Saturday

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

PM
A. Power clean, build to a tough-and-go 2RM
B. Double overhand Romanian deadlift w/straps, build to a heavy double, 4010
+
8:00 @ 80% of [1 rope climb + 30m Farmer's walk @ 70/hand + 4/side 1-arm DB shoulder-to-overhead @ 45]
4:00 rest
8:00 @ 80% of [12 ski erg calories + 20m moderate yoke carry (10m out & back)]

AM

30:00 of row, handstand walk, jog, wallballs

PM

A. 150, 160(1)x2

B. 240

+

5 + 15m FW

+

3 + 8 calories with 140 on the yoke 

I woke up with a very strong urge to do some wallballs.  First time with the 14lb ball since pre-surgery, and first time jumping right into squatting with zero mobility beforehand - great success, on both counts!  Can we pleeeeeeease start adding in some more stuff?  It's been 12.5 weeks.

Speaking of adding in some more stuff, I tested out some 105lb squat cleans - felt really good! I was a little hesitant at first, but got better a few reps in.

Power cleans were SHIT today.  The bar felt so heavy, and I kept catching very low on my chest, even at 135.  I did 5 at 160 two weeks ago... this is absurd. 

Both 8:00 pieces were fine, although I really dislike the yoke.  I picked it up ever so slightly off center on the very first carry and my back felt weird throughout the rest (totally fine now), but that's just something I'm not eager to mess with... 

Also, I got to the gym an hour earlier than Chels this afternoon, so to kill some time I played around with ring and bar muscle-ups - hadn't done any bar muscle-ups since I learned them back in the Spring, very happy that I can still do them! (video) As long as my hands aren't feeling like they're going to rip, I'd like to start practicing them more often...

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 Z1 of choice, off every 5:00 for 3 kipping handstand push-ups

PM
A. Muscle-ups, 5-10 attempts only; full recovery between attempts, play around w/a few low box step-ups during this time
B. Close-grip bench press, 3 x 4-6, 20X1; 2:00 rest
+
3 sets @ 70-80-90%:
3 rope climbs
30m yoke carry, a little heavier than last week
12 toes-to-bar
30 AirDyne calories
5:00 walk rest

AM

Complete on the AirDyne 

PM

A. 10, no misses
B. 135(6), 145(4), 145(4)
+
6:54
5:36
4:26 
with 180 on the yoke

Handstand push-ups felt nice and easy today. Maybe I was just rusty last week... 

Haven't missed a muscle-up in 4 training sessions (last Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, today) so I'm 35 for 35.  That's awesome.  Ok.  Pretty confident that I can do these now, I'll try to stop making such a big deal about it.  It's just shocking how far I've come, from legitimately feeling like I'd never get one to this kind of consistency within just a couple of months.  So happy :)

Knee felt totally fine on 20" step-ups.  Did just a couple to 24", no issues there either...

Bench felt heavy.  Almost had the 5th rep on the last set, but Cody helped just a touch.

3 sets felt surprisingly good.  The first one was super slow - took very leisurely transitions.  Very happy with how the rope climbs felt - on the 3rd set, 3 rope climbs were done in 1:07, which is some kind of record for me (sad, but true), and all completed without fear of death, which is the real accomplishment. All toes to bar broken 6/6.

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
30:00 Z1 of choice, off every 5:00 for 3 kipping handstand push-ups

PM
A. Muscle-ups, 5-10 attempts only; full recovery between attempts, play around w/slow air squats during rest, just a few at a time
B. Close-grip bench press, build to a max
+
3 sets @ 80%:
3 rope climbs
50m moderate yoke carry
9 Pendlay rows, 125
3:00 rest
+
5 rounds:
:60 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
5-7 glute-ham sit-ups

AM
complete on the AirDyne

PM
A. 10 for 10!!!
B. 165
+
complete with 140 on the yoke 
3:11
3:53
3:49
+
complete; 7 sit-ups across
+
2 more muscle-ups :D


UGH handstand push-ups felt terrible this morning.  I failed a couple and fell off the wall on a couple.  Grrrrrrrrrr.  I feel like I am forever destined to be awful at these.

BUT THOSE MUSCLE-UPS! Hoooooooooly shit.  I knew it was going to be a good day when I made the first attempt, and from there on I just concentrated on aggressive hips on the first swing.  Here's a video of one of them.  Had the intent of trying to string two together a couple of times, but the swing was off when I tried to control the descent of the first one, so I never really tried for the second.  Eric gave me a tip to fall down in a V shape (with feet up as high as possible as long as possible), which kind of helped and I will try working on that in the future.

Knee felt totally fine on the air squats.  Maybe it will magically heal itself after all.  And, by magic, I mean 10 weeks of not using it, a cortisone shot, and enough ibuprofen to tranquilize a two-ton hippo.

Errr, bench press did not feel great today, which kind of surprised me.  I really thought I would have a PR in the bag.  I actually failed the first attempt at 165, for some reason I pulled it directly into my neck instead of dropping it in a straight line down to my chest, so Chels had to step in and save my life (thanks, buddy).  The second attempt went much better, but it was a bit of a struggle to lock it out, so I called it there for today.

Rope climbs felt better than last week; the "80%" and also the 3:00 rest helped enormously.  The first 3 were really fast (for me), but I slowed down between attempts a bit in the second and third rounds.  Yoke felt fine; distance may have been a tad short of 50m (went from the rig to the door, but the class was doing pull-ups so I stopped a few feet short of the rig).  Pendlay rows were hard! I don't know why, but I assumed I'd be doing the sets of 9 unbroken, that was silly.  5/4 then 3/3/3 for the last two rounds.

AirDyne/GHSU was fine.

And then I did 2 more muscle-ups, just to see if I could do them under fatigue (turns out, I can).  Can't even tell you how happy I am with progress here; it's kind of ridiculous.  Lifetime total: 26.

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
40:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 2-3 kipping handstand push-ups

PM
A. 1 muscle snatch + 1 hang muscle snatches, 4 x 1; :90 rest
B1. DB bench press w/knees & feet off bench, 5-5-5-5, 20X1; :60 rest
B2. Incline DB row, 4 x 4-5, 11X1; 2:00 rest
+
For time:
40 strict pull-ups, 20m heavy yoke carry every time you come off the bar
+
12 sets:
:30 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
:30 AirDyne @ 50%

AM

complete; 3 across

PM

A. 73, 83, 88, 88

B1. 35, 40, 45, 50

B2. 40, 45, 50, 50

+

10:03 with 200 on the yoke; 12/6/6/4/4/4/4 (120m)

+

Complete 

Good day!

Muscle snatches felt a little more natural today. 

Started way too light on the dumbbell bench, even the 50s were pretty easy for 5. Incline rows felt a little harder than last week; elbows didn't get very high with the 50s so I didn't go up even though I got 5 reps. 

Strict pull-up/ yoke walk was tough. Happy to open with 12 unbroken (PR +2), but was hoping to hit slightly bigger sets after that. Spent a fair bit of time looking at the bar between sets, hoping to recover a little more to hit a bigger number. Can't complain though, pretty happy I didn't end up making any extra yoke walks with a missed rep at the end. 

Airdyne felt excellent. 90% was 1000-1100 cal/h. 

Tuesday

AM (Z1 w/upper gym tech)
shoulder prep
+
40:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 2 kipping handstand push-ups

PM (snatch tech + upper horizontal push/pull ME + upper vertical pull grinder + 10:00 breathing MAP)
A. 1 muscle snatch + 2 hang muscle snatches, 3 x 1; :90 rest
B1. Close-grip bench press, 1-1-1, 20X1; :60 rest
B2. Incline DB row, 3 x 5-7, 11X1; 2:00 rest
+
3 rounds for time:
10 strict pull-ups
40m tough yoke carry
+
10 sets:
:30 AirDyne @ 90% aerobic
:30 AirDyne @ 50%

AM

complete

PM

A. 75, 85, 85

B1. 160, 165, 165F

B2. 25(7), 30(7), 35(7)

+

9:04 with 200 on the yoke

+

complete

Mixed day.  Tough couple of days at work, which never helps.  Really makes me appreciate that my day to day is usually pretty relaxed.

Hang muscle snatches took a bit of time to get the hang of.  The last set at 85 was nice.

Bench press felt very heavy today.  Hit 155 while warming up and it was a struggle.  Didn't get much better from there.  I'm always a victim to thinking that if there are singles programmed, I'm going to PR.  Which obviously isn't true, but still can't help feeling disappointed when the bar feels heavy that day.  Kind of liked the incline DB rows, though!  Started a little too light.

First set of 10 pull-ups easily unbroken (PR +4), and could have gotten another couple of reps.  Can't believe how far these have come.  Sets 2 and 3 were pretty broken, ending in singles.  Yoke was heavy.  Went from the rig to the edge of the mats by the door, considered that to be close enough to 20m.  Each 20m trip was unbroken, but definitely took my time picking it up each time.  And now I'm 3" shorter.  Thanks.

AD felt good.  90% was around 1000 cal/h.  Breathing has been steadily improving over the past few weeks.  Almost like that's the plan.

Tuesday

AM
shoulder prep
+
40:00 AirDyne @ Z1, off every 5:00 for 2 kipping handstand push-ups

PM
A. Muscle snatch, build to a heavy single
B1. Pendlay row, 4 x 1-2, 20X0; :60 rest
B2. Close-grip bench press, 3-2-1-1, 20X1; :60 rest
+
5 rounds for time:
6 strict pull-ups
10m tough yoke carry
+
10:00 AirDyne @ Z1

AM

complete

PM

A. 90, 95F

B1. 145(2), 155(2), 165(1), 165(1)

B2. 145(3), 155(2), 165(1), 175F

+

5:27 with 180 on the yoke 

+

Complete 

Hspus felt decent this morning. I still can't believe I got a zero on Saturday. 

Bench felt excellent through 165. 175 was close, could probably get it next time. 

First two rounds of 6 strict pull-ups easily unbroken. Walk from the rig to the yoke took a bit of time, but really tried to go as soon as I made it to each station and use the walk as the only rest.  Yoke could have been a little heavier. 

Easy day. I'm bored of deloading.

Sunday

5:00 kipping pull-ups practice, non-fatigued sets of 2-3 reps
+
A Hips-to-rings, accumulate 10 solid singles; rest as needed to ensure good height
B. Double KB overhead squat, 5:00 practice
+
5 rounds for time:
1 rope climbs
10m tough yoke walk
+
For time:
40 AirDyne calories
100' double KB walking lunges, 53/hand
+
400m sled drag, heavy grind

complete

+

A. complete

B. complete

+

5:39 with 200 on the yoke

+

6:58

+

complete with 205 on the sled

Butterfly is coming along! Feels easier and easier.  Had mostly solid hips-to-rings, but then on a few of them, when my hips and legs were going high, my chest and head were staying low.  There's no way I'm gonna be able to turn over in that position...

Kettlebells were giving me all sorts of problems today.  Had a really hard time cleaning the 53s.  Got them overhead twice for the OHS practice; once they were up, the OHS were easy, did 3 then 5 reps.  

Rope climbs all felt really good, but transitions were very slow.  Not a huge fan of the yoke... feel like I should just go ahead and make an appointment to see Pete whenever it's programmed.

AirDyne done in 2:30.  I assumed the lunges were front rack - missed the KB clean on the first attempt, but then did the first 50 feet unbroken.  Took over a minute before cleaning them at the turn around, then STUPIDLY dropped them halfway back and had to clean them a 3rd time.  The lunges weren't hard on my legs at all, I was just really uncomfortable holding the kettlebells. 

205 might be the limit on the sled drag.  Shit.

Thursday

A. 1 & 1/4 front squat + 1 jerk dip squat, 1-1-1-1-1 @ loads allowing for quick drive out of the hole; 2:30 rest
B. Unweighted strict pull-ups, 5 x 2-3, 21X1; 2:00 rest
+
10 sets:
10 AirDyne calories @ 90% effort
:30 rest
10m yoke carry w/180 on yoke
:30 rest
+
5 sets:
:30 prowler push @ max effort, load for high speed/fast foot turnover
4:30 rest


A. 205, 215, 215, 220, 225
B. 3 across
+
complete
+
complete with 90 on the sled


1&1/4 squats don't seem to be getting any easier as the weeks go on... 225 continues to be the limit for driving out of the hole relatively quickly.  Kind of liked combining these with the jerk dip squats though!

Pullups felt excellent; never struggled to get the 3rd rep and stuck to tempo.

AD/yoke thing was fun but more tiring than I thought it would be!

And prowler sprints felt really good for the second week in a row - I credit the beautiful weather.  Starting out a little slower definitely helps.  Only faded a little bit on the last 0:03 of the last set. 

Thursday 10 July

AM
A. 1 & 1/4 front squat, 1-1-1-1-1 @ loads allowing for quick drive out of the hole; 2:30 rest
B. Jerk dip squat, 10 x 1 @ 225; begin a rep every :60
+
AMRAP in 8:00:
75 AirDyne cals
max distance yoke carry with 180 on yoke
+
5 sets:
:30 prowler push @ max effort, load for high speed/fast foot turnover
4:30 rest

A. 195, 205, 215, 220, 225
B. complete
+
100m
+
complete with 90 on the prowler

PM
PT with Drew Cook

Everything felt really good today!  (I don't understand why some days feel great and others feel terrible...)

Jerk dip squats were balanced and solid today - definitely felt jerkable.

75 cals done in 4:57.  20m turn around.  Finished the 100m with about 0:10 to spare -  if I could have seen my clock from where I was, would have picked it up for a few extra meters...

Prowler sprints were sustainable for the entire 0:30 today without any major drop in speed or effort within/across sets.  Huge difference from last week.

Thursday 3 July

A. 1 & 1/4 front squat, 2-2-1-1-1 @ loads allowing for quick drive out of the hole; 2:30 rest
B. Jerk dip squat, 9 x 1 @ 225; begin a rep every :60
+
3 rounds for time:
25 AirDyne calories
25m heavy yoke carry
+
5 sets:
:30 prowler push @ max effort, load for high speed/fast foot turnover
4:30 rest

A. 205(2), 210(2), 220(1), 225(1), 225(1)
B. complete
+
7:47 with 140 on the yoke
+
complete with 90 on the prowler

Added in the shoulder routine this morning.  Feeling close to 100%, so getting a little antsy to test it out...

Front squats felt heavy today (even while warming up).  Second rep at 225 was much better/faster than the first one.

Whatever magic I did with the jerk dip squats last week was gone today.  They all felt awkward and weird.

Yoke wasn't heavy enough - was debating whether to throw 35s or 45s on each post, and should have gone with the 45s...

Adding a 5th prowler sprint took this to a whole new level.  Started to fade pretty badly on the 4th one, and wasn't recovered by the 5th.  At least it was a beautiful day with a very welcome breeze!

Saturday 28 June

AM
60:00 @ easy pace:
200m run
100 single-unders
:10 freestanding handstand hold
25 row cals
:60 front leaning rest on ground

PM
A. Standing triple jump, work up to a max distance
B. Snatch-grip deadlift w/pause just below knees, 4 x 1-2; 2:00 rest
+
For reps/distance:
2:00 stone-to-shoulders, 95
2:00 rest
2:00 yoke walk w/10m turnaround
2:00 rest
2:00 shuttle run w/25m turnaround
+
3 sets:
:35 row @ max effort
4:45 rest

AM
complete

PM
A. 18'7" (PR by 9")
B. 185(2), 195(2), 205(2), 215(1)
+
19
80m with 100 on the yoke
350m
+
185m, 1:34.5/500m average
185m, 1:34.5/500m average
181m, 1:36.6/500m average

Happy to PR on the triple jump, since I didn't PR the last time I did this at the OPTathlon.  Old PR was 17'10" (April 2012!) and had 5-6 jumps today that were all over 18'. Still a pathetic jumper, though... 

Snatch-grip deadlifts felt better than the last few weeks.  Should have gotten the second rep at 215 but dropped it because my thumbs were complaining.  Sad.

Stone/yoke/shuttle thing was really fun.  Wanted 20+ stone-to-shoulders, but just wasn't moving fast enough (steady the whole way through, just not super fast).  Dropping the yoke and turning every 10m took a lot of time, never really struggled here.  2:00 of shuttle runs was just stupid.  Got pretty slow in the middle.

Row sprints were awful today.  Got nauseous after the 1st one and felt terrible for at least 30:00 after... Dropped off quite a bit on the last 0:08 of the 3rd one - went from 1:32/500m to about 1:38/500m and much lower s/m (surprised the total meters was only off by 4, it felt like I dropped off way worse than this).

Thursday 9 August

Today is my one-year anniversary of joining CSC!  I can't believe it's already been a year, and I can't believe it's only been a year.  This has been the best, and happiest, year of my life.  I feel confident and focused and strong.  I remember what it's like to be competitive, and how much I like to win, which has translated from the gym and improved my personal and professional life.  I regularly exceed the goals I set for myself, and I consistently surprise myself with what I can do when I stop thinking and start doing.  I'm learning to accept myself as I am while still striving to improve.  I have only lost about 8lbs (and a little more than 5 inches), but I have gained respect for my body and what it can do.  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!

930am:
5 sets of:
1 stone to shoulder
5 tire flips
yoke carry down and back (+100lbs)
+
sitting sled pull (attached to big rope; +165lbs)

1045am: eggs scrambled with chicken, broccoli and sweet potato

6pm: wine; olives; cheese; pork chop; steamed broccoli; baked sweet potato; peach

grocery:
$23.67 at Whole Foods (wine, olives, butter, cheese)