Lafayette Special

After eating and drinking too much at the new restaurant Lafayette yesterday, I felt I had some penance to do, and coordinated with K for a morning workout. We headed to the fencing room and did the following.

2 times:
- Lunges (about 30 feet - guesstimate)
- bear walk (30 feet).

While walking, throw a 10kg medicine ball forward from your side (twisting motion), alternating left and right (the other guy walks backward and throws it back). 2 times 30 feet.

On your back, do a situp holding the 10kg medicine ball above your head, then trhow it to other guy who is standing up, he throws it back. 15 times.

Situp position with trunk raised (45 degrees) and feet held by something, holding a medicine ball, twist from side to side. 80 times (twisting on one side counted as once). We had a 5kg and a 6kg ball, so we exchanged after every 20.

10 Arianes on each foot (total 20, see description of an Ariane here).

10 minutes slow paced rowing.

Good workout. I looked much worse than K after the lunges and bear walks, but by the end of the workout we seemed in similar state. He rows much faster than I do even at a slow pace, but the good thing is that he taught me some technique.

A meek roar at best

Warm-up:
1x10 situps, pushups, squats
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x185 then 3x5x205)

3 rounds of The Bear:
7 reps of [power clean - front squat - push press - back squat - push press]
(45, 65, 75)

6x20s db hold (2x22.5#, York)

Pretty tired today, maybe from bouldering last night. Squats felt really heavy but solid coming off the rack. I thought I was going to get stuck on the last few reps of the 1st set, but sets 2 and 3 felt better, though getting really close to stalling out on the last rep. Plan to switch to 3x5 when I stall to try to ratchet my way up.

Went too light on the Bear, gotta remember to start heavier next time.

Warm-up:
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 bench press (45x5, 65x5, 85x5, 95x3, 105x1 then 115/125/135 x5)

4 rounds of The Bear
7 sets of
Power Clean
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

Rest between rounds as needed, increase to max load.
65, 75, 85, 95

Just getting in some movement after a long day of sitting at a desk. Bench was okay, warmed up at lighter weights to get the form down and focus on basics (good reminders from Rippetoe at his SS Wiki). Started light on the Bear weights, 95 was pretty awful but pushed through. Just didn't have it in me for the last set (5 rounds as rx'ed). Managed to not drop the bar on my head, which is a win.

There is no such thing as “firming and toning.” There is only stronger and weaker.

- Mark Rippetoe

Warm-up:
dynamic stretching
Burgener warm-up

3x5 shoulder press (45x5, 65x5, 75x3, 85x2 then 95/100/105[f3] x5)

3 rounds of the Bear complex (45, 65, 95)
Each round is 7 sets of:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

2x10 KTE

Presses felt good until 105, need to work the strength back up. Threw in 3 sets of the Bear complex to get the HR up (worked, mid 160s at the end). Good rainy day use of the gym...

The bear you feel awkward for liking

warm-up:
dynamic stretching
heaving snatch balance (45)

The Bear (compare to 010809)
5 rounds, each consisting of 7 sets of:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

Rest is allowed during a round as long as the bar stays off the ground. Rest between rounds as needed, increase to max load.
ED: 65, 75x2, 95
KL: 75, 85, 95, 105, 115(f3)

1x20 low-bar back squat (135)

Both Eric and I had an idea to do the Bear as a quick, weight-centric metcon. Recently came up as a workout over at Crossfit One World. Eric had to leave after 4 rounds, but was looking good with his range of motion; think he could have gone up in weight easily. Felt better than the last few times, but I started at a lower weight. Interestingly, the hardest part as the weight went up wasn't the presses this time, but linking the power clean smoothly to get the bar up and moving. Just felt awfully awkward on the 1st and 2nd pull in the last round.

Bearly hanging in

Warm-up:
7 burpees, bear complex @45#

The Bear (compare to 050207)
5 rounds, each consisting of 7 sets of:
Power Clean (subbed HPC by accident)
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

Rest is allowed during a round as long as the bar stays off the ground. Rest between rounds as needed, increase to max load.
80, 85, 90, 95, 100 (f3)

Cool-down:
8 burpees

Picked the bear for a barbell complex-driven workout to act as a Texas volume session. Since I'm working back into shape, I started light and worked up (failed at 105 last time). Felt heavy but doable; grip wasn't as burned as last time, but the presses were the hard part. Linked presses and squats as thrusters through most of the first 3-4 rounds. Failed the last round on a push press, just couldn't lock it out, really felt like I was going to drop it on my head.

Hard, but enjoyable. Not super aerobic, but it gets your HR up; willpower is critical for this one.

Rewarded myself with a big, giant, juicy, low-carb porterhouse for dinner, eaten with stir-fried kale and leftover curry pureed sweet-potato soup. Mmmm...

Failbear

Warm-up:
dips and situps

The Bear
5 rounds of:
7 sets of
Power Clean
Front Squat
Pushpress
Back Squat
Pushpress

Rest between rounds as needed, increase to max load.
95, 105(f5), 95, 100, 105(f5)

2x
20 steps one-armed overhead walking lunge (25#)

I apparently used up my limited supply of wisdom talking Scott out of doing the Murph today, because I tried the Bear despite too little sleep last night and too many glasses of red wine today at J Anthony's celebratory fete.

Great workout, the bear complex really gets your HR up. Disappointed with myself, because despite the technique and strength issues, this was ultimately a failure of willpower - I think I could have pushed through those failures with enough drive. Linked the squats and pushpresses as thrusters for as long as I could, much more efficient that way. Rested with the bar on my shoulders when I needed to. Cleans were messy - started out basically muscle cleaning, devolved into proper power cleans, and by the end was essentially reverse curling the weight.

This bear has claws.