Great video

A man years ahead of his time:

Another setback

Have been dealing with more f'in knee issues. The last couple of days my knee has been terrible. Cant squat, lunge, or doing any lower body lift with no pain. This s**t is driving me crazy. So i'm giving myself a couple more days with no lower body strength work...so no lunges, any kind of squats, or any Olympic lifts..stupid setbacks.
So today i had to figure out what i could do with no knee pain.
Did light deadlifts (275#) for my strength, but my knee started to hurt.

Met con:
5 rounds
5-4-3-2-1 One Arm BB Snatches (worked up to 87#)
10 Strict Chest to Bar Pullups
15 Back Extensions

Didnt time myself, but the workout felt good. Rope climbs tomorrow.

Rest Day

Value has a value only if its value is valued

Deadlifting

Worked out with Maddie at our local globo gym earlier this afternoon. I've known Maddie a little over 2 years and i have seen her progress and change her outlook on strength training. At first she thought it was a waste of time and that she never needed it. Today she loves training heavy and now cant live without it. 

We both worked to a heavy 1 rep max. I was a little worried about my knee so i took it a little easy. Finished my last set at 425#, which i might say, felt a little light. Maddie couldn't get her previous 1 rep max of 205#, but i know she could get 225# by the 2010 Mid-Atlantic Hopper this November.

Met Con:
3 rounds for time
10 Deadlifts
30 Pullups

I used 275# and Maddie used 155#. We both did our first sets unbroken, but the pullups did a number on us.  i had to break mine into 3 sets. This was Maddie's first time doing this kind of workout and her time was 8:55. I did this workout (using 315#) i think the beginning of the year and my time then was sub 8. But this time, the pullups did me in. My final time was over 10 minutes. Just didn't have it today, but liked being challenged by Maddie.

Went to see Josh earlier this afternoon and talked about his road trip, and his future plans in Cali. Sucks that he's leaving, but i know he will do amazing and great things out there. Really looking forward to my trip out there and will definately hangout.

Another Rest Day

Think i over did it this past weekend. Dealing with knee issues again. Will take a couple of more days off, and see how i feel on Saturday. Will still do a lot of upper body work.

F*****g Handstands

Handstand push-ups are one of my many fitness goats. Really hate handstands, but the only way to get better at them, is just to work at it.
WOD is courtesy of my friends from Crossfit Santa Cruz.

For time:
15 Handstand Pushups
30 Pullups
12 HSP
24 Pullups
9 HSP
18 Pullups
6 HSP
12 Pullups
3 HSP
6 Pullups

Did the first 10 handstands unbroken and was really excited. But my momentum quickly died after that. It took me over 8 minutes to finish the next 5. The pullups were pretty easy, just the handstand were tougher than i ever thought and they just got harder as the rounds progressed. The second round of 12 just hurt. Wrist hurt, shoulders were sore, and ego was bruised. I started to do 3 handstand at a time until i just couldn't do anymore, and just did singles. I just had to accept that my time was going to be terrible. I just really wanted the wod to be over! Final time 39:39....really ugly!

Rest Day

"Every athlete has an inner voice of pride. It is the voice only athletes can hear, pushing them to the brink of exhaustion, demanding excellence and condemning failure. Failure, understand, is the driving force behind an athlete. Every athlete has experienced failure, and now trains so they will not experience it again. This inner voice knows the difference between training and exercising. Many athletes exercise, stopping when they have reached a perceived limit, or when it becomes uncomfortable to continue. But only a select few athletes have the heart and desire to train unconditionally. Only a select few push past their physical and mental limits. Only a select few push past the pain and discomfort. Only a select few have the courage and the character to understand that training makes them quicker, faster, stronger, but most importantly, allows them to gain a mental edge over future opponents. So when failure laughs in my face as I desperately try and earn the respect of that last repetition, it must realize one thing: Each time I train, I not only hear, but I answer The Inner Voice."

Not a lazy Sunday

Sunday is usually my lazy day, but i needed to get a great workout today,
Worked on snatches and was able to get 73kg easily. Shoulders were a little sore from yesterdays clean and jerk work. Felt good to be back lifting heavy weight.

Met con:
   10 rounds for time
5 Squat Clean to Thruster (135#)
10 Ring Pushups

This got harder and harder round by round. My plan was to do the first 5 rounds unbroken and just pace myself the last 5 rounds. After the first 2 rounds, my plan wasn't going to work. I was surprised how sore my shoulders were from yesterday. I really tried to do all my squat cleans to thrusters unbroken but after the 6th round, i could only do them one at a time. This eventually slowed me down and my time wasn't going to be good. Goal was also to finish this wod under 20 minutes but after the 5th, i just wanted to finish and be done. My final time was a disappointing 24:15. Goal is to finish sub 20 the next time i do this wod.

Oly session

Its been over 4 months since i've done any clean and jerks.
Worked with Mike today on technique and i was actually impressed on how well i did. 
My form needs a little work but my power is still there. Worked up to 90k and it felt kinda light.


Met con: (from Courage Performance)
For time
500m row
50 Double Unders
400m row
40 Double Unders
300m row
30 Double Unders
200m row
20 Double Unders
100m row
10 Double Unders


Time: 9:30

Didnt have it

Warm Up:
5 rounds
1 rope climb (15 ft)
10 Burpees

Strength:
5 Deadllift (365#)
10 DB Bench Press (70#)
15 Chest to Bar Pullups

Plan was to do 8 to 10 rounds, but i just didnt have it today. Finished 3 rounds and my body just didnt respond well. I guess i just needed a longer rest period.

No Met Con

Back Squats 

4x3 @ 70-80-90% of 270#

Didnt have too much time at the gym this afternoon so i did my workout with very little rest.

First set at 190# felt pretty good, and my 3rd set at 245# felt ok.

My knee felt great and to date 245# is the heaviest i've been able to do. I did my last set at 175# for 15 reps with no pain. So far so good.

Cool random video:

Rest Day

"You've gotta remind yourself that when you make a promise, especially one to yourself, you've got to stick to it and not crumble like many do.  You simply gotta get in there and get it done- without complaint and without compromise.  You just knuckle down and do what it takes."

-Dr. John Berardi

Deadlifts

Due to some cancellations, i was able to hit the gym a lot earlier than usual. And had the whole gym to myself. Love it! After a short warm up, i hit the weights for my deadlift. Warmed up with 135# and went up to 315# for my warm up.

Strength: Deadlift
1-10-20-30-1


Used 405# for my first set and it felt pretty good. Took about a minute rest before i did 315# for 10, and that set was unbroken. Took about 90 seconds before jumping on 275# for my 20 reps and tried to get 10 in a row but my  back was getting a little tight. Stopped at 10 and did the rests in sets of 2. Used 225# for 30 reps and my goal was to get all 30 unbroken, but my back was not having it. Did the first 10, then 4, 5, 3, 3, 2, and the last 3. I only had one more set left and my goal was to attempt 415# but i thought my back would give out. But it never did. Got 415# with a little struggle.

Met Con: "Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit Ups

Time: 6:10

Monday

Worked on snatches on Saturday, and Sunday was a lazy day.

Warm Up:

5 rounds of Cindy

Strength:

Front Squats 4x3 (used 300# as my max)

50%-60%-70%-80%

150#, 180#, 210#, 240#

Knee still feels great and i really think that i'm getting back to my normal workout routines.

Met Con:

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 

Power Cleans (135#)

250m Row

Time: 17:56

Did the first cleans unbroken, but once i hit the row, my legs were on fire from the front squats. Most of my row times were under 50seconds until i got to the last 3 rounds. My legs were just fried and my times were over a minute. Great wod though. Happy with my time, but i think i get a lot faster.

Strength Work

Its been awhile since i have worked on any deadlifts, so i was looking forward to it today.
Strength:
Deadlifts
5-5-5-5 @ 65, 70, 75, and 80% of 500 as my 1 rep max.
DB BP
5-5-5-5 (75#, 85#, 90#, 95#)

After a lengthy warmup, the first set of the deads (325#) felt a little light. Second set at 350# also felt a little light, but the third at 375# was a lot more challenging than i expected. My last set at 400# felt really heavy. The bench presses were also a little challenging.

Met Con:
"death by pullups" (perform 1 pullup first 30 sec, 2 the next...until failure)
Finished at round 12. 

Cardio:
Row 100 cal
Run 400m
Row 75 cal
Run 400m
Row 50 cal
Run 400m
Row 25 cal
Run 400m
All runs were done on a treadmill

Farmers walk, Cleans & Front Squats

Warm up:
800m farmers walk/run with a pair of 75#db's 
 Took longer than i wanted. It was also freaking hot as hell this afternoon. Plan was to only stop 5 times, but after 10, i stopped counting. My left arm strength was a lot weaker than i expected. I lost the grip on my left arm faster than i did with my right. Love it when everyone driving or walking by gives me the WTF look. Time: 24:30

Strength:
3-3-3-3-3
Cleans
Front Squats (only on the last set of cleans)

It took me about 10 minutes to recover from my warm up before i got started on my cleans.
The first set was 60k and my knee still felt well from yesterday. Finished with 90k on my last set. I think i could have gone heavier, but i'm still slowly coming back from my knee issue. But the wod felt great.

Squats

So I've been officially pain free since my steroid shot and my knee is feeling great. What better way to test it than  some squats. My 1RM before my injury in April was 410#. I'm not even close to that now so i had to use 225# as my max for today's workout.

5-5-5-5-5
Back Squats (@ 65, 75, 85, 95% of 225#)
Weighted Pullups

The whole time i was squatting i was worried about hurting my knee, but it felt great. Finished my last set with 215# and 35# on the pullups.

Met Con:
5x
12 Box jumps
8 SDHP (95#)

Time: 4:30

Cool  Down:
Turkish Get-up work. (65#) with barbell

Most Boring Workout

What is the most boring workout to date?

10,000m row for time!!!
Still feeling really sore from my fight with Linda yesterday, so today was supposed to be an easy cardio day.
Went to my local globo gym, did a little stretching then went at it with the row. Didn't have mush of a strategy, bu i decided that i will only stop every 15 minutes for 1 minute for recovery, and water. The first 15 minutes were really tough. Felt like calling it after that but i couldn't quit. Took my quick minute break for water, the second 15 minutes, i decided that my new strategy was to sprint every 250m until my next break. This really sucked. I should have quit after the first break. My back started getting sore, my hamstrings hurt from yesterday, and i really didn't want to stay on the row anymore. After 30 minutes i think i only had a little over 3000m to go. The next plan was to try and sprint every 300m and finish. This REALLY sucked.

Stats:
Split: 8:19
500 split time: 2:10
Cal : 601
Time: 44:12

My Fight with Linda

Met up with Josh Courage, his baseball kids, Reggie, and the very  lovely but intimidating Christy Phillips of District Crossfit and by the way is the 6th most fittest female athlete in the world  for our Friday wod.

Todays wod:

Linda

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

BB Deadlift @ 1.5x BW

BB Bench Press @ BW

Squat Clean (.75% of BW)

Weighed myself before the wod and i only weigh 185#.....really riduculous how much less i weigh since my knee injury, so my weights for the wod were:

Deadlifts @ 280# with the thick bar

Bench Press @ 185#

Cleans @ 140#

My plan was to try and do all my deadlifts unbroken, and work through bench press and cleans. i finished my first round a little over a minute and ffelt great. The first 3 rounds of the deadlifts i was able to finish unbroken, but at around the last 4 rounds, i hated the thick bar. The bench press was the hardest exercise of the triplet. I finished the first 5 rounds with the prescribed weight (185#), but had to scale it down to 155# due to muscle fatigue and failure. Also scaled after the first round of the squat cleans to power cleans. I was a little worried about my knee, but all in all, it felt really great. 

My heat was with one of Josh's clients and with Christy. Tries to keep up with Christy but i was lapped 3 times. Her final time was an impressive 15 min and change, and mine was i think 23:46. Happy i finished sub 25. 

Thursday

First day back to work today from my long vacation. And it felt like i didnt even leave for vacation. I really miss Maine.

Warm Up:
AMRAP in 10 minutes
3 Strict Press (95#)
3 Strict Pullups

Finished exactly 11 rounds.

Strength:
Back Squats
DB Row

Tested my knee today and it felt really great. Finished my last set with 185# for 5 reps and my knee felt great.
Working-out with Josh Courage tomorrow. Really looking forward to it.

Cardio Day

I guess i needed to ease into my workouts after yesterdays.
Today was just a cardio day:
3 mile bike 
2000m row
1 mile run (on treadmill)
Time: 28:35

It felt really great to get a good sweat.

Back to Work

First workout back from a really needed long vacation.

Warm Up:

1000m row

Stretch work

10-8-6
Back Squats
20-15-10
Chest to Bar Pullups

The squats felt great and i think i hit this wod too hard. Felt really tired after the row and i know i have a lot of work to do to get back to where i was. My last set on the squats was with 225# and my knee felt great. I think the long recovery and staying off it has helped a lot. Really looking forward to getting back to my normal hard routine.