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.