Operation Avenger | heyarnold13's Battle Log

[heyarnold13]

Here lies my workout battle log!!!

 

"Operation Avenger" is something I started in my head about a month ago but was touch-and-go with for the first two weeks. I want to collect all the Funko Pop! Avenger bobbleheads, but can't really justify just purchasing all of them. So Operation Avenger is my reward system! Whenever I go down on the scale by five pounds (reward scale subject to change as I get more involved in strength training), I get to buy the next bobblehead!

 

I started with Captain America, and he's proudly sitting on my desk at work.

(Shut up, Steve, you know you like it up there with my stapler)

 

Next one will be Black Widow. Because BAMF. 

 

Aside from the beauty of bobbleheads, though, Operation Avenger is also a silly-wonderful-geeky way to label my road to superhero fitness. Get stronger. Faster. Better. 

 

Time to level up.

 

[heyarnold13]

I go to this place that focuses on functional movement and all that good stuff, so these workouts are sort of like CrossFit, but not. I think? I don't really know. I love them and that's all that matters. The workouts are called Raise the Bar. I'm obsessed.

 

Tuesday, Jan. 26

Skill: Turkish Get Ups (20 total)

“Mary†
20mn AMRAP
* 5 HSPUs 
* 10 Pistols (alt) 
* 15 Kipping Pull-ups

^That was the prescribed workout. Am I capable (YET!) of handstand pushups or pistol squats or even a normal pull-up? NOPE!!! After doing all my Turkish Get Ups (which I am quite capable of), my coach set the four of us (none of us are at that level yet) on our progressions for the skills. First, though, we all had to kick up into handstands. I do not do handstands. I want to, but I've never been able to get all the way up before and usually do wall stuff. BUT NOT ON TUESDAY! I kicked up into a handstand (with spotting!) and it was so amazing!!!!!! I had a smile on my face the rest of the morning after that. Anyhoo, progressions:

*5 overhead dumbbell presses, seated on the ground. I started with 15 lbs, but my coach made me switch to 20lb dumbbells for my last two rounds. Awesome!

*10 alternating pistol-ish squats. Squated to touch butt to a box. Started with some weight plates on the box and my coach took them off as I went through my rounds and got better at them.

*15 jumping pull-ups! Those things sneak up on your lungs and heart rate. Loved them.

So it was a 20 minute AMRAP... and I got 7 rounds in!!! BOOM BABY!

 

Thursday, Jan 28

Skill: Windmill

 

OH Press
3*3*3*3
Push Press
2*2*2*2

For Time:
* Row 1 mile

^Prescribed workout. LOVED IT SO MUCH!!! First time doing overheads and push press with weight on the barbell. I think I got up to 55lb on the OH and I got to 65lb on the push press. It's written down at my gym. As for rowing, I was hella nervous for this since I haven't rowed more than five minutes since high school and my running mile time is dismal. PLUS the row came (for me) in between my OH and push press sets. I know it should be mostly leg, but it was in the last third of the hour and I was getting tired. But I pushed through it and ended up with an 8:06.9 time for the 1600m. So much better than I thought I would do!! AND I was the fastest of the three of us there this morning!

Obviously had to have a post-shower dance party with my coffee after such a great morning. Found this great Spotify playlist called "Mood Booster." Highly recommend it 

[heyarnold13]

Saturday, Jan 31

Skill: Ring Dip

5 Rounds (NfT)
* 4 Ring Dips
* 4 Strict Pull-ups

Partner Plyo
4r - 30s each movement. Partners add your scores, highest = Winner!
* Box Jump (24"/20")
* Plyo Lunges
* Squat Jump

 

First up, Ring Dip Skill! We set up a dip station to "test out" to see if we could then get on the rings. Two 24-inch boxes with a bunch of weight plates on them formed this, and to test out, you had to get between them and hoist yourself off the ground for 3 rounds of 10-seconds with 30 seconds off in between. Those things are deceptive!! I was shaking by the third round, but tested out of the station to move onto ring holds! My coach spotted me and I did 3 rounds of 7-second ring holds. SO HARD! So rewarding. It feels so cool to be on those gymnastics rings!!

OBVS can't do ring dips or strict pull-ups yet, so Coach set us all up on our progressions for the day. My pull-up progression was a ring row, trying to move to be fully parallel to the ground and eventually getting feet up on boxes. I was angled the whole time, but I'm okay with that. It's all about progress! For the ring dips, I did regular dips on a bench, going full range-of-motion with butt to ground. Woo! For the fifth round, had to put a block under my butt to "get down" since my arms were so tired, but I got all five rounds done in the 20 minutes we dedicated to it (so much for NfT lolz).

Partner plyo was murderously awesome. I did 12" box jumps, because heyo beginner skillz.

[heyarnold13]

Tuesday, Feb 3

Skill: L-Sit

10 Rounds (4T)
* 6 Windmill PushUps
* 8 BB Burpees
* 12 Pistols

Finisher: 
2 Rounds (NfT)
* 1 Tree 
* 1 Dancer

 

Y'all. L-Sits are HARD! I sat with two blocks under my hands and just worked on keeping my butt off the ground for a whole minute. I probably rested every 10-15 seconds. And my arms were still sore from Saturday's ring and pull-up shenanigans.

For the WOD, I just did plank Windmills. I'm still working on a strict push-up, so when we do anything with those, I do eccentric push-ups with 5 or 3 second lower times. But with the Windmills today, just planks for me! Since we had Burpees to do... saved the push-ups for that. We jumped over the barbells for these BB Burpees. For my pistols, I'm still lowering onto a weight plate set on a box, but I started off with just one 15-lb plate instead of two this time!

Originally, our Finisher today was supposed to be a mile run. But since it's SO FREAKING COLD outside, we switched to yoga poses. Thank goodness.

[heyarnold13]

Since starting Raise the Bar (CrossFit-ish gym), I've only done Tues/Thurs/Sat. Nice rest days in between for my poor muscles, right? WELL, this week, I want to amp. it. up. And by that I mean I want to make it in 4x each week rather than just 3x. How to accomplish this, since 6am workouts are only offered on Tues and Thurs? Find an afternoon 6pm I can make. This week, I'm attempting the Wednesday to see how three days in a row treats me. Next week, I'm trying a Mon/Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule, so there's a little more rest there. Maybe I'll be able to crank it to 5x a week sometime, but for now, it's time for the Experiment of Four!

 

 

Side-quest: use only Avengers gifs in this log.

[heyarnold13]

Wednesday, Feb 4

Skill: Split Jerk Technique

Clean
2*2*2*2*2

6mn AMRAP
*4 Hang Power Clean (85/55)
*4 BB Forward Lunge (R+L=1)
*2 Push Jerk

 

Whoa buddy! Went to this at 6pm after a looooong day at work, and boy am I glad I showed up! The Clean has got to be one of my favorite things to do. We did some Split Jerk technique work (air jumps, lunge practice, a few reps with a training bar), and then moved right into the Clean. I topped out at 65lb for the full reps, but feel like I could have added a bit more weight. But I had to save some gas for the AMRAP, which was hard only because of those stupid BB lunges. Yuck.

 

Did a training bar with 10lb plates on it, so I was going with 35lbs for my AMRAP. I started with a men's bar, but the lunges were really getting to me so Coach had me switch down to the 35 weight. Plates were there so I could drop the bar if needed. I got 3 rounds in, so pretty happy with that! Night ended with some good shoulder openers.

 

My wrists were REALLY hurting during the AMRAP. I think it's more because of my mobility rather than keeping the weight in my hands rather than on my shoulders. The bar is on my shoulders, but getting my elbows up is putting strain on my wrists. I need to work on my all-over flexibility like whoa.

 

Tomorrow morning... handstands and double unders!

 

[heyarnold13]

Thursday, Feb 5

Skill: HSPUs and Wall Walks

10mn AMRAP
* 4 Ring Dips
* 8 Burpee Box Jumps
* 16 Double Unders

I WAS DRIPPING SWEAT AT THE END OF THIS SWEET SWEATY BABY JESUS!!! I was definitely still a little fatigued from my 6pm session yesterday (and today was a 6am, so not a whole lot of rest!), especially my abs. So when everything today was all plank-based, goodness gracious was I feeling it. BUT, I did a handstand! Twice! Spotted, but I held it for awhile and am really trying to get over that damn mental block of just tossing my legs up.

The warmup today was all frog jumps and plank walks and madness like that, so I was tired before we even got to the AMRAP. I got 3 complete rounds and a set of burpees in before time was called. I don't have the double under skill yet, so I did 32 singles. And ring dips were just dips off a bench since I'm not there yet either. SO tired, but tomorrow is my rest day! Woohoo! Then Saturday comes and it's another round of sweat and awesome and I can't wait.

[heyarnold13]

Saturday, Feb 7

Skill: Split Jerk Technique

Push Press
3*3*3*3
Push Jerk
2*2*2*2

Finisher: 
6mn E2MOM
* Odd: 20 Plyo Lunges 
* Even: 5 PullUps

 

I LOVE push presses and push jerks. SO MUCH! I'm updating this today and this was forever ago, so I don't have my numbers in my head (coach keeps our sheets at the gym), but I think I hovered around 70/80 (maybe got up to 85/90 on the push jerk) and it was excellent.

For the E2MOM, those plyo lunges straight up MURDERED my quads. My legs were spaghatta nadles (a la Allie Brosh) until Tuesday. Freakin' plyo lunges. I'm breaking my Avenger gif/pic streak for some spaghatta nadle love.

 

This was me after the workout though:

[heyarnold13]

Monday, Feb 9

Skill: Handstand

Front Squat
5*5*5*5*5

8mn E2MoM
Odd: 5 Pull Ups 
Even: 5 Ring Dips

Finisher: Center Splits and Wheel

My coach is on a MISSION to get all of us in handstands to start handstand pushups. Handstands handstands handstands!!! I'm finally getting through my mental block, though, and today (aka Feb 14) was great, but this is my Feb 9 post, so I'll get to that later.

My front squat was suffering because of how sore my quads still were from Saturday. My wrists need more mobility work, and I have trouble keeping my elbows up sometimes. I think I got to 70 for the full five reps, though!

Then we had the E2MoM, but first we did some dip work to warm up. I got in the dip station (tons of plates balanced on boxes for us to chill between), and my static holds are SO MUCH BETTER now!!! I was super steady for my full 10-second holds and got to "graduate" to some eccentric dips. Woo!!!

[heyarnold13]

Tuesday, Feb 10

Skill: Split Jerk Technique

“14.1â€
10mn AMRAP
* 30 Double Unders
* 15 Power Snatches (75/55)

Finisher: 
Duo Tabata
* Hollow Rock
* Arch Rock

 

Get dem split jerks, y'all!!! Most of February's skill work has been those and handstands. My shoulder was starting to bug me today (I was never sore from Saturday's presses, so maybe it was just now setting in?), so I had to adapt and do my bar work with a PVC pipe or a training bar to avoid irritating my shoulder anymore than necessary. For the AMRAP, jump rope was also bugging my shoulder (weird, right?) so I did MORE LUNGES instead. Lord save my quads. And instead of the power snatches, I power cleaned dumbbells. 

 

Rude shoulder.

[heyarnold13]

Thursday, Feb 12

Skill: Handstand Walk (w/ partner)

Bench
3*3*3*3*3

5 Rounds (4T)
* 4 Pull-ups
* 8 Burpee Broad Jumps
* 12 weighted Sit Ups

 

Mother. Frackin. Handstands.

Bench press!!! Hadn't gotten to bench yet at this gym, so this was super exciting! My one rep max was 90, but to complete all 3 within a set, I stayed at 80. I got 2 on 85, but couldn't quite push that third rep up. Next time!

 

We ended up aiming for 4 rounds of the 4T workout with a 12-minute time frame. I did 8 ring rows, 8 burpee broad jumps, and 12 kipping sit ups for my series. Got the 4 rounds done in 9:13!!!

[heyarnold13]

Saturday, Feb 14

Skill: L-Sit

“Dianeâ€
21-15-9
* Deadlift (225/185)
* HSPU

Then: Figure 4 and Shoulder Pretzel

 

I feel like I should be starting all of these with "Dear Diary..." 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!! There was really no better way to start it off than at my gym. Love those people so much. We practiced MORE HANDSTANDS today, and I had my best kickup yet today! I didn't hesitate, just lunged down into position and got my legs up to my spotters. It was super rewarding, and my coach said "we just took your freakout level from a 10 to a 4." 

BOOM!

 

For the 21-15-9, I had 85lbs on my deadlift. Instead of handstand pushups, I did 3-2-1- wallwalks with 21-15-9 standing overhead dumbbell presses at 15lbs. At the end, I was breathing SO hard, but I finished well under the 16min time frame!

[Footsore Rambler]

Those sound like fun workouts.  I would love to be able to do a handstand at some point, too!

[heyarnold13]

Those sound like fun workouts.  I would love to be able to do a handstand at some point, too!

 

They're awesome!!! And I've been wanting to do handstands since Steve's NF article on handstands awhile back (HERE if you want to check it out!), so this was perfect! We do wall-walks to help with handstand strength, too.

[heyarnold13]

Monday, Feb 16

 

Skill: L-Sit

Weighted Sit Ups
8*8*8*8*8 (ladder up weight to 3rd round, then back down)

8 Rounds (4T)
* 5 Pull Ups
* 10 Pushups
* 20 Plyo Lunges

Finisher: 
Front Splits

 

Huzzah President's Day! A handful of us at my gym had today off, so we had a special holiday 11 a.m. class! So much better than waking up at 5 a.m. or going after a long day of work.

In addition to the workout, we did a lot of warmup workout stuff beforehand. More than usual! In addition to the usual jumping jacks, bear crawls, lunges, etc., we added a kettlebell sequence (5 swings to 5 goblet squats x3) and a hollow rock-to-push up sequence (6 hollow rocks, 6 pushups). 

We're starting to transition from total handstand-focus to L-Sits. Current "homework" is to do one-minute holds every other day. For me, that's holding myself off the ground using yoga blocks with my heels still on the ground, toes pointed. We did a few rounds of holds today, going one minute, thirty seconds, twenty seconds, and a twenty second finisher. Phew! 

Then the core continued with sit ups! My strict sit up isn't consistent yet, so instead of laddering my weight up, I did two rounds of strict, one with a 5 lb dumbbell, then two more strict. I was really feeling it at the end. Core core core!

The 8 Round 4T was SO HARD! Lots of shoulders. I'm still rocking the ring rows for my pull up progression, and for pushups, I was doing them on a raised barbell. Instead of plyo lunges, I did alternating ones. The 8 rounds felt like they would never end, but I finished in 17:19! 

The split finisher was a nice way to stretch out after everything. Fantastic day!! Fingers crossed the impending snow won't mess with my 6am session tomorrow!

[heyarnold13]

I am already sore to the point of limited mobility and it's only been 6 hours since the end of my morning workout!

 

Tuesday, Feb 17

Skill: Forward Roll to Squat Jump

Back Squat
5*5*5*5*5

For Time:
50 BB Burpees

Finisher:
4 Rounds (NfT)
*10 Shoulder touches out of a plank
* 20s Handstand Hold on Wall

 

It is snoowwyyy in DC!!! Federal government closed last night, so I "don't have work today," but I still got up at 5am to trek through the unplowed sidewalks of snow to my workout! Our coach was so shocked and happy that all four of us in the 6am class made it in despite the weather conditions. Woo! All the gold stars!

The skill work today was pretty fun and more challenging in technique rather than exhertion, which was great since I was definitely feeling yesterday's beast of a workout. Our other coach who wasn't running this morning's class apparently said "no pushups! we can't make them do more pushups!" regarding today's workout. So much shoulder action. 

Back squats are not my forte. I don't have the flexibility (yet!) to get into that deep squat position while keeping my chest up and arms up to hold the bar. So in addition to building up the necessary strength for the move, I have to work on that! I have a tendency to come forward on my feet on my way up. I stuck with just the 45lb bar for my five rounds today, but by the last round, I was doing a MUCH better job of staying in my heels, pushing my knees out, and driving back up without coming forward.

Then came the dreaded burpees... fifty damn barbell burpees after yesterday's lunge/shoulder fest. To make it even more "fun," our coach wanted us to jump over the barbell with a rotation. So plank, up, jump over bar with 180 degree spin. We had PVC pipes on hand to jump over instead of the bar with plates, but after making us all do "just one" jump/spin over the bar to prove to ourselves we could actually do it without breaking teeth, she challenged us to do 25 over the bar and 25 over the PVC.

Oh, and it's timed? Can I keep jumping over that stupid bar without breaking teeth 25 times minimum?

 

Challenge accepted.

My lungs were burning, legs a'tremblin, and arms a'shakin, but I hit all 25 over the bar and then just. kept. going. And I did all 50 barbell burpees jumping over the barbell with that fancy lil air rotation for every rep. And I did it in under six minutes.

 

Then that finisher of planks on planks on planks was murderous on my entire body, but I did it and it was a freakin' fantastic morning.

[heyarnold13]

Thursday, Feb 19

Skill: Skill: L-Sit

Deadlift
3*3*3*3*3

10mn AMRAP
* 3 HSPUs
* 3 Pull Ups
* 12 Box Jumps

 

DEADLIFT DAYS ARE THE BEST DAYS!!! Thursday was freakin' awesome. I FINALLY got to play around with deadlifts since, until Thursday, I was down in the books as "TBD." Going through the five rounds was a breeze, and while we unfortunately didn't find a good max for me, it was really fun and I can't wait to do more. I ended on 135 for my 3reps, but definitely could have added more weight. Like a lot more.

 

The AMRAP turned into Rounds for Time, which was just fine with me. We did 3 rounds, and my HSPU progression was a seated dumbbell press with 20lb bells. 3 of those, then 6 ring rows for my pull up progression, then the box jumps! Did it in under 4 minutes. Boom.

 

Side note: I signed up to do a 5K next weekend, but I think the last time I ran more than a mile was the last 5K I ran (hungover) in December. SOOOO that will be fun! Just means I have to skip my Saturday class, which is actually really upsetting because I had to skip it today, too, because of work. And I'm incredibly bummed about that because these workouts have become the thing I consistently look forward to and never dread. Which is really quite incredible for me, and I am so lucky that I've found something I love so much despite the pain it puts me in

[heyarnold13]

So, like I said, I wasn't able to go to my usual 10am class yesterday. AND I won't be able to go to the Monday night one tomorrow (aunt is in town), so what's a poor WarriAnger to do? (That's my new term for my Warrior/Ranger self)

 

Hit up whatever session my place has on Sunday, of course! 

 

The class is called "Stronger/Faster" and is an AWESOME mix of cardio and weights. Had so much fun! One of the girls I know from RtB* was there, so having that realization that I really belong to the gym now was really something incredible. It was with one of my two RtB coaches, who I adore, and everyone else in attendance was there through ClassPass or something. So I really felt like a badass regular! Also my weights for the rounds were so much heavier than everyone else, but I'll get into that in a second

 

Sunday, Feb 22

Faster: 4 Rounds (4T)

* 100 Jaxx

* 10 KB/DB Deadlifts

* 5 DB Push Press

Stronger:

Tabata: Side Plank

Finisher:

Pike Stretch and Shoulder Twist

 

100 jumping jacks is no laughing matter... and 400? Kill me now!!! Ugh but I did it all weee! I did kettlebells for my deadlifts at 26lbs each, and it felt really awesome lifting the heaviest things in the room. For my dumbbells in the push press, I had 20lbs in hand. Again, heaviest in class! Loved it. My 4 rounds took me 11:21 to complete. Crushed it.

 

The Tabata side plank after all that crazy shoulder stuff was hard. I made it all the way to the last round before I started to give out, but still finished em all! The stretch finishers were so welcome after all that. Shoulder twist is my happy place.

 

*I think I said this in my first post, but these CrossFit-esque classes are called Raise the Bar at the gym I'm at. AKA RtB. That's easier to write/say, so that's how they'll be referred to from now until forever

[heyarnold13]

Had a GREAT, but grueling, RtB this morning!

 

Tuesday, Feb 23

Skill: Pistols (30 alternating)
 

3 Rounds (4T)
*21 KB Swings
*15 BB Burpees
*9 V-Ups

 

Opener: Pilates-esque hip work

 

The Pilates thing to start the day off was interesting. And HARD! Lots of little movements there that really challenged strength, mobility, and stability. All good stuff, though! We did a few rounds of kettlebell swings into goblet squats to warm up as well. Had a 4-minute AMRAP of 5 KB swings and 5 goblet squats. If you needed a break, it was 10 strict sit-ups for ya! I think I got through 6 complete sets plus two sets of sit-ups. I chose a heavier bell than normal.

 

The 4T today was terrible, and by terrible, I mean it was wonderful but so hard because I ate out last night at a nice restaurant and still had wine and dessert and rich salmon sitting heavy in my belly (worth it, though!). Coach set us out with a 12-minute limit on this 4T. I did one round of my KB swings with a 26lb bell then went down to the next for the rest of them. Finished in 9:21! Everyone in the group had a sub-10 minute time and it was GREAT!

 

Pistols are one of my nemeses... did them down to a 12-inch box with a 45 and 15lb plate stack. One day I'll be down to just the box! And then, way off in the future, a strict pistol! Currently working towards getting two strict pushups in a row by the end of March. It's gonna happen!!!

[heyarnold13]

Wednesday, Feb 25

Skill: Handstand

Power Clean & Jerk
2*2*2*2*2

For Time: (95/65)
* 30 Double Unders 
* 20 FR Lunges
* 30 Double Unders
* 20 Shoulder to Overhead
* 30 Double Unders
* 20 Front Squats
* 30 Double Unders

 

Holy molyyyyyy the WOD was a quick and dirty!!! But first, Clean & Jerk! It. Was. Awesome. I absolutely love that freakin' barbell and I just want moremoremore of it all the time. I got up to 90lbs but probably could have added a little more. My Cleans were easy-peasy, but I am not using all of my power when I go to Jerk, which my coach keeps telling me. "You're not using even close to how much power you have." So that's exciting, but at the same time a little frustrating as I learn HOW to access all that power coming from my hips. I'll get there, though!

 

This WOD was ridick-a-donk. I got my first double-unders, though! Not consistent enough to follow the WOD to the letter, though, so I got to sub in 60 single-unders instead of the 30 doubles. Had a 45lb bar for my squats and overheads, and I really locked into this one. The time started and I freaking CRUSHED it!!! Got the whole thing done in 3:59. Beast.

 

This is how I felt the entire time

[heyarnold13]

Thursday, Feb 26

Skill: Toes to Bar (kipping)

OH Squat
5*5*5*5*5

15mn EMOTM
*1 Wall Walk
*10 Lunges (alt)

 

Toes to Bar I cannot do, but I had fun swinging around! My hands STILL kinda hurt today, but whatevs. I did some 10-second hangs and then a few rocks on the bar. Equivalent of a hollow rock type thing, but while hanging. Then had a round of knee raises while on the bar, so that was my work for the Toes to Bar work! Twas good.

 

Overhead squats are one of my nemeses... they seriously point out ALL the weaknesses! But my quads were, for once, not totally dead on a squat day so I felt pretty good for a lot of it despite my form needed some serious work. Got up to 35lb on weight, which I'll be happy with since I know my form went from zero to way-better during the 5 sets. I really have to work on sending the hips back and staying in my damn heels. My arm position was good at least! 

 

ERMAHGERD EMOM!! Murderous little beastie. I made it to 5 rounds before I had to switch from wall walks to planks because my shoulders and core were just DEAD. 

 

Once again have to miss the Saturday workout... running a 5K on Sunday and it's a grand experiment in "I haven't run more than 2 miles since my last 5K in December but all this strength training happened sooooo let's see what goes down!"

[heyarnold13]

On Sunday, I ran a 5K through the icy rain. It was awesome. But actually, it was awesome. Because I ran the entire distance which is the longest I've ever run without stopping, so I was pretty damn proud of myself.

 

Monday, March 2
 

Skill: Advanced Plank work (Death by Plank!)

“Elizabethâ€
21-15-9
* Clean (115/85)
* Ring Dip

Finisher: 12 Pull Ups + 3 Wheels

 

Death. By. Plank. OHWOWZA! 30 second normal plank, 30sec left leg up, 30 sec right leg up, 30sec right leg/left hand up, 30sec left leg/right hand up, 30 sec with feet in the TRX bands off the ground. 15sec rest in between each. If you break during something, go back to regular planks. I did many regular planks I made it through some of the right/left legs up stuff, but didn't get past that. Oh well!

The "Elizabeth" was fun! Deadly, but fun. I had a 45lb bar for it and completed in 10:13 or something. For the Finisher, I did 36 ring rows instead since I don't have my pull up yet! 

[heyarnold13]

Tuesday was more "Death By" stuff!

 

Tuesday, March 3
 

“Death By…â€
*Ring Row & Plyo Lunges

*With a continuously running clock perform 1 rep of each the 1st minute, 2 reps the 2nd, adding 1 r/mn until you cannot complete the required reps in the given mn.

*When finished rest the next minute, then perform 5 Burpees on the minute until everyone is done.

Finisher: 4 rounds (NfT)
*3 Toes-to-Bar (strict)
* 12 Hollow Rocks

 

So the first few rounds were so easy peasy, but once I got to five, it got really hard really fast! My body was just plain tired, but I made it to ten rounds which was more than I thought I could do! Damn plyo lunges. They're the worst.

 

"Death By" days go a lot like this:

 

BUT, to improve things, we found an AWESOME new Pandora playlist for our 6am crew! I go to RtB at 6am on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it's always the same fantastic group. It's usually 4 or 5 girls (our guy who 6am's with us is traveling right now) and we have the best time. And the new Pandora station to crush all Pandora stations at 6am? Spice Girls. Obvs.

[heyarnold13]

Wednesdays are Snatch on Snatch on Snatch all this month!! WOOO!!! Gettin' into those olympic lifts like whoa

 

Wednesday, March 4
 

Snatch
3*3*3*3*3

Snatch Pull
2*2*2*2*2

Finisher: 12 Pull Ups

 

For my snatches, I got up to 65lbs I think? After the first set, I started doing snatch pulls in between snatches to set my form up. I need to work on the jump in the lift so I can generate a lot more power. Right now, I'm doing a lot of pure muscling-through the lift instead of tapping into all this power I have hanging around my middle. By the end, my form was SO much better than at the beginning. Gotta work on squats, too, with my mobility and strength so I can drive up through the last part of the lift.

 

Snatch Pulls! Great things. Maxed out at 90lbs for this one. I really need to invest in some shin skins now. Scrapes all up and down my shins from keeping the bar close.

 

Still don't have pull ups, so I did 24 ring rows instead. Weee!!

[heyarnold13]

Snow Day workout! Us 6am kids are now the "Snow Emergency Crew."

 

Thursday, March 5

 

Bench
5*5*5*5*5

Partner Plyo (20mn)
(30s each exercise, partner counts)
*Plyo Lunges
*Broad Jumps
*Ice Skaters
*Squat Jumps

 

Woooo bench press!!! Went 10 reps for a warmup on the men's bar, then did 75lb, 85lb, 90lb, 90lb, and 85lb. Only got 4.5 of my 5 reps on the last 85lb set, but I did ALL my 90lb reps! Last time we benched, I think I could only manage 2 90lb reps before needing my spotter. Yay for "garage gym" day!

 

Partner Plyo turned into 3 rounds of all of us going at the same time. There were 5 of us in today and the benching took a bit longer than expected, so we needed to get through our plyos before the 7am kettlebell class showed up. I got 55 reps on my first round, 61 on the second, and 65 on the third. Woo!! 

 

And now it's a SNOW DAY! Thank you DC weather and federal government. But after this, I don't want to see snow anymore. I'm seriously over it and have cabin fever.