DOMS

What I should be doing to avoid DOMS

Yesterday my left arm and lat were sore but nothing compared to my right lat and arm today. I woke up in the middle of the night and my right lat/rotator cuff was on fire.  It must have been the way I was sleeping on it.   I had thought about doing some kind of wod but decided that running was probably the best choice given my condition.   Of course once I started running everything to started to loosen up well.  First 3 miles between 8:30 and 7:55, 4th mile 7:30 - 5:45 pace and then mile 5 easy recovery plus a 6:30 pace for 3/8th of a mile.  Good to get some miles in!

Crossfit is my 2nd job

The program called for a me to

A) SQCLN - build to 1 RM
B) split jerk - build to 1RM

I combined them as I was not about to drag the Jerk boxes out  or do 2 sets out heavy cleans.  Not sure that is what the programming meant or not but thats what I did.

a.  95, 135, 155, 155, 175, 185, 205, 215, 215 = loaded up the weight for 225 and decided It wasnt going to happen.  Strength just wasnt there today.  Might be the four days in a row or something else. Just not sure.

b.  95, 135, 155, 155, 175, 185. 205  failed at 215.  Big disappointment.  Considering I did 235 last time. 

WOD 1 
5 Rds for time
50 Du's
10 Push Jerks at 155lbs
rest 1 minute between rounds

Double Unders went well 2 attempts at most in each round.  Push Jerks I had to break up 5 and 5 or 6 and 4 etc...

Total time with rests - 14:56

Rd 1 - 1:31
Rd 2 - 2:39
Rd 3 - 2:03
Rd 4- 2:36
Rd 5- 2:36

2 hr break

WOD 2 
15 minutes on Airdyne at moderate pace - 249 calories

WOD 3

Mary 

5 HSPU
10 Pistols - alternating legs
15 Pullups

9 rounds plus 1

Drills and WOD

Repeat of a few days ago of Snatch Balance work.  Just trying to work on my speed.   Really focusing on not having my chest lean forward on the down portion.  

Hang Snatch - 7x2 More about skill than weight

95, 115, 115,115, 115, 125. 125 - Video tapped the last 3 rounds.   

WOD

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of

OHS @95lsb
Box Jumps

8:49

The first 3 rounds of box jumps were good but then i had to mix in some step downs.  Not acceptable.  Need to do 3x10 unbroken work.  Box jumps need to be addressed so they dont let me down.  

KBS, Burpees, Wall Balls and Double Unders oh my....

A simple old school WOD and nothing else.  Really looking forward to this one.  My double unders are solid, the swings shouldnt be too bad and well burpees are burpees.

for time
50 DU's
20 BUrpees
20 KBS@70
10 Burpees
10 KBS@70
50 DU's

Really happy with this, all swings unbroken,  all burpees pretty good,  double unders were 33 & 17 and them 23 & 27.

Time 3:57

Decided to stick around and join the 9am class as it was a longer wod and I think I need some of that as I get ready for Norcal.

15min AMRAP

50 Wall Balls
25 Burpees
50 Double Unders

2 Rounds 55 reps.

Lack of quality

I'm suppose to be videotaping all of my Oly lifts which is a pain in the neck. This is one session that the world would be better off not seeing. I don't think I got but 1 or 2 clean lifts the entire session.   I was hoping that the poor session wouldn't carry over into the muscle ups but even that didn't go as I wanted.

A) PJ 6-4-2-6-4-2

6@135lbs
4@165lbs
2@185lbs
6@155lbs
4@175lbs
1/1@195s
1/1@195s  just not clean. got them up but was slow and sloppy

B) high hang snatch 7x1
115, 115, 135, 135(f), 135(awfu) footwork was terrible, 115, 115


10 MU's for time
rest 5mins
x 3

Round 1 = 9 reps and 1 - 55seconds
Round 2 = 5, 2.1,1,1  Did the first 5 in 27 seconds. Probably should have broken them up - 2:17
Round 3 = 3, 3, 1,1,1,1  - 2:13

Total time - 5:25

Not at all satisfied with this effort.

XMAS Day

Rest

XMAS eve Red Line

I should know that whenever a WOD looks easy on paper its going to completely kick my ass. Today was suppose to be a rest day but I wanted to do the programming the coach gave me for Saturday and take XMAS day off.

row 250m
10 thr @95lbs
rest 3min
x5


You know its bad when the Thrusters are your rest.  My rowing is complete crap right now.  My goal was sub 1:30 every round but it didnt happen.



Round 1 - 1:13   250m pace 1:26
Round 2  -1:21   250m pace 1:28.6
Round 3 - 1:32   250m pace 1:32.8
Round 4 - 1:31   250m pace 1:41.8
Round 5 - 1:36   250m pace 1:40.2

Total rowing time 3:57 1250m 1:35 pace

Slightly Off Piste

I have been not following the training perfectly over the past couple of weeks either because of travel or work.  Its not like I was slacking off I just had to move some rest days around and I couldn't follow the programming perfectly.  I'm hoping coach doesn't think I'm blowing off the plan.    Since I have some time off Im going to get after it hard.   We had an easy train ride back aside from the Woman who was desperately looking for a window seat because she had motion sickness otherwise. I switched with her since I was fine either way.   She then proceeded to get up 15 -20 times each time promising it would be the last.  I almost told her she was motion sick because she was constantly in motion.   When I got home I decided not to do an easy run but to do what was programmed today in class DT!

I havent done DT since 2010 and when I looked it up I have never done it with hang clean I modified to do it from full power clean.  Today was a huge break through. Did it as prescribed and the jerks werent the part that really slowed me down.  It was the hang cleans. They were tough at that weight. 

DT 5 Rounds @155bs of

12 Deadlifts
9 Hang Cleans
6 Push Jerks

13:08 = Only 1 no rep. Forgot to come to hang position in 4rd round on first clean.  I probably should have broken up the cleans into smaller rep schemes and took less rest.


Here are the splits.

Happy with the effort.

Crossfit Reebok 5th Ave.

A chance to visit Crossfit Reebok 5th Ave. this morning in NYC and do the hero WOD “Victoria” In memory and honor of Connecticut School Teacher, Victoria Soto. A HERO who died while protecting her students.   We did a warm up outside even though it was cold and blustery.  The facility is top drawer really good amount of room and a huge pullup rig.

5 rounds of:

10 Thrusters (95/65)
14 box jumps (24/20)
12 SDHP (95/65)
12 burpees
27 kb swings (53/35)


Totally full class so not enough boxes to have ones own so I elected to start on the box jumps so that I didnt get caught waiting around.  

Total time = 25:02

I thought I did pretty well until I saw a post by Kevin Daigle and he did 22:18!   Then Daigle shared that James Hobart did 20:35 with a 70lb KBS!  Just proves to me that the better competition the better change for a peak performance

Split Up Work

I headed over to the gym to get my work done so that I had time to pack etc before the madness of the day started.   Got the gym and its as crowded as a subway platform at rush hour.  Just enough room to to do technique  work on my snatch balances.  15 minutes just drilling at 95lbs.  Once I realized I wouldn't be able to do the rest of my work I told Susie she could sleep  in and I took the kids to school.  This is generally a highlight of the day.  We listened to a TedTalk called the future of lying and how people distort the truth th varying degrees depending on the medium.

Came back later to finish the rest of the WOD.

7X2 of Hang Snatchs

2@95lbs
2@95lbs
2@115lbs
2@115lbs
2@115lbs
2@115lbs
2@115lbs

WOD 5 Rounds of
400m run
5 muscle Ups

By this time the wind was whipping pretty good and each round the precipitation moved from a mist to a downpour.  All of the muscle-ups were unbroken.  The running got slower and slower each round.

Rd 1 - 2:25
Rd 2 - 5:11  - 2:46
Rd 3 - 8:06  - 2:55
Rd 4 - 11:06  3:00
Rd 5- 13:58  2:54

Busy rest day

A crowd favorite

I knew this one was going to be super short and sweet and would all come down to the double-unders.   I can remember the last time I did this,  I was at CFNE and it was a very small class and I rocked it.  It was pre-blog so I cant find my time which is a big bummer. I was hoping to break 4 minutes.

3 rounds of

10 Deadlifts @275lbs
50 Double Unders

Total Time - 3:16

Last round of double-unders was straight thru.

Press, Snatch and OTM

Push Press - 6,4,2,6,4,2

6@135lbs
4@165lbs
2@185lbs
6@165lbs
4@185lbs
F@215lbs
1@215lbs

I wished that the 215lbs felt easier but it didnt. 

High Hang Snatch 7x3 - get the form right

3@95lbs
3@95lbs
3@95lbs
3@115lbs
3@115lbs - best ones of the day
3@125lbs not as good
3@125 OK


On the minute for 14 minutes

odd minutes - 5 HSPU
even minutes - 10kbs 70lbs snatch style

each of the movements took me from 15-20 seconds
The HSPU were all  straight thru and strict till the last round

Simple but painful

Today's wod looks simple but it packed a serious wallop. My initial thought was to do the 2 minute efforts at 1:40. I figured that should be easy enough and a 2:20 recovery pace. It was clear after round one that I was going to get crushed by this wod. For some reason I felt like I was pulling a cable that was attached to a wall not a spinning wheel.  This is exactly the kind of WOD I need to be doing to increase my Metcon.  I will do this one again programmed or otherwise.  It must be done again as I really think I can do much better.


2min row @90% effort
2min row @50% effort
x5

	Meters	Avg Pace	Stroke Rate
Round 1	587	1:42:00	30
Round 2	559	1:47:00	33
Round 3	553	1:48:00	34
Round 4	542	1:50:00	30
Round 5	553	1:48:00	35
Total	2794	1:47:00	32
Recovery	1695
Total	4489

Holiday Party unintended rest day

So we hosted the Crossfit Craic holiday party and from what I can tell people had a very good time, probably too good.   We of course went past the closing time by a few hours but what are you going to do.  After cleaning up and worrying whether everyone made it safe and sound it was probably 3:30 by the time I got to bed.  Up and wide awake at 6:30am feeling the effects of too little sleep and a couple drinks.   I so rarely drink anymore because whether its one or two I always feel like horrible.
Decided to move up my rest day as I was completely dragging and realized that it was pointless to put myself in a further deficit.

Someone siphoned my power

Some days as much as you are excited to workout your body just isnt feeling it.  Today was one of those days.  It wasnt a motivation thing nor was I dragging from lack of sleep but damn the bar seemed really heavy today. 

A) FS 6-4-2-6-4-2 - rest 3mins
6 reps @185lbs
4 reps @225lbs
2 reps @275lbs
6 reps @185lbs
4 reps @225lbs
1 reps @275lbs

Really feeling this in my right upper back.

B) SQ CLN 5x1 (not a 1 RM)
1@185lbs
1@185lbs
1@205lbs
1@225lbs
1@225lbs

+
10min AMRAP
5 Squat clean thrusters @135lbs
7 C2B
15 DU's


Again this was a struggle.  Usually pullups are in the wheel house but not today.

5 Rounds 3 reps

Rest Day

Rest Day

Technique Technique Technique

So after my coach saw my video from Tuesday night he sent me this email - "What time are you going into the gym tomorrow? I need to coach you on the Snatches".    It was great for him to reach out and commit to helping but at the same point frustrating.   After 6 years my Oly lifts still suck and that is hard to swallow.  As much as I wasnt looking forward to the frustration of still not getting it right I was there and ready to go.

We worked on Snatch Balances as well as High hang snatch.  Focusing on speed, going straight up and not looping the bard.   It actually wasnt frustrating at all and I felt like the more I focused on some cues the more consistent I got.     Probably would be good to be doing this at least once a week.  Cant help but think I'm still acting like a junior high kid who would rather play the game than do the little things over and over that will make them better in the game.


WOD
3 rounds for time
50 double unders
7 muscle ups

I was actually looking forward to this.   Crushed the first round - 50 straight double unders and then 5 and then 2 muscle ups.   Breaking the MU's up so as not to get to failure. 1 minute for first round
Round 2 double unders probably messed up 3 or 4 times.  Reps 4 and 3 on Muscle ups
Round 3 - Double Unders  5 or 6 attempts.  Muscle Ups 4, 1,1,1

Total time 7:24

Airdyne Pacing

Very simply workout today.   10 minutes max calories on the airdyne.   My strategy was to pick a pace that got me close the red line but didnt put me over. I was probably a little light on the first half but it allowed me to pick it up in the second half.  I was at 225-310 watts.  When I do it again I dont want to go below 265.   Total Calories 193.   After the WOD my coach told me the top guys do 300calories.  I would  be hard pressed to do that for 1 minute let alone 10.

Back to your regularly scheduled program

After a mix up over the weekend I am back under the direction of my coach.   I am feeing good about my progress as far a strength goes and looking forward to tuning in my metcon.   I think I also better start working on my box jumps as they are something that takes more out of me than should.

A) SP 6-4-2-6-4-2 (rest 3min between sets)

This is the area that I have made the greatest improvement in since last year. All of 1, 3 and 5 max reps have gone up. Here was John's advice "Tomorrow will be your first time doing it so it'll be a little weird. I'd prefer you to undershoot it than over shoot it " as much as I have been really good about following the plan I let this get away from me a little bit.


Warm Up - 10@95
6@115
3@135
2@155
1@175 NEW PR****
6@135
3@155 Failed on 4th rep
1@165 Failed on 2nd rep
B) High hang Snatch - build to a 1 RM and video+

Warmup - 5@95
3@115
1@155
3@155
Fail @175
Fail @165
1@155
At this point I decided to come down and work on my form
1@135
1@135

I was a little worried about this one given all the shoulder work as well as the HSPU from Sunday but I was able to power through it in straight sets till the 4th round

5 rounds for time
7 Power snatch @95lbs
5 HSPU
Total time = 7:30


Round 1 - 56 seconds
Round 2 - 1:43
Round 3 - 1:29
Round 4 - 1:41
Round 5 1:41
Good consistency.

Day trip to NY

Quick trip to NY - Up early with a 5am departure from Dedham. Good news I was back in the house in bed before midnight!

Modified Highball Stinger plus Double Under - Swings

 Its odd that I go to the home now and have to think about what I will do. I have been looking at the WODs that CFNE has programmed for its competitors and choose a few from their page.  The first workout was going to be a good challenge for me.  The HSPU's had me worried and the weights were going to be heavy.  I changed the last movement from Thrusters at 135 to Snatches.  Probably should have left it at 135lbs.


Variation of “Highball Stinger”
Every 10 Minutes
3 Rounds For Time:
8 Deadlifts (275)
8 Handstand Push Ups.
Time -  3:37
Then:
3 Rounds For Time:
6 Power Clean (185)
6 Handstand Push Ups
Time - 6:34
Then:
3 Rounds For Time:
4 Power Snatch 115
4 Handstand Push Ups
Time - 5:24

Rest

For time of the following:
100 double unders
30 swings @ 53 lbs
100 double unders
20 swings @ 53 lbs
100 double unders
10 swings @ 53 lbs
Time 11:14

Happy with the effort across the board.  I was getting big sets of double unders so they have improved.

Early Start

So the intention was to leave this dinner party at 9pm so that I could get a decent nights sleep.  Well the conversation was lively and the next thing I knew it was 11pm.   Didnt get in bed until midnight and then after a long talk with Susie to work a few things out it was 3am.    Feel asleep hard until my phone went off at 5am with a work issue.  I had planned to meet Paul at the gym at 6:30 but I had second thoughts and considered going back to bed.   Decided that it would be difficult to get to the gym later so just decided to grind it out until I was exhausted.   Because of some confusion I am off piste with respect to my training and wont have anything till Monday. Its nice to have a bit of  freedom.


Front Squats - 5 sets of 10
Not good when the warm-up feels heavy. 
10@135
10@155
10@175
10@195
10@195

That certainly took a bit of the starch out of me.  

Wod 1 
8min AMRAP
30 KBS @70lbs
then rounds of
8 Cleans @135lbs
8 T2B
8 Ring Dips

Got the 30 swings done in just over a minute which was too fast a pace and left me really struggling through the cleans. Was hoping for at least 4 rounds only did 3 rounds 11reps

WOD2 - "Amanda Lite"

9-5-3
Muscleups
Squat Snatch @95lbs

8 minutes even.  This was just hard. 

London - Operating on fumes Dec 5-7

I'm not sure that I have ever gone so many days with so little sleep.  I was working around the clock an although I managed to be highly productive I'm not sure it is a healthy thing to do.  The earliest I was able to get to be bed was 2:30am on Tuesday,  Wednesday I was in bed asleep from 11-2 and then up to do calls from 2-6:30am Thursday night was 3:30am.   As you can probably guess this did not be me in great shape to train and I thought it might be better to rest than get up and push my self hard.  

I did manage to snap a few shots but the best one was when I was headed to the airport and the sun broke thru and was shining on St Pauls while everything else was dark.  The iphone is good but wasnt up to the challenge of that scene. 

Crossfit Central London

Mark down another new box visited.  Got a little lost this morning running over to the box from my hotel.   Fortunately I didnt really disrupt the class coming in late as there was one other guy in the box.   The other athlete was wearing a Camp Dudley sweatshirt and I asked him If he knew Andy Bisselle and of course he did.   Either I only interact with a small sample of homogenous people or it truly is a small world.

Good Mobility Warm-Up

Skill Drills

Split Jerk practice at 45 Kilos


WOD  5 Rounds of

8 Thrusters at 65kilos
16 Kettlebell Swings
24 Toes to Bar


This looked long and fairly heavy and that is exactly what it was.  The other athlete had to leave after 3 rounds and I wished I could as well.  The coached changed the WOD to 3 rounds after I finished my 4th round.   17:17.     Grip went first in this wod.  Also still tired.   That is 2 WODs in a row i couldnt finish as designed. I hope its not a trend.

Cut Short

Cold morning in the gym.  The temperature was only 48 degrees as I was trying to warm up.  A far cry from when it was in the 90's a few months ago.  I did manage to get a bit of a sweat going before I started the first part of the days workout.   My hamstring and legs and upper back are all sore.   

 

 

A) Standing Behind the neck shoulder press 8-12 x 5 - rest 2mins 

 

 Warm Up -

1. 12@75

2. 12@95

3. 8@105

4. 10@105

5. 6@115

 

B) Squat Clean 6x6 - same weight - rest 2mins

 

Warm Up 6@95lbs and 6@135lbs

6 rounds of 6 reps @165lbs

Tried to do all touch in go and  No dropping bar.  I would say I was good at 80%.  More disciplined in the later rounds then in middle rounds.   I think I should have gone to 175lbs more for physiological reasons than anything else.     The weight wasn't crushing but 6 reps was definitely putting me to the edge.  I think Im feeling the cumulative effects of the last two workouts

 

8 RFT 

10 Thrusters @100lbs 

10 Bar Facing Burpees

 

 On a wod like this one I would usually be really excited to get after it but I was looking at 8 rounds and wondering if I had enough left to go that long.  After the first round it was clear it was going to be a complete shit show.  I was so sore and spent at this point I was crawling on the burpees and having to break up the Thrusters.  Called it at 5 rounds as I think it would have been counterproductive to just do it to finish.   

 

Round 1 - 1:26

Round 2 - 2:43

Round 3 - 2:42

Round 4 - 2:22

Round 5 - 3:37

 

 

New Move

A) Front rack reverse lunges 8-10 x 4 each leg - rest 1min/3min

 

 

Warm-Up = 85lbs

Round 1 - 95lbs - 8 reps each leg

Round 2 - 105 - 10 reps

Round 3 - 115lbs 10 reps

Round 4 - 125lbs 10 reps

 

 

 

20 Sec C+J @115lbs  

40 sec AD 

rest 2:00 

x 3 

Round 1 - 5 reps

Round 2 - 5 reps

Round 3 - 5 reps

Round 4 - 5 reps

 

I couldnt get the AD to count calories on 4 of 5 rounds.  That said I was pushing myself to the redline every round. Whether I produced the same calories or not I was crushed.