Pulling



The kipping Pullup

 All pulls today.

Underhand Chest Supported Row -5x4 (200 on all sets)

Chest to Bar Chinups - 4xrelative max reps (4, 8, 6, 6) first set was L-chinups, just curious really

AMRAP in 12 minutes
5 Pullups
5 Kipping Pullups
5 Inverted Rows
Score: 6 + 3 Kipping Pullups

Preacher Curls - 60 (7, 6, 5)

I wanted to compare part 3 today to part 3 on December 23, which was exactly the same except the hand position.  Although it was close I actually did a few more reps today, which is weird because chinups are usually easier than pullups.  My assumption is the stuff before, and today the prior stuff didn't affect part 3 as much, either way it was still hard.

Pushing

Pressing day, just want to point out my glutes are sore as hell, so I tried stretching them a lot between sets.

Pin Shoulder Press - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3...........155, 175, 185, 195, 205

Pin Shoulder Press - 20 reps at 175 pounds

For time
30 Bench Press - 135
30 DB Military Press - 37s
30 Dips
30 Pushups
Time: 17:35

Overhead Rope Extensions - 2x10........70, 70(9)

That last set of pin presses got heavy, real heavy, part 2 was broken into 4 sets of 5, which also got real heavy.  Part 3 took longer than anticipated but mainly because I kept getting interrupted, oh well not much I can do, it was still challenging.  I only got done 2 sets of the last part because someone got there lock stuck and I had to use the bull cutters on it, then I had a client.

Legs

Jeff Leonard

Today is leg day, I was tempted to rest, only because I twisted my knee on Sundays routine, not even during part 1 it was during the double under practise.  Twisted isn't even the right word, I more just stepped wrong so it was sore, but I decided to give my leg day a go and if it got worse I'd stop.

Travelling Lunges - 6x6......24 kg (used 2 kettlebells)

AMRAP in 12 minutes
5 Leg press - 270
8 Jump Lunges (8 per leg)
Score: 7 + 5 Leg Press

5 Rounds for time
5 DB Front Squats - 50s
10 Squats
Time: 6:54

Leg Extension - 3x25.......95, 110, 125

I felt my knee, but it didn't really seem to get worse so I saw no reason to stop.  What did hurt though was my quads, especially on part 2, so that's good.  I guess I couldn't stay away from loaded squats entirely, but with DB's it changes the load so it's not so much on your spine, so I knew I was good.  When I do go back to loaded squats, back and front, I think I'll still keep leg presses in it's a good exercise and I really feel my legs working.  My one calf muscle was sore today from Sunday, not sure why just one, makes certain exercises feel weird.

Conditioning

Despite being tempted to workout yesterday, a rest day was appropriate, today was a plyometric day, well more plyometric.

For time
10 Burpee Broad Jumps
40 Box Jumps (24 inches)
10 Burpee Broad Jumps
40 Bench Supported Lateral Jumps (40 per side)
10 Burpee Broad Jumps
40 Over the Bench Jumps (40 total)
10 Burpee Broad Jumps
40 Jump Lunges (40 per leg)
Time: 21:15

Afterwards I performed some double unders practise, my legs felt very heavy after the above so it didn't go so well, I could string about 20 at a time together.

Part 1 was very challenging, gave me the firebreather effect, which is that dry burning sensation in your chest during and after the workout.  All exercises but the burpee broad jumps and jump lunges were done off the 24 inch step, which is 10 risers plus the step itself.  Over the bench jumps were different, it's how it sounds you jump right over the bench, turn around and do it again, so no contact with the bench itself.  I was very winded but it felt good to workout after a fun filled Christmas day, fun of course meaning filled with unhealty treats.

Pulling

Ben Smith

Pulling day, I didn't realize until part way through that minus the last thing it was all bodyweight movements.

Wide Grip Pullups - 5xrelative max reps (11, 9, 8, 7, 8)

Inverted Rows - 4xrelative max reps (10, 9, 9, 8)

AMRAP in 12 minutes
5 Chinups
5 Kipping Chinups
5 Underhand Inverted Rows
Score: 6 + 4 Chinups

EZ Bar Standing Curls - 70 (8, 6, 5)

I like doing wide grip pullups they are more challenging then regular grip and underhand (chinups), plus I feel them pretty good.  The inverted rows on part 2 I kept controlled, sometimes this exercise can get very spastic in movement especially when going for time.  Part 3 was fun, first time ever doing kipping chinups in a workout like this I've always saved them for conditioning days.  First round was unbroken and felt easy almost, every other round was broken for every exercise.

Pushing

After a few clients back to back this morning I got my pressing workout for the day done with.  When my clients line up like that it's hard to get good food in me so my energy levels were a tad low.

Incline Rack Bench Press - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3.........135, 145, 155, 165, 175

Incline Rack Bench Press - 30 reps at 135

4 Rounds for relative max reps
Handstand Pushups - 7, 6, 4, 4
Pushups - 14, 10, 8, 8

Dips - 3x10

I was surprised how much the incline rack bench press burned, part 2 really really hurt, but in a good way, first time ever doing that exercise.  Part 3 was untimed, not really a get my heart rate elevated kind of workout, I kept perfect form on all sets, the pushups I purposefully did slow and controlled, hence the low numbers.

Legs

Leg day, and I continue my break from weighted squats till the new year, it's very tempting but so far so good.  I think I forgot to mention it in a previous post, but I want to leave loads off my spine for a bit, it will do my body some good, doesn't mean I can't get a tough leg session in anyways.

DB Bulgarian Split Squats - 4x6 (50s on all sets)

6 Rounds for time
10 Leg Press - 180
10 Jump Squats
Time: 11:09

3 Rounds for time
10 DB Step ups - 50s
20 Squats

3 minutes of wall sit, in as few as sets as possible.

Part 2 really burned, I wanted part 3 to be a quick one and it was.  Overall it got my heart rate up pretty good.

Conditioning

James Hobart and Tommy Hackenbruck

Conditioning day, the above pic was chosen for a reason, the 2 athletes are performing part 1 of the workout below.

3 Rounds for time
20 Burpees
20 Kipping Pullups
Time: 9:42

Rest a few minutes

For time
Row 1km
50 Box Jumps - 20 inches (last minute decision and this was nearest bench)
Time: 8:24

Part 1 is decieving, but I was actually very pleased with my time.  Hobart and Hackenbruck are elite crossfitters, and there version was c2b pullups but they used the butterfly kip, I used the much slower standard kip, so maybe it evens out (maybe not).  Either way there times were 6 and 7 minutes respectively, so I felt as if I was slightly competitive with my time as in no way did I think I'd be remotely close to there times.  Part 2 was a little something extra because part 1 was so short, the 50 box jumps was something I decided to do halfway through the row.  Good workout!

Pulling

Shane P, another crossfitfootball star

All pulling today, but no deadlifts this time, rows and pullups.

Single Arm Chest Supported Row - 70(5), 80 (5, 5, 5, 5)

Wide Grip Pullups - 8, 7, 7, 8

20-15-10-5 reps for time
Chinups
Inverted Rows
Time: 12:51

DB Preacher Curls - 30s (5, 4, 4)

Damn wide grip pullups are much tougher than chins and regular grip pullups, I don't know why I got more reps on my last set, I guess I over paced myself.  Arms were really feeling it on part 3, pullups are just awesome, and again legs didn't move at all to take out any chance of kipping.

Pushing

Terry Rose, a crossfitfootball star

With the cancellations in clients I had today there was a bit more free time, all upper body pushing exercises today.

DB Bench Press - 80s (5, 5, 5, 5, 5)

DB Shoulder Press - 65s (4, 4, 4, 3)

For time
25 Dips
30 Pushups
20 Dips
25 Pushups
15 Dips
20 Pushups
Time: 16:21

Kneeling Rope Pushdowns - 3x10.......70, 70, 70(8)

I decided to start off with 2 exercises I used to do all the time but haven't focussed on as much lately, which doesn't make sense because they are great exercises.  I felt strong on both, I selected a weight for all sets and tried to get as many reps per while still trying to pace myself, the last sets on each I barely got the last rep.  Part 3 was challenging, the arms simply didn't want to lift my body anymore.

Legs

Pete Maxwell

Lower body quad dominant pushing day, or better known as leg day.  Didn't feel like going heavy today, and wanted to try the leg press again, so it's a high intensity workout.

10 Rounds for time
10 DB Travelling Lunges - 50s (5 per leg)
10 Jump Squats
Time: 18 minutes

AMRAP in 12 minutes
Leg Press - 180
Score: 80 reps

3 Rounds
20 Leg Extensions - 140
6 Broad Jumps

Part 1 I kept changing, first it was just going to AMRAP 15, but then I was in mid lunge rep on round 8 when 15 minutes hit and decided to keep going, 9 rounds is just a weird number so I went on till 10.  100 lunges with the 50s and 100 jump squats sucked, lunges luckily were unbroken.  Part 2 was kind of fun, it was broken into sets of 10, but the sets kept getting longer after 30 reps.  Part 3 was untimed, the broad jumps I focussed on max distance, so I reset between each rep and really tried to explode far.  I dislike working legs early in the morning, but also very glad when it's done.  After the workout a had 2 bowls of spicy chipotle chili, corn, black beans, and lots of ground beef :).

Conditioning and New Program

Back into the swing of things, but a little something different.  I am going to change my workout regime to something I did before, Monday has been leg day for months but now it'll be different.  Before I was on a set day workout schedule, meaning each day of the week had a designated workout.  It's pluses are that it's a set schedule, which I like, plus I hate working out on Fridays and Sundays so I created a workout plan that had those 2 days as my rest days.  On the downside, if I miss a day (injury, illness etc) I would miss that workout for an entire week, unless I add it to my one off days, but then it could overlap with another workout, so it just gets confusing.

Now I'll be switching to a day 1- day 2- day- 3......and so on.  It's downsides are that I'll be working out on Sundays are Fridays some weeks, but I can get over that.  It's pluses are if I miss a day for whatever reason I can just bump the schedule back and don't miss that workout for entire week, just a single day.  The one I chose to do is as follows

day 1 - Legs (quad dominant)
day 2 - Upper Body Pressing (bench, overhead)
day 3 - Pulling (all pulling, deadlifts, pullups, rows)
day 4 - off
day 5 - conditioning
day 6 - off

And then repeat, day 1 and 2 are interchangable depending on how I feel 2 days after my conditioning day.  Today I felt like starting on day 6, so tomorrow will be off then will start on day 1.  Two part routine, part one was from crossfitfootball.

Complete 10 rounds:
Row for 1 minute, rest for 1 minute.
*Row for 1 minute as many meters as you can, rest one minute.
*Continue this cycle for a total of 20 minutes.
*Your score is the total amount of meters rowed - goal is row at least 3000 meters
*Penalty is 1 burpee pull up for every 5 meters under 3000 meters.
Score: 2860 metres

For time
50 Burpees
Time: 5:25

Damn I was close, 140 metres under, and technically it's only 19 minutes as the last minute is a rest minute anyways.  Oddly I had completely forgotten about the burpee penalty, and was going to do 50 burpees anyways, by the penalty standards I was only to do 28, oh well makes up for it being regular burpees and not burpee pullups.  Good workout my ass and quads were lit up, and 50 burpees afterwards was just mean.

Break in

Today felt like a beginner workout, it was simple and basically all machines.  I don't usually workout on Sundays but I was bored and my back feels pretty good so I wanted to give it a try.

Machine Chest Press - 5, 5, 5, 5......100, 120, 140, 160
Chest Supported Row - 4x5.......200 (heaviest it goes)

Shoulder Press - 5, 5, 5, 5........100, 120, 140, 150

Wide Grip Pulldowns - 5, 5, 5, 5.........130, 140, 150, 160

V-Bar Pushdowns - 5, 5, 5.......130, 140, 150

Preacher Curl - 5, 5, 5.......60, 70, 80(4)

So machines and cables, that's it.  Funny how much more the weights are compared to when I was kid starting out, I knew they'd be more but in most cases it is double the weight, good stuff.

December 10, 2010

I am forced to take time off again, last week I was sick and this week my back has been screwy.  I hate taking any sort of time off, but I can find comfort in reminding myself that I want to do this for the rest of my life and need to make sure all injuries are taken care of.  I may go back to an old style of training when I come back into it, which will be slowly.  I am hoping for a good workout on Monday but I will just have to see how everything feels.  In the meantime I will stay active with some light cardio or machine training.

Pulling

Lots of pullups today, here's how it went.

Chin ups - 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1..........55, 55, 70, 70(2), 80, 80

Single Arm DB row - 4x5.........90 on all sets

AMRAP in 12 minutes
3 Wide Grip Pullups
5 Neutral Grip Pullups
Rounds: 7 plus 2 NGP

Preacher Curl - 3x10.......50, 50(8), 50(8)

For the chinups I placed my knees slightly in front of me, very slightly and didn't move them, this removed any chance of kipping, something a lot of people lack, if your legs move then you are kipping and it's not a strict pullup.  I havent done wide grip pullups in a while, they are tough, but over all it was a good routine, I was slow moving because my quads and glutes are still very sore.

Pushing

DJ Wickham

Pushing day, I like this day.

Rack bench Press - 5, 5, 3, 3, 1, 1.....205, 205, 225, 225, 245, 255

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - 4 sets with the 70s (6, 6, 5, 5)

AMRAP in 12 minutes
5 True Pushups
10 Pushups
Rounds: 7 plus 2 pushups

Reverse Grip Tricep Pushdowns - 3x10......80 on all sets

Today for rack bench press I placed the safeties one hole higher than usual, 8 instead of 7.  At 7 I got stuck at 235 for a little bit so will try 8 holes and hopefully get up to a good weight then go back down and start over and see if I can break through my plateau.  The rest of the workout seems to hit my chest good.

Legs

Greg Amundson

My body was telling me to rest today, for whatever reason, but it was more rest my lower back.  I believe not doing strict overhead barbell pressing in a while, then doing it on Saturday left my lower back a tad sore, but nothing that will stop me from a workout, so I continued with legs.

DB Bulgarian Split Squat - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3........60, 65, 70, 75, 80

3 Rounds for time
24 Squats
24 Travelling Lunges (12 per leg)
24 Jump Squats
24 Jump Lunges (12 per leg)
Time: 15:02

Leg Press - 3x20........90 on all sets

Leg Extension - 3x25.......110, 125, 140

This was certainly a leg burner, part one went good but I know I could have kept going up in weights, which was nice considering I hadn't done that one in a little bit.  Part 2 was a big burner, lungs and legs, I know bodyweight leg movements are a bit of a weakness of mine so routines like that are good to do, plus it puts no load on my spine so my back gets a break.  I heard from a top of the line trainer how great the leg press is for leg development, and I never use it.  I kept it light today but after part 2 it certainly burned the quads in trying to get 20 reps on each set.  Good workout.

Upper Body Strength



Brendan Gilliam

Todays workout felt like the kind I used to do in college when I was forced to do so much cardio, a relative full body strength routine, in college I'd include legs but not today, that will be Mondays workout.

Incline Bench Press - 4 sets at 135 (6, 6, 5, 5)

Wide Grip Neutral Cable Row - 1 set at 120 (8), 3 sets at 130 (7, 7, 7)

Military Press - 3 sets at 115 (6, 5, 5)

Chinups - 3 sets with bodyweight (10, 9, 7)

V-Bar Push downs - 130(6), 140(6), 150(5)
Alternate with
Preacher Curls - 60(6), 70(5), 80(4)

In case I get old and forget one day, the number in the bracket is the number of reps I performed at the given weight.  I'll be ready for Monday for my usual vigourous leg day.

bike ride

I decided to give a nice vigorous bike ride a shot today, 30 minutes sounded pretty good.  I am back to eating regular foods, so I'll be good for decent workout tomorrow, but still no deadlifts and lower back stuff, I decided to give it a rest this week (being sicked helped the temptation).  I biked 8.27 miles in 30 minutes (resistance 10), nice burn on legs and nice little sweat going.  Tomorrow I will probably do something similar to what I did Wednesday night and then Monday I'll go back to my regular routine.

post sick workout

Today's workout was an attempt to do something, mainly to keep my sanity, I am feeling pretty good today but still not 100%, mainly a lack of energy on account of barely being able to eat the past couple days.  I kept things relatively light, but still wanted to push myself, I was surprised at how quickly I became winded.

Slight Incline DB Bench Press - 4x5........75s on all sets

Chest Supported Row - 4x5..........200 on all sets

DB Shoulder Press - 4x5.........60s on all sets

Pullups - 4x relative max reps.........8, 6, 6, 6

That was it, and that alone completely wiped me out, similar feeling to after a leg day, it didn't take me long to realize I barely had any energy, I don't know what  I weigh now but I'm sure I'm under my maintenance weight so I'll have to try and slowly get back up.  I tried some bodyweight leg work, jump squats was one of them and that was a mistake, just drained me of my last remaining amounts of energy.  I may try a light bike ride tomorrow or Friday and see how I feel after that, hopefully by next week I'll be back into the full swing of things.