22/8/2016 - Squats and Running

So....

Bit late on this catch up but still keeping my body moving so that's something.

Felt the need to squat this week so that was exactly what I did on Monday.

Strength
5 rounds
5 back squats
@40kg

Kept the weight light just to get my legs back into it but felt good overall.  Focused on good form and breathing and just getting it done.  Was fun.

Followed it up by another Monday night game of ultimate which I think really helped from my legs being too sore on Tuesday as they typically tend to be after squatting again so that was a nice relief.

Good start to the week.

8/19 – Running and Squats Galore

Skill

3 x max set of HSPU’s

6-5-5 Rx

WOD

4 Rounds

400m run

50 squats

14:51 Rx

Another week of squatting was added into our extra work so I snuck out of work a bit early to get them done before the WOD, I knew trying to do them the other way around would be killer.  It worked out I think – I’d rather have a slower WOD time than start failing reps in the heavy squats.

The HSPU’s were good.  My kip is getting stronger and I’m able to stay on the wall.  I’m also happy to be doing them Rx now – full range of motion which is a big step up.  I’ll take the progress for sure.

Ah, the WOD… what can I say about it other than it was merely a test of mental fortitude- how much you could stay in the pain place and keep going.  The run wasn’t that fast, just a chance to try and get feeling back in the legs (that didn’t happen after the second run though) and then get into the squats – technically you can do air squats all day, just keep moving – you will just get into a place of pain and whether you decide to quit (rest) or push through for longer is entirely up to you.  I was quite happy with my plan and though I was closer to the back of the pack than the front in the first two rounds I slowly made my way up just from getting through the squats faster.  I did two sets of 25 in the first round with a quick shake out of my legs in between (no more than three seconds really) then in the rest of the rounds I went 20-20-10 even when 20 was horribly hard – I made myself stick with the number, knowing that once I’d gotten to 12 I was pretty close to 15 and then 16 was almost 20 (or so I kept telling myself).  Just kept moving and got through it (and then thankfully it was over)

Extra Work

1) SXF WOD

See above

2) Back Squat

6x6 @70% +15kg

6x6 @71kg

3) EMOTM 10

alternate
odds = 'x' Chest to bar Pull-ups (*scale to pull-ups if needed)
evens = 'x' abmat sit ups
* 'x' = a number you can hold across all sets  

3 c2b (or attempts)

20 sit-ups

4) SXF Yoga Class or 60mins mobility & stretching

60 minutes mobility

As I mentioned I got through the backsquats before the WOD.  I knew Cam would be in there early which worked for me as I was able to get him spotting me – or at least talking me through.  The 6x6 felt way harder than the 10x3 on Saturday even though the weight was 7kg less I think because of the number of reps.  Three is a good number, 4 is okay but 5 and 6 reps are struggle-town.  I mean, losing blood flow to the head, nauseating struggle.  It was good to have him talking me through it.  They were challenging but then they were also done.

After the WOD I got into the EMOM work (again with Cam).  I attempted 3 c2b and managed one on the first round then completely started struggling with my kip.  Coach Claire was there to help me though and told me I needed to keep tighter and more upright rather than trying to pull myself to the bar from so far away.  Eventually it worked and on the last two rounds (of five) I got all 3 reps unbroken with my chest hitting the bar.  The sit-ups were fine, I could have probably pushed 30 reps but knew that would take me the full minute to do and I didn’t want to do that.  Even by the end the 20 were burning and transferring to the c2b as well – definitely felt the core usage when on the bar.  Good though to get through it and be done. 

Followed it all up with lots of mobility on the legs and then dinner with Kelly.  Good night overall and so happy that Steph is back (after playing tour guide for the week)… oh how I’ve missed my ‘twin’. Haha.

8/17 – Saturday Sports Class

Saturday sports class started early this week – early at least for getting in the extra work.  We were told to show up for barbell club between 8-10 and get the ‘lift big’ work done for the day which was playing with the yokes.  The sports class at 10am was solely going to be heavy squats (again).

1) Yoke hold

Max weight yoke hold (minimum 20 seconds)

70-90-100-110(pr)

2) Yoke Carry

Max weight yoke carry (over 10m distance)

90-110-120(pr)

3) Backsquats

10x3 @85%+10kg

10x3 @78kg

I was really tight in my traps which made the yoke hold much more uncomfortable.  I think with the carries I was more focused on the walking part that increasing the weight a bit more wasn’t such an issue.  Regardless, it was fun to play with the yokes even if it meant losing an hour of sleep in time.

The backsquats were solid.  I definitely think the lower reps help – three reps is good, four okay and then any more than that makes me lose blood flow in my head.  Even still I had Sacha spotting me for all of them ready just in case which helped me mentally at least.  It’s getting heavy (my 1RM before all this started was 80kg so…)

It was funny when racking the empty bar for the warm-up squats – it felt so light compared to the yoke and then when I reached the bottom of the first squat I almost cried.  There was a definite squeak as my hips were so unhappy.  Lots of mobilization… 

8/16 – Barbell Club WODing and Extra Work

Friday’s Extra

1)SXF WOD (see below)

7+7 reps

2)Backquats

8x4 @80% +10kg

8x4 @74kg

3)EMOM 10

X bar muscle ups

Did not do

WOD tonight included front squats and we were advised (told?) to get our backsquats done before the WOD (unless we wanted to die – those are perhaps my words).  So I planned to meet up with Ali and get the squats done at 4:30 before hitting up the 5:30 WOD.  That didn’t quite happen as planned however it still worked out all right.

Ali was running a little late leaving work and getting to the box so I started without her.  I (surprisingly) managed to talk myself through the first four sets of our 8x4 @80%+10kg (74kg for me) without having a spotter.  I think the difference between Wednesday and tonight was that I hadn’t just done a leg heavy (pistol) WOD and also the fact that there were only 4 reps and not 5.  By the time she arrived however I needed her there – not necessarily to physically help me but more so from a mental aspect.

I noted that having a spotter is as much about having someone there to physically catch you when you’re going to fail as it is about having someone there to be your mental cheerleader when you start to struggle and doubt your ability – just hearing you are looking strong or getting verbal cues to distract you from everything else but technique is a benefit that can’t be quantified.

Got through all my sets without failing which was good.  Ali still had two sets left when 5:30 rolled around so we decided we’d do the WOD in the barbell side rather than hitting up the class.

After we finished squatting Ali did the bar muscle-ups EMOM10 which I just mobilized my hip flexors (ouch).  I skipped out on the c2b pull-ups (scaled version of the bar MU’s) because my shoulder could use the rest.  Then when that was done we did the WOD.

WOD

Clean ladder

1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5…

Power clean (42.5kg)

Front squat

7+7 cleans (Rx)

Four of us (including Ali and I) did this in the barbell room.  It was kind of weird – totally different setting – but also with lots of people doing other work to add cheers here and there which helped.  Was good to change it up.  This WOD most definitely hurt.  The front squats were killer and by far the hardest (mostly mentally I think) part of the WOD.

I started well, going unbroken through all the squats until the round of 7.  The 6^th round unbroken was a struggle so then I went 4-3.  Definitely starting to feel it.  I switched between regular and hook grip on the cleans though didn’t really find my forearms having much issue – it was more about getting myself more comfortable with the hook grip.  It was a long 6 minutes though thankfully Coach Tara was timing it and giving us updates as there was no large clock to see.  The first 4 or 5 rounds went quick then suddenly it seemed to take forever.  Could be from the pain face I had on.

In round 2 I put on my weight belt.  It wasn’t that the weight was that heavy (in comparison to what we’ve been squatting lately) but my lower back just started to cramp up completely on the cleans (even though I was maintaining good form and dropping under the bar rather than going wide with my feet).  Figured it was better safe than sorry though – it didn’t stop the pain but probably kept me from doing any damage which would have sucked completely.

Sacha, Ali and I rewarded ourselves with Nando’s after.  It’s all I could think of before starting the WOD – the reward at the end (I was starving) so good.  Then I promptly wanted to be asleep.  Good times.

8/14 – Snatches and Pistols

WOD

21-15-9

Power Snatch 60/42.5kg

Pistol (alt legs)

10:55 (35kg snatch, Rx pistols)

Challenging one tonight but also snatches which I love (and also hate at the moment with my mental issues toward them).

I got stuck in traffic on the way to crossfit – crazy, insane, worst traffic I’ve ever been in in this city where people don’t know quite how to drive.  There was a big crash and all lanes were blocked (or so the radio told me) – I took a detour to avoid finding out.  Instead of stressing or road raginga s I would have done in the past I resigned myself to switching up my schedule.  I knew I could do some of the extra work when I got there and then jump in on the 5:30 wod and finish up anything else before the other side closed at 7pm.  No worries, no stress, just life.  It was in thinking these thoughts that I saw a rainbow.  Have I mentioned how amazing my life is?  Love it.

Anyway, back to the WOD. 

We worked through the progressions of the snatch and pistols (I got to demo box pistols – again, how much does Coach Tara love me… haha).  The bar (15kg) felt crazy heavy – I couldn’t even muscle snatch it.  Yup.  Knew that the snatches were going to be rough.  I wanted to do a minimum of 35kg so that I could have 10kg plates on the bar and be able to drop it (not an option with anything less than the 10kg plates).  Thankfully I snagged some black plates (which don’t bounce as much as the greens) and survived at 35kg – even though the few warm-ups were hard and singles.  It was going to be one of those WODs – I was looking forward to being able to finish it – cut-off was 12 minutes.  I was facing Rhys which spurned me on at the start – he did I think 3 touch and go reps a few times so I followed suit – I did this twice before succumbing to dropping the bar after every rep.  I still tried to maintain sets of 3 – getting right back on the bar after a drop and then taking a bit of a bigger break in between those.  It was one of those WODs where you just have to chip away at the reps because they are hard and neverending.

The pistols were surprisingly good relatively speaking.  My legs are pretty heavy in a general sense from all the squatting but even still I managed to alternate in sets of 3 or 4 reps at a time before hurting.  That was a bonus.  I found it easier to step into the pistol and not hold my foot (though occasionally held my calf).

Finished it and that made me happy though had to then follow it up with squats.  Thankfully I’d already done half of the extra work before class.  Another fun day but Thursday is rest day… so happy!!

8/12 – Backsquats, Partner WOD and Extra Work

Back at it tonight after a stellar day of rest on Sunday.  Completely chill and necessary though my shoulders were still screaming (even after a massage on Saturday afternoon – wow).

WOD

Backsquats

6 x 6reps @ 70% (+10kg for those doing the comp training – 5kg more from last week)

Warm-up – 10x20kg, 6x40kg, 6x60kg

6x6 @ 66kg (that’s a lot of 6’s)

Then

In Partners

6min AMRAP

10 Kettlebell Swings 32/20kg

7 Burpees

9 + 13 (9 full rounds plus 10KB swings and 3 burpees)

Tonights class included our backsquats which meant a bit of an easier night overall in terms of timing of things.  The downside however (not a huge deal really) was that I was working alone – Ali got stuck at work and because of the number of squat racks in the gym there was ample space to not have to partner with anyone.  It also meant that I didn’t have anyone to spot me when I was getting tired (and my form paid the price a bit for it).

I was working at 82.5% of my 1RM – and 6kg more than the big boys that were beside me – I felt both badass and tired all in one.  But still managed to get through it all.  I could have used with a partner mostly for the motivation to just push through the reps and to spot me/ be close enough if I needed them.  We were working on doing a set every 3 minutes which at this point is on the lower end of rest time for what I’m doing (not an issue but…).  What it meant was that I would feel solid and strong and go slow for the first 4 reps but then it would suddenly feel really hard and I’d try and rush the last two – bouncing out of the bottom and then dropping my chest and leading up with my butt – not good form.  After the last set I asked Coach Scotty why I was doing this/ what I had to focus on to stop as today was the first time I’ve done this in all the sets we’ve done up to this point.  He said that I was probably pushing my butt back too much from the start and trying to rush the rep.  I likely wasn’t staying tight throughout and activating my glutes (relying more on my hamstrings).  He watched my last set which really helped – as did knowing that it was the last one.  I really focused on going slow and keeping upright right from the start and it worked.  I also really felt the last few in my glutes – a lot.  Guess it was working.    Probably a combo of the items above plus just being fatigued overall.  Glad the number of reps per set decreases through the rest of the week.

The partner WOD was a ton of fun.  I think I was initially partnered with Dan (coaches paired us up) but when it came time for the WOD I was with George.  We worked really well together and both pushed harder because of each other – not wanting to let the other down.  We only had  few seconds to try and figure out our game plan and though we didn’t get it fully defined we both were thinking along the same lines and it worked really well.  He started with 5Kb swings and then I finished them up and then he did all 7 burpees – round 1.  And we continued to alternate from there meaning I started the next round of KB swings then he finished them and I did the burpees and we just kept at it.  Our communication was solid (always a necessity in partner WODs) – brief stating of the rep we were on and switching off seamlessly. 

The numbers worked well.  It was easy and made sense to split the 10KB swings up (even though 20kg isn’t feeling too heavy for me anymore) – George noted that he was pretty much done by the end and I mostly agreed.  The 7 burpees are just enough to hurt but not enough to break them up.  That nasty number of 7 reps.  Heh.

We lost count – thinking initially that we had finished 7 rounds plus a bit but then realized it was actually 9 when Dan and Cam put up their score of 8+ rounds (we were just ahead of them).  I loved it.  Couldn’t have picked a better partner myself and pushed really hard because of it.

Adding the SEX WOD work here because there really wasn’t much more today…

Monday's Extra

1) SXF WOD

Back Squat

6x6rep @70% (+5kg's to last week) – 10kg overall

6x6 @66kg (see above)

Partner WOD

6min AMRAP

10 Kettlebell Swings 32/20kg

7 Burpees

9 + 13 (see above)

2) EMOM for 10mins perform 'x' Handstand Push-ups
* 'x' = a number you can hold across all 10sets 

5-5-5-5-4-4-3-3-3-4 all Rx

3) SXF Yoga Class or 60mins mobility & stretching

60 minutes mobility

Followed up with WOD with HSPU’s EMOM for 10 minutes.  Did this with George and Chris (who did 10 strict for the full 10 minutes – awesome!).  I started optimistically with 5 reps.  My first ever sports class we did this exact WOD at the start.  My numbers from that day back in January (5-5-5-5-4-3-3-3-3-3) are fairly similar with the biggest difference being that tonight I was Rx-ing them – back in January I was using an abmat still.  My kip also felt strong tonight better than before though because I’m  fully tucking now I need to ensure that my  hands aren’t too close to the wall (which they were a few times causing me to just fall off the wall in the tucked position).  I also realized that I’ll always have a mat under my head even while doing them strict as there were a few (too many actually) times that I dropped down hard onto my head because of fatigue in my shoulders.  Still hung on though and was happy to squeeze out that extra rep in the last set.  Totally tired and sore little muscles in my shoulders (also from Saturday’s dips) from this one.

Wasn’t going to stay for yoga though it felt so good last week – it was too late being at 7:30 (getting home by 9).  Instead I did about 45 minutes of solid mobility.  Some on my shoulders, a little on my hamstrings then the majority on my hip flexors.  Started with a solid 5 minutes or so on each side rolling on the lacrosse ball (mostly stayed there until it was about to make me cry).  Followed this up with another 5 minute on each side of pigeon pose.  Walked around a little after that and it was a weird sensation – basically I spent 10 minutes barely moving lying on the ground and then felt like I’d been run over.  Good times.  Lastly I did some solid child’s pose.  Not sure how long I was in this but it was good mostly because Sacha came over at one point and pushed down on my sacrum for a bit and helped me deepen the pose (which is something I was really craving last week in the yoga class).  She then did another set of her HSPU’s then came back and did it again.  Seriously amazing.  Loved it (and her obviously).   So my hips are a lot more mobile and also feeling a bit odd as they haven’t been this open in several weeks now. 

Good night and happy it was over relatively early so that I could spend 2 hours skyping with my best friend – it is the little things!

8/10 - Saturday Sports Class

1) Back Squats

10x3rep @85% (+ 5kg's to last week)

10x3 @73kg

2) Comp WOD

9min AMRAP of;
3 Muscle-ups 6 pull-ups/ 6 dips
6 Thrusters 60/42.5kg

4 +6 pull-ups + 6 dips (30kg thrusters)

3) 10 x 100m Sprints
*rest will be determind by your group/partners 

No time for these (thankfully!!!)

It always feels like I’ve just left when I return for Saturday sports class.  It also feels like the sun shining is really the only difference – it barely feels like I’ve had a nights sleep to rest and this was especially true after the rope climbs and KB swings of last night.  My shoulders were heavy when I woke up and my legs just tired.  You can imagine how much I was looking forward to more squatting but alas, the burpee rule still applies – no negative talk about backsquats or you guessed it… burpee penalty (self-imposed).

Anyway, we started with a full hour to get through the back squats.  This was sufficient time and I managed to get them all done without failing any even though the weight was actually 91% of my 1RM backsquat (really curious to see what it will be after all this).  Worked through with Sacha which was good, we got a chance to chat and work on our hip mobility in between sets.  I tried to rest a minimum of 3 minutes between rounds which at times was closer to 4 or 5 which was needed.  I also had Sacha spot me for most of them as well again, ‘just in case’ because of how I was feeling.  You just never know and since we’re not supposed to drop the bar but rather get through the movement it worked to be aware.

Following this we set up for the WOD.  I usually love going first but when the girls (Ali and Sacha) made me go first without thought I almost dreaded it.  I had no motivation or desire as I was just so physically exhausted.  I kept the weight low on the thrusters and knew that with the current state (still) of my hands I wasn’t going to get c2b (what we were supposed to scale to) so I just did pull-ups and dips (on the bars, not the rings),  It was still crazy hard.  I didn’t even think about counting (had Ali for that thankfully) and when Sacha asked me at the end how many rounds I’d gotten I truly had no idea and I really didn’t care.  I had to ask Ali.  This WOD however for me what just to focus on each movement and get through them rather than racing the clock or whatnot.  I had to break up the pull-ups because of my hands and then dips were the part that failed first.  They are similar to HSPU’s in that when they go they go so you need to back off before failure.  It was still tough but I made it through (mostly) the full range of motion.  I struggled but it was one of those days.  The thrusters felt solid – Coach Hayden told me to keep my elbows up and really drive through which made a huge difference and definitely made me feel stronger (as could be on the day).

Followed it up with a well earned breakfast of pancakes and bacon and eggs which I struggled to eat with a knife and fork as I could barely lift my arms at this point (I think the feeling was similar for many who had done the Friday night WOD).  I had to use two hands to hold my coffee.  Hard times.  Timmy and Jack came by Foam though - awesome to catch up with them too and compare rope climb marks.  Miss you boys!

Rest day Sunday – so happy!!

8/7 – DU’s and Rows and SEX WOD

Another rainy day today which meant that the running portion of the WOD was cancelled in favor of rowing – this is always the case, not because running in the rain is bad (I miss running in the rain) but rather because the road actually floods (quite easily at that) and it would be more like swimming rather than running.

Rowing it was (which we’ve been doing so much of lately).

Before that though we had a little gynamstic-y fun.

Pre-WOD

L - Sit 

3 Max Effort L-Sit Holds

25-25-27 seconds

Then

2 x 6 Minute AMRAP

50 Double Unders

200m Run Row

*2 Minutes Rest between each AMRAP

Round 1 - 3+20 DU’s Rx

Round 2 - 2+50 DU’s +176m Rx

Partnered up with Cam for the WOD today which included the L-sit holds.  He convinced me to give them a go on the parallettes rather than the pull-up bars (parallettes are harder apparently) so I did.  It wasn’t too bad though I did them with bent knees.  My abs were already killing from Monday and Tuesday so that didn’t help.  I managed to get 25 seconds in the first round as Cam counted up by 5’s – I pretty much dropped once it hit 25 seconds like that was my target.  In the second round I wanted to match this.  Going into the third Cam knew that I would be doing the same (this boy knows me for sure) so he didn’t count much above 20, I think he stopped at about 22 seconds then went silent and left it up to me.  Because of this I gained two extra second before dropping.  Felt good to get more but man did it hurt.  He laughed at me (in a good way).

Then it was on to the double AMRAP.  I sneakily got to go first based on the fact that Cam made me go first on the L-sits (I didn’t want to but that’s how it went) so because of this I didn’t have to wait 15 minutes before getting through this – so glad to have it over sooner rather than later – it was a lung burner.

Started out solidly on the DU’s (and as a note, I did 50 unbroken when we were doing the 30 second test before the WOD – I stopped at 50 not wanting to kill myself before the WOD).  The DU’s helped me keep pace with most of the boys.  I think I might have actually been ahead of everyone in my group that was actually doing DU’s (not scaled).  I got big chunks for all though they were diminishing a bit more by the end (down to sets of 10 or so).

I felt solid on the row even though it hurt (butt and hamstring cramping again- still?).  My pace on average throughout both WODs was 1:55/500m or below which I liked.  I also really focused on keeping my stroke rate low so that I could focus on catching my breath.  I noticed that I can maintain the same pace with anywhere between a 28-32 stroke rate so obviously I’m targeting the lower number.  I noticed a lot of the bigger boys in the second round weren’t getting that extra ‘rest’ at the end of the stroke which would make it easier on them if they could time it well – technique on the row makes a huge difference. 

I took my time in the transitions, walking to my rope and shaking out my legs so that I  could get feeling back and then trying to get right into the DU’s and bang out as many as I could before tripping up.  It helped overall I think.  Focused rest when necessary – getting right onto the rope knowing that I didn’t have a huge set but that I’d then get to rest.  Little things make big differences to the overall score.  I was happy to get as far as I did in the second round given that my DU’s sets were getting smaller as I was tiring.  I think I had about 45 seconds or less when I finished the last set of DU’s and headed to the rower.  Cam told me he’d let me know when there were 15 seconds left so I could go all out but I really wanted to finish the 200m so I went hard (as hard as I could anyway) right from the start of that last piece with my split closer to 1:50/500m.  I still didn’t finish but was so close – it definitely hurt but I really did want it and it was worth it.  I rolled off the rower and was so happy to be finished.  Definitely tough to rest for 2 minutes then go again on the same thing.  A new challenge.

Followed that up with the extra work.  There were two parts tonight and while I don’t usually talk about those workouts publicly (top secret y’all) – today I want to for a few reasons.

Sports Extra (SEX) WOD – August 7, 2012

1 x Max Set T2B

12

First we had to do one set of max toes to bar – I have had limited success linking these together in the past though I think my max before today was 4.  I knew I had one chance and I managed to get 12.  Not only get 12 but get 12 solidly and made them look pretty too.  Coach Jono was sitting on the box beside me and noticed and made some comment like ‘don’t screw these up’ and as I kept going and he kept encouraging me I noticed from my peripheral vision that people were stopping what they were doing (barbell club) and watching.  It was both awesome and intimidating all at once.  I felt strong and on every kip could feel the lightness in my grip on the bar and being able to move my hands a bit more, it was amazing.  I managed to get 12 in all before I missed on the 13^th and my abs were on fire – so sore still.  Definitely happy though.  There was a bit of an ‘awesome’ dance afterward.

Backsquats

7x5 @ 75%+5kg

7x5 @68kg

Not much to talk about on the squats themselves specifically but rather on mindset.  My legs are tired and I knew it was going to be another heavy squat day – my hip flexors are crazy tight even with insane amounts of mobility on them and lately I haven’t been looking forward to squatting.  Today I was over 80% of my 1RM for the work but instead of dreading the work all day I decided to be positive.  To love squats.  I made an agreement with myself and told all my friends that if I complained at all about squats that they could give me burpees.  It was set.  I didn’t want burpees (and squats) so I let myself love squats – even as Cam did everything he could to try and agree that the squats were going to be horrible.  And guess what… the squats weren’t horrible.  They were way easier to go overall with my focus being on the positives – getting through one set – knowing I was that much closer to them being done – feeling strong.  Enjoying the movement.  Half way through, only one set left.  All of it helped and they didn’t feel as heavy as they would have if I’d been negative.  So that’s the lesson – focus on the positive, turn things around and they are in fact easier.  Loved it.