I know I need to continue to work on my hip mobility. I lost some of it after surgery. My left ankle also sucks at dorsiflexion but I’m not sure if I can fix it. It’s a result of a fractured talus in 2013. My mobility never returned after that sprain/break.
I appreciate the info and tips. I guess this is all just a reminder that you’re never done training. There’s always a weakness hanging around that can be addressed.
I barely notice my back today so I think I dodged any major issues. I could lift today; unfortunately, my brain doesn’t want to do anything. Work has sucked the last two days and I got a whole five hours of sleep last night. I felt like I’d just fallen asleep when my alarm went off today. There’s a small chance I’ll lift tonight at home when I get off work. It’s upper body so it doesn’t take as much motivation.
I’m thinking about decreasing my weights and increasing the jumps for this final week. I’ll keep my top weights the same but jump by 30 lbs on squats and deads instead of 20 lbs. I’ll jump by 20 lbs on bench and OHP instead of 10 lbs. This might leave a little more in the tank for my heavy single.
On Friday fatigue became a factor on squats once I hit my triple. I don’t really want muscle fatigue to limit my top sets. I guess I’m still hitting fatigue but this workout is scripted. Fatigue can kill the workout. I’d rather hit the heavy singles instead of dropping the weight just to accumulate fatigue. This is the “Realization Phase”. That means I’m supposed to be able to display my strength. The building phase is over for now.
Five workouts remaining until I start The CrossFit Experiment (dibs on the log name).
I was very, very close to doing nothing today but the idea of throwing off my entire week by not training was too much to bear.
GSS&S W11 D4
BENCH
135 x 5
185 x 5
240 x 5
250 x 4
260 x 3
270 x 2
280 x 1 superset with
NEUTRAL PULL UPS
BW x 5
BW x 5
+45 x 5
+55 x 3+1 too heavy today
+65 x 2+1 also too heavy
+65 x 2
+75 x 1
OHP
130 x 5
140 x 4
150 x 3
160 x 2
170 x 1 superset with
PENDLAY ROW
200 x 5
210 x 4
220 x 3
230 x 2
240 x 1
I changed the order of my pulling movements today. I’m not sure if it had any affect on the workout. I did worse on pull ups compared to Wednesday. Bench felt slow and heavy but OHP was great. I moved my hands in closer—more like my push press grip—and it seemed to help. Overall it was a solid workout. I definitely feel better now that I’ve done it. Once I get off work I’ll be treating myself to some Coronas with the Mrs.
My physio work a lot on my ankle and this week he popped a bone back in place. I had no pain prior but it was not moving the way it should. He also has me doing some silly stuff on the trampoline to work on the lateral stability.
My stability is shot. If I’m not paying attention and I step on a rock on the sidewalk then I can roll my ankle. My ligaments are stretched out from double digit ankle sprains. I’m just hopeful I can avoid surgery at some point in my life. Maybe I’ll have my chiropractor who does tissue work take a look at my ankle.
I know how this feels, my ankle has been like this for over 25 years. Jumped down half a flight of stairs at 17 rushing to answer the door and when I landed my ankle rolled and sole of my foot was facing up !! Did the clever thing and just checked an elastabandage on it and hobbled around for a month until it felt better. Back then No doctor, no exrays, no rehab and now absolutely no stability. Just walk down the road and turn the bloody think stepping off the kerb!!
It’s so shite, Last physio I saw when I tore my calf muscle took one look at me and asked me what happened to my ankle.
My 2c if there is any rehab you can do then do it and do lots of it.
I think I’ll take the day off. We’re going to the pool at 1 to meet my sister-in-law and niece. I’m hoping to just float in the lazy river and work on my tan.
Taking the day off doesn’t affect my training week. I just try to follow the approach of never training more than two days in a row and never resting two days in a row (for a four day per week program). I want to rest one more day before I load up my back on squats again.
I’m hoping to change up my approach for tomorrow. Last week I did:
275 x 5, 295 x 4, 315 x 3, 335 x 2, 355 x 1
To minimize my fatigue on the early sets I’m going to try:
245 x 5, 275 x 4, 305 x 3, 335 x 2, 365 x 1
Hopefully my back complies. I’m also going to widen my stance if my hip will allow it.
SQUAT
135 x 5
225 x 3 x 2
245 x 5
275 x 4
305 x 3
335 x 2
365 x 1 (TIES PR!)
POWER CLEAN
135 x 3
225 x 2 x 2 I looked at my workout to see what weight I was scheduled to use and it turns out I was supposed to take today off so I can max on Friday.
DEADLIFT
315 x 3
345 x 5
375 x 4
405 x 3
435 x 2
465 x 1
500 x 1That’s a 5 lb PR AND I used a power bar instead of the deadlift bar. I’d say I’m quite a bit stronger than a year ago
REVERSE LUNGE (SMITH)
145 x 5
155 x 4
165 x 3
175 x 2
185 x 1 ea leg
CONDITIONING Tried a Hero WOD called Michael 800m run, 50 back extensions, 50 sit-ups 3 rounds for time
Well, I completed 1 round in 7:27 but my abs cramped so bad that I couldn’t continue. I haven’t done any direct ab work in months . It took about 10 minutes for me to be able to stand and walk. Maybe I’ll scale this down to sets of
20 until I get used to sit-ups and back extensions again.
Welcome back, Mort! It looks like you had a good trip. You just missed out on my usual babbling .
@flappinit, I took a wider stance today and I felt more stable. I was also able to feel my hamstrings working again. My hip felt a bit off early on but I didn’t notice any problems with the heavy stuff.
Thanks, Hog! My back felt good today so I don’t think I did anything serious. Just another scare. Man, I love deadlifts! I should’ve done a double with 500 but I didn’t think of it. I wasn’t even scared of it. I just told myself it was 35 lbs more than the last rep and that one was easy. It sure felt good!
I’ll celebrate with cake and ice cream tonight. We’re having family over for my son’s 2nd birthday (which is tomorrow).
Thanks! The weight felt heavy when I unracked it but I felt like I was in control once I started the descent. I never had any doubt even though I looked like I was in slow motion.
Woke at 243 and sore AF from those back extensions
I printed out 27 pages of CrossFit WODs. One of those is the CrossFit Total. It’s a day of hitting a 1RM on squat, OHP, and deadlift. I think Rippetoe came up with it once CrossFit realized people from a strength background did better in their classes. I didn’t do OHP yesterday but I fall between intermediate and advanced with just my squat and deadlift. My OHP isn’t enough to reach the advanced standard of 1102 for the 242 lb weight class.
BENCH
185 x 5 x 2 sets
205 x 5
225 x 4
245 x 3
265 x 2
285 x 1 305 x 1 (PR)
PENDLAY ROW
185 x 3
205 x 5
215 x 4
225 x 3
235 x 2
245 x 1
255 x 1 (PR b/c I’ve never done this before but I thought I’d start tracking it)
OHP
115 x 5
130 x 4
145 x 3
160 x 2
175 x 0
175 x 0
175 x 1 push press
NEUTRAL PULL UP
30 x 5
45 x 4
60 x 3
75 x 2
90 x 1 (PR again b/c I’ve never really pushed these, but I’m going to keep track now)
REV CABLE FLY
40 x 8 x 2 sets
REV CABLE FLY REAR DELT EMPHASIS
30 x 20
40 x 15
CONDITIONING HERO WOD Michael revisited and scaled Run 1 lap (270 m) 15 back extensions 15 sit-ups 4 rounds in 9:58 Breaking this up makes it doable but my lower back still had a pump which makes running suck.
@Chris_Colucci, I’m dying to write up a review of CT’s Guaranteed Simple Strength & Size program. I found it on his ThibArmy blog and it’s the free version. I never saw the article run on T-Nation.
Will I break any rules if I post my review in his forum? There won’t be any links and I won’t even mention where I found the program (at least in the official review since I just did).
And why didn’t the article run here? Is that his choice or T-Nation’s?
. It took about 10 minutes for me to be able to stand and walk. Maybe I’ll scale this down to sets of
.