Month: November 2017

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): November 6 – November 12

Nick PalomoLeave a comment

The last few weeks have been busy. I was not going to the gym consistently, and I was able to go five days out of the last three weeks. Now that things have calmed down, I can get back to documenting my CrossFit journey!

Monday

Strict Press – Find your 1RM

After missing the past few weeks, I knew this was going to be tough and my chance of setting a new PR were slim. However, I was going to give it my all and try my best. I loaded up some weight and started the warm up. The coaches suggested some percentages for the warm up that I followed until I reached 85% of my 1RM. 145 lb. felt good and I was able to complete two reps at that weight. I loaded 155 lb. and I was not able to get the bar past my eyes. I took a few minutes rest and tried again but ended up with the same result, no rep. I felt defeated but I know, I need to work more. If I was more consistent, maybe I would have been able to get it. Next time, their is always next time.

WOD 1 – 8 Minute Time Cap

15-9-6

Thrusters (135 lb.)

Chest to bar pull ups

After failing at my strict press PR, I knew I had to redeem myself. I decided not to scale the thrusters and attempt the workout Rx. The chest to bar pull ups were going to be hard but that’s to be expected. The first 15 reps of thrusters were not bad. I broke it up into two sets of ten and five making the work manageable. The chest to bars were broken up into sets of five. The last two rounds were a lot harder but I was able to grind through it. I Finished the workout at 7:17.

WOD 2 – 6 Minute AMRAP10 burpees

50 double unders

We started only a minute after finishing the first WOD. I was exhausted and tried to catch my breath before starting the next workout. What followed was the slowest burpees I’ve ever done. I would hit the deck, and rest at the bottom for a second before standing up. It was a snails pace but it was the best I could do. The double unders however went a lot better than expected. I finished two rounds unbroken and had to break up the other rounds into three or four sets. It was a great workout but I wish I had more energy for the burpees. I finished the workout with two rounds and three burpees.

Wednesday

Power Clean Complex

1 Power Clean + 3 Push Press

My power cleans have been consistent lately. I’ve been able to complete some complexes at 205 lb. but the push press would be tough at that weight. My last three rep max attempt was at 200 lb., a new PR. I was hoping I would be able to complete this complex at 205 lb. At the beginning of the workout the clean and push presses felt great. As the weights increased the push press became more difficult but I was able to complete the lifts without any misses. At 205 lb. the clean wasn’t hard but the push presses were very heavy. I was able to get one good rep and two “ugly” reps. I was able to lock out my arms and not re dip like a jerk. They were not the nicest looking lifts but I got them done. Complete one complex at 205 lb.

Snatch Pull – 3×3 at 110% (205 lb)

205 lb. was 10 lb. over my 110% but I wanted to try out pulls at this weight. I took the first set to get used to the weight. It was heavier than what I’m used to but I tried to focus on form and completing the pulls. After the first set, the other two went smooth. The weight still felt heavy but I’m sure I will be able to snatch this one day.

Back Squat – 3×10 at 65% (245 lb.)

Ten reps is no joke! I was confident going into the workout but as the warm up went on, I started to have doubts. Doing five reps at 225 lb. was a lot harder than what I expected. Ten reps at 245 lb. was going to be terrible.

I psyched myself up and started on my first set. I felt good until the ninth rep where I started to feel tired. I barely made it up on the 10th rep. The next set was just as hard. I barely finished the set, getting stuck on the eighth rep. The last set was the most difficult. I made it to five reps before I had to re rack the bar. I took about 30 seconds of rest and finished the last five reps. It was a very challenging squat workout.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): October 9 – October 15

Nick PalomoLeave a comment

This is going to be a long post. I worked out for five days straight. I’ll try not to bore you and if you want to see my workout week, check out my Beyond the Whiteboard profile.

Monday

Overhead Squat Complex – Find a  Heavy 1 Rep

Behind the neck push jerk + overhead squat

I treated this as an overhead squat max. I usually push jerk to get the weight overhead. My goal for this was to complete at least 200 lb. After warm up, I was able to complete lifts at 185 lb. and 200 lb. The lifts felt good and decided to try 220 lb., five pounds below my current PR. After a minute of rest, I attempted the lift and was able to complete it. I decided to call it a day. I was happy with my lift.

Hang Snatch – 3×3 at 75% (130 lb.)

I was riding my high completing the overhead squat and went directly into the hang snatches. 130 lb. is heavy for me but I used straps to keep my grip in tact. I had one miss in the first set. I took a breath and focused. I was able to complete the next nine reps without a miss. Not bad for snatches.

Strict Press – 3×5 at 65% (110 lb.)

After all the strict press work we have been doing, this was a piece of cake. Had no issues.

Back Squat – 3×5 at 75% (264 lb.)

I didn’t need a warm up for this and went into it quickly. I haven’t been squatting heavy so this took some effort. It was a tough three rounds but I got through it quickly.

Tuesday

Overhead Squat – Find a 3RM

I was a bit sore from Monday but I was going to try and set a new PR today. I started with 135 lb. and worked up to 185 lb. before  thinking of my next few weights. I decided to lift 195 lb. and then jump to 209 lb. to try and set a new PR. I was able to finish three reps but they were a struggle. I was able to PR my overhead squat by four pounds. Not a large number but I’m happy with it.

WOD – Double Under Nancy

5 Rounds

50 double unders
15 overhead squats (95 lb.)

I did this workout three years ago. I scaled to using only the bar which took me 14:26. This time around, I wanted to PR my time as well as the weight. After doing the overhead squat session, I was feeling good. I was confident in my overhead squat but not the double unders. I didn’t want to push too hard and gas in the third or fourth round.

The workout started great, I was able to go unbroken on the double unders and the overhead squats for the first two rounds. Round three started to get tough. I was barely able to string 10-20 double unders before messing up. The overhead squats were starting to feel heavy. I was able to get five or six reps before setting the bar back on my back.

It was a grind to finish the fourth round but I almost gave up at the fifth. My legs were on fire and it me a few seconds to catch my breath. Around this time my wife finished her workout and walked over to me to give me some encouragement. I was able to get through the double unders and go unbroken on the overhead squats. The overhead squats were extremely difficult. I had to put all my focus into keeping my arms engaged and break through the pain. I almost lost it around rep seven or eight but I was able to save it. My arms were starting to go numb right when I finished the last rep. My total time was 13:21, 1:05 faster than my last time. Double PR for the day!

Wednesday

Bench Press – 5×2 at 90% (205 lb.)

This was the heaviest I’ve gone in awhile. Surprisingly, it wasn’t too bad. I used a spotter but I didn’t have to be helped. It felt great.

Partner WOD – AMRAP, 16 Minutes

20 box jumps (24 in.)
15 deadlifts (225 lb.)
Handstand hold (30 sec.)

I did this partner workout with my wife and we scaled it. Instead of the handstand hold it was a 10m handstand walk. The scale was handstand holds which was more than enough to get our shoulders burning. We split the reps down the middle. Our goals for this workout was to complete six rounds.

The first three rounds went smooth but my partner and I were tired out. I under estimated the deadlifts and tired my best to keep up the intensity.We fell short of the six round goal and completed only five rounds.

Thursday

Clean Complex

Clean + Hang Clean + Clean

This was a fun complex but it was also frustrating. I couldn’t hold onto the bar during the hang portion of the complex at 215 lb. and decided to finish the workout. I have work on establishing the hook grip after the first clean. That should help with my grip issues. I was able to complete the complex at 205 lb.

Push Press – 4×5 at 65% (145 lb.)

At 65% I was able to finish this workout quickly. I focused on my front rack position and my finishing position

Back Squat + Jerk

3 back squat + behind the neck jerk

This was a difficult one because of the behind the neck jerk. I haven’t been practicing it that much and it felt a bit awkward. My limiting factor for this complex was going to be the jerk but I wanted to work up to 225 lb. I started off with a light weight, focusing on form and getting used to the movement. I started getting used to the movement but my form wasn’t great. I was able to reach my goal of 225 lb. but it wasn’t pretty. I had a slight press on jerk and I had to save it. Slowly getting back into these movements.

Friday

Strict Press – 5×6 at 65% (99 lb.)

I was able to get through this quickly. The last two rounds were tough but not too difficult.

Strict Press – 1×10 at 60% (88 lb.)

This burnout set was difficult. After the thirty reps my arms were tired. I was able to complete about eight reps at a touch and go pace before my arms were tired. I was able to finish the last two reps but they took a bit longer. 88 lb. never felt so heavy!

Partner WOD – AMRAP, 20 Minutes

4 muscle up
8 pistols
12 handstand push ups
Run (200 m)

I did this workout with my wife and we had a great time. I was able to do all the movements Rx but she had to scale. The reps were split in half and the worst part of this workout was the run, no surprise there.

The first few rounds started off great. The movements were challenging but I was able to get through them quickly. We started to slow down after round four. I was able to keep my same pace but my partner had to slow down a bit. I kept an okay pace for the rest of the workout but had to slow down on my partners reps. It was not a problem and my goal was to keep her moving and motivated. We survived the workout and finished with six rounds and a muscle up. Great partner workout!

Lift Heavy and Level Up!