Jim vs. The Olympic Lifts

Went in today thinking that after this week I wouldn’t see a barbell for two months. Turns out it won’t be quite that bad — Teagle’s lockers will be off-limits, but there will still be showers, and I can work with that — but I did some Olympic lifts anyway.

Snatch
105 x 1
105 x 1
105 x 1
105 x 1
105 x 1

Clean & jerk
150 x 1
150 x 1
150 x 1
150 x 1
150 x 1

I used 85% of my recent PRs, and focused on doing full squats on the catch. That went really well; some were more “power, then squat,” but I got the squats in on all but the very last rep.

Jim vs. Back Squats, Burpees

Last week of easy Teagle access for a while.

Back squats
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5

Pretty straightforward. But then, so was this:

Burpees x 50
4:12

That’s my fastest time to date. I figured it was going well, as I only needed to break it down into 20-8-7-5-5-5.

Jim vs. Turkish Get-Ups

I finally realized there was a “pure” strength workout I could do at home!

Turkish get-ups
24 x 5
24 x 5
24 x 5
24 x 5
24 x 5

I put “pure” in quotes because damn if I wasn’t sweaty and out of breath at the end of this one, even using only 24lbs. I’m tempted to find some 1.25lb plats for the dumbbells I got from my parents’ house a month or so back and do some kind of TGU linear progression over the time the Teagle’s closed. Good stuff.

Jim vs. Half-Mile Sandbag Run

I can assure you that yesterday’s Thanksgiving feast only made this workout more pleasant.

Run a half-mile with a sandbag on your shoulder
25lb bag, finished in 4:58

Cut four seconds off of my time since September. I think that means I can now count this as “Nasty, Brutish, and Short”.

Jim vs. Power Cleans, 1k Row

Found out today that Teagle’s locker rooms will be closed from December 5 through January 20. While there are always a few weeks in that stretch when the Teagle gym is closed anyway, it’s still kind of annoying. I need to finish making those sandbags.

Power clean
115 x 1
130 x 1
145 x 1
160 x 1
175 x 1

That lest rep is a new PR for this exercise. Wasn’t sure I was gonna get it, but I’m glad I went for it.

1k row - 4:45

That, on the other hand, is my slowest 1k row since I started keeping this blog. Kind of frustrating, really.

Jim vs. Back Squats

So this weekend absolutely explained why Friday’s metcon went so badly: I was sick. I spent Saturday and Sunday feeling like crap; felt better yesterday, but decided an extra day of rest was not a bad idea. And today, I limited myself to the back squat linear progression.

180 x 5
180 x 5
180 x 5
180 x 5
180 x 5

It went well, but I was definitely feeling more fatigued at the end than I expected. But then, I probably should have expected that.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, etc.

Mixed bag, today.

Deadlift
365 x 3
330 x 5
300 x 5

The second set is a new 5RM for me, which felt freakin’ amazing to pull off. It hadn’t been a goal going in, but after the first set I just kind of felt like I could do it, and I went for it and got it.

Of course, after that I tried to do a neat little 21-15-9 metcon of box jumps and pull-ups; a round and a half (and two and a half minutes) in, I had to stop to avoid falling over. It was unpleasant, and the first time I’ve had to stop a metcon in a while. This wasn’t one I’d have expected to mess me up, either.

So, yeah: mixed bag.

Jim vs. The Power Snatch

Unexpectedly found myself with enough time for a short workout. So I figured, why not try for a PR on the power snatch?

65 x 1
80 x 1
95 x 1
110 x 1
125 x 1

Stuck it. 125lbs is the new PR for the power snatch, and the movement felt far more comfortable today. Maybe I’ll try some squat snatches in the next week or two.

Jim vs. Back Squats, Shoulder Press

Light week is over. Back to the grind.

Back squats
175 x 5
175 x 5
175 x 5
175 x 5
175 x 5

Shoulder press
125 x 3
115 x 4
105 x 5

Shoulder press still felt tighter and tougher than it likely should have. Beginning to think that the reverse pyramid might not be the way to go with them.

Jim vs. Yardwork and Associated Labor

Did about three or three and a half hours of work getting our yard and garage ready for winter today.

We moved what was left of the 3-4 cubic yards of dirt from a pile in our front yards to various spots in the yard via shovel and wheelbarrow. We removed pretty much everything from the garage, swept the garage, then  moved just about everything (plus our very large grill) back in. At some point, piles of bricks were consolidated and then redistributed.

I’m not sure whether I’ve started to put stuff like this in the blog so that it better reflects my physical activity, or to juke my monthly stats. But it felt like some good work, so I’m gonna count it.