Jim vs. Kettlebell Elizabeth

Haven’t done any version of this one in just over four years; this is a mod-for-home.

Kettlebell “Elizabeth”
21-15-9 of:
Kettlebell cleans (53lb)
Ring dips

Finished in 5:32, and my ring dips were ugly, ugly, ugly. May need to bring those out for some skill work; looking back, doing those has been a rare occurrence, and I’ve got the rings in my closet. There’s really no excuse.

Jim vs. the Power Clean

Bumped things up from last time.

Power clean
105 x 1
125 x 1
145 x 1
165 x 1
155 x 1
135 x 1
115 x 1

The loads peaked at about 97% of my max. The only question now is whether to go for the new max on the clean or the clean and jerk first.

Jim vs. Clean & Jerk

It’s been way too long since I’ve done this one, and way too long since I pushed past 90% of my (now very old) PR. So I did both today.

Clean & jerk
100 x 1
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
150 x 1
130 x 1
110 x 1

What can I say? Bar went up.

Maybe time to go for a new PR.

 

Jim vs. Hang Power Cleans

I almost never do this exercise on its own. So.

Hang power clean
75 x 1
95 x 1
115 x 1
135 x 1
125 x 1
105 x 1
85 x 1

I totally had to guess on the weights here; I’m not sure I’ve ever done single reps for HPCs, but the last time I did triples I commented on how multiple reps really slammed my joints on higher loads. I probably could’ve gone higher on this: the middle sets felt like work, but it was a bit too easy around the edges.

Jim vs. the Power Clean

Back into Teagle, doing more barbell work.

Power clean
95 x 1
115 x 1
135 x 1
155 x 1
145 x 1
125 x 1
105 x 1

No problems there, peaked at 90% of my max.

Jim vs. A Light Workout With Some Cleans

Another couple turns through the warm-up today, this time interspersed with cleans: three sets of three reps, 95lbs. I made sure to do full squat cleans, and they felt fine.

One more of these light workouts, which I’ll probably do at home on Friday, then I will hopefully do a real workout this weekend. I’m thinking of going back to the Brand X scaled versions of the CrossFit main site workouts: they were how I started four years ago, Charlotte’s  been having good luck going back to them, and I figure they may be a good change for a while.

Jim vs. Suitcase Deadlifts, Power Cleans

Decided to try something different.

Suitcase deadlift
Find your max in 15 minutes
65, 85, 95, 115, 145, 165, 170

I switched hands each attempt, and everything from 145 on just felt ridiculously strange. After the 165, I failed twice on 175. I almost hung it up, but decided to go back and attempt 170. Glad I did.

Power clean x 2, on the minute for 10 minutes

Used 135 for this one, and it felt good. My form felt stronger and more correct than it has in a long time, maybe ever. Next time I do this one, I’m back to 145.

Jim vs. The Olympic Lifts

Back to the barbell! And since the last couple of weeks didn’t really have much in the way of ballistic movements, the Olympic lifts seemed like a good place to start.

Snatch
65 x 1
75 x 1
85 x 1
95 x 1

Clean & jerk
95 x 1
115 x 1
135 x 1
155 x 1

I didn’t push for new maxes on these or anything, but I ended up on loads that were at least moderately heavy. They went well, and felt strong, and it’s cool to be back.

Jim vs. Power Cleans & Front Squats, and a “Metabolic Finisher”

And by “Metabolic Finisher”, I mean “a metcon I’d classify as ‘Nasty, Brutish, and Short’.” Judd sent some of them my way, and they rocked enough that I figured I’d not only do some of them, but I’d use the author’s terminology at least once.

But they’re seriously metcons. Anyway!

Power clean + front squat x 2
110
120
130
140
150
160
170

Haven’t done this in a while, but 170 is my Pr on the clean and jerk, so I’m happy with how this went down. Got ugly at the end, admittedly, but I did it.

Then, the finisher.

AMRAP in 3 minutes of:
KB snatches x 3 (each hand)
Goblet squats x 3
Close-grip decline push-ups x 3

Used a 35lb dumbbell for this, and got through four full rounds plus the snatches and squats of a fifth. Would’ve moved faster, but transitioning between movements took even longer than expected.

Jim vs. the Klokov Complex, Box Jumps & KB Swings

I was gonna do deadlifts today. But while I was poking around Crossfit Virtuosity looking for a new metcon for the second half of my workout, I came across this. First of all, the name “Klokov complex” is totally badass; second, the complex itself looked fun. So I just did the whole CV workout.

Klokov complex
Deadlift, squat clean, front squat, push press, split jerk
65
95
115
135
145*
95

I thought the push press would be my limiting factor, and while it was tough the movement that ended up getting me was the squat clean. That asterisk is there because at 145 I didn’t do a full squat clean; I caught the weight in the power stance, then did a front squat. Of course, I then did a second front squat to continue the complex, and ended up nailing the push press and split clean. But it seemed like that was as high as I could effectively go, so I dropped back to 95 and wrapped things up.

Then I did the metcon CV prescribed:

10, 8, 6, 4, 2 of:
Box jumps
KB swings

I definitely didn’t use 30″ of box, and I only used a 52.5lb dumbbell for the swings. I finished in 2:32, and while that time indicates that I could’ve gone heavier, my lower back was damned tender afterwards. So while I could up the height and weight next time, I’m not ready to tackle this one as Rx’d.

Overall, this was a great way to wrap up a week of non-standard workouts.