Episode 3
In this episode we discuss our week in CrossFit and talked about the other side of Warmachine, Hordes. We also talk about spoilers for the new edition of Warmachine. If you have any comments you can email us at barbellsandboxcars@gmail.com. You can also get a hold of us at our FACEBOOK PAGE. You can also comment here if you like.
New Start
Hello everyone. I was falling behind in my weekly posts and decided to start writing current workouts. I was a three weeks behind and my memory of those workouts were hazy at best. I have the results on Beyond the Whiteboard, but I didn’t remember all the details of that workout. I’m going to start writing daily and hopefully I won’t have to catch up again.
I also started a Olympic weightlifting program. I’ve been wanting to do more weightlifting specific programming so my coaches added me to one. I didn’t want to stop doing the class WODs so I would do the weightlifting workouts and then the class WOD after.
I was dreading this workout but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was scared by the percentages and the weight. I was a bit warmed up from the front squats so I didn’t take as long warming up as I usually do. I was able to do two reps at 315 lb. which is about 86% of my 1RM. I wanted to add 10 lb. to make it ~90% but I decided against it. I didn’t want to risk it since my legs were not fresh. I’m proud of my lift however.
WOD
AMRAP 7 Minutes
30 double unders
15 hang power cleans
10 toes to bar
This workout was more challenging than anticipated. I was weary of the toes to bar but I was confident I would be able to get through it quickly. During the workout it became evident that the toes to bar were going to be the hardest movement. I had to break up the hang cleans during the second and third round but I didn’t have a long rest. The toes to bar were harder to string together. I was only able to to complete three or so before I had to rest. I finished two rounds, 30 double unders and 15 hang power cleans.
Power Snatch
Every Two Minutes for Ten Minutes
2 power snatch at 85% (135 lb.)
This workout was not as bad as I had envisioned it. Since I have a light snatch, the weight was manageable. I had enough time to recover between sets. I hope this means I can try and PR my snatch soon.
Clean and Jerk
Every Two Minutes for Ten Minutes
2 power cleans plus jerk at 85% (185 lb.)
I thought this workout was going to be tough and it was. The first two rounds were good. I was able to clean the weight without much trouble but my jerk needed help. I’m still not comfortable doing my jerk and it showed during the workout. I need to do more reps to get the hang of it. I was making sure my form was good and my coach said I was doing a great job. The last round was the hardest. At this time I was barely able to power clean the weight and it took the last bit of strength to complete the jerk. I was drained at the end but I managed to complete the workout.
Front Squat
4×4 at 75% (215 lb.)
I really didn’t want to do this squat workout. I was drained after the clean and jerk workout that I wanted to just walk away. A few members didn’t finish this part since they ran out of time but I was determined to end the week on a high note. After warming up my front squat I decided to get right into it. The first set wasn’t good. I felt my elbows dropping and I was struggling to stay upright. I took a few minutes to regroup and catch my breath and started on my next set. My form improved and the reps felt better, I was feeling a lot more warmed up. All I needed was a few minutes to regroup. The last two sets were great. I kept telling myself that it was almost over and that was enough to push me to finish.
I wanted to do the WOD but I was too tired. I was drained and I would have done horribly in that workout. It looked like lots of fun but my body didn’t want to cooperate. Sometimes, it’s best to just take a break and hit it hard the next time.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
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| Colorway (Cool Grey/Wolf Grey/Black/Metallic Gold) |
The Nike hype hasn’t died down with the release of the new Nike Metcon 2. I had a difficult time trying to pick up a pair at launch but they were sold out. My fiance was able to get them from Footlocker.com but they were back ordered. I waited until late February and I’ve been wearing them ever since. If you liked the previous version of the Metcon, you’re going to love the Metcon 2. I will be comparing these shoes to the previous versions which I have reviewed on this site. Check out my previous reviews on the Metcon 1’s for more info.
The sole doesn’t look too different from the previous version and that’s not a bad thing.
Changed the heel by adding more padding. Heel should slip less.
The plastic heel works and I do feel less resistance. I’m not sure how much of a difference it’s going to be but it will take some stress off the sole. The wall has to be flat and smooth since that plastic piece will be able to grab onto cracks. I haven’t encountered that problem yet but it might be something to look at.
6 pull ups
9 power cleans (95 lb.)
12 toes to bar
This was a fun partner workout and I was excited to do it. My partner and I decided to split the reps by alternating movements. I would start on the pull ups and then he would do the power cleans and I would finish with toes to bar. I wanted to finish eight rounds, which would put us at a round every two minutes. I felt this was achievable since my partner and I are similar in fitness. The toes to bar would probably be our hardest movement. I’m still not great at it but hopefully I can recover between rounds.
We started out great, doing the first round in under a minute. I knew we would be able to keep this pace so I decided to slow down a bit so that we wouldn’t die out halfway through the workout. We were able to keep going at a steady pace until the sixth round. My partner and I had to take longer breaks between movements which slowed our pace. We completed eight rounds, six pull ups and nine power cleans.
Group WOD
The sled pull was the same distance except without the burpees or air squats. I haven’t done sled pulls in awhile and it was murder on my quads. It was a lot of fun however. Everyone was working hard and it was great motivation to push harder. This was a fun workout and I wish we did more of them.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
This was a fun workout since I did this workout with one of my gaming friends. He’s been looking for a way to lose weight and I recommended my gym, CrossFit Gof Metgot. He likes the gym and has been consistent with workouts. He’s been doing great and I hope he sticks with it. Another friend has just finished the on ramp and will be starting regular classes soon.The run was broken up into 100 m shuttle runs. We each did five runs and then started on the rest of the movements. We broke up the reps in half. I felt like 10 reps a round would be okay, and would have a good enough time to recover for the next movement. I was able to do the workout Rx and my partner had to scale the handstand push ups and pistols.
The run was different since it was a shuttle and not a straight run. I was able to keep the same pace throughout and recovered just in time for the rest of the workout. I was able to keep a constant pace on the handstand push ups. I did the reps unbroken except for the last set. I took a bit longer on the pistol squats however. I’m not as strong on pistols which caused me to take more time. The row was great. I was able to actively recover and not lose intensity. Our score was 3 rounds + 20 hspu’s + 20 pistol squats.
I’m starting to like snatch complexes. My wrist has been limiting a lot of my overhead work but today it wasn’t too bad. I warmed up light and worked up to a 135 lb. rep. I was limited on time so I didn’t add more weight. Also, 135 lb. is my 1RM for power snatches so I’m not sure if I could have went heavier.
WOD – EMOM for 8 Minutes
5 power snatches at 60% 1RM (85 lb.)
5 lateral burpees over barbell
This workout was going to be tough. I just finished a heavy snatch complex and it had burpees. My main goal was to sustain a high intensity, so I decided to try and finish all the reps before 30 seconds. I didn’t want to go with heavier snatches since I would have rested longer. I was doing well for the first few minutes, finishing the round around 20 seconds. I hit the wall around the fifth minute. I could feel myself slowing down finishing the reps around 25 – 30 seconds. I tried to push through it but I wasn’t able to finish the last round under 30 seconds. I finished at 40 seconds which is not too bad. I was able to sustain a high intensity for most of the workout. I’m happy with my performance.
Partner WOD – Eva, 25 Minute Time Cap
5 rounds
Run (800 m)
30 kettlebell swings (70 lb.)
30 pull-ups
The run was done at the same time with each partner running a 400 m. The kettlebell swings were split at 15 per person and the pull ups were split into three sets of five each. The run wasn’t too bad but as most of you guys know, I hate running. The kettlebell swings were my favorite movement. I decided to stay at the Rx weight of 70 lb. and not scale. I was able to do all reps unbroken which surprised me. The pull ups were okay until the third round. I was tired and my breaks between sets became longer as time went on. I also was doing smaller sets since my grip wouldn’t let me stay on the bar. We didn’t finish this workout under the time cap, we were able to finish four rounds with one more to go.
I think I could have done more in this workout and might have paced it too conservatively. At the end of the workout I was very tired but I could have pushed myself a bit more. I’ll try and up the intensity in future workouts.
We made it! After four weeks of killer workouts the 2016 Open is coming to a close with an epic workout. If you’ve been playing the “Guess the Workout” mini game with Dave Castro and instagram, the picture of roadkill with the caption “#16point5” was eye opening. Many people predicted thrusters and a repeat workout. Most of us were thinking 14.5 or 15.5, either way it was going to suck.
When he announced 14.5 is 16.5, I wasn’t scared, I was excited. Check out this POST for my history with 14.5. It has been a year since I redid 14.5 and I wanted to hit a PR with this workout. I was shooting for under 20 minutes but it was going to be difficult.
Workout 16.5
21-18-15-12-9-6-3
Thrusters (95 lb.)
Bar facing burpees
I wanted to break the thrusters up into three sets until the round of nine. I would probably be able to do two sets or go unbroken. My strategy for the burpees was to keep a steady pace. The last time I did it, the burpees were the hardest part.
I was able to get through the first three rounds of thrusters without much trouble. Fatigue set in but I was able push through it and stick to my game plan. The burpees however were a different story. I started out consistent but I hit a wall midway through the round of 15. I was exhausted and as much as I wanted to keep up with my pace, I started to slow down. I would take long breaks in between reps. Thankfully I had my coach and fellow members push me to keep going. It was tough, but I finished with a time of 21:14, which is 4:34 PR! I didn’t finish under my goal time but I’m happy with my performance. In the future, when we retest this workout, I will be under 20 minutes!
I hope you hit a PR with that workout. I will be trying to catch up with my weekly posts and recap the open. It has been a crazy five weeks.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
8-Bit Barbell 