I Love the Rack

WOD 4/28: thrusters

• 135lbs x 5 reps
• 145 x 3
• 155 x 3
• 160 x 3
• 165 x 2
• 170 x 1 - PR!!!
  

WOD 4/29: front squats

• 135lbs x 8
• 155 x 5
• 170 x 4
• 185 x 4
• 205 x 3
  
• 225 x 3 - PR!!!
  

i ...finallly... figured out the rack position! i ended up placing my hands a bit wider than i would normally grip, and things sort of snapped in place. that and my shoulder flexibility must have increased. i have a couple small bruises from laying the bar on my upper chest/shoulders, but hey, a small price to pay.

i love front squats now, and i never thought i'd say that, because i could never do them. now that i have the rack position figured out, i can see how beneficial front squats can be! the balance, coordination, agility and athleticism required to correctly perform them is awesome. thank ya!

Spin, Spin, Spin the t-bird away...

4/25: rest day - meant to go but fell asleep after work and gym closes at 9p on fridays

WOD 4/26: spin class w/liz :)

once again we spent a lot of time in the 8-10 resistance zone, but this time for longer duration periods. next time i need to bring the seat up 1 more notch. my knee did not fully extend so it put undue stress on my quads...but oh well. lesson learned. felt pretty good afterwards. thanks liz for making this session more anaerobic. ;)

time: 1 hr

4/27: rest day - planned on going yet again but didn't happen

Flowers are blooming...

4/23: went hiking for 1hr 15m on m&m trail in holyoke - started at rt.141 entrance and headed south for a couple miles. they relocated a big section of the trail so liz and i spent a while trying to find exactly where the relocated section started. we eventually gave up because the sun was going down and the bugs were relentless!!!

4/24: did a quick hike (~40m) on the blue/red trail off rt.47 (past skinner state park). took the blue trail to the red trail and hiked to where it intersected the paved road in skinner state park. then ran back down the mountain and ended up rolling my ankle. whoo. not too bad tho. it happened when i got distracted. otherwise def got a workout - legs feel worked in a different way...different but good (except for my ankle!)

A+ comin up....

4/18: rest day - had to help move furniture for lil sis

WOD 4/19: 2-a-day:

shoulder press:

• 135lbs x 3 reps
• 145 x 3
• 150 x 3
• 155 x 1;135 x 2
• 135 x 3

ehhhh, ok performance. i ended up knotting a muscle up in my right trap/rhomboid. i wasn't warmed up enough. i wanted to get outside!

hiked for 1 hour and 30m on m&m trail in north leverett. started down the street from the n.leverett coop and hiked into the wendell state forest. ended up at the same spot i ended up last year - the tree in the middle of the woods w/multiple ppl's names carved into it. was a beautiful day all around.

4/20: rest day

4/21: rest day - had to study for A+ cert exam on 4/23

4/22: rest day - studyin for A+ exam

Stiff quads make lethargic boy

4/16: hiked for 30m on the robert frost from puffers pond north for a couple miles towards leverett

WOD 4/17: nancy (mod'd)
5 rounds for time of:

• overhead squat 65lbs x 15 reps
• lunges x 40
  

time to complete: ~19min (forgot watch)
total reps: 275
uhh yea. didn't have metcon in me last night.
def wiped me out - my legs are feeling nice and stiff. in particular my quads.
have i plateaued again??? bah!

Post #50 - whoo!

4/13: rest day

4/14: rest day

WOD 4/15: With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

got to 9 rounds and 8 pullups. came soooo close to 10 rounds. all pullups were strict.

total: pullups x 52

Feeling run down...awwww. Now get up and go.

WOD 4/11: weighted pullups

• 55lbs x 3 reps
• 55lbs x 2 reps
• 55lbs x 3 reps
  
• 55lbs x 2 reps
• 55lbs x 2 reps

i was a bit disappointed with the low amount of reps. i feel like i should have been able to bust out more then 2-3 reps per set, but it didn't happen. i was exceptionally tired so perhaps that was it. it's also been a month since my last break, and i haven't taken a half volume week. part of that is because ive been taking more rest days than i had in the past. i purposely fell off the 3/1 schedule because i've been focusing more on strength and have been taking longer to recover. i may go easy this week tho. maybe focus more on metcons because doing strength workouts at half volume seems sort of pointless.

WOD 4/12:
As many rounds in 20min of:

• deadlift 65lbs x 10 reps
  
• clean (hang, squat) 65lbs x 8 reps
• push press 65lbs x 6 reps

rounds completed: 7
total reps: 168

i wasn't impressed with myself over this workout either. i think i've been a bit run down (see above). well this is what happens...welcome to the game, as they say.

Elite Crossfitters are no joke!

4/9: rest day

WOD 4/10: 5 rounds for time of:

• clean (squat, hang) 95lbs x 7 reps
  
• slapping pushups (hands slap chest) x 7

time to complete: ~11m (forgot my watch again!)
total reps: clean x 35 reps; slap pushups x 35 - 70 reps total
i mimicked a workout on the xfit site...def kicked my ass.
and also re-checked the ego - the xfit elite are no joke.

Push and push until you can't no more...

4/6: rest day

4/7: rest day

WOD 4/8:

shoulder press (standing):

• 135lbs x 1 rep
• 145 x 1
• 155 x 1
• 165 x 1
  
• 175 x 1 - PR!!!

push press:

• 135 x 3
• 145 x 3
• 155 x 3
• 165 x 3
  
• 175 x 3

push jerk:

• 135 x 5
• 145 x 5
• 155 x 5
• 160 x 5
• 165 x 5

felt good to set a new PR. i've been focusing on strength lately...i have yet to test my squat/dead 1-3 rep yet. we'll see. back up to 170lbs bw again as well. was 165 a few weeks ago.

The Yes Spin Zone

WOD 4/4: gwen (mod'd):

• clean&jerk (hang, power)(95lbs) x 15 reps
• c&j x 12
• c&j x 9

forgot to time - mainly because i had my head wrapped around trying to get myself into go mode to do this wod. the idea is that you do all reps continuously w/o taking your hands off the bar. to do so is considered a foul. well, 95lbs was too much because after rep 8 on the 1st set i had to set the bar down. oh well. it still completely rocked me...whole body soreness!

total reps: 36

WOD 4/5: spin class w/liz :)

i voluntarily tortured myself again. kidding liz!
her spin class fits so well into the crossfit methodology - you just push and push and push.
this particular class was rough because there was a lot of hill work. extended amounts of time at your "8-10" (out of 1-10 scale) resistance.
this of course is great for me as i'm looking to develop power. it blew thru my anaerobic threshold. felt great afterwards w/crazy endorphin rush.

time: 1 hour

This is to all the Metcons out there...

WOD 4/3: 5 rounds for time of: (made this one up)

• deadlift (135lbs) x 15 reps
• elevated pushups (3ft) x 15
  
• alternated between squats (air) and lunges (15 reps a piece)

time to complete: 10m56s
total: deadlift (135lbs) x 75; pushups x 75; squats x 45; lunges x 30
total: 225 reps

Life keeps getting in the away / end excuse

3/30: rest day

3/31: had to take the day off because matt needed help moving into his new apt, so sort of got exercise.

WOD 4/1: 5 rounds for time of: (made this one up)

• 5 tuck pullups
• 10 pushups
• 15 squats (air)

time to complete: ~4m30s (i forgot to bring my stopwatch - duh!)
total: pullups (tuck) x 25; pushups x 50; squats x 75 - total reps: 150

4/2: rest day (fell asleep and didn't make it to gym, doh!)