1. Conditioning / Warm-Up
1.25 mile run
2. Helen Rx
21, 15, 9
- 400m run
- 21 KB swings [24 Kg]
- 12 pull-ups
Time: 16:11
Result: I tried to hold a 5:00 pace on this. First round I had about 45 seconds rest. Second round, 10 seconds rest. Last round, xxx.
Running Christine
1.) Strength
Front Squat: 3-3-3-3
- 205 across
Felt good, but also like I haven’t lifted heavy in forever… which is true.
2.) Conditioning
“Running Christine” (because I don’t have a rower)
3 Rounds:
- 400m run
- 12 Deadlifts [185] (bodyweight is currently 195 though)
- 21 Box Jumps [20″]
TIME = 16:37
A bit slower than last time, but pleased with the pace. Running felt good. Deadlift felt heavy. Box jumps felt slow but I kept them moving.
16 KG Helen
The last month I took a break from my usual CrossFit style training and I’ve been doing Insanity (from Beach Body). I’ll get into that in another post, but today is the first CrossFit style WOD I’ve done in a month.
1. Conditioning
16 KG Helen
- 400m run
- 21 Kettlebell Swings [16kg]
- 12 Pull ups
Time: 11:20
Splits: My watch broke so this is from memory looking at the clock.
- Round 1: @3:48 [3:48]
- Round 2: @7:45 [3:57]
- Round 3: @11:21 [3:36]
Notes: It’s 100+ outside and I did this at 2pm. Ouch. I’m super pleased with this result. I tied my Helen PR and I haven’t done any of these three movements in a month. Insanity has made a big difference in two ways:
1.) Consistency. Since the workouts aren’t “as big a deal” (sort of, they’re super tough) I’ve been able to stick to a schedule of 4-6 workouts a week all before breakfast.
2.) Weight. I’m down to 192.0 pounds, which is about 5 pounds lighter than I was in the spring.
Humbled by Grace
This was somewhere between humbling and humiliating.
1.) Conditioning
Grace: 30 x Clean & Jerk [135]
TIME = 9:03
I should have done this at a lighter weight to focus on speed. Instead I went anaerobic about 12 reps in and then crashed big time. Clearly need to work on barbell conditioning (and overall conditioning).
Next time I’ll do this at a light 95 as a benchmark and work up from there trying to keep it around 5 min.
2.) Barbell Conditioning / Strength
5 sets of the following complex:
- 5 reps push press
- 5 reps front squat
- 5 reps thruster
All 15 reps use the same weight, and you can’t put the barbell down until all 15 reps are done. Rest 3 min between complexes.
RESULT: 65, 75, 85, 95, 100
Still feeling the effects of Grace big time on this one. The thrusters are what killed me. Shoulders were toasted during the thrusters, and I was also feeling some conditioning pain. Pleased just to get through this on a day like today :).
Running Christine
First WOD since Murph on Monday. Still feeling it!
1.) Conditioning
“Running Christine” (because I don’t have a rower)
3 Rounds:
- 400m run
- 12 Deadlifts [185] (bodyweight is currently 195 though)
- 21 Box Jumps [21″]
TIME = 15:00
I did this at the end of the day with a short warmup and wasn’t feeling too great. Just needed to get another WOD in. First round felt good. Second round my legs were toast after the deadlifts. Third round run was super slow, deadlifts were slow, but box jumps felt good at the end.
Splits:
1: 4:30 (1:58 run)
2: 5:00 (2:02 run)
3: 5:30 (2:30 run. ouch)
Murph
Murph.
- 1 mile run [7:35]
- 20 Rounds of:
- 5 pull ups
- 10 push ups
- 15 squats
- 1 mile run [9:00]
TIME: 53:00
Note: the 1 mile run was on the Whitetail CrossFit course. Clearly there’s a discrepancy between that and my home course since I ran 20 seconds faster without working as hard. Need to re-measure the home course I guess (I think it’s accurate).
I’ve been doing CrossFit for 5 years and this is my first Murph (usually out of town this weekend). Overall I really enjoyed it. The first 4 rounds I actually doubled up (10 pull-ups, 20 push ups, 30 squats). The push ups were WAY too slow though so I went to regular Cindy sized rounds after that.
Pull ups: Probably 95% butterfly. These are my strongest of this stuff by far (especially in 5 rep chunks).
Push ups: For the most part I did 6 reps, break, 4 reps. This is definitely my weakness.
Squats: Felt better the longer I went. By the end I was doing unbroken sets finally.
16 KG Helen
1.) Strength
A. 3 x 2 Squat Clean at 85% [185]
B. 2 x 1 Halting Dead Clean at 85% [185] (pause for 2 seconds just above the knee
These felt heavy today. I actually felt a lot more explosive on the halting dead cleans then on the squat cleans. Perhaps just a slow day to warm up.
2.) Conditioning
Helen: 3 Rounds
- 400m run
- 21 KB swings [16kg]
- 12 pull ups
TIME: 11:17
My pull ups were struggling today big time. I think I could’ve broken 11 if they had felt better. The last set I did 4 x 3 which slowed me way down. Grip felt better than last time, and I’m pretty sure I ran a lot faster than last time too.
Overall really pleased with this result. 52 seconds faster than a month ago!
3.) Strength again
Front Squats: 3 x 3
205 , 215, 225
I was surprised I could do three reps at 225 after all this. My last 1 rep max was 235, so this is great.
Isabel (light)
1. Isabel @95
30 reps for time Power Snatch [95]
TIME: 4:39
Glad I only did 95 on this. First 12 reps unbroken, then the legs started to go in the middle. I actually felt better on the last 8 reps then on the middle 10.
2. Strength
A. Overhead Squats: 3 x 10
95, 105, 115
Felt strong on these. 95 set was the worst (fatigued from Isabel). 115 felt just right for a set of 10. Could have gone another set or a higher weight but I needed to wrap up this workout!
B. Bench Press: 3 x 3
175, 185, 195
Just getting back into this lift for the first time since college. Fun, feels good, but I sure wish I had a bench (using a plyo box, heh).
16KG Helen
1. Strength: Work up to 1 rep heavy hang squat snatch
Result: 145.
Felt technique limited on this. The squat part was plenty strong, but wasn’t feeling quick under the bar.
2. 16KG Helen
3 Rounds
- 400m run
- 21 KB swings [16kg]
- 12 pull ups
TIME: 12:09
This was a fun one. I just added my first kettle bell to the garage gym (a 16kg obviously) so I wanted to break it in and get some good conditioning. Felt better than I expected. Almost even split the rounds.
I can tell I would’ve been suffering with a 24kg kettle bell :). Grip was first to go on the last round of pull ups, but unbroken otherwise.
Central Athlete Benchmark – 1
I’m calling this the Central Athlete benchmark because Jesse (head coach for Central Athlete) recommended this to me for a benchmark to measure my conditioning goals right now.
3 rounds for time:
- 400m run
- 15 thrusters [95]
- 10 pull ups
TIME: 14:50
The third round I totally crashed. I did the first round at about 4:15, the second round finished up right at 9:00, then I totally crashed. Took about 2:45 for the third 400 run. The last set of thrusters I put the bar down at 10 reps. Then I was really slow getting on the bar for pull ups. Totally gassed.
Overall though this is way better then I would’ve been a month or two ago. Thrusters are my toughest barbell lift for sure.
Hopefully in a month I can break 14:00. I’d be happy with that.
