Tag: Wendler

Sickness and some workouts

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Long time no writing, because long time no workouts. After that horrible Fran on Monday I got a bit sick. I had a really bad cold all of last week and really had cero energy. I think I kind of trained too much the week before and it just caught up to me. Also, pretty much everybody in my office was sick, so I think the bug just hit us all.

So, I didn’t go in at all last week, until Sunday when I decided to try and at least do something. I tried some jump ropes and rowing, but was still coughing quite a lot. Ended up doing some power cleans. I tried to make a Wendler schedule for it and started with that. I took my 100% 1RM instead of 90% though.. Don’t know if that’s smart….

Power Clean

5 x 80 lbs (36.3kg)
5 x 90 lbs (40.8kg)
5 x 100 lbs (45.4kg)

I wanted to do a bit more on that last set, but already failed my last one (before redoing it). So figured that was all the energy I had :p.

After this I did some more hand stand practicing. I do feel that I’m getting a bit better. But still not quite there yet. Rich started doing an EMOM and to at least get a little bit sweaty I decided to do a 10 min EMOM of

uneven min: 20 double unders
even min: 10 kb swings 16kg

Nothing very impressive.. but it was enough for me that day.

On Monday I felt a bit beat again, so didn’t go. Yesterday I didn’t have time to go to a class and I kind of felt horrible again. Coughing like a chain-smoker and headache.. but I had about 30 minutes to kill before having to pick my friend up at the airport so decided to go in for a little bit anyway.

I did Wendler’s deadlifts (Cycle D Week 1)

Deadlift

5 x 125 lbs (56.7kg)
5 x 145 lbs 65.8kg)
7 x 160 lbs (72.6kg)

My rep goal was 7 so happy that I got that. I used mixed grip for that last set. Felt I needed it :p. The 145 lbs felt quite heavy so wasn’t sure if I could do the 7 with 160 lbs, but it was easier than I thought.

After this I just did some hand stand practice again and some stretching.

Today I’m going in for my first real WOD since December 1st. Let’s hope I don’t pass out :p.

WOD November 25, 2014 and Wendler Cycle C Week 3 Back Squat

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I still had to do my back squats, so managed to squeeze them in while the others were doing deload week for bench press.

Back Squat

5 x 105 lbs (47.6kg)
3 x 120 lbs (54.4kg)
5 x 135 lbs (61.2kg)

Notes:
It felt quite good. I think I could have repped a couple of more out if I really went for it.

WOD

“CINDY”

20 Minute AMRAP:

  • 5 Pull Ups
  • 10 Push Ups
  • 15 Squats

My workout:
10 rounds + 3 pull ups Rx. Kipping pull ups. They went quite well! I did rip my hand after about 8 rounds. That’s never fun. I didn’t really know what to expect of this workout, because I had never done it before. I did Chelsea before, which is the same movements and you’re supposed to do them on the minute for 30 minutes, which I scaled and even then did not manage well. So I knew I was not going to get close to 20 rounds.. The leaderboard for the girls has 13 rounds as the highest. So I think for someone who is just starting to Rx some WOD’s the result is not too shabby. Stacy (guy from the box) was a superstar and did 27!! rounds!

Wendler Cycle C and a double Month Overview

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So, I actually took 2 months to finish Wendler Cycle C. My trip to Holland caused a big gap in my training schedule. I almost didn’t do anything while there. No Wendler, and almost no normal WOD’s either. So the monthly overviews are a bit mehhhhhhh, not so nice :p.

Let’s start with Wendler.

cycleC

Even though I took forever to finish this Cycle, I’m not too disappointed in the results. The first week was absolutely awesome, especially on the back squats. The 3×3 week was a bit of a let down after that, but the last week (which I started Oct 22 and finished Nov 25 lol) is not too bad, considering I had a couple of weeks of nothing in between.

It is still very slow progress.. but I’m going to stick to the number. But will hopefully keep the frequency up for Cycle D so that I finish the whole cycle in 3 weeks and not 2 months.

Then my month overview. Let’s start with mid September to mid October.

monthoverviewsept

I think this was a pretty good month. 2 or 3 days rest in every week. I started going to the barbell classes this month, which also upped the workout time as I would do both a WOD and the barbell class.

So.. let’s go to the worst month ever….

monthoverviewokt

Yikes! I know life getting in the way is a miserable excuse for being lazy.. but.. it did really get in the way!! Oct 17 and 18 I was traveling from Spain to Holland. I started pretty good in my first week in Holland. Going straight in on Sunday and Monday.. hitting the globo gym for some strength on Wednesday and finishing that week with a Saturday WOD. But after that it was just so hard to make the time / have the energy.

I will move back to Holland early next year (March).. so hopefully above overview will not be any indication of how my workout schedule will be there :p. Nah.. it was just a hectic time with family pretty much taking control over my schedule. I’m back on track now here in Spain (I traveled back on the 12th/13th/14th).

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

WOD November 19, 2014 and Wendler Cycle C Week 3 Deadlift (again)

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I redid the deadlift cycle I already did a couple of weeks ago. It’s what came up on the program now and since I haven’t really been keeping my schedule I thought it couldn’t hurt to do it again. But first we did a WOD.

WOD

12 min EMOM of

  • 2 power snatches and 2 overhead squats

My workout:
Rich used me as an example for demo-ing the moves. That was a first and kind of scary haha. I hope I did well. I had to show high pulls and hang power snatches and power snatches and overhead squats with the pvc pipe a couple of times. I had to do it so that they could look at me from the side. Very nerve wrecking, because I still struggle with my form lol. But I guess he thought I was ok enough to use as an example :). I did the workout with just a 20kg bar as I was already feeling a bit dizzy during the warmup. And I still struggled during the workout… I started feeling faint after the first few minutes.. Stupid blood pressure :(. I skipped 3 minutes of overhead squats (so just did the snatches those minutes), because I was afraid I would seriously pass out.. but other than that I managed to finish it. I hate feeling so weak :(. I felt really wobbly in the overhead squats too. Not comfortable at all!!

After that we did the deadlifts.

Deadlift

5 x 135 lbs (61.2 kg)
3 x 155 lbs (70.3 kg)
5 x 170 lbs (77.1 kg)

That felt much nicer. I did the exact same weights and reps as last time. The 5 x 170 lbs felt really heavy.. so I think it’s good I redid this one to get back on track. But no more faintness during the lifting :). Friday Rich has the shoulder press for 5-3-1 scheduled. I will repeat last ones one for that one as well. I still have to do the back squat for that Wendler week, but in the box they have already done those, so I think I will do them in the weekend :).

Wendler Cycle C Week 2 Bench Press and WOD 17 November, 2014

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Third day in a row. I think I’m back on track!! :D Rich started programming Wendler into the normal program, which is great for me, because now I don’t have to do it next to the WOD’s, which saves me time and also it means that the WOD’s he programs next to it will probably match with the strength bit better than when I pick and choose which WOD/exercises I would do after.

Bench Press 5-3-1

5 x 70 lbs (31.8kg)
3 x 80 lbs (36.3kg)
7 x 90 lbs (40.8kg)

My rep goal was 9, but I’m quite happy with 7, keeping in mind that I haven’t done any strength workouts for almost a month.

WOD 1

For time: 21-15-9 reps of

  • Ring dips
  • Toes to bar

My workout:
I scaled the ring dips to jumping ring dips and I did knees to elbow instead of toes to bar. My time was 5 min 28 sec.

WOD 2

For time: 21-15-9 reps of

  • Row (calories)
  • Jump over rower burpees

My workout:
My time was 8 min and 57 seconds. And boy was that hard!! The jumps over the rower were the hardest part… but managed to keep on going :). I felt like I pushed my limits on this one and it felt good!!

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 2 Back Squat + Barbell Class

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I was having a very bad day yesterday. It was a super stressful day at work and I was eating horribly. I also felt a little bit like I was starting to get ill.. low energy, chills, stuffy nose. I thought about not going to the box, but since I only have a few days left before I leave for a month I convinced myself to go anyway. And as always, that was a good decision :).

I signed up for the barbell class at 7:15 and decided to not join the WOD at 6:15 as I really needed to get my squats in for the Wendler schedule.

Back Squat

3 x 45.4kg / 100 lbs
3 x 49.9kg / 110 lbs
6 x 56.7kg / 125 lbs

(I decided to start reverting everything to kg’s. These lbs weights.. even though we use them at the box, really don’t mean anything to me.)

After that I did two tabata’s (8 rounds of 20 sec work and 10 sec rest). One with kettlebell swings and one with kettlebell lunges. Both with a 16kg kettlebell. I did 7 swings each round and 6 lunges each round. (Didn’t push myself too hard.)

I wanted to check my form when doing power cleans so filmed a few practice reps. (Did 2 x 3 reps.) But somehow I managed to film it upside down lol. There were kids running around with a football too. Very distracting! (Not to mention not very safe..) I will try and fix the video and upload it later.

I think I want to try and add power cleans to my strength schedule. Would be nice to train with heavier weights on that movement. But will have to see how much strength training I can do in the next month anyway as I’m not sure the box in Lelystad has open box hours.. So might wait until I’m back in Spain to add that in.

After my own training I joined in on the barbell class (will really miss this class!!).

barbellclass

 

So this time we practiced the split jerk. Started with some footwork and timing on when to “split”. After that we did 7 sets of 1 power clean, 2 shrugs, 1 split jerk and 1 split jerk from bar on back. I did them with 55 lbs (24.9kg).

For strength we did hand stand push ups. I used a 25 lbs (11.3kg) plate and one abmat and did 3 sets of 5 hand stand push ups.

Nice class again! I will miss these technical classes!!!

Wendler Cycle C Week 2 Deadlift and Bench Press

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After two lazy days full of bad food I went back to the box on Sunday to do some strength. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I kept messing up all the weights.

For the deadlifts I somehow wrote down something completely wrong (I wrote down 190 for the last set lol) and miscalculated slightly so I did 165 lbs instead of 160 lbs. I still managed the 7 rep goal though :).

Deadlift

3 x 125 lbs
3 x 145 lbs
7 x 165 lbs

After that I did the bench press. I messed up the second set where I put on 85 lbs instead of 75 lbs. I was supposed to do 85 lbs on the last set.. so then I thought I’d just do 90 lbs, but somehow messed up even more and did 95 lbs haha. Weird day. I didn’t meet my rep goal, but that was to be expected with that weight.

Bench Press

3 x 65 lbs
3 x 85 lbs
6 x 95 lbs

According to my rep goal calculator my deadlift 1RM should be at 200 lbs now. Sounds pretty cool. Working with kg’s though it’s not so special (90.8kg), but getting closer and closer to the 100kg.

After finishing the bench press I joined in on a 12 minute EMOM of

1 min: 4 power cleans 85 lbs
2 min: 5 pull ups
3 min: 8 burpees

So, that 4 times. I can tell you, I was quite gassed after that.

I think I am definitely going to miss my box when I’m in Holland.

Wendler Cycle C Week 2 Shoulder Press and Barbell Class

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Pff, the shoulder press did not go so well. I messed up my weights on the second set and did 5lbs more than I should have. Which I am going to blame for doing awful on my last set.

Shoulder Press

3 x 55 lbs
3 x 65 lbs (should have been 60 lbs)
3 x 70 lbs

My rep goal on the last set was 7, but came nowhere near :(.

I did 5 push press with 70 lbs after that. But couldn’t be bothered to do more. Because it was up to barbell class next.

photo

1. Clean drills was basically going through the movements, but one step at a time and very slowly

2. Is where we had to bar in clean position and then did the dip and drive, but not extending our arms up. So just feeling the power of our hips moving the bar off our shoulders. Then we did 5 rounds of 2 of those drives and then 1 full push jerk.

3. A nice little complex of one power clean, then a front squat, then a squat clean and then a push jerk. For 5 sets. I did this with 55 lbs.

4. For strength we did 3 sets of 10 pendlay rows and 10 dumbbell push press. I did the rows with 55 lbs and the push press with two 25 lbs dumbbell.

5. More nice mobility tricks for good stretching. We used the band to stretch our calves and we did something where you would set up in the squat rack in racking position and someone else will push your elbows up as far as possible. After that had to hang from the bar while the other pushes against your shoulder blades to push you forward (stretching your shoulders/upper back). And we ended with but against the wall and then putting legs as far down in what is basically a horizontal “squat” position.

Nice lesson again! I love these technical classes. Very different dynamic, but I feel that I learn so much. And it forces you to focus on your weak points.