Jesters* Crossfit Journey

So last night was my first session with the Athlete team. It has left me...frazzled! All strength work.

30:00 to set

1RM Deadlift (Hook Grip)
1RM Deadlift (Any grip)

Mixed feelings about this, deadlift is a lift that I am not terribly keen on but I would like to improve. Hook gripped my way up to and including 170Kg for a PB. But could I move 175Kg off the floor with any grip, could I heck. Which was really surprising as the 170Kg didn't feel at the very limit of my capabilities. But I do back off quite early to make sure I don't cause myself any injuries. More work needed, especially when you watch your friend rip 240Kg off the floor like it weighs nothing.

WOD 10:00

"King Kong"
3 Rounds

1 x Deadlift (206Kg)
2 x Ring Muscle Ups
3 x Cleans (113Kg)
4 x Handstand Pressups

So heavy, scaled the deadlift to 90% of my 1RM to 155Kg and scaled the clean back to 105Kg. The ring muscle ups and the handstands were just something to give you a break from lifting the bar. The cleans sucked so bad, dropped my last clean with 90 seconds left but thankfully hit it on the next attempt and set myself a time of 9:33. A good benchmark for next time around. But it really fried me, a proper shock to the system.

Cannot wait to do more!
 
Cheers pal!

More PB's today. Definitely on a roll this testing cycle.

30:00 to set

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

Taking no prisoners with the Strict Press using only 3 lifts 50/60/65kg to set the PB. Moving swiftly on to the Push Press 80/90/100Kg to set the PB. Then finishing off with a swift 107.5/110Kg Push Jerk PB. Had one attempt with about 30 seconds remaining for the 120Kg but dropped that, apparently I was close so that will have to give it another shot soon.

EMOM 12:00

1. 10 x Pullups
2. 10 x Thrusters (40Kg)
3. 10 x Box Jumps (24")

Finished all movements within 20-30 seconds each time. No issues and was moving comfortably!
 
A few days worth of updates starting with last Fridays team WOD

Teams of 2/3
45:00 Cap

800m Run
3k Row
100 x KB Taters (24Kg)
400m Run
2k Row
100 x Box Jumps (30")
200m Run
1k Row
100 x KB Snatch (24Kg)

We completed this as a team of 3 in 42:40. I really enjoyed this workout, whilst I wasn't the first in the team back on the 800m run right at the start but I definitely could see my level of conditioning versus the 2 other guys I was with. Maintained a 1:35-1:40 500m pace on my rowing intervals, we were doing 200m intervals. On the final row I brought it in maintaining a 1:30 pace. Made sure I was first back on the 400 and 200 runs. The taters, box jumps and snatches all felt great.

Really good to be able to see what my level is looking like compared to some of my fellows.
 
Barbell Sunday

4 x 10 Alternating leg Split Jerks - Pausing 5 sec in the catch.

Did the first set at 60Kg, but the pause was horrible on the shoulders. So dropped to 50Kg for the rest of the 3 sets. Always very strange to practice split jerk on my non dominant leg!

5:00
Every 30 seconds (10 Lifts)

1 x Hang Clean @ 70%

Straight into 5:00
Every 30 seconds (20 Lifts)

2 x Hang Clean @ 70%

This was ok for the first 5 minutes. But the second 5 minutes was the real test. Grip was really hurting and very tough on the legs. Did all my lifts at 80Kg. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to go much heavier!
 
More benchmark lifts today.

30:00 to set

1RM Hang Clean
3RM Hang Clean

A good set of lifts today with more PB's. The 1RM went something like this 80/100/110/117.5Kg PB then I had 2 attempts at 120Kg and got really close to stabilising the lift but didn't quite get it to stick. Then it seems a quick surprise PB dropped the weight to 100Kg for the 3RM, hit that and then hit 105Kg! We are liking the increasing numbers at the moment!

WOD "Helen"
15:00

3 Rounds

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

Now this is the new 400m route which is closer to 500m! So I knew beating my old time of 10:05 was going to be neigh on impossible. But as always we give it our best shot! Went completely unbroken on every movement until the last set of pullups where I had to break 6/6 as the forearm pump is disgusting. Finished in a time of 11:12. If I take away roughly 1:30 for the extra 300m I ran over the previous route I would have beaten my old time by a good 20 seconds or so. No complaints here very happy with how it went.
 
Good between night shift benchmark work.

30:00 to set

3RM Back Squat
3RM Front Squat

A good set of lifts here, went and broke my 3RM back squat by an easy 7.5Kg to hit 140Kg for 3. I also hit an easy but non PB front squat of 115Kg, only 2.5Kg down, had a decent bit more in me but I am always more cautious when between nights with the lack of sleep and decided to not go any further.

1KM Best Effort Row

One of the few things I truely hate doing is a best effort row. Doing it after 3RM squats is just a little bit mean as well. I hit 3:17.5 which is about 3 seconds down on my PB but all things considered, I am not going to beat myself up over that!
 
Wednesday evening Athletes session was fun and creative!

WOD1 15:00
3 Rounds

10 x Deadlift (140Kg)
20 x Knees to elbows
100m Overhead Walk (70Kg)

This was fun, it is a challenging deadlift for me, so they were done in singles and moved quite consistently. Knees to elbows were pretty straight forward and were done in 5's. The overhead walk was really hard, holding that 70Kg barbell above your head and going for a walk was definitely out of the comfort zone. Active shoulders were burning like a mother after it. Completed 2 rounds on the nose before hitting cap.

WOD2
3:00

40 x Push Jerks (60Kg)

Simple and straight forward, although the shoulders were already sore from the overhead walks previously. Completed in 2:37.

WOD3 12:00
5 Rounds

50ft Handstand Walk
5 x Squat Cleans (100Kg)
1 x Walk the Plank (2 bars)

Seeing as I cannot handstand walk, this was more a case of trying to get used to going up into the position and semi stumble a pace or 2. Made harder by the fact we were doing it outside on the concrete with no safety mats around to ease the landing :D. The squat cleans were pretty emotional, the first one spat me out big time the second one was a power clean and only on the third attempt did I start cleaning properly. Wrists and shoulders were so sore that they were difficult. Walk the plank is exactly how it sounds, walking across 2 bars without falling off.

Great fun session. Really eye opening as the next level of training. Feel like a beginner again.
 
This morning was good, although shoulders were feeling really stiff and sore from last night so not the best condition to be snatching in!

30:00 to set

1RM Hang Snatch
3RM Hang Snatch

Mixed day again, 1RM went something like this 40/50/60/70/80/85 then 3/4 attempts at 90Kg. Again getting so close to nailing this lift it is really starting to tease me and test my patience! 3RM I dropped it to 70Kg then finished on 75Kg. Which I believe is actually a 7Kg PB which is always nice!

WOD 15:00

8 Rounds

200m Run
15 x Thrusters (20Kg Bar)

Hello running my old friend, knew this was going to be a tougher one for me purely trying to maintain that pace. Plus trying to maintain a sub 2:00 round time is inanely quick. I managed 7 rounds on the nose before hitting cap, all the thrusters were unbroken I just slowed a bit on the run. Still, feel as if I am making progress which keeps morale up!
 
Friday team WOD was hard work.

Looked so much easier on the board....as they always do!

WOD 30:00
AMRAP

I go, you go

30 x Double Unders
15 x Pullups
15 x Pressups
15 x Box Overs (24")

Then 5:00 to set

Max Weight partner Deadlift

Had one of the other athletes in the session so we partnered up and went 15 rounds + 58 reps. Then hit 240Kg on the partner deadlift, at the moment that is the max we can fit on our barbells. Box needs thinner weights!

The WOD was tough, the pressups were the first bit that I had to break around round 3/4 as soon as they started to break, pullups started to break as well. Was very rough towards the end!
 
Post bank holiday weekend while I was working everyone else got to train ... boohiss!

Back on it today.

30:00 to set

1RM Power Clean
3RM Power Clean

Double PBs today! 120Kg 1RM and 105Kg 3RM. Felt super happy with these lifts, 125Kg was attempted once and did't get anywhere near that lift! I also dropped the 107.5Kg 3RM on the last rep, otherwise that was also really close.

WOD 16:00
4 Rounds

50 x Air Squats
30 x Pressups
15 x Chin Ups

I cannot remember doing this workout before and miss read chin ups as pullups and was confident I could finish. As soon as I realised it was the alternative, and therefore strict this was going to be a slog. The pressups and chinups sucked! Managed to get 3 rounds and 63 reps before hitting the cap, so only 17 pressups and 15 chin ups remaining. Not bad and looking forward to going again in a few months.
 
Good work done today. For the last lifting rep maxes! Went out on a high!

30:00 to set

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

Was lifting well today, very happy and got 3 more PB's 60kg/91.5Kg/102.5kg. Improvements of 1.5Kg/1.5Kg/5Kg over 6 months ago. Felt comfortable and I was tempted to push harder, but there is no point over doing it.

WOD 15:00

50 x Burpee Box Jumps (24")
50 x Kettlebell Clean + Jerk (32Kg - 25 reps each arm)
50 x Handstand Pressups (20kg Plates)

Decided to give the RX C+J's a shot, a 32Kg kettlebell is never a fun thing to clean and jerk. Got through the burpee box jumps with a steady unbroken pace in around 5:30 and then got ruined by the kettlebell and hit 37 reps before hitting cap. So so tough, but happy with the work I put in. Just have to go faster next time :)

For the first time since mid 2016 and the arrival of the rope rig the box is getting some new equipment, which I am really looking forward. Head coach told me we are getting 1 x ski erg and 3 x assault bikes and some smaller bits of kit. With the intention of adding another ski erg in the future. First time we have had these in the box and it should really help me move my conditioning further forward.
 
Yea after playing about with them and its going to hurt!

Friday team workout!

15:00 To Complete

3 - 6 - 9 - 12 - 15

Thrusters (42.5Kg)
Overbar Burpees

5:00 Rest

15:00 To Complete

15 - 12 - 9 - 6 - 3

Thrusters
Overbar Burpees

Then 400m run while partner holds a 20Kg plate overhead.
Drop the plate and you both have to complete 10 burpees before your partner leaves on the run.

This was a good workout, the way it was done was I completed 3 thrusters, then my partner did, then I did 3 burpees then my partner did. So on and so forth until all the reps had been completed. Set myself the goal of going unbroken through every set of thrusters and managed to hit that. The run was fine but holding the plate above head was horrible and we both dropped it and incurred the burpee penalty each time. We finished in 36:21 and it really really hurt.
 
Today was barbell club.

5:00 EMOM

1 x Back Squat (85%)

Completed all my reps at 130Kg. Felt good, no major struggles!

15:00 EMOM

1 x Snatch (Starting at 60%)

Every successful lift, increase by 2.5Kg.

Started at 60Kg and worked all the way up to and including 85Kg. Then failed the last couple of minutes at 87.5Kg. Very happy with my reps leading up to this weight though.

10:00 EMOM

1. 30 Second banded plank
2. 10 x Weighted sit up and press

Fun ab and shoulder finisher. The banded planks really force you to maintain that straight back or it will force you into a collapse. The weighted situp was with a 12.5Kg dumbell and at the top of the situp you do a shoulder press, 5 reps on each side. Tough but good, all reps completed.
 
Deloading at the moment. Before benchmark workouts start next week.

3 x 15 Bench Press @ 50%
Every 2:30

Did 2 sets at 47.5Kg then the last at 50Kg. Completed all the reps and probably could have gone 50Kg from the start.

WOD1 9:00
3 Rounds

15 x Bent over Row (42.5Kg)
15 x Strict Press (42.5Kg)
15 x Back Squat (42.5Kg)

A fun little workout this one, the strict press was really the limiting factor as shoulders were proper sore from yesterday. Still finished in 7:38.

EMOM 8:00

1. 50 x Single Unders + 10 Situps
2. 10 x Single Arm Dumbell Thrusters (22.5Kg - 5 reps each arm)

Single unders, I had to practice during warmup to remember how to do them it has been so long. I find it easier to double under now-a-days! Got through all the work, happy days!
 
It is tribute time of year. With DDay upon us. Coach creates workouts to suit, with some history tagged along.

"Operation Tonga" - Airborne Drop ahead of DDay

WOD1 : Prepare Supplies + Equipment

Plate Pinch - 20Kg - Each Hand

4 x 45 Seconds on / 15 Seconds Off

Then very 2:00

4 x 10 Hook Grip Deadlift - Touch and Go - @ 60%

Good first workout, the plate pinch is exactly how it sounds, pinch a heavy plate and try and hold on as long as possible. The plates are so fat you cannot get your fingers around the lip well, so you are literally trying to pinch your fingers together. Had to drop to 15Kg plates and even then never made the 45 seconds. The deadlifts were done at 105Kg and were ok, thumbs weren't too destroyed so my hook grip must be getting stronger!

WOD2 : Stay Low/Move Fast

5 Rounds

3:00 Work 3:00 Rest

400m Run
Max Reps Burpees

Oh good, a pure engine workout. With our 400m run being closer to 450-500m I didn't think I would get that close to last years total. But I put max effort into keeping the run as consistent as possible and was between 1:50/2:00 for each round. Which meant I could keep a good burpee pace and managed 16/16/15/15/17 for a total of 79 burpees at the end. Very happy really as I was keeping pace with the better runners in my class, always improving.
 
Athlete training last night with the tribute DDay workout.

Operation Overlord
50:00 - Teams of 3 - 10Kg Weighted Vests

Row to Beach - 3k Row + 4m Assault Bike

Assault the Beach - 100 x WallBalls + 100 x Burpee Box Jumps (24")

Ascend the Cliffs - 20 x Rope Climbs

Assault Enemy Positions - 100 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg) + 50 x Toes to Bar

The Re-Supply - 400m Plate Carry (20Kg)

Casevac the Wounded - 100 x Power Cleans (52.5Kg)

A slug fest of a workout, the same workout was programmed for the rest of the box, but in teams of 4 and no weighted vests. As an additional twist, the rope climbs could be legless as well. I can do a couple without a vest, but didn't really fancy destroying my hands/grip so did "normal" weighted climbs. We made it through in 45:28 and very much enjoyed our little slice of remembrance.
 
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It was brilliant fun! But massively chafed from wearing the vest haha!

Thursday was deload squats and then all engine work.

3 x 12 Back Squat @ 50%
Every 2:30

Then straight into

2 x 8 Back Squat @ 70%
Every 2:30

Legs felt a bit wobbly after doing these sets! Did my 75Kg/105Kg for the 2 weight changes. So after this little blast, we did a workout that requires......your legs to work.

20:00 EMOM

1. 12 x Cal Assault Bike
2. 15 x Cal Row
3. 200m Run
4. Rest

The athlete cals were 15 x Bike and 18 x Row. I managed to hold the 15 cal bike all the way through but had to drop to 15 cal row as the suffering was real. The run.......was hilarious as you have to go down some stairs from the bikes/rowers to go out on the run. Scaled the run to about 150m, mainly because the legs were just dying a painful shuffly death. Great fun though, found the bike to be the stronger of the 2 bits of kit, which surprised me massively.

Friday I was planning on going for a run before work and just doing active recovery. But after that I am just going to take it completely off.

Saturday I have the TEC Mixed Pair online workout 1. Which should be good fun!
 
Saturday - Tec Mixed Pairs 18.1

20:00 Rolling Clock

8:00 AMRAP

30 x Hang Dumbell Clean + Jerk (22.5Kg)
30 x Toes to Bar
12 x Synchro Burpees
20 x Hang Dumbell Clean + Jerk
20 x Toes to Bar
12 x Synchro Burpees
10 x Hang Dumbell Clean+ Jerk
10 x Toes to Bar
12 x Synchro Burpees

4:00 Rest

8:00 AMRAP

30 x Alternating Dumbell Snatch (22.5Kg)
30 x Pullups
12 x Synchro Burpees
20 x Alternating Dumbell Snatch
20 x Pullups
12 x Synchro Burpees
10 x Alternating Dumbell Snatch
10 x Pullups
12 x Synchro Burpees

My first mixed pairs workout in a compeition setting and had a great time, we have 2 more workouts to complete. So we managed to go through 1 whole round and then get 43 reps into the second round for a total of 197 reps. Then again got through the first round of the second workout and got 34 reps into the second round for 190 reps. So our total score was 387 reps.
 
Athlete training today. We got to do more fun things, while throwing around a heavy barbell.

Handstand Walk Practice

The following workouts had 5 minutes rest between them.

WOD1 9:00

3 Rounds

50 x Double Unders
10 x Clean + Jerk (70Kg)

A fun first workout, quite up my street and got all the work done in 7:53.

WOD2 9:00

4 Rounds

15 x Situps
10 x Toes to Bar
2 x Legless Rope climbs

This was a pretty mean workout. Grip suffered and the core work really affected my ability to legless ropeclimb. Got through 2 rounds and 10 reps before hitting cap. Still happy with this as I managed 4 legless rope climbs!

WOD3 9:00

9 - 6 - 3

Squat Snatch (70Kg)
Burpee Box Overs (30" Box)

Now I really enjoy my snatch work but after the previous workouts this was tough going. My snatches felt good and only failed one rep, they improved the more I completed but unfortunately needed about 90 more seconds to finish and hit cap with just 5 reps remaining. The high box for the box overs was pretty tough using up valuable leg power!

Overall really enjoying these harder, more technical Athlete workouts. I am sure this will push me further and further ahead.
 
Benchmark Work started Monday.

Benchmark #4

WOD 20:00

1 RD
800m Run
80 x Double Unders
21 x Hang Power Cleans (60Kg)

2RDs
400m
40 x Double Unders
15 x Hang Power Cleans

3RDs
200m
20 x Double Unders
9 x Hang Power Cleans

Enjoyed this more than the last time I had to do it. With the increased running route I wasn't expecting to improve but I did. Hit cap but was 6 double unders through the second 200m round. Close to a round improvement. Hang power cleans were much quicker and cleaner this time around.

Front Squat
Lifting every 2:30

1 x 12 @ 60% (77.5Kg)
1 x 10 @ 65% (82.5Kg)
1 x 8 @ 70% (87.5Kg)
1 x 6 @ 75% (92.5Kg)

2.5Kg improvements across all lifts which is what I was wanting to do. Still felt absolutely horrendous though!
 
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