Jim vs. Clean & Jerk, Push-ups

It was good to be back with the barbells today, and to have a clear mission: find my one rep max on the clean and jerk.

115 x 1
125 x 1
135 x 1
145 x 1
155 x 1
160 x 1
165 x 0 (failed twice)

So that makes 160 my new PR on the clean and jerk, which rocks. Easily the most weight I’ve had up over my head. Not sure I could’ve done more if I’d started at a higher weight to begin with; those 165 had no acceleration to them at all, and so provided me with no chance to actually jump under the bar. I might as well have been doing deadlifts, and that might’ve been the result of fatigue. But I can’t find it in me to be displeased with my results.

I wrapped up with more push-ups: 18-22-16-16, then getting 22 before pushing to 25. Again, definite improvement from last week, and I really feel like this push-up work is helping my overhead work.

Jim vs. Partial Grooves, Push-ups

I decided to add a wrinkle to my usual weekend of greasing the pull-up groove: after each set of five pull-ups, I’d do either ten air squats or ten sit-ups. It went well, except that time constraints limited me to ten rounds instead of twenty. Sadly, 50 pull-ups, 50 squats, and 50 sit-ups just doesn’t feel like a solid enough workout to me, so I’ll need to get in all 20 next week.

I did get to my push-ups, though: 23-28-23-23, then got 25 in before working my way up to 33. I must say, it’s cool to see improvement every week on this plan, and it encourages me to stick with it.

Jim vs. Push-ups

Traveling takes its toll on my workouts, but I managed to get in some push-ups on this fine Turkey Day morning: 20-25-20-20, then maxing out with another 20 before getting in my 28. Serious improvement over last week.

Jim vs. Push Press, KB Swings, Box Jumps

Push press is another exercise I haven’t seen much of recently, but I got well re-acquanited with it today.

95 x 5
105 x 5
115 x 5
125 x 3
135 x 3
140 x 2 (failed third rep)

Considering my 1RM for shoulder press is 140, and my 1RM for push jerk is 150, getting 140 up twice on the push press feels about right.  I’m a bit off-schedule in terms of CF Ithaca programming, but I’m going to try to work in a 3×3, 3×1 push press day next week to see where my 1RM is for this exercise. Of course, I wasn’t done with it today, or vice versa…

21-15-9 of:
push press (65 lbs)
KB swings (50lb dumbbell)
box jumps (18″)

Did this in 7:00 exactly. I think I could’ve handled 70 or 75 on the push press portion; amazingly, it was the box jumps that felt hardest. I sometimes think that the craziest thing about metcons is the way an exercise can feel like an active rest in one workout and be the roughest stretch of the next. There’s just no way to know until you do it.

Jim vs. Front Squats, Push-ups

My friend Aaron described one of his deadlift days as being like the scene in Unbreakable, in which Bruce Willis’s character just keeps putting more and more weight onto the barbell and never hits a limit. Today felt kind of like that for front squats.

95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
155 x 3
175 x 3
185 x 3

I went back and forth on going to 195 that last set, but I wanted a new 3RM today and got it at 185.  Still, for an exercise I haven’t done in a while, this felt good. Then, push-ups: 18-22-16-16, then maxed at 15 before getting to 25. Better than the 9 I maxed out at last week, but still not where I want it.

Jim vs. Push-ups

It’s been a while since I had a work-out day when the work-out just didn’t happen, but yesterday was such a day. Call it my work schedule or a lack of motivation, but there were push-presses to be had and I didn’t take them. Today I’m traveling, so I was limited to doing push-ups at home. I’m on Week 4 of the One Hundred Push-ups plan, and it’s looking like I’ll be on Week 4 next week, too. Today I did 23-28-23-23 before maxing out at 21, then toughing out reps in twos and threes to get to 33. Week 4 whupped me, but I get a rematch in a couple of days.

Jim vs. Power Cleans, Push-ups

In hindsight, it probably would’ve been better to do Tuesday’s workout on Monday and this workout tomorrow. But there were not Oly racks to be found on Monday, and tomorrow’s situation is like to be similar, so power cleans were on the menu again.

125 x 2
135 x 2
145 x 2
150 x 1
150 x 1

As much as I’d love to claim that I meant to do sets of one rep those last two times, it was not the case: I went for a second rep on both occasions, and failed on both occasions. The acceleration simply wasn’t there. Maybe if I’d had more rest it would have been, but it wasn’t.

Push-ups were also grueling. I got through my first three sets just fine: 20-25-20. But the third set should’ve been 20 as well, and I maxed out at 16 before knocking out the final four. The final set I maxed out at 11, and staggered my way to the mandated 28. Rough stuff.

Jim vs. Power Cleans, Helen

Started out with a fun variant strength workout: two power cleans on the minute for 10 minutes, using 85% of my max. I used 130lbs, and it felt really good. I didn’t have any problem completing the required reps, and it felt more like a warm-up for Helen than anything else.

“Helen”
Three rounds for time of:
400 m run
21 kettlebell swings (50# dumbbell, in my case)
12 pull-ups

I did my running outside, cold autumn be damned. I clocked a time of 11:35, which is three seconds longer than when I did this one in April. Back then I used 5lbs less on the swings, and I had less ground to cover between where I ran and where I did my swings and pull-ups. All in all, I’m pretty happy with that time: it’d have been nice to go faster, but I’ve been lax with my running and this felt respectable.

Jim vs. Back Squat, Push-ups

Evening workout today, which is a great rarity (and will remain so, considering how insanely crowded Teagle was). But one doesn’t need an Olympic rack to do back squats.

205 x 1
225 x 1
245 x 1
255 x 0
255 x 1

A new PR was not to be today, and I feel a bit frustrated that August’s 265 seems like such a dream now. But it is what it is.

That’s where tonight’s work would’ve ended, except that the very nice young woman working in the Teagle issue room let me use their computer to look up Week 4 of the Hundred Push-ups program. Some frustration there, as well: I knocked out 18-22-16-16, but then maxed out at a truly pathetic 9 in my final set. I kep chipping away until I got the mandated 25, but wow — that was more than a touch disheartening.

Jim vs. The Dumbbell Bear

There’s a certain class of workouts — I’m not sure if they just push anaerobic conditioning or what — that absolutely wreck me. The Dumbbell Bear is definitely among them.

“The Dumbbell Bear”
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes perform the following:
5 Dumbbell Deadlifts
5 Dumbbell Hang Cleans
5 Dumbbell Thrusters

I started out using 25lb dumbbells, and got through 10 rounds in the first 12 minutes. Then I bumped back to 22.5lb dumbbells, and did six rounds in the final eight minutes. That made for 16 rounds total, and an absolutely exhausted Jim. I don’t look forward to doing this one again, but I’d like to get through it with a higher weight, and more rounds completed. Being able to do all 20 would be amazing.