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. 

Tuesday

AM
30:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 2 dead hang to inverted

PM
A. Paused front squat, build to a max, 22X1
B. Weighted pronated CTB pull-up (include body weight in score), build to a 1RM, 21X0
C. Wall balls, 1 x max unbroken @ 14 to 9
+
2000m row @ Z1

AM
complete

PM

A. 235

B. 186

C. 54
+

complete 

AM weight @ home: 165.7

What an underwhelming first day of testing.  

Front squats felt really tough with the extended pause.  Can't believe I front squatted 260 last year (and with a pause! only 0:01, but still).

I've never done weighted CTB pull-ups, so I didn't know what to expect here.  Failed to connect twice with an added 2.5.  Score of 186 is total scale-weight of me, Oly shoes, belt, and 15lbs of plates.

I also wasn't sure what to expect on the max wall balls - I've never done more than 25.  Going into this, I was pretty confident I could hit 50, but wasn't sure where I'd end up beyond that.  These felt great through 35 then started to get a little rough.  In the upper 40's I was really struggling, and reps 53 and 54 BARELY hit the target.  My shoulders were just smoked; I tried jumping with my legs more so that my arms wouldn't have to work so hard, but then accuracy of hitting the target was off.  The ball never felt heavy, I think it was just the repetitive motion without a break that got to be fatiguing.  I also thought 50 would have been a reasonably good score, but apparently not... dammit.

Here's hoping the rest of testing is a little more exciting.

PS - I've been eating super strict lower carb paleo for 12 days and my weight has. not. budged.  This is why I gave up dieting.