Jim vs. Power Cleans, Turkish Get-ups, Sit-ups

Started off with a straight-up 5×5 power clean workout. Hadn’t done a 5×5 in a while, and it took some getting used to to keep the number of reps the same for the 4th and 5th sets:

95 x 5
105 x 5
110 x 5
115 x 5
120 x 5

Then it was on to Turkish get-ups, which sucked. I haven’t done this in a while, and I totally screwed up the form. As such, I could barely handle any weight at all. (Note to self: check YouTube before you try an exercise for the first time in a while.) I wrapped up with tabata sit-ups. Managed to do 87 of them, which felt respectable.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Hang Power Cleans, Box Jumps

Woo hoo! New deadlift PR!

235 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1

That brings my unofficial CFT to 735 — only 234 lbs to go until I hit the advanced level! *snerk*

After that, it was time for some hang power cleans and box jumps, because Friday workouts are about making one crave a restful weekend. I did the scaled-back version Clea offered, and used 95lbs for the HPCs.

10 hang power cleans
2 box jumps
8 hang power cleans
4 box jumps
6 hang power cleans
6 box jumps
4 hang power cleans
8 box jumps
2 hang power cleans
10 box jumps

Knocked this one out in 5:03. Bring on the weekend.

Jim vs. Push Jerk, Pull-ups

I am happy to report that the mental portion of the block preventing me from putting anything heavier than 135lbs over my head took a serious blow today, thanks to the push jerk.

100 x 3
110 x 3
120 x 3
130 x 1
140 x 1
150 x 1

Numbers like this shouldn’t be all that surprising: I should be moving heavier loads with the push jerk than with the push press or the shoulder press. But as I said, I think today really helped with the mental block. Putting 140 into the air felt so good, I knew immediately that I’d have 150 the next round. And I did.

I was also tasked with doing 100 pull-ups today, not for time but in as few sets as possible. I didn’t do them all in a row at the tail end for time concerns: I did a couple sets in my warmup, a set between each set of push jerks, then finished up at the end. Not sure if that made it harder or easier, but I finished my 100* in my 11th set. I was pleased with that result, and I figure doing 100 pull-ups in a workout probably can’t be bad regardless of when the sets were done.

* Technically, my final set gave me a total of 101, but who’s counting?**
** Answer: me.

Jim vs. Angie

I hadn’t revisited Angie since she whupped me back in May, but I needed a home workout this morning and I decided it was time to give her another go.

“Angie”
60 pull-ups
60 push-ups
60 sit-ups
60 squats

I not only got through it, but I beat my original time by almost 30 seconds, finishing in 13:54. Was still an ugly and unpleasant experience, but at least a successful one.

Jim vs. Back Squat, Thrusters & Burpees

Thrusters and burpees, talk about your two great tastes! Like chocolate and peanut butter, but more like utter exhaustion and soul-crushing despair, or maybe Fat Man and Little Boy.

But I get ahead of myself. I started with back squats.

185 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 3
245 x 1
255 x 1
255 x 1

I stuck with 255 for my final round because the rep I did on my penultimate round was just plain off. I didn’t have the bar seated on my traps correctly, I didn’t go down all the way, you name it. I figured it was better to end on a good rep ten pounds below my PR than to move on to a higher weight after not really getting the lower one.  Then it was on to the real fun of the day:

Five rounds for time:
5 thrusters
10 burpees

I started out with 65 lbs on the thrusters, then dropped that to 45 for the last two sets; I was still struggling to move that bar on the final round, for which I totally blame the burpees. In any case, I finished up in 8:21.

Jim vs. Running, Burpees, Pull-ups, and Timers That Don’t Start

Took the day off from work today — it’s frosh move-in day, so the library’d be dead and campus would be insane, and I have a decent vacation balance. So I started today out with an untimed two-mile run that felt pretty solid. Then I came home to do what could become my favorite non-gym workout:

21-15-9
burpees
pull-ups

And the first round felt great! I finished the first set of burpees without stopping, and just felt like I flew threw them (even with Clea’s voice in my head telling me to get my chest to the deck). So I took a quick glance at my time to see how long it had taken me to do those 21 burpees… and saw that it hadn’t started. A few profanities later, and I started the timer and moved on to pull-ups. Frustrating. In any case, the rest of the workout took me 5:25, so I probably wouldn’t have broken my previous record anyway.

Jim vs. Nancy

Feels like it’s been a while since I did a “named” workout.

“Nancy”
Five rounds for time of:
400m run
65lbs overhead squat x 15

I felt like I was running through mud on this one, but I finished it up in 17:14. Worried I didn’t go deep enough on the squats, but it was tough to check; need to do some OHSs when I’ve got folks around to watch.

Jim vs. Push Jerk, KTEs

Today’s workout started off with working on the push jerk. I decided to start with the same loads that I used last time I did a lot of push jerks, and that seemed to work out alright: I made it through the last set, but it was tough. I probably could’ve gone a bit heavier, and will next time.* (I worry that I say that a lot, but then Saturday and yesterday showed that there are definitely times I should be going lighter.)

75 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 5
105 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3

They were solid sets, and I finally feel like ratios among the loads I use for push jerks, push presses, and shoulder press are starting to line up they way they should. Cash out was three sets of knees to elbows (KTEs), max reps. I did 7-5-5, and called it a day.

* While finding the link above, I was also reminded that I did Eclipse using 95lbs for the push jerk. On the other hand, that was only sets of three, so I probably need to stop obsessing about it and just use a bit more next time the exercise comes up.

Jim vs. Back Squats & Tabata SDHPs/KB Swings

Another great workout from CF Ithaca. This one started out with back squats:

135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 5
195 x 3
215 x 3
225 x 3

That last set was a close one: rep number three almost didn’t make it up. I needed to rest for a couple of minutes before digging into part two of today’s effort: alternating 16 round Tabata interval of sumo deadlift high pulls and KB swings. I started out using 65lbs for the SDHPs and a 45lb dumbbell for the swings, but after round five I had to pause and grab a 35lb DB to finish up. That’s why there’s the jump in my numbers for round six.

SDHPs: 12 + 7 + 6 + 4 + 4 + 8 + 4 + 4 = 49
DB swings: 13 + 12 + 6 + 7 + 3 + 10 + 4 + 5 =  60

That was a tough one, and really hit my lower back. Debating whether I should’ve used less weight with the SDHPs, but hey: at least I finished this one.

Jim vs. Gumboots

I went down to the new CrossFit Ithaca for the first time today, and it was great. I mean, the workout totally kicked my butt, but Clea’s a great coach and I’ll be dropping in down there for workouts when I can. I highly recommend it. The workout we tackled was:

“Gumboots”
10 rounds for time of:
5 overhead presses
10 weighted step ups

I tried this with 65 lbs, and it absolutely hit my in my weakest area: my shoulder flexibility and my old trap injury. I got through six or seven rounds, one or two of them with only a 45 lb bar. (The “dropping the bar penalty” — five burpees — didn’t help.) I hate not finishing a workout, but I simply couldn’t make that bar move anymore.

I’ll have to revisit this one, and like I said: I’ll be headed back to CF Ithaca. Clea really knows her stuff. Oh, and we did a 400m run as a cash-out; I finished in 1:40. Not the greatest time in the world, but I think it’s a new PR for me.