Squat, Incline Dumbbell Bench, Neutral Grip Strict Pullups, Metcon

Early Afternoon

Strength

On the minute for 10 minutes:

2 Squats (175#-60% 1RM)
5 Incline Dumbbell asdfasdfBench Press (55# DBs)
4 Strict Neutral Grip Pullups

Metcon

3 Rounds for Time:

10 OH Squats (77#)
20 DUs
5 HSPUs
10 Burpees
10 SDHPs

12:25

Workout comments: Need to work more on HSPUs. I would say I lost about 3 minutes of time doing these, probably more. OH Squats felt good without any pain in either shoulder.

Deadlift, Pushups, Moderate Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength

Deadlift 5 X 5
Load: 280 (80% of 1RM)

Diamond Pushups 5 X 10
Performed as supersets along with DL

*Diamond pushups are pushups done with hands close together, forefingers and thumbs touching, essentially forming a diamond. They work your triceps mainly, which is a limiting factor in the progress of many people's bench press, according to Lou Simmons. I'll try this a few times a week and see if I see any improvement.

Metcon

3 Rounds for time:

5 Squat Cleans (135#)
10 Pullups
30 Incline Situps

9:07

Workout comments: I'm going to start throwing pullups into every metcon I can, provided there is a pullup bar around, in addition to working strict or weighted pullups each week. No sorenes yesterday morning, which is a good sign. Nothing significant about my ankle, especially with the run yesterday.

Chris R. mentioned yesterday that a friend of his was all set for surgery due to a calf problem he developed after running regularly. Doctors could not find the problem and were (eager) to operate. This guy tried new shoes on a whim and found himself cured and running >20 miles per week less than 2 weeks later. I guess it's worth a shot, since I haven't replaced my running shoes in a while. I was on the kick of letting the soles wear down as much as possible to help my foot strike, but I guess injury trumps that.

Anything is worth a shot at this point.

Strength, Running

Early afternoon

Bench Press 3 X 5
Load: 215


Pullups 3 X 10
* Performed as supersets


1 mile uphill walking 15% grade
17:45


Evening


5 miles around Chestnut Hill in about 46 minutes


Workout comments: Totally abandoned the bench press and pullups today. Just was not feeling any strength at all. Bench pressing continues to be a plateau that won't change, along with pullups.


Went running today with John W. for the last time at least for a while. He is moving out to Seattle in a few days and most of his move is already underway. It was a good 5 mile loop around Chestnut Hill, lots of humidity to combat the great views of houses and golf courses. Over the past few years we have run together a bunch of times, and raced against each other at various Centocor sponsored races. I don't think I've ever beaten him at Broad Street, Philly Distance, or the other 5Ks we've attempted. At least I'll have something shoot for in the next few years.

Metcon

Late afternoon

10 rounds for time:

10 Burpees
15 Situps
20 Double Unders

19:47

Workout comments: Excellent weekend down in the Outer Banks, NC. Weather was a bit hot during this workout, hovering around the mid 90s. Nice dip in the pool after this one.

Squats, Long Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength
Squats 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Loads: 155, 195, 215, 235, 255, 275*, 285*
* Both PRs.

Metcon

Row 800m
50 Box Jumps (18in)
50 Pullups
50 KB swings (35#)
50 Walking Lunges
50 Planks Holds with Knee to Elbow (50 per leg)
50 Push Press (35# DBs)
50 Supermans
50 Burpees
Row 800m

Volleyball

About 2.5 hours of volleyball today on sand court. Much more draining than I originally expected. I could get used to this sport. Apparently there is a league that runs during the summer at work. It's already started this year, but maybe next year I can get on a team.

Metcon

Late Afternoon

3 Rounds (1 minute on, 30 seconds off)

Jumping Lunges 52, 50, 52
KB Swings (50#) 28, 27, 25
Pushups (Hands off the floor at the bottom) 27, 26, 30


AMRAP in 12 minutes

15 V-ups
5 Man-Makers (30# DBs)
* A Man-Maker is a modified Thruster/Clean/Squat Thrust/Renegade Row. Start with Dumbbells at your sides. Drop down into a squat thrust and perform 1 Renegade Row per arm. Bring feet towards chest and accelerate upwards, shrugging the weights up and catching in clean position. Straighten up while pressing weights overhead. 1 rep.

6 Rounds + 2 Reps

Bench Press, Pullups, Long Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength
Bench Press 5 X 3
Load: 215

Pullups 5 X 10
*Bench Press and Pullups were done as a superset, with three minutes rest taken at the end of the pullups for each round.

Metcon

5 Rounds for Time:
15 Thrusters (95#)
500m Row

~20:20 (Approx breakdown of rowing splits: 1:45, 1:44, 1:46, 1:48, 1:51)

Workout comments: I felt pretty good during the bench press sets and the first 3 or 4 sets of the pullups. Felt like I could do a few more sets. The metcon really gassed me out. First two rounds were done with pacing in mind, but the thrusters eventually caught up to me, and I could not hold pace for the final 2 rounds. It was a good workout. There was approximately 15 seconds of rest taken to walk from the erg to the barbell station each time, but who's to say I wouldn't have rested that time anyway. I forgot to check my watch at the end of the workout, but this is a pretty accurate time.

Endurance WOD

Mid Afternoon

10 Rounds for Time:

100 Jump Rope
10 Burpees
10 Situps
10 Pushups
10 Squats
10 Pullups

1500 reps total: 37:04

Workout comments: I did this WOD in the mid day sun, with the heat index pushing 95-100. I was able to get most of it done in the shade, but it was still pretty toasty. Mental fortitude was what it took to get through the middle part of this workout. Rounds 5-8 were definitely mind-numbing. Needless to say I was spent at the end of this workout.

Bench Press, Cleans, "Joshie"

Early afternoon

Strength
Bench Press 4 X 5
*failed 5th rep on the third set. Defintely talked myself out of that today.


Clean (Power clean with a front squat) 4 X 5
Load: 155#


Metcon
"Joshie"
3 Rounds for Time:

40 pound dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, right arm (Dumbbell Power Clean and Press)
21 L-Pull-ups (Kipping Pullups)
40 pound dumbbell snatch, 21 reps, left arm
21 L-Pull-ups


23:20

Round 1: 6:24
Round 2: 7:48
Round 3: 8:58


Workout comments: Still struggling with the cleans. I can't really seem to get under the bar, mostly because of fear and dropping the weight. I'll have to start practicing with lighter weight in the future. I performed the bench presses with a closer grip to try and build my triceps up more, which I think is the limiting factor in my bench presses. Close grip pushups are on the menu for the next few weeks.

Joshie is probably one of the toughest workouts out there. I had to scale both the movements or I would have been there for over an hour. I was feeling kinda off for the next few hours afterwards, too. Something wrong with my digestion or what. I ended up talking to John W. a few hours later and he confirmed what I have been thinking for a while. Soreness...all the time. In the morning when I wake up, immediately following a workout, the several hours following a workout, and still before bed. The only advice I have received on the subject is to dial in my nutrition, gradually cutting out all impurities: essentially following a Paleo diet. At this point in my life, it's just not feasable to do so, but I can work as hard as I can to make it as relatively clean as possible. We'll see how that goes.

"300" workout

Late afternoon

Metcon
100 Double Unders for Time
1:12

"300" Workout (from Men's Health)

25 Pullups
50 Deadlifts (135#)
50 Pushups
50 Box Jumps (24in box)
50 Floor Wipers (135#)
50 Dumbbell Clean and Presses (35#)
25 Pullups

19:56

Workout comments: Double unders were done without shoes and were much easier to control. First 50 were done within 35 seconds until fault. Next 50 followed suit. Defintely lose some power with the cushioning of traditional running shoes.

I've done this "300" workout several times in the past. After watching the demonstration video again recently, I realized I was only doing half the recommended floor wipers, and was actually performing a dumbbell snatch, which I think is much easier. 6-8 months ago, when I was routinely doing this workout, I was averaging 22-25 minutes. I'm not exactly sure where I gained the most ground. Probably a combination of the pullups and box jumps. These were defintely the most consistent of everything.

Easy 15 minutes cycling to cool down and clear some waste from my very sore legs.

Supplemental work: about 30 minutes of foam roller work at night.

Squats, Bench Press, Annie

Late afternoon

Strength

Squats
1, 10, 1, 20, 1, 30
Loads: 265, 205, 265, 185, 265, 135

Bench Press 4 X 3
Load: 215

Total weight moved: 13,175 lbs

Metcon
"Annie"
50, 40, 30, 20, 10
Double Unders, Situps

7:32

Workout comments: The sets of 20 and 30 squats had to be broken up. On the positive side, after a light warmup, going right after my PR on the squat seemed relatively easy. I'll have to try a new 1RM in the near future. Bench Press also felt relatively good. Both lifts took a total of 40 minutes with only ~3 minutes of rest in between each set.

Moving right into "Annie", the first round of double unders went pretty well. Only had to stop twice. Similarly, the first round of situps was pretty good too. This is definitely the weak link in this workout, however.

Two Strength Metcons

Running water never goes stale, so you got to just keep on flowing.
-Bruce Lee

Early afternoon

Foam roller work
50 double unders for time: 60 seconds

Every minute on the minute for 10 minutes:

5 Dumbbell Incline Bench Presses (100#)
2 Squats (165#-60% 1RM)
4 Pullups

Total weight moved: 12,100#

Death by Power Clean and Jerk (120#)
Start with 1 rep on the first minute, and add one additional rep for each minute thereafter, attempting to reach 14 total minutes.

Reached 10 successful rounds. Total weight moved: 6600#.

Total weight moved for the day: 18,700#

Workout comments: The ideal weight for the Power Clean and Jerk workout was 135#, but I scaled it down because I got cold feet. It was surprising how quickly things started progressing downhill. As soon as you start breaking things up into sets, it becomes very difficult to get back into a rhythm. Obviously a great way to practice for Grace.

I warmed up with some foam roller work prior to the workout and felt some heat and light discomfort after the workout in my left upper hamstring. Pretty sure this is just the broken down tissue I created, so nothing really to worry about. The foam roller feels great on the back muscles because it's almost relaxing to lay on it. But with my short arms, it becomes difficult to work the legs, because you are forced to support your own weight in order to get deep into the muscle tissue. Still pretty good overall. I'm still feeling pretty tight in the mornings, but stretching each night for 10-15 minutes is making a difference.

Moderate Run + Tempo

Early afternoon

5 miles on the treadmill in 40:15.

First 3.23 miles done at 8:30-9:00 pace. Final 12:00 done at tempo. 1.77 miles covered.

Workout comments: Again, with the insane heat wave that the Philadelphia area has been having the past couple of days, even working out in the safety of the fitness center offers little comfort. I was drenched halfway through the workout, and I could sense other people staring at me, which wasn't fun. I'm at a crossroads as to feel embarrassed by how much I sweat, or to feel condescension because other people are putting out such little effort in the gym.

I tried to focus on my form at least several times throughout the run and especially towards the end of the tempo. However, I should really get analyzed by someone in the near future, because my effort to avoid heal-striking may be causing me to overcompensate and land too much on the balls of my feet, instead of landing relatively flat footed. This may be where the added leg fatigue has been coming from recently.

Clean and Jerk, Bench Press, Central Bucks Crossfit

Early afternoon


Strength
Clean and Jerk 5 X 5
Loads: 117, 137, 157, 157, 157


Bench Press 5 X 5
Load: 205

Late afternoon

Metcon
5 Rounds for Time:
15 Squat Clean Thrusters (45# DBs)
10 Renegade Rows/Arm (45# DBs)
5 Turkish Get Ups/Side (45#)*

*Last three rounds performed with a 35# DB, otherwise I would have slipped in my own sweat and the dumbbell would have smashed me in the face.

31:06

Workout comments: Wanted to try to dig myself into a hole during the strength workout to test my recovery limits for the metcon workout, especially after the moderately long metcon from yesterday. Had salad with turkey, a protein shake, and plenty of water after the first workout from approx 1-2PM. Second workout started 3 hours later with a light warmup and water throughout. After reading the article on the crossfit website about pacing yourself for faster times (and initially scoffing), I decided to give it a try by breaking the SQT into groups of 5, the RR into groups of 5, and the TGU into groups of 4 (or 2). I feel like the workout would have taken a ridiculously long time anyway, so I'm not really sure it worked. I'll have to try it again with a workout I have previously done several times in the past.

Long Metcon

Early Afternoon

20 Double Unders

5 Rounds:
10 Pushups
15 Push Press (50# DBs)
20 Squat Thrusts with Mtn. Climbers
15 Suitcase Deadlifts (50# DBs)
10 Half Moons (18#)

20 Double Unders

25:27

Workout comments: Half moons consist of picking up a med ball from the ground on your left side, raising it over head, and bringing it down to the ground on your right side. Repeat in opposite direction. That's two reps. It was extremely hot in the fitness center today. Both sets of double unders went unbroken, which is surprising considering I had a strange rope and different shoes on. The push presses and squat thrust/mountain climbers were the toughest: the former due to strength and the latter due to cardio. Was not expecting it to take this long.

The weather is continue to roll in at 100+ degrees and looking to continue that way without any break. I don't think I will even attempt any runs outside in the next few days.

Beach Run

Late afternoon

First day of the Avalon summer house. Temperature was perfect for running down there. Not too hot with a cool breeze coming off the ocean. Did this run barefoot, which included about a mile on either end of running on pavement. Avalon's bar district does not do a perfect job of cleaning up broken glass.

4.8 miles in about 45 minutes (a few stops along the way to mess with horseshoe crabs and to jump in the ocean)