Jim vs. Push Jerk, Hanging Leg Raises, Walking Lunges & Jump Rope

Today was a hearty return to putting a barbell over my head.

Push jerk
105 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 3

I haven’t done just that motion in a while, and I believe that final set was easily a 3RM. It felt strong, but then I’ve done a lot of clean and jerk recently so it’s not like I was completely cold. Today’s metcon, though, included a new exercise that thus requires a video link!

Three rounds for time:
Hanging leg raises x 20
Walking lunges x 30
Jump rope x 80

The hanging leg raises were new, and I actually tried to keep my legs as straight as possible (with limited success). The jump rope was supposed to be double-unders x 40, but I am have been remiss in working on that exercise; I also decided to scale it back to a 2:1 DU-to-SU exchange instead of my standard 3:1. I finished in 8:00.

Jim vs. Push-ups, Pull-ups

Working out at home in the morning, and worried I’m coming down with the cold that’s been going around. Decided to take it a bit easy, i.e. not do a metcon. Instead, I re-visited the hundred push-ups workout, and looked to the same for rep numbers on five sets of pull-ups.

Pull-ups: 10-12-7-7-11(max)
Push-ups: 18-22-16-16-27(max)

The way I timed it was: set of pull-ups, immediately to set of push-ups, rest for 2-2.5 minutes. Definitely inspired by Lynne. Felt good, broke the minimum required max reps for the final sets of both exercises. Solid morning workout, I think.

Jim vs Deadlifts

Deadlifts.

225 x 5
245 x 5
265 x 5
285 x 3
305 x 0 (two attempts)
275 x 3

I couldn’t even bring up my previous 3RM once, which was highly discouraging. Maybe I fatigued myself too much with the sets of five? Not sure, but it was frustrating. Seems to be a theme, lately; need to turn that around.

Jim vs. Overhead Squat, Thrusters & Pull-ups

The overhead squat: it’s a pain to get the bar into position and a pain to do, but it’s a great exercise and at least you can drop the bar at the end.

75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 3
115 x 3

That last one matches my current 3RM, and I barely held it together. But last time I did 115 I failed on my first attempt, and I manged get this one on the first go. But I wasn’t done.

Five rounds for time:
65lb thrusters x 9
pull-ups x 9

Consulting one’s times-tables will indicate that this is basically “Fran” re-organized; I ended up dropping back 10lbs from my Fran thruster weight, but this still took me over a minute longer: 7:45. Was it having to run back and forth between exercises areas more often? Was it doing the WOD after the overhead squats? Who can say; all I know is that I was on the ground when it was done.

Jim vs. Front Squats, Running

I was still feeling Cindy today, unsurprisingly. Front squats were supposed to go 3×3, at 85% of my max. Didn’t play out that way, though.

180 x 2
170 x 3
170 x 3

85% of my max is 182.75, but even 180 wasn’t coming back up for a third rep; hence the drop in weight. Was still a tough workout, but I was disappointed.

For the second half, I went over to the track in Barton and ran for 20 minutes. Didn’t keep track of the laps, just ran at a good pace, listened to my music, and pushed through the aches and stitches that arose. With the winter, distance running isn’t something I’ve done, and it felt good to do it again.

Jim vs. Cindy

Nothing like a 20 minute AMRAP to cap a day off from work.

“Cindy”
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats

This is the first time I tried this one with the full twenty minutes. Unsurprisingly, I set a slower pace than when I did the twelve-minute version in June. But I got through 17 full rounds, plus five more pull-ups and seven more push-ups.  Solid enough for now.

Jim vs. Hang Power Cleans, DB Push Press, Jump Rope

Hang power cleans were my first introduction to the clean form, but it’s been a while since I’ve done them in earnest. It’s amazing how much that extra momentum you get when you bring the bar from the floor can help, but I got back into the swing of this exercise pretty quickly.

95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
130 x 2
120 x 3

I actually made two attempts to get a third rep at 130, to no avail: the “pop” had simply gone out of my pull. I dropped back to 120 to get in three good reps to end on, which worked. Then, it was metcon time.

Three rounds for time of:
15 dumbbell push presses (25#)
150 single-unders

As Rx’d, the workout called for 50 double-unders each round. As I still don’t have the double-under with any consistency, I went with the three for one substitution of single-unders. All I can say is, my feet and calves would very much like me to master the double-under, ASAP. I finished in 6:42.

Jim vs. Snatches, Rowing, Burpees, and Running

Started the day with some snatch practice, which didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.

45 x 3
65 x 3
65 x 3
95 x 0
95 x 1
95 x 1

I’d wanted to see if I could get past 95 and set a new PR, but it wasn’t happening today. The last set of three at 65 felt great, but it took me several tries to get 95 to work, and then I needed to go at it again at get it to feel correct. Today was a day when getting in one good rep at my current PR was enough.

Then I did a short WOD of my own design, a heavily scaled-down version of this one.

Two rounds for time of:
250m row
10 burpees
200m run

This one was pretty much a response to feeling so winded after my 500m row on Friday. I finished in 6:56; if I do this one again, I’ll go three rounds and see if I can get in under 10.

Jim vs. Weighted Pull-ups, 500m Row

A new max on weighted pull-ups today (probably), but I could’ve been more ambitious.

25 x 1
35 x 1
45 x 1
55 x 1
65 x 1
70 x 1

Last time I did this, I couldn’t be sure I got my chin over the bar when I had 70lbs strapped to me, but this time I made sure of it. So I’ll call it a new PR — especially since I’m probably carrying a pound or two more than I was last go-round. I probably could’ve gotten 75 up, though.

Then I did a 500m for time, and because it’d been a while. I finished in 1:58, one second slower than my PR. And I felt like crap afterward; looks like I lost some conditioning over the long break, even if my strength seems not too have slipped too much.

Jim vs. Front Squats, Shoulder Press

More time communing with the barbell today. Started out doing front squats, 80% of my max, going for 5×3. The math told me the weight I was looking for was 172; I decided to start with 175.

175 x 3
165 x 3
165 x 3

That first set told me 175 was not the weight to work with. Dropping to 165 worked better, but it still felt off. Not sure if it was trying to do this right after a day of full cleans or what, but it just didn’t feel right. So I did three of the five sets, then decided to revisit the shoulder press, also using 80% of my max.

115 x 3
115 x 3
115 x 3

This felt really solid, especially after hitting a new max on Christmas Eve. Front squat issues aside, it’s felt good getting back to barbell work these last two days. I’ll probably do some more metcon work later this week but… I definitely needed this.