Tuesday
Wednesday
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
I haven’t been doing much bench work lately. My range was probably going to be between 165 lb. – 185 lb. After warming up to 165 lb. I was able to complete five reps without much resistance so I went up to 185 lb. The weight was heavy but I was able to complete five reps each set. I ran out of time and stopped at four sets.
It has been a year since I’ve done this workout. I scaled the cleans and ring dips but this time, I decided to Rx the cleans. I have been doing a lot of work at 135 lb. thanks to the barbell club. I would have to be smart about how I broke up the sets. My plan was going to be to break up each round into three sets.The cleans were manageable for the first round. I broke up the reps into sevens and the ring dips were the same. I tried to do the first round Rx but I gave up after rep 14. I haven’t been doing much dip work lately and it shows. The second round wasn’t too bad but I was a lot slower. The last round of nine, was hard. One of the coaches was pushing me to finish, making sure I would do at least one rep before resting. After finishing the cleans I felt light headed. I tried to do ring dips but I stopped after the first two reps. I couldn’t finish the last seven. My breathing was horrible and I just sat down and caught my breath. I had about two minutes left before time cap but I couldn’t get up and finish. That was the first time I felt that bad during a workout. My lack of conditioning shows and it sucks. I need to find a way to balance both.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
When I read the workout I thought it was alternating movements. I thought it was a piece of cake until the coaches explained the workout. It was a lot of work and since I haven’t been doing much cardio, this workout was going to hurt. I decided to use a 16 lb. medicine ball but I should have went lighter. 14 lb. or 8 lb. would have been more manageable. The first few rounds went well. I was getting my run done under 30 seconds and I would finish the wall balls with about 40 seconds of rest. At the half way mark, my performance went downhill. I would finish the run around 40 seconds and only do about five wall balls or less. It was very tough and I wanted to finish but I didn’t have it in me.I learned a few things from this workout. The first lesson was read the workout carefully. My mindset going into it was a lot more relaxed and I should have mentally prepared for it. The second lesson was that I need to do more than just barbell club. I’ve noticed my lifts have gotten better but my endurance have gotten worse. I need to find a good balance. Lastly, I should have went with my gut and got a lighter ball. I’m not sure how much of a difference it would have made but I shouldn’t have gone that heavy if I couldn’t finish all the reps.
After that brutal workout, this wasn’t too bad. I was able to finish 76 reps at the end of three mintues.
I wasn’t sure how these deadlifts were going to go. I haven’t been doing conventional deadlifts lately and all my pulls are done at lighter weights. I worked up to my 80% and managed to not break my form. I made sure my form wasn’t compromised for all sets and it felt great to deadlift relatively heavy again.
This was fun and I partnered with my fiance. I wanted to split the row into 500 m sets but she advised against it saying 250 m would be a better distance. We used a light medicine ball (4 lb.) for the sit ups. *Spoiler Alert* we did not make it to the kb swings so the weights are not important.The row started off great. 500 m sets would have sucked and thankfully she had enough foresight to only go 250 m. I was able to catch my breath between sets and it wasn’t too bad. The sit ups were more difficult than the row. My abs started to cramp up around rep 80 or so. I would need to take a short rest before resuming. The air squats is where we stopped at the time cap. We made it through 160 air squats at time. We had to take short breaks since the rest between sets were not enough. I’m happy with our score since we pushed eachother to work hard.
Heavy push press session was great. I’m still learning some techniques but it felt great. It was heavy but I managed to get through all the reps.
This was a fun partner workout. My goal for this workout was at least two rounds. My biggest issue would be the overhead squats. The work was split equally. The kb swings were not too bad. The reps were broken up into sets of 10. The double unders went well. I was able to complete 40 reps before breaking. The overhead squats were broken up into sets of 10. I had to break it up into sets of five during the last two sets.The second round did not go as well. I was gassed by this point and I wasn’t moving very well. I was able to keep up with the kb swings but I lost it at the double unders. I would do around 5-10 reps before tripping. I was exhausted and my timing was horrible. I think we could have finished more reps if I didn’t mess up this section. The overhead squats were not as bad as the double unders but we started running out of time. We finished 1 round and 192 reps at time. We were so close to two rounds!
My snatches are starting to feel better. I had to adjust my pulls at the lighter weight because I was catching the bar high. As the weight became heavier, it was easier. The second round felt better than the first. It was probably because I was warmed up. Most of the reps felt really great and I didn’t make huge mistakes or any misses.
2 clean + 1 jerk at 75% (165 lb.)This workout was rough since I tried to keep the reps under 30 seconds. This way, I would have enough time to rest. The first few rounds, the cleans were not too bad but became harder as time went on. The jerks were the easiest part and I decided to focus mostly on form. I was able to get in good reps even though I was tiring out from the cleans. I’m still having some issues with grip but hopefully the stretches alleviate the discomfort. I may want to try and lower the bar on the first clean instead of dropping it before the second clean. This way I can also work on grip strength as I lower the bar.
Did these reps quickly without resting too long. I took about a minute between sets.
This was a fight. 245 lb. felt a lo heavier than 80%. The first two sets were great. My breathing was on point and I manage to keep my elbows up and back straight. The third set on was a struggle. I couldn’t keep a full grip on the bar and it would eventually go on my finger tips. My breathing was a bit harder to control and I felt like I was collapsing in the bottom position. It wasn’t too bad but I know where my weaknesses are in the squat. Not sure how I strengthen it either, hopefully doing more squats and midline work will make it easier.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
If you’re in the US, I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend.
Push Press – 6×2 at 80% (165 lb.)
The push press didn’t feel too heavy and I was able to get through it quickly. I focused on my front rack position and my dip and drive.
Snatch pull + power snatchThis was a different snatch complex then the previous weeks. The snatch pull felt great while, the power snatch was a little off at the 70% and 75%. My shoulder have been sore for the past week or two and my shoulders didn’t feel as strong. Thankfully, I felt great at 80%. I may need to warm up longer in the future.
Power clean was easy compared to the power snatch. Worked on my first pull since I tend to rush it.
I haven’t moved 300+ lb. in a few weeks but these back squats felt great. I had a few reps where my weight shifted to my forefot and toes but I was able to correct it in later reps. I’m starting to feel more confident in heavier back squats.
I started doing Burgener warm ups before every snatch session and it helps a lot. The lifts started off a bit rocky but felt a lot better as the weights increased. The two sets at 125 lb. felt easier than the two sets at 95 lb.
2 squat cleans + split jerk
This was fun but was tiring. I would finish the round under 30 seconds, just to make sure I had enough time to rest. The squat cleans felt great and I was able to get through them without much trouble. I focused on my split jerk form since a few reps didn’t feel great. I was able to complete all lifts but it could have been a lot better.
After doing the clean and jerk complex, these were easy. My pulls feel a lot stronger now.
Front Squat – 5×2 at 80% (245 lb.)
Started the day off with front squats. I warmed up a bit but I wasn’t comfortable with the squat until the second set. I worked on my front squat issues mainly my breathing. I’m not close to being comfortable with my breathing but it’s getting better. I also worked on staying active in the bottom and keeping my chest and elbows up.
The snatch pulls went well. I focused on not rushing my first pull and finishing in a good postion.
Chin ups
At first glance, I knew this was going to be hard. I didn’t know what my goals were going to be for each movement. Kb swings were going to be tough especially at 72 lb. I had a feeling my grip would start to give out in the later rounds. The chin ups were going to be tough as well. I haven’t been doing gymnastics movements since I started doing more Oly lifts so this would be interesting. I decided to throw some numbers as goals. I wanted at least 10 kb swings and 5 chin ups.
During the first round I was able to get 15 kb swings and 5 chin ups. The kb swings were not bad but the chin ups were difficult. I was doing them strict since I’m not sure if their is a way to kip a chin up. The first round set the pace for the last four and I was determined to keep up with the number. I dropped to 19 reps during rounds two and three. I would complete 15 reps of the kb swings but I would drop to four chin ups. During round four I was only able to do 10 kb swings but I was able to complete four chin ups. I was able to complete 20 reps during the last round.
It was a great workout and I’m happy that I got to complete some gymnastics work. I have been slacking in the gymnastics department but I plan to do more work and get better. Need to find that balance between CrossFit and Oly lifting.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
WOD – AMRAP 9 Minutes
Row 30 cals.
-then-
5 burpees
10 pull-ups
15 kettlebell swings, Russian (54 lb.)
This was a difficult workout for me and I didn’t do as well as I hoped. The row wasn’t too bad. I kept a good pace and was off in good amount of time. The burpees and kettlebell swings were not too bad as well but I struggled with the pull ups. Since starting the Barbell Club, my gymnastics movements have deteriorated. I need to incorporate more strict movements into my training maybe doing more strict pull ups and handstand push ups. Other than my pull ups feeling horrible, the workout was great. I completed three rounds.
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Link: EPISODE 9
I’m starting to like pulls and they’re starting to feel better.
Went up 15 lb. from last time time I did this workout. It was just as difficult as last time. I had to control my breathing and keep my chest up. It was rough but I got it done.
Clean and Jerk Complex – 5×1 at 75% (170 lb.)
1 power clean + 3 jerks
The clean and jerks were not too bad. I tried to keep the rest at two minutes between reps. My jerks are improving and hopefully I get more confidant with higher weights.
Same as Wednesday and just as great. All the pulls felt good, and I didn’t make too many errors. Great way to end the week.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
I under estimated this workout. The weight wasn’t too heavy and I thought it would be easy. After the first minute, I realized it was going to be a lot harder. Two squat cleans and a jerk add up quickly. I tried to recover but I could never fully catch my breath. I was able to finish the workout but it was tough.
I’m not sure if I was tired from all the squat cleans but the back squats felt very heavy.
The hardest part for me was the row. We broke up the row into sets of 25 cals. which was bearable. I tried to keep a pace of one cal. per pull but I wasn’t able to keep it up for too long. The shuttle run wasn’t too bad. We did 100 m intervals which gave us enough time to catch our breath. The other movements were not too bad. I almost finished the power cleans unbroken but by grip started to give out. We finished the workout with 1 round plus 100 cal. row and 50 m run.
This workout was better than Monday. I was able to finish it quickly without much trouble. I felt a lot stronger than Monday.
This session of back squats was better than Monday. It was heavier than Monday but I wasn’t too worried. I was still feeling the aftermath of the clean complex but I took some time to recover before warming up. My legs felt great so I gained more confidence in my lifts. I was able to get through all the sets without much of an issue. 285 lb. is not as heavy as it used to be!
Lift Heavy and Level Up!
A lot of sets but I was able to finish quickly. I rested about two minutes between each set.
No Feet Power Cleans – 5×3 reps at 70% (165 lb.)
I haven’t done this drill in awhile. I had to do a few reps just to make sure I wasn’t moving my feet. After getting used to it, I was able to finish the workout with out issue.
I found a few issues with my form while doing this workout. I noticed my heels would come off the floor during the push press. I need to work on my hip mobility and flexibility. The first few sets of snatch balances were uncomfortable since my hips were still tight. I need to warm up better before lifting.
Had to use straps for this workout. It was easier to focus on form since I wasn’t worried about my grip.
More strict press work. I took two minutes after every set to rest. Was able to finish this workout under thirty minutes which was a good pace. The last two sets were the hardest. My form wasn’t that great but I managed to finish it.
3 second decent, 10 second pause
Like the pause front squat workout, this one sucked. However, it showed me a weaknesses in my squat. I had a difficult time breathing under the weight. I tried to keep my torso upright but I would collapse a bit after the 8th second. I was able to do both reps without rest for three sets. During the last two sets, I would rest a bit after the first rep. I was worried I would pass out and took the time to catch my breath.
The did this workout a year ago and I had to scale it. Instead of muscle ups I would do four chest to bar pull ups and two ring dips. I also used a lighter kettlebell for the swings. This time, I was able to do it mostly Rx with the exception of the muscle up which I scaled to bar.
The workout went great and I didn’t have too much trouble. I didn’t miss a rep on the muscle ups which I’m stoked about. Like most workouts, fatigue was an issue. The kettlebell swings were the hardest movement. I had to reset my feet a few times because I would lose control. It wasn’t too bad, just a step or two forward every few reps. I was able to hold on, and complete the set unbroken. We were able to complete 19 rounds plus two muscle ups and two handstand push ups.
Lift Heavy and Level Up!