Jan 22 2010 - Triple-Under!

Today I did my first triple-under. One of the Get Built members saw a jumprope demonstration at school and threw down the gauntlet. I got one and only one.

Snatch Practice - Drill Set 3 (25kg)
Mid-Hang Sn Jump + Pull x 2 reps x 4 sets
Mid-Hang Sn Pull x 3 reps x 6 sets
Tall Muscle Snatch x 5 reps x 5 sets

GB WOD
30 Ring Rows (3 sets of 10)
Bench 145# x 5, 170# x 3, 190# x 8
Wt Ring Dips +25# x 5 reps x 3 sets
Barbell Curl 65# x 5, 70# x 5, 75# x 5
Wt Chin-Ups +25# x 5, 35# x 3, 44# x 3

The ring dips were hard; I'd never done them with extra weight before.

Jan 18 2010 - Snatch Form Review

I took some time this morning to work on snatch form. A couple of my lifts are worth watching.

Oly Practice
Catalyst Athletics Drill Progression (15kg x 5 reps ea.)
. Overhead Squat
. Pressing Snatch Balance
. Heaving Snatch Balance
. Snatch Balance
. Tall Muscle Snatch
. Scarecrow Snatch
. Mid-Hang Snatch
Snatch 35kg x 1 rep x 9 sets (on 1 min rest)

Three snatch attempts at 35kg. Reps 1, 2, and 8.
Rep 1 - watch how the bar ends up behind my heels in the squat.
Rep 2 - the bar gets in front of my toes as I over correct.
Rep 8 - I settle into a decent receiving position, but it's not quick.
(WARNING: there's cool music in the vid.)


3 hours Rest

GB WOD
50 Bar Dips (10 reps x 5 sets)
Back Squat 160# x 5, 185# x 3, 210# x 9 reps
AQAP: 15-12-9 [Front SQT (155#), Strict Chin-ups]

Today was a wonderful test of my new weightlifting shoes. They helped tremendously with the full-depth squat snatches in the morning. The Get Built workout had me back squatting heavy, then front squatting a reletively heavy weight for 36 reps. I felt like I got good depth in all of the squats. I only had trouble with 3 reps of front squat, where I was fatigued and not balancing well. I decided not to scale the front squats and ended up having to rack the bar after every 2 reps in the final set. My quads are no longer speaking with me.

Jan 15 2010 - Deadlift

GB WOD:
Hip Bridges 95# x 25 reps
Deadlift 200#x3, 230#x3, 265#x12 reps
3 rounds: (not for time)
. 5 "King" DL per leg
. 50m Broad Jumps (27,28,27 reps)
Max Effort Broad Jump: 7'

Bonus Strength Work
Weighted Chin-ups 26#x5, 35#x5, 44#x5reps

The broad jumps were much easier on my back (compared to broad jumps in previous workouts), most likely due to the fact that I was landing on grass instead of concrete.

Regarding the Wendler 5-3-1 program, I feel much less systemic stress following workouts than on the CrossFit Football program. For example, after a 5 rep max deadlift and CFFB WOD I usually wanted to go directly to sleep. I get what I've termed the deadlift dumb-dumbs, feeling as though I've lost 30 IQ points. This has not been the case with the Wendler lifting I've done this week. Even with the broad jumps, the deadlifts today left me with plenty of energy. They were very hard, especially the last 3 reps, but I haven't felt the systemic effects that I've experienced on the CFFB program.

If I end up gaining strength on the Wendler-style cycle, it will have been great to have done so on less of an IQ drain throughout the week. But I'm worried that the lack of systemic stress means that I'm not getting the same volume of muscle-building hormones released into my body.

I'd love to do an experiment comparing the Wendler-style lifting plan to both the CrossFit Football plan and the Starting Strength novice progression. Unfortunately, there's only one of me and I'm not willing to atrophy after each program to start from the same baseline.

One decision I have arrived at this week is that I'm not doing enough olympic lifting. I have the bar, bumper plates, & shoes, so I'm going to schedule a couple of skill sessions next week, video my lifts, and do some serious form critiques. Stay tuned.

Jan 11 2010 - Wendlerriffic Squats

This is my first day combining both the strength progression and lifting at Get Built. I probably should have started the deadlifts earlier to get a couple more hours of rest between workouts.


Strength
Deadlift 5 rep max (138kg/305#)

3.5 hours Rest

GB WOD
20 Strict Chin-ups
Squat 145# x3reps, 170# x3reps, 195# x17 reps
Reverse Lunges 75# x 12 reps x 2 sets
One-Leg Romanian Deadlifts 75# x 12 reps x 2 sets
Burpee Box Jumps 12 reps x 2 sets

The squats were 60%, 70%, and 80% of my one rep max. Two sets of three reps, then a set for as many reps as possible. Get Built is following the 5-3-1 program by Jim Wendler, a former competitive powerlifter. I'm curious to see how this works.

Jan 02 2010 - Weenie

Returning from the last bit of holiday travel has left me without the inclination to spend any more time than necessary outside in the cold & dark. Call me a weenie, I skipped the conditioning.

Strength
Power Clean 5 sets of 3 reps (69kg)
Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps (13,11,12)

DEC 15 2009 - Double Trouble

Strength
Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps

Conditioning
5 rounds As Quickly As Possible
. 7 Deadlifts (115kg)
. 21 Double-Unders

I was ready for the double-unders to give me fits. During my warm-up I did several sets, made some adjustments to the rope length, and began cussing. I couldn't seem to string more than two double-unders together without tangling the rope. Oddly, they went pretty smotthly during the workout. Maybe double-unders are like jokes, the more I think about them, the worse I perform.

The original prescription for thw deadlifts was 315 pounds, which is the heaviest I've ever lifted for one rep. I scaled to just over 80% of my most recent 5 rep max. It was heavy enough that I spent slightly more time on deadlifts than double-unders. Total workout time - 18:11.

DEC 11 2009 - Power(less) Cleans

Strength

Power Cleans 5 sets of 3 (67kg)

Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps (7chest+7chin, 4+5, 5+4)

Conditioning

10 x 150m Sprints (on 60sec rest)

My form was a bit squiffy on the power cleans. I've been working up to a 65kg clean & jerk as a regular part of my warmup, but after yesterday's painfest I lacked the snappiness usually present in my cleans. I should have taken video to see how bad it was. But I didn't feel like messing with the camera today.

The chin-ups went better than expected. The fact that I did more than last time means at least I wasn't pulling with my arms on the clean (which is a cardinal sin of weightlifting).

Spirints took between 21.5 and 28 seconds. I have a slight grade on the street, which widened the gap between my splits. Happy it's over. I'm ready for a Guinness float tonight!

DEC 04 2009 - Runnity-Run-Run

Strength:
Power Snatch 5 sets of 3 reps (49kg)
Strict Chin-ups 3 sets for max reps (14,8,8)

Conditioning:
8x 200m Sprints on 2:30 rest

I tried the first set of power snatches at 55kg, but it was too heavy. Once I learn enough technique to get all the way under the bar in a full overhead squat I think I'll have no problem with that weight. But for now, it was too much to lift 15 times.

I did as many chest-to-bar chin-ups as I could before resorting to chin-over-bar. For some reason I find it easier to get strict chin-ups (palms facing me) chest-to-bar, than strict pullups (with palms facing away). Thinking back on it, I'm curious if it has to do with different grip width on the bar, range of motion from the wrist rotation, or different muscle involvement. Any guesses?

The sprints workout was more running than I'd done in a while. It totaled a mile. I ran up hill from my house 200m (each took between 41 and 44 seconds), and walked back for the next one. The return walk usually took about 2:15. I don't think it was the best rest pattern. I would have gained more benefit if I had lied down or sat for 2 minutes, but the workout took 25 minutes as it was, and more rest would have cut into my supper time. I could have rested at the far end of my sprint, and run the even sprints downhill, but I don't really care for downhill sprints. It's harder on my joints and gravity is doing most of the work.

It was interesting to note how long I could go all-out. It was only about 120 meters. After that my leg cadence slowed noticeably. I was able to keep my speed up longer towards the middle of the workout, once I focussed on it. Then I began decelerating sooner as I fatigued. Makes sense, but it was good to feel, so that I know to watch for it in others.

NOV 21 2009 - Burner!

Chin-ups weren't on the CFFB website, but I noticed that yesterday's were supposed to be strict (no kipping), so I did them strict today.

Strict Chin-ups, 3 sets for max reps (11,8,7)

Rest
As Quickly As Possible:

30 Back Squats with bodyweight (75kg)

200m Sprint

30 Burpees
Rest
Tabata Push-Press (25kg) - (12,11,10,9,8,9,8,9)


First time doing this workout with full bodyweight squats (I weighed 71kg this morning). Finished in 8:58. My goal was under 10 minutes. I broke the squats into sets of 5. The "sprint" felt like a slog. I had to stop for breath 3 times during the burpees. In Crossfit beware anything that's "only" one round. They burn!

I added Tabata Push-presses as a finisher, since I have a rest day tomorrow. Tabata intervals are 8 rounds of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. Do as many reps as possible. I use a weight that lets me go fast. Tabata work is great for building muscular endurance.

NOV 20 2009 - Power Snatch

I felt much more comfortable about today's workout, compared to yesterday's. I've been working on my Oly lifts as part of my warm up, so I knew roughly what to expect. But the Olympic lifts aren't familiar to everyone, so here's a quick & dirty explanation of the exercise, and a vid.

In the Snatch, the athlete must lift the barbell from the ground to overhead in one fast movement. The Power Snatch is a type of snatch in which the bar is caught overhead while the athlete is not in a full squat. In the video, you can see my hips are above my knees the whole time. Although my arms support the bar, the majority of the force is generated by an explosive hip extension.


3 sets of Chin-ups for max reps (15,11,12)
Rest
3 Power Snatches on the minute, every minute, for 15 minutes (45 total reps)

CFFB recommended using 70-80% of your heaviest power snatch for this workout. I'd say that if you're new to the power snatch, you can probably stick to right around 80%. I'm pretty sure some technique flaws are keeping me from having a heavier snatch, so I opted for 45kg (81% of my 55kg max). However, if you're brand new to heavy lifting, then strength may be a limiter, so those folks should stay closer to the 70% range.