Cupcakes and Cocktails

Thursday was a pretty rough day. Dragging from the lack of sleep and just a bunch of shit going on. Maybe one day something will work out.

I went in a little early to establish a new 1RM on floor press since I couldn't do it today because of school.
bar(5)-55(5)-75(3)-95(1)-115(1)-125(1)PR-130fail

I remember going for the 1RM last time I did this, like well over a year ago and my pr was like 1# for 113#. It was rather depressing. So I was pretty ecstatic to see a 12# PR at 125!

Strength: Front Squat 5-5-5 65%-70%-75% (based numbers off of 170#)
bar(5)-85(5)-110(5)-120(5)-130(5)

Even though I set my 1RM as 160 last week, I felt like I could've had 165 and Kelly's numbers were off of 170, so I just went with those weights. They actually felt pretty good. My hips don't feel as tight/bad during the front squat. I still can't figure that out. But overall, all three sets felt good. I really tried to hit the bottom of the hole and drive from there. Since that's where I catch my clean, I might as well work from there...

WOD:
5 Rounds for time of:
20 Wall ball shots (20/14)
20 Sit-ups
6:27

This wod was pretty much made for me. Wall balls are easy for me all sets were unbroken. Sit-ups were all unbroken.  Feel like I've been kind of slow on those lately, so I need to get some more core work in!

Cash Out
5-5-5 Dead hang Pull-ups (blue-blue-red)
5-5-5 ring dips (purple)
*alternate movements

Feel like my pull-ups have been a struggle lately, so I'm trying to incorporate more dead hangs in again. I need to start utilizing the bar/band at home too!  Ring dips actually felt really good, I need to start doing some holds and just practicing without the band. I'm determined to get those in a wod soon!

After everything, it was Hannah's Birthday so we celebrated with these cupcakes, they were pretty delish. It was like a one and done kind of cupcake, you were satisfied after having one and didn't over indulge! And Kelly brought a bottle of wine since we both had rather frustrating days!

Ring dips and a Mile

As the day progressed my quads got more and more sore. I didn't feel a thing on Sunday, but definitely felt it Monday as the day went on. Was debating about a rest day, but also hoping that a mile run would loosen up my legs.

Strength:
Weighted Deadhang Pull-ups 3-3-3-3-3
-first set red band
-rest of the sets blue band

Weighted Ring Dips 3-3-3-3-3
-First set UNASSISTED!
-Second set first rep unassisted, last 2 purple band
-last 3 sets purple band

First set of pull-ups I felt like I tweaked my left lat. I don't know if I didn't warm up enough or what, but it kind of bothered me the rest of the night. Not much to say about the deadhangs, other than I feel like I should be stronger on these. Goal is to get an unassisted deadhang pull-up by the end of the year.

Ring dips....FINALLY!!! I've been wanting to get this damn unassisted ring dip for months. I think I really started focusing on getting one back in December. I definitely didn't practice them much throughout that time period. BUT it must have been enough to finally get them! haha. So glad I finally did that. Now time to get stronger on those too! haha

As you can see, I need to add some solid volume training on all these skills (HSPU, pistols etc). If only I didn't have a day job...

WOD:
10:00 running clock
Mile run
max HSPU

mile-8:18
HSPU - 3 on 25# plate and ab mat

Needless to say this is not my best effort when it comes to a mile run. My fastest is 7:28. However, we haven't been running since basically what, October? And we have a lot of turns in our mile route. So those two factors alone make for a crappy time. Hopefully by the end of the summer, that's back in the low 7 minute range! We need to get a new route for our mile! :)

HSPU...not much to say here. I was too excited about my ring dips to let HSPU ruin my night. Didn't want to have another temper tantrum... I really took my time with these and did what I could. I need A LOT more work to be anywhere near comfortable with these. So I've been working on tripods and just trying to get my core stronger. one day...

Catch up

I forgot to post about a couple of WOds last week, so time to catch up.

Thursday we did some prep for 12.3. But we started off with strength of 5x5 deadhang pull-ups and 5x5 ring dips. Ideally these were weighted, but I'm far from adding weight. I'd actually like to lose weight to make these easier. I did the pull-ups on the red band for the first two sets then went to the blue band. For the ring dips I tried the first one of every set unassisted then went to purple for all the other reps. Still need to work on static holds for this!

Next, was on to prep for 12.3. We did:
4:00 AMRAP
12 Push Jerk (75#)
6 T2B
1:00 Rest
2:00 AMRAP
Box Jumps (20") Open standards

I believe I got almost 4 rounds in the first amrap then I got 47 box jumps. the bar felt heavy and my kip for my T2B was on and off. Some were good, some were just awful. I've been doing box jumps to this standard since regionals last year, so I was pretty comfortable with that. Ovearll it gave me an idea of how to pace 12.3 on Sunday.

Friday, I took the day off work to go to the Dr. I've had a pretty persistant cough since the beginning of February, and my boss finally told me to take the day off and go to the dr. so that was pretty sweet. Finally got some antibiotics and the cough is almost gone.

Decided to hit up the 9:30AM class since I had school and night. It's been the first Friday workout I've had in awhile. But it was nice to get a workout in, in the morning.

Strength: Front Squat. Don't remember my numbers, but I know the last set felt heavy and was fought for.

WOD:
250M Row
50 Double Unders
25 Sit-ups (GHD)
250M Row
50 Double Unders
25 Back Extensions (GHD)
250M Row
50 Double Unders
25 Russian Twists (14# ball)
10:38

Loved this WOD. It was written on the board with regular ab mat sit-ups and floor back extensions. But I wanted an extra challenge since I can fly through those easily, so I went up and used the GHD. Definitely glad I did that because it gave that extra push. Double unders were pretty good, just my calves were tired from the box jumps the night before and my shoulders have really been tiring on those! Overall great wod!

Date with Cindy

For a special treat we did things a little different at Prevail. We threw 5 named WODS into a hat and the last person to show up to class was the bearer of bad news. They got to draw the named WOD that class would do. The 5 names were "Chelsea", "Kelly" with rowing instead of running, "Jackie", "Cindy", and "Barbara". Luckily no one picked Kelly, and lucky for me because there's no way my lungs would've handled that. Two classes enjoyed Jackie, two more enjoyed Barbara, and my class got to tackle Cindy.

Cindy was definitely the one I was rooting for, since I figured it would be the least difficult for me with still being sick. So here's how it went:

CINDY
20:00 AMRAP
5 Pull-ups
10 Push-ups
15 Air Squats
15 rounds!!!!

I vividly remember the last time I did this at Fire. Tommy Mo came in to 'observe' during the class I was in and I remember him yelling at me for my push-ups and that I was snaking too much and weren't legit. I got 11 rounds + 28 reps with those bad push-ups.

This time I was determined to focus on my push-ups and make every rep count! Even though Tommy wasn't physically present....he was still there. haha.

I got through the first 3 rounds and felt great. My pull-ups were all unbroken, so at that point I made it a goal that no matter how many rounds I completed, I was going to do ALL my pull-ups unbroken. And I did just that!! This is a HUGE accomplisment for me. I think I've finally pushed through the mental block that I can only do 2-4 at a time when I get back to that bar. Chris said the height on them were great too and the best pull-ups he's seen me do in well...a year and a half! :)

First 2 rounds of push-ups were unbroken and felt great, but could tell those were going to disappear quickly. Every rounds the push-ups got more and more difficult. I would try and get at least 3-5 the first set every round, then it was 1's, 2's or 3's the rest of the sets. BUT, I made sure to keep my body rigid, not let me thighs touch the ground, and not snake it up. Tommy Mo, you would be proud of those push-ups! :)

Squats were the easy part of the wod, actually the pull-ups may have been equally as easy this time around. Because by the time I got to my squats, my quads were so tired from staying so tight and rigid on the push-ups. Pretty sure that's what gives out before my arms. ha. But all rounds of squats were smooth sailing, a nice steady pace and all unbroken.

Needless to say, I PR'd by just over 3 rounds since September. And this is while I'm sick and haven't woded in a week! So if I'm healthy I think I could get close to 17. Definitely the type of day I needed to lift my spirits!

Stupid Jerk

Pretty exhausted today. Definitely lacking sleep and need to fix that...

Strength: Jerk
53 (3) - 73 (2) - 98(1)-108(1)-118 quit

All I have to say is AHHHHHHH!!!! So damn frustrating! I was looking forward to tackling the jerk 1RM and hoping to get around 145 today. But that hand apparently wasn't dealt to me. I took some time before the wod to do a little extra stretching and mobility with my shoulders, thinking I should warm them up for some heavy lifts overhead. That was apparently the worst thing I could've done to my shoulders. I think I really jinxed myself last week by saying I was finally starting to enjoy the Jerk and felt comfortable with them...fuck. My warm up set at 53 I started to feel pinching in BOTH my shoulders, normally it's the right one, so this was really upsetting. Did a couple at 73, still there. Did my first rep at 98, yep still there. Grabbed the ball and started rolling on it hoping that would help. Did 108....still there. Racked 118, dip slight drive and just dropped it. Felt the pinching and decided it wasn't worth it. I have absolutely no idea where this came from. I haven't had this shoulder issue for MONTHS!!!! The only thing we could think of is that extra stretching and mobility I did beforehand. The last few times where we've done Jerk as the strength at heavy weights, I felt great, no pinching, nothing. Sunday I did a wod with 15 jerks at 95 and did extras after and they felt fine. So I'm convincing myself that I over stretched my shoulders and that I've just been used to them being tighter when I lift, and that's why the pinching started. Fingers crossed, that's all it was...since the Open starts in 23 days, that's definitely not what I need...

WOD:
4 Rounds:
20 jumping lunges
10 Pull-ups
4:28

My quads were still rocked from yesterday so the jumping lunges were rough, especially the third round. Pull-ups felt great, which is awesome considering my shoulder. But if I remember correctly, it's only the Jerk that hurts my shoulder when this happens...Chris said my pull-ups looked great and were the best he's seen me do, so I guess the dead hangs are helping! Overall, good wod, hoping to get more pull-ups strung together again.

Catch up

Little behind on the blog. Been crazy busy with school work, work, and the gym. So catching up on Monday and Tuesday’s work at the gym.

Monday Strength
Push Press 3(63% of 1RM)-3(70%)-3(77%)-3(85%)-3(93%) *Current 1RM = 121#
76-85-93-103-113

Haven’t worked on push press as a strength in a long time, so the heavier weights were a little difficult. Up until the fourth set everything felt good. Kept the core and butt tight and everything engaged, small dip and drive. The last two sets were pretty hard. Mainly the last one, definitely had to take a couple breaths in between reps and get situated. Failed on the 3rd and final rep in the last set, so only ended up with 2. I used CT’s wrist straps and they really helped with the heavier sets. I think I’m going to have to invest in a pair of those.

Monday WOD:
21-15-9
Box Jumps (24”/20”) *I used 24”
Pull-ups *I cut the reps in half to 11-7-5 and did dead hangs on the blue band
9:09

Pretty embarrassing. I’m trying to use the 24” box in most WODs, since that’s what HQ has been leading towards for the females in competitions. Pull-ups are a completely different story. Like I said in a post previously, during pull-up wods I’m trying to cut the reps in half and do dead hangs. Trying to work on gaining some more strength in my shoulders, but geez is this pathetic and embarrassing. I think I got 4 on the first set then it was maybe 2 then it was 1’s and I called myself on plenty of no reps, and probably should’ve called myself on even a few more. So I did quite a few of extra pulls in all the sets. I definitely wish I would’ve started this sooner, or have been dedicating the time I need to, and done them before or after class. Regardless, I’m glad I’m doing it, my height on my kipping pull-ups is better and I’m stringing along more, so I’m getting there.

Tuesday Strength
Snatch 3(63% of 1RM)-3(70%)-3(77%)-3(85%)-3(93%) *Current 1RM = 110#
69-77-85-94-102

I have to say, I’m really happy with how my technique has improved over the months on this lift. I feel like I’ve got a pretty solid form down and now just have to get some more weight overhead. Going to have to really train my squat. First 4 sets were great. Tight bar path, everything was coming up together – not my butt first, high pull, and dropping under the bar really quick. The last set my first two attempts I failed. The first one I was forward and caught it on my toes. The second I caught it really far back and fell backwards. Then finally the next 3 were right in between those and perfect lifts. A couple of them I felt a little wobbly at the bottom, so I made sure to steady myself, then stand it. Excited to get after a new PR with this one!

Tuesday’s WOD
500m row then,
3 rounds:
5 ring dips *purple band
10 Toes to Bar
15 Wall Ball Shots (20/14)
Then, 500m row
9:53

My strength took a little while, so I was in the last heat for this one. My main goal was just to get after it. I knew my T2B were going to slow me down, so I had to make sure my dips and wall balls were unbroken, which they were. Toes to bar definitely slowed me down, but I was able to get more of a kip going today than usual. So that was a good thing. The last row Brandon was on my tail and caught up to me even though he started 30 seconds behind me. So I went after the first 300m hard with a 1:50 pace and crashed the last 200m with a 2:05 pace. Ugly. Oh well, I felt pretty good with the time. Just need to get that kip down and one of these days get my unassisted ring dips!

I Heart Cleans

Friday was a great way to end the week at the gym. I had been struggling with some mental battles of not seeing the progress I have made because my PRs have been so little. But a PR is a PR. So I walked into the gym telling myself to forget about the rest of the week and my struggles and get after those cleans. It’s a new day and a new lift. Granted, this was hard for me to do because I had been struggling with my clean for months, I wasn’t even coming close to being comfortable at my old SRM. So this one was a total mental battle for me.

Strength: Clean 1-1-1-1-1
83(x5) – 103-115-125-138PR-143PR

Warmed up at a little heavier set just to get the blood flowing and my back loose. Then I started to get after it with some singles. A few months back I was struggling with 125 and Friday it went up like nothing. Felt smooth and the squat was light. My old SRM was 135, so I decided the next rep would go over that to go for a PR. Pull was smooth and the front squat part felt good too. I actually screamed “PR!!!!” half way up in the squat. HA! I was THAT excited because of the last few months! My next rep I decided to try 145, made 3 attempts at that and every time the pull was perfect but then I got 85% of the way up on the squat and couldn’t finish it. I was determined to get it, but decided to take 2 pounds off and go for 143. The pulls felt great once again and the squat was a liiiiitle bit of a struggle because I was starting to fatigue, but I got it up and ended with an 8 pound PR. This was a HUGE accomplishment for me and I was happy I got past that mental block! Can’t wait to work my cleans some more.

WOD:
50 Calorie Row
2 Rounds:
10 pull-ups
20 Thrusters (65/65)
30 ball slams (30/20)
10:24

This one was a breather! Really got that heart rate going and kept ya moving. I finished the 50 calorie row around 2:55, which was a pretty good pace. This WOD, Brandon and I decided to just use the kip for the pull-ups instead of a band and do dead hangs. They weren’t the greatest because we haven’t done many pull-ups lately to begin with, but my shoulders didn’t feel warm yet, that was destined to change soon…I broke the first round of thrusters to 10-10, and the ball slams were straight through. I LOVE ball slams, but holy crap did 30 seem like forever! I took a couple breaths then went back up on the bar, I think it was broken 4-2-2-2, thrusters were 10-5-5 and ball slams were 20-10 for the last round. The second set of thrusters felt REALLY heavy, like they were never going to end. Crazy how much the ball slams had an effect on them! Overall a great wod and really got me breathing. I found that to be the most difficult part, was trying to catch my breath!


Saturday morning I went in for Open hour to help Alicia with her squats. I took it as an opportunity to help a friend and myself. I decided to stack some plates to make a 12 inch box that we could squat to. This way I could give her a breaking point just below parallel where she doesn’t butt wink and lose all engagement which causes her to hinge forward. It’s amazing how we all have a similar problem of squatting ass to ankles and when we squat to just below parallel we feel like we aren’t anywhere near deep enough! I think if both her and I stick to training like this for awhile, she’s going to see some major improvement with all of her squats. If I learned one thing from this week, it’s that I NEED TO SQUAT MORE!! The fact that I could get 85% of the way up on my front squat, back squat, and clean and then fail, sucks. So the solution is more squatting. I’m going to try and squeeze in some extra squat therapy and training throughout the week to see what kind of improvements I can make.

After that, Alicia and I did a rowing wod:
8 x 500m with 3:30 rest in between.
Time – 15:55.9
Average 500m – 1:59.4
Average S/M – 28

I would pace myself to be around a 1:58-2:00 500m with about 24-26 s/m for the first 350m of every row. Then I would increase the pace for 50m and sprint the last 100m. It felt great, and I feel like my endurance is coming back.

Sister of Fran

Friday was a somewhat long day at work. Again, for it being only a 4 day week, it seemed like a long one. But it was a better day than the one prior, so I can't complain. I was really looking forward to getting to the gym and spending the evening with great people.


Strength:
Cleans 5-5-5
53#(40%) - 65#(50%) - 83#(60% well more than that)


The cleans felt really light, as they should, but I really wanted to focus on my form for my back. So I went up a little bit on the last set. I wanted these to be mainly touch and go at a heavier load, but I think it ended up being 2-1-1-1. Chris said my 4th rep, my back gave a little, so I refocused on the last one and that felt the best!


WOD:
21-15-9
11 foot Wall Ball shots (20/14#)
Pull-ups


My version:
21-15-9 11' Wall Ball shots 14#
11-8-5 dead hang pull-ups with blue band
7:05

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my training and after talking to my brother about it, I decided to switch things up a little bit. Whenever we have pull-ups in a WOD, I'm going to try and scale back the reps and do dead hangs with the bands. I want to be able to get that unassisted dead hang, efficient chest-to-bar pull-ups, and be able to string together more kipping pull-ups. The only way this is going to happen is if I get stronger, and kipping pull-ups don't really build the strength in my shoulders that I need to get stronger. So I'm also going to work on these dead hangs as skill work other days during the week. This will go on for a few weeks and we will see how I progress, hopefully it helps!

Anyway, the 11' wall balls were actually pretty hard. They pretty much turned into jumping wall balls. The first set was horrendous, I dropped the ball about every 2 shots. Second round was a little better and the thrid was unbroken. Definitely something I think is good for training and strengthening the shoulders even more.

The dead hangs were also disappointingly hard. I got 6 unbroken the first round then it was 2's and 1's. It's amazing how much more difficult those are compared to kipping. The second round I did 2-1-1 sadly added the purple band then 2-2. Final set I believe was 2-1-1-1. It was definitely an eye opener to do my pull-ups this way. I knew I didn't have much OH strength, but sheesh those got hard fast. It is for sure something I want to continue doing and see what kind of progress I make.

Finished the evening with a rowing WOD, some dip practice, skin the cats, ab work and hanging out with friends at the gym!