Jesters* Crossfit Journey

GSVBagpuss said:
Great C&J number - I can’t imagine the powe needed to bring that much weight up to shoulder height!
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Thanks Bag, it really is all technique. With a side helping of strength!

blairw said:
That Jerk looked so easy compared to the clean - speed under the bar seems to be the only real limiting factor there as you clearly have the strength required for the clean. Well done!
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Thanks blairw, I have been speaking to my coach today and speed under the bar is definitely my main limiting factor when it comes to the clean. He is recommending I spend some time at 90% or so and work on it. Forcing those elbows through quicker to force my body to drop faster.

Yesterday was the last of the Benchmark workouts before we start the 1RM/3RM portion. It didn't end brilliantly and was probably my most average performance compared to 6 months ago.

15 minutes to establish a 3RM thruster.

Managed 85Kg comfortably, the same as 6 months ago. Failed at 2.5 reps at 90 again. Hugely frustrating!

10:00 Min EMOM

3 x Thrusters at 80% of your previous 3RM weight.

Completed all sets at 67.5Kg. Exactly matching my last time.

WOD:

4 Rounds for time 20:00 Min Cap

7 x Deadlift (125Kg)
14 x Toes to Bar
21 x Kettlebell swings (32Kg)

16:07 6 months ago and went 16:40 this time. Not that happy with myself as I was well in front of my splits in the first 2 rounds then my forearms fell off a cliff and interrupted my rhythm on the toes to bar and swings. Frustrating but won't get too disheartened as it has been a good re test across the board for many of the other workouts.
 
Today was Snatch / Power Snatch. The most rewarding and frustrating lift going.

30:00 to set

1RM Snatch
1RM Power Snatch

Built up and hit the 80Kg snatch comfortably. Instead of trying to match my PB of 85Kg I decided to go straight for 87.5Kg. 4/5 attempts getting so close I had to stop at 25:00 and pop a few power snatches in! 75Kg Power snatch was popped up before the time cap.
That 87.5Kg is so close I can taste it. Definitely looking forward to going again in the future!

WOD 12:00

5 Rounds

20 x Wall Balls (20lb)
15 x Hollow Rocks
15 x Supermans (Hollow rocks but on your stomach!)

Set a good time of 8:44 and extremely happy that all the wallballs were unbroken. Definitely seem to be getting more comfortable with them in extended sets.

I believe tomorrow is Back/Front Squat. Eagerly looking forward to seeing if I can PB here as I feel in good shape with my squatting recently.
 
I'd say much lower than 90% to be honest but I will bow to their greater experience.
One thing that really helped me was the introduction of barbell yoga etc that Erik from Weightlifting 101 is a big advocate of - worth checking out his site, instagram etc!
Agree with Rids - you are killing it
 
Good session this morning, with 2 PB's!

30:00 To set

1RM Back Squat
1RM Front Squat

Hit 150Kg back and 125Kg front. An increase of 10/5Kg respectively. Very happy and feel I had slightly more in the tank for back squat but time wasn't on my side!

WOD 15:00

3 Rounds

12 x Toes to Bar
30 x Kettlebell Step Ups (32Kg KB / 24" Box)

Challenging one this one, the last time I attempted this I used 24Kg kettlebell. The movement standards were that the leg that is stepping up first onto the box has to be at full extension before you can put the other foot on the box, to stop any form of hop onto the box. Pretty much a strict step up on one leg, with the kettlebell being held in the front rack position. I was only the second person to attempt the workout at the prescribed weight and hit cap with only 16 reps remaining. Very tough trying to keep those movement standards.
 
Thanks chaps!

Today had more squats in it!

30:00 to Set

1RM Overhead Squat
1RM Split Jerk

As I set a split jerk PB last week of 111Kg I wasn't too worried about setting another one today, instead I focused on the OHS. Had mixed success as I set a new PB of 96Kg. But my attempt at 100Kg was borderline on breaking parallel of which myself and the coach couldn't call either way. So had another attempt at 101Kg broke parallel nicely then unbalanced myself on the way up and dropped the bar as time ran out. Majorly frustrating but as we train our bodies not out ego, I will not take the 100Kg until it is a clean rep. So wanted all of my squats to be 100Kg and above haha!

WOD 12:00
2 Rounds

12 x Strict Pullups
800m Plate Carrry (20kg)

Very tight time cap on this one. Usually the plate carry is more of a quick walk, but in this I did actually find myself at quite a brisk jog! Only just managed to finish in 11:36.

After this I had a session with the sports therapist who did some cupping on my thighs and around my knees. A new technique she has just studied and it was a really odd feeling but so far has been very interesting. Looking forward to seeing how they feel tomorrow morning after a good nights sleep, but it has already highlighted areas around my knee that were in dire need of fresh blood. Big advocate of preventative treatment in order to keep those injuries away.

I am off to Devon to meet my fiancees Nan for the first time so 3 days off training is coming my way. Probably a good time to let my body recover and repair before getting back to it on Monday.
 
Rest was good and so was my trip to Devon.

Put in some good work today to finish off the lifting 1RMs

30:00

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

All PB's. 62.5Kg/95Kg/105Kg. 2.5/10/10Kg increases respectively, which makes me very happy!

Quite an easy WOD to finish.

12:00 EMOM

1. 10 x Pullups
2. 10 x Thrusters (42.5Kg)
3. 10 x Box Jumps (24")

Finished it all with no real issues. After finishing managed to get 2 ring muscle ups and get my eye back in as they have proved a bit elusive recently, need to keep drilling them.
 
I thought the 1RM's were done, but they were not! Today we had....

30:00

1RM Hang Snatch
1RM Hang Clean

I really surprised myself here. Smashed my PB's and equalled some of my other PB's which commonly should be higher! I hit 85Kg hang snatch and 115Kg hang clean. So it means my technique is what is holding me back on my full snatch and full clean. But great lifts and gives me some huge confidence. Tried 90Kg/120Kg and got so close on both, the 90Kg hang snatch was agonisingly close!

Some videos below:


Finally we finished with...

1K Row

Old PB was 3:22 and I took 8 seconds off this and managed 3:14.1 extremely happy with that but I absolutely hate doing it. It leaves me wanting to pass out, arms and thighs being ruined for a good 20 minutes afterwards. So if I didn't PB it wouldn't have been worth it :D
 
Good lifting! Need to work on that front rack position a little bit but considering its a max out it's not too much of a worry! Do you find Hang easier than from the floor?
 
booyaka said:
Great work - nice videos. Good PB on the row as well.

Might give that a go sometime to set myself a bench mark
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Cheers pal. Definitely set yourself the benchmarks and repeat every 6 months, gives you a great base to check your improvement.

blairw said:
Good lifting! Need to work on that front rack position a little bit but considering its a max out it's not too much of a worry! Do you find Hang easier than from the floor?
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On the rep max efforts obviously there is going to be some technique break down, although I didn't think my front rack was that bad! I seem to be much more comfortable in the hang, not sure why but I need to translate it to my pulls from the floor.
 
Today we moved on to 3RM's and some of the Crossfit girl workouts.

30:00

3RM Front Squat
3RM Back Squat

Good lifting today, felt a little sore until I warmed up (which was hard as it was flipping freezing this morning). Set new PB's of 117.5kg Front and 132.5Kg back. Very happy as the third reps were definitely a struggle on the way up!

WOD "Helen"
15:00

3 Rounds

400m Run
21 x Kettlebell Swings (24Kg)
12 x Pullups

Previous time was 10:57, not a bad time at all. But I said to one of my friends I wanted to go sub 10 minutes this time. I managed 10:05 , ridiculously close to getting it. Swings were unbroken and the pullups were in sets of 6. Grip was difficult to gauge as the temperature played a factor and it wasn't until after the workout and I warmed back up did the forearms really start to pump. Ready to go sub 10 in 6 months time for sure!
 
Another great training day today!

30:00

3RM Split Jerk
3RM Overhead Squat

I have never recorded these before so today was an automatic PB day from the off! But I hit 100Kg for the split jerk and 90Kg for the overhead squat. Overhead squat felt much more stable than when I was doing the 1RM portion so the 3RM is only 5Kg behind that lift. Which should indicate I can nail that 100Kg when I go back to it. As long as the stars align, the body is feeling flexible and I man up. Split jerk was comfortable and definitely happy with the 100Kg, as that is only 11Kg behind the 1RM.

Todays girl WOD is probably one of the most well known of the Crossfit workouts.

"Fran"

21 - 15 - 9

Thrusters (42.5Kg)
Pullups

Been looking forward to doing this again for a long time. The last time I posted a time for this was nearly 18 months ago and I went 7:45. My personal goal was to go sub 5 minutes, but as always my coach turned round looked straight at me and said "Dave I expect sub 4". Gauntlet thrown down! Got a handle on the pre workout nerves which seem to crop up around some workouts and went nuts out. Unbroken thrusters all the way except in the round of 15 which I split 8/7 and pullups were broken down into sets of 7's at the start, then 4's. Posted a time of 3:54 which I am really proud of. Felt like death afterwords but oh so worth it!
 
booyaka said:
holy cow - that's some time there!
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Cheers buddy I definitely felt like I earned that one!

Today was....

30:00

3RM Clean
3RM Power Clean

Oh I do love a good clean! Both lifts felt good today, hit 100Kg for both but missed the 3rd rep at 105Kg for both! Was very frustrating but still 100Kg club is always a good club to be in.

The girl today was....

"Karen"
12:00

150 x Wallballs

We all love a bit of wallballs (or not!), my previous best time was 8:41. Went a good 30 seconds quicker and hit 8:06. Happy with that, still some more time to find with less rest/bigger sets.
 
Last day of 3RM's and the girl workouts.

30:00

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

Had a good set of lifts to hit 58.5Kg/90Kg/97.5Kg. All PB's over 6 months ago, definitely felt I had 100Kg for the push jerk but ran out of time. Look forward to revisiting in 6 months.

12:00

"Grace"

30 x Clean + Jerks (60Kg)

This is one of those workouts I have wanted to do for a while and also never done it before. My coach popped a vid of himself completing in 1:20 this morning which is insane, so I got myself fired up and went head to head with one of the athletes for the fun of it. He posted a 2:29 and I went 2:40! Very happy with that, look forward to next time when I can hopefully shave some time off of that!
 
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