2/2

Squat: 3x5 250
Bench: 3x5 185

Metcon: 10-9-8...3-2-1 of 2pd kb swings (russian), strict chinups
7:50

Squat sets felt better as I went, just not as smooth as Tuesday. Bench was tough 1st set (even 135 warmup x3 was ugly). Was told to widen my legs a bit which helped on last 2 sets and my final was easily my best set.

Metcon was a chinup contest essentially, with a touch of grip.

2/4

Oly warmup, muscle snatch.

Powersnatch: up to 2x95. Bar was getting too far away from me.

Shankle complex (DL, 3xclean pulls, 1xclean, 2xjerk): 95-115-145-165. Fun stuff.

PC & Jerk: 1x145-165-185F-185

Took too much time...more of social hour @ the gym on a Saturday. 2nd pull terrible on failed 185 but very good on successful. Just need to keep working on it.

Metcon: 5 rds of 9 DL - 6 HPC - 3 FS all @ 135# 5:32

Grip killer with HPC being the toughest for me. 2nd pull again was a problem.

Random: 4 tire flips, 20 plyo pushups. Wanted to do a partner workout while 1 does 4 flips, other does max ply pushups...5 rds. No one was around. And tire was filled with dirt/gravel/glass which was spilling out (???).

2/5

2 games basketball. With knee inflammation the past week decided to keep it light and stretch afterwards. Feel good.

NY Giants +115 ML today.

2/6

on Saturday forgot to say I did a few of these:

weighted drop jump

A few differences: I jumped 2x each rep, used 12kg kb's in each hand, and MUCH lower boxjump (started with 24", then to 30"). Did probably 10 or so total reps, incl. 2 straight at the end which was a little more difficult.

Today:

DL: 5RM 375# (1x5x135-225, 1x3x315, 1x5x375....every day also do dynamic warmups/mobility for a good 15 minutes before starting the lift so already have a good sweat before warmup sets)

Metcon: 21-18...6-3 of pullups & DU's 9:41

Most kipping pullups I've done in over 1 1/2 years. 21 straight 1st round. I do a controlled kip (no violent swing) and shoulders felt good. Fatigue in lats set in on round of 18 and pullups very broken.

On vacation to in-laws in St Augustine, FL this week so wanted to get my 5RM DL in. DL was scheduled lift @ gym today so worked out fine.

2/7

Squat: 3x5 255
Press: 3x5 120

Squat was difficult today...maybe DL 5RM yesterday? Lack of proper warmup? Press was OK-narrowed my grip a touch and tried to keep the bar lower in my palm to keep as much of the weight as possible directly over forearm.

Strict pullup 1x5. Was to do a 500m row sprint at the end but was by myself and lacked motivation to do that alone.

Was out of town, catchup:

2/12

Walk half marathon: 3:53. Was down in Florida to visit in-laws and mother in law turned 70 last week and for her b-day wanted to walk a half marathon. Wife of course was all over it and before I'd let my manhood be questioned (if your 70 yr old mother in law can do....) I said I'd do it.

Temp was a lovely 32 degrees with 15-20 mph NW winds. Barely had enough layers.

Was OK except for the 1-2" blisters on each foot (on pads just below big toe). Both popped walking thru airport yesterday. Other than that surprisingly no lingering joint pain.

In looking around at all the people running the half & full marathon I reconfirmed that I will never run such a thing. This was to support mother in law and also went to a good cause (breast cancer research).

2/10

Squat: 3x5 260
Bench: 3x5 190
DB row: 1x20 60 (each arm)

Metcon: partner w/ wife 15 rds of 10 kb swings (only 20-25#, all they had), 5 pushups, 10 situps. While partner works, other one rests. Don't think heartrate ever increased above 80 beats/minute. Felt good to do outside in 70'ish degree weather and sun.

Had a fight on rep 2, set 2 of squats. Then remembered I can use my hamstrings and the rest of the lifts went well. Bench was good...widening my legs last week really helps.

2/9

light warmup, then:

6 x 100m sprint with :30 rest between

20 burpees

About :25 to run each. I'm slow but felt good to be outside moving.

2/14

Very good ART session right before lift....she really got to the front of humeral head which is the sticking point. ROM was much better afterwards and closer to matching my right arm. Will continue to go every 2-3 weeks until I'm there (and still work on mobility on my own).

Squat: 3x5 265
Press: 3x5 125

Metcon: 15:00 EMOTM - 2 PC (60% 1RM, used 135#) and 5 chinups. Had to add slight kip on the chins around rounds 6-7 or there's no way I could've finished.

Squat and press both went easier than last week. Took too long between sets last week on press and it hurt me.

5RM on press pre-injury was 145#.

2/16

Squat: 5x135, 4x185, 3x225 3x5x270

Bench: 5x135, 3x165, 3x5x195

Metcon: 5 rds - 250m row, 4 tire flips 8:08

Squat felt good, put down my warmup sets just cuz. Bench 1st set was a wreck....word 'reset' popped into my head as 5th rep was halfway up. That was enough motivation. Think I was bringing the bar towards my head instead of straight up, straight down. 2nd & 3rd sets were much better.

I made up the metcon just to flip some tires. All rows kept at 1:50-1:55 pace (except 1st round in upper 1:40s).

Bought Stiff Stick at race expo last weekend. Best thing to come out of the 4 hour trudge, except for 70 yr old mother in law dominating and finishing. I like it so far and have used daily. Easy to use and it helps loosen things up.

2/18

Informal Oly comp, about 12 lifters.

All efforts in pounds...

Snatch: 100 - 120 - 135
C&J: 165 - 195F - 195F

All snatches were power, happy with this. Best ever was like 146 even before shoulder issues. Certainly no complaints.

Jerk.....PC all efforts easy. 2nd attempt bar felt awkward on my right (good) shoulder. 3rd attempt was better but still couldn't lock out.

I need to be faster on the catch of the jerk...I'm much better on dip & drive. I think it was a case of just not enough work since I've only started going overhead in past 60 days and obviously not enough at maybe 1 day/week.

Good news: no issues w/ shoulder and happy with the snatch.

One dude weighing 175 snatched 205 (missed 225) and C&J 285. He pulls 500+ and has a good squat also. Trying for CF Games Open and may have a shot to move onto regionals IMO.

There was video taken (I had Memory card issues, wanted to get mine) and I hope to get footage.

2/19

Played hoops on Sunday, 5 games. Felt pretty good until the end when my knee started bothering me. 1st time running in a while.

2/21

Squat: 5x45, 5x135, 4x185, 3x225, 1x245, 3x5x275

Press: 5x45, 5x95, 3x115, 3x5x130

Metcon-ish: 8 rds of 3 PC at 75% bw (used 150#), followed by 3 attempts and standing broad jump.

Max was 95 1/2 inches (7'11 1/2"). Most 90" to 93".

Squat felt pretty good, video taken and will be uploaded in the next day or so. Press was rough last rep on rounds 2 & 3 were a grind.

Video, feedback please. My wrists look a little cranked (no discomfort), think depth is OK. Wondering if I have a little too much forward torso lean for what is supposed to be HBBS.

3rd set, 5x275

I'm by no means a squat expert, but those look mostly fine to me.

2/23

Ugh, a rough one. Felt tired and every rep was a slugfest. And my depth was awful (vid to prove it on 3rd set....despite my best attempt to layer up to cover again).

Squat: 5x45-135-190, 4x230, 3x5x280 (FFFFF IMO, depth)

Bench: 5x45-135, 3x165, 3x5x200

Rows: 1x20 R & L (used 70# kb)

Was supposed to do 5RM DL and go for 385 but after squats wasn't happening. Don't think I"ve eaten enough last couple day and sleep has been dicey (< 8 hrs for sure). May just hit 280 again on Tues next week before resetting for sure - also may re-work my days to put > 48 hrs between squat session (?).

3rd set of 5, 280 - enough already turn off the camera I feel like death

I guess if I'm going for Oly squat there really shouldn't be a debate. And as weight gets heavier I may cut it even shorter (see today's vid).

They're not super deep, but that doesnt look bad to me. It does look tough though. It looks like your core isnt stable at that weight and you're close to maxing out or something like that.

I think about what's been happening to me on my heaviest squat sets lately, and fwiw, I'm GM'ing the weight more than you are on those. I need to squat more for sure. It sounds like you just need to squat less often and focus on eating & sleeping.

Droopy, squats look high for HBBS to me in both vids (2nd is higher, later reps in 2nd vid are very high). Looks like more of a LBBS depth. Just imo.

How deep is a doable 5rm for you? Do you have lower body mobility limitations (I was thinking of maybe working some ankle/hip mobs) or can you work yourself into a deep/bottom HBBS position?

While I have issues (shoulder mob for sure, which is why HBBS) unfortunately can't use that as excuse for depth. I will vid my next session Tuesday at lower weights....thinking about resetting to 250 (90% ish of last successfull 3x5) and up the food intake (whole milk, here I come).

Hoping that vid will show HBBS depth isn't a mobility problem, but maybe will. I'm assuming it's more than likely "that was heavy for me".

See how you end up when you do this:

from http://danjohn.net/2009/12/the-front-squat/ (also applies to HBBS though)

I quote this all the time, so apologies if it's something you already know or if it is redundant.

good stuff DT

thanks for the quote and link DT....did the test and no doubt was below parallel but not all the way down....feels like my knees stop at a certain point. Will try and include this drill in my next video to make sure I'm doing it properly. Will read the article for sure.

2/25

CF Open WOD 12.1 7:00 burpee AMRAP - 80

Jaysick has 4:28 cardio. I have :57 (did 20 in that time). My shoulders/triceps were failing at the end, lowering too slowly (think a reflex to protect my shoulder...which had no issues at all and feels better than last time (?) I did burpees).

Confirmed I will not will 2012 CF Games. Was coaxed into signing up for gym cameraderie. Hoping there are 1 or 2 workouts that I can do better than others in my gym (heavier....yes it's a newer CF gym so strength is a weakness of most). This was not one of those 1-2.

2/26

Hoops, 5 games. I was dicey at best and guy I covered had 20 of his team's 23. It was 2nd to last game and me knee was talking to me. In fairness 2 of his SIX threes were on the break and it was someone else's responsibility to pick him up. And one of his threes was from 24 feet.

2/27

Press: 5x95, 3x115, 1x4x135, 1x3x135, 1x1x135

Metcon: 3rds: 10 strict pullups, 10 toes to bar, 21 OH lungewalk steps (35# plate), 500m row 21:15 (?)

Press was attempt at 3x5....obviously failed. Tried in a.m. and rush for time plus early morning did me in.

2/28

Squat: 5x135, 4x185, 2x225, 3x5x245 (reset)

Metcon: 5rds 15 DL (185#), 15 boxjump 24", 15 v-ups 10:57 Boxjumps are slow as I stepped off to preserve joints and v-ups were more difficult than I thought they'd be. Still did OK compared to others, except for the 2 guys that had 120+ burpees in Open 12.1 (they were just under 8:00).

A couple videos as I really want to work on depth:

Squat drill ATG from DT

5x245, set 1

Still felt like torso slightly too far forward and I was folding onto myself on the way down. But better than the other day.

3/3

Open 12.2: muscles snatches w/ 45#, BTN snatch grip press (45# - hardddd) snatch DL + snatch pulls x2 95-145-165

52 reps (30 @ 75#, 22 @ 135#), all power snatch (legit reps, no pressouts which were allowed).

Pleased, considering 2 weeks ago hit 135# on 3rd attempt at 1RM. Wanted at least 15 @ 135# and hoping for all 30. Hit goal of all 75# and loaded 135 at 3:00 mark. Then maybe 1 rep every 10-15 seconds. Obviously not that fast but wanted no failed reps (success).

Even bigger success was no shoulder issues at all. That was really my #1 priority and any discomfort/pain I would've shut it down. Encouraging.

3/1

Squat: 3x245, 2x3x255

Bench: 3x205, 5x205, 4x205 (FFFFF)

Left side is so much weaker. Considering getting evaluated by a local trainer (recently ART certified) that seemed to know movement patterns, etc and come up with a more formalized rehab/prehab program for all my issues (shoulder, knee, mobility, unilateral leg strength).

I could tell on my bench that right side has so much more in the tank, 20-30# IMO. I'm actually dropping the right side way lower to compensate for weak left.

Hoops tomorrow, ART Tuesday evening and then re-evaluate my programming. I need to get stronger obv but thinking that maybe focusing more on rehab /form may be a larger benefit long term.

3/4

Basketball, 4 games. Knee held up OK (not great)...definitely in the March Madness mood.

Vegas, 10 days and counting.

3/6

ART on 3/5 went well, next apptmt probably 3-4 weeks from now.

Coached a couple classes and helped fix a couple DL's that had the Early Hip Rise sydrome.

Metcon: 10 rds: 5 30' shuttle runs, 25 DUs, 3 DL (315#) 19:10

DL were heavy, 1st time pulling in a while (heavier). Slept real deeply last night. Have reached out to PT to come up with a rehab/prehab program. I feel my right knees issues stemming from lack of mobility are inhibiting my running (pain/discomfort) and squatting. Need to fix that.

Will squat at least 1x/week (tomorrow) and will look to build up my left shoulder with some single arm work.