Bench- ramp to 165lb, 1x1
Didn’t feel as good as last time. I did doubles on 135/155lb so I suppose that’s why. Overall still feeling very flat and slow with weight that shouldn’t be heavy… but then again I was nearly 15-17lb heavier back then.
85lb, 1x30, 1x20
This actually didn’t feel super easy. I want to build up to doing 50 reps before I add weight. I distinctly recall attempting to do sets of 20+ with 95lb feeling hard before my barbell “break”.
10 min or so moving around.
This is not feeling productive anymore. I keep getting “stuck” mentally on what to do. I’m either going to go back on the Elements program or buy another one of their program and start something new. I’m on a spending spree for things that should help me physically so why the heck not.
Hands sorta felt not good. This is starting to get annoying. I’m considering the possibility that benching is the culprit, actually.
4x400(ish) meter runs today. I had a brain fart and wrote 800m for the last time I did something similar.
I got better at pacing myself on this and managed to finish each runs without stopping. I do find that I have a tendency to go too fast at the start, tire out and slow down in the middle, then give another spurt near the end when I see my end point. Overall I am pleased with this.
Pull-ups are hitting a wall. Barely managed 12 paused reps, and the pauses are considerably shorter than when I was doing 7-9 reps. The non-paused reps that followed felt quite hard. Couldn’t complete the third set of the day so I had to rest-pause that.
This felt like it was productive though. I am reasonably confident I can do 12-14 full hang pull-ups now when I’m completely fresh. I’m going to switch over to doing 5x5 EMOM paused pull-ups now right before lunch and see how that feels.
One last thing- hips felt achy for the first time while doing the “moving around” movements. I am pretty sure it’s because of the front squats. The runs themselves felt fine though, so I think I’m ok.
OHP- ramp to 115lb, 2x2
Front squat- ramp to 195lb, 2x2
OHP- 75lb, 2x17, 1x16
Last set felt really hard. This entire thing felt hard, honestly.
Front squat- 95lb, 2x20, 1x10
Quads felt extremely sore at first but it got better.
Good Mornings- 45lb, 1x27, 1x23
Stopped at 27 reps because my arms started to fall asleep.
Bent knee inverted row- 5x5 EMOM
Short pause at top and bottom.
2 mile(ish) walk.
I’m done with the high rep stuff. I decided that I want to run the 10k swing program because it should help me accomplish my current goal and I’ve been severely neglecting my posterior chain for the last couple of months, so why not blast it with 10k swings. The KB is supposed to arrive by Sunday, so I’ll spend a couple sessions getting used to KB swinging while re-establishing some proper strength maxes and go from there.
5x5 EMOM pull-ups around lunch. Felt about as expected- Set 1-3 are easy, set 4-5 feel “harder” but not really challenging. Hopefully set 4-5 feel easier in the coming days.
Remembered that overhead squats are good for you (listening to Dan John helped) and did a couple with the bar to revaluate how I feel sometime after lunch. They’re surprisingly easy. If nothing else, all those 100s of squats I did in the last couple of weeks definitely made the actual act of squatting feel A LOT easier. Unfortunately I don’t seem to be experiencing the same kind of improvement on anything else (besides the push-ups I suppose)…
For the actual work-out part of the day-
WOD Grace with 95lb. Took ~5:50 seconds. This really hit my hamstrings and back in a way that I should have expected in hindsight. What did I think was going to happen when I haven’t done power clean/snatch with anything above 75lb in weeks?
No lockout back squat- 95/135/165/195lbx5
I’m doing these because it forces me to use less weight, which (hopefully) prevents me from having sore legs. Wasn’t hard.
TnG deadlift- 135/165lbx5, 195lb, 3x5
Trying my best to just lightly tap the floor. Ramped until I hit a weight where this felt somewhat challenging.
Bent knee inverted row- 5x5 EMOM
Tabata thrusters with bar.
Set 1-2-> Oh, this is easy.
Set 3-> Oh, this is hard.
Set 4/5-> I actually forget that I’m supposed to do 8 sets of this thing, presumably because of how miserable it now feels, and don’t start set 5 on time.
My upper body felt torched by this, and I felt like I forgot how to breathe.
Chose thrusters because I suck at the transition between the front squat and the OHP, so I figured it would slow me down and make this easier. I honestly think it just made it harder.
Didn’t run today because my stomach wasn’t feeling great.
Overhead squat ladders- 45/55/65/75/85/75/65/55/45lbx5 in the morning.
Testing overhead squat strength. 85lb felt pretty comfortable but snatching it didn’t feel easy. Hopefully strength returns quickly.
Finally installed the pull-up bar. It’s supposed to be skinny but it is still big enough that my hands can’t wrap around it. Did 2x “hang for 30 second and pull-up” and my forearms felt tired. I am going to try the 5x5 EMOM pull-up on that bar tomorrow and I am pretty sure I am going to fail because of forearm strength.
Did some leg raises and a toe to bar and there was zero stability issues, so that’s neat.
5x5 EMOM pull-ups around lunch. Pleasantly surprised at how easy it felt. But, then again, I’m not hanging on the bar for 30 seconds+ when I’m doing 5 reps. I’ll probably change my mind when I’m doing 10+ reps.
Found this warm-up complex while watching more Dan John videos and decided to try it out-
Snatch Complex
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
I did a power snatch instead of a full snatch for the hang snatch and did only a single set instead of the three sets Dan John prescribed because that felt like it sufficiently warmed me up.
Bench press- 95/115/135/145/155lbx5
I needed to take a longer rest period for the last set.
OHP- 65/85lbx5, 105lb, 3x5
Last set felt the best. It felt powerful and my stance felt strong.
7x15 EMOM push-ups
Good bit of rests in a downward dog position for set 6/7.
KB swing- 24kg, 4x25
Oh boy. I am going to be in a world of hurt if I do end up following through and do the 10k swing challenge with this weight unless I take the time to rebuild. I’m just not used to dealing with weight right now, and my forearm especially felt very sore at around rep 20 after the first set. I can’t imagine doing 500 reps/day right now.
Tabata front squat with bar
This does feel easier than doing thrusters. The pain is simply about how I can’t seem to breathe.
2 mile(ish) walk.
Also- I didn’t feel hungry at all yesterday. Today I felt hungry from the moment I woke up, so I guess I really did have some stomach problems yesterday.
Bent knee inverted row- 2x6, 3x5 EMOM
I think it’ll be nice to do my back work before lunch everyday while I wait for the meat to go up to room temp a bit.
Warm-up snatch complex-
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
TnG deadlift- 135/185/225/255lbx5
Hook grip on 225 and 255. Lower back and hamstrings didn’t like 255lb and grip also felt pretty weak on the 255lb, which really seemed to lessen my ability to power through. The first rep felt easy though.
No lockout back squat-
95/135/165lbx5, 175lb, 3x5
Felt very easy and powerful.
10x10 EMOM push-ups
KB swing- 24kg, 4x25
Felt a lot better than yesterday.
Tabata 25lb plate OHP
I wanted some overhead volume so I experimented with this. It’s “ok”. HR definitely went up but the small ROM and light weight meant that it pales on the conditioning front compared to even just a front squat with bar.
2 mile(ish) walk.
Chest felt pretty sore today. Hamstrings felt sore on the deadlifts but felt fine on the squats, and then legs felt very good during the walk.
Warm-up snatch complex-
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8 (Did these as actual snatches)
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
Power snatch into overhead squat-
65lbx3, 85lb, 3x3
Actually attempted full snatches for the 65lb. First rep went well but failed the second because I didn’t get the bar high enough and ended up putting weight onto my right knee. Now it feels the “something” that it feels when it is injured. But there’s no sharp pain this time, so it is probably much more minor than the previous times when I aggravated this injury.
The 85lb snatches felt better as I kept doing them.
Power clean and push-jerk-
65/95/115lbx2, 135lb, 3x3
Felt strong until the last rep, which I think I rushed a bit.
KB swing- 4x25
Summer is upon us- it is like 100F outside and the Sun is blazing. I value my skin so I am not going outside. I did this for conditioning instead-
KB suitcase carry down the hallway.
Come back down doing some sort of animal walk
Walk back down towards the KB.
For 30 minutes.
It certainly got me moving but it didn’t feel challenging.
Warm-up snatch complex-
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
Knee definitely felt a bit painful on the squat movements. It feels a bit tight and itchy otherwise, but the pain is not significant. I am pretty sure I’m good to continue squatting.
OHP- 75/95/115lbx5
If I am the weight that I think (hope) I am then this is a very strong press relative to bw for me. Let’s see what my weight is this weekend.
8x13 EMOM push-ups
KB swing- 4x25
Tabata jumping burpees
Ow. I am starting to notice that I can always do more than I think I can. I need to push into that.
Warm-up snatch complex-
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
No lockout back squat-
95/135/165/195lbx5, 215lbx5
I had 215lb in my head when I went in today. Feels strong when I ascend but I need to take care to stay tight when I descend. I’ll stick with this weight next week and see how it feels.
TnG deadlift- 135/185lbx5, 215lb, 3x5
I realized yesterday that this is a great time to learn how to use my straps. I’m trying my best to keep my ego in check with the weights right now anyhow, so good chance to learn.
I think my biggest issue with straps is that they completely change how my hands feel the bar and I keep failing to maintain proper grip. They always feel effortless until a certain point, when I completely fail to get power in my grip, so the bar never leaves the floor. Perhaps what I need is just a lot of practice with using them at submax weight.
Upper back also felt a little off during the 215lb. I think it’s because my starting position changes due to the strap. I am very much a “grip and rip” kind of guy, so taking a couple of seconds with getting the strap set up really changes how I start the deadlift.
EMOM push-up- 20/20/10
KB swing- 4x25
These don’t feel like they require conscious effort anymore.
WOD Fran with a bar.
Done in ~7:53. Did the thrusters straight and split the pull-ups into 5s. Basically 5 reps, mini-rest, 5 reps, and so on.
The pull-ups eventually devolved into half pull-ups and lots of leg kicking/pseudo-kipping. I’m going to try this banded the next time I get around to doing this to see if that helps.
Body still sore; especially my legs. I think the swings are impacting me harder than I thought and the fast hill run on Sunday did amazing things to me.
Bent knee inverted row around lunch- 5x6 EMOM
Warm-up snatch complex-
Snatch Grip Romanian DL x 8
Hang Snatch x 8
Overhead Squat x 8
Back Squat x 8
Went through this a lot faster today.
TnG deadlift- 135/185/225/255lbx5, 265lbx6 (broken up to 1x3, 1x3 due to grip)
Strapped up for everything. Broke up the 265lb set because I thought my grip was slipping but, upon finishing the set, I realized that it actually wasn’t. It was more that I didn’t have a firm grip anymore but the bar wasn’t going to drop out of my hand. The straps did their job; still feels weird. Hook gripped it up to the safeties to strip the weights and that felt easy.
No lockout back squat-
95/135lbx5, 185lb, 3x5
135 to 185lb jump was a bad idea; weight felt noticeably heavier and I did need a set in between to get my legs used to the descent. Contrary to how my legs felt, the actual reps felt strong.
2x25 EMOM push-ups
KB swing- 2x50
Forearms begin to get sore and tired around rep 30 and it feels like willpower is the only thing keeping me going.
10k swing challenge day 1
Did dips. Took one minute dedicated rest in between clusters.
Took ~20:59
Honestly way easier than I expected. Clearly the time I took to acclimate with the kb made things much easier. I am not sure if I could have finished this in a reasonable time if I started this the day I got my kb. The only thing that feels challenging is the sets of 50 swings. I finished cluster 1-2 of the 50s straight but had to rest in between for cluster 3-4. The fact that I can go back to doing swings with just a minute rest suggests that the pain is just in my head. It would be freaking awesome if I can get to doing this without needing any rest by the end.
Dips felt really easy, and I haven’t done them for a while. I am very confident that all the push-ups I’ve been doing improved my chest and overall upper body strength. I just cannot express them in the bench press due to form and mobility issues but seeing the clear ease with which I did the dips makes me happy.
And, on that note-
5x15 EMOM push-up
I haven’t done much push-ups in my life and I want to continue addressing that.
10k swing challenge day 2
Did goblet squats.
Took ~19:00
I tried to not put the KB down at for the first cluster and realized that I made a mistake when I got to the 50 rep. Foolishly repeated that mistake on the second cluster. Began taking 10+ second rests in between each set from the third cluster onward.
A bit of rest then-
10x10 EMOM push-up
10x5 EMOM KB squat