8/4/2015

AM
16 sets:
:30 airdyne @weird speedometer pace
:30 airdyne @50%
+
3 rounds not for time:
5 strict pull ups right into :15-:20 active hang from bar
3 strict handstand push ups right into :15-:20 active handstand hold against wall
+
16 sets:
:30 airdyne @weird speedometer pace
:30 airdyne @50%

PM
A. Hang power clean & split jerk, build to a heavy single
B. Behind the neck shoulder press, 4x2-3, 21x1; 2:00 rest
+
3 rounds for even times:
5 wall walks
10 deadlifts, 175
15 burpees
3:00 walk rest
+
800m walk cool down

AM
First set of airdyne complete, then something came up so I wasn't able to finish the rest of the session, will make up Thursday

PM
A. 200 (Hang clean PR + 10)(205 Hang clean, PR + 15, failed the jerk)
B. 75-85-90-95(2)
+
2:24
2:30
2:34
+
complete


I am totally failing with Z1 this week, sorry Stevo. Had to deal with something this morning so I only got the first part of the airdyne finished. I will try to make this up on Thursday.

I was really pleased with the hang power clean PR, 205 is a 15 pound PR. I made 200 for the full lift and it was really easy. I easily made the clean at 205 but failed the jerk, it was out in front. Im confident I can hit 195-200 at the competition this weekend. 

Behind the neck press was meh.

Rounds for even times were alright, wall walks slowed down in the second and third set. I broke up the deadlifts 5/5 each set, normally I wouldn't break up 10 reps at 175 but it was painful on my hands. I tried to stay steady on the burpees. Wall walks were the limiting factor. 

800m walk cool down was enjoyable today. 

8/3/2015

AM
5000m row @Z1, off every 1000m for 5 thrusters @65 + 5 pull ups

PM
A. Squat snatch cluster, 3x1.1.1 heavy- goal is 145, :20 between singles; 2:30 rest
B. Back squat barefoot, 3x5-6, 31x1; 2:30 rest
+
For 15:00
1st: 50 double unders
2nd: 5 L leg pistols w/pause @bottom, assist @bottom & return to standing if needed
3rd: 5 R leg pistols w/pause @bottom, assist @bottom & return to standing if needed
+
3 rounds not for time:
8 light trap 3, 40x0, scaps back and down, initiate the movement w/the low traps as opposed to the shoulders
10 moderate/heavy reverse hypers

AM
complete, off every 1000 for mobility- still sore from comp and hands are torn up

PM
A. 135-145-150 (made the first two, failed the third rep)
B. 125-135-145
+
complete
+
complete
8# for trap 3
55#/side for RH


Still extremely sore today, especially in the lower back and quads. I subbed in mobility instead of the thrusters/pull ups this morning. My lower back was pretty blown up and my hands were torn up so I figured pull ups wouldn't be smart, especially since I have to do Fran this weekend. 

I wasn't sure how snatching was going to feel today considering how sore I was. I tried to do a lot of mobility during the day but my back was still sore when I was warming up for my snatches. I honestly didn't think I would even get up to 145 today but snatches were feeling surprisingly good. It took me a bit longer than usual to work up to 145 so I started my first cluster at 135. I went to 145 and hit all three reps, no misses. It was a world of difference from last week. I went up to 150 and made the first two reps, then failed the last rep twice. I called it there, I could tell my back was starting to get tired because my pull was terrible. I was really happy with this today, I didn't have any misses until the third rep at 150. 

Back squat was probably the worst thing of the day, quads were very sore during this. I kept it a little lighter than usual. 

I thought the EMOM went really well, had to take out the muscle ups because of my hands but my pistols felt great today! I'm officially able to do pistols in nanos without knee sleeves. This is such a great feeling, now I don't have to worry about pulling up my knee sleeves during a workout. I was still going on my toes slightly but it wasn't very difficult to pause in the bottom. Sometimes I caught myself bouncing out of the bottom, I know I'm not supposed to do that when there's a pause. Overall these are getting so much better. 

Kept the reverse hypers on the moderate side because my back was pretty sore by this point in the day. 

8/2/2015

long, unplugged hike

Errrrrrrrr

I didn't do this today. Sorry Stevo. 

I was way more drained from the competition than I thought and I was really sore. I slept until 9:30 (that's late for me), ate breakfast, and met up with some of my friends from BG. We went to the Reds game, it was really fun. The Reds played the Pirates and I saw a legit fight break out between the teams during the middle of the game! It went on for about five minutes straight. Just both teams beating the shit out of each other. I felt like I was at a hockey game. 

It was a really fun day with my BG friends. All of us live in Cincinnati but hardly ever see each other. I'm hoping we can get together more often. 

8/1/2015- Gemini Games

Brandie and I competed in the Gemini Games today, and we killed it. It was awesome. 

We were confident going in that we were going to do well, and our goal was to make the podium. GOAL ACHIEVED. But first, a quick recap of the events. 

Event 1- Back squat ladder
6:00 Time cap
Women start at 95#. Each partner performs three back squats and then adds 20#. Keep adding until time runs out/you fail a rep.

Placement overall- 10th

I was excited for this event, I love a good ladder. Brandie and I had to do a bit of math before the workout started, I thought we were just going to be stacking tens (classic) but they had two pairs of tens, a pair of fives, 2.5s, a couple pairs of 45s and a pair of 25s. Before the event we made sure to run through the order of adding/subtracting the weight so we knew exactly what was going on when it was go time. I went first, then Brandie did her reps and added/took off weight (I would have helped, but one partner had to always be at the start line, sorry buddy!). We both hit 215 for three reps! It was easy and fun.

Event 2- Max pull ups
Partners have 3:00 to do one max set of pull ups each. Once you drop off the bar, you're done. 

Placement overall- 2nd

We had one minute between the back squat ladder and the pull ups. I went first and really screwed the pooch on this one. The judge asked me if I had my pull up bar picked out and I told her which one I was using, my mistake was not asking the other teams around me which bars THEY were using. It was just sort of every man for himself. I jumped up on my bar but at the same time a girl from another team jumped up to the bar perpendicular to mine. We started our butterfly pull ups at the same time and were basically kicking each other every rep, it was extremely distracting and I felt like I wasn't able to kip as much as I normally do. After 10 reps I stopped and shuffled down a bit but at that point I had been hanging for too long and my grip was getting tired. I managed to get 12 more reps before I had to drop off the bar with a measly 22 pull ups. LAME. Brandie went next and crushed it with 41 pull ups. She carried us on this one. 

Event 3- Climbing Chief
AMRAP in 15:00
3 power cleans (85-95-105-110-115-125-135)
6 hand release push ups
9 air squats
Weight increases every 5 rounds
Partners alternate rounds

Placement overall- 3rd

I was actually looking forward to this workout the most. During the briefing they told us partners don't have to alternate every round but Brandie and I decided that would be the most efficient plan, and it definitely was. We had an excellent transition system. After the first partner did the cleans, the other partner would roll the bar back and stand directly in front of it. As soon as partner 1 was done with the air squats, she would tag partner 2 while walking to the right of the bar as partner 1 stepped over the bar to begin the power cleans. One person was always working. When it was time to change weights, partner 1 would take the clips off and as soon as partner 2 was done with air squats she would grab the weights and we would both put them on. EFFICIENCY. Our goal was to get to 135 and we did. We moved extremely well during this event. The only confusing part was keeping track of when the weight was supposed to go up, the rounds were flying by so quickly it was hard to remember what round we were on. I kept asking Brandie during her push ups if we would be adding weight the next round. Overall we kept moving and had great transitions. 

Event 4- 6-5-4-3-2-1 AMRAPS
On a running clock:
6:00 AMRAP of 1 stone over shoulder (75#) & 1 wall climb
5:00 AMRAP of row cals
4:00 AMRAP of hang power snatches (65#)
3:00 AMRAP of burpee box jump overs
2:00 AMRAP of overhead squats (65#)
1:00 AMRAP of shuttle run (10m down/back)
one person working at a time

Placement overall- 2nd

Brandie and I definitely did not go into this workout in the best of moods. After the climbing chief event the heats were switched around so the top 5 teams went last, which meant we had to wait for almost four hours before we did the descending AMRAP event. By the time it was our turn to compete it was 4:00 PM, we were tired from being in the sun all day and sort of just wanted the day to be over. We were in fourth place sitting a few points out of third. We wanted to get on the podium so we knew we had to just stay moving the entire time, someone always had to be working. The stone over shoulder/wall climb event was actually pretty enjoyable, hopping over the wall was fun. Since the clock never stopped running between AMRAPS, one partner always had to be ready at the next station. I started the row and we rotated between 15 cals each. As soon as the 5:00 was over, I started on the hang snatches. Apparently our cycle speed was much faster than the other teams, that's what Heather and Pat told me. My hands tore pretty badly during the hang snatches, we had a really rusty bar and every time I turned the bar over it would rip my hands more and more. The burpee box jump overs were definitely the worst part. We broke these up in sets of 2 each. The gravel was really hot and it was pretty painful to stick my freshly torn hands on the searing hot gravel. Yeeeesh. I was moving pretty slowly at this point, but we always stayed moving. Brandie started on the overhead squats and KILLED IT, she knocked out a set of 20 in a row, I did 13, she did about 13-15 and I did 10 before time ran out. Pat said our cycle time on the OHS were much faster than the other teams. By the time we got to the shuttle run, I wanted to throw up. The run was more of a wobbly jog, our legs were smoked and we were drained from being in the sun. When this event was over we both collapsed in the grass. 

I thought we did a great job on this event. Our transitions were quick and one person was always accumulating reps at all times. Apparently our cycle speed was pretty awesome too. The last two events of this competition were all about putting your head down and just grinding through the work. Usually I'm not very good at that, but I can tell I'm getting better. When I started to breathe hard I would tell myself not to panic and to keep moving. Brandie and I always had great communication and never left the other one hanging. 

When it was all said and done, we ended up on the podium in third place! We were both very surprised, it was impossible to tell how many reps the other teams were accumulating during the last event so we had no idea if we had scored enough points to bump us up to third. A second place finish in the last event was enough, and we clinched third place. 

I am so proud of our performance during this competition. We had a plan for every event and stuck to it. We never stopped moving, we were there for each other, and we just did the work. We also got to watch Duprie compete, I met Brandie's friends from OTR, and our CSC buds came to cheer us on.  It was a great day. Now it's time to get ready for the Tri-State Throwdown this weekend with Alex, Brandie, and Conner. Onward!

7/31/2015

AM
30:00 airdyne @Z1, off every 5 for 5 box jumps w/step down

PM
A. Power snatch, build to a single @85% of 1RM
B. DB bench press, 3x3-4, 20x1; 2:00 rest
+
10:00-20:00 very easy movement prep for tomorrow
+
8 sets:
:30 airdyne @very high aerobic effort
:30 airdyne @50%

AM
complete

PM
A. complete @130
B. 45-50-55(2)
+
complete
+
complete


Enjoyed the box jumps during the AM session. 

Power snatch was super easy, it took about four minutes to build up to 130. I went 105-125-130. These are getting really crisp.

DB bench press was alright. It's always the first rep that's really difficult, then the other three aren't as bad. I was only able to get two reps at 55. 

Comp prep with Brandie was cool, we worked on transitions with the bar, pull ups, and figured out a plan for breaking up the reps between the two of us. 

7/29/2015

AM:
7-8 sets easy:
:60 row
:60 FLR 
:60 airdyne
:30/side plank
:60 single unders

PM:
A. Overhead squat, 2-2-1-1, 20x1; 2:00 rest
B. 1-arm DB row, 3x3-4/side, 20x1; :60 between sides
C1. Barbell farmers walk (both arms) 2x20-25m; :60 rest
C2. Bear crawl, 2x15' forward + 15' reverse; :60 rest
+
3 sets:
:35 prowler sprint w/straight arms, outside loaded for very fast foot turnover
5:25
+
3 rounds not for time:
4-8 weighted glute-ham raises, 20x1
5 freestanding handstand push ups
10-12 unbroken toes to bar

AM
7 sets complete

PM
A. 155-155(switched to nanos)-160-170
B. 60-65-70(3)
C1. 65#/side both sets
C2. complete
+
complete with 40# on prowler
+
complete-ish
12# for GHR
TTB were between 4-7, could not get it together after prowler sprints


AM session started off slow and stiff but warmed up and felt better after a few sets.

PM session was the worst. It was so hot. This was how I felt during my entire PM session:

HUMIDITY IS THE LITERAL WORST

I'm gonna be honest, I was in a terrible mood today because of the heat and humidity. Everything felt 100 times more difficult. I know there's nothing I can do about it and I was being a huge baby but that's just how it went today. 

I started my overhead squats in lifting shoes with no knee sleeves. I didn't even bother putting on my knee sleeves because it was so humid and I figured I wouldn't be able to even pull them up. I did my first set at 155 and realized I did in fact need knee sleeves. I went to the back room and untied my lifting shoes, and somehow the laces on one of them ended up in a huge knot. I was too annoyed to try and untie it so I just switched to my nanos for the last three sets. It actually wasn't bad at all, I don't think I've ever done heavy overhead squats in nanos but I didn't mind it.

DB row was fine. 

The first set of the double barbell carry went really well, I wasn't sure how heavy to go so I just put 30# on each bar to test it out. I ended up just doing that weight for my first set and I was able to do it easily without the bars tipping or becoming unbalanced. I added 10# on each side for the second set and all of it went to hell. I attempted to pick up the bars four times and couldn't do it, it seemed like no matter where I put my hands it was still unbalanced. After the fourth attempt I was like 

I dropped back down to 55# per side and was able to carry it easily. Merrrrr.

Prowler sprints were pretty terrible, :35 is a very long time. As soon as I took all the equipment outside, it started pouring rain. I actually didn't mind at first, it felt really nice and it definitely cooled things off outside. However, by the second set it was raining pretty hard so I left the prowler outside and rested inside. By the third set the rain had stopped but I was pushing the prowler through huge puddles which made it a little more difficult, but it didn't really matter because it would have been difficult regardless. These were pretty tough. 

The not for time stuff.....ehhhhh. Here's what happened. I felt nauseous after the prowler sprints and it never went away. The freestanding HSPU were really difficult after the prowler sprints, and I wasn't able to get more than 7 toes to bar. I had to drop off the bar because I had no energy and felt nauseous. This was just a bad showing all around, I felt terrible after the prowler sprints and felt drained from the heat. Heather even told me I looked terrible. Today was not the best. 

7/28/2015

AM
15 sets:
:30 airdyne @weird speedometer pace
:30 aidyne @50%
+
5 rounds:
:15-:20 hang alternating between passive and active every few seconds
20m double overhead KB carry, moderate
+
15 sets:
:30 airdyne @weird speedometer
:30 airdyne @50%

PM
A. Power clean and split jerk, build to a 2RM- must be completed within :20 window
B. Behind the neck shoulder press, 3x3-4, 21x1; 2:00 rest
+
45 row cals @80:
3:00 rest
For time @80%:
20 deadlifts, 125
10 wall walks
15 power cleans, 125
30 ring push ups
20 deadlifts, 125
3:00 rest
45 row cals @80%
+
800m walk cool down

AM
complete
35# KB/side

PM
A. 185
B. 80-85-90
+
3:18
+
8:53
+
3:13
+
complete


Was the hang from the bar during my AM session supposed to be with two hands? I only did it with one arm like all the previous weeks, then looked at my notebook again and realized it didn't say 1-arm hang from bar. Oops. Either way, I was hanging from the bar. Passively and actively. 

2RM clean and jerk felt great today, this was needed after my snatching shitshow yesterday. I wore my nanos for this and I think I'm going to start lifting in those more often, I really liked it. Cleans were really easy today and so were the jerks, I stopped at 185 because I had a slight press out on the second jerk and I barely made it in the time cap. I didn't think I had enough left in the tank to attempt 190 twice in that short amount of time. 

Behind the neck press was fine, I'm becoming indifferent about these. 

The 80% piece felt much harder than it was supposed to....I was moving at an 80% pace but I was breathing really hard. I think it was the humidity. The only movement that felt smooth was the row. Deadlifts were broken into 10/10 both times. Wall walks were fast for the first 5 then slowed way down after that, my forearms were blowing up. Power cleans were too slow, they were all singles and I was resting too much between reps. I just couldn't catch my breath. Ring push ups weren't terrible, broken into sets of 10/5/5/5/5. Overall this was harder than it should have been. 

The first 400m of my cool down walk were pretty uncomfortable, it was really hot outside. Once I turned around to come back the sun had sort of gone behind the clouds so it was a bit better. I'm ready for this humidity to end.