Metcon
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Dumbbell Box Step Ups, 22.5s, 24"
8 Dumbbell Bench Press (22.5s) after each set
11:34 - 17.5s to 20" box, 22.5s floor press
1 on 1 coaching
30 minutes kipping practice
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Fun. Cycle 2, week 1 done of front squats. They felt strong with 2 minutes rest.
I volunteered to do floor presses because we don't have enough benches. It was a weird workout. After the first few minutes, the step ups become irrelevant and it's just pressing.
I used my free quarterly 1 on 1 to do kipping practice. I tightened up everything and it was helpful, but I still can't get into a good rhythm. Frustrating.
Metcon - Karen
For time:
150 Wall balls (9kg to 10 feet)
7:49 - (47 second PR!) to 9 feet because that's the height of our ceiling
Quote:
Jan 2018 - 8:36 Jun 2018 - 8:44 (page 1 of the log!)
***Today - 7:49
Ride Home
16.19km, 49 minutes
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Really, really good day. I think I'm leaning back too much with my snatches and that's leaking some power because it should be more vertical. 45 felt easy enough though for 2.
All those Karen times are to our lower ceiling height. The snatches actually took a decent bit out of me because of those insanely high volume sets. I was still trying to be explosive while doing the 10 and 8 muscle snatches.
Anyway, I set out to just get under 8 minutes. My plan was 7/6/6 every 20 seconds. I stuck to that for 4 minutes, then went down to 6/6/6. I think that took me to 130, and then did 8/6/6. I overpaced it a bit and think 7:30 is pretty doable with 7/7/6. Maybe close to 7 minutes without the snatches before. I would say this is a test of 50% cardio and 50% muscular endurance.
Jackie on Monday, which I am excited for. I feel my cardio really improving.
Really, really good day. I didn't go nuts with the weightlifting. The rep at 80 was fairly comfortable. The push press flew up.
Jackie is a weird test for me. I could get a huge PR if I sort out my kipping. My pull-ups are worse than before, but I still set a PR. My cardio is the best it's ever been right now.
Last time I went 4:15/2:35/1:47. Today I went 4:06/2:32/1:50. I actually got to the pull-ups fairly comfortably. I rowed at 2:00, and then slowed down in the last 100m to go staight to the thrusters. Thrusters in 20/15/8/7 with very short breaks. Pull-ups were 5/5/3/2/2/2/2/2/2/2/1/1/1. In hindsight, I think I could have pushed the first bit more and then still flailed around on the pull-ups and could have shaved some time.
Metcon
4 Sets: (1 set every 5 minutes)
10 Handstand Push Ups
10 Right Arm Hang Dumbbell Snatch, 22.5kg
25ft Right Arm Overhead Dumbbell Walking Lunge, 22.5kg
10 Left Arm Hang Dumbbell Snatch, 22.5kg
25ft Left Arm Overhead Dumbbell Walking Lunge, 22.5kg
6:40 - 1:40/1:34/1:40/1:46 - 17.5kg DB
Ride Home
16.03km, 47:00
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Deadlifts were 5x5 at 80%, but I just built up to a moderate 5. It was low RPE - I'm deadlifting every other week to hopefully maintain it.
I could have definitely done this metcon Rx, but it was quite fun with the 17.5. I had to do the 10 HSPU like a madman fast and then everything unbroken and fast. It makes it more interval style and sprinty, with less wear and tear on the body because of the lighter weight.
I'm in a proper training groove now. I'm doing nearly as much cardio as my Pete's plan days. When I hammered out cardio in the past, I either -
1. neglected strength (due to covid, entering a running race, etc)
2. did double sessions, which I HATED and wasn't sustainable
3. did the easy cardio indoors, which I HATED and wasn't sustainable.
I am really enjoying just adding on easy outdoor cardio after training. TBD if it is 1) sustainable and 2) if I can actually make strength and weightlifting gains on this as well
Did 6 minutes, because there wasn't much rest to the metcon
Metcon
21-15-9: (10 minute cap)
Calorie Row
Power Snatches, 42.5kg
8:40
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We took a long time on the gymnastics, which was kind of nice. My muscle ups are feeling amazing. 3 sets of 5 was super super easy and I almost didn't have to dip even on the 5th rep.
I wanted to test myself on this metcon. The instructions were no more than 50% of your 1RM snatch. But 42.5 is a standard Open weight, and I knew I would finish under 10 minutes, so I went for it. I suffered though. Snatches were 8/4/3/3/3. Then I think 3/3/3/3/3. And 4/2/3f!!!/1. I rowed at 1100 for the first bit, then crawled (like 600-700). This would have been a LOT easier for me if I could drop the bar and if I used my WL shoes.
We bought a house! 4 rooms, a big garden, 3 floors. I feel quite grown up. The top floor is going to be my office and a gym, it's a pretty big room - cannot wait! The other half is very good at DIY and decorating, so I hope it looks really good in a few months.
I added on some extra volume to squats. I wanted to do 10x4 pull-ups, but it was just taking too long super-setting. My cardio is flying at the moment, and I hope I'm getting stronger. So that's what I need to keep doing and focusing on. And cut the extra fluff.
I've added on 4 bits of easy cardio a week. I've done 2 rides and 2 runs in the last couple of weeks, but I am going to change that to 3 rides and 1 run. Runs just take a lot longer for me to recover from, so I think they are less bang for the buck.
I'm selling mine right now - very stressful business.
also....top floor for gym seems irregular. what will you be able to do up there without noise/damaging floors?
Thanks! Yeah, it was definitely stressful. Chains are a thing here, and we had a last minute addition to the top of the chain where the lady in a divorced couple selling their house, found a house to buy on her own.
It's in north west London, zone 2/3. It's ideal for me because it's a 2 minute walk from a really nice park (for dog walks), and a 4 minute walk to a tube. So I can get to central London (Tottenham Court Road) in 15 minutes door to door. It's also a 5 minute drive from her parents, a 5 minute drive from her brother, a 10 minute cycle to my crossfit gym, and a 10 minute cycle to my work.
I certainly won't be doing any weightlifting in the top floor. But standard powerlifting and rowing/biking should be fine.
5 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 40
3 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 45
1 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 50
5 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 45
3 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 50
1 Power Snatch + 1 Pause Overhead Squat: 55
Split Jerk: 70, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95f, 95
Ride Home: 11.73km, 37:50
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Slightly annoying session. I was a little grumpy after failing a jerk at 95 (clean and jerk PR is 96). But then I realized that the second rep at 95 didn't look too hard and that is only 1kg off my PR. My jerk start position looks off when I take it from the rack. I think my elbows are too high.
Super fun. I knew I was touch and go to finish or not, but ended up just going for it. 10x3 in the first set, singles for chest to bars and mostly singles in the second set. I honestly think pull-up singles are the way to go for large sets. Less taxing on the grip and lungs. I was actually quicker than someone who did 3 sets of 10, because they rested say 15 seconds between sets.
Does anyone take magnesium? 2 people have said they started taking it and their energy levels skyrocketed. I started yesterday.
Snatches were so rushed, I was flustered. I didn't build up to what I wanted and they felt slow and off. But looking at the video, it wasn't too bad. Not great though.
The metcon was BRUTAL. Nowhere to hide. Wall balls were actually pretty good. I think my improved cardio has made them easier. I did 4x10 in the last 1:50 or so. I lost the will to live during the set of 20 BBJO.
To borrow feel's term, it was a heroic effort by me to still do the longish ride home. I was wrecked after the metcon.
That's the heaviest day of my 2nd cycle of 5/3/1 done. I felt a bit nervous going into it because I was feeling a bit run down (planned deload next week!), but squats felt great. 76x5 bench was really, really easy. It's weird because 72x5 last week wasn't so easy. I think the magnesium is really working. I see no other explanation. The magic pill.
I practiced kipping, and I think I made some progress. I need to go in to the bar earlier and more aggressively. Even the run home felt pretty good after all those squatting. Magnesium.
Metcon
For time (12 minute cap)
100-80-60-40-20
Double Unders
30-25-20-15-10
Stick Sit Ups
10:52
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Deload week begins. It's probably more of a lighter week than a proper deload. I'm doing 4 sessions this week, with no extra cardio compared to 5 sessions with lots of extra easy cardio.
This complex was surprisingly hard on the lungs. I was so out of breath for the push jerk. Happy to get in 3 solid complexes at 80. If there was more rest and I wanted to truly max this out, I think 90 would be doable.
This metcon has really cemented my cardio gains. I am thrilled with it. I didn't think I would finish under the time cap, and I don't think I would have 3 months ago. But I finished over a minute under it!! And I've done so much better compared to others in a double under workout versus where I usually would be.
My goal for the Open in 4 months is to qualify for the quarterfinals. I really think I have a shot at it with 4 months of solid training and more cardio gains.
Lighter week continues. I won't lie, I am slightly concerned at how slow that 5th rep at 107.5 was. I've front squatted 105x6 and that wasn't RPE 10, so pretty meh.
The metcon was outstanding though. I am second on the leaderboard at an all cardio workout!!!! I beat people who usually beat me. And I did 30 wall balls unbroken 4 times!
I watched the video now and the last rep isn't actually slow. It felt slow and heavy
doesn't look slow at all. glad you're doing the wall balls unbroken - I reckon of all crossfit movements, they're the one that you can keep going longer than you feel/want to as long as you can shut out the pain
Hang Snatch + Snatch: 45, 45, 45, 47.5, 47.5 (failed one hang snatch in there!!!)
Bench Press: 60x5, 67.5x5, 75, 82.5
Kipping Pull-ups: 7x7 (every 1:45)
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I'm a bit concerned with my RHR. It's higher than it normally is and I am deloading!
Snatches felt slow. Bench press was fine.
Pull-ups are concerning as well. I did 10x5 last week in 10 minutes, and it felt fine. I did 7x7 today in 11 minutes and my forearms were pumped. Technique wise though, it is getting so much better. I'm getting the hang of what I need to do. There was one bad set in there, and maybe 4-5 good ones. You can see how I completely lose rhythm in the bad one.
Quote:
Originally Posted by feel wrath
doesn't look slow at all. glad you're doing the wall balls unbroken - I reckon of all crossfit movements, they're the one that you can keep going longer than you feel/want to as long as you can shut out the pain
Yeah agree. Burpees are another one I think. It's so easy to do terribly slow ones instead of powering through and doing faster ones.
Deload week done. I wanted to plod along today, but sped up a lot at the end. The last 5 minutes were in the 2:13s and my HR really didn't go up too much! So excited for the Open.
I'm moving house next week, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of the grinding.