Deadlift

Another WOD at the Kings Bay Naval gym. Today was DL…



DL
1 x 5 x 135
1 x 5 x 225
1 x 5 x 315
5 x 1 x 415
1 x 5 x 315
1 x 5 x 225

Bars were slicker than ours and no chalk so was having issues with my grip. Cut it down to just 5 sets of singles (instead of 7) and then did a few more with lighter weight. Other than the cramp in my right hamstring, not a bad WOD.

Shoulder Press

Back at work again. I forgot to post my WOD from yesterday. I did it in the morning, then we cleaned up and heading out so I could make my flight. It was…

mobility
Back Squats
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 185
1 x 3 x 225
1 x 3 x 275
7 x 3 x 310

I went with my normal bar position and bottomed out on each of the reps. Felt very heavy and a few reps were slow coming up. Will be interesting next week!

I didn't put any sunscreen on this morning and got cooked in the GA sun. Afterwards, cleaned up at hotel then hit the Navy gym they have right down the road. Typical military gym but good enough for some 21's on the shoulder press.

SP x 21's
75-175.

Last one was tough, but then it's supposed to be.

Snatch

Last day of the third period (week?) of this strength cycle. As you see from the title…

mobility
cfwu x 1

squat snatch 21's:
55-140

I attempted twice and failed at 145. Guess I have to start somewhere eh?

Bench press

mobility

BP:
1 x 10 x 45
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 185
7 x 3 x 235

Feeling good and should be able to continue this for at least 1-2 more weeks before I hit a wall.

Power Cleans

Finally got back on track and did a CFE this morning…

C2; 20:10 x 8 = 728m. A bit off from a month ago. Kept my sets under 1:50, but for this particular tabata interval I should have blown it out harder. Next time.

I wasn't sure which one I wanted to do, snatch or cleans. As you see…

mobility
cfwu x 1

PC:
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 105
1 x 3 x 115
1 x 3 x 125
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 145
1 x 3 x 155
1 x 3 x 165
1 x 3 x 175
1 x 3 x 185

Focused on getting a good jump each set. By the time I hit 185 my jump was weak (and I started to feel my wrist) so I called it a day. All in all some good technique work (for me). My elbows felt relatively fast and I was getting that "pop" where the weight bounces on the chest/collar bone.

Deadlift

Missed last week's deadlift WOD, and didn't look at my log to see what I did the first week, so I just shot from the hit and did this one.

mobility
cfwu x 1

DL
1 x 5 x 135
1 x 3 x 225
1 x 3 x 315
5 x 1 x 405

Felt good (but still heavy!). I think I'll hit this one again next time but add 5-10 lbs. We'll see.

Shoulder Press

mobility
cfwu x 1

SP (21's)
70-170

Still making progress with the 21's, so I'll stick to that for next SP WOD and see what happens. The last 3 reps were difficult!

Back Squats

Back home again and starting 3rd period of strength cycle.

mobility

back squat
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 185
1 x 3 x 225
1 x 3 x 275
5 x 3 x 305

I did all but the last set in the "low bar" style. Felt heavy, but then not sure if I am just tired or it's my weak hamstrings rearing their head. I did the last set like I normally do just to see. It was equally difficult but (a) not as rough on my shoulders (holding the bar in the low position puts more stress on them), (b) Dymphna said I go a lot lower when I squat my normal way, meaning I am just barely breaking parallel with low bar whereas I hit bottom when doing my hybrid. I also notice my legs are a bit wider in low bar position, which that alone may be why I'm not going "as deep". I might play with that a bit more next WOD.

Bench press

Another day at the mecca…



mobility

bp:
1 x 10 x 45
1 x 10 x 135
1 x 3 x 185
1 x 3 x 205
7 x 3 x 230

chins x 10

Gold's Gym

At work again, this time up in Chesapeake, VA. Since I'm on a strength cycle for these next 3 months I'm making an extra effort to find gyms when I'm away to get a WOD in (as close as possible anyway). Seems there is a Gold's Gym less than a mile from the hotel.

Today was supposed to be heavy cleans, but when you walk into a gym that has no lifting platforms, no bumpers, no tape,doesn't allow chalk and has a sign like this posted on the wall…



… you've got to do the best you can. I decided on some middle weight technique work for the HPC.

mobility

hpc:
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 145
1 x 3 x 155
1 x 3 x 165
1 x 3 x 175
1 x 3 x 135

I'm still having issues with releasing the hook grip on the top. With no tape for my wrist or fingers, I called it day at 175. Since that WOD got cut a bit short I moved to the dumbells for…

1-arm db swings (1 minute rest between sets):
1 x 10 x 25
1 x 10 x 30
1 x 10 x 35
1 x 10 x 40
1 x 10 x 45
1 x 10 x 50

Looking around I saw exactly "1" pull-up bar attached between some pully machine. It was as maybe 3/4" thick (tiny!) slick as oil with a small patch of tape in one spot. I did a set of 6 close grip chins, but kept slipping off so called it a day. Not the greatest workout, but better than what I could have gotten in the hotel gym.

Shoulder Press

This morning I skipped the CFE and only did chins 1 x 10. Focusing that with close grip and pulling all the way to my chest. I end up crapping our around 6-7 and the last few are just chin over bar.

This evening did another 21 rep WOD for shoulder press. Last time I crapped out at 160, but I did 24 or so reps, so this time I started at 65 so I would hit 165. Seemed to work.

SP (x21's): 65-165

Finished up with another set of chins 1 x 10.

Squats

Week 2 of the strength cycle:

back squat
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 225
7 x 3 x 300

This is 5# heavier on the 7 x 3 than the 02 April WOD. Hopefully I can keep some linear progression for a few weeks before I have to tweak it.

Cleans

Working on the clean. Had Michael critique my form, and then tried to work on (a) getting my elbows around fast enough, (b) releasing the hook grip once the elbows come around and (c) jump. I was relatively successful with (a) and (b) and only moderately successful with (c).

mobility

cfwu x 1

PC
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 115
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 145
1 x 3 x 155
1 x 3 x 165
1 x 3 x 175
1 x 3 x 185

At this point Dymphna convinced me to switch to singles and see if I could get a PR.

1 x 1 x 195
1 x 1 x 200
1 x 1 x 205
1 x 1 x 210
1 x 1 x 225
1 x 1 x 235(pr)
1 x 1 x 240(f)

Any day you get a PR is a good day! My elbows and releasing the hook grip went to shit on the last three attempts, but such is the way it goes. I'll work that again next time at a more consistently heavy weight. Once I'm happy with that I'll focus on the next glaring error in my technique.

I'd say today finally sold me on getting a pair of lifting shoes (was wearing Michaels), so maybe next week (or the week after) I'll have my own.

Bench press

The gym was uber busy today. All those DONSA's on Ft. Campbell. This morning…

CFE 30:20x8 =1124m

I was sucking!

This evening…

mobility

BP:
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 95
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 185
1 x 3 x 205
5 x 3 x 225

Shoulders still hurt doing bench. Glad to see I haven't lost too much, not that I'm a big fan of bench to begin with.

Snatch

Not having a plan for the strength piece with the Olympic lifts, I defaulted to the 21 rep scheme. Did full squat snatch…

mobility

cfwu x 1

snatch: 21's
55-135. Failed at 140

OHS: 1 x 5 x 95
PS: 1 x 25 x 45

I added the last set of power snatch with the idea of (a) working that snatch pattern into my system and (b) some slight metcon prep for beating my "Randy" time whenever that comes back up.

Not getting enough protein throughout the day :(

Deadlift

Did the CFE this morning before lunch. Tried to hold it under 1:50 but faded, then tried to hold it under 2:00 and faded. Ugh.

CFE C2: 2 X 1200m with 2 min recoveries
4:41, 4:52

This evening I did 21's on DL's. I programmed to hit 405 on my 21st set and was successful, but it was tougher than I thought!

mobility

Warmup
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 225

5# increase per set: 305-405. I might stick with doing this 21 rep scheme, increasing 5# each time until I end up crapping out. Once that happens I'll switch it up.

Shoulder Press

Shoulder Press, 1 rep per set, adding 5# per set.

45-160. Following the 21 rep scheme, I started at 45 and 24 sets later barely got 160 up. Next time I do SP I'll start at 65 and try to get 165 (21 reps). Will be interesting to see how many times I can do this WOD and make improvements.

3 x 5 close grip chins (between Dymphna's rest periods)

Strength cycle

Decided I'm gonna do a strength cycle this quarter (April-May-June). The hard part will be getting the WODs in when I'm working. If need be I'll do some BW work, but I'm going to try and go out of my way to find a real gym at each location that I can use. I'm also going to try and do at least 1-2 CFE WODs in the mornings when I'm home.

This morning I did the CFE with the C2. Was 40:20x5. I tried to keep the pace under 1:50 per each set. Total distance covered in the five intervals was 930 meters.

The gym cleared out early today so Dymphna and I went down and I did…

mobility

back squat
1 x 3 x 45
1 x 3 x 135
1 x 3 x 225
7 x 3 x 295

Was a bit light headed on the last two sets, but felt decent. We'll see how long I can climb before I crash and have to switch it up from 7 x 3's.