Jim vs. Another Light Workout

A light week means light workouts. Once again, I did two rounds of my standard warm-up, but instead of runs at the end I added a set of 15 sumo deadlift high-pulls, using 65lbs.

Nothing more to say, really.

Jim vs. A Light Workout

Realize that it’s been two months since I did a light week, so I decided I was due. I went in, did two rounds of my usual warm-ups — pull-ups, push-ups, dips, light overhead squats, etc. — and put in an untimed 400m run at the end of each round.

Didn’t feel particularly light, though, which indicates that I was, in fact, due.

Jim vs. Goblet Squats

Friends visiting, yard work, busy schedule. So I went for a quick home workout, making it tougher back tacking on more reps per set.

Goblet squats
53 x 7
53 x 7
53 x 7
53 x 7
53 x 7

Tougher. Quick. Done.

Jim vs. Snatch-grip Deadlifts, Double-unders

Somewhat disappointing day. Started out with giving the snatch-grip deadlift a try Hadn’t done these before, so I just decided to work myself up to a max over 15 minutes.

135 x 1
185 x 1
225 x 1
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x 0

Not bad, I suppose. But then I did 10 minutes of double-under work, and it was terrible. The highest I got was three single-single-doubles in a row, and I only managed that once. I was barely able to do any double-unders, and that was depressing as hell.

Jim vs. Bench Press, Weighted Hip Thrusts

Technically a third day in a row, but I felt the need to get into the gym today. Decided to focus on strength.

Bench press
145 x 3
165 x 3
185 x 3
175 x 3
155 x 3

That felt like good work to me. Finished all the reps, but only the first and last sets felt anything like easy.

Weighted hip thrusts
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10

This was the same weight and rep combo as last time I did these. The main difference was using 45lb plates to weigh down the bench so that it didn’t buck on every rep. Made a big difference, actually.

Jim vs. Weighted Pull-ups, Power Snatches & Box Jumps

Haven’t done weighted pull-ups in a while, so I decided to give them a go with my new off-kilter pyramid format.

BW + 25 (220) x 1
BW + 35 (230) x 1
BW + 45 (240) x 1
BW + 40 (235) x 1
BW + 30 (225) x 1

This was easier than I’d expected, so I made sure to get my chin well above the bar each time, and go chest-to-bar when I could. The metcon, thankfully, was not so easy.

Five rounds for time of:
5 power snatches at 65% of max (80lbs)
10 box jumps

This one left my legs and back aching. I finished in 6:06, about 20 seconds slower than last time, and it was a grueling haul. Not sure why it was so much rougher — could five pounds on the power snatch make that much of a difference? — but it was.

Jim vs. More Moving

Another friend moved today, so I went over and helped. It wasn’t as hot as last time, but I was moving for a longer chunk of time. Evens out, I think.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, 500m Row

I did not want to work out today, but I want to have worked out. Also, I told myself that even if I went, I wouldn’t do heavy single deadlifts like I’d been thinking about doing.

Self-deception is sometimes very, very useful.

Deadlifts
305 x 1
345 x 1
385 x 1
365 x 1
325 x 1

Those felt good, and I got back up to 95% of my max.  So I decided to wrap up with some rowing.

500m row
2:00
2:24

That first time is my fastest in about 7 months, and just six seconds shy of my PR. It also left me gassed, which is  why the second time is still so much worse.

But overall, not bad for a day when I almost didn’t go in at all.

Jim vs. Front Squats, Eclipse

Taking a look back at my front squat work, it’s apparent that I emphasize sets of three reps over sets of one or five. In fact, I had a tough time finding incidences of me working towards a heavy single. So I decided to do sets of one today.

155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
185 x 1
165 x 1

After that, I revisited a metcon from my past:

“Eclipse”
Five rounds for time of:
push jerk x 3 (120lbs)
pull-ups x 6
box jumps x 9

Finished up in 4:44, my fastest time ever — including when I was only using 95lbs for the push jerks. That rocks, but I’m gonna track this one as “mid range” for now; researching the workout indicates that I should be using at least 135 for the push jerks. We’ll give that a go next time, or at least work a bit closer to it.

Jim vs. Power Cleans, Turkish Get-Ups

Some of yesterday’s misery stuck with me til today, and combined with the growing and stifling heat in Teagle, I felt like crap going into this workout.

Power clean x 2, on the minute for 10 minutes

I only used 125, which is pretty light, but I was still soaked with sweat by the end of this. (Did I mention feeling cruddy? How about the heat?)

I didn’t go so easy on myself with the Turkish get-ups, however:

25 x 1
25 x 1
45 x 1
40 x 1
30 x 1

Set #3 is 90% of my max, and this was some rough going. Got it done, though.