10/11/2015

Long, unplugged hike

60 min complete @Ault Park 

10/10/2015

A. Squat clean clusters, 5x1.1 moderate/tough, :10 between singles, 2:30 rest
B. 1&1/4 front squats, 1-1-1-1-1; 2:30 rest
C. Weighted glute-ham raises, 3x4-6, 20x1; :90 rest
+
Not for time:
800m sled drag, moderate

A. 160-170-180-190-200
B. 190-200-210-220-225 (then hit a 235 front squat PR, just for fun)
C. complete w/12#
+
complete w/90# on sled


Another good day of training! 

Squat cleans were SO MUCH BETTER than last Saturday. Last week was definitely a result of bad diet, travel, and lack of sleep. These were much easier today. I worked up to 200 and both reps were pretty easy, here's the video. I can definitely go heavier. 

Front squats felt great today! I worked up to 225 and it's only 5 pounds under my front squat PR so I went for 235 because I knew I could hit a PR. And I did. And it was easy. Here's the video. I went for 245 because 235 was so easy but I failed it. I know I could at least hit 240, I can get it next time. 

Weighted glute-ham raises were fine, these are getting better. Stuck with 12# for all sets.

Sled drag was decent, I just don't care for these very much. Luckily, Heather was a good bro and did the sled drag with me so time went by much faster. 

10/9/2015

AM
4 rounds easy of:
3:00 airdyne
3:00 row
3:00 mobility work of choice, include anything Balza gave you

PM
A. Clean pull, 1-1-1-1 @230; 2:00 rest
B. Snatch-grip deadlift, build to a heavy triple, 31x1
C. Sled drag, 6x30m very heavy grind indoors; :90 rest
+
4 sets:
400m run @same pace as last week
2:00 rest

AM
complete

PM
A. complete
B. 185
C. complete w/220# on sled
+
1:29
1:29
1:30
1:30


Pretty solid day!

Clean pulls were a lot better than two weeks ago, I took more time to build up to working weight and I was able to get the bar a lot higher on the pulls. 

Snatch grip deadlifts were easy, I mostly just called it because my thumbs were on fire. 185 was relatively tough-ish, the tempo got a bit spicy on the third rep. I'm definitely enjoying all the snatch deadlifts/snatch pulls, it's building my confidence for the moment when I can finally pull the bar off the ground and go overhead. 

Sled drag was also better than two weeks ago, not sure why. I was able to move the sled a lot more efficiently today. 

400m repeats were pretty terrible. Dammit. I felt so heavy and my legs felt like they had been dipped in concrete. I was so winded after just the first run. I hate that. I definitely don't feel as lean/light as I did a few weeks ago. I've basically just come to accept the fact that I'm going to be on the heavy side until I can go overhead again and my volume gets back to normal. 

10/7/2015

AM
6-8 sets easy:
:60 row
:60 FLR on ground
:60 airdyne
:30/side plank
2x[:10 double unders + :20 single unders]

PM
A. Snatch pull, 4x1@180; :90 rest
B. Deadlifts, 5x9 tough and go @165, begin a set every :60
C. 1-arm DB row w/straps, 7-10/arm, 21x1; :45 between arms
+
5 sets @high effort:
10 burpees
200m run
30 double unders
+
1500m row cool down

AM
switched this out for the same AM session as yesterday (bike/mobility)

PM
A. complete
B. complete
C. 35-35-35
+
1:52
1:45
1:42
1:48
1:52
+
complete


I did the same AM session as yesterday (bike/mobility) because I really wanted to keep working on the shit Balza gave me (sorry Stevo, hope that's cool) since I had an appointment with him today. 

The snatch pulls are making me very happy. Once I get my shoulder shit together and I can go overhead again, I'll be very excited to get back to snatching. The pulls are feeling really easy, 180 was shockingly high every time. 

Deadlifts were so easy. I used to not really care for deadlifts but I am starting to enjoy them now. I guess that's what happens when you're limited to like four movements, eventually you have to start liking one of them. It's kind of like how the bachelorette works- you put a chick in a room with a couple guys and eventually she's going to start thinking she loves one of them, because he's a little better than all the rest of the guys. That's how deadlifts are to me right now. 

I enjoyed the 1-arm DB rows with straps (thanks Heather for showing me how to use these). I stuck with 35 for each set even though I got 10 reps every time, I really wanted to make sure I was engaging my lats and not shrugging with my traps. 

Burpee/run piece was okay, although I feel like my aerobic capacity has gone to shit as of late. I was extremely winded by the second set. Burpees were fast but I felt very heavy on the runs. Tripped up on double unders on the first and fifth set but sets 2-4 were unbroken. I feel out of shape. 

I saw Balza today, he said he can tell I'm definitely making progress but I still need to learn how to control everything instead of letting my traps do all the work. I need to work on pushing my shoulder blades back and down and engaging my lats instead of letting my traps shrug up. He said he could tell I've been doing all his exercises every day and that there's definitely a lot of progress being made, so that's good. I'm getting very antsy to get back to doing things overhead but I also don't want to revert back to my bad habits. I just have to stay the course. Even though I feel like a weak, soft, chubby slob right now, I know things will be better in a few weeks. I just keep telling myself how much easier muscle ups and snatches will feel. 

10/6/2015

AM
4 sets of:
6:00 bike easy
3:00 Balza rehab of choice

PM
A. Power clean, build to a touch and go 2RM
+
For 18:00
1st: 8 alternating pistols
2nd: 12 fast push ups
3rd: 1 double overhand axle deadlift + :10 static hold @top, heavy
+
800m walk cool down

AM
complete

PM
A. 190 (cleaned 200 for one but failed the second rep)
+
complete
scap push ups instead of regular push ups
170# for axle DL
+
complete


Merrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I am no longer good at power cleans. These were all terrible. For some reason I'm second guessing my set up and overthinking it way too much. I'm trying to engage all the correct muscles when I set up and I think it's throwing me off. I know I'm going to have to retrain basically every set up for every lift. Everything was really easy up to 185, then things started going downhill. I cleaned 185 once and it was really heavy so I went for it again and I caught it super wide. Usually 185 is no problem for me at all. I went to 190 and did that for a double, I caught the second rep REALLYYYYY wide, it was so ugly. I almost called it there, but I decided to just go for 200 because I wanted to prove to myself I could do it. I caught the first rep pretty easily but the second rep was basically just a pull, it wasn't high at all. If I'm being honest, I almost had a meltdown after this. I feel like I'm becoming worse at the things I'm supposed to be good at, my squats cleans were terrible on Saturday and my power cleans were awful today. It's not that I can't move the weight, but for some reason I'm not confident in my set up or confident walking up to the bar anymore. Usually I can look at a bar with 190 and know I'm going to lift it with no problem, but today I was like "ehhh 190, I hope I can hit this." It was very frustrating. I think my overall confidence has gone down a lot over the past few weeks from not being able to do anything overhead. I'm not really doing things I'm good at anymore and it's making me sad. Rant over. 

The EMOM was okay, pistols weren't as solid as last week. Deadlifts were also a bit harder than last week, my grip was slipping a lot sooner. I did scap push ups instead of regular push ups just to keep drilling the shit Balza wants me to be doing. 

10/5/2015

AM
30:00 airdyne @Z1

PM
5:00-8:00 standing broad jump practice
+
A. Clean pulls, 6x1 @105% of 1RM, :90 rest
B. Back squat, 3-3-2-2, 20x1; 3:00 rest
+
10:00 to establish best 3 attempts @max unbroken double unders
+
3 rounds not for time:
20 band pull aparts, same band as last week
12 moderate reverse hypers

AM
complete

PM
complete
+
A. complete @235
B. 225-235-245-250
+
164(PR+44)
59 (tripped)
90
+
complete w/red band
45#/side for RH


Pretty solid day.

Broad jump practice was okay, basically how I expected. I'm not built for jumping. 

Clean pulls were REALLY fucking heavy. I was trying to drive my legs into the ground as much as I could so this wasn't just a deadlift, I could definitely feel the "pull" motion but it wasn't getting very high. 

Back squats are definitely improving, I think 250 is the most I've done for a double and it's 30 pounds under my PR. I'm become more confident with these. Everything felt really good through 245. Then there was the "incident." After watching Austin get hurt while back squatting I almost didn't even attempt my last set. I wanted to stop, it was hard watching him in pain and it definitely got in my head a little bit. I decided to just finish it out and I'm glad I did, 250 was pretty decent. The first rep was easy, the second rep was definitely a lot slower on the way up but I'm still happy to hit that number for a double. 

I was happy with the double under PR, although the second and third attempts didn't go very well. I was pretty fatigued after the first set so I rested a few minutes. I started my second set but tripped up at 59. I rested a few more minutes and started my third attempt and I was feeling really good but I completely lost momentum at 90. I got lazy with my wrists and the rope basically just stopped moving. I was frustrated with this because I was feeling good on this attempt and thought I was definitely going to make it past 100. Meh. I'll take the PR I guess.

I'm getting very antsy to start doing things overhead again. I have a sinking feeling Balza is going to tell me no at my appointment tomorrow. I don't even care if it's with an empty barbell, I just want to snatch again! I feel like I'm never going to do anything overhead again and I'm going to lose all my progress and become weak and I'll be excommunicated from the gym so it was nice knowing everyone and I'll miss you guys, think of me whenever you see a Red Robin commercial. 

10/4/2015

Long, unplugged hike

60 min complete @Ault Park 


Definitely feeling better today after getting some sleep. Ready to get back to a normal schedule and a clean diet.