Fitness-8/6-deadlifts, "Mini Nicole"

Thursday WOD

I went after some more deadlifts today and the result was encouraging. Today, I was going for 5 x 3 hitting max effort on the last set. My sets looked as follows:

275 x 3
315 x 3
335 x 3
355 x 3
375 x 3

Last week, I finished my ME x 5 at 335 and it was tough. I had to come off the bar in the middle of the set in order to recoop a bit to finish. Today, I hit the set at 375 without coming off of the bar. The last rep was a dog fight but I finished it. And I felt a lot more in control of the weight on the descent today. The workout called for 2 second minimum descents and I did well to go slow down. It was tough. This still puts me about 40# behind my pr in the dead at 3 reps but if you recall last week I estimated I was behind by 70# @ 5 reps. A good step up today.

After the deads, I finished with "Mini Nicole," a 12 minute amrap of:

-max rep pullups (w/out letting go), chest to bar
-run 200m

score=45 pull-ups and 1000m

This one kicked my can. I've been trying hard not to pace on wods, to come out as strong as possible for as long as possible even if it means dying half way through and having to crawl to finish the workout. The idea behind this methodology is to find your wall and push it farther away so when you do decide to pace, you'll be much faster than you would've been otherwise. I came out hard, hit 16 pull-ups the first round and ran the 200m about as fast as I could. Only got 7 pull-ups when I came back through the door after the first run. Took off on the second run with another blistering pace. Came in the door and only got 4 pull-ups. Took off hard on the run, made the first 50m and stopped almost dead in my tracks. I couldn't go. I had to drag myself through the rest of the wod. Wall reached. Hopefully next time it's farther away.

Nutrition-8/6

Thursday

SLEEP: 8 hours on the night

7:15am
-2 hardboiled eggs
-3 oz. turkey breast
-1/4 cup walnuts
-large banana
-2 oz. dried apricots
-1g epa+dha

8:30am
-double 12 oz. americano, black

11:20am
-two 4 oz. wild sockeye salmon burgers
-1/3 cup walnuts
-6 oz. carrots
-8 oz. strawberries
-1g epa+dha

3:15pm
-4 oz. wild sockeye salmon burger
-1/3 cup walnuts
-large banana
-2 oz. dried apricots
-1g epa+dha


4:30pm
-12 oz. coffee, black


7:15pm(splurge meal at mongolian grill buffet)
-4 plates of gnarly goodness (my appetite is such that when I want to, I seem to be able to eat without ceasing. I had decided earlier this week that today, after my deadlifting workout, I'd come scarf. It was crazy. And awesome)


9:30pm
-1g epa+dha


-150 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/5-"Annie and JT Sittin' in a Tree"

Wednesday WOD

Today's wod was a combo of two CF classics. The first, "Annie" is generally 5 rounds, 50-40-30-20-10 of double-unders and abmat sit-ups. "JT" is a Hero wod and is 3 rounds, 21-15-9 of handstand push-ups, ring dips, and push-ups. Today we put them together into a wod I've affectionately named "Annie and JT Sittin' in a Tree." This wod was three rounds, 21-15-9, for tim of:

-doubleunders

-abmat situps

-handstand pushups (performed full range, band assisted)

-ring dips

-pushups

time=29:15

This was a nemesis wod for me. The double-unders and sit-ups were cake and I'm convinced if I'd a just done 50 of those each round, instead of the 21-15-9, I would have finished the whole wod faster due to more rest/time to recover before the next round of pushes. I got done with the first round and my shoulders and triceps were already wrecked. Then it was only a couple du's and sit-ups and it was right back to the hspu's. It was awful. By the end of the first round I was only getting 1 ring dip at a time and only 2-3 push-ups. In rounds 2 and 3 I was fighting for singles on everything. I hated this one. But, it's wods like this that I need to be doing to really progress my fitness and my capacity for the gymnastics/bodyweight movements. I think, by the time I'm recovered (which may not be for a week or two after this bastard), the benefit of this workout will have far outweighed the painful trudge through it. I'm psyched. 

Nutrition-8/5

Wednesday

SLEEP: 7.5 hours on the night

8:30am
-double 12 oz. americano, black
-1g epa+dha

11:15am(fasted food until this meal)
-2 hardboiled eggs
-4 oz. turkey breast
-6 oz. carrots
-1 oz. dried apricots
-8 oz. strawberries
-1/4 cup walnuts
-1g epa+dha

3:15pm
-4 oz. turkey breast
-1/4 cup walnuts
-large banana
-1g epa+dha

7:30pm
-4 oz. turkey breast
-1/4 cup raisins
-2 oz. dried apricots
-1g epa+dha

9:30pm
-4 oz. wild sockeye salmon burger
-3 oz. beef jerky
-1/3 cup walnuts
-1 cup blueberries
-large banana
-1g epa+dha

-160 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/4-"Fight Gone Bad"

Tuesday WOD

We hit what might be my favorite CrossFit wod today. Top 5 anyway. "Fight Gone Bad" is a brute. This was our first go at it in a while and was the first of many go's in the next couple months as we prepare for "Fight Gone Bad IV" on September 26. On that day, people/gyms all over the world will gather together in their respective cities and "Fight" through this amazing workout together in order to raise money/awareness/give honor to Athletes for a Cure/Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Wounded Warrior Project. I participated in this wonderful day last year and this year's "Fight" figures to be even more beautiful and with more people and money raised in support than in any of the years before. Check this link out for more information and stay tuned here as I'll touch on "Fight Gone Bad IV" more and more as the day approaches and as we introduce "fun" variations of the wod to our gym members in preparation. You can also check out this video of our group at last year's "Fight Gone Bad III." We won the "pukie" award for best video with this compilation and this year, we'll be looking to defend.

"Fight Gone Bad" is 3 rounds of 5 exercises, each round lasting 5 minutes and each exercise performed for 1 minute. At the end of the 5 minute round, a 1 minute break is given and at the end of this break, the next 5 minute round ensues. The clock continues to run between exercises and it is the job of the exerciser to get quickly to the next station at the end of each minute. At the completion of round 3, all the reps completed, calories on the rower, are added up for one total score. The exercises are:

-wallball, 20#/10ft

-sdhp, 75#

-box jump, 20"

-pushpress, 75#

-row

score=340

Not a bad day at the office. My pr for this wod is 367. I think I was capable of more than that today but just didn't get in a groove. I'm leaner and more fit than I was when I put up 367. But that day I started on wall-ball which, if you're wondering, is the best exercise to start on and the proper place to start if performing the wod as prescribed. Starting with wall-ball, it is easy and fast to transition to each station and you're able to finish each round on the rower going all-out without having to worry about getting out of the machine and to the next station. Trust me, if you want to score high, start with wall-ball. But the gym was full today so I started on push-press. I was getting a 15-20 second late start each round on the rower (there were people on in front of me) and the wall-ball (I had to get out of the rower and run from one end of the gym to the other). And I still was able to hit 340 even with rounds of 18, 17, and 17 on the wall-ball. Normally my rounds on the wall-ball would look something like 30, 25, 25. I really think I can rack up a 400 total on this workout in the near future. This has been a goal of mine for some time. Stay tuned.

Nutrition-8/4

Tuesday

SLEEP: 8 hours on the night

7:45am

-2 hardboiled eggs

-4 oz. turkey breast

-1/8 cup walnuts

-large banana

-2 oz. dried apricots

-1g epa+dha

8:45am

-double 12oz. americano, black

12:20pm

-4 oz. turkey breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-6 oz. carrots

-8 oz. strawberries

-1g epa+dha

4:20pm

-2 hardboiled eggs

-1 oz. turkey breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-large banana

-1g epa+dha

6:30pm

-2 oz. dried apricots

-1/4 cup walnuts

-1g epa+dha

8:30pm-10pm(out with the boys)

-2 pints deschutes green lakes organic ale

-7 bbq chicken wings w/ranch

-1/4 plate of chicken nachos w/guac and sour cream

-1g epa+dha

-160 oz. water on the day

Fitness-8/3-back squats, "Triple 7"

Monday WOD

Today was another max effort back squat day and I went after it on my own as the gym was quiet this afternoon. A couple of the other coaches were around and although they didn't join me, they did offer some strong moral support. Today we were going 5 x 3 trying to hit max effort on the last set. I approached this lift much more aggressively than I did last week where I started too light with my first 5 rep set. Today my sets looked as follows, including my warm-up sets:

10 x bar

8 x 135#

5 x 185#

3 x 225#

3 x 245#

3 x 265#

3 x 275#

3 x 295#

This was a pretty good go at it for me. As I've said before, I really struggle with strength/stability in the bottom 1/4 of this range of motion. But today, I felt a big improvement in this area. I was getting full depth, well below parallel, and was able to keep a good back and really drive from my heels. I think as I stick with it, I'll be seeing my strength in the squat rapidly improve. My only regret for today's work was that I didn't stick with the 20# increases and finish at 305# instead of 295#. Still a good session.

After the squats, we went after a 12 minute amrap we call "Triple 7." One round consists of:

-7 x hang power snatch, 95#

-7 x ring dips

-7 x L-pullups

score=3+2 and 3 pull-ups

What a rough one for yours truly. Ring dips and L-pulls in the same wod? Crap. But I dug in and made some progress in both areas. The ring dips continue to improve and I was able to move through them pretty well considering how they've hampered me in the past. The L-pulls were a brute. If you're doing them right, you're not kipping , you're strict. And strict pulls are a nemesis exercise. My core strength continues to improve as does my pull strength but they're both still weaknesses of mine, especially coupled. I will begin incorporating L-pulls into my warm-up as much as possible. As for the snatch, right up my alley. About felt like pvc. 

Nutrition-The Weekend and 8/3

The Weekend

This weekend wasn't the worst weekend of eating I've ever had but as always, there were some splurges. Some serious splurges. On Saturday: 2 coors light tall boys (floating the river), 5 pieces assorted pizza and 2 pints amber ale (north fork brewery), 1 blueberry donut/1 buttermilk bar (lafeens), 2 scoop waffle cone (mallards). On Sunday: stuffed manicotti/1 piece garlic bread (country club), 2 scoop waffle cone (mallards). I like ice cream. 

Monday

SLEEP: 7.5 hours (not bad)

7:30am

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-large banana

-1g epa+dha

-12 oz. coffee, black

8:30am

-double 12 oz. americano, black

11:45pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-8 oz. strawberries

-2 oz. dried apricots

-1g epa+dha

3:20pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/3 cup walnuts

-large banana

-1g epa+dha

7pm

-4 oz. chicken breast

-1/4 cup walnuts

-1/3 cup raisins

-1/4 cup walnuts

-1g epa+dha

9pm

-2 hardboiled eggs

-3 oz. turkey breast

-3 oz. lamb leg steak

-1/8 cup walnuts

-2 oz. dried apricots

-1.5 cups blueberries

-1g epa+dha

-140 oz. water on the day