Jesters* Crossfit Journey

[Jester*]

Sunday Barbell club was a pretty chilled affair. Nothing too over the top.

20:00 Coach Led Warmup and Stretching

15:00
5 Sets - Lifting Every 3:00

2 x Squat Snatch
1 x Hang Squat Snatch

Target % was between 70-80%

Lifts can be broken up - Didn't have to be unbroken

A very hot morning and seemed to drain me of some snap and power on the snatch. I had to have a little word with myself a few times as I was making some uncharacteristic errors. Weights went 70/70/75/75/80Kg

15:00
5 Sets - Lifting Every 3:00

2 x Squat Clean
1 x Hang Squat Clean

Target % was between 70-80%

Lifts can be broken up - Didn't have to be unbroken

A copy of the first set of lifts, just squat cleans this time. Hit my numbers quite easily on this one and felt very comfortable all the way through. Weights went 90/90/95/95/95Kg.

 

[Jester*]

Monday we get back to it.

Warm Up 10:00

4 Rounds

10 x Single Arm KB Front Squat (16Kg)
10 x Single Arm Overhead Step Ups (16Kg, 24" Box)
6 x Straight Leg TTB
6 x Bottom Up KB Press

Some good movements, which are definitely more accessory movements than a pure warm up. But still worked well.

Bench Press - 3 x 12 @ 70%
Every 3:00

Went at my true 70% which is 70Kg. Failed the last set on rep 11. So pretty close to getting all 3 sets.

Rear Rack Split Lunges - 3 x 12
Every 3:00

We got to pick the weight so I went in at 40Kg. Not a massive fan of bulgarian split squats but that just means I need to do more.

WOD 10:00
5 Rounds

5 x Power Snatch (50Kg)
10 x Deadlift (50Kg)
15 x Weighted Situps (20Kg)

The situps were....interesting. 20Kg plate on the chest, situp and pause at the top before pressing overhead. The idea is to take away the momentum of the situp before pressing. Managed 3 rounds + 16. Those dead presses took a massive toll on the shoulders!

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday

Warm Up 12:00

3 Rounds

12 x Ball Hamstring Curls
50m Left Arm Waiters Carry (16Kg KB)
50m Right Arm Waiters Carry (16Kg KB)
12 x Wallball Cleans
1:00 Plank

Another good set of movements to get the body moving and warmed up before heading into...

Push Press - Every 2:30

1 x 12 @ 60%
1 x 8 @ 70%
1 x 4 @ 80%
1 x 8 @70%
1 x 12 @ 60%

Ascending then descending. My weights were easy to workout as my push press is 100Kg at the moment. 60/70/80Kg were used and all reps completed.

Push Jerk - For Efficiency

1 x 15 @ 50%

My push jerk is currently at 110Kg. So I did this set at 55Kg. No real issues and got all the reps done.

WOD 12:00
3 Rounds

40 - 30 - 20
Alt Kettlebell Snatch (24Kg)

24 x Single Arm Russian KBS (24Kg)
8 x Burpees

**ARX 32Kg**
Each Snatch starts and finishes on the floor

As soon as I saw the 32Kg for athletes a little piece of me died. A weakness for me, so I needed to get them in. Managed to complete the round of 30 snatches and 4 Russian swings before hitting the cap. Every part of me hurts.

 

[Jester*]

Athlete training Wednesday was a tribute D Day WOD the coach had found.

WOD 45:00

200m Plate Carry (20Kg)
100 x Plate Step Ups (20Kg Plate - 24" Box)

200m Farmers Carry (24Kg KB x 2)
40 x Dumbell Clean + Jerks (Each Arm) (22.5Kg)

200m Plate Run (20Kg)
40 x Plate Burpees (20Kg)

200m Farmers Carry (24Kg x 2)
40 x Slam Ball Over Shoulders (40Kg)

200m Plate Run (20Kg)
40 x Strict Pullups

**Wearing 10Kg Vest**

First outing for my new WODSOX weighted vest. Vest was good, much more comfortable (If weighted vests can be comfortable?) to wear than my old Dynamic Shield. A fun but mentally tough workout, the burpees were slightly different than a normal burpee. You drop down, chin touches the plate and you jump up to your feet, but instead of just jumping to finish the burpee you pick up the plate and put it overhead then jump.

I got to the pullups with 20 reps remaining at the cap.

We also have another D Day WOD on Thursday for the rest of the box, so it looks like a second outing for the vest in as many days!

 

[Jester*]

Thursday D Day Tribute

Wearing a 10kg Vest - Teams of 3

3km Row
100 x Wallballs + 100 x Box Jumps (24")
20 x Rope Climbs
100 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg) + 50 x Toes to Bar
400m Plate Carry (20Kg)
100 x Power Cleans (52.5Kg)

I do love these workouts and have enjoyed this one every time I have done it. Nothing major to break down with this one, I took up the slack when my team started to fall off from the rope climbs onwards and we finished in 44:27.

The vest although chafed away at my arms on the kettlebell swings was otherwise quite comfortable to wear.

 

[Jester*]

Sunday Athlete Session

One of the Athlete sessions on a Sunday. Motivation was ..... lacking a bit. Sore from the weeks training but always love seeing what the coach has in store for us. It hurt.....

In Pairs

10:00 - Changing Every 2:00
Max Cals Assault Bike

*Target was 300 as a Crossfit Games athlete has done that in 10:00**

None of us got anywhere near. Myself and my partner made 168 cals.

Rest 8:00

10:00 AMRAP - In Pairs - I go, You go

15 x Shoulders to Overhead (60Kg)
15 x Toes to Bar
2 x Legless Rope Climbs

My grip had an absolute meltdown on my second round. Toes to bar became singles and I failed the last legless rope climb. Suffering was real.

Rest 5:00

3 Rounds - Individual - 12:00

500m Row
12 x Strict Handstand Pushups
20 x Alternating Pistol Squats

I did ok here, didn't really need any grip. I ditched the deficit on the handstands and just went from the floor and my pistols in the second round were relatively smooth. Surprised myself and did 210m into the third round.

Very hard work.

 

[Jester*]

Monday was tough on the legs.

Warm Up 10:00
4 Rounds

25 x Kettlebell SDLHP
15 x Squat Jumps
10 x Box Jump - Step Downs
5 Inch Worms

Got warm and moved well. Had done a bit of rollering and trigger point ball work at home so didn't feel too bad. Although my grip is still suffering from the Sunday session.

Bench Press 3 x 10 @ 75%
Every 3:00

Did all my sets at 75Kg and failed on rep 8 in the final set.

WOD1 10:00 AMRAP

30 x Situps
30 x Front Squats (60Kg)

Rest 3:00

WOD2 7:00 AMRAP

15 x Front Squat (70Kg)
15 x Toes to Bar

The workouts were hard on the legs. Was happy with the work put in though and hit 2 rounds + 31 reps in WOD1 and 2 rounds + 3 reps in WOD2.

We just keep working hard. Even though sometimes my soul isn't fully in it at the moment. It is a welcome outlet for me.

 

[Jester*]

Was a bit of a casual session on Tuesday. Relatively speaking!

Warm Up - 12:00

10 - 9 - 8 - 7 - 6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1

Wallballs
Plate Ground to Overhead (20Kg)
Sit-Ups

A good warmup, gradually moved faster as the reps got lower and finished in 7:48 or so.

Clean Deadlift - 5 x 3 @ 60%
Every 2:00

3 Sec Pause at Shin + Below Knee + Above Knee + Power Position

Always a hard movement to get the weight just right without compromising form. So went a bit lighter on the first set at 60Kg before going up to 70Kg for the rest of the sets. All good and felt solid.

WOD

Every 5:00 for 15:00

27 Cals Row
18 x Power Snatch (35Kg)
9 x Chest to Bar

A good workout. Kept my rounds to around 3:30 - 4:00 which meant I had a little breather before repeating.

Currently breaking in my new gymnastic grips which definitely seem to be protecting my hands a little better on constant rig work.

 

[Jester*]

Wednesday was meant to be athlete training in the evening but I decided to book in with the sports therapist to get seen to. So squeezed the accessory Wednesday work in before.

Shoulder Activation - Bands

Warm Up 15:00

21 - 15 - 9 - 15 - 21

Cals - Bike/Row/Ski
Box Overs (24")
Kettlebell Taters

Got very warm very quickly. So just the ticket. Quads and shoulders were really suffering at this point.

Weight Chin Ups

3 x 3 Every 2:00

It has been a while since I have done these so strapped a belt on and hooked kettlebells in. Extra weight went as follows 24/24/32Kg. 32Kg was definitely a tough set of 3!

Weighted Chin Up Negative

3 x 10 Every 60 Sec

This was meant to be done with the weight you used for the chin ups above. But there were certain logistical issues trying to jump up carrying a 32Kg between your legs! So ditched the weight and did solid controlled reps. The time limit was a little suspect so we did 30 secs on and 30 secs off.

Every 90 Sec for 12:00

1. 3 x Candle Sticks - 15 Sec Hollow Hold - 15 x Hollow Rocks
2. 10 x Strict Hammer Grip Dual Dumbell Rows - 5 x Straight Leg TTB - 5 x V-Ups
3. Rest

Good core work, managed to get it all done.

 

[Jester*]

Friday Team Workout

15: 00 Coach Led Warmup

Teams of 2 - 39:00 Rolling Clock

00:00 - 15:00

3 Rounds

20 x Pullups
40 x Kettlebell Swings (24Kg)

Once 3 Rounds Complete
200m Run (20Kg Plate)

2 More Rounds of Pullups/KBS

100m Run (20Kg Plate)

Rest 15:00 - 18:00

AMRAP 18:00 - 30:00

I go, You go

100m Farmers Carry (2 x 32Kg KBs)
1:00 Handstand Hold
15 x Wallballs

Rest 30:00 - 33:00

AMRAP 33:00 - 39:00

18 x Box Overs (24")
15 x Front Rack Lunges (40Kg)
12 x Push Press (40Kg)

Good fun workout, we managed to finish the first workout at 13:40 reps were split 5 pullups/10 KBS each, to try not to burn out the shoulders too much for the second workout. My partner suffered on the handstand hold, I managed to go both of my minutes unbroken, along with unbroken wall balls. We got 3 rounds + 36 reps for the second workout. The final part was a full on sprint for 6:00. 9/9 on the box overs 8/7 on the lunges then 6/6 on the push press until the dying 45 seconds where I went unbroken through 7 lunges and all 12 push press so we could get 1 box over into the 5th round. Good fun!

 

[Jester*]

Monday. We have moved onto the 1RM testing phase.

Warm Up 6:00

"CINDY" AMRAP

15 x Air Squats
10 x Push Ups
5 x Pullups

Moved well, took small breaks to mobilise ankles and stretch the back out.

30:00 To Establish

1RM Back Squat
1RM Front Squat

I have not assaulted the 1RM squats for a while and was keen to see how my strength is holding up. The good news is, I am still as strong as when I last tested with some improvements. Set a back squat of 152.5Kg for a huge 1.5Kg increase. Then set a 130Kg front squat for a good 5Kg PB.

Considering our programming hasn't been strength heavy recently I am really happy with these numbers. Slowly improving while cardio/gymnastics improving at the same time.

WOD 6:00

800m Run (10Kg plate)
12 x Strict Pullups

A quick sprint workout to finish the session off. Went quicker than my usual splits which was great and got the pullups done, finishing in 4:51.

A good start to 1RM season.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday felt like a good day to PB...again!

Coach led banded shoulder activation

Warm Up - 6:00

3 Rounds

12 x Weighted Situps (10Kg)
7 x Sprint Burpees
20 Sec Active Dead Hang
3 x Straight Leg TTB

Moving well today. Got the blood going ready for.

30:00 To Establish

1RM Strict Press
1RM Push Press
1RM Push Jerk

Not much to say except PB'd all of my lifts. 67.5/102.5/112.5Kg. Definitely felt there was more room on the Push Jerk, it went up way too easily.

WOD 9:00

30 x Burpee Box Jumps *24")
30 x Overhead Plate Box Step Overs (20Kg)

A quick sprint workout to finish. Completed in 5:05. A good mornings session with some handstand walk practice after. Starting to get quite solid at walking on my hands.

 

[Jester*]

Much fun was had during Accessory Wednesday today.

Warm Up 10:00

2 Rounds

15 x Standing Arm Angels (2 x 2.5Kg)
10 x Back Flys
10 Each Arm x Xiapeng Forward (2.5Kg)
15 x Banded Lat Pull Downs

Great warm up accessory work. Took it nice and slowly to get the full effect and the burn was noticeable. Xiapeng forwards were definitely interesting.

6 Rounds

Every 2:30

5 x Close Grip Bench Press @ 70%
15 x Strict Single Arm Rows (Pick Your Weight)

Didn't go crazy and went slightly less than percentage at 65Kg and used a 15Kg dumbell for the rows.

10:00 Handstand Walk Practice

Got some good practice in, turned out to be more like 15:00 but was really good fun.

Here are some videos, 1 with a decent dismount, 1 with me falling on my rear

 

[Jester*]

Today was a double PB day. Really enjoyed the session as it was purely lifting. There was an optional workout at the end but I wanted to have a bit more time lifting, so let that slide!

Coach led stretching and banded warm up 20:00

40:00 To Set

1RM Overhead Squat

Spent the first 20:00 getting into the groove and hitting 100Kg comfortably which was 2.5Kg off my PB. Then took my time after each lift 4/5 minutes rest to reset and get ready to go again.

Lifts went as follows 100/102.5/105/107.5/110Kg. So a really pleasing 7.5Kg PB increase. With 3:00 to go my friend told me to go for 115Kg, which I did. Managed to Push Jerk it up beating my PB that I set about 2 days ago. Hit depth well and a slight loss of balance in my right shoulder cost me the lift on the way up. So close, but that will be going up very soon.

Finished with some more walking on my hands after the session was over.

 

[Jester*]

Friday.

A simple but effective team workout. Get that conditioning in.

40:00 In Pairs

300 x Wallballs
4km Run (10 x 400m)
5km Row

**Partners can work at the same time**

Between myself and my partner we decided to do 150 wallballs each, then while one of us rows, the other is running, swapping after 2 x 400m sets. I finished my wallballs while my partner was on about 85. So I managed to do 1300m on the rower before he came to take over and I got out on the run. We worked had and finished in 37:38.

Doing Yoga on Saturday morning to get some stretching in on my rest day.

 

[Jester*]

Sunday Barbell snatch work.

I still really enjoy snatch, one of the most satisfying lifts when it flows.

Snatch Balance 3 x 12 @ 50%
Every 2:00

Then into 10:00 to set a 3RM Overhead Squat

Kept the snatch balance lighter than percentage to get moving well and dropping quickly. 40Kg on the bar for this and into the 10:00 for OHS wasn't a great deal of time but I set 90Kg comfortably but dropped 100Kg. Not a problem called it there and moved on.

Snatch Deadlift 3 x 5 @ 1RM Snatch weight
Every 2:00

Used a slightly higher weight for this, to get used to pulling the weight off the floor and making good hip contact. 100Kg on the bar.

Squat Snatch 10:00 EMOM @ 60/75%
Pause at the knee + catch.

Coach pulled me to one side and said for most people this should be just a technique EMOM at 60%, but was happy for me to use it as a strength training element and go above the percentages. So I decided to use it as an ascending ladder. Weights went as follows 60/62.5/65/67.5/70/72.5/75(Fail)/75/72.5/80Kg. Got the catch slightly wrong on the 75Kg and it spat me out on my backside. 80Kg felt smooth at the end.

 

[Jester*]

Monday was very simple.

5km Run - Best Effort

Soooooo this was a complete surprise and obviously I didn't have my running shoes with me, having taken them out after last Fridays team workout and forgot to put them back in my bag! Humidity was also really quite oppressive. But saying that I managed a time only 11 seconds slower than my PB and went 25:59. All while wearing my Nano 8's. Proceeded to dump a load of water over my head when we came back in.

Remaining time - Set 1RM Bench Press

In true CrossFit fashion we do something like this. After spending a good 5 minutes trying to get my calves back into a working condition we got down to benching. Managed to PB at 102.5Kg quite easily but as always is the case, 105Kg barely seemed to move. Next time!

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday

Coach led warmup 15:00

30:00 to Set

3RM Strict Press
3RM Push Press
3RM Push Jerk

The aim is to hit 90% of the 1RM's we lifted last week. All my lifts went really well, didn't push overly hard on the strict press as I didn't feel my shoulders were feeling 100%, but still managed to hit good numbers. 60Kg/92.5/105Kg.

A quick sprint workout to finish.

WOD 6:00

40 x Deadlift (50Kg)
30 x Box Jumps
20 x Toes to Bar

A good quick blast to finish. Went unbroken through every movement and finished in 2:43.

 

[Jester*]

Wednesday athlete session was pretty brutal.

20:00 Mixed Warmup

Teams of 2 - 33:00 Rolling Clock

1 Go, You Go

2 Rounds 15:00

30 Cal Bike
10 x Ground to Overhead 50Kg
8 x GTOH 60Kg
6 x GTOH 70Kg
4 x GTOH 80Kg
2 x GTOH 90Kg
1 x Legless Ropeclimb

Rest 15:00 - 18:00

I Go, You Go

4 Rounds 15:00

25 x Toes to Bar
10m Handstand Walk
25 x Box Overs
100m Farmers Carry (2 x 24Kg KB)

This was a bit tasty. The first workout really kicked off hard with the cals on the assault bike. Made trying to cycle the GTOH really difficult! Managed to finish my legless ropeclimb bang on 7:30 so my partner could do his round.

The second workout I just took a massive beating. Best handstand walking I have done in the middle of a workout though. Which was a positive. But overall these kinds of workouts are a truely humbling test of your fitness.

 

[Jester*]

Thursday was a good day.

Warm Up 12:00
3 Rounds

200m Plate Bear Hug (10Kg)
45 Sec Active Hang
15 x Romanian DL (20Kg Bar)

Good movements, got warm and stretched out ready to get the rest of the session going.

30:00 to Set 1RM Hookgrip Deadlift

This was a good 30:00 built up to a solid weight so that I could go for a 1RM, which was going to challenge my regular mixed grip 1RM. Weights went as follows 60/80/100/120/140/160/170/180Kg. A PB by 5Kg.

WOD 6:00

10 - 20 - 30

Weighted Situps
Hollow Rocks

A quick sprint workout again. Completed in 3:59.