Jim vs. Back Squats, Turkish Get-ups, and dangling from the pull-up bar

Today was a day for shenanigans.

Back squats
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5
165 x 5

Then, I took a page from CF Ithaca and Judd and got a little wacky:

Without letting go of the bar:

1 deadhang pull up
1 kipping pull up
1 toes to bar
1 knees to elbows

Rest 30 seconds

Do a set of 2 of each movement

Rest 30 seconds

Do a set of 3 of each movement

The thirty-second “rests” were beyond doubt the hardest part; big surprise, eh? I got through the first two rounds, and then maybe 5-10 seconds into the second rest before I fell off the bar. The way my arms felt afterwards was new and indescribable.

So naturally, I went and did some Turkish get-ups.

40 x 1 (each side)
45 x 1 (each side)

That’s a new PR. I can go higher.

Jim vs. Running

I truly hate running.

400m – 1:31
400m – 1:48
800m – 3:59
400m – 1:48

I am happy with these results for three reasons:

1. That first time is just one second shy of my PR, and I might have tied or beat it if I’d been alone on the track and not had to dodge around some folks.
2. All three of my 400m times were faster than my best 400m time from last week.
3. I stuck that 800m run in there, even though I was tempted not to. (Especially as I was coming up on the halfway point; just making it another 400m run was seeming like a great idea around then.)

Glad I did it, miserable though it was. I will try to keep the progression alive with a 400/800/800/400 session in the next week or two.

Jim vs. Cleans

Didn’t have much time in the gym today, so I just did some cleans. I made up for it by making sure to do full squat cleans each time, doing six sets instead of five, and pushing the weight.

115 x 2
125 x 2
135 x 2
145 x 1
155 x 1
165 x 1

I’ve been relying on power cleans for so long that I’m not sure this is a new PR for the clean forms as a whole. But it does match my PR for the clean and jerk, and considering how infrequently I’ve focused on the full clean I’m willing to bet this is the most weight I’ve ever thrown myself under.

And the form felt tight. That thing where I do a power clean and then a front squat wasn’t happening: this was smooth. Very happy with how this went.

Jim vs. Back Squats, KB Swings, Burpees

The back squat linear progression rolls on:

160 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 5
160 x 5

I’d been debating following this up with some rowing, or some double unders. But then I thought, “I haven’t done a short metcon from CF Ithaca in a while. And I’m a terrible person. So surely I deserve one.” Hence:

30/15, 20/10, & 10/5 of
KB swings
Burpees

This was unpleasant, but I finished it in 4:44.  Used a 52.5lb dumbbell this go-round, too. Glad I did this instead of rowing.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Weighted Chin-Ups

I decided to experiment with a “reverse pyramid” method, recommended to me by a friend and championed by the folks at Leangains.com. It’s good to shake things up, even if my less-than-stellar experience last year with the 5-3-1 stuff sent me back to 5x5s and 5x3s.

Deadlifts
325 x 3
295 x 4
260 x 5

It was weird starting with the heaviest load, and I’m worried a bit about making sure I’m warmed up completely. But the subsequent sets felt much smoother by comparison. So, in keeping with the recommended application of the pyramid, I went on and did some weighted chin-ups.

BW + 45 x 4
BW + 22.5 x 5
BW x 10

Again, the reversal felt odd, and applying the 100%/90%/80% loads meant I was back to my bodyweight by the third set. But it went well, and I just took their advice and did 10 instead of six for the last one. I’ll give this another go next week, with either higher weights or more reps.

Jim vs. Power Cleans, Shoulder Press

OK, let’s put some more weight on that shoulder. Not much, though.

Power clean
95 x 1
105 x 1
115 x 1

Shoulder press
65 x 5
75 x 4
85 x 3

I don’t think I was pushing too hard with these… but we’ll see how my muscle feels tomorrow. I truly do hate this injury, and while it takes a lot more to set it off these days — I kid you not, I once messed it up by sneezing – its recurrent aggravation is, well, aggravating.

Jim vs. 400m Runs

Remember the bit about punishing my legs? Well, a desire to rest my shoulder combined with the knowledge of how quickly my running deteriorates led to today’s shenanigans. I did my warm-up in Teagle, and then headed to Barton Hall’s track to do four 400m runs.

1:50
1:55
1:52
1:49

Those times were terrible — averaging about 20s slower than my PR – but I’m glad I went in and did this. The track’s a great resource in winter, and not nearly as inconvenient as I think. If I do something like this weekly, I’ll be ready to go when it’s warm again.

Jim vs. Back Squats, Turkish Get-Ups

The last week was kind of a loss. My shoulder kept hurting, work was busy, I was travelling, yadda yadda no real workouts. Time to get back on track.

Back squat
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5
155 x 5

That still seems to be going well, at least. Time to check in with the shoulder.

Turkish get-ups
30 x 1 (each side)
35 x 1 (each side)
40 x 1 (each side)

40 is still my 1RM, and it felt fine. My shoulder and trap felt just dandy after this, which I’ll take as a good sign.

Jim vs. Back Squats, 400m Run

What to do when your shoulder’s a mess? Apparently, punish your legs. (This will be a theme.)

Back squat
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 5
150 x 5

So, while my shoulder press linear progression was derailed, the back squat continued. Afterwards, I did a 400m run, clocking in at 1:37.

Jim vs. His Own Damn Shoulder

First off, I’m writing this nearly two weeks after the fact. I occasionally have to write back entries since I use this blog tot rack workouts, but I usually don’t make a thing about it so that it reads better. I’m making an exception because my February 5th work negatively impacted the following two weeks.

Same sort of stuff I’d done the previous Saturday, really: handstand work, muscle-up progressions. I actually did about half a dozen handstands, which was great… but then I unlocked my elbows to see what a HSPU might feel like.

What it felt like was re-injuring my left trap muscle, which has been a problem since high school.

The ring dips and ring pull-ups I did as part of my muscle-up work just exacerbated things. Thanks to my one moment of trying something I damn well knew I wasn’t ready for, the next couple weeks sucked, work-out wise.

Enough kvetching.