Man you are getting fucking strong I think your front squats are beating me now! Training alone seems to be kicking your ass into high gear but if you’re ever around Cuse feel free to come in and kick some ass. Snatch grips are getting nasty too.
lol I don’t buy that for a second man, I’m sure you’d get it up to par within three weeks as long as you aren’t laughed out of Hercs for doing something that’s not a low bar squat
Phase 3
Wednesday - 03JAUG11 - Upper 1
Incline Bench Press
185x3
195x3
205x3
205x3
185x5
175x5
Blast Strap Pushup
3x7xMonster Mini, 1x10xBW
Seated Cable Row - Supinated
172.5x7 2x7x180, 1x10x157.5
Face Pull w/External Rotation
2x10x65, 1x10x45
BTN Band Pullapart
3x12xMonster Mini
Got stapled by 205 on the Incline not that long ago so I’ll consider this a victory session.
Phase 3
Friday - 05AUG11 - Lower #2
Speed Squat
10x2x60% as 230
Rack Pull from Below Knees
410x5
415x5
415x5
395x7
395x7
Wall Ankle Mobilization
Superset with Rack Pulls
DB Reverse Lunge From Deficit
3x7x55, 1x10x50
Split Stance Cable Lift
3x10x35
Bulgarian Split Squat Iso Hold
3x30s
Forgot to video the Speed Squats, my bad. Was too focused on not making them suck like last week- they ended up being better but still a little slow. I can barely describe just how much better the Rack Pulls were this week without a sore back, it was incredible.
Too much forward lean on the lunges, Split Stance Cable Lift form is probably fucked 12 ways to Sunday but there’s a reason I take all these videos. Despite the flaws I was really happy with today.
Phase 3Saturday - 06AUG11 - Upper 2
Speed Pin Press
10x3x60% as 160
Seated Cable Row - Neutral Grip
3x5x190, 2x7x170
DB Push Press
3x5x65, 2x7x60
Straight Arm Pulldown
3x12x#80
Lying DB Extension
3x10x25, 25, 30
Camera ended up dying so I did as best as I could with my phone. Not much to say about this except that I ended up supersetting the Extensions with Lying DB Curls and my elbow pain was easily 10% as harsh as usual. I’ve been racking my brain for some kind of anatomical explanation and can’t come up with anything. I’ll do the same thing next week and if it happens again I’m sticking with it no questions asked.
Good luck with the program. Do you get one hell of a pump working bak and forth from straight bar pressdowns and the lying ext?
Phase 3
Monday - 01AUG11 - Lower 1
Front Box Squat
275x2
285x2
265x4
90/90 Stretch
15s each side
Speed Deadlift
omit this week
Walking DB Lunge
2x7x60, 1x10x50
Dragon Flag Partials
2x12
DB Suitcase Deadlift
2x10x80
Box Squats felt much better (recurring theme- week 1 suck, week 2 and 3 add 20-30 lbs). I had some more room to improve on this but the Anderson Front Squats next phase will be enough suck to embrace.
Reintroduced myself to 20s/40s Airdyne intervals after this. Blech.
jholla - Thanks for dropping by man. I use supersets mainly to save time, but that is one good side effect!
Phase 3
Wednesday - 10JAUG11 - Upper 1
Incline Bench Press
215x2
225x1
205x4
Blast Strap Pushup
2x7xMonster Mini, 1x10xBW
Seated Cable Row - Supinated
2x7x185, 1x10x165
Face Pull w/External Rotation
3x10x45
BTN Band Pullapart
3x12xMonster Mini
Had to wait half an hour for the rack to open up while three Crossfitters supersetted benching and kipping pullups. Almost shot myself.
Phase 3
Saturday - 13AUG11 - Upper 2
Speed Pin Press
5x3x55% as 145
265x2
275x2
285x1
Seated Cable Row - Neutral Grip
2x5x195
1x7x175
DB Push Press
1x5x70
1x7x60
Straight Arm Pulldown
3x12x#85
Lying DB Extension
omit as per the program
Pin Presses were awesome. The setup ended up being slightly higher than last week but not by much. I got in a good pause on the pins on all the reps. The first rep with 285 was decent, I strained on the second but it was just moving too slow to lockout. Still a great day all in all, especially considering I woke up at like 9:45 and went to the gym at 10.
Just realized that I uploaded these workouts out of order.
One thing I forgot to mention in Wednesday’s session was that I pushed the Prowler after the session- five 30m down and back trips with 90 lbs. Sucks but that’s why I’m throwing it up here, to improve on it. Quad pump was almost painful, but surprisingly Thursday and Friday I had incredibly sore hip flexors. I’ve never seen anyone mention this before with Prowler work so I thought it was pretty strange.
Phase 3
Friday - 12AUG11 - Lower #2
Speed Squat
5x2x55% as 210
365x2
365x2
Rack Pull from Below Knees (lower this week, almost midshin)
405x5
405x5
385x7
Wall Ankle Mobilization
Superset with Rack Pulls
DB Reverse Lunge From Deficit
55x5
55x5
50x7
Split Stance Cable Lift
Omit as per the program
Bulgarian Split Squat Iso Hold
1x30s
Speed was great today. Both doubles with 365 were really solid. The more I work with 90%+ weights the more the importance of staying tight gets drilled into my head. I’ve definitely lost squats before to simple lapses in concentration and it’s not a good feeling.
Phase 4
Monday - 15AUG11 - Lower #1
Anderson Front Squat
265x1
275x1
285x1
275x1
265x1
265x1
265x1
Speed Deadlift
8x1x60% as 275
Barbell Reverse Lunge w/Front Squat Grip
4x8x95
Pallof Press
3x10
Airdyne
6x20s/40s
Cardio: Prowler, 6 down and back trips of 30m with 90 lbs.
New phase, last phase. Always inspiring. Felt really good today and the weights showed it. The rack I used let me set the pins perfectly at the bottom of the front squat, got a good pause on all the reps. Speeds were fast as hell, and the front squat grip reverse lunges really helped me stay upright.
Phase 4
Wednesday - 17AUG11 - Upper #1
Close Grip Incline
195x1
205x1
215x1
215x1
205x1
205x1
205x1
Decline Close Grip
175x8, 3x8x185
Seated Cable Row - Medium/Neutral Grip
150x8, 3x8x157.5
[u]DB Hammer Curl[u]
3x8x30
Scapular Wall Slide
3x12
This was like a blast from the past, a lot of variations I haven’t done in at least a year if not more. Incline and Decline Close Grip are pure tricep movements and somehow still feel very different but worthwhile.
Phase 4
Friday - 19AUG11 - Lower #2
Speed Box Squat
10x2x50% as 195
Natural GHR
4x5
DB Forward Lunge
70x6, 2x6x60
Pistol to Box (lower this month)
3x5 (program calls for 3x10 but thats not happening)
Ab Wheel from Deficit
3x12
Hunted down some aerobic steps and set up four risers plus the step itself. If I had to estimate I’d say it’s around 10-12 inches which puts me well below parallel. These things are not a joke despite the hilarious colors, I’ve seen them support 700 lbs with no strain at all before. Speed off the box was good but not great. I still suck at natural GHRs, my eccentric strength is gone after the first set.
Phase 4
Saturday - 20AUG11 - Upper #2
Speed Bench
10x3x50% as 135
Close Grip Floor Press
205x5
195x5
195x5
195x5
175x7
175x7
Weighted Pullup - Neutral Grip
+25x5
+30x5
+35x5
+35x5
One Arm DB Row
2x10x110
Seated DB Extension (subbed for Close Grip Pushups)
2x10x35
Slogged through this whole session. Went to bed too late, didn’t take any stims, blah blah. Bottom line is that it was my fault. Speed was pretty bad as a result, but the pullups are a PR.
Conan the Barbarian is absolutely terrible by the way, I haven’t had an urge to walk out of a movie like that since Jonah Hex.
I felt like Epic Meal Time redeemed themselves with this one, they’ve been getting kind of old with their material.
Phase 4
Monday - 22AUG11 - Lower #1
Anderson Front Squat
275x1
295x1
285x1
275x1
275x1
Speed Deadlift
8x1x65% as 295
Barbell Reverse Lunge w/Front Squat Grip
3x8x105
Pallof Press
3x8x#7.5
Squats felt great today but I got to the gym late because of some job searching and I only had time to Front Squat before I had to rush to my current job, did the rest after work.
Phase 4
Wednesday - 24AUG11 - Upper #1
Close Grip Incline
195x1
205x1
215x1
220x1
225x1 huge PR
Decline Close Grip
185x8, 195x8, 205x8
Seated Cable Row - Medium/Neutral Grip
165x8, 172.5x8, 172.5x8
DB Hammer Curl
30x12, 30x12, 35x12
Scapular Wall Slide
3x12
Airdyne, 7 sets of 20s work : 40s rest
Tried a free sample I had of some Animal Rage instead of my usual nicotine. Tasted like candied piss and didn’t do anything for me, I think I’ll stick with the gum and the occasional Spike.
I did get a huge PR of 225x1 on the Close Grip Incline. It really wasn’t that long ago that I was doing 135x3 (Incline has always been really weak) so this was a huge confidence booster for me. Everything else was fast and easy, even the Airdyne didn’t suck quite as much for a change.
Alright guys, I’m just going to throw both of these up here since I’m not sure when I’ll be able to update next. I’m waiting to find out from my Captain whether we’re being called up for disaster relief or not. I really hope the city gets spared the mass of this thing.
Phase 4
Friday - 26AUG11 - Lower #2
Speed Box Squat
8x2x55% as 210
315x2
335x2
Natural GHR
3x5
DB Forward Lunge
3x5x65
Pistol to Box (lower this month)
3x7
Ab Wheel from Deficit
3x12
Speed was just ok, low box really takes all the stretch reflex out. My right hip has been getting increasingly irritated through the program, probably because of all the single leg work. I injured my right psoas at almost this point in the program three years ago so I think it’s safe to say that they’re related somehow. This cuts down on my speed out of the hole and sucks in general. I’m going to keep hammering the ankle flexibility and hip internal rotation and see if I can reduce it somewhat.
Phase 4
Saturday - 27AUG11 - Upper #2
Speed Bench
8x3x50% as 145
265x2 hell yea PR
255x2
Close Grip Floor Press
205x5
210x5
215x5
195x7
Weighted Pullup - Neutral Grip
+35x5
+40x5
+45x5
One Arm DB Row
2x11x110
Seated DB Extension (subbed for Close Grip Pushups)
2x12x30
Yesterdays suckitude replaced with PR awesome. I cannot describe what it’s like to see my bench actually getting stronger, I spent so long in plateau and regression land that I forgot what it felt like.
Phase 4
Monday - 29AUG11 - Lower #1
Sumo Deadlift
395x1
405x1
415x1
425x1
435x1
415x1
415x1
415x1
415x1
Speed Deadlift
8x1x70% as 320
Barbell Reverse Lunge w/Front Squat Grip
4x8x115
Pallof Press
3x8x#7.5
435x1 is a 70 lb sumo PR. I haven’t pulled sumo in well over a year and a half haha. Pretty awesome.
Phase 4
Wednesday - 31AUG11 - Upper #1
Two Board Press
265x1
275x1
285x1
290x1
295x1
280x1
280x1
280x1
280x1
Decline Close Grip
205x8, 215x8, 215x8, 205x8
Seated Cable Row - Medium/Neutral Grip
4x8x175
DB Hammer Curl
35x12, 35x10
Scapular Wall Slide
3x12
Airdyne, 8 sets of 20s work : 40s rest
295x1 Two Board is a 30 lb PR or so from December? A lot more volume in this workout too. Fatigue carried over into the close grip but it was a really quality session.
Phase 4
Friday - 02SEP11 - Lower #2
Speed Box Squat
12x2x60% as 230
Natural GHR
4x5
DB Forward Lunge
4x6x60
Pistol to Box (lower this month)
omit
Ab Wheel from Deficit
3x12
Speed was not any better this week than last and my hip seems to be getting worse. Had a really tough time getting off the box and I ended up skipping pistols altogether as I was just plopping down with no deceleration at all. That makes this session sound like it really sucked, didn’t feel THAT bad altogether, at least the GHRs were decent.
Phase 4
Saturday- 04SEP11 - Upper #2
Speed Bench
10x3x60% as 160
Close Grip Floor Press
215x5
215x5
215x5
215x5
195x7
195x7
Weighted Pullup - Neutral Grip
+45x5
+45x5
+45x4
+35x5
One Arm DB Row
3x10x110
Seated DB Extension (subbed for Close Grip Pushups)
3x12
Good speed today, having this back to back with the squat session on Friday is a strange contrast in progress.
Last of the hard sessions done with, next week is all deloading followed by a hopefully beast max session at Hercules Gym in Syracuse.