Tag: Shoulder Press

WOD December 1, 2014

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Strength

– 1RM Back Squat

– 1RM Shoulder Press

My workout:
Woohoo. I PR’d both my 1 rep maxes. :D And that while I was feeling a bit under the weather too. I almost decided not to train today. Because I’ve had this cough and been training so much last week. But I didn’t feel like going home straight from work either. So showed up in the end. I managed to get a 160 lbs (72.6kg) back squat. My last 1RM was 150 lbs in September. It was quite hard to get it up, but I managed :D. Then the shoulder press I managed 80 lbs (36.3kg). I think I might have been able to do a little more.. but didn’t want to push my luck.

WOD

“FRAN”

21-15-9 reps of:

– Thrusters #95/65

– Pull Ups

My workout:
This is where the suck started. The last time I did Fran was in Estepona and I used 20kg and a band for the pull ups and did it in 8 minutes. This time I used 30kgs (65 lbs) and no band. I decided on scaling the reps instead. I wanted to do 15-9-6. But after the first 15 I already felt like I was dead.. so I faltered and only did 6 in the next round.. and then another 6 in the final round. It felt like giving up. Not a nice feeling. My time was 7 min 54. But I’m ashamed of changing the reps half through. Weak, weak, weak. And my time is quite bad if you consider the amount of reps.. I don’t know if me feeling crappy weighed in a bit.. but not happy about this workout.

WOD November 21, 2014 and Wendler Cycle C Week 3 Shoulder Press (again)

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Shoulder Press

5 x 55 lbs (25kg)
3 x 65 lbs (30kg)
5 x 70 lbs (32kg)

Notes:
I did 1 rep more on the last round than last time, so I’m very pleased :).

WOD

In Pairs:

You Go, I Go ” Bear Complex” x 2 reps per partner.

Complete as many rounds as possible in 15 Minutes.

My workout:
We were with an uneven number so I went by myself. I used 75 lbs. My first 2 reps took me 40 seconds so I tried to take 40 seconds breaks in between. In the end my reps were a little slower and I took breaks up to a minute. I did 16 reps in total (8×2).

Bear complex btw is:
– power clean
– front squat
– shoulder press
– back squat
– shoulder press from back

Wendler Cycle C Week 3 Shoulder Press and Deadlift

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It turns out that it’s not so easy to go to Crossfit as I had hoped. They don’t have morning classes and in the evening there have been so many other things to do that after Monday it has just been impossible.

But, my sister is a member of one of the cheapo gyms here in the centre, where anyone can go on your card. So I borrowed her card yesterday and went there during my lunch break. I figured I’d do some Wendler after all (as I would have no clue what to do in the gym otherwise).

I started with a 5 min row to warm up. Then:

Shoulder Press

5 x 25kg (55 lbs)
3 x 30kg (65 lbs)
4 x 32.5kg (70 lbs)

And then:

Deadlift

5 x 61 kg (135 lbs)
3 x 70 kg (155 lbs)
5 x 75 kg (170 lbs)

Not great, but not too bad either. Last time I did shoulder press I could only do 3 with 70 lbs so at least it’s improvement. I forgot to write down my rep goal for the deadlift (it was 7). I think I would have been able to get 7. But since I had no specific goal.. this felt heavy enough lol.

After this I did 3 sets of

  • 10 dumbbell push press with 2 10kg dumbbells
  • 10 weighted lunges with 14kg dumbbell.

It’s better than doing nothing, right?

I cooled down with 3 minutes running and 3 minutes walking. And then it was straight back to work ;).

 

Wendler Cycle C Week 1 Shoulder Press

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I went in on Sunday to start my new Wendler Cycle. After a deload week I had fresh energy to finally wack out some proper shoulder presses!!

Shoulder Press

5 x 50 lbs
5 x 55 lbs
8 x 65 lbs

So happy with that!! The weights were the same as the last week of last cycle and then I was only able to rep out 4 of the 65 lbs. So this is a huge improvement! I don’t believe I got much stronger in this week, but I was just much more focused and that is so important as well!

After this I played around finding my 1rm a little bit. I did 1 rep at 70 lbs, then 1 rep at 75 lbs and then failed twice trying to do 1 rep at 80 lbs.

After this we played around a bit trying muscle ups. I tried on the bar first… with a band.. I got one arm over the bar, but slipped from it (we didn’t have chalk). This was the closest I got because after that one I wasn’t even able to get my chest up to the bar. Tried a bit on the rings as well, but don’t even come close!!

After that I did a 8 min EMOM (I was lazy :p) of 3 dips (using stacked boxes) on the first minute and 2 pull ups + 2 chin ups on the 2nd minute. So 12 dips total and 8 pull ups and 8 chin ups. Then I finished with 25 push ups.

—

Over the weekend I have been reading this book about CrossFit. It tells the story on how CrossFit originated and has some interesting stories on some of the well known CrossFitters today and how they came into the sport. It was a fun read. (Yes, I’m a geek and obsessed.)

Click to view this book on Amazon.co.uk

Wendler Cycle B Week 3 Shoulder Press and Deadlift

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Hmmmzzzzzz. I kind of messed up last week in regards to bench press. Since I did the bench press WOD I haven’t found the right time to do the Wendler bench… Not sure if it’s a good idea to skip it.. but what’s done is done.

I went straight into shoulder press yesterday. But it was so disappointing again!! I did even worse than last week :(. I think though, in retrospect, that I might be setting myself up for disaster. Because I warm up with 3 sets of 5 reps at 45 lbs, which is heaver that what I should be warming up with and also more reps. So next time I’ll make sure to stick to the warm up schedule and hopefully do better. (I really hope so because this just sucks!!!!)

Shoulder Press

5 x 55 lbs
3 x 60 lbs
4 x 65 lbs

After this disappointing performance I finished with some push presses (I actually tried to do 4 more shoulder presses after a little break after that last set, but couldn’t even do 1 :s).

Push Press

4 x 65 lbs
5 x 65 lbs
5 x 65 lbs
5 x 65 lbs

Then I went onto the deadlifts, which luckily went much better! My rep goal was 7, which I managed to do :D (I can really feel my legs today though!!! Yikes!!)

Deadlift

5 x 130
3 x 145
7 x 160

That sets my calculated max at 190 now! :D Getting close to 200!!

After the deadlifts I spent some time on trying out pistol squats and I finally found a way to do them!! If i put a 10 lbs plate under my heel and I hold a 10 lbs plate in front of me for balance I can actually manage to do proper pistol squats!!! How cool is that :D :D :D.

I did 2 sets 0f 10 alternating left and right and then 4 sets of 5, switching legs per set. I sometimes struggled getting back up, especially with my left leg. Sometimes because of balance and sometimes because of strength. But so happy that I found a way to be able to do them! Not sure if it counts as an unscaled rep though, when using those plates for balance.

I joined the WODers in a 400m run afterwards.

WOD September 8, 2014 and Wendler Cycle B Week 2 Shoulder Press

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I joined in on the WOD today, but combined it with my Wendler Shoulder Press.

Strength

10 x 3 Front Squat (Dynamic Effort)

2 x 20 Shoulder Press

My workout
I only did 8 sets of 3 front squats instead of 10. We were running out of time..

1 set of 3 x 65 lbs
1 set of 3 x 75 lbs
6 sets of 3 x 85 lbs

My wrists were hurting a lot doing front squats.. and I also got a bit of the tingly sensation of a nerve feeling annoyed.. same as I usually have with overhead squats.. Not very pleasant. After this everyone did 2 sets of 20 shoulder press, but I wanted to my Wendler thing instead. I started with 10 x 25 lbs as a warm up. Then

Shoulder Press

3 x 50 lbs
3 x 55 lbs
5 x 65 lbs

My rep goal was to get 6 on the last set. So very disappointed that I missed my goal AGAIN. I think it might have been a mistake to try and do this during the “WOD” as I would have given myself a bit more time normally in between sets.. But.. no excuse!! I just wasn’t strong enough… After this I did another set of 10 with 45 lbs.

WOD

21-15-9

– Front Squats

– Push Ups

Cash Out: Max Strict Pull Ups

My workout
I did the front squats with 65 lbs and push ups hand release. My time was 7:17. Felt quite good about it :). Hand very tingly at the end though and it lasted for about 2 hours after the WOD. Luckily the feeling is gone now. I ended with 3 strict pull ups (with effort lol).

On another note.. during the warmup we also did 21-15-9 with pushups (and air squats) and I was very pleasantly surprised to be able to do the first 21 pushups unbroken! I don’t think I’ve ever done more than 10 unbroken.. or maybe 15.. so was quite happy to be able to do that (as a warmup no less hehe).

Wendler Cycle B Week 1 Shoulder Press and Deadlift

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Yesterday I started the second “cycle” of the Wendler program. It didn’t go so well. I felt really weak! It was over 3 weeks ago that I last did the shoulder press and deadlift so I guess I should have expected a bit of decrease… but was hoping to at least hit the same reps as last time. Because the last set of the previous time was the same weight as this week so I was a bit disappointed that I did worse instead of better.

I started with

Deadlift

5 x 110 lbs
5 x 130 lbs
8 x 145 lbs

Which was ok, because according to my rep goal calculator my aim was to get at least 7 reps on the last set and I got 8, so all good!

Then

Shoulder Press

5 x 45 lbs
5 x 55 lbs
7 x 60 lbs

And here it is the exact opposite. My aim was to get at least 8 reps and I only got 7 :(.

In between the shoulder press sets I did 3 strict pull ups each time.

Not a very active day in terms of assistance work… but was still feeling my muscles from the day before (clean & jerks).. Hopefully I will feel stronger next time!!

A tiny break – some Wendler videos – WODing in my hometown

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It’s been 14 days since my last post! What happened there? Well, a whole lot! I became an auntie again!!! I am proud auntie of little Kyan who was born on August 10, 2014. He came a month earlier than planned which made me go on an impromptu trip to Holland to be with my family.

photo 2

However, before I went to Holland on the 9th I did do a workout here in Spain on the 6th. I just didn’t have time to post about it yet. I did Wendler Week 3, Day 1, Shoulder Press and Day 2, Deadlift.

Shoulder Press
week3day1

As you can see I messed up the weights on the warming up big time. I don’t know how I got so confused, but the first set felt really heave haha. Wonder why :p.

I actually filmed my last set (7 reps of 60). I was curious to see my form and thought I could learn from it. I filmed a bit too low though, so can’t see my extension. But it might be fun to keep for future comparison anyway.

After the shoulder press I went straight into the deadlifts.

Deadlift

week3day2

And I filmed those two. My second set and the last one. And these are actually quite useful, because I can see that I need to straighten my back more on the first rep (I think it looks ok on the last 2 reps?) and I think that I should put my feet a little bit closer together and/or push my knees out more. My legs look a little bit wobbly.

Also. Note to self. Control the pain face! lol

I don’t remember all my assistance work.. I think I tried some GHD situps, which were surprsingly hard (going down). I do remember I did 5 rounds of 3 strict dips and 3 strict pull ups.

So.. after that workout it’s been kind of quiet. The time in Holland was so hectic that I barely had time for myself, let alone workout. I did however manage to visit the local CrossFit box one evening for a workout. And I was very impressed. I didn’t expect too much of a box in Lelystad. Lelystad is quite a small city and for some reason I didn’t think a CrossFit box in Lelystad would be very big or good. But I was very, very wrong!!! Great box, with a lot of space and high quality equipment. And a great coach!! I thoroughly enjoyed my session there and learned a lot too!

photo (10)

I went on Wednesday the 13th and the WOD was

WOD

  • 3 min AMRAP
    30 double unders
    10 handstand push ups

Rest 3 min

  • 3 min AMRAP
    30 double unders
    10 ringdips

Rest 3 min

  • 3 min AMRAP
    30 double unders
    10 push ups

My workout
The WOD itself was nothing special, but I was very impressed with the warm up, how it was planned out to match the wod. I had to do things I’ve never done before (worm to downward facing dog comes to mind). After the warming up we worked on skills, which mostly meant working on a kipping handstand push up. I only every practiced this once before and was happy to get some useful pointers on how to do this properly. I learned a lot in the short time spent on this!!

For the workout I scaled the reps of the hand stand pushups to 5 and I managed to do 5 of them kipping and unbroken. My double unders were absolute crap. They got better each round though. I think I had to get used to the rope a tiny little bit and lets be honest.. my double unders are just one big mess sometimes. In the first amrap I only got to a total reps of 65. The second amrap I did the dips eccentric and got to 68 reps. The third amrap went the best and I got to 80 reps.

After the WOD we spent time on a thought out cooling down, which involved “smashing” some muscles. Also something new for me.

I am honestly very impressed with CrossFit Lelystad and will definitely join for the 3 week period when I’ll be in my hometown in October/November!

Wendler Week 1, Day 3, Back Squat + Week 2, Day 1, Shoulder Press

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After being lazy all weekend it was time for some work again. I started with the back squat.

week1day4

I joined in with the class for the warm up. They were doing 3 sets of 20(!!) back squats for their workout. Was tempting to join in with them, but I stuck to my program.. :).

In between the sets I did 3 strict pull ups (so 3×3 total).

Squats are the hardest of the 4 movements for me I think.

After the squat I went straight into the week 2 program for the Shoulder Press.

week2day1

It was quite heavy with 60! Hope I can do a bit more next time.

For assistance work I did

  • 20 one legged squats from box (1o each leg)
  • 10×2 dips
  • 10×2 pull ups

Afterwards I practiced some more with the pistol squats. Trying to do them from the ground properly. I can do them coming down to parallel, but whenever I break parallel for a proper squat I fall flat on my ass or simple can’t get back up haha.

Today I’m going to join in on the normal WOD. Kind of miss them!!

Wendler Week 1, Day 1, Shoulder Press

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It was my first day of strength training and I loved it!

Shoulder press was on the program. I had to be a bit creative with the weights as the prescribed weights didn’t match the weights to my disposable exactly.

week1day1
(All weights are in pounds.)

The training itself felt really light. Too light to be honest. But I have to trust in Wendler. It’s all about the last set I guess. Going for max repetitions. I got to 10, which made me happy as it indicates a higher 1rm than the 70lbs that I’m on. I did the first warm up round with a dumbbell btw, as the lightest barbell we have is 15kg (33lbs).

The assistance work was actually harder than the training. I did 1 set of 10 pull ups first, with a medium resistance band so that I could do them strict. I think I will do them without a band next time and just do more smaller sets, like I did with the dips. The dips were ring dips and of course I can’t do 10 unbroken so I broke them up into 5 sets of 2, which went great! Then back to 10 pull ups. And then back to ring dips. I failed my last rep so did 9 total on the second round. I then did another round of pull ups and finished with 1 dip to get to 20 total.

After this I joined in on the WOD.

WOD

12 minute EMOM of 5 power cleans

My workout
I used 65 lbs, which I think is a bit too light for me, because it was very easy.