14/12/26 - 14/12/28

After the holidays were over, I decided to stop being a fatty and get some of these cookies out of my system. Did a few different workouts over the course of the last week. I'll lay out a few of them here:

3-6-9-12
OHS @ 95#
C2B Pull Ups

Finished in just under 5 minutes. This was the first workout I did and went pretty slow and steady through the whole thing. 

12 AMRAP
15 Box Jumps @ 24"
12 Push Press @ 95#
9 T2B

Did this with the lady friend, we finished 6 full rounds, I think? On every switch of the partners, had to hit a triple of deadlifts at 275#. Almost puked during this, from over exertion and from trying to drink my protein shake mid-workout. Bad idea. Finished though.

Then, this workout: "Hump Day Mash Up". Brutal workout, with built in rest, that makes you think you're going to be okay... but really, you're not. 

Went in today for some lazy lifting stuff. Hit 3-5 reps at 165 clean and jerk, just to get used to that weight(as it's in a competition later) and some paused snatch + OHS complexes. 

14/12/19 - Update

Normally by now, I'd have up my W3:D1 workout. I actually haven't been to the gym since W2:D3. Coming out of that session, I had some tightness in my right lower back and it has not gone away. It's mostly just bothersome pain, but once in a while it goes to shooting pain mode and that's what worries me. 

So, I'll be out of the gym for not sure how long. Pretty much puts an end to my weightlifting cycle. But, on the upside, I signed up for a partner CF competition in early February. Now I have something to train towards. 

Will provide information on the competition workouts soon, as they've released them already. 

W2D3 : 14/12/14

Snatch Singles: 3 @ 60%, 2 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 1 @ 85%, 1 @ 90%
Clean and Jerk Singles: 3 @ 60%, 2 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 1 @ 85%, 1 @ 90%
Front Squats: 2 Doubles at 90%

Today was the first time I was able to get up to 90%. Starting to get up to the big numbers. Good times. Had a buddy in the gym with me today, it was good to have some lifting partners there. 

Snatches  went well. 90% was 195lbs and it went up super easy. Will put video of it up once it uploads. Felt too easy. Threw 205lbs on the bar and got that up pretty easily as well. That was nice as I haven't put over 200 up in a while. It didn't feel like a max either. PR hunting is going to be fun in a few weeks. 

Clean and Jerk went smoothly as well. 90% was 256. I hit that rather smoothly. Threw on some more weight just for the hell of it and then hit 277 without much trouble. Will put video down below as well. 

Front Squat hit the first double at 270. Which was great, as I failed rather hard on that on Friday. For the second set, I went to exhaustion. Got 4 reps at that weight before I had to drop the bar. 

Snatch Video

Clean and Jerk Video

W2D2 : 14/12/12

Clean and Jerk 5x2 @ 220-240lbs [75-85%]
Clean Pulls 4x3 @ 255-275lbs
Low Hang Snatch 3x2 @ 145lbs, 2x2 @ 155lbs [~75%]
Snatch Balance 4x2 
Front Squat 5x2 @ 240-270

Alright, this day didn't work out that well. I was off my game for some reason. Snatch Balances were just wiped off the docket, my shoulders were completely shot and I could not handle it. I actually lost the last hang snatch. It was up, I was down in the hole, and it just had to come down. My shoulders couldn't hold it up anymore. 

Lost the last set of 270 front squats. Just couldn't get out of the hole. It was bad. Got pretty upset with that one.

You miss lifts sometimes. It happens.

W2D1 : 14/12/11

Snatch 5x2 @ 158-178lbs [75-85%]
Snatch Pulls 4x3 @ 195-215lbs [~100%]
Clean Complex @ 205
Pause Squats 5x2 @ 275-300 [~75%]

So, I think my week one numbers were low. My phone's google sheet doesn't update when I change the formulas. It's kind of annoying. On the plus side, this week's weights felt much better than week one's. 

Snatches felt great. I hit the first rep of the last double as a power snatch, it just went up so easily. I reset and hit two more full snatches to make sure I was getting everything out of the workout. 

I subbed in a Clean Complex that our stength coach had programmed into the class instead of just doing the power cleans. It was more volume work than pure intensity work(which is what the power clean is supposed to be, I think), but it was still a little fun stuff to sub in and get some class time. 

The complex was : 2 hang power clean, 2 power clean, 2 hang clean, 2 front squat. Hit 135, 185, 205 then called it a day. 

 Pause Squats were much better than last week. I don't think my legs were anywhere near as tired as last time. The 275 was easy. I sat down there with 300 for a good 3-4 seconds before firing up. Only the last rep was anything close to difficult. 

W1D3 : 14/12/7

Snatch Singles: 3 @ 60%, 3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 3 @ 85%
Clean and Jerk Singles: 3 @ 60%, 3 @ 70%, 2 @ 75% 2 @ 80%, 3 @ 85%
Front Squats: 2 Singles at 90%

Wasn't really feeling too motivated to get into the gym today, after a long night of hard cider drinking last night. But, finally got in before dinner. 

The weights went up rather easily today. Not going to lie, 85% felt great on both Snatch and Clean and Jerk. I walked out the last attempt at each lift, which had to be rather hilarious to see. They weren't pretty. But, they went up smoothly, it was just the lockouts that seemed to give me a bit of trouble. 

Front Squats were cake. I think I lowballed my numbers here. I hit the first single at 270 with no effort. Actually took the second single for a double, because it just felt that good. 

The only thing bothering me today is my hands. The cold and dry weather is affecting them as I spend more time on the barbell. I've bought some hand recovery lotion that I've been applying nightly, so let's see how they feel next Friday. 

Back to CF classes for a few days now. 

W1D2 : 14/12/5

Clean and Jerk 5x3 @ 205-225lbs [70-80%]
Clean Pulls 4x4 @ 245-265lbs
Low Hang Snatch 5x2 @ 145lbs [~75%]
Snatch Balance 4x3 @ 135-155lbs
Front Squat 5x2 @ 245-265

Clean and Jerk, man, the first set and last set felt pretty rough. The middle ones were fine, once I was warmed up to the weight and everything. But the first set felt heavy(at 205) and the last set felt heavy(at 225). 
Clean Pulls are being treated the same way as the snatch pulls. Slow off the ground with a pause at position two. 
Hang Snatches were dreadful. By this point, my hands were shot and the winter was ripping at my skin. Kept my straps around for these, but ended up just dropping between reps to save my hands more.
Snatch Balances have never been an easy exercise for me. For some reason, I just never could figure these out. Today was a lot better though, was dropping directly into the hole and these didn't feel too awful. Progress!
Front Squat went about as well as it could have. The last set of 265 was tough as I had expected it to be. 

Pretty sore and tired from last night's training session. Looking forward to tomorrow's recovery day. About to shower and try out some new hand lotion I bought to see if it helps my cracked paws.

W1D1 : 14/12/4

Snatch 5x3 @ 145-165lbs [70-80%]
Snatch Pulls 4x4 @ 185-205lbs [~100%]
P Clean & P Jerk 5x1 @ 205 [75%]
Pause Squats 4x3 @ 275 [~75%]

Snatches were feeling pretty good. My chest/shoulders are a bit tired from a goat workout last night with a ton of ring dips, but they held together alright under the light weights. 
Snatch Pulls, I kind of changed the programming here. I did slow pulls to the knees and then paused for a two count and then finished the pull. So, it's more of a technique + strength exercise. These are bruuuutal. Just really focusing on staying on the heels, stretching the hams and glutes. Buuuurning.
Power Clean and Power Jerk are always fun. I hate power variations, because I think they're lazy. Truth is that power variations of these movements teach you to move the bar in a different manner. You have to pull the bar to a particular height that is a lot further than your usual receiving position. Variation is key sometimes in these uber technical classic movements.
Pause Squats were depressing. I'm still riding a couple miles each way to work and to the gym on the bike, which fries my legs. I try to tell myself it doesn't, but at 275, this first set was a struggle. They got better and I may have survived at 315, but I was not ready to try it out. The 3 other sets went better and better, as I haven't done pause squats in a while. 

Back At It

So, umm, remember when I used to update this thing regularly? Yeah, me too. Sorry that I've gone off the grid. I've kind of stopped caring about my training and was just doing it. 

That's not to say that things have gone off the tracks or anything. I've been doing some decent things since last I updated. I ran a Spartan sprint. I power snatched 200lbs. I back squatted 385. I've been riding my bike in the bloody freezing cold temperatures. I've competed in an inhouse throwdown at our gym. I went on vacation in the Caribbean and got fat and then came home and realized I suck at being fat. 

But, it's time to get back into it. A buddy at the gym is starting up a Catalyst Athletics weightlifting cycle, so I figured I'd join in. I have my old 3 day adapted programming from the last cycle I ran, I'm just going to run that on a weekend sprint. I've taken off Fridays for the rest of the year, which gives me a pretty good run in the gym of "leave work early on Thursday" through Sunday. 

I'll add a link to the spreadsheet in my google drive, for anyone who is interested. I'll do Day 1 on Thursdays, Day 2 on Friday, rest Saturday, and then Day 3 on Sundays. Monday-Tuesday will be optional CrossFit metcon days and we'll see what this gets me, or how long I can keep with it. 

Should be fun. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18jkZqDOj3SQOg_4thP_knUKdkMVRiVaUuuHe8x8VAmQ/edit?usp=sharing

2014/10/29

Back in action, still achy, but that's becoming the new norm. 

Strength Portion:
2 Push Press + 4 Push Jerk
Took it off the blocks and worked up to 195 for a heavy set. Nice to know I can push press bodyweight overhead for a double. 

20 AMRAP
400m run
9 strict pull ups
12 box jumps @ 24"
15 KB swings @ 1.5 pood

RX was 2 pood, but I pinched something crunchy in my shoulder earlier, so I stuck light and only did Russian swings. No KB overhead for me tonight. 

Finished up 4 full rounds, then the run, pull ups, jumps and 3 swings in the 5th round. Was pretty stoked at not wanting to die during a long cardio workout. 

Improvement!

2014/10/27

Note to self, running three "girl" workouts within as many days is not a great idea. Pretty sore and achy a few days afterwards. I'd attribute a lot of that to my lack of sleep in the past few days though, I've been missing out on an hour or so a night. 

Anyway, went in on Monday for a rather brutal workout. I thought it was going to be tough, but I severely underestimated how bad it really was. 

10 sets of front squat doubles, every 90 seconds
Worked up from 185 to 275. Each set felt good. Only the last set even slowed down at all. 

Then, another "girl" workout. Elizabeth. I've actually never done this one before, but half of it looked awesome and the other half looked shite. So, 50/50, right?

21-15-9
Cleans @ 135 lbs
Ring Dips

First off, I suck at dips. My triceps are horribly under developed in relation to the rest of me. I had to scale back the rep pattern to 15-12-9 because I was falling too far behind. 

To be honest, I don't remember my time. It was somewhere over 10 minutes. But I forget the actual number. Needless to say, this one was brutal and I've found my new GOAT movement. 

2014/10/25

Barbells for Boobs!

Dressed in far too much pink, that I stole from the lady friend's wardrobe, I went in today to do the workout for the charity "Barbells for Boobs". We did Grace, a very short fast workout... 

I RX'ed it at 135 lbs for 30 reps of clean and jerk in 2:42. 

Then, feeling like a sub 3 minute workout was not enough for the day. I took a 10 minute break and recharge with a shake before doing it again, only this time with my bodyweight on the bar. 

With 188 pounds for 30 reps of clean and jerk in 9:20. 

Needless to say, that extra 50 pounds made this quite a bit more difficult. That and the fact I was a bit tired was enough to make this workout interesting enough. 

Now, I'm going to eat and decompress from approximately 12 minutes of work.

2014/10/23

Back in for two days in a row. Feeling better. Though I'm sore in quite a few random areas: upper back from the KB Swings, hips from high rep power snatches. Fun times. 

We worked on a snatch complex today, fun one. 

Power Snatch + 2 Hang Snatch + 2 OHS
Worked 135, 155, 170, and then failed on 185. 

The workout was a good one as well. 

90 seconds on/90 seconds rest for four rounds
2 Muscle Ups
Power Snatch @ 115(95) lbs

RX was 4 muscle ups, but I can't be sure that I can string 4 reps for four rounds. The first 2 rounds were at 115lbs but my partner forgot to switch my weight back on for the last 2. Physical fatigue lends itself to mental fatigue.  Almost threw the first rep through the roof, hilarious. 

Finished 48 reps. Lot more cardio than I thought it would be. 

2014/10/22

Hey, remember when I said that the creatine and fish oil had staved off the soreness from that 20 rep squat day? I was wrong. It got worse and worse. I legit didn't walk properly for days. 

Today was the first night in the gym in almost a week. Went in for a doozy as well, and did some extras. The gym's challenge ended, so I went in to do some of the benchmarks. 

Finished a 1 mile run in 7:21. That's 20 seconds off the time last attempt. 
Finished 12 strict pull ups, compared to the 10 the first time around. 

Didn't do the other ones, didn't have the time. One other benchmark was my weight, it's down below 190 now. I haven't been this light in years. Even at the end of my last cut, I wasn't around here. And I feel good. 

So, went and did the partner workout afterwards. 
Between the two(three, we had a shadow) we split the following reps:
60-50-40-30-20-10
Calorie Row
1.5 pood KB Swing
Double Unders

Partner(Coach Rick) and I finished in 18:03. Then promptly tried to died on the floor.

2014/10/16

I've been sick all week, but finally got back into the gym. As I'm an idiot and love punishment, I did an abridged version of the night before's workout and then tonight's workout back to back. Cause that seemed fun. 

Last night's workout "warmup":
3 rounds of 
6 hang snatch @ 95 lbs
8 pull ups
10 box jump overs @ 30"

Finished that up in a little over 3 minutes and was just covered in sweat. I can see why the full workout of 5 rounds would have sucked as my legs were starting to hate the box jumps by the end of round 3. Butterfly pull ups are coming along nicely though, that's a plus. 

The actual warm up consisted of : WidowMakers (aka 20 rep squats). Dear gods, do I love a good widowmaker session. We did them quite a while ago, but I haven't done them in probably 6 months. So, strapped on 275 and then barreled through.
First ten went smooth enough, then it was singles the rest of the way. Last rep was a doozy. Came forward a bit and strained the hammie a touch, but it's warmed up this morning and feels alright. 

Afterwards was some work on dips, which turned into muscle ups and dips. Then, because I couldn't walk all that properly, I had the lady come pick me up and went home to stuff my face with steak. 

Interestingly enough, the recovery formula is : 12oz steak + 3oz monohydrate creatine + 6oz fish oil. I feel great this morning, was not expecting that to be honest. 

2014/10/10

Started off with some block work for power cleans from high blocks. Worked from a 5 set at 205 to a heavy single at 250. All felt good. Worked on staying back and not getting pulled forward.. I say "worked on", but I was still getting forward on some of the pulls. Or so says the video I took. 

Afterwards, we did walking front lunges. Got up to 205 lbs this week. Ass is on fire still.

Then there was 4 minutes of tabata with whatever goat item you wanted. I did pull ups that immediately turned into a shit show. Finished a minute and a half butterflying 10+, then had to scramble to keep 7 for the rest of the time. 

After that... was some prowler pushes and tire pulls. Just more stuff to get the heart rate up. Fun times on the astro-turf.

2014/10/08

Got in really late to class today because of work. Stupid work getting in the way of fun things. 

Skill work surrounded toes to bar. That's a sticky one for me. I can string a few of them together, but it's definitely a movement that I need to work more in order to be competitive at RX competitions. 

The workout was: 
40 Burpee Box Jumps @ 24"
30 Calorie Row
20 Toes to Bar

Finished up in about 7:13. Another one that looks brutal, but is actually pretty fun. As long as you can keep your head during the burpees, the rest is super easy. Calorie rowing is fun, because you literally just pull as hard as you can and then wait for the calorie to tick. Each pull should be about a calorie, so you just count the pulls. 

2014/10/06

Got in early and worked some deadlifts in. Haven't pulled heavy in a while, so worked up to 3x2 at 365 lbs. All felt good and fast, no belt or anything, just some quick pulls off the ground. 

We worked on an overhead complex for class. 3 Strict Presses + 6 Push Presses. Worked up 135. Strict is obviously where you're supposed to fail,but I'll tell you what, those 6 reps were tough. Even with the hip drive, it's still a bit of effort to throw and catch so many times. 

Afterwards, the workout was:
4 rounds (every fourth minute)
400m run
10 strict pull ups

This was pretty fun. Finished each round at about the same time. 2:17-2:25 on each of the rounds. Running wasn't too bad, 400m isn't far enough to make you hate yourself. 10 strict pullups is right in my wheel house. 4-3-2-1 and you're done. 

2014/10/04

Today we were told to find out Olympic total. That's what my lazy lifting was going to be anyway, so I went to class to do it.

Had some trouble with snatches this morning. Everything was out in front. Had to walk forward to clear up so of my attempts and all of my cues were not helping. Still managed to hit 195 lbs and then jumped to 205. I figured that i was already over body weight, might add well try something big. Missed 205 by an inch and then couldn't get 207 to stay put. Lost them both forward, kind of frustrating.

Cleans went really well. Hit 260 easily and then made 270 on the second attempt. Took some effort and readjustment to get out of the hole with it, but that's an easy front squat for me, so I just grunted it up. The jerk would have been red lighted. Like a two inch press out, but I'll take it as an ugly gym PR.

That's a new gym total of a little over 211 kilos. A good day to be sure.

2014/10/03

5:43

That's what I wrote on the wall. It was the time that I got last time I tried this workout. Truthfully, I got 4:37 or so the first time, though I did some scaled version then. 5:43 was the first RX score I got when I ran Fran. It was in December, 10 months ago. 

Today was 4:40. Cut off a minute. I like it.

Fran 
21-15-9
95 lb thrusters
pull ups

Haven't been able string together the necessary pull ups yet. Had to break down the sets of thrusters in half and the pull ups into thirds. Some days the pull ups work, some days they don't. Today wasn't great. But, it worked. 

Then I laid on the floor for like 8 minutes. 

2014/10/01

Was incredibly sore from Monday's lunges, but got back into the gym anyway. Bit of blood flow helps mend all my achey bits. 

4 rounds for time:
20 push ups
35 air squats 
@ 6:56

5min rest

3 rounds for time:
15 1.5pood kb swing
15 20" box jumps
@ 3:46

5min rest

3amrap
105lb hang power snatch
@ 33 reps

Each little mini workout pushed you to the point of failure. So, put them all together and you're left gasping for air at the end. Fun times. 

2014/09/29

Today was a fun one. Worked on a bunch of smaller things that I'm not great at. 

10 paces of front racked lunges. 
95/135/165/185
Glutes are killing me already.

10 EMOTM Pull Ups(Strict)
5/5/5/5/3/3/3/3/(2/2)/(2/2)
Started with 5. Dropped to 3 when they got sloppy. Dropped to doing 2 every 30 seconds for the last two minutes. Lats hurt.

800m Run
3:47. Not too shabby.

2014/09/27

Lazy Lifting Saturdays!

Had the place to myself and the metal. 

Worked form on some segment pulls. Stop an inch off the ground, stop below the knees, stop right before power position, complete the pull. Then did a full speed pull. 

Snatches I worked doubles up to 215 and cleans I worked singles up to 275. 

Did some snatch balances after. They should be called heaving snatch balances, as I need that little pop off the shoulders. I cannot get my body to just drop. It's completely a mental thing, but I just cannot convince myself to just drop. 

Hit 185, but it was ugly. Failed 195, failed 190. Scaled back and hit 155 for 5 singles, dropping as fast as possible. 

Seated box jumps afterwards. Jumped up on to the jerk blocks, so... maybe 44"? 5 jumps at a time for 5 rounds. Just to get the heart going and to work that quick explosion reaction in my legs. 

Headed home and am now crashing on the couch. Coffee crash and physical crash, long workout was long. 

2014/09/26

Beep Test

Finished 1 stage on the 8th round. 

If you don't know what the beep test is, it's a running exercise where you run 20m in a specific amount of time. It's horribly annoying and repetitive, but it's a great way to measure cardiovascular gains. 

Before that, worked on muscle ups. Hands and shoulders were all sorts of beat up, so running was about the only thing I could do after that. 

2014/09/22

Monday workout!

EMOTM 10
Front Squat doubles from 185 - 285
Felt good. Threw on the belt for 275 and 285. Had wraps on the knees for the entirety. Was in flat shoes for the whole thing. Wanted to get in a workout without the assistance of the oly shoes. 

8 Rounds of Tabata
Double Unders
Sit Ups

Think I racked up about 214 double unders and 83 sit ups. Just something to get the heart rate up and keep you moving. This was a great way to train the double unders as I usually lose them as I get flustered. 

General Check In

Back in the swing of things. Finally settled in enough to the new place that I'm starting to get a routine going. Things have been moving pretty smoothly as we're almost finished unpacking and figuring out where everything goes. We're about a month in now, and I think it's finally like 95% finished. 

The lifestyle change has definitely started to affect me. I'm down to the low 190's now and eating a bit healthier. The two cheat meals a week are definitely being used to their fullest extent and I'm probably drinking a bit more than I'm supposed to. But, a few beers on the weekends is just what we need to keep things kosher in the new place. 

I've been biking to work 2-3 days a work now, it's pretty nice. It's a 2 mile trip to the office from the house. It's about 1.5 miles from the office to the gym. And 1 mile from the gym to home. So, I get in about 5 miles a day. Not a whole lot on a bike, but it's fun and it's just the slightest bit sweat inducing. 

Body recomp is progressing. My love handles are still prominent, but the front of my stomach is leaning out. I think I'm seeing more definition in my arms and shoulders as well. Can't complain, overall. 

2014/09/19

Back in the gym for a Friday session. 

Snatch doubles off the blocks. Right above the knee. 

Worked up from 135 in quick doubles. Hit 170 for a good double. Missed 185, hit 185, missed 185 pretty bad. 

Then the workout which was just awful. One of those good awfuls where it starts to get ahead of you and you hold on for dear life to keep up.

10 AMRAP
Snatch @ 155 lbs
3 Strict Pulls Ups
7 Strict HSPU

So, I'm reading over the programming blog now. That was supposed to be 5 hand stand push ups. I really should check the board before I do these things. 

Those last two HSPUs would have made a difference. The shoulders were obviously the first thing to fall apart during the whole process. Didn't actually make it through even the third round before having to switch to kipping HSPUs. 

2014/09/18

Landed from my business trip and made my way into the gym. 

Max Clean and Jerk @ ~120 kilos or 265 lbs. 
Smacked myself in the throat with 270 lbs and had trouble swallowing for about a day. Fun stuff. 
Side note, this is a new PR. Didn't realize till afterwards. 

10RM for Deadlift @ 275 lbs. 
Didn't really feel like going too big here, my DL form is shit nowadays and high rep stuff always weirds me out. 

7AMRAP of 
7 Thrusters @ 75 lbs
7 Lateral Bar Burpees

Finished 6 rounds + 9 reps. 

Took a bit of a breather then did the class afterwards. 

3x10 pause back squats
Stayed at 185 lbs for consistency sake, and I was already beat up. 

Then a weird little workout of 
4 rounds on the 4's
300m Row Sprint
1 minute plank hold

I still cannot hold a plank to save my life, don't get it. Core instability? Really? 

2014/09/15

10 strict pull ups
54" box jump
7:41 one mile

First day of the gyms baseline tests for the nutrition challenge. Weighed in at 192.5. No idea how I dropped that weight.

2014/09/11

Another fun one today. Went in early and knocked it out myself, as I assumed correctly that there would be traffic jams during a full class. 

Reps go up each round of:
Muscle Ups
Deadlifts @ 315lbs
Row for meters. 

18 minute clock, finished the 4th full round and was 300m into my 500 meter row when it stopped. 

Muscle ups were obviously the limiting factor here. I strung a few, but mostly was going for singles. Had to go on the high rings, as the lower ones were busted. Still need to work on consistency with these things, such a brutal movement.

2014/09/10

Didn't feel all that great today. Everything was sluggish and was seeing a lot of squat fairies. Not the best of workouts. 

Paused Back Squats. Low Bar(for lols).
3x10 @ 185
Felt heavy enough, haven't done low bar in a while and those last 3 reps were grueling. 

Workout:
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
of Burpees and Shoulder to Overhead @ 135lbs
between each round, do 20 double unders

Finished in 14:10 and then laid there like a sack for a while. Completely drained. The burpees and push presses weren't bad, it was the double unders that always get me. 
Was good to work on them in a workout and not lose my cool. So, that's a plus.

Non-Challenge Related Nutrition

Our gym is starting up another nutrition challenge, the first one that I won't be a part of. The reasoning behind it is not because I don't enjoy their challenges, because I do. It's a great way to completely cut myself off from all impurities in my diet and drop weight rather quickly. It works, for the time that I'm doing it. 

Then I stop. And everything goes back to "normal". As in, I go back to hovering just over 200# and eating what I consider close to healthily, with the random shitty meal here and there. All the work that I went through gets washed away because I stop eating so strictly. 

What it boils down to is that I don't think the challenge lifestyle isn't sustainable, for me. I work well within the strict boundaries set during the challenge, but I stop the moment that the boundaries are removed. When I lack accountability and external motivation, I don't care as much. 

To combat this, I've devised a little plan. I have a new living situation with someone who takes my nutrition very seriously, and as such, she enjoys keeping me in check with what I eat. It's been about 2 weeks or so now and we're closing in on some rather simple rules and lifestyle changes that aren't too strict but are sustainable in the long run. 

Rules for sustainable nutrition

Things that cannot be eaten:

• Sugars
• No candy
• No ice cream
• Those shitty dried fruits
• Alcohol
• No beer
• No booze
• Limited wine
• Other simple carbs
• Rice, bread, pasta,
• Other amazingly yummy things
• Excessive amounts of food
• Start cutting back on caloric intake
• ~2200-2400 kcal per day
• aka… don’t eat over a pound of meat per sitting

Loop holes to the rules:

• Cheats
• 2x meals a week
• 1x drinks a week
• Wine with dinner
• Let’s be honest here, a glass of wine with dinner is pretty awesome
• Just don't go overboard...

Like I said, we're two weeks in now and I'm slowly and comfortably losing weight and feeling better. It's not a huge flush like it was during the challenge, because I still get to have a few beers on the weekend and I still get to have pizza or a sub once a week or so. It's something that will work for more than the 30-40 day challenge.

All I know is that I'm down to 194.5# now from my usual 202# bodyweight and I'm happy. I'm not cranky, I'm not going through carb flu, I'm not craving something ravenously. And, I have someone who keeps me in check.

Will let you know how this turns out over the course of time.

2014/09/05

Block work today. 

Programming called for hang snatches and cleans, but I was feeling dainty and went from blocks instead. Set up everything right above the knee, so had to drill explosive pulls and speed under the bar. Was a great exercise because you had little to no time to get momentum going. Definitely going to program these again soon. 

Snatch Complex
2 Snatches + 3 SG BtN Push Press
 Worked up to 165 rather clean. Got 185 up for the snatches but couldn't get the push presses to stick without making them into push jerks.

Clean Complex
2 Cleans + 1 Split Jerk
 Worked up to 225. Little chunky on the 225, but it went up. 245 went up once, then slipped out of my catch position on the second clean. 

2014/09/08

Bunch of snatch complexes today. Was pretty fun. 

Power Snatch + Hang Snatch + 2 OHS

Went up through 75, 95, 115, 135, 155, 165, then got stuck under the hang snatch at 185. The hang snatch itself was crisp and fast, my speed under the bar is getting much better. But I just didn't have the legs to get the weight back up.

Workout was a doozie.

3amrap
6 power snatch @ 115
6 lateral bar burpees

2minute rest

3amrap
4 power snatches @ 135
4 burpee box jumps @ ~24"

2minute rest

3amrap
2 power snatches @ 155
2 burpee pull ups

Quick burner, small break to try and drop the heart rate, then going again.

2014/09/03

Work up to a heavy double on front squats. 

Got up to 305. Really struggled with that set, but grunted it out. That's a new volume PR for front squats. 

9amrap
3 Pull Ups
6 Hand Stand Push Ups
9 Overhead Squats @95lbs

Just finished four rounds with the clock. Shoulders are on fire.

2014/09/01

Labor Day team workout.
4 Power Snatch
6 Burpee Box Jumps
8 Box Step Up

Got like 4 rounds

2014/08/30

Ran DT with some friends on Saturday. Fun little burner.

Started with a 400m run
5 rounds of :
12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Cleans
6 Push Jerk
All at 135lbs

Finished in 13:41. Like I said, fun little burner.

2014/08/28

So, it's been a while. I've been moving and that has literally taken over all of my time. Finally found a spare hour to get to the gym last night, right in time for a chipper class. 

400m run

24 hand stand push ups

24 ball slams @ 20#

24 lateral bar burpees

24 power cleans @ 135#

24 pendlay rows @ 95

400m run

This was actually really fun, except for the hspu portion. That took about half the time. I finished in 13:41, take about a minute or so for each run, about 5 minutes of that was just the push ups. Worst part is that before class I hit a few sets of 5-6 and figured I'd be fine. Something was just missing during the actual workout, they all seemed tougher and I had to switch to kipping after the first ten.

The rest was easy. Should have stuck with 135 for the rows(they were supposed to be ring rows, but we didn't have enough rings so  I subbed). But, the thought of 135 for reps seemed daunting. 95 was too easy though. 

2014/08/13

Went in to the gym to try out the workouts from this weekend's competitions. Took everything at about 80%, just figuring out the movements. 

Quick super set of 30 pull ups and 30 box jump overs @ 24". Sadly, the workout actually calls for 30" box jump overs, I missed that. Each movement took just under a minute. 

Went and did a couple interval rowing sprints at 250m. Finished in 51.9, 54.6, and 53 seconds. Should be able to hold on to that 53 second finish if I row intelligently. 

Afterwards, tried out the barbell complex. 3 hang cleans, forward lunge, into a thruster. Can't let go of the barbell the whole time, so you're pretty much in front rack for a while. 

Worked up to 205, which sucks for those lunges. Worried that some competitors are going to roll their knees on this one. My biggest problem is going to be my body's prediliction to jerking at the top of my thruster. If I don't get no repped at 205, I'll probably try at 225 as well. 

Wanted to get some CNS action going on afterwards, so I jumped into the squat rack for some heavy squats. 

225 x5
275 x4
315 x3
335 x2
365 x1
385 x1
405 x1

That's a longtime goal for me. I've been searching for 405 since I switched over from low bar to high bar. Pretty pumped. Need to keep track of my maxes... I haven't been logging in my CF book for a while, time to start a page here for maxes. 

2014/08/12

Back from a weekend holiday, feeling pretty fat. 

Gym session was one of the departures from normal CrossFit programming that I've become a big fan of. A while back I discussed why I'm not a fan of high rep complex movements for time. My strength coach is apparently of the same mind. We've been approaching workouts like Grace(30 C&J for time) and Isabelle(30 Snatches for time) without the clock running. 

This gives you all the time you need to choose a weight that you can finish 30 reps at. Meaning, the athlete gets to just hunker down and go to town on a movement to figure out the kinks. You get to train your muscle memory as a coach walks around and picks at your weaknesses. 

I actually didn't finish the 30 reps. We had about 20-25 minutes and that just wasn't enough time for me.. I'm slow. Did hit 20 reps at 155 with only two misses forward. Each miss was just a timing thing, felt rushed and let the bar float in front. The rest all felt great. 20 reps at 75% was a good day. 

Went for a short run afterwards, cause cardio.

2014/08/07

In for a quick strength session at the gym tonight. 

3 Deadlifts every 90 seconds for 12 minutes. Went from 275 - 350, going up by 30# every couple of sets. 
then...
3 Z Presses every 90 seconds for 12 minutes. Went from 75 - 135, going up by.. whatever.. every couple of sets. 

Pretty sure I almost rolled backwards on a couple of those seated presses. Core is extremely sore from the GHD situps yesterday. Deadlifts felt pretty good though. 350 felt heavy, but no squat fairies afterwards, so that's always a plus. 

2014/08/06

Really sore, those ten rep front squats always kill me as burner sets. Really tired, slept about 4 hours last night. But, the gym calls and I have to respond. 

Luckily, this workout looked simple enough. Whole bunch of bodyweight stuff, which is a particular weak spot for me. Not so luckily, the workout was not easy. I pretty much wanted to die afterwards. Haven't been that light headed in a while. Good times using legs that do not want to respond. 

Running Clock
1st workout
 10 Rounds
  5 C2B Pull Ups
  10 HandRelease Push Ups
2nd workout
 5 Rounds
  10 GHD Situps
  10 GHD Back Extensions
3rd workout
 2 Rounds
  25 20# wall balls
  25 24" box jumps

Hands didn't rip, that's a good thing. Push ups had to get broken up starting with the third round. Situps and extenions is a great way to get super dizzy. Went through the first set of wallballs unbroken, then laughed at how hard the first five box jumps were. Just ridiculous how hard it was to get my legs to cooperate with them being so sore.

But, getting the blood flowing is the best way to beat out these DOMS. Will probably get in again tomorrow. 

2014/08/04

Back at it, after a week off, starting with a bang. The past week has been an off week for me due to both personal and professional obligations. I really started missing my time in the gym about halfway through the week, the love for Barbella is real. 

Today was the last day of a 5x5 squat cycle. I only made it to 3 of the 5 weeks for this, so my numbers have been all over the place. Hit 295 for 3 sets pretty easily, then stepped up to 305 and 315. All felt pretty good, so can't complain. 

Next up were some fast cardio front squats. 2 sets of 10 reps at 205. These always burn. 

Cash out was bodyweight goats. Did 20 strict handstand push ups and then a few toes to rings. Almost got a bar muscle up too... just trying that one out. I haven't figured out that movement yet, so it's still a learning process. 

2014/07/26

Made it in for a quick Lazy Lifting day. Haven't been in on a Saturday in a while, so it was good to be back in with the barbell. Sadly, the weight wasn't moving the way I would like it to. These days happen, you just kind of figure out what will work and move forward with that. 

Mainly worked on two different complexes today. A snatch and clean complex that worth both aimed at building speed under the bar. 

Snatch + ATK Hang Snatch + OHS
Clean + ATK Hang Clean + 2 Split Jerk

Worked up to two really ugly 2 reps at 165 for snatch and then completely lost one forward and moved on. 
The cleans went better, worked up to 205 for three reps and called it a day there. 

After that, hit a few front squats, just to burn off any leftover energy I had. Finished with 2x10 at 185. Just quick explosive bounces, getting those quads fired up. 

The rest of the day was spent picking up craigslist furniture. Not going to lie, I got more of a workout lifting desks and shit then I did at the gym. Was more sore around my traps from lifting things in odd shapes in odd manners. 

2014/07/25

Squat day. Well, kind of. I left work early and headed to the gym to get a double session in. The workout was going to lay out to be upper body and core intensive, so I figured I could sneak in a lower body portion beforehand. 

5x5 Squats @ 275. Went completely raw with these. I know the weight is easy enough, it just beat me down with DOMS last week. So, just went through the lifts and did my work. Nothing surprising here, just a good ol' fashion squat day. 

The class started and I jumped in for a GOAT day. For those of you who don't know, CrossFit refers to the exercise you suck at as your "goat". It "gets your goat". A phrase with an unknown origin that is hardly ever used in today's vernacular. Love it. 

My goats for the day were ring dips and stringing toes to bar. I just suck at ring dips, as I benched power lifting style for so long, super arched back and lat activation, that I never built my tricep strength. That I can barely bench anyway. And while I can bang out toes to bar with a weird little double kip, I have a hard time stringing together the fully strung together reps. 

So, EMOTM 20 alternating 5 reps of each. Needless to say, my chest was burnt the day afterwards. Otherwise, the legs weren't as burned from the squats as last week, which is definitely a plus. 

2014/07/23

Skill work was double unders, which I'm getting better at. And I only swore about 3-4 times in ten minutes, which is a definite improvement. Worked up through flight simulator to the 35 rep level and then screwed up on the 34th rep. Much swearing and throwing of ropes was had. 

The WoD was a non-time based Grace. Pick a weight and hit 30 clean and jerks with it, take whatever time you need just use perfect form on each. This was a ton of fun. The hardest part was probably not trying to race through it and not sweating all over the bar. 

I hit 28 of the same clean and split jerk and 2 power cleans and split jerk, all at 205# (bodyweight was 198 that day). They all felt great. This workout became about muscle memory. Hitting the same muscle sequencing on every pull and every jerk was paramount. I got to practice the same movement for ~23 minutes straight, it was a good time. 

I wished that some other people took more time with this. I actually sped up my last 12 because everyone else was almost done by then. I tried timing it for one every 45-60 seconds. Then I started to feel rushed so I bumped that down to every 25-40 seconds. And the last five I think I stayed at one every 15-20 seconds to sprint to the end. Same strict form, just faster. 

2014/07/21

Time 5k run. First time running more than a mile all summer.

Finished up in 29:27, with a 14:18 first split. Which is odd as the second half felt better than the first.

Quads and calves are already a bit sore. That's to be expected as I do t do high impact stuff like running too often.

Still it's a nice thought that I can finish a 5k when I have to in under thirty minutes.

2014 / 07 / 18

A good night in the gym. Went in super early because we were doing max effort lifts and those take a while for me to warm up. Especially at the moment when in super sore.

Worked up to done heavier dead lifts. Think I hit a triple at 405 and a double at 425. Was planning on a triple but the third one left me a little light headed, which means you should probably stop.

Next was a double for front squats. I knew exactly what mine I wanted to hit, so I chased after it. Hit my last warm up double at 275 then went for broke and jumped right to 315. I had hit that number for a single before and sadly that's all I had in me today.

Next was supposed to be a triple at push jerk. I'm not a fan of catching the bar for multiples, mostly because it hurts and I'm a big softie. Used the jerk blocks and hit threes in singles. Got three at 225 but only one good repo at 245. That's probably to be expected as I usually split jerk anything over 225.

Rolled out and then moved on with my evening. A nice safe max out day. Nothing spectacular but nothing that's going to leave me in shambles tomorrow.

Why You Listen to Your Coach

So, I haven't been able to walk much since Monday. Yeah, one of those kind of squat days. I hadn't done a heavy 5x5 day in a long time and it took a lot out of me.

Coach said to take it easy as we'll be doing this cycle for 4-5 weeks straight. Start light. What did I do? Not light. And I payed for it. 

Next time, I need to put my ego behind me. I've been thinking that I'm training the same way that I used to. 5x5 was my bread and butter for so long, I think I can still do it. I can't. I'm old and decrepit now. 

Your coaches are smarter than you. You should listen to them. This isn't much of a ramble. It's more of a "stop being an idiot" note to myself. 

2014 / 07 / 17

Back in the gym, finally. It's been a long few days. Thankfully, today was a nice light bodyweight movement workout that I can get away with after the beating I took on Monday. More on that later. 

Cache in :
3 rounds of 
  30 second ring hold
  3 skin the cats(weird ring things)
  10+ toes through rings

WoD :
3 rounds with a minute break inbetween, 1 minute rounds of each
  1 pd kb swings
  30' shuttle sprints
  1 pd kb turkish getups
  24" box jumps

Fun workout. Didn't keep track of numbers. Was supposed to but I'm not good with the numbers. Ehh whatever. Felt good doing a few muscle ups to the rings for the ring holds. Still got it(kind of). 

Good Bail

An interesting thing happened tonight. No one hit any huge numbers, no one got seriously injured, nothing spectacular happened. But still, there was brilliance. 

I finished my set in the rack, turned around and watched two people chatting behind another girl struggling through her set of squats. The girl was quite obviously stuck in that spot we all get stuck in sometimes on the squat, you've finished your bounce, you've made it up a good couple inches to the hip hinge, and then.. it all falls to shit. 

Rather than freak out or look for help, she nonchalantly opened her hands, shrugged her shoulders and let the bar fall. She then turned to the two people chatting behind her who asked if she was okay and informed them that they were in more danger than she was because they weren't paying attention.

I walked over, cleaned her bar off the floor for her and back into the rack before giving her daps on a good bail. If you're going to lift, you better know how to fail correctly and she did just that. 

Sometimes you have to pay the iron price when you're going heavy. You've got that weight on your back, but you can't let it keep you pinned down. Always know the fastest and safest way out. If you don't respect the weight enough to build a contingency plan, then you're not ready to get underneath it to begin with. 

Always know your escape route. 

2014 / 07 /14

Squat day.

I actually didn't feel bad today, so I went into the gym. It's a squat day, can't miss that. Coach has programmed us doing 5x5 squats and 2x10 front squats for the next 4 weeks to see some linear progression. Crossfitters love gains. 

Hit 275 2x5, 285 1x5, then 295 2x5. All felt great. Came forward on the third rep of the last set at 295, just a bad bounce. Readjusted and finished up strong. 

Hit 185 and then 205 for the front squats. Cardio squats... it's weird. 

Did 4 minutes of tabata double unders afterwards. Went pretty well, only severely whipped myself twice. I'm getting to be decent at these. Which is nice as they're like a main stay for CF competitions. 

Baystate Competition

Well, the competition has come and gone.  I think it went rather well. 

Weigh in was supposed to start at 1, so we went over at about 1:15 and then sat there til 1:45 or so waiting for someone from the organization to come into the room to weigh us. All 17 of us 85+ kg lifters just sat around and shot the shit with each other till the one guy showed up.

We were supposed to start lifting at 3, so we started at 4:30 or so. After we started, it went pretty well. We all got scolded when someone had the audacity to bleed on the bar. Oh the bars, if you have no lifted on an Eleiko bar, you really should. The difference is amazing, it spins so beautifully. Starting your third pull is just a brilliant thing. 

Snatches were... eventful. First attempt at 88 was too far forward, but I walked it out. 90 was too far backwards, but I dropped deeper into my squat and locked it out. Two ugly lifts. Third one though, oh, the third one was what you look for in a lift. It felt beautiful. 92 never felt so solid. Sadly, that is the only lift my lady friend did not video tape. Gods bless her. 

Clean and jerks were far too light. I sold myself short here. I wanted to go 6 for 6, I said that. Coach J told me to. Coach Everett says to do it. So, I did it. But, I went really low on my first attempt at 108. I literally stood up with the bar and threw it over my head with ease. Second attempt was 110. Still pretty easy. By this point, I was getting upset with myself. My books said to go for 112... I went up to 114 just to get a little more difficult. Still easy. The jerk was a bit challenging, but that's it. Just challenging. 

I should have gone heavier, but as it stands, I hit my gym total in a legit competition. I went 6 for 6 with my lift attempts. And I had an amazing time. The camaraderie with gained amongst the other lifters was awesome. Having some folks from our gym come out to cheer for us was just a great show of support. I can't thank my coaches and the lady enough. I had a great time and I can't wait for the next one. 

Pre Competition

It's the day before my competition. Trying to take it easy, thankfully I'm not exactly nervous. I've been through a few cross fit competitions, so I'm used to the idea of competing in front of people. I'm not entirely sold on the idea of competing in my singlet, but I'll get over it.

I'm no where near my weight limit, so I'm not at all worried about that. I'm at like 200, and the weight classes are 187 and 207. There was no way I was dropping so much to get to 187, pretty easy decision.

I plan on going for 88/90/92 kilos for the snatch and 108/112/116 for the clean and jerk. Nothing ground breaking there. I keep hearing that you should shoot for making six of your six attempts at your first meet. I kept thinking that I'd go for it and chase some big numbers, but I think that the safe bet is the best bet here.

So. Go in. Strap into my singlet. Hit my 200 kilo goal. Then go eat some celebratory ice cream. Should be a good day.