Jesters* Crossfit Journey

[Jester*]

Thursdays work was much harder than originally thought.

3 x 15 Bench Press @ 50%

Nice deload for reps. Did all sets at 50Kg comfortably.

WOD 1 9:00
3 Rounds

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

A good little barbell workout, the bent over rows and strict press were very fatiguing which was the limiting factor in the end. Hit cap with 21 reps left.

WOD 2 12:00
EMOM

1. 50 x Double Unders + 10 x Toes to Bar
2. 10 x Single Arm Dumbell Thrusters (22.5Kg - 10 x Reps Each Arm)
3. 15 x Cal Row

This was the athlete RX version of the regular workout. After all the shoulder work today and in athletes the previous night this was going to be hard. In the end I had to scale back the reps on the double unders to 50/40/35/35, and from the start the dumbell thrusters were 5 reps on each side as the engine was taking a beating. 15 cals on the rower was perfectly fine every round.

I thought the workouts would ease off after benchmarks but no! What will tomorrow bring.

 

[Jester*]

Friday team WOD was a good'un.

40:00 Teams of 2

Cash in - 400m Pairs Run

3 Rounds

25 x Hang Power Cleans (60Kg)
25 x Wallballs

3 Rounds

20 x Hang Power Cleans (60Kg)
20 x Front Rack Lunges (60Kg)

3 Rounds

15 x Hang Power Cleans (60Kg)
15 x Burpee Push Ups

Cash Out - 400m Pairs Run

You could split the reps however you wanted and I had one of the coaches as my partner. He graciously allowed me to do more HPC as I can move the weight better! I felt good all the way through the reps with grip fatigue being the main limiting factor as we went on. Finished in 29:35.

 

[Jester*]

Sunday barbell club was snatch work, which is always some of my favourite work.

Deficit Snatch Deadlift - on 20Kg Plates
E2MOM for 10:00

3 Reps @ 1RM Snatch

Snatch Pulls
Every 45sec - 10 Sets (7:30)

1 Rep @ 110% of 1RM Snatch

Snatch Complex
Every 90 sec, 8 sets (12:00)

1 x Squat Snatch
3 x Hang Squat Snatch
1 x Power Snatch

My weights for the 3 movements were 90/100/60. No weight changes, stuck to slightly over my %'s and 60Kg was a good weight to move for the complex. With little rest between sets it would have been hard to go heavier and maintain good technique.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday. So this was a big day for me for a few reasons, my first double training day and also the first time I've been in a swimming pool since having my eyes lasered. It is hard to describe how much more comfortable it is being able to see your surroundings properly.

Crossfit - AM

Warm Up
3 Rounds (6:00)

12 x Russian KBS (24Kg)
12 x Goblet Squats (24Kg)
12 x Jumping Pullups

Got my warm up on, not too fast not too slow.

Mobilise and Load Barbells for

WOD 30:00

5 x Squat Cleans (80Kg)
5 x Strict Pullups
10 x Squat Cleans (70Kg)
10 x Strict Pullups
20 x Squat Cleans (60Kg)
20 x Strict Pullups
40 x Squat Cleans (42.5Kg)
40 x Handstand Pushups (20Kg Plates)

Athletes - Sub 18:00

This was going to be a tough one to go sub 18:00. I am not ashamed to say I did not make it. Managed to finish the set of 40 cleans by 18:30 and it took much longer to do the HSPU than I originally thought to finish in 25:35. Not bad but I did want to get it done faster.

PM - Swimming

Spent a good 40:00 in the pool clocking up the lengths. Shoulders were tight from the mornings training but it was brilliant to get back in the pool properly.

 

[Jester*]

Wednesday.

AM - Swimming

Got back in the pool and did some more laps for about 35:00. Then they let the ladies in to do some Aqua Aerobics!

PM - Athletes Training

Sprint WOD - No Cap

21 x Power Cleans (70Kg)
15 x Front Squats (80Kg)
9 x Push Press (90Kg)

Looked at this workout and knew the time sink was going to be the push press. So I took the power cleans in quick singles and front squats in sets of 5. Then managed 3/2/2/2 reps on the Push Press to finish in 8:59. Not bad and felt strong.

Skill WOD 12:00
2 Rounds

30 x Weighted Pistol Squats (15 x Each Leg)

5m Handstand Walk (Straight Legs)

3 x Ring Muscle Up (Fluid transitions - No pausing)

30 x Dumbell Snatch (22.5Kg - Unbroken - Alternating Arms)

So this was scaled from the start. My pistol squats aren't strong or fluid enough to go weighted yet so I did bog standard pistols. The handstand walk I spent a minute or so practicing up against the wall but the muscle up and snatches weren't too bad. Not really a workout that relied on the score but got through the first round then 18 more pistols.

The swimming definitely made me feel quite loose for the evening. I am looking forward to seeing if I can make some good changes, and also good recovery by getting in the pool as often as I can. It will mainly be on my days off when I can fit double sessions in. Crossfit will still be taking a priority on the days I am at work.

 

[Jester*]

Thursday - This was some of the hardest squatting we have done in a long time.

Warm Up - For Time

50 x Overhead Reverse Lunges (20Kg Plate)
3 x Laps Prisoner Duck Walk

Duck walks really get the quads going. Amusing warm up that did what it was supposed to do!

Tempo Pause Back Squats - 5 x 5 - Every 3:00
5 Sec Down - 5 Sec in the Hole

Ideally coach wanted us to do 60% of 1RM which for me was going to be 90Kg. But from previous experience of his tempo programming I already knew I was going lighter. Set weights went as follows 70/80/80(DNF)/70/70. Was made to up the weight even though I knew it wasn't sustainable and managed 3 of the 5 reps in set 3 before racking the bar. Felt dizzy and fatigued after every set of 5, pretty sure I wanted to pass out. Never want to do it again.

WOD 13:00

50 x Strict Pullups (On each rep - 2 second pause with chin over bar)

*After every 10 reps complete 15 wallballs*

This was a really good workout. Working that strict strength, using the clock to maintain that 2 second hold at the top. Wallballs were done unbroken and proved a nice little shake off for the arms. Completed in 12:11.

 

[Jester*]

Friday Team Workout!

WOD 40:00

Teams of 3

3km Row
200 x Wallballs
3 Miles Assault Bike
1.2km Run
100 x Dumbell Snatch


Turned out to be a really good workout. Unfortunately due to numbers we were only 2 but managed to finish in 38:58.

Assault bike was possibly the worst part of this, it felt like you were wading through mud on a bike.

 

[Jester*]

After a weekend off, had friends visiting between my shifts. Got back to training Monday.

Warm Up 7:00

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

Wallballs (20lb)
Ground to Overheads (20Kg Plate)

A good little workout, let alone warmup! Finished in 6:18

10:00 Movement Prep

E3MOM - 27:00 (3 Sets)

1. 20 x Pistols (10 Each Leg)
15 x Down Ups
10 x Ring Dips

2. 3 x Rope Climbs

3. 30 Cal Row

ARX - Wearing 10kg Vest

The pistol section of the workout was difficult. Pistols are still a weakness so I decided to scale it over the 3 rounds like so 1. Pistols 2. Down Ups/Ring Dips 3. Pistols. This allowed me to get some movement practice in, while having a round of down ups and ring dips. This was without a vest! But I popped the vest on to complete the rope climbs and cal row each round, without many issues at all. Enjoying some skill based workouts.

 

[Jester*]

I've been super slack in updates, not because I haven't been training. But because myself and the wife adopted a 5 month old German Shepherd cross Husky puppy last week and life has been busy with him settling in! But this is my training from Sunday.

Sunday - Barbell Club

15:00
Coach led barbell warm up

E2MOM for 8 Sets

1 x Snatch @ 60% (5 Seconds to the knee, 5 Seconds in the catch)

Weights went as follows 50/50/52.5/52.5/52.5/52.5/52.5/52.5

It felt really good and my body seems to really respond well to tempo snatch work.

E2MOM for 7 Sets

Power Snatch for Max Load (Not touch and go, but had to start the next lift within a few seconds of putting the bar on the floor)

3 / 3 / 3 / 2 / 2 / 1 / 1

This went really well and my weights went as follows 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 77.5 / 80 / 87.5Kg (PB). As my reps were feeling solid I went for the PB attempt and got it. This was actually a 7.5Kg improvement and matches my current 1RM Squat Snatch!

 

[Jester*]

Monday

This turned out to be a purely WOD day. But what a WOD it was.

Coach led Warm Up 10:00

WOD 28:00

3 Minutes Work - 2 Minutes Rest

200m Run
15 x Toes to Bar
Max Reps Wallballs

*Score is wallballs completed*

Yup this was pretty brutal in the end. My first 3 rounds were quite consistent while I could keep the TTB unbroken. As soon as my midline started to fatigue in sets 4/5 my wallball numbers dropped considerably.

Wallball numbers were: 43 / 38 / 37 / 30 / 28

Horrible and not a workout that suits me, but overall happy with reps completed.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday

The first of 2 days of legs/shoulders work. Which has left me feeling quite tender!

Warm Up 6:00
3 Rounds

20 x Situps
15 x Barbell Good Mornings (20Kg)
15 x Overhead Squats (20Kg)
30 x Single Unders

Coach calls me one of the laziest athletes.... because I always take the warm up super casually and take my time! Always concentrating on form and getting additional stretching in.

Tempo Front Squats
For Max Load - Every 2:30

1 - 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 - 3

*10 seconds to the bottom of the front squat*

Tough tough work, my weights went as follows 95 / 100 / 105 / 110 / 100 / 95. Really happy with the 110Kg as trying to hold the slow pace down was insane.

WOD 3:00 Work 2:00 Rest
4 Rounds

20 x Push Press (60Kg)
Max Reps Strict Pullups

*Score is the pullup reps*

So much fun, with so much shoulder and bicep pump. Numbers were 24 / 21 / 16 / 13

 

[Jester*]

Today

Was sorely hoping for no legs or shoulders work. Oh that didn't happen. I really had to haul myself to training this morning, motivation was lacking.

Warm Up 8:00
2 Rounds

10 x Clean Pulls
8 x Front Squats
6 x Strict Press

Decided to just use the bar as I was feeling very tight and wanted to get moving. Spent time during the 8:00 to add in additional stretches.

WOD 1 15:00
10 Rounds

10 x Back Squat (60Kg)
100m Run

Yea I was feeling this at about round 5. Finished in 13:59 which was good considering how my legs were feeling.

WOD 2 10:00

15 x Strict HSPU (20Kg Plates)
30 x Air Squats
30 x Double Unders

I managed to do 8 reps of the HSPU before having to ditch the plates and just do them from the floor. Shoulders were gone early on! Managed 2 rounds + 5 reps. Got a long way to go with the shoulder strength to maintain those deficit strict reps.

 

[booyaka]

WOD 1 15:00
10 Rounds

10 x Back Squat (60Kg)
100m Run

oh that's looks a good one....Was the run done on treadmill/shuttle runs?

 

[Jester*]

oh that's looks a good one....Was the run done on treadmill/shuttle runs?

Unfortunately it was outside in the rain! Basically out of the unit and across the yard to another units gate and back. Which has been measured!

 

[Maccapacca]

Hey we were doing 2k airdyne this morning in 3 sets and for a joke the others set mine to miles

Was quite demoralizing watching everyone get off when is was just over half way through

Did it though

 

[Jester*]

Assault bike is the devil. Often gets renamed to "Devil Bike" on the board


Thursday

Was a swimming day, was feeling really sore from the start of the week so put in some time at the pool. Starting to mix sprints into the rotations. A good 40 minutes complete.

Friday

Team Workout 31:00
Teams of 2 - AMRAP

31 x Burpees
31 x Double Unders
31 x Deadlift (45Kg)
31 x Push Ups
31 x Box Jumps (24")
31 x Hang Power Cleans (45Kg)
31 x Air Squats
31 x Kettlebell Swings (24Kg)
31 x Shoulders to Overhead (45kg)
31 x Situps
31 x Cal Row
31 x Wallballs (20lb)

Put a hard shift in, myself and my partner hit 2 rounds and 302 reps.

On night shifts this weekend so back to training Monday!

 

[Jester*]

Monday was a tough one.

Warm Up 7:00
3 Rounds

20 x Glute Bridges (20Kg Plate)
20 sec Extended Plank
10 sec Plank
20 x Hollow Rocks

Got those glutes going! Which was very useful as we had....

Pause Back Squat
Every 3:00 - 1 Sec Pause at the Bottom

6 - 4 - 2 - 6 - 4 - 2 (Aim for Max Load)

My weights went as follows 100/110/120/100/115/125. The pause in the bottom definitely added just a little bit extra to the movements!

WOD 20:00
10 Rounds

15 x Wallballs
10 x Toes to Bar
5 x Burpee Box Jumps (24" Box)

This was one of the worst workouts I have done in a while. Needing to stick to 2:00 rounds to even have a shot at getting it all done. I was on target until mid way through the 5th round and then it all went wrong! Managed to get 8 Rounds + 21 Reps at the cap.

Mentally a really tough slog.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday was much fun and coach is really diversifying movements at the moment.

Warm Up 7:00
3 Rounds

10 x Halting Deadlift (35Kg)
8 x L-Arm Bottom Up KB Press (16Kg)
8 x R-Arm Bottom Up KB Press (16Kg)
10 x Back Squat (35Kg)

Bottom up presses are actually really difficult! Trying to keep the kettlebell stabilised, especially on my weak side, was very difficult!

3 x 10 Unbroken Strict Pullups
Every 3:00

We had the option of adding weight if you wanted to. I opted to stick to bodyweight as I cannot remember the last time I did a large unbroken set and wanted to see how I was doing. Every round was good, hit all 10 except in the last round where my coach was counting but he was 1 rep off my actual count....so I did 11 reps instead!

WOD 15:00
3 Rounds

50 x Situps
15 x Push Press (60Kg)
5 x Squat Cleans

Now I was looking at this workout thinking I could set a good time. Most of the movements (apart from situps where I am not the quickest in the world) were right in my ball park. I was right and brutalised the cap and went 11:49. Getting up after the situps and heading to the bar was interesting, as the blood rushing made me a tiny bit dizzy. So had to take a few seconds to compose myself before lifting. The push press were done in 10/5 and the squat cleans were quick singles, except in the last round where I went touch and go.

Zercher Squats
Every 2:00

3 x 10 (Pick Your Weight)

An interesting form of front squat. Lifted 45Kg for all 3 sets.

 

[Jester*]

Athletes Wednesday evening was brilliant.....at the end. The start was less fun.

In Pairs - I go, You go

WOD1 18:00
2 Rounds

100 x Cal Bike
50 x Wallballs
25 x Handstand Pushups (20Kg Plates)

WOD 2 9:00

20 x Reverse Box Jumps (24")
100m Run
20 x Over Box Jumps (24")
100m Run

WOD 3 12:00

Snatch for Combined Total

* 5:00 rest between WOD's *

The I go, You go style meant that we had 9:00 each in the first WOD to try and get the rounds work done. I came off the bike at about 7:30! Hobbled downstairs and got 21 wallballs done in the remaining time. 100 Cals seemed to take forever!

Reverse box jumps were basically jumping backwards onto the box, slightly sketchy but managed not to break my neck. Then having to clear the 24" box was something different, clipped it once and nearly required me to change the undies.

But the Snatch was where it all came together. 70/80/85Kg lifts were hit first time. Then came the 90Kg PB attempts, 2 failures getting ever so close before the clock getting down to the last 26 seconds and I stepped up, lifted and it all came together. Amazingly it felt better and smoother than all of my other snatches. Been chasing this lift for so long and to hit it after all the other work was an amazing feeling. Seems as though the training is working!

 

[Jester*]

With Thursday/Saturday as my rest days I popped in for the team workout Friday.

Warm Up 9:00

21 x DownUps
20 sec Active Hang
1 x Duck Walk Lap
15 x DownUps
20 sec Active Hang
2 x Duck Walk Laps
9 x DownUps
20 sec Active Hang
3 x Duck Walk Laps

Got warm, duck walks always give the legs a nice wake up call.

Teams of 2
40:00

2382m Row

Into

20 Rounds

11 x Toes to Bar
20 x Air Squats
16 x Kettlebell Swings

This was really good fun. We got the row done in roughly 8:30 and moved quickly into the 20 rounds to finish at 35:04. The rounds seemed to go on forever, forearms properly suffered in the final rounds as we split the work pretty much straight down the middle.