My Week As RX

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): May 14 – May 20

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Check out my Instagram @8bit_barbell to see some lifts from this week.

Monday

Overhead Squat –  Find a 3RM

I set a new 3RM at the end of April and I was determined to set a new one. My goal was to at least lift 225 lb. I warmed up to 226 lb. and started my lift. The jerk felt great and was able steady the weight overhead. I almost lost the first rep because I was slightly off balance. I was able to gain control of the weight and complete the rep. The last two reps were quick and had no issues with the reps. This lift was a multiple PR lift. I PR’d my overhead squat of 225 lb. by 1 lb. and my 3RM by 11 lb.

WOD – For Time, 20 Minute Time Cap

4 Rounds

25 Squat Cleans (75 lb.)
Run (400 m)

After that overhead squat PR, I was ready to take on this workout. However, I greatly underestimated this WOD. At 75 lb. I was sure I could get through all the squat cleans, and take it easy on the run. The workout started okay but I knew I was in trouble after the first round. My 3RM attempts caught up with me and I could feel the burn in my legs. I kept a steady pace during the cleans, doing fast singles but I had to change it up in round two. I decided to go with a 5×5 scheme with a short rest in between sets. This worked but I took too long during the rest. I finished this workout with two rounds, 25 squat cleans and 200 m.

Tuesday

Snatch Complex 

Power Snatch + Hang Snatch + Overhead Squat

Haven’t worked on snatches in awhile but I was excited to try this out. The movements felt good and I can tell that I’m getting stronger. My technique still needs a lot of work after watching the replay. I’m pulling the bar too high and I’m slow to get under the bar. I was able to PR this complex at 165 lb. which led me to try any max out my snatch at 175 lb.

Snatch

This attempt was not programmed but I felt good doing the complex that I decided to try this out. After two failed attempts, I was able to successfully lift one at 175 lb. While I missed two tries, I felt very optimistic about future reps. Like the snatch complex I need to work on technique and my snatch suffered from the same problems. I’m pulling too high and moving too slow. This means that if I fix my technique, I could lift more weight!

Partner WOD – AMRAP 18 Minutes

Run (1000m)
Row (1000m)
Then in remaining time, AMRAP
30 Deadlifts (225 lb.)
90 Double Unders

This was a fun partner workout that wasn’t as bad as I though it was going to be. We split the run into 100 m sprints and split the row into 250 m sets. The deadlifts and double unders were split into sets of five and 45 respectively.
The run was not too bad since the distance was short. I was going at a quick pace but was not sprinting and the rest in between each run was enough for me to catch my breath. Towards the end of the run I slowed down a bit but it wasn’t too much. The row was much easier. I kept a quick pace (1:45/500m) and was not breathing too hard when we finished this part of the workout around minute 11 or 12.

The rest of the workout was tough. After all that work, the deadlifts felt very heavy. Breaking up the reps into sets of five really helped and I was able to go unbroken on all my sets. The double unders however were not as smooth. I would do a few and then break because I hit my feet or my arms were too tired. This was the longest part of the workout since I couldn’t string a lot of them together. After 18 minutes we finished with 2 rounds, 30 deadlifts and 36 double unders.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx Probably Scaled: December 11 – December 17

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Friday

Back Squat – 7×5 at 75% (275 lb.)

After not working out the whole week, I start up with back squats. The programming calls for 75% + 10 – 15 lb. increase from the last week. I haven’t been squating lately so I stay at my actual 75%. After warm ups I get to the bar and start my first set. I was able to control the weight on the decent but was slow on the ascent. I was trying to be more explosive but I could stand up quick enough. After a few more sets, my legs warmed up and I was able to be quicker. I was only able to finish six out of seven sets at 75% because of time limitations. Great squat day and I’m feeling more confident.

WOD – 10 Minutes

150 Double Unders
–then in remaining time, AMRAP:
15 Wall Balls (20 lb.)
15 Power Cleans (95 lb.)

After the squat session, I knew this workout was going to suck. My legs were going to be working hard for the next 10 minutes. The double unders were going to give me a hard time as well as the wall balls. The power cleans were going to be okay since it’s a light weight for me to cycle.

I was able to complete 75 unbroken double unders before my arms started to tire. It was hard to string reps after. I would be able to complete up to 10 reps before I would trip again or I would stop because my arms couldn’t keep going. I finished the double under, three minutes into the workout and started on the “hard part” of the workout.

I hate wall balls and they were the first movement after the double unders. My strategy was to break up the wall balls and power cleans into sets of two. The wall balls were slow and steady. I would take a few seconds between each set to catch my breath and try to get back to the movement quickly. The power cleans were the same. After the first round, I could feel the exhaustion catching up to me and would take more rest in between sets. It was tough and I finished with two rounds and 13 wall balls. I was shooting for three rounds but I wasn’t able to get there. Fun workout for the week.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

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

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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

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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!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): September 11 – September 17

Nick PalomoLeave a comment

If you want to see my workout week, check out my Beyond the Whiteboard profile.

Tuesday

Back Squat – Find a Heavy Set of 5

My goal for this back squat session was to beat my numbers from last week. I lifted 120 kg. for five, so today I was shooting for 125 kg. I warmed up to 100 kg and added 10 kg each set. My form felt off but I focused and was able to do a few reps that felt better. I was able to lift 120 kg without much trouble but I did stick around the fifth rep. I added 5 kg and started my lifts. I was able to complete the first two reps without issue. The weight felt heavy at rep four and five but I was able to stand them up. I wasn’t confident enough to add more weight and stopped at 125 kg. I was able to reach my goal but I didn’t feel 100%.

WOD – Fight Gone Bad Style

5 Rounds, 1 Minute Per Station

Box Jumps
Wall Balls
Row (Cals.)
Rest 1 Minute

After the heavy squats we had a killer leg workout. I knew the box jumps and wall balls were going to be the hardest movements to keep consistent. I didn’t want to scale the box jumps either. I wanted to make sure I jump and not step up.

I finished the first round with 16 box jumps, 17 wall balls, and 14 calories on the wall balls. I was shooting for a total of 50 reps. I came up short and it was tough to reach those numbers. I decided to lower my reps on the wall balls and box jumps and try to increase the calories on the rower. The next  three rounds were 40, 34 and 38 reps. I couldn’t maintain the reps on the wall balls and box jumps. I would do a few and then rest for five seconds. My legs were on fire and I couldn’t push through it like I wanted to. After the third round I was dissatisfied with my score. I had to increase my intensity but I was already getting tired. I didn’t know if I would be able to increase my reps. I dug deep and I was able to increase my reps on the fourth round and in the fifth round I was able to complete 40 reps. I was exhausted but I was able to come back from giving up and finish the workout.

Wednesday

Snatch – Find a 1 Rep Heavy

I haven’t done heavy snatches in a while and my wrist was not 100%. My last heavy snatch and PR was at 171 lb. but I knew I wasn’t going to hit a number that close. My focus was to maintain good form and go as heavy as I could.

I started out at 40 kg and worked up to 60 kg. At 60 kg, I could feel the strain on my right wrist. I completed the lift and added 5 kg. I completed the lift but I had to struggle to save it. I was able to stand it up but I could still feel the pain in my wrist. I loaded another 5 kg on the bar and attempted a rep and failed. I wasn’t moving as quickly as I should have and it showed. I wasn’t able to get under the bar but I set up for another attempt. The next attempt was the same, a miss. I was dissappointed but I understood. I haven’t been doing heavy snatches and I’m not used to them. It’s going to take some time but I’ll be lifting at my previous weights.

Clean and Jerk Complex – 5×1 at 85% (90 kg)

2 Power Cleans + 1 Split Jerk

The percentage was taken from my power clean 1RM at about 104 kg. The power cleans were heavier than expected. I was able to complete the first rep quickly but the second rep took a lot more effort. The jerk felt awkward at first but by the third or fourth set, I was able to smooth out the lift.

Overall, my clean and jerks were better than my snatches. I’m not surprised, we have been doing more cleans and not a lot of snatch work. The barbell club programming is a lot of fun and will try and incorporate some of the lifting sessions with the classes.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): September 4 – September 10

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Thursday

3 Position Power Clean – Find a 1 Rep Heavy

I haven’t done heavy power cleans in awhile, especially a three position clean. The last time was about two months ago with a final weight of 85 kg (187 lb.). My max has been 215 lb., about a year ago. I wasn’t super confident about the weight so I decided to focus more on technique.

Working up to a heavy set felt good and muscle memory took over. At 205 lb. the hardest lift was the hang power clean because of grip issues. The power and high hang positions were relatively easy. I failed the hang clean about twice before completing one. I was able to do the high hang clean easy which means I need to work on more grip and more hang cleans.

WOD

Chipper – For Time

25 wall balls (20 lb.)
10 hang power cleans (95 lb.)
25 wall balls (20 lb.)
10 power cleans (95 lb.)
25 wall balls (20 lb.)
10 squat cleans (95 lb.)
25 wall balls (20 lb.)

I hate wall balls! Which is why I should be working on them more. 100 reps is going to suck but like all workouts, I’ll just have to power through. The cleans looked easy but the wall balls were going to make them miserable.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to break up the reps for the wall balls. I was thinking, 15 reps and then 10. If I start to die out, I will switch to three sets of five with a minimal rest. At the start of the workout, I was able to hit my wall ball sets. The hang power cleans were fast, under 20 seconds. The second and subsequent sets of wall balls were much more difficult. I had to break them up and took much longer breaks in between. My legs and shoulder were on fire which made the cleans that much harder. It was tough and I didn’t do as well as I wanted. I was looking at eight to nine minutes but I finished in 11:18.

Friday

Back Squat – Find a 5 Rep Heavy

The coaches advised me to work up to 75% of my 1RM which would be around 275 lb. I haven’t done much squatting in the past few months and I knew I was going to be rusty. I started to warm up and worked up to 240 lb. I felt different during my squats. My form and movement felt off. I focused on keeping perfect form which helped. I was hoping it was rust and I could shake it off with the next lift. I added 265 lb. to the bar and started my set. It was a lot heavier than I thought but thankfully I had a lifting partner giving me encouragement. I finished the last rep and decided to stop there. Hopefully, my strength comes back in the coming months.

Partner WOD – AMRAP 25 Minutes

25 sit ups
3 rope climbs
Run (400 m)

This workout was going to be tough on the legs. 400 m is not a long distance but it was going to hurt after that squat session. We decided to split the reps in alternating rounds. Sets of five for the sit ups and alternating reps on the rope climbs. One round, one person would do five more sit ups and rope climbs and then alternate between partners. I decided to do the rope climbs while my wife decided to scale.

Our goal for the workout was to finish at least five rounds, A pace of five minutes per round was achievable but we would have to push the run. The first round went well, we zipped through the movements fairly easily. The second round went the same but we started having trouble on the the third round. The sit-ups were quick but I had to take a break on the rope climbs. I have a slight fear of heights and I had to catch my breath and calm myself before attempting the reps. We also took more time on the run, taking a break after 200 m. We would walk for about 10-15 seconds before finishing the run portion.

This continued into the fourth round as well. We started our fifth round at four minutes to time cap. Finishing the round was going to be hard, but we were going to try our best. We breezed through the sit ups but I had to take a minute before the rope climbs. We finished our reps and started the run with about a minute left. We were exhausted and tried our best but we were short of our five round goal. We hit the time with only 100 m finished. It was a great workout but that run killed us.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): August 28 – September 3

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Wednesday

Hero WOD – Manion

“First Lieutenant Travis Manion, 26, of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, assigned to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Camp Pendleton, California, was killed by sniper fire on April 29, 2007 while fighting against an enemy ambush in Anbar Province, Iraq. He is survived by his father, Colonel Tom Manion, mother Janet Manion, and sister Ryan Borek.” – Source: CrossFit.com

7 Rounds For Time

Run (400m)
29 back squat (135 lb.)

I knew I would not be able to do this workout Rx. 135 lb. back squats are not too heavy but 203 reps is a lot. I talked to my coach and he suggested scaling to 115 lb. After doing a short warm up, I was ready to start this workout. My goal was to keep a steady pace and finish each round under five minutes.

During the workout, the run was consistent. I was able to keep a steady pace, even into the later rounds. It wasn’t the run that was giving me issues, it was the back squats. I started to first round at 115 lb. and broke up the sets into 10, 10 and 9. This worked well for the first two rounds but by the third, I had to take off 20 lb. I was able to sustain this for two more rounds until I dropped the weight altogether and did air squats. The time cap was coming up and I had to scale in order to finish. At this point I was breaking up the air squats into sets of 10, 10 and 9 and I kept up this pace until the end of the workout. I finished the workout at 44:00.

Friday

Alternating EMOM: 6 Minutes

15 wall balls (20 lb.)
15 burpees

This was a fun warm up. I was able to finish all reps under 45 seconds and get 15 seconds of rest. Started to get very difficult around the last two rounds.

WOD – For Time

5K Row

This was my first time rowing a 5K. The longest I’ve done in one sitting was a 2K and I didn’t know how it was going to go. I started off slow, keeping a pace of 2:10/500m. The first 1000m was not bad and I was able to finish it under 4:20. As I moved closer to 2,500m I could feel my legs start to fatigue. I eased up my pace to about 2:20/500m and tried to keep my pulls consistent. At 4,000m I could feel the energy slowly drain away. I tried to stay focused and keep steady pulls as I watched the monitor increase. I was able to hold on and finished at 22:28. Now I have a goal to shoot for in the next rowing session.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): July 3 – July 9

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If you want to see my workout week, check out my Beyond the Whiteboard profile.

Strength

Deadlift – Find 1 Rep Max

I was not confident going into this 1RM lift. I had to scale my weights during the cycle and couldn’t reach anything over 90% of my 1RM. Regardless, I was going to attempt something. Over 95% of my 1RM or a new 1RM was going to be my goal.

I warmed up to 365 lb. and started to add on 20 lb. each jump. I was able to lift 385 lb. and went up to 405 lb. This lift was about 98% of my current 1RM. My back was straight and my form look good. I decided to go up to 420 lb. to attempt a new 1RM. I gripped the barbell and pulled. The bar started coming up about two inches then I dropped it. I felt my core weaken and my back start to round slightly. I didn’t want to continue and risk losing form. I reached a goal, hitting 98% of my 1RM. If I did more deadlifts during the cycle, I probably could have hit a new PR.

WOD

Jackie

Row (1000 m)
50 thrusters
30 pull ups

The last time I did Jackie it was over two years ago. My previous time was 10:53 and my new goal was to finished under 10 minutes. Pull ups were going to be the hardest movement to get through. I can handle the thrusters but the pull ups were going to be rough. The row was not bad. I kept a pace of 1:40-1:50 per 500m, which took me about four minutes to finish. The I thought the thrusters were going to be easier but it was a grind. I did 15 reps and then stopped. I rested for a few second and picked up the bar. Towards the end of the thrusters I was doing about 5-10 reps.

The pull ups were my weakest movement. I was not able to string more than five reps together and towards the end was only doing two or three reps at a time. I’m not sure how long I took to do the thrusters and pull ups but I finished at 10:48. I didn’t know this was a PR until I entered it into BTWB. I was 48 seconds faster this time around. I thought I went over my previous time and this surprise made me feel better about the workout. Small victories.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): June 26 – July 2

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If you want to see my workout week, check out my Beyond the Whiteboard profile

Strength

Deadlift – 3×3 at 95% (405 lb.)

My goal was to try and complete one set of deadlifts at 405 lb. but after a few weeks of deadlifts, I knew it was a lofty goal. I worked up to 365 lb. and added 10 lb. every set. 365 lb. felt a lot heavier than what I was used to and I didn’t want to make large weight jumps. At 375 lb. and 385 lb. I was able to complete one set, but I failed to get more than one rep at 395 lb. I decided to drop back to 385 lb. but I was only able to finish two reps in the set. I completed the last two sets at 375 lb.

I was frustrated during this strength session because I felt weak. 385 lb. and 395 lb. used to be manageable and I would be able to finish all three sets at this weight. I have to remind myself that I need to put in the work in order to maintain strength.

WOD

Partner WOD – 40 Minute Time Cap

Row (100 cals.)
100 wall balls (20 lb./10 ft.)
Rest 5 Minutes
15-12-9
Clusters (135 lb.)
Muscle Ups
Rest 5 Minutes
100 wall balls (20 lb./10 ft.)
Row (100 cals.)

This is a repeat workout that I did in 2015. I wasn’t writing about my workouts back then so I can’t recall how that workout went other than the result on BTWB. Previously, I modified the workout since I was not able to complete muscle ups then. We also reached the time cap at 40 minutes. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to Rx this workout. I haven’t been able to complete a muscle up since last year. I have been doing more strict pull up work and decided to try and complete a muscle up instead of scaling. Surprisingly, I made one rep and it felt like riding a bike. I did two more to get used the movement and I was ready for the wod.The first part of the workout was divided evenly, the row was two sets of 25 cals. and the wall balls were broken up into five sets of 10 reps. The row went well, both of us kept a good pace and finished quickly. The wall balls were harder but not by much. Breaking the reps down into sets of 10 really helped. I was able to get some rest while my partner did some work. The last 10 – 20 reps were difficult but we powered through and before we knew it, five minute break!

The cluster muscle up workout was the easiest part. Since I was comfortable with the weight, I did the extra rep on odd sets. My rep scheme was 5-3, 6, 5 for this part of the workout. I did single reps instead of touch and go, resting for a second or two before the next rep of clusters. After finishing the clusters I moved on the muscle ups doing single reps as well. The rep scheme followed the clusters while my partner scaled the muscle up portion. This section went by quick and then we were able to rest for another five minutes.

The last section of the workout was a lot harder than expected. I knew it was going to be harder than the first section but I didn’t think it was going to be as difficult. We powered through the 100 reps of wall balls using the same rep scheme. I almost gave up and broke up the sets into reps of five but my partner pushed me to keep going. After the last set of wall balls, we walked to the rower. We did lower the sets for this section, completing sets of 15 cals. instead of 25 cals. We did two sets of 15 cals. and two sets of 10 cals. We finished the row and the workout at 37:37.

The push was worth it. The last time I did this, I wasn’t able to finish the workout and this time, we crushed it. I haven’t been hitting my strength numbers recently but I’m satisfied with how my metcon times have been coming along. It was great feeling finishing that workout under time cap. Now I just need to push it and be faster next time it pops up on the whiteboard.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!

My Week As Rx (Probably Scaled): May 22 – May 28

Nick PalomoLeave a comment

 

Strength

Strict Press – 3 Rep Max (135 lb.)

I was not able to match my previous 3RM of 145 lb. I was able to lift 135 lb. without a problem but got stuck at 145 lb. We haven’t done strict press in awhile but we have been doing a lot of strict HSPU which I thought would transfer over. Hopefully, I’ll be able to regain my strength in this lift and get back to a new strict press pr!

WOD

AMRAP – 12 Minutes

150 double unders
-then-
AMRAP
15 push press (60 kg)10 front squats (60 kg)
5 power snatches (60 kg)

This was my favorite workout of the week. It’s not too long (20 minutes) and I like all the movements. My goal for this workout was to finish two rounds. Others in previous classes were finishing two to three rounds. The double unders went well and was able to finish 75 reps before breaking. My arms were tired and I couldn’t keep the rhythm. I wasn’t able to go for another 75 reps and had to break it up into a few sets. I finished the double unders around three minutes and started on the barbell portion of the workout.

We did this workout after the strict press 3RM and the 60 kg push press felt heavy. I was able to complete eight reps before dropping the bar. I completed four reps and had to drop the bar again. I had to take a few minutes to recover but I eventually finished the last three reps. The front squats were not a problem in the first round and was able to finish unbroken. I did the power snatches in singles. The second round was harder than the first. The push press was broken up into sets of four to five and I would take a minute in between. I was able to finish ten reps of the front squats by time.

Overall, this was a great workout. I was short of my goal but I did my best. This will be a fun workout to retest.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!