Jim vs. Olympic Lifts, 400m Run

Today ended up being a long workout, but a really good one. I’d initially intended to just do an off-kilter pyramid of the power snatch, with maybe a similar pyramid of power cleans if I still felt solid.

Power snatch
75 x 1
95 x 1
115 x 1
105 x 1
85 x 1

I still felt solid, so onto the power cleans. I widened the difference in loads for this one, which turned out to be a good call.

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

I was glad to have a bit more leeway in the first two sets to build up to set 3, since it was 95% of my max. After that, I would normally call it a day, but I got it into my head that I wanted to run. And I felt like, for some reason, I could really go all-in on such a run. So:

400m run – 1:34

It was still 4 seconds shy of my PR, but it’s the fastest 400m I’ve run in 17 months. That’s how I like to end a workout.

Jim vs. One-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, 800m Run

Home again, and doing a home workout before work.

One-Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)
30 x 5 (each arm)

No real issues there, except a bit of frustration at the fact that I had enough dumbbell weights to go up to 35lbs, but they were too wide to get on the bar and fasten them.

Then I went running. Ugh.

800m run
4:34

That’s a horrendous time.  I mean, just inexcusable. Nothing else to say about it.

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. 400m Runs

I managed to forget my Vibrams on campus this weekend, but decided that was no excuse not to run. Neither was 80F weather.

400m runs
1:39*
1:50
1:48
2:06

That asterisk is from me running around 360m the first time. I need to remember to stop guesstimating those. Overall, those times were not great… which is why I need to keep running.

Jim vs. Rowing, Overhead Squat

Had to get into the gym early today, which meant I needed to warm up in the upstairs gym at Teagle. And seeing as I finished that five minutes before the downstairs gym opened, I did the rowing part of my workout first.

1km row – 4:55

Wow, I manged to be slower than my slowest time by ten seconds. I don’t know what’s going on with my old-school cardio, but it’s getting worse even as my other conditioning stuff seems to get better.

Finally, the gym downstairs opened and I got my overhead squat on.

85 x 1
105 x 1
125 x 1
115 x 1
95 x 1

That, at least, seemed to go nicely.

Jim vs. The Mile

Finished cutting the grass, and decided to do that which I hate: run.

I went for a mile, timed, and came in at 9:52. That’s nearly two minutes behind my PR, and almost a minute slower than my last 1-mile run. Of course, my last timed mile occurred last May.

I hate running, and it shows. This is my seventh running workout in the past six months, and I need to get my act together about it.

Jim vs. Power Snatch, 400m Run

Back to the barbells. My legs were still feeling rough from yesterday, so I decided to do power snatches rather than the full squat version. I also decided to use a slightly different pyramid structure for the load progression.

Power snatch
85 x 1
105 x 1
125 x 1
115 x 1
95 x 1

Set #3 was me matching my PR on this exercise, so that was cool. I think I liked the structure, but it did feel a bit weird ending on so light a load.

400m run
1:48
1:50

Craziness: I apparently haven’t done timed 400m runs on their own since August. And my times just haven’t changed that much. Huh.

Jim vs. A Light Workout, Rowing

Still not feeling great, so I’m gonna make this at least partially a light week.

Today, that meant doing a light workout: basically, I did a round of my usual warm-up — stretching, push-ups, pull-ups, etc. — and then ended the round with a n untimed 500m row. Did two rounds, total.

Good to move around a bit, I suppose.

Jim vs. One-arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Rowing

Decided to do some unilateral work today.

One-arm DB shoulder press
50 x 3 (each arm)
45 x 4 (each arm)
40 x 5 (each arm)

That went quite well; it might make it into next week’s rotation, using heavier loads.

500m row
2:13
2:21

Slight improvement over last time. I’ll take it.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, 500m Rows

Visiting with an old friend.

Deadlifts
315 x 3
285 x 4
250 x 5

Been a while, and it felt like it. I need to build back up to my 3RM with these reverse pyramids. Not sure how many weeks it’ll take me to do it, though.

500m row
2:17
2:31

Those time’s aren’t stellar, but at least I’m back to timing myself.