Full Body

Matt Chan and Tommy Hackenbruck

A real good workout today, cleans and snatches and squats, can't beat that.  I decided to do the routine I had a client do but hadn't yet done myself with power cleans.

Power Cleans (for time)
135x10 - 24 seconds
155x10 - 47 seconds
175x10 - 1:12
185x10 - 2:01
200x10 - 4:59

Back Squats
135x10
Relative max reps at 185........12, 10, 10, 10

Power Snatch
95x3
115x3
135x4

Wow what a drop as the weight goes up.  Why I went from 185 to 200 I don`t really know, probably because 200 sounds cooler than 195, and 205 was a bit heavier than I wanted to go, either was it was certainly tough.  175 was 5 sets of 2, 185 was 10 sets of 1 as was 200 I just rested longer between that one.  I actually failed a rep on the last set but more because I mis judged the bar path and hit my knees which slowed it down.  The back squats went very well, I was slightly worried about going from 135 to 185 right away but the first set went great, never gotten 12 reps with 185 before.  It says relative because I was always close to failure, and all reps were hamstring to calf.  The power snatches was more to work on form at heavier weights, which I will still need lots of work on as they are still newer to me.  The last set was 4 reps but I rested longer between each one, I actually attempted 2 after that but failed, that was the sign that I was done my workout.  Overall great workout, tomorrow....busy ass Mondays!

Trail Biking

We've had so many rainy days lately that I felt like I had to take advantage of the nice one, cold but still nice.  I went over to a local trail with my bike and went for a nice vigorous ride, similar to my trail run a few months back (same trail) this was a lot of a fun and different.  It was muddy so at times it felt like I was biking in sand, but other times I was able to gather up a lot of speed and I really flew down, probably a bad idea as I could have easily hit a log or rock and crashed.  At times the trail was very narrow, only room for my bike and I but I was able to take the corners well.  I passed many friendly dogs and dog owners and despite whacking my knee a couple times I glady did not crash.....till next time haha.  Good fun to take advantage of a sunny brisk day, which is perfect for trail/mountain biking in my opinion.

Full Body

Today was an am and pm workout, not so much a busy day just an odd day in terms of how my clients spaced out, some cool stuff too.

AM (10 am)
Complex - 1 Power Clean+ 5 Front Squats
135
155
175
185
195
205

I've been liking complexes lately so I figure I'd make one up of my own, making it leg intensive.  It liked this one, 195 was close but I wanted to try 205 and it was really close to failure on that last squat but completed, also tried the new knee sleeves for the first time and it felt good.  Lately I've been doing these front squats without the plate under my hear, probably better so I should stop using that plate as I can still go full range of motion without it now.

PM (5:30)

Superset
DB Pullover - 4x10.........50
Pullups - 4x a few times.......6, 6, 5, 5 (first 2 neutral, second 2 wide)

Pre Fatigue Sets
Cable Fly into Cable Bench Press
40x10 and 10
50x10 and 10
60x10 and 10
70x8 and 6

Handstand Hold - 4xmax time.......no where near clock so no idea of times

Power Snatch
95x3
115x3
125x3
135x3
140x3

So the pm workout was longer as I had more time.  This is the first time I've done pullups in a while, and while I could feel my elbow it wasn't that bad and it didn't last that long, I haven't done pullovers in a while and I remember why, I dislike that exercise I much prefer straight arm pulldowns for a lat isolation exercise.  Handstand hold was good, was doing it in the main gym this time so I got plenty of odd looks.  I realize to get my olympic lifting ability up I should be good at snatches as well, my elbow was feeling fine by this point so I went for some power snatches, there may have been some press outs but I actually felt good about most of them, I should take some videos to be sure.  That weight is a pr, the last 2 sets were more like 1 single at that weight as I rested longer between the 3 reps than I normally would, I do like snatches though.

Full Body

Today was a fun day, sometimes I dislike that my workouts are so short but then I remind myself I have been making pr's a lot more lately so there is no reason to complain.

Trap Bar Deadlifts (for time)
220x10 - 21 seconds
240x10 - 24 seconds
260x10 - 30 seconds
280x10 - 45 seconds
300x10 - 51 seconds

Bear Complex (1 Power Clean+1 Front Squat+1 Push Jerk+1 Back Squat+1 Rack Jerk = 1 rep)
135
155
175
185
195 (fail)

I decided to use that timed method again, to me it's a very effective to shock the body into lifting weight for 10 reps that you wouldn't normally do.  I maybe could have gone heavier as all the times were under a minute but I am actually happy I got 300 for 10 reps in that time.  The first set was unbroken, the second was just to adjust my grip, the rest were broken at 6, that 300 was tough to get that time my legs were lit up.  The bear complex is a popular complex in the crossfit community so I decided to go heavy on it, see how much I can do for 1 time through it.  It was harder than I thought, the power cleans, front squats and back squats weren't exacty easy, but it was the jerks that made this the most hard.  When I perform jerks I usually do split, so a push jerk was a little different, and a rack jerk (push jerk with bar on back instead of front) I never do so it was also tough.  Also lowering 195 pounds to my back for the back back squat wasn't exactly easy either.  I am glad I failed on the last set as it gives me something to strive for, on that set the power clean and front squat was fine but the push jerk was close to failure but completed, the back squat was then fine but the rack jerk wasn't happening my arms gave out.  Fun workout!

Upper Body

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet

My little upper body day again.

Pre Fatigue Sets
Cable Fly into Cable Bench Press
40x10 and 10
50x10 and 10
60x10 and 10
70x7 and 5

Straight Arm Pulldowns into Pulldowns
40x10 and 100x10
40x10 and 100x10
40x10 and 100x10
40x10 and 100x10

Handstand Hold - Accumulate 2 minutes (40 sec, 20 sec, 40sec, 20sec)

The good thing about today is that I felt absolutely nothing in my elbow, not at any point and I did go to failure on most sets.  The first 2 parts burn like crazy still, but based on how they have gone in the past there is a definite improvement there, more overall reps.  The last part perhaps could have been done in 3 sets but when I kipped up for the second one I had this stabbing pain in my one lat that I sometimes get doing this, I fought through it a bit but dropped early.  I foam rolled it out and when set number 3 came up it felt fine, hence the back to 40 seconds.

I made the decision to purchase some knee sleeves, with all my leg workouts my knees have been a bit achy at times.  I've asked Jason, Eric and Geoff, all 3 of which can squat much more than me and they say they make a huge difference in terms of knee pain being dimished to nearly taken away, I just need to find the right brand.  Tomorrow is one of the busier Mondays I've had in a while, so unless any cancellations I'll be off, I could get up early to workout...but I start at 5:30 anyways and that's early enough haha.

Deadlifts

I need to be careful with the leg training, I seem to forget that without upper body training I can't workout as much, plus with the ballistics of olympic lifting it can be tough on my old joints like my knees, wrists and back.  I may take the weekend off minus my stretching but today was a single movement day, can't go wrong with sumo deadlifts for sets of 10.

Sumo Deadlifts (touch and go)
135x10
185x8
225x10
245x10
265x10
285x10
295x10

I have never gotten 295 for 10 reps I was fairly pleased with that, it became very tough by the end.  My deadlifts seem to rotate through conventional, sumo and trap bar.....very nice.  I have no clue why I only did 8 reps at 185, with how the rest of the workout went it clearly was a mistake.

Olympic Lifting

Today was purely olympic lifting, the first part was gotten from Nate Schrader, one of my favourite crossfit athletes, turned out to be pretty tough, this was followed by a surprising pr.

Clean Complex
1 Power Clean+3 front squats+1 Squat Clean
135
155
175
185
195
205

Split Jerk
135x2
155x2
185x1
195x1
205x1
225x1
235x1 (pr)
245x1 (pr....boo ya!!)

I'll start with the second part, it deserves that boo ya, the last 3 sets I dropped I didn't worry about lowering to my shoulders.  I don't do split jerks that often but they aren't always elbow friendly (for either elbow) I felt these but nothing too bad.  245 is a 15 pound pr, and I was thrilled, I know that if I had professional coach (Mike Burgener) teach me I could do more, I feel fast on these lifts, having said that 245 I am very proud of.  I shattered my goal of 225 overhead, 245 overhead is a massve amount of weight for me and I finally am feeling like more of olympic lifter, being able to put up somewhat appreciable weights.  Coming out of the split stance while the weight is overhead turns out to be a little tough, I didn't lose the weight though and held that 245 overhead for probably more than the 2 seconds I usually go for.  The pros I am no where close too, but there are some that competed at the crossfit games over the years that I am....buut this is only one lift.  The first part I really liked, it was tough, that second squat clean was a lot harder than anticipated.  My max squat clean is 235 and 205 felt about that heavy after the first 2 exercises (mainly front squats), it was different and I enjoyed the challenge.

Below is a video of the clean complex I mentioned performed by Nate Schrader, I performed mine the exact same way he did, cept mine was 90 pounds lighter.

http://vimeo.com/29009729

Upper Body

I actually performed this workout yesterday just forgot to update my blog, tested my elbow a bit more and was a little discouraged that I did feel it, wasn't the limitting factor at all but I knew it was there.  I was able to go to failure on most sets as well but I kept the pre-fatigue method.

Superset
Machine Fly at 90 to max rep pushups..........10-12, 8-10, 8-8, 7-8

Straight Arm Pulldowns into Pulldowns
40x10 and 100x8
40x10 and 100x7
40x10 and 100x6
40x8 and 100x6
Lateral Raises into Military press at 22s..........10-12, 10-10, 10-10, 7-7

The first 2 were ones I had done before, they burned just as much as they have in the past.  The third one I haven't done for a while and it really burns, first time overhead pressing and it was only that one where I felt it in the elbow, albiet it only slightly.  I actually thought I'd miss upper body work more, I really haven't.  Leg training is always mentally tough but it's either focus on that or don't workout nearly as much, I know my workout frequency is cut back (you can only do so much legs) but I've been hitting my legs so much lately that I've actually gained weight, and from looking at myself in the mirror I don't think my upper body has gotten any smaller.  Of course I am still able to do the kind of routines above so it's not like my upper body is untouched.  I was sore as hell from Sundays and Mondays combo, but my workouts being filled with olympic lifts (which is almost all hip, leg and back drive), front squats, back squats, and deadlift variations, when I do go back into a more regular training style my legs won't be a weakness.

Deadlifts

Max Mormont

Hey I did have time for a workout today, not much but decided to pick one lift and go heavy.  Decided to go heavy on sets of 5 for deadlifts, conventional, starting from top and touch and go, optimal for lifting as much weight as possible.  Before the workout, while I wasn't sore in my back, I wasn't going to go for a new max as yesterday had heavy squat cleans and back squats and my legs were sore, I usually say this and as I get heavy I say screw it I'm going for a max, I did that today.

Deadlifts
135x10
185x8
225x5
255x5
275x5
295x5
315x5
335x5
355x5
375x5 (pr)

The results were successful, I'm not oblivious I know my form had faltered on that last set, most of the reps had a grunt to go with them but 375 is definately a pr, and coming after a day that had back related exercises I am very happy.  The one rep max calculator says my max is now 422, maybe someday I'll load 4 plates a side (405) and see if I can do one.  On a day I had no intention of working out on I am very content to get this short but heavy ass pr.

Legs

Today was a freaking awesome day.  I have never gone for a true 1RM squat clean, well now I can, so why not.

Squat Cleans
Warmup
95x5
135x3

155x3
175x2
185x2
205x1
215x1
225x1
235x1

Back Squats - 10, 10, 10, 10, 10.........135, 155, 165, 175, 185

I wasn't actually expecting that.  I work hard on front squats, so I know what I can handle there, but when the weight comes slamming down onto my shoulders it gets harder.  Also I spent years doing power cleans, more specifically hang power cleans, so they are more trained than my squat clean (and still are).  Squat clean should be more than your power clean, and mine is, but just barely.  I know I need some work on form on this one, I make the common mistake of sometimes sort of power cleaning the weight and then riding it into the squat, I have no video proof but I probably did that here.  Nevertheless I felt fast and confident in getting under the bar, 235 was flipping heavy for me, I wish I had a video but was working out alone.  I haven't done the 5 sets of 10 reps on back squats in a while, or back squats for that matter, so why not.  Ended at 10 pounds heavier than the last time, and my legs were feeling it.  Overall I felt amazing after this workout, tomorrow is a busy day for me so I wanted to make sure I got this in on what is usually a rest day.

Full Body

Ben Smith

Some upper body stuff that tests my elbow a bit more, then ended with a quick little metcon.

Handstand Hold - 3xmax time.....50 seconds, 35 seconds, 30 seconds

Pre Fatigue Sets
Cable Fly into Cable Bench Press
40x10 and 10
50x10 and 10
60x8 and 6
60x7 and 5

Straight Arm Pulldowns into Pulldowns
40x10 and 100x8
40x10 and 100x7
40x10 and 100x6
40x8 and 100x6

For Time
50 Power Cleans - 135
Time: 8:18

The first 3 parts all test out my elbow more than I have in the past, the handstand holds were harder than I thought but I am glad I got 50 seconds on the first set, things look weird looking at them upside down for an extended period of time.  The chest fly and bench press combo burns like crazy, but more elbow safe because the first exercise makes the second one harder so I have to use less weight.  The second pairing I needed to change the weight and again burned the lats like crazy, the straight arm pulldowns were done on the lat pulldown station hence the lighter weight.  The last part was hard, I made good use of the bumper plates here.  I have seen Rob Orlando, Nate Schrader and Ben Smith perform this workout in 5 minutes ish, buuuut with 225.....damn I got some catching up to do, good workout!  Elbow feels fine too.

Deadlifts

Another busy but for personal reasons on top of work reason, a client cancellation allowed me something quick, so I picked one lift and decided to go heavy on it, today it was trap bar deadlifts, my back was a little sore but I warmed up enough.

Trap Bar Deadlift (reset each time)
170x10
220x5
260x3
280x3
300x3
310x3
320x3

And off I went, felt pretty good, I had to get used to adding the weights in my head still but I still really like the trap bar deadlift.  320 still isn't really close to my max for regular deads, but those are touch and go starting from the top, these are starting from the ground and I reset each time so much harder, I like it.

Legs

Danny Nichols

Damn busy days, didn't nearly have the time today for a full workout so picked a quicker ish one, stole the crossfit front squat workout from before.  It's 10 sets of 2 reps for front squats, some perform is lighter and quick, I decided to go heavy as possible.

Front Squats
Warmup
95x10
115x8
135x5

155x2
175x2
185x2
205x2
215x2
225x2
235x2
245x2
255x2
265x1 (tried second, but failed)

Damn, that was more weight than I thought I could handle, I spaced it out so I'd be at my max by the end.  Till this point my max front squat was 245 for a triple, 255 then became the most and the second rep was slow but completed unassisted.  I maybe should have tried 260, but said fuck it I'm going for 265, maybe even hit my goal for the year (265 for a double).  Oh I wanted it so bad, but after rep one at 265 I knew a second was unlikely, I tried anyways but failed and was forced to place it on the safeties.  Having said that, a 265 front squat 1 rep max I am proud of, hamstring to calf too, and damn 10 sets took longer than I thought.

Conditioning

I want my strength to improve first and foremost, while I can't really expect my conditioning to improve with it (at least not fast), I still will do the conditioning routines here and there.  I don't have much time on this turkey filled day, I had some cooking to do at home but got in a good one, first one was from crossfit.

3 Rounds for time
15 Hang Power Cleans - 135
15 Burpees
Time: 10:32

Box Jumps, only counting reps with spring in step
20 inches - 10 reps
22 inches - 10 reps
24 inches - 10 reps
26 inches - 10 reps
28 inches - 10 reps

Double Unders - 5x30......unbroken on all sets

The first part was tough, much tougher than anticipated and it was simply breathing, my legs and arms were feeling it too but nothing compared to the lungs.  I've seen the elite crossfitters complete this in much faster time, but it was tough I actually don't do hang power cleans that much, I usually go with power cleans or squat cleans.  The box jumps were different, I want to improve my turnover time on box jumps so I want to work on this.  I made sure that as soon as I hit the ground I springed back up onto the box right away, spending no more than a split second on the ground, this makes them a helluva lot harder, it wasn't so much about getting my breathing up but working on the technique.  The doubles were paired with this, and while hard I've oddly gotten a lot better at them, no one of the 5 sets of 30 were broken.  Overall it was sweaty for a shorter one, typing this now I just finished my meal.....asparagus, turkey, ham, potatoes, and salmon...damn good meal.

Olympic Lifting

Going into the gym I was just going to do some stretching, like I always do on Sundays, I started stretching and Eric asked me if I could video tape his lift, he performed a lovely 185 full squat snatch.  That seemed to get me pumped up to want a video for myself so I decided I'd go for a heavy power clean and split jerk, I pr'd on both of these on Thursday but as separate lifts, today they were together.

Power Clean and Split Jerk
135x3
155x3
185x2
205x2
225x1 (didn't like my form though)
230x0x1

The video above is my last set at 230, a pr on both the power clean and split jerk.  I took a video of 225, which was successful but I didn't like my form on the jerk at all.  I decided to up the weight anyways to 230, I was able to get the weight to my shoulders but then failed on the jerk, simply wasn't aggressive enough.  I was going to stop there but Eric simply said "ya trying again", why the hell not.  This is the video that is above, I was much more aggressive on the jerk and caught the bar with straight arms, awesome.  The rest of the workout was stretching, which was my original plan.  Feel amazing about it now.

Heavy

Still making use of the new toys, decided to try the technique I used on September 5, but do sets of 5 instead of 10, and do squat cleans as I can make perfect use of the bumper plates.  There is quite the change from set 4 to set 5.

Squat Cleans (for time)
135x5 - 19 seconds
155x5 - 26 seconds
175x5 - 32 seconds
185x5 - 1:08
205x5 - 5:11

Trap Bar Deadlifts - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5........170, 230, 260, 280, 300

Holy shit what a drop, the set at 185 was tough and I knew I was going to do another one, because going over 200 is cool I decided to go for it.  The first rep was good, dropped the bar, walked to the pole and came back for rep number 2, same deal, the clean felt good and the squat was stable.  Rep number 3 was a different story, first attempt I caught the weight too far forwards and ended up dumping it in front, I had to reset rest a short rest and try again, my second attempt I over corrected and caught the weight too far back and started to fall backwards, I quickly pushed the weight in front as I fell on my ass (thank god for bumper plates as this would have been bad with iron).  The third attempt was successful, as were the first tries for rep 4 and 5, but the 2 failed reps account for what a difference in time, felt amazing though.  I should note that prior to today the most I have ever squat cleaned was 200 which there is a video of, so a pr there too.  The trap bar deadlifts I really liked, I normally do touch and go but this time stuck with resetting each time, which is definately harder but the trap bar allows me to better keep perfect form, I seemed to feel every muscle from my waist down on that one.  Good heavy workout!

Olympic Lifting

Pure awesomeness today, made good use of the new bumper plates.

Power Cleans
135x5
155x3
175x3
185x3
195x3
205x3
215x1
225x0x1

Split Jerk
135x3
155x2
185x2
195x1
205x1
225x1

Pure and utter awesomeness, especially on a day where I had no intention of working out, I just got excited with the new bumper plates so I had to do a workout.  Bumper plates means I can drop it, but for clarification it's not an ego thing (which I predict a lot of people will think).  When I get close to my max, it becomes unsafe with the weights I am using to lower them back to starting position, I risk injuring my shoulder and back.  Secondly, I can safely attempt a max weight, I need the ability to safely fail if I am to attempt a true one rep max, something bumper plates allows.....plus it makes lots of noise :).  225 power clean, fuck ya that's a pr, it says 225x0x1 because I failed the first attempt, but made the second....hells ya.  I was going to stop there but excitement got the best of me again and decided go to heavy on split jerks.  Only the last set did I actually drop the weight as I didn't want to lower 225 back to my shoulders, for me that's where it gets dangerous, even 205 felt iffy, especially since my elbow thingy.  Having said that I did not think I'd get 225, I was incredibly pleased, that hits one of 2011 goals and 225 on power cleans and split jerks has been a goal of mine for what feels like forever, a very proud day for me.

Isolation Day

Cable Flies - 10, 10, 10, 10.......40, 50, 60, 70(8)

Lying Shoulder Press - 4x10.........10s

Lateral Press - 4x10......15s

Pulldowns - 10, 10, 10, 10........120, 130, 140, 150(7)

Superset
Hamstring Curl - 10, 10, 10......70, 80, 90(8)
Leg Extension - 10, 10, 10.......185, 200, 215

Nothing special about today, I just can't wait till the new equipment comes tomorrow :).

Legs and power

Legs and power today, my back was a little sore from the deads yesterday but front squats should be fine, decided to go heavy for 5 instead of 3.

Front Squats
95x10
115x8
135x5
155x5
175x5
195x5
205x5
215x5

Box Jumps for height
5 at 24 inches (10 risers)
5 at 28 inches (12 risers)
5 at 32 inches (14 risers)
5 at 36 inches (16 risers)
5 at 40 inches (18 risers)
5 at 42 inches (19 risers)

Amazing how much less weight I can handle compared to my 3RM (245), 215 was flipping heavy and I could tell I was done as my form started to falter a bit (elbows dropped).  It felt it good though, hamstring to calf each and every time, then decided to test some box jumps.  I don't think I'll ever go for a true 1RM for height on box jumps unless I am jumping onto something stable, when it gets as high as 42 inches, or 19 risers plus the step the box just isn't stable, so I kept it at more manageable sets of 5.  I was suprised how high I actually got, 46 inches is my pr (21 risers) and that was for 2, 19 risers for 5 was tough mentally but still not too bad.  Good workout!

Quick Conditioning

Mondays are my busy days at work, so I hadn't planned on working out today, just decided to go a very quick one today, the 2008 crossfit games workout with the required weights.

warmup
Deadlifts
135x10
135x10
225x5
255x3

5 Rounds for time
5 Deadlifts - 275
10 Burpees
Time: 8:14

That's all, then a quick change before my next client.  I felt oddly winded this morning, so did alot of my clients so I maybe it wasn't just me and the gym atmophere, because of that I felt like I could maybe have gone even faster so I may try this again in time.  Nothing was broken, the burpees slowed down but surprisingly I kept the deadlifts unbroken, I always went right into the burpees too just the breaks were taken between rounds.  I am actually very happy with this as it's a heavier crossfit workout I can do without scaling, I actually checked the 2008 games times and I beat a handful of people on this too (no where near the top times however).  I wasn't going to workout at all today so this is better than nothing.....I also did some stretches.

Full Body

Some iso upper body stuff, abs and legs today.  With the slight elbow stuff yesterday I decided to leave it untouched for today.

Supersets
Flies - 10, 10, 10, 10.....35s, 40s, 45s, 50s(9)
Bent Over Reverse Laterals - 10, 10, 10, 10.......20s, 22s, 25s, 27s

Red Band Lateral Raises - 4x10
Rope Straight Arm Pulldowns - 10, 10, 10, 10.......90, 100, 110, 120

15-12-9-6-3 reps of
Leg elevated Ab move - per side

Pistol Squats - 5, 5, 5, 5, 5..........grey, black, blue, blue, blue

The first part was all basic, but I was able to challenge myself pretty good on them.  The ab move was difficult again, still a weakness but it a tough move.  The pistols were hard too, I could feel all the squats from yesterday too, felt good overall.