Pushing

Glutes are pretty sore today, felt very fatigued in the morning but after I got going it was alright.

Rack Bench Press - 3, 3, 3, 2, 1, 1.........225, 225, 245, 255, 265, 275(fail)

Incline Bench Press - 4x5.......135 on all sets

6 Rounds for time
5 Dips
5 Shoulder to Overheads - 50s
10 Pushups
Time: 11:29

Reverse Grip Pushdowns - 3x10......80 (10, 10, 7)

I love rack bench press (also called Pin bench press) because it allows me to go for max weight with no worry of failing.  All the sets felt good, 265 is probably where I should have stopped, but I wanted to see if 275 was possible for a single.  Turns out.....no, it hovered just above the pins for a second then fell back down, hopefully next time.  Everything else felt good too.

Legs

Early morning leg day, I hate 7am workouts my energy level just isn't all there.  Nonetheless I had to get it done, and one a bit shorter due to time contraints, doesn't mean easier just more intensive.  My back was sore going in, not hurt just stiff, I rowed a light 400 metres on top of my usual warmup and that seemed to help.

Front Squats - 10x3 with 30 seconds rest between sets........135 on all sets

12 Rounds for time
10 Back Squats to bench - 135
10 Jump Squats
Time: 20:36

Leg Extension - 170 for 50 reps (broke into 15, 15, 15 and 5)

Part 1 was something I had done many months ago, 135 is light for only 3 reps but when it's 10 sets and only 30 seconds rest between sets, it does start to get a little tough.  I could have gone a bit heavier, which I will next time, but I picked it because it's fast and effective, a technique I got from John Welbourne, who can squat over 500 pounds.  I believe you are to focus on max bar speed, it's not so much about the weight but the speed of the bar and maintaining that as the sets progress.  Part 2 sucked, my first time back squatting since my back injury, so I used the bench, same height as 7 risers which I used for front squats before.  The shortened range of motion allows me to move faster, doing 120 of them with 120 jump squats got a little painful, but I wanted a longer timed portion.

Conditioning

Conditioning day, tried a routine having absolutely no idea how long it would take.

For time
Row 10 Strokes
3 Box Jumps - 30 inches
4 Burpees
5 Single KB Thrusters - 24 kg
6 KB Swings
Continue this sequence until you have completed 1000 metres on the rower
Time: 26:48

Plank - 3 minutes (a few sets to get there)

10 minutes of stretching

Wow that was not easy, it totalled around 9 rounds or so.  I wanted to go all out on each set of 10 row strokes so that drained my energy and caused the 4 exercises to be very tough, repeating it as many times as I did makes sense as to why it took so long.  I started at about 110 metres per interval but that dropped to just over 100 by the end, very tough.  The stretching I have been forcing myself to do seems to have really helped, I've noticed an improvement and it's helped to rid my body of any aches or pains it may be feeling at the time, all it takes is around 10 minutes.  Also the height on the box caused my fellow staff to wonder what I was doing, they thought I was going underneath it.  Once I got the hang of it (around the 8th round) it wasn't too bad, too date that's the highest I have used for box jumps.

Pulling

I am pretty sore today, my legs especially but also my chest and shoulders a bit, felt good to get going though.

Weighted Pullups - 5x5........50 on all sets, last set only got 4 reps though

Single Arm Chest Supported Row - 5x4........80 on all sets

6 Rounds for Time
3 Wide-Grip Pullups
5 Neutral Grip Pullups
7 Neutral Grip Inverted Rows
Time: 10:26

Incline Curls - 3x6-8.......25s (8, 6, 6)

That was the first time I've used the weight belt for the pullups since my back injury, as having the weight resting on my lower back like the belt does can get a bit uncomfortable.  It felt pretty good as long as i braced my abs and general core.  For those who don't know, when it says 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 it means you are doing 5 sets while continually trying to increase the weight, 5x5 means you do 5 sets of 5 reps with the same weight, once all 5 sets are completed at 5 reps you increase the weight, in this case I only got 4 on the last set so I would not.  Part 3 was tough the neutral grip rows were done a slightly fatter than usual grip.  Good workout!

Pushing

Spencer Hendel

Pushing Day, a good day.

Incline Rack Bench Press - 3, 3, 3, 3 3.......135, 155, 175, 185, 195

DB Bench Press - 75s(6), 80s(5), 85s(5), 90s(3), 75s(6)

Set a clock for 12 minutes, perform 50 dips as fast as possible and with the remaining time perform as many pushups as possible.
Score: 60 pushups

Overheard Rope Extension - 3x8-10.......50(10), 50(8), 50(8)

I had done incline rack bench press before but didnt record what bench I used or how high the pins were set, so I'll write it down now; 11 holes high and the always incline bench (black and white one).  I felt strong on it though, plus it's a great one to progress on.  I missed flat DB bench, I used to do that all the time when I was a teenager, glad I can do the 90s as my second chest exercise.  I got a hand off with the 90s only, and I maybe could have done 4, not really sure why I didn't try if I fail it's ok because it's only dumbbells.  Part 3 was a little different but kind of fun, I probably could have gotten more than 60 pushups but lost track of time and rested a bit, was about to do a set but then noticed my time was up, the 50 dips took maybe 6 minutes or so, around there.

Legs

Steve Willis

Today is leg day, and the timed portion I actually had a goal time to beat.  17:52 was the time my client got on his version, our versions were the same minus one thing, I am doing front squats and he did back squats.  It's common knowledge front squats are harder, and he is very good at leg movements, so I figured it would be a close call.  Had to start with some heavy movements first.

Stationary Lunges - 3, 3, 3, 3, 3........135, 145, 155, 160, 165

Stationary Lunges - 135x40 (broke down into 4 sets)

For time
25 Squats
20 Front Squats - 135
25 Squats
30 Front Squats - 115
25 Squats
40 Front Squats - 95
25 Squats
Time: 17:48

Leg Extension - 140x50 (broke down into 4 sets)

4 seconds faster, so it was pretty close, I may try this routine another time with back squats to see how that time compares to my front squat version.  My legs were actually screaming the most during the 40 reps with 95, I was trying to move very fast and they weren't liking me for it.  All squats was hamstring to calf, no questions about depth.  The lunges felt pretty good actually, 165 pounds is the most I've done for stationary lunges.

Conditioning

Conditioning day today, it was certainly a hard one.

AMRAP in 30 minutes
10 Burpees
10 Single Arm Overhead Lunges - 24 kg (5 per leg/side)
10 Over the box Jumps - 24 inches
10 KB Swings - 24 kg
Score: 7 + 10 Burpees

3 sets of
10 Overhead Situps - 20 lb med ball
10 Situps

5-10 minutes of stretching.

Part 1 was certainly a challenge, I expected people to have there commentary watching me jump over a 24 inch box, one gentleman actually said I was clearing it by about 10 inches, I could have saved some energy by not jumping so high but didn't want to risk it, that one was certainly tough.  The burpees really sucked, the OH lunges were only broken between arms and I could really feel my core trying to stabalize me as I fatigued in future rounds.  The swings were the easiest, never broken.  That totals 290 reps, none of the exercises being a quick one like pushups or box jumps, I purposefully picked exercises that each individual rep was a second or longer.  It did feel good though, had a nice big turkey sandwitch as celebration.  I also have been spending more time stretching, it certainly seems to have helped.