Jim vs. Home Workouts

It’s been a lazy week, I have to admit. But I decided to get in a home workout of my own design before tonight’s New Year’s Eve party.

15-12-9
Pull-ups
Push-ups
Knees-to-elbows
Squats

Solid workout in 7:17; this and last week make for a solid ending to 2009. Happy New Year, y’all!

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Shoulder Press

The Cornell gyms are closing for Winter Break, so today was my last day with barbells until the new year. I decided to make it count by going for new PRs on both deadlifts and shoulder press, and I got ‘em.

Deadlift:
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 0
355 x 1 (new PR)
360 x 0

These felt solid today, and it’s funny the sense you get from the lifts. When I failed on the 355 the first time, I could tell that it was in how I’d set myself up; I took a brief rest, got back to the bar, got myself set correctly, and made the lift. When I tried the 360, though, I knew I was set up right. But the bar just didn’t budge; I might as well have been trying to lift the whole Olympic rack. But 355 would’ve been twice my body weight back last summer, and while I’m about five pounds heavier than that now — damnable holiday feasts! — it rocks knowing that’s in my grasp.

Shoulder press:
65 x 5
65 x 5
95 x 3
135 x 1
145 x 1 (new PR)
150 x 0

This was fun just for how easy and smooth that 135 went up, and the new PR almost felt like gravy. 150 wasn’t happening today, but that didn’t get me down at all. This was a great day to end my barbell year on; next week will mean metcons at home, and then back to the weights on the 4th.

Jim vs. Back Squats, Ring Push-ups, Ring Rows

I’m doing my best to get back that 265 PR on back squats. Today was 5×3 at 80%; for 255 that’d be 205, and for 265 it’d be 212. I did 210.

210 x 3
210 x 3
210 x 3
210 x 3
210 x 3

After that, I set up the rings to do some ring push-ups and ring rows, both of which were new to me. It was supposed to be a 10 minute AMRAP, but back squats took more time than expected, so I did a RFT instead.

Three rounds for time of:
10 ring push-ups
10 ring rows

Finished in 3:12, and it was harder than expected; I’d have been lucky to get through 8 rounds on the AMRAP. Interesting motion, though, and I really feel like I need to be bringing in the rings more. Maybe that’ll be my January project.

Jim vs. Fran

I did some snatch practice today, but that was just some misdirection that didn’t fool me or Fran.

“Fran”
21-15-9
Thrusters
Pull-ups

I scaled the weight back to 75lbs, which is still more weight than I’ve ever used on this WOD. That’s not saying much, really: I haven’t done Fran since I started this blog nine months ago. Also, I must confess that my pull-up form got ugly towards the end, partly due to not having a solid enough bar to kip on and mainly due to muscle fatigue.

I finished in 6:25. I don’t think I’ll be scaling the weight up until I can do this in under 5:00 with pull-up form to be proud of. But I’m glad I gave it a go today.

Jim vs. Shoulder Press, Push-ups, Jump Rope & DB Cleans

My back was feeling better, so I got back in for a longer workout.

Shoulder press, 5×1 at 90% of max
125 x 1
125 x 1
125 x 1
125 x 1
125 x 1

Then push-ups: 20-25-20-20 and maxed out at 19, before pushing through to 28. Not as good as last week, sadly. Looks like Week 4 is here for another go-round.

Finally, a scaled-back version of the metcon I didn’t do on Monday:

100 single-unders
21 dumbbell hang cleans
100 single-unders
15 dumbbell hang cleans
100 single-unders
9 dumbbell hang cleans
100 single-unders

I used 25lb. dumbbells and finished in 7:41; my feet were aching. But better my feet than my back, and all in all I felt good about getting in on a cold day and doing some solid work.

Jim vs. The Wolf Complex

Let’s start with what this thing is:

“The Wolf Complex”
Complete 5 rounds of the Wolf Complex at ascending weight with as much rest between rounds as necessary. There is no time component to this workout. Each round is 5 repetitions of the complex:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Jerk*
Back Squat
Snatch Push Press
Overhead Squat

* Substituted for the squat jerk.

I did a lighter weight with this one than I did for the comparable Bear Complex, for three reasons: 1) after the Bear, I realized I should’ve used less weight, 2) this one involved overhead squats, and 3) my legs were still aching from Monday and Tuesday.

52 x 5
57 x 5
62 x 5
67 x 5
72 x 5

I got through it without stopping, which does indicate that using lighter loads was a good call. Maybe I could’ve gone heavier, but those last rounds were really pushing me up against my limits. I didn’t like it as much as the Bear, though; switching grips from the final overhead squat to the next power clean was always a pain. I never found a good way to do it, and had to settle for the least bad. Also, I may have messed up my lower back. Hopefully, it’ll feel better tomorrow.

Jim vs. Clean & Jerks, Dumbbell Bear

Self-deception can be a powerful thing.

Clean and jerks were first on today’s menu: 4×3 using 80% of my max. My max of 160 puts that figure at 128, which I rounded up to 130.

130 x 3
130 x 3
130 x 3
130 x 3

That was rough, and honestly the only way I got through it was by telling myself that it was gonna be a short day. I was gonna skip the DB Bear portion of today’s workout, and take it easy. I lied.

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
“The Dumbbell Bear”
5 Dumbbell Deadlifts
5 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans
5 Dumbbell Thrusters

I aimed to get through nine rounds, and got through ten. When I did this for 20 minutes, it took me 12 minutes to get ten rounds. I’m not sure how much the different timing mechanism had to do with it, but I’m pretty pleased with the improvement.

Jim vs. Back Squats, Push-ups

Back squats began the day, 5×4 using 75% of my max. Now, my max is an interesting issue: I’ve done 265, once, but have never been able to replicate the effort. 75% of 265 is around 199, whereas 75% of 255 — the weight I’ve been consistently able to hit recently — is around 191. So I split the difference.

195 x 4
195 x 4
195 x 4
195 x 4
195 x 4

That was rough, but I did every rep of every set and my form was tight. I moved onto push-ups, and did the mandated 18-22-16-16-25. Again, it was tough, but I got through.

Unfortunately, that all left me too drained to have as ambitious a day as I wanted. I was hoping to do a metcon with alternating jump rope and DB cleans, but the first round of cleans had no pop: the weight didn’t fly, so I couldn’t get under it. I tried several reps, but the form wouldn’t come together. Rather than mess up my muscle memory by doing what amounted to deadlifts and hammer curls, I called it a day.

On the upside, my jump rope’s been getting stronger. I can even do one double-under at a time (usually). So there’s been progress.

Jim vs. Shoulder Press, Turkish Get-Ups, and The Snatch

Today was a day of great variety. Shoulder press was my first stop, 3×3 using 85% of my max.

120 x 3
120 x 3
120 x 3

Tough, but not as tough as I thought it’d be. I stand by my assertion that the push-ups are helping this motion. I then moved on to alternating sets of Turkish get-ups and snatch practice.

Turkish Get-Ups:
25 x 3 (each side)
30 x 3 (right side broken up into 2-1, left side completed)
30 x 3 (each side)

Almost as if making up for the shoulder press, these were harder than I expected. Having the weight get unbalanced on my third right-side rep on the second round prompted me to stay at 30 for the final round. I’d have liked to go higher, but it was what it was.

Snatch practice:
45 x 3
65 x 3
65 x 3
65 x 3
95 x 1

The stagnant loads on this excercise had a different justification: I was working on doing full squat snatches, as opposed to power snatches. Once I got to 65, I managed to get more true squat snatches in each round. To be fair, some of them were me catching the weight at the power height and then doing an overhead squat, but I think that helped my eventual transition. I got in at least a couple real squat snatches this time, and I think I can get more next time. The 95 x 1 was just me seeing if I could. And I did.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Push-ups, KB Swings, Sit-Ups, Box Jumps

As you may have gleaned from the post title, this was a long day at the gym. Deadlifts were first up: 5×1 using 90% of my max.

310 x 1
310 x 1
310 x 1
310 x 1
310 x 1

That was tough, especially towards the end. I really need to focus on my hips driving forward to make this motion smooth, but I think I had really solid form on at least 2-3 of the 5 sets. On the others, my form wasn’t pristine, but it wasn’t terrible or dangerous.

The push-ups, since I’m committed to not missing another week. I did 20-25-20-20-29 today, and the last set called for at least 28. These felt easy today, so I’m hoping it was progress and not me cheating my form. Of course, they could’ve just felt easy compared to the deadlifts.

Finally, the metcon; three rounds for time of:
20 KB swings (50lb dumbbell)
20 Abmat sit-ups
20 box jumps (18″)

Not much fun, but I finished it up in 8:39. Needed to rest less frequently than I thought I would, and ended up with a time I’m pleased with.