Jesters* Crossfit Journey

[Jester*]

Monday was not the best session, post night shift and feeling slightly frustrated in general led to a decidedly average performance really on my behalf.

Warm Up : 10:00

30 - 20 - 10

Alt Jumping Lunge
Alt KB Snatch (24Kg)
KB Side Bends

I decided to complete using the 20Kg KB as I wanted to warm up a little gently.

Back Squat

8 x 3 @ 70% Speed Work
Every 2:00

Hit my percentage comfortably of 105Kg. The speed work was moving quickly (but controlled) through the reps not pausing at the top.

WOD 12:00

30 - 40 - 50

Dumbell Single Arm Thrusters (22.5Kg)
Situps

For some reason I got immensely frustrated in this workout. Felt as if I was moving through mud on the situps and the thrusters just went badly. Wanted to throw toys out of the pram. Hit cap with 9 situps left which just rubbed me up the wrong way. Oh well, the next days will be better I am sure.

Managed to find a little bit of time to throw myself upside down and get more handstand walk practice in.

 

[booyaka]

good days and bad - onwards and upwards champ!

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday was some solid snatch work with an aim of drilling technique rather than all out pace.

Warm Up 7:00

3 Rounds

30 sec Plank
12 x Kettlebell Swings (24Kg)
8 x Overhead Squats (20Kg Bar)
4 x Jumping Pullups

Pretty straight forward and got the blood pumping nicely!

WOD 15:00
AMRAP

5 x Squat Snatch (70% of 1RM)
5 x Strict Chest to Bar Pullups

Really enjoyed this and did all my snatch reps at 66Kg. No misses and only 2 reps had me stepping forward slightly off balance. Strict chest to bars were fine!

Every 2:30

4 x 8 Narrow Grip Bench Press @ 65%

I did the first set at 60Kg and this was a little too easy so popped up to 70Kg and that turned out to be a nice sweet spot for me. Got all the work done.

 

[Jester*]

Wednesday was a bad day.

This is what I was meant to do in the athletes session.

20:00 Warm Up

Mixed Stretching/Empty Barbell Work

0 - 12:00

1 Mile Run
Max Reps Snatch @ 70Kg

12:00 - 15:00 Rest

15:00 - 25:00

800m Run
20 x Back Squat (100Kg)
8 x Rope Climbs

25:00 - 28:00
AMRAP

5 x Deadlift (100Kg)
5 x Strict Handstand Pushup

So things went really badly for me, wasn't feeling too bad at the start of the session, but I have been fighting off what I think is hayfever which I seem to get around rapeseed time for the last year or 2.

But on the last 400m of the mile run my chest tightened up and I couldn't breathe to which I think may have been a bit of a panic attack.

The stress of everything that is happening away from the box and at home with my family is manifesting and showing that I am really not ok at the moment, maybe mentally I am starting to crack and it is taking its toll physically. I finally told my coach what has been going on and the harm it is doing, I am glad I have opened up to some of the people around me, people I train with day in and day out, that have become more like a second family.

 

[Jester*]

Thursday

Today was better, slept better and gave myself some slack.

Warm Up 7:00
3 Rounds

200m Jog
15 x Good Mornings (20Kg Bar)
15 x Push Press (20Kg Bar)

Did the warm up bit as always. Chilly today on the run, summer needs to hurry up!

Push Press - 4 x 8 @ 70%
Every 2:30

Did all of my sets at 70Kg. Felt like I was moving very well and consistently, technique was good.

WOD 15:00

10 x Strict Handstand Pushups (20Kg Plate Deficit)
15 x Toes to Bar

These kinds of HSPU are so taxing on the shoulders that I know when I hit that wall it really is bad news bears. In the end I managed 2 rounds + 2 reps. Slow singles became the name of the game and the toes to bar were a short rest between throwing myself upside down again.

After the workout I helped one of my fellow athletes refine his rope climb technique and did some Handstand walking. So much more consistency and confidence. Excited to see how much more I can do.

 

[booyaka]

Hope you battle through whatever is going on just now. I know what you mean about family/gym folk.

 

[Jester*]

Thanks Booya.

After a solid 3 days of rest, which felt like much longer than 3 days. We got back into the box this morning and got training.

WOD1 12:00
7 Rounds

10 x Pressups
20 x Situps

This was meant to be the warmup but as soon as the coach said the scores would be recorded then it becomes a WOD in my eyes! So we got a shift on and finished in 8:02. Definitely felt warm at the end of it. Along with being a little bit dizzy.

Strict Press - 5 x 7 @ 55%-65% of 1RM
Every 2:30

Felt really good and hit my percentages finishing on about 65%. Weights were 40/40/40/42.5/42.5.

WOD2 12:00

10 x Muscle Clean (50Kg)
25 x Front Squat
800m Run
25 x Front Squat
10 x Muscle Clean

A fast and frantic WOD. Having not really muscle cleaned before this was something slightly different, but did them in sets of 5 to not redline too fast. The front squats sucked, no other way of saying it, especially after a juicy 800m run. I finished in 9:30.

More handstand walk work after, but felt very tight and stabilising with the core was very hard after all the situps at the start.

 

[Jester*]

Tuesday went well. Some good kettlebell snatch work proved to be the toughest part of the session.

Warm Up - 10:00
2 Rounds

1:00 Scapular Circles
50 x Hip Hinges
20 x Overhead Squats (20Kg Bar)
10 x Strict Pullups

Good warmup work.

Overhead Squat 4 x 7 @ 60%
Every 2:30

*5 sec Pause on Rep 1 and 7*

Stuck to my percentages on this one and hit 60Kg for all sets.

WOD 1RFT (20:00 Clock)

20 x Kettlebell Snatch (32Kg)
15 x Hang Power Cleans (60Kg)
10 x Strict Chest to Bar

Rest 2:00

Then 3 rounds of the above in the remaining time.

I moved steady on the snatches, not particularly fast but got the first round done in 6:30. Only managed 1 round + 16 for the rest of the workout. But my technique was good all the way through and maintained full strict chest to bars.

 

[Jester*]

Wednesday was accessory day! It was also extremely tough work for the shoulders. Handstands!

2 Rounds - 8:00

HS Wall Facing Hold

30 sec on - 30 sec off
45 sec on - 15 sec off
60 on
60 Rest

Its been a hard week for the ol' shoulders. I managed to get all the way through to the last 60 seconds, after 10 seconds I dropped down. A little too much.

3:00 Rest

1 Round - 5:00

40 x HS March
30 x HS Shoulder Taps
20 x Thigh Taps

Movements that increase in difficulty. HS march was straight forward, HS shoulder taps were harder and I only managed 3 thigh taps. Must get quicker at doing those!

5:00 HS Walk Progression

Spent a few minutes doing some walking, shoulders were definitely feeling the accessory work.

3 Sets - Every 90 Seconds

Max Strict Pullups

Managed to string together a good few of these 13/7/6 to give an overall total of 26 reps.

Single Arm Rows - 3 x 15
Every 1:30 @ 22.5Kg

As with most of this session. Got the work done!

WOD 5:00

50 x Plate GTOH + Squat (20Kg)

I had a few issues with this, didn't like the movement very much. Having to shuffle the plate into the goblet position after the GTOH was awkward. Done in 4:56 after spending 3:00 finding the best way to squat with the plate without resting the arms on legs or the body.

Had a session with the Sports Therapist and she went to town on my back and arms. Felt horrendous and I definitely seem to be holding a lot of stress and tension in my back.

Thursday was definitely a rest day.

 

[Jester*]

Friday team workout was great fun.

15:00 Coach Led Warmup

WOD 30:00

In Pairs

Cash in - 100m Partner Carry

AMRAP

15 x Kettlebell Swings (24Kg)
10 x Box Jumps (24")
5 x GTOS (40Kg D-Ball)

While one partner does the above AMRAP the other completes :

150 x Wallballs

When both partners have completed 150 wallballs each, continue the AMRAP splitting the reps however you want.

A very tough workout, constant work for 30:00. I did the wallballs second and felt like I was moving through mud. In the end we completed 16 rounds + 18 reps.

 

[Jester*]

After a stag weekend Monday didn't go too badly all things considered!

Warm Up 8:00
3 Rounds

10 x Sumo Deadlift (30Kg)
5 x Sumo DL High Pull
100m Waiters Carry (24Kg)

A good warm up, got moving and felt good.

WOD 20:00 AMRAP

800m Run
15 x Box Jumps (24")
10 x Strict TTB

Simple but good workout. Managed to hold 4:00 800m's which I was happy with, kept my toes to bar strict and got 3 rounds + 100m. Solid work done!

Sumo Deadlift - 3 x 6 @ 70%
Rest 2:00 Between Sets

Did all my sets at 120Kg. All reps were good and feeling strong at the moment. Hopefully we are on an upward swing for training at the moment.

 

[Jester*]

Had to take the dogs to the vets Tuesday, so I went to the late Barbell Club session. Turned out to be a really good choice!

15:00 Coach led Warmup

EMOM

00:00 - 04:00 2 x Clean + Jerk @ 70%

05:00 - 09:00 1 x Clean + Jerk @ 80%

A fun little EMOM to kick us off. First set was done at 80Kg and the second set was done at 90Kg.

Clean Grip Deadlift - 2 x 3 @ 120% of 1RM Clean
Every 2:30

A chance to overload before the rest of the session. Did all my lifts at 145Kg.

15:00 Clock - Every 1:30 Complete 1 x Clean + Jerk
Starting at 60% increase by 5% every successful lift.

This was where the magic happened, it has been a long time since I completed heavy clean and jerks. Didn't miss any lifts all the way up to a new 1RM.

Lifts went as follows 70/75/80/85/90/95/100/105/110/115

115Kg being a new PB, an increase of 4Kg and it felt really smooth. I managed to get under the 120Kg clean attempt after it but caught it slightly wrong, which would have equalled my current clean PB.

Cheeky video of the 115Kg.

 

[Jester*]

Accessory Wednesday! So lots of varied movements.

4 Rounds - 14:00

10 x Barbell Glute Bridges (35Kg) - With 2 sec pause
20 x Situps
10 x Jumping Pullups - 5 second negative

None of the work done today was really against the clock so focused on getting that pause each rep and the full 5 seconds on the negatives. Got all the feels in the booty and traps after this.

Strict Pendlay / Bent Over Row - 4 x 8
Every 2:00

Pick your own weight for these, so I did 40kg and moved slow and controlled.

4 Rounds - 90 sec Work / 30 Sec Rest

12 x Strict Press (35Kg)
Max Strict Pullups (In singles , so come down to full extension then drop off the rig - no dropping from the top of the rep)

Good work here, really hitting the shoulders and broceps. Managed 13/10/10/8 of good solid reps.

Bulgarian Split Squats - 3 x 10 (Each Leg)
Every 3:00

So 3:00 to do 10 reps on each leg. Again pick your own weight, but the weight had to be in the front rack position. Started off with a 32Kg kettle bell for the first round, but really didn't feel solid while doing them. So dropped to 24Kg for the last 2 rounds to get a better controlled rep.

More handstand work after all of this. Shoulders were brutalised!

 

[Jester*]

Thursday was back to a more traditional affair. Of a shed tonne of work.

Warm Up 6:00
2 Rounds

25 x Single Unders
10 x Strict Press (20Kg Bar)
25 x Air Squats
10 x Candle Sticks

Got warm, felt like an old man to start with, aches everywhere.

WOD - 25:00

800m Run Cash In

10 Rounds

10 x Handstand Pushups
10 x Pistol Squats

800m Run Cash Out

Soooooo this happened. Pistols are not a strong movement for me, however they felt the best they have ever done today. Even considering the split squats yesterday. My technique is getting better and I am starting to cycle them faster. Handstands were done in sets of 10 unbroken. Finished off all of the rounds and got 200m of the final run done before hitting cap. The ARX standard was sub 18:00, which would have meant me doing 1:00 rounds which at the moment is no where near possible. I was roughly 2:00 per round.

Front Squats
Every 2:00

3 @ 70%
2 @ 75%
1 @ 80%
1 @ 85%
1 @ 90%

So a cheeky leg finisher to end the day. Weights went as follows 85/90/95/100/110.

Handstand walk work to finish, but I didn't do this for too long as the shoulders were very fatigued.

 

[booyaka]

nice PR - looked easy

 

[Jester*]

nice PR - looked easy

Thanks pal! Hopefully there will be a few coming as we are going into 1RM testing in May.

Good Friday Team WOD

In Pairs - 60:00

1 Mile Run

80 x Toes To Bar
120 x Pullups
160 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg)
180 x Pushups
200 x Air Squats

1 Mile Run

*While one partner is working, the other holds a 9kg ball*

Dropping the ball = 10 x Burpee penalty each.

Not much really to say about this workout. Except head down and get to work. Myself and my partner finished in 57:07. Really enjoyed it!

 

[Jester*]

After 3 days of rest (shift work getting in the way of training over the bank holiday)

Today was a good little workout.

Warm Up 6:00

30 sec Plank Hold
15 x Kettlebell Swings
10 x Goblet Step Ups (20Kg - 24" Box)

Got warm, did some work.

Back Squat

10:00 to warm up to a heavy 3. At roughly 80% of 1RM.

Then

Every 2:00 for 10:00

1 x Back Squat @ 50%
30 Seconds down - 1 sec up

This was good, the longest tempo our coach has ever programmed. Did 120Kg for my heavy 3 then did all the tempo sets at 75Kg. All on my percentages.

WOD 10:00

3 Rounds

24 x Air Squats
18 x Box Jumps
12 x Kettlebell Swings (32Kg)
6 x Strict Pullups

A good little sprint workout, decided against pylometric box jumps for fear of stacking it! Did the swings unbroken and surprisingly enough the strict pullups had to be done in 2's. Mad forearm pump from the swings. Finished in 7:37. Happy with that.

 

[Jester*]

I have been training but haven't updated in a week, so I will start from yesterday and the start of our Benchmark workouts.

They have been slightly altered to allow for more time, items added or removed to the programming. So far there have been some good improvements.

Benchmark #7

Warm Up 12:00
2 Rounds

10 x Clean Pulls
20 x Hollow Rocks
10 x Max Height Squat Jumps
20 x Supermans
10 x Spiderman Lunges (Each Leg)
20 x Down Ups
10 x 3 Position Power Cleans
20 x Cossack Squats

Lots of movements to move and get warm.

5 x 5 Touch and Go Power Cleans @ 80%
Every 2:00 for 10:00

This went really well. Went heavier, previous best was 96Kg for all 5. This time went 97.5Kg for 3 then 100Kg for 2. Always good to break into that 100Kg.

WOD 9:00 AMRAP

2 x Squat Cleans @ 80Kg
4 x HSPU (20Kg Plates)
8 x Pullups

So I sold my soul for this one and managed to improve. Getting 8 rounds + 5 reps. This was a 3 rep improvement, I did however get the 6 rep in bang on the buzzer but coach called it a no-rep but marginal at best. Very happy with the double PB on these.

 

[Jester*]

Benchmark #5

10:00 min cap

100 x Double Unders
150 x Situps

This was a so so workout again for myself. Went 60 DU unbroken, but then managed to trip almost every 10 DU until 100. Then finished the situps by 7:56, so better than 6 months but still not near my PB.

2 x 8 Front Rack Lunges (4 each leg)
2 x 8 Front Rack Reverse Lunges (4 each leg)

This was one of the changes, to include the reverse lunges. But it didn't go that well for me, 77.5kg for the regular lunges, upped it to 80Kg and failed both sets which was really unusual. Better luck in 6 months.

Final workout is an ascending ladder in 3's. AMRAP for total reps.

3 x Shoulders to overhead (60Kg)
3 x Box jump (24")
6 x
6 x
9 x
9 x

Decent improvements here, another 5 x STOH reps to push my total reps up to 139. So 13 reps into the round of 21. Definitely sore now!

 

[Jester*]

Accessory Wednesday was a lot of tough work on the shoulders and triceps.

6:00 EMOM

5 x Hollow Rocks - 3 sec pause hold each rep.

5:00 EMOM

5 x Strict Transitional Push Up
ARX - 5 x Russian Dips in 10Kg Vest

These 2 were performed as one 11:00 rolling clock. Hollow rocks were fine, keeping that core engaged throughout. The russian dips were insane, didn't use a vest and only managed 3 per minute. Very difficult but very good work for muscle ups.

Every 30 secs for 5:00

Between 1 - 5 Ring Dips
ARX - Wear 10Kg Vest

So I started out hitting 5 in a vest, that dropped to 4, then 3 before I could only manage 2 per 30 seconds at the end. Hard as nails.

6:00 EMOM

Box L-Sit Hold (15 sec on 45 sec off)

We ran out of boxes, so I had to use the rings instead! Felt surprisingly decent on the rings!

10:00

40 x Handstand March
30 x Handstand Shoulder Taps
20 x Handstand Thigh Taps

Did much better this time round, managed to get 12 thigh taps with much better body control throughout all reps. Slow improvements.

3:00 EMOM

5 x Jumping Pull Up Negatives
5 sec negative per rep.

ARX - Wear 10Kg Vest

This wasn't too bad. Managed to maintain solid control all the way through.