Jim vs. Deadlifts

Deadlift day, deadlift day!

355 x 3
320 x 4
285 x 5

That was 97% of my 3RM. This is feeling good, and Judd linked me to a great article on this movement that I’ll be reviewing before I do these again.

I love deadlift day.

Jim vs. Deadlifts

Pressed for time today, but I wanted — needed? — to do some deadlifts. So I figured, hey, reverse pyramid! Just three sets!

I’d forgotten how much I enjoy this structure for deadlifts.

Deadlifts
345 x 3
310 x 4
275 x 5

First set was 95% of my 3RM, and it felt like it. Good work throughout, and didn’t mess up my schedule any worse than it already was.

Jim vs. Deadlifts

What’s better than five sets of deadlifts? Seven sets, of course.

Deadlift
245 x 1
285 x 1
325 x 1
365 x 1
345 x 1
305 x 1
265 x 1

First deadlift work in two months, seven sets of heavy singles peaking at 90% of my PR. I’ll take it.

Jim vs. Deadlifts

No strength workout leaves me sweating quite like a 5×5 deadlift day.

Deadlift
225 x 5
265 x 5
305 x 5
285 x 5
245 x 5

Peaked at 90% of my 5RM. First deadlifts since November, first 5×5 since August. Done.

Jim vs. Snatch-grip Deadlift, Sit-ups & Burpees

I like my Fridays being deadlift days, and alternating between regular deadlifts one week and variations the next.

Snatch-grip deadlifts
185 x 1
225 x 1
265 x 1
245 x 1
205 x 1

Glad I brought chalk for this one. Afterwards, I went for a slightly longer metcon:

10, 9, 8… 1 of:
Sit-ups
Burpees

Finished up in 8:24, which is one second faster than last time and two seconds slower than the time before that. I seem to have found a plateau in this particular path to Ragnarok.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Rowing

Not feeling chatty about this one.

Deadlift
255 x 3
295 x 3
335 x 3
315 x 3
275 x 3

That went well.

500m row
2:19
2:26

That went, eh.

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. Deadlifts, 1k Row

How else could I finish my first week back to the barbell?

Deadlift
275 x 1
315 x 1
355 x 1
335 x 1
295 x 1

Those sets in the middle were tough, but the bar kept coming up. Granted, I topped out at less than 90% of my max, but hey: first week back.

I went upstairs after for some rowing: knocked out 1k in 4:33. Not by best time, but it’s in keeping with my time from July. So, respectable.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Bench Press, Rowing

Long workout today. Started with 5×5 deadlifts, which are just unlike anything else.

Deadlift
235 x 5
275 x 5
315 x 5
295 x 5
255 x 5

The third set was 95% of my 5RM, and this was just brutal. My legs and back were just wiped after this. So I moved onto the bench press.

On the minute for 10 minutes:
Bench press x 2, 145lbs

Used more weight than last time, and still didn’t really feel like I was pushing myself. Truth be told, I should probably just do three reps on the minute if I’m gonna do bench this way.

Finally, went upstairs to finish up.

500m row – 2:20

Not a great time at all, but by this point I was sweaty, tired, and had no pop left at all. Good time to stretch and call it a day.

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.