Row

Total: 10017m, 47:33 (2:22.4, 24spm)

Pace and spm for every 5 minutes:
2:29, 24
2:25, 23
2:23, 23
2:22, 24
2:22, 24
2:21, 24
2:20, 24
2:20, 24
2:16, 26
2:21, 23

My really easy pace for 10k was around 2:29 a year ago and I started out at that. I realized that was way too easy, so I sped it up a bit. I then got a little excited that my easy pace was faster, so I sped it up more. It probably wasn't an easy pace, but a medium pace.

The dog turns 2 today!

531 - C1D1

Squat: 75x5, 87.5x5, 97.5x5
Bench: 62.5x5x7
Weighted Pullups: BWx5, 10x4, 10x3, 5x5, 5x4x2
Dips: 12, 12, 9 (120s rest)
Hollow Rocks: 2x25

New cycle of 531 (1000% awesome). Squats were easy, bench started to get grindy towards the end, I only took 60-70s rest. I usually row 500m to warm up, and I noticed my hand was pretty beaten up. There was a tear and some painful callouses. I got through the pull ups and dips anyway. I was meant to do a rowing interval session, but aborted in the first interval because of my hand. I'll make it up later in the week with a run instead.

531 - C1D2

Deadlift: 90x5, 102.5x5, 115x5

OHP: 45x5x5
Seated Row: 40x15, 45x12x3

Incline DB Bench: 24sx7x4
Face Pulls: 3x10

7 minute abs (done after rowing)

Engine Builder - W2D1

Row
15x40 sec, 20 sec off

2:02.1 average pace, 31 spm
All intervals were pretty consistent (2:02.6 to 2:01.2)

Everything was pretty k. I looked like a bit of a **** because I wore gymnastics grips for everything because my blisters and one rip are pretty painful. My only thought for deadlifts were to get tight and pull, no faffing around. My lockout doesn't look weird like before because I now squeeze my glutes. I probably need more pulling accessories.

Engine Builder - W2D2

Run
2 x 8 min, 4 min off

4:49, 4:49

6.24km total distance

531 - C1D3

Squat: 95x5x5 (2nd set)
Bench Press: 50x5, 60x5, 65x5
Face Pulls: 3x10
Pull ups: 11, 7, 7 (120s)
50 pushups for time: 2:36 (10, 10, 10, 5, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1)
Barbell Lunge: 40x8 per legx3

Pretty good session, just got the work done.

20.4 has been released and it looks fun!


For time:
30 box jumps, 24 in.
15 clean and jerks, 95 lb.
30 box jumps, 24 in.
15 clean and jerks, 135 lb.
30 box jumps, 24 in.
10 clean and jerks, 185 lb.
30 single-leg squats
10 clean and jerks, 225 lb.
30 single-leg squats
5 clean and jerks, 275 lb.
30 single-leg squats
5 clean and jerks, 315 lb.

Time cap: 20 minutes

My best C&J is 85, and 185 lb is 83. That was 18 months ago though, and I'm stronger now. I figure I'll get through the 3rd set of box jumps around 11-12 minutes, then change into my lifters. It will then just be a C&J AMRAP. I did a pistol today in the gym just in case I manage to get to them. I'll be happy with 3 or 4 at 185. I have no clue how heavy they will feel, so I'll evaluate after the first one.

I would definitely do step ups instead of box jumps as they are allowed in the Rx division

Oh definitely.

I warmed up today with them. I did 10 step ups at a comfortable pace and it took 31 seconds. I did 10 box jumps and it took 29 seconds. Box jumps also spiked my heart rate, so its a no brainer. Are you doing the open?

Unforunately I have been injured for much of it so have only done 1 workout

How are you finding Engine Builder? I was considering doing it now that my weightlifting cycle has finished

It works. It's 5 cardio sessions a week on your choice of equipment. Anyone doing that for a year is going to improve their engine. I just like having the structure and not having to think about what my next session is. If you search reddit for engine builder reviews, there are quite a few threads with useful information.

Having said that, the last time I started it, I got injured trying to do too much all at once. So I'm doing 3 of the sessions a week and adjusting it based on how I feel. My priority right now is strength, which is why I don't want to be doing 5 of them a week.

20.4

I posted the workout a few posts above.

30 box jumps - 1:28. Pretty easy. All step ups and step downs
15 C&J, 43kg - 3:20ish, not sure. 15 quick singles, all fine
30 box jumps - 5:08. Heart rate getting higher after the clean and jerks
15 C&J, 61kg - 10:00ish, not sure. 15 singles. I took my time with them, since this workout was all about the next bar for me. They got hard and my heart rate was high after this.
30 box jumps - 11:58. I managed to bring my heart rate down towards the end of this. Slow and controlled again.

83kg bar.

I rested 45 seconds, and did a very fast deadlift and dropped the bar. It felt HEAVY. My plan of getting to the pistols was already gone.

Around 14:00, I tried again. I cleaned it (this entire workout was power cleans), and failed miserably on the jerk. My dip was way too short.

Around 15:30, success! The jerk was a huge press out, but its crossfit and it counts.

Another good rep around 17:00 I think.

Another quick deadlift around 18:30 and a fail.

A good rep at 19:30 and that was that.

So, 123 reps. A pretty miserable performace. The biggest ****up I did was again to agonize about little details (box jump pace, how long the 43kg bar would take, etc) but I completely forgot all my C&J cues and my form was horrible. With the cleans, I did NOT keep the bar close to my body and that's why I failed a few. Even the good ones, the bar came crashing down on me. The cleans were terrible. With the jerks, someone here posted a video a while back about the dip being short and sharp. I had been doing that and they felt good with weights not close to my max. But today, I'm sure it was way too short. I need to dip more and use my legs way more. My jerk technique was awful.

All in all, I should have done better. I've neglected weightlifting and it showed. The 3 jerks at 83 that I made were all massive press outs. The cleans were bad.

This open is going to be the best thing that has happened to me with crossfit. It's the first time I've not gotten better by just showing up and putting in work (somewhat randomly). It's highlighted my weaknesses and has shown me what I need to do pretty clearly.

If I had 20 points to rate myself (basically relative strengths), I would estimate myself as:

Strength: 6
Gymnastics: 7
Weightlifting: 3.5
Cardio: 3.5

I'm going to continue to focus on strength though, because that probably takes the longest time. I'm hoping engine builder gets my cardio up and let's see in 3 months where 1/week of weightlifting takes me. I may need to focus on that for 2-3 months. I might be underrating my weightlifting because I just forgot all my cues today and really should have done better.

To get stronger for CrossFit and I would ignore benching completely and do an extra session of squatting in its place

You're probably right, but my bench press is my weakest lift at the moment, and I don't know enough about programming to know if eliminating that would be bad for me. I assume it helps my OHP, push ups, handstand pushups, and dips, so I will keep doing it. If I take out bench on my own (as opposed to taking it out under the guidance of a coach), I will constantly be wondering if I'm missing out on something. So bench stays... for now.

That is understandable. I never found benching to help much with vertical pressing fwiw

Run

10k run at 5:53 pace

Pretty k. Legs a bit sore from yesterday, but fine.

Finding this hard to believe based on the videos you've posted. More likely you're just mistiming it / not finishing the drive.

You're right. My coach keeps telling me I start dropping under the bar before finishing the drive. I'll take some videos next week at my next weightlifting session. I'm looking forward to the open being done and getting back to proper training.

Not finishing the drive/pull is almost always the issue for newer lifters

531 - C1D4

Squat: 80x5, 92.5x5, 105x5
Bench Press: 65x5x5
Seated Row: 50x10x5 (supersetted with bench)
Dips: 4x8
Hammer Curl: 7sx12x4 (supersetted with dips)
7 minute abs (done after rowing)

Engine Builder - W2D3

Row
6x2 min, 2 min off

Average pace 2:01.0, all intervals pretty consistent

Squats felt easy. It's the easiest 105x5 has ever felt. The 115x7 set from earlier has given me so much confidence. Everything else was k. The row was hard. I wanted to go sub 2 for all intervals, but I adjusted targets during the first interval.

531 - C1D5

Deadlift: 95x5, 110x5, 122.5x5
OHP: 47.5x5x5
Face Pulls: 4x10 (super setted with OHP)
Pull ups: 5x6 (2 chin ups in first set, but too much elbow pain so stopped. 90s rest)
DB Incline Bench: 16sx15x3 (60s rest)
7 minute ab routine (done after rowing)

Engine Builder - W3D1

Row
4 x 1k, 1 min off

1k1 - 2:08.5, 26 spm
1k2 - 2:09.4, 25 spm
1k3 - 2:09.3, 26 spm
1k4 - 2:08.7, 27 spm

All pretty fine. With deadlifts, I'm just bracing, arching my lower back, and pulling. I'm trying not to overthink it. OHP was surprisingly easy. The row was probably slightly too fast. My form was going bad and it was a struggle to hold that pace. 2:11 would have been good for this workout.

20.5

For time, partitioned any way:
40 muscle-ups
80-cal. row
120 wall-ball shots, 20-lb. ball to 10 ft.

Time cap: 20 min.

When this was announced, it was already my favourite workout ever. Choosing your own adventure in crossfit, I'm in! The row and wall balls were always going to be just a hindrance. If I were to just do those 2 as fast as possible, it would probably be around 12 minutes. So I had to come up with a plan to try and maximise my muscle ups, while still getting the other work done.

My plan was:
First 2 minutes - AMRAP muscle ups when fresh

Then 8 rounds, each lasting 2 minutes of:
15 wall balls
10 cal row
0-2 muscle ups depending on how close to failure I am and whether I have time left for a 2 minute round

That would take me to 18 minutes, which would leave me 2 minutes of just muscle ups at the end.

For reference, 206 reps is 50th percentile. I would have been satisfied with anything above 215.

First 2 minutes - I managed 8 singles. They felt solid and I wasn't close to failure

Wall balls - I split them up 8+7 for the first 4 or 5 rounds, then 5+5+5 after that. The break between sets was around 5 seconds.
Rowing - This was just recovery, so that I could get 1 muscle up after. I started out at around 700-750 cal/hour. Round 8 was maybe 500/hour because I wanted to go straight into muscle ups.
Muscle ups - I think I did 4 in total in these 8 rounds (not counting reps after round 8). I think it was something like 1, 1, 0 (15 seconds lost getting my foot out of the rower), 1, 0, 0, 1. In the middle rounds, I was getting tired and just wanted the wall balls and rowing out of the way.

I finished at 18:05, so bang on schedule. I think I got 5 more before the time cap.

217 reps. I'm really pleased with it. I think I came close to maximising my score. I didn't stand around a lot and kept working. The slow pace on the rower was key to that. I didn't fail a muscle up rep.

Bonus video taken by my girlfriend. Given how smooth that muscle up looked, I would guess it was in the first 2 minutes.

531 - C1D6

Squat: 97.5x5x5 (3rd set) (2 min rest, except 3 min before last set since bar speed was slowing down)
Bench Press: 55x5, 62.5x5, 70x5
Seated Row: 45x20,15,15
Barbell Lunge: 42.5x8 per legx3
Push ups: 32 (PR), 16, 12 (2 min rest)

I was meant to do an engine builder row after this, but my bicep tendonitis started flaring up (1.5/10). I thought it would be better to nip it in the bud. I will take tomorrow off, and go for a run on Tuesday, which should be enough recovery for it.

Squats felt strong, form looks really good when the video is taken from far away

Run

10k run at 5:55 pace

531 - C1D7

Squat: 90x5, 97.5x5, 110x5
Bench Press: 62.5x5x5
Face Pulls: 4x10 (super setted with BP)
One Arm DB Row: 22x12, 24x10x3
Dips: 5x8 (100s rest)
Hollow Rocks (50 for time): 2:56 (done after rowing)

Engine Builder - W3D2

3x4 min, 90 sec off
Row

Interval 1 - 2:07.2
Interval 2 - 2:07.2
Interval 3 - 2:07.3

-----------------------------------

Squat depth looks a little cut off when the weight starts getting heavier. It is still below parallel, but I will work on getting lower. The set of 110 didn't feel too hard. I'm pretty sure I could have done 10+ with it. Row was difficult, but could have done a few more intervals at that pace. I'm really liking this version of 531 so far. It prioritized squat and bench, and they feel really good. My bicep pain is gone (2 days rest worked), but there is some lingering lower back soreness (1.5/10).

On Friday, we have the Crossfit Total (Squat + OHP + Deadlift) in our gym! It might be stupid to test my maxes in the middle of a cycle, but I am going to do it. 531 is so much sub maximal reps, that the heavier reps can only be good for me.

Squat - PR is 132.5 from June. I am going to play it safe and try 135 with 3-4 minutes left. Depending on how it moves (if it moves), I may try for a bigger PR

OHP - PR is 67.5 from a month ago. I figure I'll just attempt 68.

Deadlift - PR is 160 from June. I've had loads of lower back problems (gone now), so I am unsure if my deadlift has gone up. I'll do 150 and go from there. I'm not to bothered by a PR here, I just want to live to train another day.

Which 5 3 1 variant are you doing?