Crossfit Open

Week 2 of the Crossfit Open. I wish I could get more into this. I've been watching some interviews on the website and everyone seems to be attempting the weekly workouts multiple times in order to get the best score. I just don't have time for that. I think my ranking dropped a little after this workout, but I'll have to wait a few days to know for sure. I had been reading the rankings completely wrong. I originally thought that I was in first place on the Central Bucks team, but came to find out that a few guys beat me on one or both of the workouts. I don't know if I'll do too well on pure strength work, but I'm hoping pullups, running, and/or rowing will help bump up my scores.

15 Minute AMRAP

9 Deadlifts (155)
12 Pushups
15 Box Jumps

8 Rounds + 20 reps

Workout comments: I was pretty consistent on the deadlifts. I had to break only once or twice. Pushups killed me. But I was really surprised that I did so well on the box jumps. Granted, they weren't as quick as lightning, but I was still knocking out at least 10 at a stretch, with only a few seconds rest before continuing. Half of the rounds were unbroken as well. There were a couple of close calls when my foot didn't quite make it onto the box, but I recovered well without completely tearing my shin apart.

Pushups, Metcon, Basketball

Early afternoon

Max Pushups: 35

Metcon: 4 Rounds, 6 Stations
1 minute, no rest between stations. 1 minute rest between rounds.

KB Swings 45#
Front Squat 45#
Renegade Row 20#
Step Ups 24in
Half Moons 20#
Double Unders

Couldn't keep track of all the reps, but I was fairly consistent throughout. Surprisingly, the toughest part was the half moons. These really took a lot out of me.

Late evening

About 1 hour of basketball. Both of our teams had a lot of subs for this game, but it didn't mean there was a whole lot of rest. We still play pretty inconsistently, but it was a win nonetheless. They had one player who could shoot from pretty much anywhere on the floor, and did so almost without resistance. If it wasn't for Shawn and his 4-5 three-pointers, I think we would definitely would have racked up an L for this game.

Metcon

Early morning

For time:
100 DUs
100 Squats
100 Pushups
100 Situps

10:12

Then: 30 second intervals of running, med ball twists, KB swings

Workout comments: Made it through 70 consecutive double unders before I realized that the workout could be sectioned off however you felt necessary. I pushed through all the double unders and then did 5 rounds of 20 reps of the remaining exercises. I could have made it easily through the squats and situps, but I knew the pushups would give me trouble.

Site Challenge

Early Morning

For Time:

100 DUs
100 Squats
100 Pushups
100 Situps

10:11

Comments: It wasn't until I was finished the double unders that I realized you could break up the workout into smaller sections to help you get through everything faster. Better that I found out the hard way, because I set a PR in consecutive double unders at 70. My forearms really started burning towards the end. The rest of the workout was broken up into 5 sets of 20 reps of each exercise.
Nutrition: Nothing but a glass of water and coffee in the morning.
Body: No real soreness anywhere.
Sleep: About 6 hours.

Strength, Metcon

Afternoon

Strength

Max Pullup Test: 12

Squats 5 x 5
Load: 215

Cleans 5 x 3
Loads: 120, 140, 140, 140, 140

Metcon

3 Rounds for Time

20 DUs
30 Walking Lunges
25 Burpees
20 KB swings 44#
15 Push Press 35# DBs
10 Pushups
20 Box Jumps

Round 1: 6:37
Round 2: 8:43
Round 3: 8:58

Total: 24:18

Workout comments: I'm going to attempt a pullup program laid out by 50pullups.com. A few months ago I tried the Military Pull Program and it helped significantly with the number of strict pullups I could do. I believe in the course of 10 days I progressed from 8-10 max pullups to 15 pullups. I'm still average around 10-12 pullups over multiple sets, but I thought this seemed like a nice long term program that could easily fit into a normal workout schedule. I'm also going to be incorporating much more running into my schedule as the Spring rolls around, and with the numerous parks around my neighborhood, incorporating this into my routine shouldn't be too hard.

Double Metcon, Basketball

Early afternoon

Metcon

Ladder
10, 9...1 Hang Clean (100#)
1, 2, 10 Burpees

10:11

AMRAP in 15 minutes

5 Push Press (100#)
10 Push Ups
15 Situps

11 full rounds + 28 reps

Late evening

About 2 hours of basketball. Manayunk league starts up next week, which coincides with the league that JNJ sponsors. See if I can keep myself injury free until the summer.

Double Metcon, Basketball

Early afternoon

5 Rounds for Time:

10 Jump Squats
10 Suitcase Deadlifts (50 DBs)
10 KB Swings (50)
10 Burpees
10 Situps

13:31

Short rest

AMRAP in 7 minutes:

7 Pushups (hands off the ground in between)
7 Push Presses (50 DBs)

8 full rounds completed

Evening

About 1.5 hours of basketball. Jammed my right ring finger about 2 minutes into the first game. It's pretty swollen and hurts today so no pulling exercises.

Strength, Two Metcons

Early afternoon

Strength

Deadlift 4 X 5
Load: 260

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press 10, 10, 5, 5
Load: 110, 130, 130, 130

Pullups 4 X 10
Sets of pullups were spread throughout the workout

Metcon
50 walking lunges
21 Push Press (80) 21 Pushups
Repeat this round with 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 (50 walking lunges between each round)
17:14

5 rounds
15 second plank hold
AMRAP situps 30 seconds
30 seconds rest

Total situps across 5 rounds: 96

Strength

Strength

Deadlift 4 X 3
Load 260

Situps 4 X 20
*Superset

Metcon

AMRAP in 3 minutes
3 Power Cleans (140)
6 Pushups
9 Air Squats
*9 Dips

*Alternate dips and air squats between each round.

Repeat this 3 minute attempt 4 times, with 1 minute rest between rounds.

3 rounds + 3 reps
3 rounds + 9 reps
3 rounds + 8 reps
3 rounds + 7 reps

Workout comments: Deadlifts are progressing well, yet another exercise that has lost ground since I haven't done it in over 2 months. The dips killed me during the metcon, killing my heartrate and making the subsequent rounds so much tougher to finish.

Metcon

Early afternoon

1, 2...10 rep rounds of the following:

Push Press 100
Pushups
Front Squats 100
Double Unders
Power Cleans
Situps
Box Jumps
KB Swings 50
Pullups
Burpees

Workout comments: I didn't make it through to the 10th round. The 9th round took me close to 8 minutes to finish, and I was already at 38:30. I had a huge pile of sweat and aching hamstrings to show for it. Extremely tough workout to finish. Maybe a future goal of finishing in under 30 minutes? The pullups were also strict.

Squats, Power Cleans, Situps, Pushups

Early afternoon

Squats 5 X 5
Load: 105, 155, 175, 195, 195

Situps 4 X 20
*Supersets

Power Cleans 5 X 5
Load: 140

Pushups 5 X 15
*Supersets

Workout comments: Very sore in the quads from the walking lunges on Tuesday and the hamstrings from the deadlifts. I'm still keeping the loads relatively light to allow my body to adjust. The power cleans felt very easy at 140, but I'll have to look into what my max used to be. Squats should have been done at ~230.

Squat Cleans, Deadlifts, Pushups

Early afternoon

Cleans 5 X 5
Load: 120, 120, 130, 130, 130

Pushups 5 X 15
*Supersets

Deadlifts 4 X 5
Load: 210, 260, 260, 260

Pushups 4 X 20
*Supersets

Workout comments: Nothing really to report. Deadlifts and cleans felt good, but I learned my lesson after the VERY sore legs from squats last week and kept the weight relatively light. This serves a duel purpose: keeps me injury free and boosts confidence.

Military Pullup Workout

I skipped yesterday's presciption of 50 ongoing pullups. I hope that doesn't affect my progress too much. Today was 10 supersets of the following:

Max Strict Pullups (10, 8, 7, 6, 6, 6, 6, 3, 6, 6) 64 total
10 Bench Dips
20 Pushups (mixed neutral and wide grip)
30 Situps (eventually switched to 10 situps and 20 crunches)

Started each superset on the 3-minute mark. 30 minutes total.

Military Pullup Workout

Odd days on this program involved alternating a superset scheme and a pyramid scheme. I performed the latter today.

Pullups 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6,...1
Pushups 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14,...2
Situps 5, 10, 15,...

These exercises are performed with NO rest.

Bench Press, Miliary Pullup Workout

Early afternoon

Bench Press 10, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5
105, 175, 195, 195, 195, 195

Military Pullup Workout

10 Supersets (only did 5)
Max Pullups
5 Dips
20 Pushups
30 Situps

This took close to 20 minutes, and I was feeling pretty sore towards the end of this. I'll try and cut the reps in half next time and keep the total number of supersets the same.

About 3.5 hours of continous 3-man volleyball games after work. Not very cardiovasculary tiring, but you realize once you get home how much you work. Found this today on the web...seems pretty interesting...

Hooverball

Running, Pushups

Late afternoon

450 Pushups through the day, followed by approx 3.5 miles running in 30 minutes, barefoot.

Workout comments: Note to self. No longer run barefoot at the shore unless running on the beach alone. Too many small shards of broken glass to risk running on the street and sidewalks. No cuts today but it wouldn't be long.

I'm working towards getting 1000 pushups done in a single day. The task is arduous and boring, and I don't see myself completing it until I can finish a greater quanity in a single stretch.

Squat cleans, Pushups, Short Metcon

Squat cleans 5 X 5
Load: 130, 140, 150, 150, 150

Pushups 5 X 50
* Performed as supersets, with 3 minutes rest following the pushups.

This is the first time I could perform the squat clean with a decent amount of weight. In the past, I was always afraid of dropping the weight on the floor (or on myself). But starting out with #130, which I know I can do easily, made it seem mentally easier. Maybe now I can start progressing upwards in weight.

Metcon

3 rounds for time:

50 DUs
20 KB swings #45
40 OH walking lunges #45 plate

12:54

OH walking lunges. They'll get you every time.

Moderate run, 400 Pushups

Early afternoon



A moderate run around Malvern during lunch today with Paul, Brian, and Raph. We ran the route they called the Diamond Rock loop. The heat started out humid and almost overbearing. The middle section of the run entered some wooded areas, so the shade offered a little relief. But making our way into the latter miles of the run, the sun beat down on our faces and backs. I wished like crazy that THE END was near.



All day



Throughout the day, I'm making it my goal to complete 1000 pushups. I did 200 this morning: 10 on the top of every minute for 20 minutes. It wasn't that tough, but it was mentally draining. I did another 100 this afternoon before the run in two sets: probably less than 5 minutes. A final 100 after work and I just ran out of time. I didn't make it out of work until after 7 and then headed back down the shore.

Squats, Pushups, Metcon

Early afternoon

Strength

Squats 5 X 5*
Load: 218# (76% 1RM)

5 X 30 Pushups*
Performed as supersets

3 minutes rest between sets

Metcon

AMRAP in 10 minutes

6 Squat Cleans (120#)
12 Pullups
24 Double Unders

5 Rounds + 4 reps

Workout comments: I was not feeling up to working out after coming in this morning. But felt good during the squat portion (although later I would realize I was actually 10 pounds off what I was supposed to be lifting) and my pushups felt great, going unbroken in the first, third and last round. The metcon went OK. Of course I flew through the first round in 80 seconds and later rounds would take much longer. All in all a good workout.

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