Jim vs. Deadlifts and Yet Another Dumbbell Complex

Today started out very early, with a brisk walk around the new neighborhood with Nina and Samson. Afterward, as i got ready for work, I hopped on the scale and weighed in at 180 lbs.

(That last factoid will prove important.)

After working for a few hours, I went over to the gym, and dug into my first 5×1 deadlift workout in a while.

245 x 1
275 x 1
305 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1

That last set was a huge moment for me: not only is it a new PR, but cross-referencing the important factoid above, it’s also the first time I deadlifted more than twice my body weight. I was ecstatic (though it was tough to tell, since the effort left me more than a bit dizzy; suffice to say I was staggering around quite ecstatically).

Then I moved on to yet another dumbbell complex from CF Ithaca, which I swear has a complex for any occasion; this one definitely seemed appropriate.

Five rounds of:
5 Dumbbell deadlifts
5 Dumbbell hang cleans
5 Dumbbell push presses
5 Dumbbell squats

Increase the load each round. Rest as necessary between rounds.

This probably would’ve been rough regardless, but it was especially tough after the barbell deadlifts. I did 20-25-30-35-40, and got through the complex on each round. It was a close thing with the 40s, so while I might’ve been able to go heavier, it wouldn’t have been by much. I liked this complex, actually, though not as much as I liked that last deadlift.

Jim vs. Clean & Jerks, Dumbbell Bear

Self-deception can be a powerful thing.

Clean and jerks were first on today’s menu: 4×3 using 80% of my max. My max of 160 puts that figure at 128, which I rounded up to 130.

130 x 3
130 x 3
130 x 3
130 x 3

That was rough, and honestly the only way I got through it was by telling myself that it was gonna be a short day. I was gonna skip the DB Bear portion of today’s workout, and take it easy. I lied.

As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes of:
“The Dumbbell Bear”
5 Dumbbell Deadlifts
5 Dumbbell Hang Power Cleans
5 Dumbbell Thrusters

I aimed to get through nine rounds, and got through ten. When I did this for 20 minutes, it took me 12 minutes to get ten rounds. I’m not sure how much the different timing mechanism had to do with it, but I’m pretty pleased with the improvement.

Jim vs. The Dumbbell Bear

There’s a certain class of workouts — I’m not sure if they just push anaerobic conditioning or what — that absolutely wreck me. The Dumbbell Bear is definitely among them.

“The Dumbbell Bear”
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes perform the following:
5 Dumbbell Deadlifts
5 Dumbbell Hang Cleans
5 Dumbbell Thrusters

I started out using 25lb dumbbells, and got through 10 rounds in the first 12 minutes. Then I bumped back to 22.5lb dumbbells, and did six rounds in the final eight minutes. That made for 16 rounds total, and an absolutely exhausted Jim. I don’t look forward to doing this one again, but I’d like to get through it with a higher weight, and more rounds completed. Being able to do all 20 would be amazing.