3/2/2015 (15.1- Second attempt)

AM
30:00 airdyne
+
15:00 mobility 

PM
15.1/15.1A
+
10:00 airdyne @Z1 

AM
complete

PM
15.1- 175 (+20 reps from Friday)
15.1A- 191
+
complete


WOW. Today was awesome. I knew I was going to improve on 15.1 but I didn't think I would be able to get 20 more reps than I did on Friday. My original goal was to just finish the toes to bar. There were a few differences today that really helped my performance. First of all, I made sure to tape my hand moderately instead of wrapping it tightly in tape three times like I did on Friday. That definitely helped my grip, I wasn't even really concerned about grip this time. Also, I broke up the toes to bar a lot less and also rested less between sets. I did sets of 5 for the first set, 4/4/4/3 on the second set, then 3s and 2s the rest of the time. I only went to singles the last 4 reps of the last round. On friday, I was doing singles by the 4th round. I also didn't use the gymnastics mat this time and that made a huge difference. I was just jumping to the bar like normal and I didn't have to worry about where the mat was. I broke up the snatches less this time and also didn't break up the deadlifts at all. Stephen being my judge also made a huge difference. I basically just shut off my brain and did exactly what he said. He told me when to jump to the bar, when to go down to doubles, how fast to transition, etc. He definitely pushed me to go a lot faster. I ended up getting 20 more reps than when I did this the first time. It was awesome. Thanks Stevo! I call dibs on you being my judge for the next four weeks. 

By the time I got to the clean and jerk, I was definitely breathing a lot harder than I was on Friday. I decided to start heavier this time, my first lift was 155. I took about two minutes before I went for it, I wanted to make sure my breathing was under control a bit. The clean was easy but the jerk was a little surprising, I think because I was pretty tired. I put 175 on the bar (or so I thought) and pulled it, but it turns out I loaded it unevenly. I forgot to put 10 pounds on the left side. Idiot. I loaded it correctly and hit 175 very easily. Stephen told me to go for 191 so I did and hit that easily as well. I had about :40 so I put 195 on the bar and tried pulling it with about :07 left but I didn't have the energy, it was basically just a deadlift. Oh well. I'm very happy that I was able to hit 191 again! And it felt great! 

This was a great first week of the Open. I'm looking forward to finding out what the second workout is. Fingers crossed for some muscle ups or chest to bars. 

Between the two of us we clean and jerked 392 pounds

2/28/2015

For 10:00
Evens: 3-5 moderate axle pendlay rows
Odds: 6 alternating pistols 
+
For 10:00
Evens: 15 unbroken wall balls
Odds: 30-40 double unders
+
For 10:00
Evens: 10 row calories tough
Odds: 10 airdyne calories tough

complete w/100# on axle 
+
complete
+
complete


Solid day. Pistols were slow only on the first set, other than that they were pretty quick for sets 2-5.  

40 double unders on sets 1-4 for the second EMOM, I tripped up on 30 on the last set. Also, the new wall ball targets are really nice. Two thumbs up. 

When I saw I had to do the row cal/airdyne cal EMOM again this week I died a little inside. It hurt pretty bad last Sunday. It was slightly better this time, it didn't start really hurting until the fourth set. Still not fun though. 

2/27/2015 (15.1- First attempt)

AM:
24 sets:
:30 airdyne easy
:30 airdyne even easier
+
15.1 movement prep

PM
15.1
AMRAP in 9:00
15 toes to bar
10 deadlifts, 75
5 snatches, 75
+
15.1 A
6:00 time cap
1RM clean and jerk
+
10:00 airdyne @Z1
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

AM
complete

PM
15.1- 155 (5 rounds + 5 TTB)
15.1A- 191
+
complete


The Open has officially started! 

I was a bit disappointed with my score on the 9:00 AMRAP. Grip was definitely the limiting factor, and my grip was shot by the second round. I think I had my hand wrapped too tight, I wanted to make sure that I felt nothing on the clean and jerk so I taped it up like three times. I also had my wrist wrap on over the tape, and I think both of those factors contributed to my grip going so quickly. I always have grip issues when I do toes to bar, but never that fast. Heather said she could tell after the first round that I was having trouble holding on to the bar. I did sets of 5 TTB for the first round, then 3s, then it was 3s or singles for the rest of the rounds. I did the snatches unbroken for the first 3 rounds then broke them up 3/2 on the last two. Same with the deadlifts, unbroken on rounds 1-3 then 5/5 on the last two sets. I was trying to save my grip a little bit. I was also using the gymnastics mat for the TTB so I didn't have to jump to the bar, but if I do it a second time I won't use it. It didn't help THAT much and I was still at an awkward height. Also, after the TTB on the third round I came off the bar and landed on the edge of the mat and took a spill. For a split second I thought I had rolled my ankle, but the pain went away immediately. False alarm. But still, I think the mat just caused more problems than anything else. If Stephen lets me do this again, I won't use the mat, I would break up the TTB sooner, and I would definitely rest less between TTB. Also, I will make sure my forearms are extremely warm. I think while I was warming up for this I was more concerned with how my hand was going to feel on the clean and jerks so I didn't warm up my forearms that much. On the plus side, breathing was never an issue. I was never once concerned about my breathing, so that's a good sign. If I get to do this again, I absolutely know I can get more reps. That's why we do it twice, to work out all the kinks and get a better strategy for Monday. 

I was REALLY happy with the clean and jerk. I was a little concerned on how this would go since my grip was shot by this point. I was breathing hard but it was manageable. My game plan was 125-155-175. I hit those three easily. I went for 186 and that was also very easy. I went for 191 with about :30 left and got it. It felt great! 191 felt the same as 155. I power cleaned everything because I knew it would be faster and it would save my legs from fatigue. My hand felt completely fine on the jerks! It was a little sore afterwards, but during the actual clean and jerks I felt nothing, so that's great! Taping it definitely helped (I just won't tape it as tight next time....). I felt like I had more in the tank for this part as well, I think I could have hit 195 if I started heavier. I wasn't anticipating to get anything over 175. I know part of the reason is because I only got 5 rounds on the first part so I wasn't extremely tired for the second part, but I'm really happy with this, especially because I was worried about grip issues and my hand problem. If I redo this, I would definitely start heavier and try to get up to 195. 

It was a great day in the gym, I love the energy during the Open. It's always fun to watch people do the workouts. I hope the rest of the workouts are like this one. 

Just hanging out after 15.1

2/26/2015

30:00-60:00 swim or around-the-world of choice, pick 4-6 easy pieces to cycle through every :60

around-the-world complete

2/25/2015

AM
3 sets @ easy pace:
2:00 ski erg
2:00 airdyne
2:00 row
2:00 airdyne

PM
A. Shoulder to overhead, 4-3-2-4 moderate/tough working of efficiency w/different methods (PP, PS, Split); 2:00 rest
+
For time @95%
15 burpee box jump overs, 20
3 rope climbs or muscle ups
12 burpee box jump overs, 20
2 rope climbs or muscle ups
9 burpee box jump overs
1 rope climb or muscle up
+
10:00 rest
+
1 set for calories:
:60 airdyne @97% 

AM
complete

PM
A. Cut out because of hand
+
6:02 w/rope climbs
+
34 calories


Today actually went a lot better than I thought it would. Let me just start by saying I came in to the gym in a pretty bad mood. I had a stressful morning and I was also pretty disappointed about not getting an invite to the combine. It was one of those rare days where I came in and just wanted to get the work done so I could leave. I was feeling frustrated because I had to completely cut out the first portion of my workout and I was bummed out I couldn't do muscle ups. I fully understand why I can't do shoulder to overhead or muscle ups right now, it would be the dumbest thing ever to fuck up my hand on the eve of the Open and I definitely don't want to mess with it. I was just feeling sorry for myself and wallowing in everything that was going wrong at the moment. In other words, I was being a Lil B. 

 As I was warming up for the rope climb workout, I tried to change my attitude. Instead of being pissed about not being able to do muscle ups, I decided to look at it as an opportunity to work on my rope climbs. I decided to use all my frustration and go HAM on my workout. I definitely went as hard as I could. The burpee box jump overs were pretty quick, I slowed down a little bit on the set of 9 but I thought the set of 15 and 12 were relatively fast. My transition from rope to box was very quick, I walked right from the rope to the box and immediately went into a burpee. I tried to cut down the rest between rope climbs, I think the only time I was resting too much was on the set of 2 because I was breathing pretty hard by this point. All the climbs felt really good, Heather said they looked fast so that's a good sign! I felt really good after this was over. 

I was pretty pleased with the :60 airdyne calories. I think I could have gone out a bit harder in the beginning, I think I was a little slow the first :15 because I wasn't fully recovered from the first workout. I was hurting pretty bad afterwards, legs were blown up. 

I was definitely in a better mood after I trained. I need to remember to use situations like the combine as a motivator to keep training hard so I can reach my goals. 

2/24/2015

A. Back squat, 2-2-2-2-2 @65% 1RM, 10x1, begin a set every :60
+
6-8 sets:
500m row @85%- goal is tough but sustainable pace across all sets
:90 walk rest (5:00 after middle set)
+
10:00 mobility work of choice

A. complete @175
+
2:02.3
2:02.2
2:02.2
2:02.1
2:02.2
2:02.3
2:01.9
2:02.3
+
complete


Back squats were very easy. I was a little bummed I wasn't able to do front squats, I haven't done them in a long time and I was pretty excited to see them in my programming but it's not worth fucking up my hand. Front squats, we will meet another day.

The rows felt great. I was shocked at how good my breathing was on this. Before I started, I decided I would try to hold between a 2:03-2:05 pace since I had :30 less rest than last week. After the first set, my pace was a 2:02 so I was like okay well let's just do this and see how it goes. I made my new goal to hold a 2:02 for each row and I was able to do it. My breathing was excellent, the only sets that got tough were the 4th and 8th. I was pretty surprised I was able to bring the pace down this week, especially since I had less rest. I think a lot of it was mental, I knew I only had to do 8 sets and I would get to rest after 4 instead of 5. Either way, I am really happy about my numbers on this. I can tell my breathing has improved a lot and I'm just much better mentally as well. 

2/23/2015

AM
30:00 airdyne @Z1
+
15:00 mobility work of choice

PM
A. 1 clean-grip deadlift + 1 clean pull + 1 power clean, cut the PC if needed, 5x1 building, :05 between movements; 2:00 rest
+
3 sets for even times:
50 double unders
10 alternating pistols
10 ring dips-cut if needed
10 KB swings, 53
10 CTB pull ups
3:00 walk rest
+
3 sets:
:30 airdyne @97%
4:30 rest

AM
complete

PM
A. (cut out the PC) 135-155-175-185-155
+
1:47
1:42
1:43
(cut out the dips)
+
complete


I saw Pete this morning, he said I irritated a ligament in my hand when I was doing thrusters last Wednesday. He worked on it a bit and it definitely feels better but he said it will probably take a few weeks for it to feel completely normal. He said to be very careful on power cleans, front squats, and HSPU especially. It feels a lot better but I will still continue to be very cautious through the open. 

Today was a pretty solid day of training. Stephen told me to cut the PC from the complex so I only did the deadlift and pull. Everything was feeling very light today. My hand felt totally fine up through 175, when I went to do the pull at 185 I felt a very slight tug in my hand so I dropped back down to 155 and that was completely fine. 

I really enjoyed the three sets for even times. Stephen had me cut out the dips due to my hand situation. I was a little nervous to try KB swings but I felt nothing in my hand so that's good! All double unders were unbroken and very fast. Pistols were slow as per usual, I'm really starting to dislike those. When I was warming up I tried doing a few without my knee sleeves but I just can't. It's just annoying because I waste so much time pulling them up after the double unders. Also, I really need to work on not going up on my toes during my pistols, it slows them down so much. I want to be able to do them completely flat. These are still a huge work in progress. CTB pull ups felt great today and they were all unbroken. I would really like to see some of these in the open. 

Airdyne sprints hurt as per usual.