Albeus51 Strives to Restore Balance

[SevenofSeven]

I always felt star jumps and side jumps were a little ominous, too much side ways pressure on a joint (ankle) not built for that type of thing. Then again maybe I'm just a wuss!

[Brovatar Korra]

I always felt star jumps and side jumps were a little ominous, too much side ways pressure on a joint (ankle) not built for that type of thing. Then again maybe I'm just a wuss!

Nope, it's the dumb jumps!

 

Morning Oly Lifts!

- these felt really solid this morning, despite being beat up from the week. I am hoping to focus on Clean and Jerks for the next month, because I am participating in a charity event in October called "Barbells for Boobs" and the event is 30 C&J for time. I have to figure out what would be a good weight that is challenging but isn't going to kill me.

 

Snatches

singles @55lb x 5

singles @65lb x 7

- I love snatches! (you heard me)

 

C&J

2+1 x 3 (2 cleans, 1 jerk, 3 sets) @75lb

 

Good morning to Snatch grip Press and OH Squat

- so this is actually pretty complicated, it makes you focus on the technique of each movement. Good mornings were super hard! Maybe because my back was tight (or I just don't do them often enough) but I had to strip all the way down to a 35lb bar to do them correctly.

 

Afternoon CF Workout

- this session completed my 6 week CF challenge! 18 workouts later and I can definitely say my aerobic capacity has improved. I didn't really lose any weight, but I've gotten stronger so I'm happy with my progress!

 

Bench Press

- WHAAA? BP in a crossfit workout? I know I was also surprised and excited. We did sets of 5 reps working up to 85-90% and then AMRAP. I THOUGHT my 5RM was around 105, but I ended up knocking out 11 reps! That is definitely a new PR for reps. 

 

Conditioning

4 rounds (20 min cap)

10 handstand pushups - I obviously did a modified version

20 toes to bar

30 KB swings (25lb)

250m row

- I was halfway through my final round when time ran out.

 

Strongman Session tomorrow! I'm hoping to get a few pics because we are doing atlas stones! (my favorite)

[Brovatar Korra]

Strongman Saturday

 

Atlas Stone carry - 115b 120ft. Normally I can carry this further, I think I was pretty beat up from the week.

 

OHP Medley - 95lb BB for 2 reps, 88lb axle bar for 2 reps, 35lb keg for 4 reps

 

Yoke Squat - 180lb for max reps in 60 seconds

- okay here is where things went bad. I've never done this movement before, so it felt awkward. On the fourth or fifth rep my quads actually started seizing! They were probably too tight and not properly warmed up. But the real issue was this caused my back to get out of alignment and I tweaked something in my lower back. I basically collapsed to the floor and was like - "bring... me... a... roller..."

Yesterday was lots of resting, and tiny bit of yoga stretching. It feels better today, but I can definitely feel that it is still tight. I'm still going to my weightlifting class tonight, but I am going to let him know and we'll go really light. He might even just have me roll out - that is fine, I just want to go to the gym to stay in the habit. (also I paid for it)

[Brovatar Korra]

Week 2 Recap

1. Strength training - hit all my workouts!

 

2. Conditioning - hit all my workouts!

 

3. Nutrition (7 day average)

calories - 2422, a little bit over my goal (2375)

carbs - 250g, on point!

fats - 93g, I had one day that I went way over (I demolished some frozen coconut dessert thing) so that skewed everything a bit

protein - 138g, close, but I want to consistently get averages over 140g

 

4. Sleep (7 day average)

8 hours 28 minutes, yeah! However, this includes several long naps over the weekend. On a weeknight basis my average is much lower than this. I might have to modify this to - "no less than 6 hours on a given night." Due to an exam on Friday I was up late studying and only got 4 and half hours of sleep. No good! No wonder I was dragging ass during strongman saturday...

[SevenofSeven]

Hope your back is feeling better. It kinda sucks big time when shit like that goes down. Well done on the rest of your Strongman though, still awesome!

[Brovatar Korra]

Hope your back is feeling better. It kinda sucks big time when shit like that goes down. Well done on the rest of your Strongman though, still awesome!

Thanks! It felt better on Mon afternoon, and then terrible this morning again. I've been reading a bunch of online articles, half of them say to move as little as possible and gets lots of rest, and the other half say do the opposite - move around and stretch as much as possible.

 

Weightlifting Workout (Which will henceforth be known as Barbell Club)

 

Drop Snatch Progression at 35lb, 55lb

- snatch push press 2x5

- power drop snatch 2x3

-drop snatch 3x3

 

Power Jerk Progression at 55lb, 65lb

-strict press 2x5

-push press 2x3

-power jerk 2x3

 

Clean and Jerk

85lb x2, 95lb x2

 

Front Squat 1x3 @135lb

 

Since my back hurts I'm staying home and not going to the gym today. But I'm not happy about it.

[Brovatar Korra]

Back is feeling a bit better! I've been taking naproxen around the clock, got a good night's sleep (despite weird dreams) and did lots of yoga stretches this morning. I even took a tennis ball to school with me so I could roll out between classes.

 

I felt good enough to go to CrossFit, although I was definitely limited in my movements a bit.

 

Skill: Ring Dips

- these are super hard! Since I can't really do them, I worked on box dips instead. Completed 3 x 20 second holds.

Diamond push-ups (knees) 3x12

Tricep Kick-backs (10lb) 3x12

 

Conditioning (17 min cap)

21-15-9

Ring Dips (did these with a band)

Power Cleans (55lb)

Bar Over Burpees

 

I did not finish in time, I had almost finished my 2nd round (21 of each, 15 of each) when time ran out. I was very timid on the power cleans so I picked a pretty light weight. It was bending over to do burpees that made my back feel tight and awkward, so I was gingerly stepping down and back up for each one. That probably ate up a lot of time. Meh.

 

I'm excited about tomorrow, I'm going to make it a brotastic upper body workout!

 

[Brovatar Korra]

Thursday's Workout:

 

As part of the warrior challenge, I worked up to a 3RM on BP:

45x5, 85x5, 105x3, 115x3, 120x3, 125x3, 130x3, 135x2 (I almost had the third rep!)

110 3x5

100 1x10 (max reps)

 

 

Seated Row

40 1x10

50 3x10

 

Lat Pulldowns

50 1x10

50 3x10

 

DB Bicep Curls!

15 3x10

[Brovatar Korra]

Friday Morning Weightlifting:

 

drop snatch progressions (2x5, 2x3, 2x3) 35lb, 55lb

snatch pp - pwr drop snatch - drop snatch

 

power jerk progressions (2x5, 2x3, 2x3) 55lb, 75lb

press - push press - pwr jerk

 

Front Squat and power jerk (90/3+1 x 3) 95lb

[Brovatar Korra]

Strongman Saturday!

 

Keg Toss

- this movement is my nemesis. I was using the 20lb pony keg, could BARELY get it 10ft in the air. It kept hitting the PVC bar but not going over. 

 

Axle Bar Deadift - double overhand grip

- this was all about grip strength. I was able to get up to 148lb, and tried my damn-dest to hit 153lb but couldn't get it. I could get it to about my knees when it would slip out of my hands.

 

Yoke Carry

- I thought this would be super hard, but it turned out to be my best event of the day. Each run was 50 feet. The yoke by itself is 180lb.

230 lb - 12.5 sec

250lb - 12.1 sec!

270lb - 13.4 sec

 

I have a picture of this one! (the 230lb run)

[Br0din]

Strongman Saturday!

 

Keg Toss

- this movement is my nemesis. I was using the 20lb pony keg, could BARELY get it 10ft in the air. It kept hitting the PVC bar but not going over. 

 

Axle Bar Deadift - double overhand grip

- this was all about grip strength. I was able to get up to 148lb, and tried my damn-dest to hit 153lb but couldn't get it. I could get it to about my knees when it would slip out of my hands.

 

Yoke Carry

- I thought this would be super hard, but it turned out to be my best event of the day. Each run was 50 feet. The yoke by itself is 180lb.

230 lb - 12.5 sec

250lb - 12.1 sec!

270lb - 13.4 sec

 

I have a picture of this one! (the 230lb run)

 

that looks like fun

[Brovatar Korra]

that looks like fun

 

It was! I forgot to add there were prowler pushes (using the yoke) at the end:

270lb 50ft

300lb 50ft

[Brovatar Korra]

Week 3 Recap

1. Strength training - hit all my workouts!

 

2. Conditioning - I think I fell about an hour short this week of my 3h goal, because I replaced one of my CF days with Oly lifting

 

3. Nutrition (7 day average)

calories - 2,325 

carbs - 242g (I under-ate carbs during the week, and had a delicious Chuy's dinner on Sat night and it all averaged out)

fats - 88g

protein - 120g (even lower than last week! I'm going to have to pay extra close attention to this macro in week 4)

 

-overall I'm pretty happy with these numbers and the quality of food. Weight has been the same over the last 3 weeks so I've found my maintenance sweet spot. Goal for the rest of the challenge is to keep hitting these numbers, and pushing the protein slowly upward

 

4. Sleep (7 day average) = 7.2h

I hit an average of 6.5 hours each weeknight, and I got 9 hours of sleep each night over the weekend. Still not enough! I want to hit that 8h overnight average.

This week will be tough to maintain because I have 2 exams. It is definitely not an issue of not being able to sleep, just planning my studying well and not procrastinating.

 

I'm having a lot of trouble waking up and getting my day going...

 

[Brovatar Korra]

Weightlifting Workout!

 

1. Snatch Progressions (all at 35lb)

hip power snatch 1x5

above the knee power snatch 1x3

below the knee power snatch 2x3

below the knee hang snatch 1x3

 

2. hang snatch

55lb 2x2

65lb 1x2

 

3. Clean Progressions (all at 55lb)

hip power clean 1x3

above the knee power clean 1x3

below the knee power clean 2x3

 

4. below the knee power clean and squat

65lb 1x3

 

5. hang clean and jerk singles

55lb, 65lb, 75lb, attempted 85lb but it was ugly, went back to 75 1x3

[Brovatar Korra]

Today was supposed to be CF workout, but IV lab ran late and I couldn't get over in time. Decided to just do my own open gym workout - strict press working up as high as I could go, and front squats. I hit a new PR!

 

OHP

35x5, 55x5, 65x5, 75x5, 80x5 (new 5RM PR!)

85x3, 90x2, 95x1 (new 1RM PR! - at the beginning of the year 95lb was my push press 1RM)

 

Push Press

65x3, 85x3, 95x3

 

Power Jerk

95x1, 105x1, 110x1

(I think if I hadn't done so much strict press work first, my push presses and jerks might have been able to go higher... next time)

 

Front Squats (I meant to go heavy on these as well, but by this time I was exhausted)

65lb 4 sets of 3

[SevenofSeven]

Pretty sweet numbers on the OHP, my gosh I got stuck at 30kg as a 1 RM. wow and that seems like a lifetime ago.

[Brovatar Korra]

Pretty sweet numbers on the OHP, my gosh I got stuck at 30kg as a 1 RM. wow and that seems like a lifetime ago.

 

Yeah it is crazy when you look back at old log books. It feels like you are reading the workouts of a different person! (I guess in way we are)

 

Wed and Thurs was just mobility and walking - had lots of exams to study for. This morning I did a weightlifting workout. Most of my workout was warming up and going through movements at lighter weights.

 

Snatch Grip DL + Hang snatch - worked up to 4 singles @ 65lb

Clean with pause at knee - worked up to 4 singles @75lb

Jerk - 4 singles @95lb

Front squat - 4 singles @105lb

 

Tomorrow morning I'm tackling my first Heroes WOD. It 22 movements, 22 reps of each. My goal is to just not collapse until the hour is up.

[SevenofSeven]

Snatch grip deadlift? Is that with the wide grip? I will have to have a look at it.

[Brovatar Korra]

It was basically just doing the first half of the snatch off the floor, bringing it your hips, then pausing, then leaning back down and doing a hang snatch. I THINK the intent is to work the snatch in 2 separate parts to improve each individually... ?

[Brovatar Korra]

Saturday Morning: Heroes WOD

I participated in an event to raise awareness about veteran suicide. In fact, 22 veterans kill themselves every day. That is a staggering and heartbreaking number that is hard to believe. My gym was partnered with Active Heroes, a non-profit that provides resources to veterans going through difficult transitions. To raise funds we hosted the following workout of 22 movements with a 45 minute cap (my comments in italics):

 

- I did the majority of the BB movements with a 35lb bar

22 Air Squats

22 Dips (ring dips, I did with a band)
22 Back Squats 
22 Push-ups
22 Front Squats 
22 Pull-ups (with band)
22 Overhead Squats
22 Abmat Sit-ups
22 Wall Balls â€‹(12lb MB)
22 Toes to Bar (I can't do these, so modified with hanging knee raises)
22 Lunges
22 KB Swings 20lb
22 Double Unders (I did 44 single unders)
22 Thrusters
22 Handstand Push-ups (modified version off box)
22 Deadlifts 75lb
22 Strict Presses
22 Box Jumps
22 Push Presses
22 Burpees
22 Push Jerks
22 Squat Cleans

 

I completed 19 of the movements, I had 3 left to do (box jumps, push jerks, squat cleans) when time ran out. This was pretty exhausting, one of the more ambitious workouts I've ever taken on to be sure. But it was for a great cause and I was grateful for the opportunity to participate.

[SevenofSeven]

What a great cause!

Pretty sad statistics though. Hard to imagine, like really hard to imagine what it must be like for the Veterans, when they come home.

[Brovatar Korra]

Week 4 Recap

 

1. Strength Training - 3h/week

2 hours Olympic lifting, 1 hour regular weight training, 1 hour strongman movement training

 

2. Conditioning - 3h/week

1 hour cross-fit (Heroes WOD)

Fell short on conditioning sessions, but lots of walking! averaged 11,600 steps a day

 

3. Nutrition

7 day averages for the week:

2,431 calories (goal 2,392) - I had a 3,000 cal day on Saturday, that raised the avg

254g carbs (goal 255g)

100g fat (goal 88g)

 125g protein (goal 141g) 

 

Still going over on fats and under on protein... Week 5 focus is PROTEIN!

 

4. SLEEP - 7.5 hours per night

Average for the week was just shy of 8 hours YAY! And it was more evenly distributed this time, and not trying to compensate on the weekends.

 

Summary for Week 4:

More conditioning and more protein! Everything else is going well.

 

[wildross]

What a great cause!

Pretty sad statistics though. Hard to imagine, like really hard to imagine what it must be like for the Veterans, when they come home.

While sad, the statistics for military suicides are actually lower than a decade ago, and lower than the general population

 

http://strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/20150325.aspx

[Brovatar Korra]

While sad, the statistics for military suicides are actually lower than a decade ago, and lower than the general population

 

http://strategypage.com/htmw/htatrit/20150325.aspx

 

I agree that every time a person (anybody, regardless of service) feels so alone and desperate that they are driven to take their own lives - it is a profound tragedy.

I know that statistics lag behind, but my understanding was that veteran suicide rates were actually HIGHER than the civilian population. I believe the data from that article was collected 2001-2009. I suppose it all depends on you analyze / slice it.

 

I suppose, being a veteran myself, and personally knowing other veterans that are no longer with us, this holds a special significance to me. But these are definitely mental health issues that can affect anyone, and we definitely need better resources for everyone. 

[Brovatar Korra]

On a lighter note, Strongman Saturday we did HERCULES HOLD!

 

I went up to 143lb in each hand, and my best time was 51 seconds. A very loooooong 51 seconds.