Jesters* Crossfit Journey

[Jester*]

Today was a good one. Enjoyed it!

4 x 12 Bench Press @ 50/60%
Every 2:30

Paired up with one of our old coaches who was back for the day and he improved my bench technique hugely. Which meant weights went up considerably as well. First set at 55Kg, second at 60Kg, third at 62.5Kg and failed at 8 reps on the last set at 65Kg.

WOD1 8:00 EMOM

1. 5 x Power Snatch (60Kg)
2. 10 x Pistol Squats

3:00 Rest

WOD2

1. 12 x Dumbell Lunges (22.5Kg)
2. 10 x Pullups

Really enjoyed this, the power snatch was good and hit all of those reps. The pistols felt horrible after the last few days work and got around 6-8 each minute, occasionally falling over. Now I got told to modify the lunges to make them harder, basically they became dumbells overhead lunges. All the shoulder stability in the world made this insanely difficult and I hit 4/6 reps each time before I became unstable overhead. Pullups were done in sets of 10 and were not a problem.

Tomorrow I will be taking it easy and have my monthly appointment with the sports therapist before going for 18.4 on Saturday.

 

[Jester*]

18.4 Today!

9:00 Cap

21 - 15 - 9

Deadlifts (102Kg)
Handstand Pressups

21 - 15 - 9

Deadlifts (143Kg)
50 Ft Handstand Walk

The bit that made this hard was the actual standard for the handstands. I felt like I was spending 1/2 more seconds pretty much holding the handstand before getting given the rep, which was hugely frustrating and also very taxing on the shoulders. In the end I was 3 reps of finishing the first workout, so 87 reps total.

What I find incredible is the elite level athletes finishing the second workout also within the 9:00.

 

[booyaka]

Good effort all the same - I don't have Handstand Pressups so 21 Deadlifts for me to get a score and then I'll probably have a crack at the Scaled if I have time but submit the Rx score.

 

[Jester*]

Thanks! Glad to not be doing it again anytime soon.

Hard work was done tonight.

37:00 Rolling Clock

0:00 - 12:00
3 Rounds

10 x Clusters (42.5Kg)
15 x Hang Power Cleans
20 x Shoulder to Overhead

12:00 - 14:00 Rest

14:00 - 25:00
3 Rounds

8 x Clusters (52.5Kg)
12 x HPC
16 x STOH

25:00 - 27:00 Rest

27:00 - 37:00
3 Rounds

6 x Clusters (60Kg)
8 x HPC
12 x STOH

Reps went down, weight went up! Second round was the hardest, I really felt as though the clusters were going to bury me. Managed to finish the first round in 11:07, hit cap + 36 reps in round 2 and cap + 23 in the third. Relentless and hard work, roll on tomorrow's session.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday we got to do more shoulders!

4:00 AMRAP

6 x Down Ups
12 x Overhead Squats (20Kg)

Nice little warmup and kept it slow and steady and posted 3 rounds 6 reps.

Snatch singles for efficiency
E2MOM

5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

50% - 60% - 70% - 80% - 90% - 80% - 70% - 60% - 50%

Really enjoyed this, it has been a while since I have done some heavy snatch so to get back under the bar was good. My weights went 42.5/52.5/60/67.5/75Kg. 75Kg has been the heaviest I have snatched in about 3/4 months and it did feel solid.

WOD 15:00

21 - 18 - 15 - 12 - 9 - 6 - 3

Shoulders to Overhead (52.5Kg)
Box Jumps (24")

So happy to see shoulders to overhead again....

Worked my tail off and split the reps in the rounds 21/18/15/12 for the shoulders to overhead then went unbroken for the last 3 sets. Posted a time of 10:17 which I was very happy with.

The burn is real in the shoulders, turns out the next morning was a tough one for the shoulders upon waking up!

 

[Jester*]

Today was a familiar format to what we have been doing recently.

EMOM 32:00

1. 10 x Ring Dips
2. 12 x Box Overs
3. 15 x Cal Row
4. 5 x Chest to Bar - 10 x Lunges (22.5Kg Each Arm)

The box overs and the row were all completed with no major issues. I managed one set of 10 ring dips then scaled it back to 6/7 reps and concentrated on getting the technique spot on as it will improve my ring muscle ups. The I scaled the chest to bar section, to 30 seconds of butterfly chest to bar practice as it is a weakness at the moment. I can do kipping, but that is slow and quite inefficient. But I was stringing together sets of 4 and getting 6/7 reps in the 30 seconds.

A good workout and hard work. Definitely made some progress today.

 

[Jester*]

Grindy day, working on some more weaknesses!

WOD1 12:00
4 Rounds

15 x Wallballs
10 x Pistol Squats (Each Leg)

Got to practice pistols....hurray! Took them slow and steady and finished in 11:27. Definitely feel as if they are getting better!

WOD2 18:00

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

Thrusters (45Kg)
Pullups
Dumbell Snatches (22.5Kg)

This wasn't very fun. Was beginning to hate life half way through round 8! Kept doing thrusters and pullups unbroken while dumbells were broken up every so often. Finished in 14:25!

EMOM 6:00

1. 10 x Situps / 10 x Hollow Rocks
2. 7 x Toes to Bar / 3 x Candlesticks

All the ab work. Finished each round ok, but definitely had a sore core at the end!

Night shift tonight and I will probably be watching the live 18.5 announcement to cast my vote!

 

[Jester*]

Sunday 18.5

7:00
Ascending ladder - 3's

Thrusters (45Kg)
Chest to Bar

3 - 6 - 9 - 12 etc

As always, these workouts are just all out and hurt so bad. Went unbroken until the round of 12's and split thrusters into 6/6 and C2B into 3's. Then the round of 15 is where it smashes into you like a train, Thrusters in 5/5/5 and forearms died so C2B became singles. Hit 88 reps in total just 2 short of finishing the round of 15.

Happy with that, I really wanted to get to the 18's but my C2B efficiency isn't that great at the moment. Something to keep working on for next year.

So the Open is done and dusted, plenty to improve on. Excited for the next years training.

 

[Jester*]

Today was a good session. Back with some strength!

6 x 3 Back Squat @ 85%
Every 3:00

Looks like we might be going back cycling to some strength which is good. Started off at 120Kg for 2 rounds then upped it to 125Kg for the last 4. So just between my 80-85%. Reps felt good, but still a good push in the last round or 2!

WOD 20:00

3 Rounds

12 x Burpee
48 x Double Under
12 x Hang Power Clean (60Kg)
24 x Toes to Bar

Really enjoyed this workout, the main sticking point was the toes to bar. But like the cleans I broke them up from the start 4/4/4 with the cleans and 5/5/5/5/4 with the toes to bar. Started to fail in the last round at around 14 reps of the TTB so ended up switching to singles to finish in 16:51.

Felt like I was moving well, and happy with my time. The forearm pump was crazy, especially after 18.5 yesterday, it feels like they are the biggest muscles in my body at the moment!

 

[Jester*]

Worked hard today!

6 x 5 Touch + Go - Power Clean --> Push Jerk @ 70/80%
Every 1:30

This was a tough one, I was a few kg's off my 70% at 70Kg but it was more than enough to have me working very hard. Got every rep but it was tough in the last 2 rounds.

WOD1 12:00
3 Rounds

20 x Box Jumps
20 x Wallballs
20 x Shoulders to Overhead (42.5Kg)

3:00 Rest

WOD2 12:00
3 Rounds

20 x Box Overs
20 x Burpee over Bar
20 x Hang Power Clean

Yes this was horrible, especially WOD 2 after the ever so gracious 3 minutes rest. Finished WOD1 in 11:09 but it wasn't easy and WOD2 destroyed my will to live on the burpees, hit 2 rounds and 11 reps and the burpees really were what slowed me down. It is all about building that engine slowly but surely.

So with all the scores in for the Open I have my final placings. Obviously a bit of a struggle in weeks 1 and 2 getting over illness and it definitely impacted me. So in Europe I was 5,606/21,219 and in the World 70,922/227,591. So for next year I would like to aim to go sub 4000 in Europe.

 

[booyaka]

Nice one - good open - Congrats.

 

[Jester*]

Thanks mate!

Yesterday was quite a technical day. Really enjoyed it.

5 x 5 Overhead Squat @ 70/80%
Every 2:30

Did the first 2 sets at 70Kg and settled into the movement well, then popped the weight up to 75Kg for the last 3. So close to my 80% and happy with that.

WOD 18:00

10 x Snatch (70Kg)
40 x Air Squats
15 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg)
8 x Snatch
40 x Air Squat
15 x KBS
6 x Snatch
40 x Air Squat
15 x KBS
4 x Snatch
40 x Air Squat
15 x KBS
2 x Snatch

The movement was a full snatch only, and 70Kg for those amounts of reps would have been too much for me so I scaled it back to 60Kg snatches and worked through. It turns out if you do a load of air squats then try and snatch again your technique gets wobbly! But I only missed one snatch, my reps felt good under fatigue but hit cap with 61 reps left. Always enjoy getting some time to drill technique.

 

[Jester*]

Resting today but yesterday pushed hard.

4 x 7 Hook Grip/Touch & Go Deadlift @ 60/70%
2:30

My confidence in this movement is slowly growing but I started off the first set quite conservative and to make sure I was warmed up ok. My sets went 110/120/125/130 all reps completed hook grip and touch and go. The last set was just shy of 80% off my 1RM so I feel like I should test that very soon to see what I am now capable of.

WOD 25:00
5 Rounds

50 x Wallballs
20 x Situps
10 x Strict Pullups

This was a heck of a workout. Having to maintain 5 minute rounds to even hold a chance of finishing was the order of the game. The wallballs were all a mental game, breaking the reps up from the start while controlling the rest to short periods was essential. Situps were for getting your breath back before the pullups. I managed to finish in 24:13 and was properly spent after it.

Went to do some ring muscle ups after but on the first attempt my right calf cramped hard and seemed to ripple beneath my skin, it looked really quite odd. So now the temperatures are starting to rise I need to make sure I have ample electrolytes in my system in and around training to make sure this doesn't happen again. With that in mind High 5 zero tabs have been ordered to help!

 

[Jester*]

Back to Hero WOD Saturdays!

Today was...

Lumberjack 20

30:00

20 x Deadlift (120Kg)
400m Run
20 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg)
400m Run
20 x Overhead Squat (52.5Kg)
400m Run
20 x Burpees
400m Run
20 x Chest to Bars
400m Run
20 x Box Jumps (24")
400m Run
20 x Dumbell Squat Cleans (2 x 22.5Kg)
400m Run

Originally after finishing this workout I felt quite unhappy with my performance. I managed to finish in 28:19. But after checking my last time for this workout (28th Dec 2017 - Page 12) I realised that I in actual fact destroyed my time from 3 months ago. Previous time was 34:05. So nearly 6 minutes faster.

The reason I felt as if I did worse is that the time cap was lowered from 40:00 to 30:00 this time around, with so little time left before hitting cap this time I fooled myself into believing I did worse. A very good reason to keep track of your workouts.

Still a very difficult workout that doesn't play to my strengths but it seems I am improving so definitely over the moon with that.

Hit a set of 4 unbroken ring muscle ups after the session, followed by an unbroken 3. Keep practicing.

 

[booyaka]

superb work as always

 

[Jester*]

Thanks pal. Keep it up also, your progress is looking good.

So we are into Rainhill Trials week, I will be off to Manchester on Saturday before competing for the very first time Sunday. Very much looking forward to it.

Today was a good day of training.

6 x 4 Bench Press @ 85%
Every 2:30

This was good today! Did the first 2 sets at 80Kg, then my partner snuck another 5Kg on the bar without me noticing at first! So I did the last 4 at 85Kg. Really need to attempt a 1RM again as doing sets of 4 only 5Kg below my current RM is silly!

3 x 12 Push Press @ 60%
Every 2:30

Did all 3 sets at 60kg, very happy and all the reps were smooth and controlled.

WOD 20:00
EMOM

1. 15 x Wallballs (20lb)
2. 20 x Double Unders + 7 x Toes to Bar
3. 10 x Burpee Box Jumps (24")
4. Rest

Athlete RX = No Rest Minute

So went for the athlete RX. It went well, scaled back the burpee box jumps to 8 reps after the first round to give myself 20 seconds between them and the wallballs. Otherwise kept unbroken wallballs and DU + TTB through the 20 minutes. With hindsight maybe I should have just gone for all 10 of the burpee box jumps but after coming off a night shift this morning I wanted to not push too hard.

 

[Jester*]

Another consistent session today.

Over Head Squats @ 20Kg - To "Bring sally up....bring sally down"

3 minutes of horror. But at least the shoulders got warm before our complex.

15:00 To Set a Max Load

1 x Snatch
2 x Hang Snatch
5 x Overhead Squat

Enjoyed this complex, 4 lifts in total for me 40/50/60/70Kg. The last 2 OHS on the 70Kg were hard, felt as though my back and shoulder muscles were all firing off to keep the load stable. But made it and definitely happy with the weight.

WOD 12:00 AMRAP

12 x Pistol Squats (6 Each Leg)
24 x One Arm Russian Kettlebell Swings (32Kg - 12 x Each Arm)

Oh pistols, these were a struggle after the first round for me. Legs felt tight and tired. One arm swings were done unbroken and are fine for me. Completed 3 rounds and 8 reps. Not amazing but keep grinding the pistols until they become ..... bareable!

Then had my monthly treatment with the Sports Therapist. Legs got absolutely blasted with massage and cupping. So they should feel spot on for the weekend!

 

[Jester*]

Popped in for my final training session before Rainhill.

EMOM 10:00

1. 20 sec Chin over Bar Hold --> 10 sec Deadhang
2. 30 sec Banded Plank

This was made so much harder by the banded plank hold. Having a green band across your back held between both hands, really forces your shoulders down, so you have to keep them active to hold the plank.

20:00 Team WOD

I go , You go

3 x Snatch (52.5Kg)
15 x Hollow Rocks
30 x Double Unders
3 x Snatch (52.5Kg)

ARX - 70Kg Snatch

I really wanted to do 70Kg snatches but thinking of the weekend I went with touch and go snatch at 52.5Kg. Moved well and happy, now to pack and get hyped for Sunday!

 

[booyaka]

Hope it's gone well today - a few guys from our gym are down there competing! (Probably see them in black and gold hoodies - Dymanic Athlete Program )

 

[Jester*]

Hope it's gone well today - a few guys from our gym are down there competing! (Probably see them in black and gold hoodies - Dymanic Athlete Program )

Yea I saw some of those hoodies around! It went well, I enjoyed my first experience on the competition floor. Learned so much and have loads to work on.

So went up to Manchester Saturday morning, stayed with my fiancees sister, had a good nights rest ready for Sunday.

Arrived just after 8am to get the Athlete briefing at 8:45. While knowing I wasn't hitting the floor until 11am.

WOD1 - Set max load for the complex.
5:00

1 x Cluster
2 x Thruster

3:00 Rest

WOD2
3:00

15 x Toes to Bar
12 x Front Squats (60Kg)
15 x Cal Row

Really enjoyed these 2 workouts, the complex at the start is effectively setting a 3RM thruster which coming into this comp mine was 85Kg. Decided to open with 80Kg, nailed it and felt easy. Second lift I went for it, stuck 90Kg on and hit that, again felt pretty easy. But happy with the PB I took the last 3 minutes of the 5 to rest and get ready for WOD2. Finished 21/55 for the complex.

WOD2 was a straight sprint. I will link the video below. I hit 1:30 with a slight wobble on the very first front squat, which cost me a good few seconds. Fastest time was 1:08 and even though I was barely 22 seconds off this it was only good enough for 41/55!

WOD3
8:00

450m Row
600m Run
750m Row

I knew this one was going to suck major backside. Running being a weakness, I knew the row had to be strong. First 450M went well, held a 1:40/1:45 pace but even then I was the last off the rower then ran the 600m at a pace that I thought was pretty swift. Got back on the rower around the 5:00 mark and got my row on. Managed to keep that 1:40 pace right through catching and passing a few people who went off too hot and only just managed to get the finish in 7:54. I proceeded to find a corner and die for the next few minutes.

WOD4
7:00 AMRAP

8 x Power Clean (60Kg)
8 x Burpee Box Overs (24")
8 x Chest to Bar

I felt I let myself down a little in this workout in a few areas, didn't hold on as long during the power cleans in the round of 3 and broke twice when I should only have broken once. Chest to bars were the killer for me, having only been butterflying these for a few weeks and my grip started to fail. Managed 3 rounds 4 reps. Only a few men managed to make it into the fourth round.

After the dust had settled I found that I finally placed 43/55 after coming in seeded 41st. So overall very happy with how it went. The last 2 workouts weren't my kind of workouts but that is how it goes! Left me wanting to compete again and more importantly showing up areas of weakness, a great experience.

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Never stop smiling. Get back to training tomorrow![/url][/url][/url]