Seven minutes of fun

Since M was back in town (briefly) from her international travels, we got up early and went to the East River Park. Wanted to try G's recent suggestion of a simple bodyweight high-intensity circuit (mentioned in the Times, original article in an ACSM journal).

30 secs each of:
jumping jacks
wall sit
push-up
crunch
step-up
squat
triceps dip
plank
hi-knee running
lunge
push-up + rotate
side plank

4x running intervals (30/90 s sprint/walk)

Not a bad bodyweight routine, though not novel - similar circuits have been in vogue for a while now (e.g. P90X). Took just enough time between exercises to transition, probably ~10 s. Nice way to keep intensity up (HR in the 160s afterwards). 

Warm-up:
5 min run (10:00 min/mi)
Burgener warm-up

Crossfit WOD 130510
Five rounds of:
5 Dumbbell deadlifts
5 Dumbbell hang cleans
5 Dumbbell push presses
5 Dumbbell squats

Increase the load each round. Rest as necessary between rounds. 
KL: 25, 3x35, 40

3 rounds:
2x8 hamstring curls (L-R; 35)
30 sec weighted deadhang (25, 35, 45)

Nice to get a little more metcon workout in once in a while. The DBs were much tougher on the shoulder and elbow so I kept the weights relatively light (probably should have started lower and kept increasing). Could have gone a tad heavier but not much more.

Warm-up:
3x5 pushups/situps/squats/pullups
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x95, 5x135, 3x185, 1x205 then 3x5x220)

Every minute on the minute for 5 min:
4 burpees
94 ft sprint (court length)

20 decline situps

Felt allright today, a little bit of a slowing on some of last reps but no pause. The loading seemed just a little more unsteady than last time. Will see about two plates next week.

EMOM workout was decent, HR in the high 160s right after. Just enough time (40 s) in the remainder of each minute to walk down to the starting end of the court and get ready for the next set. Could push this to 10 rounds, but didn't have it in me today.

Kinda good morning

Warm-up:
3x5 pushups/situps/squats/pullups

3x5 shoulder press (5x45, 5x65, 3x75, 1x85 then 3x5x95)

Scaled from CF Football 09.04.12
Complete 5 rounds of the following:
3 Clean Pulls
3 Power Cleans
3 Push Press
3 Push Jerks
3 Good Mornings
*Perform at 80-85% of 3 RM Power Clean
*Move up each, set to the heaviest set possible
*Rest 2 minutes between rounds

KL (scaled to 3 rounds): 65, 75, 95

Getting into a routine of getting in early and speeding things up in the gym - 1 lift a day and then some metcon/technique work.

Presses getting heavier (vaguely remember my 5RM around 105, way back when), but no pausing yet. Keeping elbows forward helped a lot. Not a bad complex, but I scaled the loads way back; PP and PJ felt rough after the shoulder work, and heavy good mornings always give me the willies.

At least it wasn't at altitude

For conditioning work today, pulled out a recent workout from Crossfit Park City. Total opposite kind of workout from Scott's heavy singles yesterday (which I should do soon).

Warm-up:
3x5 pushups/situps/squats/pullups

AMRAP in 12 min:
Barbell complex (135/95) of:
4 Deadlifts
3 Hang Power Cleans
2 Lunges (Bar in front-rack position, 1 rep per leg)
2 Push Jerks

KL (sub 95): 9 rounds + 4 DL

2x15 bench press (45, 65)

Whew! Still sweating as I sit at my desk; HR mid 180s right after. I scaled way down on the weight, but still had to break it up after a few rounds - rested after the 3rd DL so I could go right into the HPCs afterwards. HPC technique needs work, and the lunges were all over the place - could have done it at a little heavier weight but felt right for today.

Short and beat

Warm-up:
3x5 situps/pushups/squats/pullups

CF Football Daily WOD 06.25.12
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes:
7 DB Bent Over Rows
7 DB Cleans
7 DB Push Presses
*Use 50lb dumbells

KL (sub 30#): 5 rounds + 7 rows + 4 cleans

Quick workout today, feeling pretty tired from the weekend. Subbed lighter dbs and was really glad I did, had to break up the cleans from round 2 onwards. Cleans done as full squat cleans.

HR: 0'-184, 1'-160, 3'-132, 5'-120

Palladium pulling

Warm-up:
5 min treadmill (10:00-9:00 pace)
dynamic squat stretching

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x185, 3x225, 1x245 then 1x5x255)
3x5 bench press (5x45, 5x65, 3x95, 1x115 then 3x5x135)

CF Football WOD 120515
Complete 3 rounds:
1 Muscle Clean to Push Press...2 Muscle Cleans to 2 Push Presses...3 Muscle Cleans to 3 Push Presses and so on until you can not complete the progression. Once you fail, rest 3-4 minutes, decide if you went too heavy or too light, adjust the weight if need be and try to beat your previous rounds.
*Each muscle clean must start on the ground.

KL: 95 (4 rounds), 115 (3 rounds), 115 (3 rounds)

Since Coles is closed for renovations, made the trek up to Union Square to visit the Palladium - been a long time, though I recall some rather awful workouts back in the day there. Scaled back the DL weight a little bit to work on form, felt heavy but better as sets progressed - to 265 next time. Bench felt nice and steady, not stalling yet - to 140 next time.

Interesting workout from CFF. It was hard to not dip a bit at the top of the clean, too much of a habit to start dropping to catch the bar. Muscle cleans really focused all the concentration into the 2nd pull.

Warm-up:
court jogs

3x5 shoulder press (5x45, 5x55, 3x65, 1x75 then 3x5x85)

power cleans to 115, then:
CF Football WOD 011312
Complete 2 Power Cleans and 5 Chin Ups on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Use 75%-80% of 3 RM for this workout
KL: 115#, scaled to 5 min

1x8 OHS (45)

First shoulder presses in a while, but some transfer from the recent bench work. 85 felt heavy but steady, go to 90 next time. Didn't intend to scale the metcon, but by minute 4 had to break up the chins and it just killed my ability to finish within a minute. Next time either scale the weight down (95 or 105) or cut down to 2-3 chinups - much better to go the full 15 min.

Oly form felt okay, but needs more technique work - opening the back early. OHS felt much better than the last time I tried them, mostly more flexible in the hips and glutes, possibly shoulders as well.

Food for thought

New workouts to try (have at em!):

CF Football WOD 012012
Complete 5 rounds:
1 Minute of Max Reps with Two Arm KB Push Press - 1.5 pood
1 Minute of GHD Back Extension Isometric Hold

CF Football WOD 011912 
Complete 5 rounds:
2 Squats @ 133% of body weight
Sprint 30 yards
*Rest 60-120 seconds

CF Football WOD 011312
Complete 2 Power Cleans and 5 Chin Ups on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Use 75%-80% of 3 RM for this workout

CF Football "Kalsu"
Complete 5 burpees and perform max rep 135 lbs thrusters on the minute.
The goal is to complete 100 total thrusters.
*At the beginning of every minute perform 5 burpees, for the rest of the minute perform as many thrusters as you can during that minute. At the beginning of the next minute perform 5 burpees and then max rep thrusters and so on until you reach 100 total thrusters.
Post the total number of minutes it took to reach 100 thrusters.

CF Sunnyvale WOD 010611
3 Rounds
9 Cleans (w/ a squat)93#/135#
12 Push ups

Complete 7 rounds for time of:
7 overhead squats (you pick the weight)
7 burpees

Warm-up:
court jogs
dynamic squat stretching
deadlifts (to 225)

Based on CF Centurion WOD 061311
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Deadlifts (50% 1RM) - subbed 135#
DB Push Press (35/25) - subbed push-ups

2x5 KTEs

Getting back into a groove of going regularly again, while avoiding squats to let my hip flexor heal. Realizing squats (and full cleans, etc) are pretty fundamental to my exercise routine - it's going to take some flexibility in programming.

Good metcon idea, I stayed conservative with the dead weight (should be ~185 for me right now) and subbed push-ups because the presses were tweaking my right shoulder. No time as I forgot my watch, roughly 10 min. Did all sets slow and steady and unbroken, could up the DL load next time for sure. Finishing HR ~165.

Snatcher

Warm-up:
sprints and box drill
Burgener warmup

Crossfit Football WOD 020111
Complete 5 rounds:
3 Power Snatches
3 Snatch Pulls
3 Power Snatches
*Use 60%-70%& of last set of snatch from SWOD.
*Stay connected to the bar on each round. Do not drop the weight.
*If weight is dropped, count number of drops and perform an equal amount of burpees as a penalty.
Rest 120 seconds between sets.

KL (65, 75x2, 80, 85)
1 drop after snatch pulls @85

20 weighted decline situp (10)
10 standing plate twist (45)
1:30 plank hold

Nice new workout posted at CF football. Not sure if intent of the workout is no failed snatches, you can read it as either no bails or no setting the bar on the ground. I read it as the latter: PS before the pulls always went up easy, grip starts getting taxed after the pulls. Tweaky back from deads yesterday but otherwise things felt fine. Would try this next time allowing rest on the ground (connected to bar), but upping the loads.

A bolder shoulder

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up
snatch balance + snatch + OHS (45, 65)

3x5 shoulder press (45x5, 65x5, 75x3, 85x2 then 90/95/100[f5]x5)

4 rounds (3 reps L, 3 reps R with 35# db):
2x3 dumbbell snatches
2x3 dumbbell push presses
2x3 overhead dumbbell lunge

KL: 6:01

Probably not a good idea to pair this metcon with shoulder presses, but seemed like one at the time. Workout modeled on CF South Brooklyn 072810, but I'm not quite sure how they did their rounds/L-R splits. Killer done this way...

Plugging away

Warm-up:
court length jogs
dynamic stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 185x2 then 215/225/230 x5)

workout from Fitness Conduit (Mike Rutherford/CF Kansas City):

Every minute for 12 minutes:
3 Hang Power Cleans
3 Front Squats
3 Push Press

Use 50% of body weight (subbed 35# dbs, ~40%)

Still adjusting back to both a regular workout schedule and Eastern Standard Time. Squats felt tough today, slow going on reps 4-5 on all work sets - didn't think the last set would go up but it did, barely. Shoot for 215/225/235 next time. Still working my way back to full strength (240/245/250 last December) but it'll likely take a few weeks.

Good metcon workout from CF Kansas City; still recuperating so I went easy (considered 45# dbs, glad I didn't). A real grinder, about 0:25/0:35 work/rest, wanted to stop after 8 rounds or so but pushed through. Push presses were the shakiest for me, can go up to 40# next time this rolls around.

Post metcon recovery HRs: 0'-196, 2'-124, 5'-92, 10'-96

Jetlaggin'

Warm-up:
court sprints, short shuttle
dynamic stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (45x5, 95x5, 135x3, 185x2 then 205/215/225 x5)

Every minute on the minute (65#, from rack):
1 press, 1 push press, 1 push jerk the first minute
2 press, 2 push press, 2 push jerk the second minute
:
5 press, 5 push press, 5 push jerk the fifth minute

1x2 frenchies
10 overhead lunges (45# plate)
10 plate twist (45# plate)

Still out of sorts from jetlag, hitting harder the past few days compared to when I first got back. Squats felt solid but the last few reps of set 3 were *slow*. Shoot for 215/225/235 next week. Did a little shoulder work, repeat of a recent workout lifted from CF Sunnyvale. From rack as opposed to floor this time but still burned out after 5 rounds.

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
box jumps

3x3 bench press (45x5, 65x5, 95x3, 115x2 then 135/145/155 x3)

power cleans to 115, then
every minute on the minute for ten minutes:
2 power cleans (115#)
2 front squats

Quick workout after a day off yesterday, bench felt okay but limited by old rotator cuff issues. Did a little PC/FS workout to get my heart rate up, a grinder but not too taxing loadwise - can try with 135# next time around. HR in the low 160s at the end.

Quick! before the chicken...

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
arianes (10 per leg)

Every minute on the minute (65#):
1 press, 1 push press, 1 push jerk the first minute
2 press, 2 push press, 2 push jerk the second minute
:
5 press, 5 push press, 5 push jerk the fifth minute

4x[3 clean pull + 3 power clean] (95, 115, 135, 155[fx3 PC])

Adapted another CF Sunnyvale workout for a little shoulder work. Supposed to go 10 rounds, but I can't imagine doing it without running out of time sooner than that (I cleaned the bar from the ground, but even from a rack time would get short). Added a little clean technique work, mechanics were a little dodgy at first but felt pretty good until the last set of power cleans, which were a total fail.

Followed it with some tasty late night downtown chicken.

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up

modified from CF Sunnyvale WOD 022410
3 rounds of:
15 push-ups
9 power snatches (95#)
6 OHS (95#)

KL: 16:43 (3:33, 6:25, 6:43)

Every minute on the minute for 5 minutes:
3 L-pullups

Brutal. No lifting today, just a metcon I pulled from CF Sunnyvale's blog. Iffy Oly technique and rust with the OHS really slowed me down, and convinced me to cut the rounds from 5 to 3. Oly reps are a real good burner though, aim to cut down times (lots of rests today) and push up the number of rounds next time.

BTW, the CF Sunnyvale site is a good place to find alternative workouts. They're associated with Planet Granite climbing out in the Bay area (G visited while he was out there), and their workouts seem to weigh core stability and endurance a little more than pure strength.

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up

1x5 deadlift (135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2 then 315x5)

CF Football 091016
Perform 2 Power Cleans on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Start the clock. At the top of every minute perform 2 Power Cleans.
*use 85%+ of 1 RM for power cleans.
KL: 135#

2x10 shoulder press (45, 65)

Deadlifts felt pretty solid but heavy for the work set. PC workout was kind of a mental grinder but good for form and efficiency. Can and should up the load next time, wasn't heavy enough to make it aerobically taxing (HR in the 120-130s most of the way).

Dead and deader

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up

3x3 deadlift
KL: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1 then 335/345/355(f3) x3
ED: 135x2, 185x2, 205x1, 225x1, then 275/285/295 x3

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 reps of
overhead squats (65#)
burpees

KL: 10:53
ED: 12:09

This metcon's a real sledgehammer, I was breathing hard the whole way. Planned on using 95# for the OHS but 65# was much better to keep it short and continuous. By the first set of burpees we both realized that the OHS-burpee doublet is a quad killer. OHSs unbroken but burpees in sets of 3s by halfway through, short pauses. HR 180 at the finish - down to 120s after 5 min, which is at least reassuring physiologically.

Totally screwed the pooch on the deadlifts, added weights wrong and ended up heavier than I meant to (325/330/335 or 325/335/345). Used a mixed grip starting in the middle of the 345# set, but might have been able to pull regular if I had not forgotten the chalk. On the plus side, first 2 reps at 355 felt fairly decent (compare to best 1RM at 365, 2 years ago).

Some serious foam rollering in store tonight...

The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow.

- Thomas Paine

A great big sack of coal

Since I've started doing a little of my own programming, particularly for metcons in the strength-bias format, I've noticed a tendency to avoid certain exercises. Sometimes they're hard to work in given equiptment/space constraints, sometimes they just suck to do. No better way to face it then to get it down on paper (or pixels).

On the crossfit sites, they refer to these as goats, but I prefer to think of them as great big lumps of coal - they suck to receive as presents (even if they are deserved), but if you work them enough they might turn into diamonds. My lumps of coal:

• HSPUs
• overhead squats
• thrusters
  
• KTEs
• dips
• muscle-ups
• burpees
• snatches (full in particular) and cleans
• running
  
• rowing
• double unders
  

The goal is to start working them into my programming to avoid focusing on exercises I can do more easily. With that in mind, I'm going to start rolling these exercises into metcons and cooldown.

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
bear crawl
half-assed Burgener warm-up (couldn't remember the full protocol)

3x5 low-bar back squat (45x5, 95x5, 135x5, 185x3, 225x1 then 235/240/245 x5)

power snatch warm-up, then:
(structured like CF Football WOD 11.12.09)
AMRAP in 15 minutes:
2 Power Snatches @ 75% of 1 RM (105#)
2 Rounds of 3 HSPU, 5 strict pull-ups, 7 KTE

KL: 3 rounds + 2 PS/3 HSPU

Man, I'm beat! I think the 5 days or so off over the weekend really helped me, the squats felt extremely solid today. Focused on a nice wide stance and actively keeping my knees out at the bottom (a point made repeatedly by Rippetoe). Starting to slow markedly on the 5th reps of sets 2 and 3 though, will see how long I can stick to 3x5. Go to 240/245/250 next week.

Structured a metcon around a recent CF Football workout, but changed it to focus on some weaknesses. Subbed freestanding HSPUs with feet on Smith machine bar HSPUs. Could have gone to at least 115 on the PS, but don't think I could have avoided dropping it at that weight so I dialed it down. The pull-ups and KTE killed me by the second round, was down to singles and doubles which kept the HR from getting too high (~140 at finish). Next time, structure it so it can go more continuous (kipping pull-ups, situps, dips, etc.), and go to 3 power snatches.