Not Quite Nancy

A: In 20 minutes work up to a 3RM Hang Snatch.

B: 3 rounds for time:
Run 400 meters
15 OHS 95/65

A: #95
B: 12:06, scaled to 85#. (DNF)

Another technical DNF. The time limit for <95# on this workout was 10 minutes, 12 minutes for 95+. So I was well over the line this time, but I wanted to finish anyway.

Got a full set of 15 the first round, then completely lost the thread in the second round, losing a ton of time in no-rep sets where I just couldn't keep the bar overhead. Finally I got my shit together and finished the set, and (oddly enough) the third set went pretty quickly in 12+3. Goes to show what a mental game OHS are.

2010-07-13

Warmup row 500m

15 OHS 15#

Shoulder Press
3-3-3
50-53-54.5(x2)


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2010-04-12

Warmup: 8 min or so on the eliptical bike - i was late to class and had to find my own thing out of the way.

15 Overhead Squats 115/75
21 C2B Pull-Ups
12 Overhead Squats 115/75
15 C2B Pull-Ups
9 Overhead Squats 115/75
9 C2B Pull-Ups

I subbed 15# OHS and 1P KB swings - again - i was late and I didn't have time to set up a band at a bar and I could do KB swings outside out of the way.

8:54

2010-03-22 oly # ?

Finally! A day at the gym that did not feel like a total waste of time.

1000m Row 4:26

Wall squats - much improved! I can now squat holding a dowel over my head standing 6-8 inches away from the wall. a big improvement.

I can stay far more upright squatting holding a dowel behind my head with my elbows (hands behind my head) too. that position used to make me look straight down at the floor.

3 x 5 Hang snatches
25-35-40x2-35 (I tried a couple reps of the last set at 40, but could not snatch it without pressing out the last 6 inches or so, so I went back down.)

Daniel held a dowel out and set it to the level i was catching the bar at (because i was tending to catch it crooked) - acting as my 'spirit level as it were. That really helped me get a better sense of where straight was.

3 x 5 OHS
20-25-25

Oly Cycle Week 5 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 75 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 70-75-80-85-85
Clean & Jerk x 1: 95-100-105-110-115

The weight is getting heavy enough on the snatch that I can no longer just keep going up and maintain good form. Once I get over 80/85, I start power-snatching and riding the weight down, which is unacceptable. So now I'm going until I start doing that, and staying at that weight trying to convince my body to get underneath it and catch it.

The clean and jerks are better, but I'm still have trouble with jumping forward on the clean. I've taken to doing my cleans with my toes on a line in the floor, as a disincentive to jump and a means of measuring my fault. Gita and Polly tell me it's due to early arm pull and not coming to full extension, leaving the bar in front of me in space where I have to jump forward to get under it.

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 95(3)-95(4)-95(5)
Ring Dip x 5: 5(2)-5(3)-5(4)

Unsurprising that I should start failing the OHS at 95# - I have a mental block about that weight, for some reason. The ring dips continue to be extremely difficult, even with just five pounds. With both movements, my reps went up due to feeling more comfortable with the weight.

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap. Ball rolling.

2-3-2010 oly #7/8

I missed monday's workout - which would have been #7.

1000m of rowing (4:40 or so)
2 rounds, 10 wall squats followed by a 65 sec squat hold. The first one was impossible - i actuall held the second one an extra 5 seconds - i found a position that seemed to work well ...

Andrea introduced us to a new torturous squat warmup. Take a dowel and place it behind your head, then take your hands and put them on the back of your head. The dowel will be pinned between your elbows and your kneck, keeping you very upright. Now squat. The idea, of course, is to maintain an upright position. Daniel tried a few wall squats this way. I tried it, but pretty much ended up looking at the floor. I did a little foam rolling on my thoracic spine, and was able to get slightly more upright, but yikes. CLEARLY something to be worked on. Yay. Thanks Andrea :-p

Snatch skill practice - 15# bar. still kind of hit and miss.

Clean &jerk skill practice
several x 30#
3 x 40#
1 x 50#
1 x 60# - i didn't have much trouble diving under the bar to catch this - but standing up wias HARD (and ugly) and the jerk was more of a press, too. But this is still an acheivement. I've never been able to dive under heavy weights. Now I just need to get my front squat numbers up. And it's time to start seriously working on the jerk.

Ohs 5-5-5
25#(f rep #5)-25#(f r2)-20#-25(f r2, f r1)-20#
20# was easy, 25# was near impossible. very frustrating.

Dips red band aprox 7" tail both sides
5 - 5 - 5

Daniel said I needed to work on my ROM - I'm not going deep enough.

Oly Cycle Week 4 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 65 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.
Consecutive double-under practice (36!)

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 65-70-75-80-85
Clean & Jerk x 1: 90-95-100-105-110

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 90-90-90
Ring Dip x 5: 5(2)-5(3)-5(3)

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap. Ball rolling.

Oly Cycle Week 3 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 55 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.
Consecutive double-under practice (29! Big PR)

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 60-65-70-75-80
Clean x 1: 85-90-95-100-105

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 85-85-85
Ring Dip x 5: BW-BW-BW
Alternated with 5 depth jumps.

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap. Ball rolling.

1-27-2010 oly cycle #6

750m of rowing
2 rounds, 10 wall squats followed by a 55 sec squat hold. (the squat hold is getting HARD)

Snatch skill practice - 15# bar

Clean& jerk skill practice
several x 30#
2 x 40#
1 x 50#

Ohs 20-20-20

Dips red band aprox 7" tail both sides
4+1 - 5 - 5

Pistols 5 each leg after each set of dips
L sit to a weight stack of 4 thinner 45# plates + 2 25# plates
R same + 1 more 25# plate

Tonight was something of a banner night. My wall squats are improving (a tiny bit, i still have to cheat and cheat hard to get to the bottom position), I was finally able to (on a semi-regular basis) actually link together the full ROM for both squat snatches and squat cleans. More consistently with the cleans.

My flexibility (or lack thereof) in my hips, calves and shoulders is still the limiting factor in my snatch, and I think it is why I can't land them more often - and when I do I am terribly pitched forward - but getting there at all is a pretty good achievement.

My limited ability to stand up with an upright back with any significant amount of weight is the limiting factor in my clean. My quads WILL get stronger dammit.

Tonight, getting the bar up off the floor and diving under it (particularly with the cleans) actually felt right for the first time ever.

Yay progress!

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1-20-2010 - Oly Cycle #4

Missed most of the warm up. stupid work.  Did  a few wall squats and a 45 second squat hold.

Worked on snatch technique - did hang power snatches and and full squat snatch balances with the 15# bar.  I can do each of these movements fairy well - but the instant I try to link the pull and the drop things get all wonky, so I'm working on them separately for now.

Worked on clean technique - mostly worked tall cleans with 33# bar to work on diving under the bar while staying upright.  I tried a 45# tall clean and ended up on my butt.  I managed a few 40#.  I did a couple jerk reps at the end.  I am less worried about working on these than the cleans.

OHS 5-5-5
15-15-15

really need an alumalight(sp?) barso i can go up in weight without jumping from 15 to 30#\

Ring dips 5-5-5
first set was with the green band - too easy.
second set was with my new tiny red band and I managed 5 across - barely
3rd set was 1, then 2 then 2 (with the little red band)

Oly Cycle Week 2 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 35 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 55-60-65-70-75
Clean x 1: 80-85-90-95-100

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 80-80-80
Ring Dip x 5: BW(5!) - BW(4+1) - BW(4+1)

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap.

Oly Cycle Week 1 Day 2

Warmup: 2 rounds of 10 wall squats & 35 sec active squat holds. Burgener warmup.

Technique:
Snatch x 1: 50-55-60-65-70
Clean x 1: 75-80-85-90-95

Strength:
Overhead squat x 5: 75-75-75
Ring Dip x 5: BW(3+2) - BW(3+2) - BW(3+2)

Flex: various static holds, PNF hamstring with strap.

12-15-09

21-15-9
Dowell OHS
Burpees

3:05.01;2:02.57;1:26.51;

WOD
30 muscleups for time

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Nancy Failed

"Nancy"

5 Rounds for time;

Run 400 meters
15 OHS 95/65

DNF at 40:00, four rounds.

Was using #80 on the Atlas bar. My OHS really, really suck. There were a couple glorious points where I found a groove and was able to knock out 7 or 8 OHS in a row, but otherwise they were slow, painful and only 2-3 at a time. Need to get better about finding that groove. I stopped due to fears of dropping the bar on my head as my shoulders and wrists got too exhausted.

Strength day

Warmup run 400m, ME, Bear crawl, aligator crawl, lunge twists, jump rope drills

100 single skips (subbed for 50 DU) + 25 pushups.

WOD:
Hang Snatch & Overhead Squat 7-7-7

Hang Clean & Push-Press 3-3-3

Results:

Snatch+OHS: 15-20-25
Clean + PP: 55-55-60

Run 800m to try out my new shoes - Thanks Hanna!!

Comments:

I'm pretty pleased with this workout. I kept the OHS light because I was concerned about being able to make it through a full set of 7. I probably could have done my last set at 30, but I wanted to make sure that I was really dialed in with my form - which could certainly use the work. Even at the lighter weights, my form was not great. I asked Polly to watch my last set, and she really got after me to keep my knees out even more.

My first set of cleans and push-presses felt extraordinarily heavy - i wasn't sure if maybe I had counted the weight wrong - but it was 55#. my second set felt better. so I decided to try 60# for my last set. 60# is my standing 3RM for both cleans and push jerks from March, and I got it without too much trouble, although I did have a bit of trouble with my 3rd clean. I had to try it twice to get it up - I was thinking too much. Makes me wonder whether I could have gotten any at 65#. I should have tried it. Alas - the second class was short on bars due to the first class taking forever, so I gave mine over. Besides, I was eager to try out an actual jog with my NEW SHOES!

Hanna - who was in the second class - had a pair of super cute Saucony running shoes pictured here she had bought online that were just a bit too small for her and asked whether, if they fit me, I'd be interested in them. Turns out they fit PERFECTLY, and i LOVE them!! I think part of the reason I did so well with the 60# clean and PP was because I was so jazzed about the shoes.

I originally intended to only run 400m, but by the time i got to the 400m turn around, I wasn't ready to stop, so I did a full 800m - just because I felt like it. That's certainly unusual for me. particularly AFTER a workout.

It was a good day. I had oatmeal with cottage cheese and some milk for breakfast instead of my usual eggs and toast. It definitely lacked in the flavor department. Maybe I'll substitute a block of cottage cheese for a block of bacon next time just to add some flavor - but it did a good job of getting me all the way through the workout and then a little bit extra without feeling hungry or overloaded.

OHS

Warmup:
9-6-3
OHS (dowel)
Burpees
Pullups
4:33 - this was slow - i was the last one done i think. Partly it was waiting for a box to be available at the pullup bar. partly it was just me being slow. I kept losing my balance backwards on the OHS

The first 2 rounds were weak little barely chin to bar jumping pullups, the last round was 3 kip attempts.

WOD:
21-10-5-5-3-1 Overhead Squat

15#x 15 (21F)
20 x 10
25 x 5
30 x 4 (5F)
30 x 3 (5F)
35 x 2 (3F)
35 x 2 (3F)
40 F (x 2) (1F)

The thing that kept failing for me here were my shoulders. I'd just lose all ability to stabilize the bar - even when standing still - the bar just would not stay up overhead. I'd get the first few reps done and they'd be EASY - i though 'oh hey - i'm not using enough weight!' - and then the next rep - maybe 2 - and down the bar came. My sidebar says 30# is my 5 rep max, the last few OHS posts make it sound as if it might actually be my 7 rep max. Which would mean that today was not as close to my peak performance as I thought - but it's still not substantially worse - only moderately. One thing that DID go well today is that I was much better at keeping my knees out on my way out of the hole in the squat.

As uncomfortable as this movement is, I'd really like to work this more often. It works everything.


Food log:
2b breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces low-carb flax seed bread
3b lunch: chicken tostada salad from picante - sans tostada - I'll just take Daniel's word for it that it was 3b. (seemed to me it might be a lot more like 4)
2b snack: 1/2 cottage cheese, 18 slivers of almond, 4 dried apricots
3b dinner + 1b milk: chicken sausage + yams & sauteed spinach

... I miss being able to snack while making dinner :-(

Overhead Squats

OHS 21 - 10 - 5 - 5 - 3 - 1

65-75-85-95x4-95-105(f)-105(f)

Felt good on technique, weak on strength. Wrists still hurt like a sonuvabitch, I should be trying to narrow my grip more, but I find that pressing up against the bar tends to push out my hands, too. 105 was close - it was a failure in my front deltoid to keep the weight stable while changing direction at the bottom. More practice would get me there pretty quick, I think.

Food Log:
3 eggs, 1 bacon, 2 slices toast, 2 cups strawberries = 4 blocks
Picante chicken tostada (no tortilla), 1c milk = 4 blocks
cottage cheese, applesauce and milky coffee = 4 blocks
TJ's chicken sausage, sauteed spinach and a yam = 4 blocks

Behind on blogging - catching up

It's been an extremely busy week - and I've fallen behind on these.

Wednesday 6/17:
AMRAP in 10 minutes:
5 Deadlift 315/205
10 OHS 115/75
15 Double-Under

I subbed 135# for the DL and 30# for the OHS. I got 1 round. The deadlifts took me 3-4 minutes, the ohs took 3-4 minutes, and i had a hell of a time with the double unders - though truth-to-tell i was sort of dreading more deadlifts so i wasn't sad when it took me a long time to get through them. i had about 1 minute left by the time i finished the DU - but I could not get the bar off the ground, so that was it. I taped my writst which actually really did help with the OHS. My wrists did not fail after 7 reps like they did lat week.


Thursday, we went to the theatre - Excellent show.


Friday:
WOD:
75 KB Swings 2.0/1.5P
50 Push-Ups
25 Ground to Overhead 115#/75#
Run 2 miles
75 KB Swings 2.0/1.5P
50 Push-Ups
25 Ground to Overhead 115#/75#

I subbed 1P KB swings, 45# snatches, and only did 50%.
26:13

The first 10 G2O, 20 PU and 30 KB swings took 4:30
The second set took 6:30
the last set of half that volume took 3:20
The mile took me about 11:30

I was feeling tired, run down, and migrane-y so I decided to take it easy. The 45# snatches actually felt almost easy (even though they were totally impossible today). The 1P KB swings felt harder than they should have - i think i just wasn't using enough hip. The pushups were done on a slight incline - one of the few spcaes that wasn't taken by people with heavy barbells or KB, so they were probably a bit easier, too.

I was just relieved that my head did not feel like it was going to fall off when i was done.

Recovery and some one-rep maxes

I have not been terribly good about posting entries lately - my bad. Given that Sunday workouts are under the radar, there's not a whole lot for me TO post...except Saturday, I guess. We were supposed to test our one-rep max in Deadlift and Shoulder Press Saturday, but I only made it as far as Deadlift.

Deadlift x 1: 310-320-330-335-340(pr)

I THINK this is my 1RM. I didn't try 345 because my arms were very painful. So this'll have to do until the opportunity arises again.

A word about my arms: they are concerning me. More than any particular movement, the trigger seems to be heavy loads - the heavier an exercise (ANY exercise) is for me, the more likely it is to make my arms hurt. Thus the problem with Squats and Deadlifts. Heavy Cleans are extremely bad. Bodyweight or lightweight movements are, by and large, fine. I'm still not clear on what the problem is, but I've resolved to take this week as a (mostly) recovery week, in hopes that I won't be troubled during my cert. The odds are good that I'm going to wind up doing Tabata Squats, Fran and Fight Gone Bad, which should be OK.

With that in mind, I scaled WAY the hell back on this one yesterday:

AMRAP in 10 minutes:
5 Deadlift 315/205
10 OHS 115/75
15 Double-Under

3 rounds, DL at 185#, OHS at #65.

Primary problem was the double-unders, as always. These were REALLY not working for this workout, though - I think my longest streak was five. The deadlifts were a joke, the OHS were just a matter of balance and wrist endurance.

Afterwards I felt a bit unsatisfied, so I went in to test my 1RM shoulder press.

Shoulder press x 1: 95-105-110-115(f)-115(pr)-117(f)

115 was my goal, so I'm pleased with that. Only Bench Press left to test!

2nd time not quite the same as the first.

Warmup: ME, Squat hold, 5 minute static hang 10 burpee penalty for each stop followed immediately by 5 minute plank hold - same penalty.

WOD:
Run 400 Meters
15 Power Snatch 115#/75# (30#)
Run 400 Meters
15 OHS 115#/75# (30#, 35#, & 25#)
Run 400 Meters
15 Power Clean 115#/75# (50#)
Run 400 Meters
15 Front Squat 115#/75# (50#)

Result:
32:55

Comments:
We just did something very similar to this not a month ago. This time the runs were shorter and the rx weights a bit heavier. I decided to try to make my weights heavier all around, too.

Last time, I worked with 22# for the Snatches and OHS, and 42# for the cleans and Front Squat.

I forgot my watch and tried to borrow Daniel's but apparently I didn't start it right - or my hand kept hitting the button - or something - because I do not have my splits. WHich makes me sad. I was really pushing on the runs, and I really wanted to see how I did on them. ( I kept visualizing Ynez out in front of me and tried to 'catch up to her' to get myself to work a little harder.

The OHS were a complete disaster. I got the first 7 with the 30# women's bar. - that part was not a disaster - that part is actually pretty cool and probably a OHS PR. However, after that, my wrists completely gave out, and I just couldn't hold the bar up over my head anymore. The 15# bar was not being used, and Daniel suggested that I put the 10# plates I had standing by for my cleans to get it to 25# and finish my set. I got the plates on, found clips for them, managed to get it up over my head but MAN that felt so much harder than the empty 30# bar - i thought it was just having weights on a bar instead f an empty bar, I put the bar down. Tried again. Damn - just no way that was going to work. DAMN. have to go find some 5# plates I guess. Got the plates on, got them clipped. FINALLY did the math. "Daniel, 15# bar plus 10# plates is THIRTY FIVE pounds!!!" Finally managed to finish the last 8 squats. it only took me about 10 minutes.

Everything else went really well overall. The snatches were easy - pretty much unbroken. The cleans were good (though not great) - i really need to work this movement. The front squats went well, too. There were one or two very iffy reps where the bar got out in front of me and I just muscled my way up - but for the most part I feel like I was really able to keep my chest up and my knees out - my biggest problem was actually air. At any rate, they felt better than they did last time with less weight. Video might have told a different story - I usually do worse than I think I did - but things mostly felt right.

I would really like to know what my time would have been without the OHS lameness, and i really wish i knew what my run splits were. must not forget watch again.