Training still going well. Bodyweight is up to 199 which is heaviest ever. Squatting and especially cleans are feeling very strong. Did a 10 minute partner workout with Ryan the other day. Max calories on the air dyne in 10 minutes. 401 calories.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Training updates
Still on the Hatch Squat cycle and it is going well. My leg endurance and strength is way up and I feel so much stronger do any type of squatting movement (i.e. front squats, cleans) etc. I am flying out of the bottom of cleans and when it gets real heavy am able to stay at ass to ankles depth stabilize and then drive up since my leg strength is greater now. Squatting twice a week has been great for me as I never did a consistent squatting program and it has taught me a ton of stuff. Stuff I can apply to my training and to my client's training as well.
Along with the squatting I have been working oly technique and mixing in a few conditioning sessions. I have hit a few PR's along the way with a 185# power snatch, a 335# squat and hang power clean for 2 reps at 245.
A few videos below.
335 squat which is a PR.
For time:
250m row
15 KBS with 70#
25 burpees
15 KBS
250m row
3:52
Along with the squatting I have been working oly technique and mixing in a few conditioning sessions. I have hit a few PR's along the way with a 185# power snatch, a 335# squat and hang power clean for 2 reps at 245.
A few videos below.
335 squat which is a PR.
For time:
250m row
15 KBS with 70#
25 burpees
15 KBS
250m row
3:52
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Sunday April 29, 2012
Quick update on training:
It has been going really well in terms of the squat strength. My 1 RM prior to starting this squat cycle was 325. Yesterday as part of the program I squatted 301 for 4 reps. After that I set a 3RM in the front squat at 270. I'm already stronger in the squat after 4 weeks and am really looking forward to seeing the progress at the conclusion of the 12 week program.
Oly lifting has been pushed to the side as I am dealing with some troubling shoulder issue. Full snatches and any kind of jerks have been causing pain. I have been in to see an ortho and will be getting some PT done in the coming weeks so I can hopefully resume Oly lifting as I need the work here.
Conditioning has taken a back set as the squats are time and energy consuming and my focus is gaining a bit of weight and keeping power output high for all workouts.
I did do 3 testing workouts this past week while on Vacation to see where I am at right now.
The first was
15-12-9
Power Clean 115#
burpees
done @ 95%
2:58. Not too bad. Little slow on burpees. When "in top shape" this is in the 2:40 range. This is the kind of workout I prefer. Go hard and fast, deal with a little pain and then it's done. If this was a 10 min AMRAP I would hate it.
*Note this was done after 4x8 HBBS, and 4x5 Front Squat so I was lacking a bit of pop, but the limiter was mainly breathing anyways.
Second one was
500m Row
15 Power Snatch 115#
100 DU's
15 Power Snatch 115#
500m row
time was 9:07 done at 95%. This is the time domain and area I need the most work in as it seems to be most frequent in any X-fit competition and it is my biggest goat. First 500m was in ~1:40 and was very comfortable as rowing is my biggest strength. PS were done 9/3/3 with short rest and then I slowed big time. Did 25 DU's to start and started gassing and missing reps and was breathing heavily. Second set of snatches was slow and was triples and doubles. Last 500m I was sucking wind something fierce and completed in about 2:02 with no drive pop or desire to go hard at end. Legs felt fine for the most part, breathing was the limiter.
Third test of week was 200 walking lunges for time. This was done the day after heavy LBBS and Front Squats, and following 200m repeats in the sand. It was also done in the sand and I finished in 4:53 unbroken for a PR. Legs felt really good, just need a bit more urgency to speed this up.
As always priorities and goals are changing on the fly here but for now my top priority is fixing shoulder issue and continuing with the squat work. I still look forward to the squat days and like the heavy work for now.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Current Training
After completing Crossfit Open workout 12.5, I took four consecutive days completely off. I then went to Strength Headquarters in Endwell, NY to check out another gym and to train in a different environment and in a different way. That session included some speed bench, some peg board work, rows with a sled and a prowler suicide sprint. It was a good session and was fun to train in a different way.
Saturday I started in on a program that will hopefully allow me to reach my goals of improving my squatting and Olympic lifting numbers. I am following a Hatch squat cycle which will involve a large volume of squatting at specific percentages with the plan of testing 1RM in 3 months. It will involve low bar squatting on Sunday's and High bar back squatting on Wednesday's with Olympic lifting practice on the other three days of training per week. Tuesday's and Friday's will be rest. Conditioning and skill practice will also be added in but the main focus squatting and Oly lifts. It will be challenging to squat this much but I'm hoping to really reap some nice gains from this as it will be the first time I have ever been on a specific cycle devoted to squat development.
My training priorities are as follows:
1. squat work - get in if it's the only thing I get to.
2. recovery and mobility( foam rolling, proper warm-up and cool down) and staying hungry in training even if that means more rest days.
3. Oly skill work and development. It's not about the weight on the bar, it's about being efficient with the movement. I know I can pull higher weight with shit form but this is the off-season, time to develop here.
4. overhead pressing stability.
The percentages for the squats were light this week and went without a problem. The Oly work was enjoyable to work the movement and not be concerned with weight for the time being.
Only did one 3,2,1 go workout this week and it was a wheelhouse one for me.
8 min AMRAP of 7 reps 275 deadlift and 35 double unders. I kept it about 90% and stayed mostly unbroken with the movements. I got 8 rounds plus two deadlifts.
Todays workout will be High Bar back squatting followed by Press and Front Squat supersets. The conditioning portion will be Prowler suicides and the skill work will be handstand walks and vertical jump testing.
Tomorrow will be finding 1RM for the day in Snatch and Clean and Jerk. I will only go up in weight if the lift is executed smoothly and will not count power versions of the lifts as this has stagnated my lifts in the past.
Saturday I started in on a program that will hopefully allow me to reach my goals of improving my squatting and Olympic lifting numbers. I am following a Hatch squat cycle which will involve a large volume of squatting at specific percentages with the plan of testing 1RM in 3 months. It will involve low bar squatting on Sunday's and High bar back squatting on Wednesday's with Olympic lifting practice on the other three days of training per week. Tuesday's and Friday's will be rest. Conditioning and skill practice will also be added in but the main focus squatting and Oly lifts. It will be challenging to squat this much but I'm hoping to really reap some nice gains from this as it will be the first time I have ever been on a specific cycle devoted to squat development.
My training priorities are as follows:
1. squat work - get in if it's the only thing I get to.
2. recovery and mobility( foam rolling, proper warm-up and cool down) and staying hungry in training even if that means more rest days.
3. Oly skill work and development. It's not about the weight on the bar, it's about being efficient with the movement. I know I can pull higher weight with shit form but this is the off-season, time to develop here.
4. overhead pressing stability.
The percentages for the squats were light this week and went without a problem. The Oly work was enjoyable to work the movement and not be concerned with weight for the time being.
Only did one 3,2,1 go workout this week and it was a wheelhouse one for me.
8 min AMRAP of 7 reps 275 deadlift and 35 double unders. I kept it about 90% and stayed mostly unbroken with the movements. I got 8 rounds plus two deadlifts.
Todays workout will be High Bar back squatting followed by Press and Front Squat supersets. The conditioning portion will be Prowler suicides and the skill work will be handstand walks and vertical jump testing.
Tomorrow will be finding 1RM for the day in Snatch and Clean and Jerk. I will only go up in weight if the lift is executed smoothly and will not count power versions of the lifts as this has stagnated my lifts in the past.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
12.5 results and future plans
12.5 . I got 105 reps which was a minor disappointment as I thought I would be in the low 120 range and if I just could've got back to the pull-up bar with 20-30s left that wouldn't have been a problem as the pull-ups were easy. My limiter was my breathing and my ability to quickly move through the higher rep thrusters due to breathing and leg fatigue.
After the 5 workouts I finished in 305th place in the Northeast region which is the deepest and most participated region in the world with 2400 men completing all 5 workouts and 3400 completing the first burpee workout. I had hoped for a better finish overall but I know I gave an honest effort and learned some things and have much more to work on and fine tune for a hopefully better showing next year.
Looking at things from the big picture my worst performance was easily 12.1 the 7 minute AMRAP burpees. I only managed 103 reps and this put me in 929th after one workout. I came out trying for 18-19 burpees a minute which was definitely too fast a pace. I believed I could have maximized my score with approximately 16-17 per minute and gotten around 110-115. I couldn't keep a great pace in the middle portion of the workout. Regardless of how I paced it my engine was not there with the top competitors on this workout. Similarly in the last workout12.5, the first few minutes went smooth but the last 15 reps of thrusters I got took forever and left me knowing the strength and ability to do the work is there but my anaerobic threshold is poor compared to top competitors That is the thing that needs the most fixing right now if the goal is 2013 Open season, which is how I will eventually focus in.
However having said that, I can fix and sort that out at a later time. Right now the last thing I want to do is work on my anaerobic threshold one year out form competition. Right now my main desire is to lift heavy things and eat bloody red meat. So that is what I am going to do. Right now and for the next few months I just want to get stronger overall and get more proficient at the Olympic lifts. I'll do some conditioning but the main focus is going to be doing what I enjoy right now and keeping the eye towards being my strongest and fittest one year from now.
I have no idea if it will be detrimental to my overall performance as a Crossfit athlete or not but I am going to finally get serious about putting on and keeping on some weight. It doesn't seem like it will help with workouts like 12.1 and 12.5 but I watched other, heavier and in my mind less strong pure engines do better on those workouts than I did. I guess it can't hurt to have a 300 lb bench for the burpee workout and a 400 lb squat for the thruster workout. Most importantly for me right now is that this is the way I want to train and whether it makes me a better Crossfit athlete or not I will enjoy it.
In order to help with the weight gain I am adding a few things to my diet that I haven't ate in a couple years since switching to a mostly Paleo diet. I'm going to add brown rice and quinoa as I will be significantly upping my carbohydrate intake and these are two gluten-free options that I have handled well in the past and should help with adding weight. I also will be adding Goat's milk as another way to increase my intake.
So in summary I have come to the conclusion that my engine needs to get better but I am essentially running in the other direction to lift heavy and gain some weight.
My current numbers and goals to accomplish by July 1.
bwt 183 ---- 195-200
squat 325 ------ 360
snatch 180 ---- 200
clean and jerk 260 ------270
close grip bench 260---275
Squatting is the number one emphasis as I feel this will help with everything else in sport/Crossfit. The snatch PR is a power snatch and I am not even close to that in a full snatch, because of a past wrist injury, which is healed but still doesn't feel great in receiving position of snatch. I am going to not even worry about weight on the snatch until I am confident in form and that my wrist is ok to receive full squat snatches. The CJ PR is a huge outlier as it was done at the OPTahlon and was a pure adrenaline lift. I still haven't hit 250 in training so again the emphasis here is consistency not necessarily making a huge PR.
I won't be devoting any special training to the close grip bench but with increased body weight and occasional benching and dip work I'm hoping it goes up a bit.
The current plan will be based off of a Hatch Squat cycle and I will be low bar back squatting one day a week and high bar back squatting one day a week. Olympic lifts and their variants will be practiced the other days of the week. I have an outline for the conditioning but that is going to be very loose for awhile and will be my last concern and will be the first thing to go if I am feeling beat up, tired etc., I am looking forward to starting.
After the 5 workouts I finished in 305th place in the Northeast region which is the deepest and most participated region in the world with 2400 men completing all 5 workouts and 3400 completing the first burpee workout. I had hoped for a better finish overall but I know I gave an honest effort and learned some things and have much more to work on and fine tune for a hopefully better showing next year.
Looking at things from the big picture my worst performance was easily 12.1 the 7 minute AMRAP burpees. I only managed 103 reps and this put me in 929th after one workout. I came out trying for 18-19 burpees a minute which was definitely too fast a pace. I believed I could have maximized my score with approximately 16-17 per minute and gotten around 110-115. I couldn't keep a great pace in the middle portion of the workout. Regardless of how I paced it my engine was not there with the top competitors on this workout. Similarly in the last workout12.5, the first few minutes went smooth but the last 15 reps of thrusters I got took forever and left me knowing the strength and ability to do the work is there but my anaerobic threshold is poor compared to top competitors That is the thing that needs the most fixing right now if the goal is 2013 Open season, which is how I will eventually focus in.
However having said that, I can fix and sort that out at a later time. Right now the last thing I want to do is work on my anaerobic threshold one year out form competition. Right now my main desire is to lift heavy things and eat bloody red meat. So that is what I am going to do. Right now and for the next few months I just want to get stronger overall and get more proficient at the Olympic lifts. I'll do some conditioning but the main focus is going to be doing what I enjoy right now and keeping the eye towards being my strongest and fittest one year from now.
I have no idea if it will be detrimental to my overall performance as a Crossfit athlete or not but I am going to finally get serious about putting on and keeping on some weight. It doesn't seem like it will help with workouts like 12.1 and 12.5 but I watched other, heavier and in my mind less strong pure engines do better on those workouts than I did. I guess it can't hurt to have a 300 lb bench for the burpee workout and a 400 lb squat for the thruster workout. Most importantly for me right now is that this is the way I want to train and whether it makes me a better Crossfit athlete or not I will enjoy it.
In order to help with the weight gain I am adding a few things to my diet that I haven't ate in a couple years since switching to a mostly Paleo diet. I'm going to add brown rice and quinoa as I will be significantly upping my carbohydrate intake and these are two gluten-free options that I have handled well in the past and should help with adding weight. I also will be adding Goat's milk as another way to increase my intake.
So in summary I have come to the conclusion that my engine needs to get better but I am essentially running in the other direction to lift heavy and gain some weight.
My current numbers and goals to accomplish by July 1.
bwt 183 ---- 195-200
squat 325 ------ 360
snatch 180 ---- 200
clean and jerk 260 ------270
close grip bench 260---275
Squatting is the number one emphasis as I feel this will help with everything else in sport/Crossfit. The snatch PR is a power snatch and I am not even close to that in a full snatch, because of a past wrist injury, which is healed but still doesn't feel great in receiving position of snatch. I am going to not even worry about weight on the snatch until I am confident in form and that my wrist is ok to receive full squat snatches. The CJ PR is a huge outlier as it was done at the OPTahlon and was a pure adrenaline lift. I still haven't hit 250 in training so again the emphasis here is consistency not necessarily making a huge PR.
I won't be devoting any special training to the close grip bench but with increased body weight and occasional benching and dip work I'm hoping it goes up a bit.
The current plan will be based off of a Hatch Squat cycle and I will be low bar back squatting one day a week and high bar back squatting one day a week. Olympic lifts and their variants will be practiced the other days of the week. I have an outline for the conditioning but that is going to be very loose for awhile and will be my last concern and will be the first thing to go if I am feeling beat up, tired etc., I am looking forward to starting.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Open WOD 12.4 results and Open WOD 12.5
Open wod 12.4 was probably my best performance by far. Started with 113 unbroken WB and did Karen in 5:24 and was still breathing ok. Double unders didn't go great but got through them then was able to get 16 muscle-ups for a 256 score. I was exhausted and smashed after the wod and felt like I gave it a good effort.
Open Wod 12.5 is AMRAP in 7 minutes.
Open Wod 12.5 is AMRAP in 7 minutes.
3 Barbell Thrusters 100#/65#
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
21 Barbell Thrusters
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups...
3 Chest to bar Pull-ups
6 Barbell Thrusters
6 Chest to bar Pull-ups
9 Barbell Thrusters
9 Chest to bar Pull-ups
12 Barbell Thrusters
12 Chest to bar Pull-ups
15 Barbell Thrusters
15 Chest to bar Pull-ups
18 Barbell Thrusters
18 Chest to bar Pull-ups
21 Barbell Thrusters
21 Chest to bar Pull-ups...
It should be interesting.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Open WOD 12.3 results and 12.4
Open WOD 12.3
AMRAP in 18 mins
15 Box Jumps 24"
12 Push Press 115 lbs
9 Toes to Bar
9 complete rounds plus 7 Box Jumps. 331 total reps.
Open WOD 12.4
AMRAP in 12 mins
150 Wall Balls 20 lbs to 10 feet
90 double unders
30 Muscle-ups
Coming tomorrow. The goal is going to be a 6:30-7 min Karen. 90-120s on double unders. Then muscle-ups in 3 and 2 rep increments. Hoping to get near 260. Will all depend on how shoulders hold up.
AMRAP in 18 mins
15 Box Jumps 24"
12 Push Press 115 lbs
9 Toes to Bar
9 complete rounds plus 7 Box Jumps. 331 total reps.
Open WOD 12.4
AMRAP in 12 mins
150 Wall Balls 20 lbs to 10 feet
90 double unders
30 Muscle-ups
Coming tomorrow. The goal is going to be a 6:30-7 min Karen. 90-120s on double unders. Then muscle-ups in 3 and 2 rep increments. Hoping to get near 260. Will all depend on how shoulders hold up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)