pull-up
5 x 1-2, 21X0; :60 rest

2 across! and probably closer to 31X1, for some reason

B)
3 rounds for time
.5 mile Assault Bike
:60 med ball bear hold (no carry, just hold), 75
:60 front leaning rest on ground

11:25

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 - 23 weeks post op

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

 143 across, 1:48-1:47-1:46/500m avg

B)
3 sets
12 perfect unbroken Australian pull-ups
.3 mile Assault Bike @ high effort
2:00 walk rest

 Complete with bar on 8th hole down; ~70RPMs

C)
3 rounds for time @ high effort
12 Russian kettlebell swings
12 goblet squats
36 double-unders


4:29 with 53

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

Thursday - rehab day 3

Minutes accumulated on a bike: 95

Minutes accumulated with the Marc pro: 225

Things I did today:

Earthquake bar, top of close-grip bench hold, red bands and 25lb kettlebells
Triceps pull-down, cut red band
Crossover symmetry rows (red), As (yellow), Ts (green)
Quarter external rotations, elbow at side, 0.5lb
Plank against wall, on elbows
Clean-grip deadlift, 10 @ 65lbs
500m row, 2:20-2:40/500m, damper @ 5
Front squat, 10 @ 45lbs
Single-arm bent over trap 3

Isometric RC tabata series 

Static flexion stretch 

100 walking lunges 

Lower body mobility 

PT continues to go very, very well. There are no words to describe how happy I am. I think Drew is excited, too.

Back squats will have to wait- couldn't get in position under the bar at all. But between front squats and safety bar squats, I'm golden. Looking forward to shifting some of this to regular programming at CSC. 

Also, started wearing a posture shirt. Not sure how practical that's going to be once I resume my normal life, but I'll give it a shot. 
Still waiting for the night that I'll be able to sleep.

Monday

01.25
AM
Kirk
+
Balza

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. Front squat (use safety squat bar if front rack aggravates the shoulder), 3-3-3-3, 20X1; 3:00 rest
+
3 rounds for time:
15 Assault Bike calories
50m tough sled drag
+
15:00 mobility of choice

AM

20:00 AirDyne @ Z1

+

Kirk

+

Balza

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. +130, +140, +150, +150 on safety squat bar, no gear 

+

11:07 with 180 on the sled
+
complete


BEING INJURED IS THE WORST. Seriously, this sucks.

Saw Kirk and Balza this morning, and both were slightly concerned that there might be a small tear based on my description of what happened and also the degree and location of pain on certain movements.  Kirk said that if there's not a small tear in the supraspinatus tendon, it's at least impinged. Kirk dry needled a few spots on the teres minor, upper trap and delt, but said he can't touch the supraspinatus because there's a risk of hitting lung (errrrrr, eeeeek).  Balza manhandled the shit out of everything and overall it was a very unpleasant morning.  Going to see Balza again on Wednesday morning, and planning to work with Kirk on rehab/strengthening stuff starting next week.  Neither of them said explicitly that I shouldn't compete on Saturday, but I got the sense that they thought it wasn't the smartest.  I kind of agree with that.  I just wish that the competition wasn't so fucking shoulder-intensive.  Balza said that if there is any improvement by Wednesday that it's a good sign, and not to mess with it at all (no rolling or anything) until then, just ice it as much as possible.  If this was an individual competition, I'd pull out without hesitation.  But, I've been looking forward to doing a competition for months, and I hate to let my teammates down.  I don't want to be injured going in to the Open, and I'm REALLY not interested in making this a long-term problem that requires a visit to Tim.  This whole thing sucks.

First time using the safety squat bar.  It was weird, it felt like it's own kind of squat (like how mechanics on front squats are distinct from back squats).  Decided to forego all the gear because I didn't feel like going heavy enough to need it, because I wasn't super comfortable with the way the bar felt (due to lack of exposure, not pain).  

Assault bike felt good, maintained 58 RPMs throughout.  Sled was definitely tough.  Split the 50m into 25 forwards, 25 backwards.

Friday

AM
5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
10-15' handstand walk
2:00 bike
:30/side plank
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Front squat, 2-2-2-2, 40X1; 2:30 rest
B. Axle Pendlay row, 3 x 3-4, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 cleans, 155
2:00 CTB pull-ups
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 1 bar muscle-up + 4 toes-to-bar
Odds: 10 overhead squats, 65

AM

4 sets complete

subbed 0:60 FLR for the side planks

skimped on the mobility

PM

A. 223 across 

B. 130, 140(3), 140(3)

+

with Matt

13 cleans (failed the 14th at 1:55)

0:30 transition 

21 CTBs

+

9 minutes complete 

Ugh. Today was rough, and then it got worse. 

Front squats were super heavy. 

Pendlay rows were okay, tough to hang on to the 140. 

2:00 pieces were terrible. Like, awful. This was my first time doing this with a partner, and it was nice to practice like this for a change. However, I was shocked at how heavy 155 got, and I took way too long setting up each time. I just remember looking at Matt who wasn't struggling at all and wondering if I misloded the bar because it felt that heavy. Not happy with this. 

CTBs were a disaster. Tried to butterfly, did a few sets of 3, then some singles and doubles, some regular kip, and a handful of reps that didn't touch the bar. Fuuuuuuucking A. This is not cool. 

The EMOM started off great. No misses on the BMU and buried the depth on the OHS. After the 4th set of OHS, my right shoulder, which has been mildly aggravated for weeks, suddenly got really angry. I went for the 5th set of BMU/TTB anyway, not expecting to generate a big enough kip to make the rep, but I did surprisingly. But as soon as I dropped off the bar, the dull ache in my shoulder/upper arm turned really sharp.  It kind of took my breath away and my immediate thought was that I was fucked. Scratched the last set of OHS. 

 

Friday

AM
5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
:30 handstand hold - can be against wall
2:00 bike
:30/side plank or 3 wall walks
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Front squat (sleeves!), 3-3-3-3, 40X1; 2:30 rest
B. Axle Pendlay row, 3 x 4-5, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 cleans, 105
2:00 ring muscle-ups
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 4 CTB pull-ups + 4 toes-to-bar
Odds: 8 overhead squats, 75

AM

4 sets complete

subbed 0:60 FLR for side planks

PM

A. 183, 203, 208, 213

B. 120, 130, 140(3)

+

25 cleans in 1:33

5 muscle-ups

+

complete


Most of the stressful shit over the past two weeks is finally behind me, thank God.  I felt like a completely different person today, like a huge weight was lifted.

Tempo on the front squats was rough by the 3rd rep.  I don't think these were too ugly, though?

Grip was the limiter on the axle (surprise, surprise).  

Felt so much more comfortable with the lighter cleans and ring muscle-ups than the medium cleans and bar muscle-ups.  Did all quick singles on the cleans (not sure if that's what I was supposed to do?  It didn't occur to me to string any together until after I was done) - had 20 done in the first minute, then slowed down a LOT, and only accumulated 5 from 1:00-1:30.  Wanted to have the full 2:00 on the rings, so stopped early again.  Ring muscle-ups felt great, super happy that I felt able to push the pace on these and jump up and successfully get a rep before I was 100% confident it would happen.  Hoping that Leah doesn't mind doing the bar muscle-ups... it probably won't matter a ton in the grand scheme of things, and I'll do the bar muscle-ups if that's what works out better, but I felt much more confident and happier with my performance on this piece today than last week.  

EMOM was just okay.  I don't know what's going on with my CTBs this week, but the butterfly isn't feeling so hot.  Dammit.  And sorry for shorting the depth on some of the OHS - I really can't tell at all! They felt like the same depth as when I was doing the 20 squat snatches from the other day, and on video those were all super legit, not even a question, so it doesn't make sense.  Blah.

Friday

AM
5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
:30 handstand hold - can be against wall
2:00 bike
:30/side plank or 3 wall walks
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, build to a tough single in 15:00
B. Axle Pendlay row, 3 x 5-7, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 cleans, 135
2:00 muscle-ups
+
6:00 rest
+
For reps:
2:00 thrusters, 95
2:00 toes-to-bar

AM

4 sets complete, but sat on the bike until 30:00

subbed 0:60 FLR for the side planks

PM

A. 245, 255F

B. 100(6), 100(7), 120(6)

+

18 cleans in 1:35

2 BMU (+3F)

+

22 thrusters in 1:45

29 TTB


This week has been simply the worst.  The last 2.5 days were the most stressful work days I've had in a very long time, and I have 4 very large tasks on my to-do list for the next 6 days, and somehow all 4 are equal priority.  Also, I still don't feel 100%.  This is stupid.

My right shoulder is starting to bug me a little - side planks are always the first things they complain on.  Going to religiously start doing all the Drew Cook stuff and nip it in the bud before it becomes an issue.

Front squats felt good.  The 245 really wasn't that tough.  Didn't fight very hard for 255, as soon as I started to get stuck I just dumped it.  Anxiously looking forward to the triumphant return of knee sleeves.

Axle pendlay rows were limited by child-sized hands.  I find it much easier to hold on to with my thumbs on the same side as my fingers.

Chose the bar muscle-up piece today, mostly because I haven't done bar muscle-ups since before Christmas.  Hit two easily while warming up.  The cleans at 135 felt really easy, and I moved really quickly through the first 10-12, then started to panic that I would be useless for the bar muscle-ups.  Slowed down the last 6, then walked over to the bar at 1:35 and borrowed the rest time from the cleans.  I'm guessing it will be a little different with a partner... but I felt ready to hit the first BMU as soon as the 2:00 clock started, and made the first one!  Then I got a little cocky, and barely rested at all before attempting another one, and failed.  Then I said to myself "well, I didn't make it, so I didn't really expend any energy, so I'll just go again now" and of course, I failed that one too.  So then I made myself take a full 0:15 rest and hit the second one, then rested until 1:50 on the clock and failed at the buzzer.  Meh.  I've spent so much more time working on ring muscle-ups, so I'm interested to see if that will go any better.

Thrusters started off feeling great; did 5/5/5/5/2.  Took way too much time before picking up the bar after 15, and that last set of 5 was rough.  Had time on the clock but decided to eat the transition time from the thrusters.  Forearms were fried almost immediately on the TTB.  Opened with 5, then 4's, then 3's, then 2's, there was a 1 in there somewhere, and lost the kip at the end.  Ugh.

Friday

AM
5000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, 2-2-1-1, 20X1; 2:30 rest
B. Pendlay row, 4 x 2-3, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 14:00:
Evens: 5 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 10 wall balls, 14 to 9'
+
1 time through steady:
100m light stone carry
100m Farmer's walk, 70/hand
100m prowler push

AM

(swapped with tomorrow's)
5 sets very easy:
2:00 bike
:30 handstand hold - can be against wall
2:00 bike
:30/side plank or 3 wall walks
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM

A. 223(2), 233(2), 243(1), 253(1)

B. 153, 163, 173, 183(2)

+

complete

+

7:43 with 140 on the prowler


Today was great!  Except for being so freaking sore.  Holy shit, I feel like I've been hit by a train.  Lats/pecs (75 TTB) and glutes/hamstrings/adductors/quads (75 air squats).  Surprisingly, abs wouldn't even make the top 10 list of most sore muscles.

Happy to finally be back to hitting respectable squats.  243 was a really solid rep - depth was buried, and a little slow on the way up but no sticky points.  253 was very, very heavy - depth was right at parallel, and got stuck on the way up (which I could only get through by rounding my back in my signature style). Officially the most I've ever squatted without knee sleeves, and only 7# off my max.  Sweet.  Knee feels great.  (Wore Olys and a belt).

Pendlay rows were heavy.  Again, limited by grip.

EMOM was super easy, everything unbroken and felt like I had tons of time to rest.

Last piece was different.  The stone carry and FW were both very easy, I split these into 50m/50m.  Weight choice was perhaps slightly ambitious on the prowler, this took over half the total time to complete.  Made 3x 20m, then started stopping every 10m.

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, build to a tough single, then take off 15 and accumulate 5 more singles @ that weight; rest as needed
+
Every :60 for 10 sets:
1 muscle-up + 1 squat clean @ 125 + 1 front squat @ 125
+
1 time through, goal is no breaks:
:60/side plank
:40/side plank
:20/side plank

AM

32:00 of row, GHD sit-ups, run

+

15:00 of shoulder and calf pre/rehab

+

15:00 mobility @ home 

PM

A1/A2. complete 

B. 125, 110x5

+

complete 

+

complete 

Well, today was the first day in a week that I didn't leave the gym close to (or in) tears, so that's already a success. Three more days. 

My shoulders are FRIED from Thursday. Holy shit. I don't know if it's from trying to do the muscle-ups and snatches cold, or the heavy benching, but they are so stiff and sore. 

I think I'm going to start using knee sleeves again for snatching and cleaning. My knee doesn't hurt but I'm babying it and being hesitant on explosive movements. I don't know if I'm just subconsciously protecting it because I'm expecting it to hurt, or I know it's going to pop (it does with every single squat), but I'm not lifting well and it's getting annoying. 

Technique felt better that it has in a while on the snatches, but the bar felt very heavy. 

I was worried about the muscle-ups considering how sore my shoulders are, but they were fine. Mostly pretty low catches, but never in danger of failing. Squat cleans went better than last week, but it felt like I was catching high and riding into the bottom. Metcons, no wrist wraps, no belt. 

Shoulders complained on the side planks, but no issues going unbroken straight through. 

Wednesday

AM
5000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, 4 x 2-3, 20X1; 2:30 rest
B. Pendlay row, 4 x 3-4, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 14:00:
Evens: 1 bar muscle-up + 4 CTB pull-ups
Odds: 10-15' handstand walk
+
For time @ 90%:
12 stone-over-shoulders, small stone
200m run
50m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
400m run

AM

subbed 22:00 AirDyne @ Z1

PM

A. 193, 203, 213, 223(2)

B. 143, 153, 158(3), 158(3)

+

3 sets complete 

3 failed BMUs 

ripped and called it 

+

5:30


Got to the gym a little before 5pm and it immediately stressed me out.  So many people.  So little space for activities.

Front squats felt okay - in nanos and with a belt.  Felt like my upper back was rounding quite a bit on the later sets.

Pendlay rows continue to be limited by grip.  Can I / should I use straps?

Made my first attempt at a BMU, which surprised me.  Doing the CTBs after the BMU was way harder than the TTB last week; the kip wasn't the same.  Still able to butterfly, but it wasn't smooth.  Missed the 4th and 5th BMU, but still did the CTBs (one of these sets was not butterfly, I was swinging all over the place).  Then missed the 6th BMU and ripped, so called it.  Handstand walks would have been easy if I had a place to do 10-15', but it was so crowded that I kept moving around each minute to stay out of peoples' way.

Last piece was fast and fun.  I always like shouldering stones.  Jogged most of the first 200m before I realized that I should be going faster than a jog.  FW may have  been a bit shorter than a true 50m, there was no space on the comp side where I would normally do 50m so I had to go through the class side while they were doing burpees.  Tried to push the pace on the last run, still not a sprint but it was definitely faster than the first 200m.  

Then I had a lovely dinner with Brandie and Leah, which was much needed.  There was a lot of laughing and also a horrible few minutes after we all ingested very, very potent jalapenos.

Talked with Mike a bit today.  I'm taking 2 weeks off from counting macros.  He tried to talk me off the ledge that taking some time off won't completely derail all my progress, but I only halfway believe him.  Why is my personality wired so that everything is all or nothing?  Why am I missing the "moderation" setting?  

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.  

Wednesday

AM
6000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, 4 x 3-4, 20X1; 2:30 rest
B. Pendlay row, 3 x 4-5, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 12:00:
Evens: 1 bar muscle-up + 4 toes-to-bar
Odds: 6-8 ring push-ups
+
For time @ 90%:
200m run
4 rope climbs
200m run
3 rope climbs
200m run
2 rope climbs
200m run

AM

skipped; early morning in lab

PM

A. 183, 193, 203, 213(3)

B. 143, 153(4), 153(5)

+

complete

8 across 

+

8:38

Super annoyed that I had to skip the AM session today - I was scheduled for a 7:45AM meeting on Tuesday 12/08, and when I showed up to work yesterday (2 hours earlier than normal) I was informed that they made a mistake and it would actually be on Wednesday.  I pride myself on keeping an organized calendar and found it extremely disrespectful (on the part of the Admin, it's her entire job!) to make a mistake like that, and not apologize profusely.  Rant over.  I might make up the row on Friday morning.  Or, I might sleep in and eat pancakes.  We'll see.

Front squats felt better than last week; in nanos, no belt on the first two sets, but then felt like my back was rounding and that was the limiting factor, not my legs, so I added the belt and I think it made a big difference.  Still don't like how heavy these feel.

Grip was the limiter on the Pendlay rows - hook gripped, it just slipped out of my hands by the 4th rep at 153.  Hung on for the 5th rep on the last set, but the tempo and form were a little off because I was struggling not to drop the bar.

EMOM went well; missed the first 2 attempts at a BMU, but once I made one, no further misses.  Most of these felt very easy, only one wasn't.  Added a bonus rep at the end (the easiest of them all!) in an attempt for a double, but no dice.

Ring push-ups were also very easy, but half way through I realized that I wasn't completely horizontal - had a 24" box and the high rings on the end; I'm pretty sure last time I used these rings I added a plate on top of the box.  Oops, sorry!

The for time piece was hard.  I wasn't able to push the pace on the rope climbs as much as I was last week, and felt like I was standing around a lot.  Runs felt good, kept the pace moderate until the last 200m, which was not quite a sprint but much higher than a sustainable pace.

Wednesday

AM
5000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Front squat w/no sleeves, 3 x 4-6, 20X1; 2:30 rest
B. Pendlay row, 3 x 5-6, 20X0; 2:00 rest
+
For 10:00:
Evens: 1 bar muscle-up + 4 toes-to-bar
Odds: 7 burpees
+
3 sets @ high effort:
300m run
3 rope climbs
2:30 rest

AM

complete

PM

A. 153, 173, 183(5)

B. 123, 133, 143

+

11:00 to complete the 10 sets

+

2:36

2:31

2:33

Mentally rough day/week.  Physically, everything continues to feel great.  Why do I feel like I need a vacation?

Front squats were just okay.  No belt and in nanos, but a good 30lbs under where I think I should be for this rep range.  Felt the 5th rep at 183 get a little ugly, so racked the bar instead of doing an even uglier 6th rep (although I'm certain I wouldn't have failed).

Pendlay rows felt good; it's been a while, I think I was doing them correctly?

Really liked the BMU/TTB combo!  Missed the second BMU, made it up at the end.

I also really enjoyed the run/rope climb piece (what!?).  Runs felt good, each one got a few seconds faster.  Decided to walk from the gym door to the rope and use that as my only rest, and jumped up immediately into the first climb.  Was pretty good about only taking 2-3 breaths before the second rope climb, but still hesitated a little too much before the 3rd climb on all 3 sets.  No issues at all (3 pulls for all) until the very last rope climb, which was definitely more of a struggle and took 4 wimpy pulls.

Wednesday

AM
4000m row @ Z1
+
15:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Barefoot front squat, no sleeves, 2-2-1-1-1, 22X1; 2:30 rest
B1. Weighted ring dip, 3 x 1-2, 20X1; :60 rest
B2. Unweighted strict rope pull-ups (top hand 4-6" above bottom hand), 3 x 3-5/top hand; :60 between hands, :60 rest
+
3 rounds nice & steady:
10 glute-ham sit-ups
50m Farmer's walk, 70/hand
200m jog
15 unweighted hip extensions

AM

complete

PM

A. 183(2), 193(2), 203, 208, 213F

B1. 35(2), 42.5(2), 52.5(1) @166.5, including belt 

B2. 5, 4, 4

+

complete


Today was short and sweet.

Front squats felt okay - the 208 was definitely tough, but I lost a little tension in the 0:02 pause at 213, and couldn't recover it.  

Ring dips felt really good - hit the double at my old 1RM, and 219 is a 10lb PR.

Rope pull-ups felt good, but fingers started slipping on the last rep of each set.  Probably could have done 5 across if I fought for it, but I didn't.

3 rounds were nice and steady, as instructed.  Knee is still cool with jogging, so that's good.

Wednesday

AM
5000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Barefoot front squat, no sleeves, 4 x 2-3, 22X1; 2:30 rest
B1. Weighted ring dip, 3 x 2-3, 20X1; :60 rest
B2. Unweighted strict rope pull-ups (top hand 4-6" above bottom hand), 3 x 2-4/top hand; :60 between hands, :60 rest
C1. Reverse hypers, 3 x 5-8 tough; :30 rest
C2. Banded terminal knee extension, 3 x 25/side w/same band as last week; :30 between sides, :30 rest
+
3 rounds:
25m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
200m jog

AM

complete

PM

A. 163, 173, 183, 193(2) last two sets

B1. 20, 25, 30(2) @165, including belt 

B2. 4 across 

C1. 320(8) across 

C2. complete 

+

complete 

Solid day!

Barefoot front squats are going MUCH better than the barefoot back squats.  The last rep at 193 was ugly, but didn't have the near-blackout experience that I did last week.  No issues going well below parallel, even at very heavy weights, compared to just riding the line on back squats.  Chelsea said she also feels able to get into a deeper front squat than back, based on where the weight is distributed.  What can I do to improve my back squat depth?  Do I need to?  I don't want someone saying that my 300lb back squat doesn't count because it's not ATG (if I'm ever strong enough to do that again, which, at the moment, seems unlikely).

Ring dips felt good.  My previous best 2RM was 194lbs (20lbs @ 174lbs), so it's pretty cool to basically match the total, but with 10 less pounds of body weight and 10 more pounds on the belt.  I guess this stuff is actually working, and while I'm getting impatient at slow progress on the scale, I can't forget that the trend over time is decent. (160.4 at home today... 159 is taunting me so much).  

Strict rope pull-ups were kind of fun!  No issues getting all 4 reps on both hands, but I did rotate/twist quite a bit through each set...

Okay, reverse hypers are getting tough.  Didn't go up in weight because 320 seems ridiculous.

Knee was completely, 100% fine on the jogs! I'm guessing that we were just a little ambitious in adding this back in before, while there was still some residual fluid in there.  Totally fine now, which is a relief.

Wednesday

AM
5000m row @ Z1
+
10:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Barefoot front squat, no sleeves, 3 x 3-4, 22X1; 2:30 rest
B1. Weighted ring dip, 3 x 3-5, 20X1; :90 rest
B2. Reverse hypers, 3 x 6-9 tough; :90 rest
C. DB walking lunges, 3 x 20m moderate; 2:00 rest
D. Banded terminal knee extension, 2 x 30/side w/same band as last week; rest as needed
+
3 rounds easy:
15m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
15 unweighted hip extensions
15 weighted Russian twists, hold a 6 lb med ball @ chest (L + R = 1)

AM

complete

PM

A. 163, 173, 183(2)

B1. +10, +20(4), +20(3) @166.5 (including belt)

B2. 230, 280, 300(9)

C. complete with 35/hand
+
complete


Today was not the best.  I had a relatively stressful morning at work, and came into the gym just not excited about training and in an annoyed mood altogether. Merrr.

Front squats were tough.  That 0:02 in the bottom is really terrible.  Saw stars on the last rep on all the sets, and the second rep at 183 was so slow on the way up that I didn't even try for a 3rd rep.  I'm starting to feel like squats are no longer my thing, and I don't like it.  Stupid knee, ruining everything.  Well, not ruining handstand push-ups.  Maybe that can be my new thing.

Ring dips felt okay.

Reverse hypers weren't really all that tough, but I ran out of room to add more weight, and I also felt like 300 was a lot of weight, so... I don't know if I'm doing the reverse hypers wrong, or I'm really just that strong? Ha.  I definitely feel everything in my posterior chain working (not just using momentum), but I could have probably done 15-20 reps at 300lbs before these felt tough.

Chose a much more appropriate weight for the walking lunges today.  

Last part was fine.  

Skyped with Mike; we're both happy with how the last few weeks have gone, so we're not changing anything for the time being.  Happy to keep my refeed Fridays, and looking forward to seeing 159 hopefully within the next week.  Eeeeeeek! 

Wednesday

AM
4000m row @ Z1
+
10:00-15:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Barefoot front squat, no sleeves, 3 x 4-6, 22X1; 2:30 rest
B1. DB bench press, 3 x 3-5, 20X1; :90 rest
B2. Reverse hypers, 3 x 8-12 moderate; :90 rest
C. DB walking lunges, 2 x 25m moderate; 2:00 rest
D. Banded terminal knee extension, 2 x 30/side w/same band as last week; rest as needed
+
3 rounds easy:
15m Farmer's walk, 100/hand
15 unweighted hip extensions
15 weighted Russian twists, hold a 6 lb med ball @ chest (L + R = 1)

AM

complete

PM

A. 123, 143, 163(4)

B1. 65, 70, 75(2)

B2. 180, 210(12), 210(12)

C. 25m, 20m with 50/hand - this was not moderate 

D. complete with black band 

+

complete 


Today started out pretty good, but lost a bit of steam towards the end.  

Front squats felt okay - knee is doing something weird, and I don't know if it's something to worry about or not.  It doesn't hurt.  

Surprised to get all 5 reps at 70/hand on the DB bench.  75 was a big jump, and it was very challenging to even get the dumbbells into position.  Almost had the 3rd rep at 75, could probably get it if I tried again, and if I was able to get the dumbbells into position with slightly less effort.

Reverse hypers were fine.  

Completely overestimated the dumbbell walking lunge steps - I did not check my notebook before beginning, and thought I had done 50/hand before so I just figured I'd do that.  I made it about 10 steps on the first set before I realized that this was way too heavy, but then decided to just roll with it and finished the 25m unbroken (barely).  Couldn't make it all the way back (grip, mostly), and when I dropped the dumbbells at 20m I considered picking them back up and lunging the remaining 5m then decided that because I went heavier than intended, I was okay to shave off 5m.  Sorry, Stephen.  Now that I'm writing this, I sound like a little bitch.

That was the turning point of the day.

Banded knee extensions got tough in the last 5-8 reps of each set, on both legs.

Took probably 15:00 to complete the final 3 rounds.  Nothing was difficult in particular, I just didn't feel like playing anymore.  Meh.

Wednesday

AM
4000m row @ Z1
+
10:00-15:00 hamstring/hip/quad mobility work

PM
A. Barefoot front squat, no sleeves, 4 x 2-3, 42X1; 2:00 rest
B1. DB bench press, 3 x 4-7, 20X1; :90 rest
B2. Reverse hypers, 3 x 10-15 moderate; :90 rest
C. DB weighted Peterson step-ups to box @ mid-shin, 4 x 8/side :60 between sides
D. Banded terminal knee extension, 3 x 20/side w/same band as last week; rest as needed
+
3 rounds easy:
15m/side Farmer's walk, 100/hand
10 unweighted hip extensions
15 weighted Russian twists, hold a 6 lb med ball @ chest (L + R = 1)

AM

complete

PM
A. 165, 175(2), 175(2), 175(2)
B1. 60, 65(5), 65(5)
B2. 160, 180(15), 180(15)
C. complete with 35/hand
D. complete with black band
+
complete

Decent training day! (Kind of shocking considering last night's 9pm softball game and subsequent 6 hours of sleep). 

Front squats felt tough with the tempo today. The first rep was always solid but I felt my back starting to round on the second. Almost blacked out on the last set, got super lightheaded on the way up. 

Bench pressing continues to feel strong, regardless of barbell or dumbbell. Reverse hypers felt good. 

First set of the Peterson step-ups was rough, but got better as they went on. Failed a couple of reps on both legs but was able to regroup and repeat all missed reps. These are so tough. 

Everything else was fine. Back to work.