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. Hang Power Cleans, Sit-ups & Burpees

My legs still hurt, so I decided to put a bit more focus on my upper-body… at least at first.

Hang power cleans
95 x 3
105 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3

If that last set wasn’t a 3RM, it was close. That being said, I’m not sure about doing this exercise at higher loads with multiple reps: getting the weight back to a starting position feels rough on the joints in my wrists. I like being able to drop the bar between sets, but I feel like that might be awkward when starting from the hang position. Thoughts?

My metcon was pretty straightforward:

10, 9, 8… 1 of:
Sit-ups
Burpees

I was more worried about the sit-ups than the burpees on this one, which says something. Neither really gave me trouble, though; I finished in 8:22.

Jim vs. Franco

Another day, another erstwhile foreign leader trying to bring me down.

“Franco”
15-10-5 of:
hang power cleans (115lbs)
pull-ups
burpees

Finished in 11:17. The Rx’d weight for the hang power cleans on this one is 135, but even the 115 felt like I was pushing things a bit.

Jim vs. Hang Power Cleans

Alright, knees, let’s see how you do.

Hang Power Clean
65 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 5
105 x 3
115 x 3

The loads I used were way below what I’d usually do for this exercise, but heavy loads weren’t what today was about. My knees felt strong: no tweaks or pain. We’ll see how they feel today and tomorrow, though.

Jim vs. Hang Power Cleans, DB Push Press, Jump Rope

Hang power cleans were my first introduction to the clean form, but it’s been a while since I’ve done them in earnest. It’s amazing how much that extra momentum you get when you bring the bar from the floor can help, but I got back into the swing of this exercise pretty quickly.

95 x 3
115 x 3
125 x 3
130 x 2
120 x 3

I actually made two attempts to get a third rep at 130, to no avail: the “pop” had simply gone out of my pull. I dropped back to 120 to get in three good reps to end on, which worked. Then, it was metcon time.

Three rounds for time of:
15 dumbbell push presses (25#)
150 single-unders

As Rx’d, the workout called for 50 double-unders each round. As I still don’t have the double-under with any consistency, I went with the three for one substitution of single-unders. All I can say is, my feet and calves would very much like me to master the double-under, ASAP. I finished in 6:42.

Jim vs. The Lot

I love me some named workouts. It adds an extra wrinkle to the metadata in my tag cloud. Not a layer, since the tags aren’t hierarchical like the categories; sadly the categories just don’t seem as flexible and oh crap I’m posting this in the wrong blog. Onto the workout!

“The Lot”
Two rounds for time of:
3 overhead squats
6 push jerks
9 front squats
12 hang power cleans
400m run

This workout is intended to use the same bar throughout, which presented me with a conundrum: I was pretty sure I could handle the Pack scaling of 95lbs for the last three exercises, but I knew that even if I could do the OHSs with that much weight, it’d be another blog post full of me bemoaning that my form wasn’t as good as I’d liked. So I used 65lbs for the OHSs and 95lbs for the rest, and it went very well. My form on all the exercises felt good — including the OHSs, on which I definitely got as low as I should’ve — and I finished the workout in 13:13.

Jim vs. Deadlifts, Hang Power Cleans, Box Jumps

Woo hoo! New deadlift PR!

235 x 3
255 x 3
275 x 3
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1

That brings my unofficial CFT to 735 — only 234 lbs to go until I hit the advanced level! *snerk*

After that, it was time for some hang power cleans and box jumps, because Friday workouts are about making one crave a restful weekend. I did the scaled-back version Clea offered, and used 95lbs for the HPCs.

10 hang power cleans
2 box jumps
8 hang power cleans
4 box jumps
6 hang power cleans
6 box jumps
4 hang power cleans
8 box jumps
2 hang power cleans
10 box jumps

Knocked this one out in 5:03. Bring on the weekend.

Jim vs. Hang Power Cleans

Decided to end my week with some strength work, since I’ll be traveling next week and metcons and running will be the order of the day. Week. Whatever. In any case, today I did hang power cleans, 7×1.

95 x 1
95 x 1
105 x 1
115 x 1
125 x 1
135 x 1
145 x 1

Since cleans had suffered from the same 135-pound-block that shoulder press had, it was nice to move past that today. Now, it’s off into the wild world with naught but a timer and a pull-up bar (that I dearly hope will fit in the doors where I’m going).

Jim vs. Nasty Girls

Some workouts just leave me feeling like my lungs have been scoured with steel wool, and this was one of them. I decided to use the Pack weight for the hang power cleans, because I’d only need to do 30 total reps, as opposed to the 96 I ended up doing on Friday.

“Nasty Girls”
3 rounds for time of:
50 Squats
10 Squat Muscle-ups
95lb. Hang power cleans, 10 reps

Finished in 8:49. I attempted some seated muscle-ups — the next stop on the muscle-up progression — during my warm-ups, and I almost got one. I may start trying to do those more, just to push to the next level. On the other hand, maybe I should conquer my shoulder press albatross first.

Jim vs. DT

My physical therapist cleared me to start doing Olympic lifts again, but told me to ease into it. Naturally, the first Oly WOD to come up in the queue involved multiple rounds with high reps. As such, I decided to stick to the Puppies scaling on this one, and not keep time: I focused on the form, and on my knees. 

“DT”
Five rounds for time of:
75 lb deadlifts x 12
75 lb hang power cleans x 9
75 lb push jerks x 6

I manged to get my form to a place where my knees didn’t twinge very easily, which was good. Unfortunately, I need to work on a balance with my deadlifts: it was tough to get the right curve in my back without bringing my knees over my toes. That’s something I need to work on.

As I said, I didn’t time myself: I’d do a full round, then help Nina with her form on deadlifts and push jerks. But I did manage to finish five rounds in about the time it took Charlotte and Judd to do their rounds at the Pack scaling (20-25 minutes), and didn’t injure myself. I’m feeling pretty happy about that. I think I’ll keep the Oly WODs at Puppies level for a week or so, then scale them up to Pack, which is where I’m able to do most of the other WODs these days.

Edit: Huh, apparently Puppies scaling would’ve been three rounds, using only 35-45 lbs. So I guess I did near-Pack scaling. Cool.