Saturday

A)
Snatch-grip deadlift
2-2-1-1-1 build to a tough single, 31X1; 2:00 rest

173(2), 193(2), 213, 233, 243

B)
Shoulder press
build to a moderate/tough single (not a max!), 31X1

75 - really no struggle at all,  but 85 didn't move

C)
AMRAP in 10:00
1 mile Assault Bike
30m DB walking lunge, tough
max distance in remaining time med ball bear hug carry, 75

210m with 40/hand for the lunges

D)
3 sets not for time
:30 Sorensen hold
:30 front leaning rest on rings

Complete

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.

Tuesday

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

PM
A. Split jerk, build to a tough but crisp single
B. Power snatch clusters from blocks (just above knees), 4 x 1.1.1 @ 100; :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
+
5 rounds @ 80% effort:
10 DB walking lunge steps, 45/hand
5 ring rows in same set-up as last week
+
3 sets:
7 burpees
150m row @ max effort
4:30walk rest
+
800m walk cool-down

AM

37:30 complete; 4 rounds of:

2:00 row

3 DH2I

200m jog

3/side KB windmills, 35

2:00 ski erg

:30 FLR

PM

A. 200, 205Fx2, no belt

B. complete, no hook grip

+

5:08

+

0:50 (row in 0:29.1)

0:49 (row in 0:29.3)

0:49 (row in 0:29.5)
+
complete with Chels


Solid day!  Totally played hooky on my "lunch break" - and had major anxiety the whole time.  I just played it off as being super busy balancing both labs... hehe.

Jerks felt excellent; 200 was very crisp and easy.  The first miss at 205 was very close (just a hair in front), but the second miss was not close at all.

Blocks at just above the knee is a much more challenging position for me.  Still focusing on tight lats and engaged scaps, which I can guarantee I never used to do.  It would be nice if this is the key to my snatch problems.  No misses, and these were all pretty crisp, but it definitely required a ton of focus.

Walking lunges felt good.  Ring rows were tough.  The 5th reps on the last two rounds were pretty weak.  The rings may have been at a slightly more challenging height than last week.  At least that's what I'll tell myself.

Burpee/row sprint piece was awesome.  Burpees were super speedy on all rounds.  Saw 1:33/500m on the first one, then 1:34 was the low on the second and third.  Really grateful there were only 3 sets, I got a little nauseous after the last one.

Tuesday

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

PM
A. Split jerk, 1-1-1-1-1-1 heavy but not maxes; begin a rep every 2:00
B. Power snatch clusters from blocks (mid-thigh), 4 x 1.1.1 @ 100; :10 between singles, 2:00 rest
C1. Weighted walking lunge steps, 4 x 10-12m tough; :60 rest
C2. Ring rows, 4 x 5-10 in challenging set-up, 20X1; :60 rest
+
5 sets:
6 alternating DB snatches, tough but fast
125m row @ high effort (whatever that means for you now)
4:00 walk rest
+
800m walk cool-down

AM

30:00 complete with AirDyne, row, plank and side plank

PM

A. 175, 185, 190, 195F, 195, 195 - off the rack, no belt

B. complete, no hook grip

C1. 55/hand for 12m across 

C2. 7, 6, 6, 5, feet on 20" box 
+
0:52
0:52
0:52
0:51
0:51
with 55lb dumbbell
+
complete


To say that I came into the gym today in a bad mood would be the understatement of the year.  Had a very stressful and long day at work, and was already in the mindset that training later in the evening would suck.  Emily, I'm very sorry for being so grumpy.  I really did enjoy seeing you!  Let's just say that I will not be arriving at the gym at 5:45pm again (unless it's Thursday).  If I can't play hooky for a couple of hours in the early afternoon on Mondays and Wednesdays, I'm not coming until 6:30 at the earliest.  This was the worst.  However, my anger must have fueled me, because everything actually felt fantastic.

Jerked from a rack, since Emily was cleaning off the blocks.  Dumped the bar, stripped metal plates, and power cleaned 125 back up each time.  These felt AWESOME today.  Missed the first 195 just an inch in front, but the second attempt at 195 was one of the crispest/best heavy jerks I've ever done.  The final rep at 195 was a little soft on the catch, but wasn't in danger of losing it.  Did all these beltless.

Power snatches off the blocks FINALLY felt good.  All of these were crisp and easy.  Still focusing on a perfect set-up - I'm finding that if I really concentrate on engaging my lats and scaps, I don't need to worry about the bar flying out of my hands so much.

Walking lunges were fine.  I'm not sure if I set up the ring rows correctly - I had my feet on the box so that at the bottom position of the ring row, my head was below the height of my feet.  I tried to keep from piking my hips, but the whole set-up was pretty awkward.  They got tough for sure.

Dumbbell snatches got better with each round, this was fun.  Miscalculated and only took a 3:00 rest between sets 2 and 3, but didn't notice until just now when I was entering my results...

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.