brikis98's crossfit journal

[brikis98]

Thursday, May 7

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 245x5, 235x20

Yay, 20 rep squats. My back got pretty exhausted during this one, probably because I spent more time than before standing around and gasping for air. Still, my form was pretty solid through out, which means 245x20 next week.

Metcon

"Tabata Something Else"
Complete 32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by ten seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are pull-ups, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups, and finally, the last 8 intervals are squats. There is no rest between exercises.

Pull-ups: 68 (PR, +18)
Push-ups: 115 (PR, + 17)
Sit-ups: 91 (PR, +8)
Squats: 123 (PR, +15)
Total: 397 (PR, +63)

I guess my GTG work has paid off pretty well. Due to time constraints, I haven't been very consistent with it (especially on sit-ups, as is clear from the numbers), but the performance improvement has still been quite noticeable. I think I would've done even better on the squats if I hadn't done 20 rep squats just before.

Skill/Gymnastics

Advanced tuck front lever: 1 minute total hold
0:30, 0:30

I'm half way to the straddle front lever. My abs were petty tired after the sit-ups, but I still felt pretty strong and I think I can get 40 seconds next time.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 35

 

[brikis98]

Friday, May 8

Strength/Power

Power clean: 135x3, 185x3, 205x3, 215x1xF, 205x3, 205x3

I really need an o-lifting coach. It seems like every few weeks, my power clean form breaks down in some weird way and I'm making no progress. I wasn't even close on the 2nd rep of 215, largely because my form was laughably bad on it. I had no hip drive, no real jump, and no foot stomp. It was more like a deadlift with a power shurg. Bleh. I'll probably record a video of myself next week and see if I can figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Metcon

"Elizabeth"
21-15-9 reps of:
Clean 135 pounds
Ring dips

Time: 11:12 (PR)

After a particularly squat-heavy week, the squat cleans in this workout were especially tough. I had to fight my legs' desire to do power cleans, so more than a few of the reps looked like a power clean followed by a front squat, which is of course less efficient. Fortunately, I breezed through the ring dips, despite my chest being very sore from yesterday's push-ups. I again forgot to bring a long sleeved shirt, so to keep the straps from tearing up my arms, I did the ring dips in a jacket. Not terribly pleasant, but it worked well. At any rate, this time breaks my PR from February 2 by almost 3 minutes. Hopefully with fresher legs, I can get under 10 minutes next time.

Gymnastics/Skill

I played around on the rings after the metcon and realized two things:

1. I need to work on the rings more often, as I was noticeably weaker today. For example, holding a proper support position was tough and I could only eek out 3 "proper" ring dips from it (granted, this was after 45 ring dips in the metcon). Also, it took me 3 tries to get into a proper back lever and I could only hold it a couple of seconds.

2. I need to figure out some concrete, measurable items to do on the rings that I can do in 5-10 minutes at the end of my workout. Perhaps I'll start with the back lever and try to work up to a 30 second hold. Once that's done, I'll perhaps move on to getting 10 dips from the proper support position.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 36

 

[gramboh]

Dude, congrats on 4:30 fran, that is a solid time, especially after doing a bunch of heavy OHS and power snatches, and then doing 20 rep squats the next day, you are a machine! I hear you on the misery of trying to learn o-lifting without a coach, it's not easy, I find I will randomly have reps that feel super easy and make me think I can lift a lot more, only to feel like crap the next rep and not know why.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: gramboh
Dude, congrats on 4:30 fran, that is a solid time, especially after doing a bunch of heavy OHS and power snatches, and then doing 20 rep squats the next day, you are a machine!

Thanks

Originally posted by: gramboh
I hear you on the misery of trying to learn o-lifting without a coach, it's not easy, I find I will randomly have reps that feel super easy and make me think I can lift a lot more, only to feel like crap the next rep and not know why.

I couldn't have said it better myself. One rep will just barely rack, while the next will surprise me, sail way high and then come crashing down onto my collar bones. My inconsistency is killing me, but I have yet to identify what I'm doing differently in the good reps and the bad ones. I wish I had a CF gym near me with some good instructors.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, May 9

WoD

Rest day. Spent all day at a wedding stuffing my face with alcohol and food.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 37. Did not feel good after a whole day of stuffing my face with alcohol and food.

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, May 10

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 245x5, 285x5, 315x5

Metcon

"Helen"
Three rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
1 1/2 pood Kettlebell X 21 swings
12 Pull-ups

Ran on a treadmill and did 55lb dumbbell swings instead of kb swings.

Time: 10:30 (PR)

Gah, I should've broken 10 minutes today. I ran all three 400's at 10mph and all the reps were unbroken for the first two rounds, but on the third round, I lost my drive/focus. I had to break up the DB swings 12/9 and the pull-ups 5/4/3, which probably cost me the 30 seconds I needed to get under 10 minutes. It's still a 30+ second PR for me, but I just didn't push hard enough today. I guess there's always next time.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 38

 

[brikis98]

Monday, May 11

WoD

Extra rest day. I'm in CA interviewing all week, so I'm not sure how consistent I'm going to be with my workouts.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 39

After my interview, I went out for some beers & dinner with a buddy of mine... Getting through these 39 beers was quite unpleasant afterwards.

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, May 12

Strength/Power

Deadlift: 135x8, 225x5, 305x5, 365x5

I'm not sure if it was the extra day of rest or not, but deadlift was VERY easy today. I used normal double overhand grip on the 305 set today without any difficulty, which is a good sign. I then used hook grip for 365x5 and burned through the set without issues, so I guess it'll be 375x5 next week. My ring finger still feels oddly bruised, right near the knuckle joint, which is a bit worrying. Hopefully it'll heal soon.

Metcon

Complete twelve (12) 110 yard (100 meters) sprints on the minute. Start the clock on your first sprint. You perform a sprint at the top of every minute. You have one minute to complete the sprint. For example, If you run the sprint in 15 seconds, you have 45 seconds to rest. Record the time of your 1st and 12th sprint.

Note: the distance I ran was approximately 100m and the timings are just done roughly using a regular watch, so these values don't mean a whole lot.

First sprint: 16 seconds
Last sprint: 18 seconds
(Longest sprint: 19 seconds)

I didn't have anywhere convenient to do my sprints (ie a football field), but was told that the length of the parking lot outside of the gym was about 100m. This meant sprinting on asphalt in my VFF's, which was less than comfortable, but I got through it.

Skill/Gymnastics

Handstand practice. I got a lot better at walking around on my hands today, although I inevitably end up falling after ~5 seconds. Still, I felt much more comfortable today and can tell I'm making some (very slow) progress.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 40 (20/20)

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, May 13

Strength/Power

OH squat: 95x5, 135x5, 165x3xF
Power snatch: 95x1, 115x1, 135x1, 145x1, 145x1, 155x1 (PR)

I'm struggling to breath during the OH squat. I find that I am incomparably more stable while I hold my breath and use the VM, and every time I try to breath between reps, I lose a little stability. By the 4th rep of 165, I was shaking a bit and again had to dump the weight at the bottom of the rep. I gotta find a way to breathe without compromising any strength/balance. As for power snatch, I set a new PR, but I'm not happy with it. I caught the weight with bent elbows and had to use my shoulders to lock it out. Since I suck at the snatch and use light weights, this wasn't an issue now, but if I start to use heavier weights, that will simply not work. I felt more hip drive today (hence the PR, I guess) but I still feel like my technique is not allowing me to engage all of my explosiveness/power.

Metcon

"Jackie"
1000 meter row
45 pound Thruster, 50 reps
30 pull-ups

Time: 8:40

Since I'm in CA for the week, I've been going to a legit CF affiliate, Crossfit Sunnyvale, and actually had access to a rower today. Unfortunately, I have so little experience on the rower that I didn't quite pace myself properly. I finished the 1000m row in 3:45, which was probably too fast as my muscles aren't used to the motion. As a result, my legs were pretty burned out and it took me a long time to get through the thrusters. To make things worse, on one of the first few reps of thrusters, not being used to doing them with an empty bar, I smacked myself in the forehead on the way up. Awesome.

Skill/Gymnastics

Tuck planche: 1 minute total hold
0:20, 0:14, 0:12, 0:08, 0:06

GTG

Burpee challenge: 41 (21/20)

 

[gramboh]

How long did it take you to get comfortable with the hook on heavy deads? I hate the alternate grip and it's barely better than double overhand for me. So far I've been too wussy to use hook on deads but I think I am going to start since it feels so much better than alternate (I feel like I get pulled out of alignment in my shoulders when I use alternate).

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: gramboh
How long did it take you to get comfortable with the hook on heavy deads? I hate the alternate grip and it's barely better than double overhand for me. So far I've been too wussy to use hook on deads but I think I am going to start since it feels so much better than alternate (I feel like I get pulled out of alignment in my shoulders when I use alternate).

Actually, the hook grip came pretty naturally to me, but I've heard that's far from typical. I guess I have particularly tough thumbs or something, but after using the hook grip just 3-4 times, I didn't want to use anything else. I never liked alternate grip as I found the asymmetry uncomfortable, so I quickly replaced it with hook grip. If anything, I think my grip is even more secure this way, as hook grip relies primarily on friction and is consequently limited more by pain tolerance than forearm strength. I find the pain to be minimal, even with 415lbs (my deadlift PR), so I love it. However, your mileage (and pain-age) may vary

A word of warning though: don't overdo it with hook grip on deadlifts. I stupidly began using it on even lighter sets of deadlifts and as a result, my forearm strength definitely decreased, which affects me on pull-ups, kb swings, etc. Go as heavy as you can with normal double overhand grip to ensure you give your forearms as much training as possible and then only switch to hook grip when your normal grip begins to fail.

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, May 14

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 245x5, 245x20
OH Press: 125x3, 145x3, 170x3

Ok, that was freaking hard. I'm finally doing 20 rep squats with a heavy enough weight where I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish the set. My back started to fatigue around rep 12, my whole body was on fire around rep 16, and my brain woozy and watery around rep 18. 250x20 next week should be an adventure. OH press went pretty well today and I'll try for 175x3 next time.

Metcon

For time:
Row 500 meters
115 pound Push press, 21 reps
Row 500 meters
115 pound Push press, 18 reps
Row 500 meters
115 pound Push press, 15 reps
Row 500 meters
115 pound Push press, 12 reps

Time: 14:40

Not too surprisingly, I never have a great workout after doing 20 rep squats. Anyways, I wish I had regular access to a C2 rower. It's hard to beat in terms of a full body workout that can destroy you in a matter of minutes.

Skill/Gymnastics

Front lever: 1 minute total hold
0:40, 0:20

GTG

Burpee challenge: 42 (22/10/10)

 

[brikis98]

Friday, May 15

WoD

Rest day. My hamstrings are very sore. It could be from the rowing yesterday, but more likely it's a sign that I was using proper hip drive on the 20 rep squats yesterday.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 43. This is getting to be a lot of burpees to do on a rest day.

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, May 16

Strength/Power

Power clean: 135x5, 185x2, 205x2, 215x2, 225x2, 235x1, 245x1 (PR)

After my awful power clean performance last week, setting a new PR today was a pleasant surprise. Part of it might be that I usually do power cleans on the 3rd day of my 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off schedule, but due to traveling, things got shuffled around and I got a day of rest before them. However, my form also felt much smoother today and the weight was absolutely flying up - I think 250 or even 255 was within reach.

Metcon

Seven rounds for time of:
95 pound Sumo-deadlift high-pull, 10 reps
10 Ring dips

Time: 8:40

GTG

Burpee challenge: 34

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, May 17

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 255x5, 295x5, 325x2
Bench press: 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 250x3, 280x3

My flight got in late last night so I didn't get much sleep and felt pretty weak on the squat today. Doing 45 burpees as a "warm-up" and the soreness from yesterday's sumo deadlift high pulls didn't help either. 325 felt damn heavy and after a very slow second rep, I decided to rack the weight and try it again next week. On the other hand, I felt very strong on bench press today. I'm still only doing it once every two weeks or so, but I'm somehow still making slow progress. I think I should be good for 285x3 next time.

Metcon

Walking lunge 100 ft.
21 Pull-ups
21 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
18 Pull-ups
18 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
15 Pull-ups
15 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
12 Pull-ups
12 Sit-ups
Walking lunge 100 ft.
9 Pull-ups
9 Sit-ups
Walking Lunge 100 ft.
6 Pull-ups
6 Sit-ups

I used my usual estimate of 3.5-4.0 feet per lunge and did 28 lunges per round.

Time: 10:59

All reps in all rounds were done in unbroken sets, but I went WAY too slowly the first 3 rounds. I did the reps relatively slowly and took short breaks between the exercises, thinking I'd need to pace myself to avoid too much muscular fatigue. However, it occurred to me towards the end of round 3 that I wasn't fatigued at all and I ended up "sprinting" through the rest of the workout, banging out reps extremely quickly and not pausing between exercises at all. Had I done the whole workout that way, I think I could have finished a minute or two faster, but I guess there's always next time.

Skill/Gymnastics

Pistols: 3 sets of 3 reps with each leg, holding a dumbbell in front for counterbalance

Set 1: 15lb dumbbell
Set 2: 10lb dumbbell
Set 3: 5lb dumbbell

GTG

Burpee challenge: 45

 

[brikis98]

Monday, May 18

WoD

Rest day.

GTG

Air squats: 4x45
Sit-ups: 4x45
Burpee challenge: 46 (16/10/10/10).

 

[brikis98]

Tuesday, May 19

Strength/Power

OH Squat: 95x5, 135x5, 155x3
Power snatch: 95x2, 115x2, 135x2, 145x2, 155x1, 160xF

For some reason, my shoulders were extremely tight today, almost as if they were swollen (although there was no real pain), so stabilizing the bar above my head during the OH squat was a nightmare. I struggled enough with 135 that I didn't even bother trying 165 again and just did a quick set with 155 before moving on. I'll take some ibuprofen tonight and hope next week is a bit smoother. Power snatch felt decent today and I tied my PR of 155, but this time with a slightly cleaner rep. With 160, I barely missed: I got the weight over my head, so it had plenty of height, but it was too far forward and I couldn't lock it out. I'm definitely feeling more hip drive in my snatch now and am going to keep working it hard until I can snatch my bodyweight.

Metcon

"Cindy"
Complete as many rounds in 20 minutes as you can of:
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Squats

24 rounds (PR)

Another incremental Cindy PR, this time a mere 10 push-ups and 15 squats more than my old PR from Feburary 21. Doing GTG squats yesterday was probably a mistake, as my thighs turned into lead about halfway through this workout. I was breezing through the pull-ups and push-ups, even in the final rounds, but the squats were slow and agonizing. Hopefully, I'll do this one with fresh legs next time and finally break the 25 round barrier.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 47 (17/10/10/10)

 

[brikis98]

Wednesday, May 20

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 255x5, 255x20
OH Press: 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x2xF

Every time I go up in weight, I understand ever more clearly (and painfully) why 20 rep squats have the reputation they do. They are simply brutal, both physically and mentally. My back was extremely fatigued today and every extra second spent panting and trying to recover for another rep was only making it more tired. It was even struggle to put the weight back when I was done. Now I gotta decide if I'll try for 260 or 265 next week. As for OH press, I just barely missed the 3rd rep of 175. It got stuck just above my forehead, where I struggled with it for a few seconds before finally giving up. I think I'll be able to get it next time.

Metcon

For time:
21 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
18 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
15 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
12 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
9 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
6 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters
3 Hip-Back Extensions
Run 400 meters

Ran on a treadmill and did hip-back extensions on a 45 degree hyperextension machine. Lost 30-45 seconds during the 2nd round as a guy jumped on the hyperextension machine while I was running.

Time: 19:01

Didn't quite get the right pacing on this one. I ran the 400's at 10mph, expecting the hip-back extensions to be difficult, but they didn't phase me at all. If this one comes up again, I think I'll try it at 11mph and hopefully shave off a lot of time that way.

Skill/Gymnastics

Advanced tuck front lever: 1 minute total hold

1:00

Woot. I was shacking quite a bit towards the end, but I managed to do 1 minute straight, which means next time I'll be moving on to the straddle front lever.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 48 (18/10/10/10)

 

[brikis98]

Thursday, May 21

Strength/Power

Power clean: 135x5, 185x2, 205x2, 225x2, 235x1xF, 225x2

Bleh, my power clean form is so bloody inconsistent: last week I had great hip drive and set a new PR, this week my form broke down horribly on the 2nd rep of 235 and I'm lucky I didn't injure myself. I guess it's two steps forward, one step back.

Metcon

Complete 7 rounds of:
Deadlifts 225 lbs
Box Jumps 24" box
Perform as many reps as possible in 15 seconds and rest for 45 seconds. 1 full round is equal to 15 seconds of deadlifts with 45 seconds rest and 15 seconds of box jumps with 45 seconds rest.


Deadlifts: 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 = 53
Box jumps: 8, 9, 9, 9, 10, 10, 10 = 65
Total: 118

Man, I've sucked at pacing myself this week. I didn't realize how quick 15 seconds can go by and went way too slowly the first couple rounds. However, even if I had gone 8 deadlifts & 10 box jumps for all 7 rounds, I still would've only ended up with 126 total. This is a Crossfit football workout and somehow, almost every guy on there were scoring 160, 180 and one dude even 238. Now, I don't claim to be an elite athlete and can understand people getting higher scores, but I just don't see how they can be that much higher. For example, it takes a certain amount of time for your body to travel through the air, land on the box, drop back down, and repeat. Even at my fastest, I simply could not complete (with proper form) more than 10 box jumps in 15 seconds. At best, I could see someone eeking out 15 reps in 15 seconds, and I'm skeptical that you could actually do that many with proper form. Similarly, with deadlift, if someone used bumpers and bounced the weight like hell, they could probably bang out 15 reps in 15 seconds. But even with that superhuman effort for all 7 rounds, you only get to 210. This makes me suspect that the dude who got 238 is either lying, not using full ROM (ie, smaller box or not straightening out at the top), or using more than 15 seconds per exercise per round.

Skill/Gymanstics

Hollow rock and arch rock: 3 sets of 30 reps of each exercise.

GTG

Push-ups: 4x52
Inverted rows: 4x12
Burpee challenge: 49 (19/10/10/10)

 

[brikis98]

Friday, May 22

WoD

Rest day.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 50 (5x10)

 

[conorvansmack]

20 squats at 255 is beastly. How did the interviews in CA go? When are you guys moving out there?

 

[brikis98]

Saturday, May 23

Strength/Power

Squat: 135x5, 205x5, 245x5, 295x5, 325x3xF (grr... see below)

I went into the hole for the 4th rep of 325 and as I came back up, I felt the bar smack into something, got stuck, and then had to come back down and leave it on the rack. The squat racks at my gym are ridiculously close together and some guy, while loading weights on his bar, had accidentally backed into mine as I was squatting. As if 325lbs wasn't enough, I had to fight with his fat ass too... Anyways, hopefully I'll finally get reps 4 and 5 next week.

Metcon

Run 5k

Ran outside on an olympic track using VFFs/POSE.

Time: 22:38 (PR)

Yay, my first running PR with VFFs/POSE. It's only a few seconds faster than my previous 5k PR, but that one was done on a treadmill, so I consider this a pretty big improvement. My running technique felt pretty comfortable, but for some reason I'm getting painful blisters on my feet on the big toe and the ball of the foot, both towards the inside of the foot. Not sure if this indicates a technique issue, bad fit with the VFFs, or just that the skin needs more time to adapt to this form of running.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 51 (1x11, 4x10)

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: conorvansmack
20 squats at 255 is beastly. How did the interviews in CA go? When are you guys moving out there?

Thanks

The interviews all went pretty well. I got one offer already and should hear back next week from the rest. We just found out today that we got graduate housing on Stanford campus, which saves us a lot of hassle as we know those apartments are pretty nice, fully furnished, nicely located and fairly affordable. I think we'll be moving there at the end of August or early September... I'm psyched

 

[conorvansmack]

That's awesome news, congratulations!:thumbsup: Palo Alto can be pretty pricey, so having housing on campus is nice and at least one of you will be working. I went up there a couple of times to visit friends during college, it's a cool place.

 

[brikis98]

Sunday, May 24

Strength/Power

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x5, 315x5, 375x2, 315x5

My awful day at the gym today started with deadlifts. My grip strength is still crap, as I was only able to hold onto 315 for 2 reps with double overhand grip before I had to switch to hook grip. Moreover, my technique felt awkward and uncomfortable. After that, I went onto 375 and the awkwardness turned into full out crappy form. The weight felt ridiculously heavy, I felt the wrong muscles working and I decided to stop after the 2nd rep. After breezing through 365x5 last week, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong now, but I might need to drop down in weight and work on it next week.

Metcon

The odd pull-up injury I had last year has returned. As before, I get shots of pain in my shoulder/upper back for the first 5-10 pull-ups of a workout (although this time it's on both shoulders). After the initial warm-up, I can typically do kipping pull-ups without much discomfort. However, I found out today that I cannot do dead hang pull-ups or L pull-ups - each rep hurts and sends a sharp numbing/tingling sensation into the back of my shoulders and upper arm. I've already had one appointment with the chiro to get more ART, but it hasn't helped yet. Anyways, as today's metcon was centered around L pull-ups, I had to skip it.

Gymnastics/Skill

HSPU: 1x8, 1x6, 1x5, 1x4
L-sit: 0:10, 0:09, 0:10

Weak performances on the HSPU and L-sit rounded out this crappy day. I've mostly been working on free standing handstands rather than handstand push-ups the last couple months, so my HSPU stamina has gotten pretty crappy. On top of that, l-sits felt really difficult. I used to hold l-sits for 20+ seconds, but today, getting half that was a real challenge. No idea what's wrong with me, but perhaps it's time for an extended break from CF - a week at half intensity with no heavy lifting, or maybe with just no working out at all. I'll have to think about it.

GTG

Burpee challenge: 52 (1x12, 4x10)