Deadlift 75% 5×4

225 x 4

• 250 x4
• 250 x4
• 250 x4
• 250 x4
  
• 260 x4

Two-fitty was feeling really easy, so I upped the weight in the last set.  Felt great.  I am going to smash all P.R.’s during our next 1RM deadlift

then, “The Ruwenzori Hustle”

AMRAP in 9 minutes:

3 Power Cleans at 75% of max – 135#

6 Knees to Elbows

9 Pull ups

Not my finest hour.  I got in two rounds + the cleans, the KTE and 6 pull-ups. I was going one pull-up at a time at the end there.  My kipping is gone.  My diet this past week has been for shit and today I barely ate.  Not good.  But today, it was my kipping failure that really held me back.  Any number too far above around five at a time and I just fall apart.

I went with 135 to preserve my wrist.  It feels like a really easy weight now, making me want to give Grace another shot.

 

Lifting Dead

I am still walking around with legs and a butt of lead from this past Sunday’s work-out.  I am truly bummed that I missed Fran at CFI yesterday, dammit.

We went for a 1 rep max for the deadlift today.

• 135 x 5
• 185 x 1
  
• 225 x 1
• 275 x 1
• 315 x 1
• 335 x F
• 335 x F
• 335 x 1

The last weight did not feel bad, but I got caught in an odd hitch on the first attempt and couldn’t quite straighten out my legs and then my grip failed on the second.  For the last attempt, I used a mixed grip and got the damned thing off the ground.  It didn’t feel bad.

I had gotten 355 up last summer but when I started at Ithaca Crossfit, Clea was concerned about my form, so I went way down in weight and started from scratch.  It is nice to be working my way back towards 355 but this time with really solid form and technique.

We did double-under practice.  With DU’s, I think I just need to concentrate on jumping high enough so that I don’t hit my toes on the second whip around with the jump rope.

 

BACK! Bam!

My first day back after a week off was a work-out perfectly wrought to welcome me back.  It was long, wristless and a partner work-out with Janaki.  Here’s the WOD:

Team Wod: In Teams of 2:

2000 meter row

200 Wall Ball, 20#, Janaki used the 10#

200 Burpee -> Box Jump

200 Ball Slam 30#, Janaki used the 15#

200 Kettlebell Swing (russian) 55#, Janaki used the 12kg

200 Air Squat

2000 meter row

We didn’t finish, and scaled the kettlebell, air squats and burpee box jump down to 150.

But it was nice to work-out with Janaki and nice to be back at crossfit, even if it was a work-out that took us over a damned hour and we didn’t finish the bastard-thing.  It will be neat to try this work-out again in a few months and see how we have both gotten stronger.

Also, my wrist felt fine.

Ball slams are the most fun exercise ever.  For some reason, it reminds me of some goalkeeping drills from back in the day.  I pretend the ball is the skull of my enemy.

BAM!

 

Rest

I’ve been giving my wrist a rest and unfortunately, without the crossfit gym to head to, I have not been working out.  I will do some 5×5 back squats tomorrow morning, maybe do some light presses and see how my wrist feels.

If all’s well, I’ll ice it this weekend and be back at it on Monday.

 

Wrist and Story Games

My wrist was still hurting this morning, so I will ice it as I can at work and give it a good, solid icing tonight.  My worry is that the pain is tendon related.  Ugh.  If the pain persists, I will just his the university gym and do some squats as I can.  You can never go wrong doing squats.

Andy mentioned that he linked this blog to Story Games.  I just wanted to give a shout to folks who followed that link.  If you have any questions, don’t be shy and ask ‘em.

This is how the blog began.

 

Tried and failed? No, tried and died.

Just a quick thought on a glorious rest day.

There should totally be a crossfit work-out called The Gom Jabar.  I am not sure if the work-out would in fact let the coaches know if you were truly human but it might.

That is all.

 

Friday Morning Lifting

Yesterday I took the morning off from working out.  I got in three days in a row this week and felt good about my work.

Today I met Aaron at the gym closest to where I work.  On Fridays the joint is pretty empty, so it is not inconveniencing anyone when we get on the two shiny oly lift stations and do cleans and deadlifts.

At some point, when my aches and pains permit, I’ll get on some overhead squats and snatches but my right side was feeling rough today, putting anything overhead felt like a bad idea.

I cleaned 185 off the deck and it felt solid but didn’t go overhead with the full jerk.  My right wrist was not having it.  It is nice to know that this is a weight that I think I will be able to get into a racked position without too much trouble from now on.  It takes effort but it isn’t the mystery it used to be.

With deadlifts, I got 275 up without too much trouble but again, I was feelin’ the week and backed off when Aaron backed off.

I think Aaron’s cleans came a long way when I suggested that he get off his toes and onto his heels.  After I said something about wiggling his toes, he started to pop the weight up.

It was nice to just get under a barbell and play a bit.  This morning wasn’t for time or going for a new PR, just enjoying the lift and thinking about some technical stuff, just enjoying the act of lifting alongside a friend.

On Fridays, I reckon we’ll do some 5×5 work based on our week’s work-outs and shoot the shit.

 

Squat and another AMRAP

Front Squat 80% 5×3

• 175 x 3
  
• 175 x 3
• 175 x 3
• 175 x 3
• 175 x 3
• 175 x 3

This felt solid and I think I could’ve even gone up a few pounds. My front squat feels pretty strong lately and I think my old max of 210# is pretty dated at this point.

AMRAP in 12 Minutes:

5 Thrusters (135lbs for men, 95lb for women)

10 burpees

6 rounds, 3 thrusters 105#

This was rough. Thrusters and burpees are my two least favorite exercises in a metcon, along with the third of the Trifecta of Pain, pull-ups.

There is a fellow crossfitter at the gym named Mark, a triathelete, and I got through this work-out as well as I did chasing him. I kept an eye on him and decided that I would try really hard to keep pace and /or out pace him. Keeping up with him was a great motivator and is the only reason why I got past 4 rounds of this monster that was done at the Northeast Qualifier with 135# thrusters.

This was the first AMRAP metcon in a while that I felt like I really rocked as hard as I was able to.  Thanks, Mark.

 

Clean and Jerks, then some AMRAP

Clean and Jerk 75% 6×3

• 140 x 3
• 140 x 3
• 140 x 3
• 140 x 3
• 140 x 3
• 140 x 3

It felt like the hand transition from clean to jerk started to come along with this one and I was hitting the split jerk pretty solidly.  I’m eager to give 195 and 205 another go.  Next time I attempt to get those overhead, I’m pretty confident that I will nail it.

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

10 Dumbbell Clean and Jerks

1 rope climb (or 5 deadhang pull ups)

Dammit but I cannot remember what I got on this one but it was less than stellar.  I think I go around 4 or 5.

 

Squats and Max Pull-ups

We did these odd squats, taking our time on our descent and then popping up as quickly as we could.

• 135 x 3
• 155 x 3
• 175 x 3
• 185 x 3
• 195 x 3

Then we cashed out on our monthly challenge and I got 12 kipping pull-ups. My kipping is for shite and needs improvement.

Overall, an unsatisfying day.