TRAINING WITH TRIPLE OG ANNIE SAKAMOTO

1/28

STREMGTH: 3RM OHS

WOD 1: ROW 1000M
              -EVERY 15 PULLS GET OFF AND DO 10 BURPEES

WOD 2: 10 MIN AMRAP:
              -200M RUN
              -6 PULL UPS
              -6 BOX JUMPS(30")

I spent this last weekend is aptos, which is about 10 minutes from Santa Cruz. the weather was incredible! low 70's and nothing but sun. spent most of the weekend on the beach enjoying some tasty cocktails, but i did sneak over to crossfit Santa Cruz central to hit a wod with one of the original badasses and 2011 9th fittest woman on the planet, Annie skate. Annie was as full of energy and kindness as always. it was an off week for her and i was pretty beat up from Fridays wod so we just jumped in with the 11am class and had some fun. i worked up to a 265# ohs for 3 reps and it felt really solid. i cant remember but i think that is a pr,and i think if i really pushed the limits i could get 280+. next was a unique spin on a 1000m row. 15 strokes then 10 burpees. i kept my stroke pace pretty low and just focused on very  long, very powerful strokes. i think i finished that on in 6:21. finally was the 10 min amrap. as basic as this little wod was it was a nice little cardio burner. i personally would never program something like this so it was fun to do something different. i really dont know how many rounds i totalled, i was chasing one of there 14 yr old kids the whole time and i figured he was counting, he said we had 8 rounds but that seemed a little high, either way it was a ton of fun. i really enjoyed training with Annie, and it was pretty cool to throw down a  wod with someone that i used to watch videos of 4 years ago before i really even knew what crossfit was. all in all it was a great weekend and ill be looking forward to paying Santa cruz central a visit again!

ANNIE AND I

PRETTY COOL SUNSET

DEADLIFTS, PRESSES AND A KICK IN THE TEETH!

1/27

AM)

STRENGTH: DEADLIFTS WITH PURPLE BANDS: 75%X5:80%X5:85%X5
                      PRESS 75%X5:80%X5:85%XMAX

WOD: 5 ROUNDS:
           -9 DEADLIFTS(315#)
           -15 THRUSTERS (95#)
           -21 PULL UPS
           -400M RUN

I was really excited to do something long and horrible today, and i got what i wanted. i started off with the strength portion, as i mentioned earlier this week I'm going to use the bands on my deadlifts for the next 2-3 cycles of the windler program. i used the purple bands which are about an 1 1/4 inch or so. not an incredible amount of band tension but definitely enough to make the weight feel way heavier at the top. ive never maxed out with the bands but i guessed them to be about an additional 60#'s or so i used 435# as my base number. for my working sets i used 325#,350#, and 370# for the final set. insteed of going for max reps on the final set i stopped at 5 knowing that i had 45 deadlifts at 315# waiting for me. presses went shitty as usual but I'm going to keep attacking that weakness. i used 180# as my base number and went 135#,145#, and 155# for the final set getting 6 reps. pretty lame considering just a few weeks back i got 165# for 7. my strict press power seems to depend greatly on the level of fatigue in my shoulders going into the lift. the lift uses such small muscles that it hard for me to push heavy when I'm already a little sore. I'm sure doing them on Friday isn't helping the cause but oh well, I'm just going to stick with the plan and see what happens. mobility might be an issue too with this lift. luckily I'm doing the mobility cert next weekend and I'm pumped because i know its going to grind me into mush and rewire my mind on the importance of mobility.

and now for the fun stuff.....excuse my language but this wod was fuckin awesome!!!...in a kick you in the nuts and punch you in the face kinda way..haha..ok sorry but thats about what it felt like when i was done. complete gaser with just enough lifting to crumple you. i did all the deads unbroken and every set, except for the last, of pull ups unbroken. my grip wouldn't cooperate and i went 13/8.  the thrusters felt light but i knew they would affect the pull ups so i went 15 on the 1st, then 9/6 on the rest of the sets. the running was pretty comical. after the second set, the first 100m of the run was more like a shuffle. but once the legs came back i was able to pick it up pretty good. my goal was to break 25 minutes and i was just over at 25:10. cardio was the factor here, which was good because usually i cant find wods the wreck my lungs that bad. i think fresh with no strength before and some energized legs i could shaved off a minute or two. I'm going to try and do this one again in a month or so. it left me spinning for about 20 minutes. ill be in Santa Cruz this weekend and I'm supposed to hit a wod with Annie Sakamoto, the OG! i remember watching videos of here when i was just a rookie and I'm pretty excited to throwdown next to one of the original badasses!..have a good weekend!

HEAVY FRONT SQUATS ON SHATTERED QUADS

1/25

AM)

SKILL: 15 MINUTE PRACTICE- PARALLETTE HAND STAND BALANCING

             5 ROUNDS:
              -1 L-SIT ROPE CLIMB
              -MAX KIPPING PARALLETTE HSPU'S

STRENGTH: 1 FRONT SQUAT EMOTM-10 MINUTES

PM)

 WOD:  4 ROUNDS EACH FOR TIME:
             -30M DOG SLED PUSH(265#)
             -30M DOG SLED ROPE PULL(265#)

Started today with some much needed skill work. the handstand balancing it getting much better and i can feel it transferring into my hspu's and hs walks. i feel way more in control and my body positioning feels dialed! my longest freestanding hold on the parallettes is around 20 seconds or so, id like to get up to a minute, and at this rate i think i can get there pretty soon. next was a hand off between one L-sit rope climb and a max set of kipping hspu's on the parallettes. the rope climb was pretty easy, and i went 8,6,5,5,3 on the hspu's. my kip on these is getting way more explosive and controlled which is helping me knock out a few more each set. next we moved onto the front squats. i was doing everything i could to ignore my crippled quads, and just convinced myself that once i got started i would be fine. the last time i did this i used 305# and made it 15 minutes before jumping to 315#, which i failed after a couple successful lifts. so i upped the weight to 310# just to have some gain in weight. i made it through the full 10 minutes, which felt like a huge success with the way my legs felt, i cant wait to do this fresh!

for the pm conditioning session we did a series of short intervals which included a 30m dog sled push at 265# with a rope tied to the end of it, once to the rope was fully straightened we ran back to the start and pulled the sled back with the rope.. this turned out to be an awesome max effort workout, short and nasty! it gassed out the arms, lats and lungs pretty quick. i went 1:00,1:10,1:16,1:15. this was a really fun workout, something completely different and as hard as it was, it didn't tax my body too bad.  active release massage and a salt bath tonight and a rest day tomorrow. i got deadlifts with the bands on friday, which im looking forward to and i want to do a long heavy 20 min plus wod, so expect something spicy!

I DID A INTERVIEW AT CROSSFIT WEST ON NEW YEARS EVE, AND HERE THE PRODUCT OF IT. CHECK IT OUT ON THE CROSSFIT GAMES SITE

SNATCH WORK

1/24

AM)

STRENGTH: POWER SNATCH 3RM
                     SNATCH BALANCE 3X2
                     SNATCH PULL 3X3
                     SNATCH DEADLIFT 3X3

PM) 1.2 MILE RUN

WOD: 8 MIN AMRAP:
           -5 HANG POWER CLEANS(155#)
           -MUSCLE UP LADDER

Well as suspected i woke up and could barley walk. my legs are thrashed to say the least. it amazing how you can squat every week, train heavy low volume and light high volume, and still manage to get this sore. guess that just means it worked that good!..haha. i haven't been spending as much time with my oly lifts as id like so i wanted to dedicate a whole session just to some snatch work. my legs were too sore for full snatches and i need to get my power snatch numbers up, so i went for a triple. i was able to get up to 195# for 3, i tried 200# but was only able to get 2. im going to try for a double next week, then hopefully pr on a single the following week, my current best is 210#. it seemed that i was getting the weight over my head pretty good, i was just having a hard time stabilizing the catch. my shoulders were pretty sore too from the burnout bench presses and i think it was affecting my strength in that area. i hadn't planned on doing snatch balance, but after felling so unstable on the catch i thought it might be a good idea to throw in. my shoulder fatigue was definitely an issue on these. my plan was to use 235# for all 3 sets, which shouldn't have been a problem, but after failing my 2nd rep on the 1st set i dropped it to 225#. i finished up with a 3x3 snatch pull at 225# and a 3x3 snatch deadlift at 245#. i really liked doing these when i was following the catalyst oly cycle back in November. they really seem to help me stay tight through that 1st pull which always leads to an aggressive and effective second pull.

for the pm session i wanted to incorporate some running but i didn't want to end up doing a long metcon. so instead of combining the two i just did this 1.2ish mile loop we have on this Levy around the gym. its been a while since I've ran it but i felt really good. still, my low back tightness was the factor slowing me down, but i was able to push through pretty good and keep a good pace. i finished in 7:58, which given the state my legs were in i was very happy with. i think my best is somewhere in the low 7's like 7:08 or so. after a little foam rolling i did the 8 min amrap of 5 hpc's at 155# and a muscle up ladder. i knew the muscle ups would be the factor here, but the hang cleans definitely took their tool. i finished 3 muscle ups on my 8th round for a total of 40 hang cleans and 31 muscle ups, not too bad for an 8 minute workout. the plan is to front squat heavy tomorrow, so lots of rolling and a salt bath tonight!

LEG DESTRUCTION

1/23

AM)

STRENGTH: SQUAT 75%X5: 80%X5: 85%XMAX REPS
                      BENCH PRESS: SAME AS ABOVE

5 ROUNDS: 10 SPEED SQUATS (205#)
                     10 BENCH PRESS (155#)

PM)

TABATA ROW, REST 2 MINUTES
TABATA DOUBLE UNDER, REST 2 MINUTES
-FOR TIME: ROW 500m
                     100 DOUBLE UNDERS

Today i started my third cycle of the windler program. i noticed during my last 1rm squat attempt, which i failed, at the oc throwdown that i was making it pretty far out of the bucket on my squat and getting stuck at that mid-way point. watching it on video it seemed to me that if i could make it that far out of the bottom that i should have been able to stand it up. so for the next two cycles im going to use chains on the squat and switch to a low-bar squat just for some variation, i will also be using bands on the deadlifts. its been a while since ive used either of these tools and i think i could spark up some gains. i wasnt really sure where to start, since ive never maxed out with the chains. the full set of chains weighs about 100lbs so i took 80lbs off what i would have been using for my base number, and used 315# to plug my percentages into. i think that guess was pretty accurate. i went 235#,250#, and 265# for my last set and it was rough. i got 8 reps on my last set. the chains are amazing! felt very challenging all the way through the squat, and not much help from a rebound. i was really able to stay balanced and drive through my heels on all my reps. next was the bench press i used 205,220, and 235, squeezing out 8 reps on the last set. i really need to get my bench in the 300# range, i could definitely see this coming up in a comp at some point in the future and anything under 285# could be detrimental to an overall score. but i was happy with the 8 reps.

after the strength we did something ive been wanting to try, and i really think its going to help. we took about 50% of our 1rm on squat and bench and did a 5x10 on each. zack height and i just played hand off between the exercises and tried to speed squat/bench all the reps. it took me 8:40. i was able to speed squat all sets pretty easily, despite some insane hamstring burn, and i did go unbroken on the bench press but was only able to speed bench the 1st 2 sets, sets 3-5 went 5 speed reps and 5 singles. i was barely able to lock out the last rep of the last set. i have a feeling my chest, tri's, and hamstrings are going to be rocked tomorrow... nice!

for the pm session i felt that i had lifted enough barbells for the day and just needed something gasing. tabata row seems to accomplish that every time so thats what we did. i rowed 1005m total in the tabata row, allowing meters to roll over during rest period. rested 2 minutes, then tabata double unders. i was able to get 248 total, i thought i would be higher on this but my shoulders were wrecked from the bench press. rested 2 minutes, the row 500m, 100 double unders for time. i  finished my row at around 1:38 and was almost able to go unbroken on the double under minus one trip up at 65. i finished that part in 2:55. all in all a good day. as far as i know there is only 3 spots in nor cal for the games this year and i have to go up against a pool of monsters including: blair morrison, jason khalipa, pat barbar, neal maddox, and joey warren. all seasoned gamers hungry to get their spot. when i show up on may 18th i will be as prepared as i possibly could have been, all my weaknesses will be conditioned, and ill be ready to put it all on the line and earn my spot!

QUICK POST ABOUT LAST FRIDAY

Last friday i did 1 squat clean emotm for 10 min. i worked up to 295#. then we did an 8 min amrap of 4 deadlifts (335#), 8 toe to bars, rest 2 minutes, 6 min amrap of 8 kb swing(70#), 12 ghd sit ups, rest 2 min, 4 min amrap of wall balls. i completed 10+4 rounds on the deadlift, 5+14 rounds on the kb swing, and 88 wall balls. felt really good with my performance especially with the extreme soreness in my upper body from thursday.

ARM DAY...CROSSFIT STYLE!

1/19

AM)

STRENGTH:

-STRICT PULL UP 3X3
-MAX KIP PULL UP

-STRICT RING DIP 4X5
-MAX KIP RING DIP

-SUPINE RING ROW 3X15

PM)
-RUN 800m
-REST 3 MIN
-RUN 600M
-REST 2 MIN
-RUN 400M
-REST 1 MIN
-RUN 200M

Again i decided not to do the usual barbell strength. i want to start the next strength cycle on monday, i have a little game plan to add to the windler that should be promising. so i did 3x3 strict pull up, using 65# for the 1st two and 75# for the last set. i did all my warm up sets and my 1st working set overhand then switched to an underhand grip for the last two, i feel a little more powerful with the underhand grip,.plus i knew i was going to blow out my lats and arms overhand with the max set of kipping pull ups. felt solid on all 3 sets, its been a long time since i did weighted pull ups and its something i should probably do more of. the 1rm chest to bar pull up event in the games this last year wasn't one of my best, with an 85# pull. the last 3 inches to get the chest to touch are tricky! moving onto the kipping pull ups i felt like a machine! my previous best was 52,  i was about 8lbs lighter and that was fresh so i wasn't sure how this was going to turn out. i cranked out 55 without breaking pace, then held on for 3 more for a total of 58! i really wanted 60 but i just didn't have the grip strength to hold on. next was the ring dips, another movement i rarely do weighted. i went 25#,50#,75# and 100#, only getting 4 on the last set. those are rough! but i was happy with the way i felt on them, feeling very stable and solid. next was the max set of kipping ring dips. ive never tried this and had no idea what was doable do i set my goal at 30 reps. i ended up blasting through 30 and finally hitting failure at 42 reps, again a very good feeling to exceed my own expectations. finally, we finished with 3 sets of 15 supine ring rows , which were way harder than expected. i made it a point to over exaggerate my posture and strict form. these blew me up from my biceps and shoulders down into my low back..nice...it felt like one of those good ol' arm days i used to love so much back in the meat head days...gotta love the pump!

for the pm session we headed to the track for some running intervals. i did my 800m in 2:49, 600m in 2:00, 400 in 1:14, and 200 in :35. my cardio felt great, my running stride is starting come back, but in the middle of the 400m my low back went to shit. i always seem to do track days with a sore back and as soon as i get 1200m - 1600m in my back is shot. i need to start working these in more strategically. well that's it for today, im planning on a heavy deadlift wod tomorrow so we'll see what i muster up!

HERE'S A COOL PIC OF ZACK AND I BATTLING IT OUT ON SOME HANDSTAND WALKS

HANDSTAND PRACTICE AND SOME HEAVY ASS PROWLERS!

1/18

AM)

SKILL: 15 MINUTES PRACTICE FREESTANDING PARALLETT HANDSTAND HOLDS
             5X5 PARALLETT KIPPING HSPU

STRENGTH: 5X 80M PROWLER PUSH-ADD WEIGHT FOR EVERY SET

PM)

WOD: 15-12-9-6-3
           -POWER SNATCH(115#)
           -BURPEE BOX JUMP(20")

ive really been trying to attack my weaknesses and handstands/handstand push ups is right at the top of the list. this past weekend we had a handstand walk in one of the events and it felt very easy, i was able to move pretty fast on them, it was nice to see my programming helping in a comp. so i started with freestanding parallett handstand holds. im getting way better at these. my longest was probably around 20 seconds, im starting to feel very comfortable and in control on these. after about 15 minutes of that i did 5x5 kipping hspu's on the parallettes and was able to get all sets unbroken, my kip is feeling very explosive and balanced. after that we decided to skip the barbell and do 5 sets of prowler pushes for 80m. this turned out to be one of the best/ hardest things ive done in a while. we started with 180#'s on the sled and went 270#,360#,410#, 460# for the following 4 sets. legs, lungs and pretty much every other part of my body were blasted when we were done! awesome workout and definitely something im going to start doing on a regular basis.

for the pm session we did 15-12-9-6-3 power snatch at 115#, and burpee box jump on a 20" box. my legs were pretty much still rubber but i got through it in 6:47. legs felt very heavy, and that box jump took the burpees to a whole new level. highlight of the day was by far the prowler push, ill probably take a little soak in the salt bath tonight and hammer some upper body tomorrow.

OC THROWDOWN RECAP

1/17

I got back from so cal yesterday afternoon, feeling tired and hungry. after a few very non paleo meals i retired to my own bed which felt amazing. i decided to take today off as well just to let my body recover a little more. im not too sore but my back is still a little tender from the max effort deadlifts. back to work tomorrow! overall i had a very fun time at the throwdown. the event was fun and so cal is always nice to visit. i finished in 7th place, and felt pretty good about it. i felt like an animal on all the workouts, cyborg mentality and nothing felt like it was slowing me down. i am really excited for the nor cal regional, which is going to be a battle with 5 returning gamers and only 3 spots available.  this event last weekend was described to me by a friend as " a movie that puts all their time into the special effects". the event was a games class event, awesome venue and set up, lots of badass crossfitters and a ton a loud and crazy spectators. However, the programming, judging and scoring needed a little work. most of the events were good tests of fitness, but the cumulative of all the events was not. endurance was never tested, and neither was any variation of duration. all the workouts were 3-7 minutes long and consisted of weightlifting and gymnastics, which i love. but to call it a true test of fitness i feel that running has to be a part of the event in some fashion, and there should be at least one event in the 20 minute range.  one of the events was the crossfit total, a pure strength event, which i placed 27th in with a 375# squat, 485# deadlift, and 170# press. nothing too impressive with only 2 minutes each station, but I felt pretty good about it.  i can take the 27th place there but if there is a pure strength event then there needs to be a pure endurance event as well to balance out the scoring, something like  a 1-3 mile run would have balanced this out perfectly. the other event that killed my ranking was max height box jump. i jumped 49" from a stand still which is good for me, the highest jump was 55".  i took 27th place and the 55" took 1st, this being scored as an individual event meant that i dropped 26 point behind someone who jumped 6" higher. jumping higher is a test a fitness and should be rewarded but i feel that the ability to jump a few inches higher should not have affected the ranking so greatly.  it was a little disappointing to see these programming errors overlooked, but that’s what they threw at us so thats what we did. all in all justin flynn, owner of orange coast crossfit, did an amazing job with the event. they treated  us like rock stars and gave us a very fun weekend. i think there is a definite future with this competition, they just need to work the kinks out. i know a lot goes into these competitions and they are not easy to run, the guys did a good job at keeping things running relatively smooth, just needed a little more thought into the overall programming. it was a ton of fun to compete against some of the top gamers as well as a handful of so cal beasts. it rejuvenated my competitive fire and has gotten me really excited for the open and regional. the game has been elevated!!!!!!

check out a few of my workouts HERE

1/10

1/10

AM)
STRENGTH: SNATCH- 5 REP TAP AND GO

WOD: 30 KB SWING(70#)
           30 BURPEES

SKILL: MAX DOUBLE UNDERS

PM)

UOP STADIUM RUN

Sorry for no post yesterday, i trained but my mind was completely flat due to some emotional issues, the training was horrible and did not deserve a post. its amazing how mental stress translates into physical fatigue. today was a different story.  the mental stress is still there but today i was able to harness it and unleash it on my training. i felt like i haven’t felt in a long time, unstoppable! i don’t know if it was training out of anger or what but there was nothing that was going to stop me today, i hoping to carry this mentality into this weekends competition.  my goal was 185# on the 5 rep tap and go squat snatch and i got it on the 1st attempt. my shoulder has been giving me a little discomfort so i did not try any higher. on the kb/burpee wod i felt susceptible to fatigue, i was pulling the kb upwards and pulling it downwards to speed up the swing and got 30 reps easily i immediately dropped into the 30 burpees and knocked them out as fast as i could possibly move right from the start and around 17 actually started to speed up. ive never been able to do that many burpees at that pace, it felt incredible, i finished in 1:47. after that i caught my breath for a few minutes and took on a set of max consecutive double unders. again i felt unstoppable and flipped that rope until my shoulders literally stopped working, i hit 300 straight and my arms where legitimately numb. about 70 more than my previous best. after teaching a couple classes we headed over to the uop stadium to attack the stairs. my legs and lungs were on fire but it did not slow me down, i finished in 12:35 about 1:15 faster than last time i did them a few weeks ago. still not my best, ive been under 12 a couple times, but i was also about 10 lbs lighter then. im weighing about 192# right now which is about 9-10#'s heavier than i was at the games. my strength feels much more solid and my conditioning doesn’t seem to be suffering. im definitely not as lean but im trying not to pay attention to that, just playing it by how i feel. tomorrow will be my last day of training for this week, and it shouldn’t be anything too crazy. i want to make sure im going into the oc throwdown as rested as possible.

DEADLIFTS, PRESSES, LUNGES AND "DEFICIT DIANE"

1/6

SKILL: 3X MAX L-SIT ROPE CLIMBS

STRENGTH: DEADLIFT: 75%X5: 85%X3: 95% X MAX
                       PRESS           "             "            "
                       WALKING LUNGE 3X20

WOD: "DEFICIT DIANE"
             21-15-9
              -DEADLIFT (225#) STANDING ON 4" PLATE
              -HSPU ( HANDS ON 4" PLATES)

Today turned out to be a awesome session, despite a little residual soreness from wednesday. i was able to get two consecutive l-sit rope ascents on my 1st two attempts and one on the last. our ropes are only about 12.5-13 ft, but still felt pretty good about getting two ascents back to back. we started seated on the ground and just butt tapped the floor for the second ascent. next was the deadlifts. my hammies got pretty sore from the power clean/ front squat complex we did on wednesday and i could still feel them on the deads. my last set was at 465#, i pulled the 1st rep pretty decent, thought about a second but decided not to even try. i may have been able to get a second but it would have been ugly. we finished the strength portion with 3x20 walking barbell lunge. we did these last week with 185# and my booty was rocked! so we stepping it up a little and used 195#. these felt significantly easier this week, i really feel that they are helping my legs get stronger individually which i know will transfer over into my squat.

i had about 10 minutes til my next class so we set up for the "diane" workout. the standards were you had to use an overhand grip with no hook grip, stand on a 4" plate, and do the hspu's at a 4" deficit kipping allowed. the deadlifts felt light the whole way through but the deficit put some extra burn and discomfort in the hamstrings and low back, i went 21,9/6, and 9 for my sets of deads. the hspu's were the deciding factor but im getting a lot better with the kip.i was able to get the 21 set unbroken, got though the15 set pretty good but was smoke for the final set. i hit 4, then 2 plus failed rep, then another 2 plus a failed rep then one. my last 5 hspu's took about a minute, i finished in 6:40. i felt pretty solid through all but those last 5 hspu's. off to sf tomorrow for some hill sprints! have a good weekend!

THE THRILL OF VICTORY, THE AGONY OF DEFEAT

1/4

AM) SKILL: 3 SETS OF MAX L-SIT (GAMES STYLE)

         STRENGTH: WITH A 20 MINUTE RUNNING CLOCK:
                              1ST 10 MIN- 1 POWER CLEAN EMOTM
                              2ND 10 MIN- 5 FRONT SQUATS FROM GROUND EMOTM

WOD: 30 2 KB HANG CLEAN AND PRESS(2-70#)
           50 BOX JUMPS (GAMES STYLE)

Classic quote from the movie training day.." the streets are all about smiles and cries". well the same is true with crossfit. one minute/workout you can feel unstoppable and the next you feel completely defeated. today was one of those day. we started off the day with some skill, 3 sets of max l-sit holds using the same standards as the 2011 games. for anyone that doesn’t know the l-sit is what killed me in this last years game. i am fairly decent at this movement but a mental error, possibly judging error cost me big on this event. i finished the beach event in 12th or 13th, much better than i thought for such a long endurance workout, and i was amped up! the next event was the skills test, 1st up was the l-sit. i had done around 45 seconds prior to the games so i knew i had at least that in me. i came up, adjusted my hands and my judge called out that my feet touched, 8 seconds in. not sure if they did touch but either way i shouldn’t have had my feet close enough for there to be any question. it was a helpless and miserable feeling to have started off so well and in 8 seconds be shot to the bottom of the rankings. the last place finish in that event killed me, both mentally and in the rankings. but with experiences like this comes growth, and i can assure you a mistake like this will not happen again. back to today’s l-sits, i went 50/35/30 seconds for the three sets. 50 seconds is the longest I’ve gone so far. next was the strength complex. i started off at 255# for the 1st 5 min, it was feeling light so i gradually started to add, 260# for 2 min, 265 for 2 min, the loaded up 275# for the final rep and got it for a 5# pr on power clean. it came up pretty nice too, catching it very high in that rack position. i think if i had gone for another 2-3 minutes a could have pulled up 280/285# but i toke the pr and moved onto the front squats. i used 235# for this part and thought i would get all 10 minutes no problem, not the case. after he 4th minute by lower back was screaming, and by the 6th minute i was only getting 2 reps, leaving me feeling very defeated. the thrill of victory immediately followed by the agony of defeat. i really liked this strength complex though, 5 front squats is a lot of work to do in 1 minute with such a short rest, especially with the clean to start each set. ill come back and concur all 10 minutes in the future. awesome work by zack height who completed all 10 minutes at 235#, incredible midline stability.

for the pm session we did a metcon with 30 kb hang clean and jerks with two 70# kettle bells, followed by 50 games style box jumps on a 30" box. very heavy and awkward and the box jumps were pretty gassing. i think i went 6/5/5/4/4/3/3 on the kb's and 12/8/10/20 on the box jumps. i finished in 7:41 and was pretty smoked, ready for a rest day. massage tonight then rest day tomorrow. hopefully friday ill be recovered and pull some monstrous deadlifts!

SNATCH AND CONDITIONING

1/3


AM)

SKILL: 3 ROUNDS OF MAX STRICT MUSCLE UPS DIRECTLEY INTO MAX KIP MUSCLE UPS

STRENGTH: FIND A HEAVY 1RM SNATCH

WOD: 21-15-9
           -POWER SNATCH (95#)
           -CHEST TO BAR PULL UPS

PM)
           WOD 2: 2 ROUNDS:
              -RUN 1200M
              -REST 5 MINUTES
              -ROW 1000M
              -REST 5 MINUTES

Started today off a little different with some skill work. with the throwdown coming up and the games season just around the corner im putting a little more emphasis on my weaknesses. so we started off with the muscle up complex. i felt and did a lot better than i thought since i haven’t been spending much time on this skill. i went 4-6,3-6, and 2-5 with strict-kip muscle ups. i felt pretty good about it and it blew my shoulders and chest right back up from yesterdays bench press and pushups. next was the heavy snatch. i knew when 185# felt a little shaky on the catch that i wasn’t going to put up anything great but i stuck it out anyways. i hit 200,210 ans 220# pretty easy but was struggling on the catch on all three. i had a couple fails at 230# so i called it quits and attacked the metcon.  it always frustrating to lift well below your max, today i snatched 25#'s below my max, but i still feel it is beneficial. it let me feel the weight and work some technique on that lift. i know fresh i could pull 250# or better and ill be stoked whent hat day comes! the metcon was short and nasty, a pure grip destroyer! which is another element that needs work, i hit the 21 set unbroken on both the power snatches and the chest to bar pull ups. went 5,5,5 and 8,7 and the second set and 5,4-5,4 on the last set. i kept a pretty good pace and might have been able to do the 15 set in two bursts but i wasnt sure how my grip was going to hold up, i finished in 4:43

for the pm session we did an absolute lung bleeder. two all out 1200mish runs and two all out 1000m rows with a 5 minute rest breaking them up.  i liked this longer rest because it allowed me to give more of an all out effort. i did the runs in 4:43 and 5:04, and my rows in 3:35 and 3:33. again my back was slowing me down a  little on the runs due to tightness, but it was feeling much better than the previous weeks. my body is slowly starting to loosen up for these runs. i probably have the worst running technique possible and it doesn’t help my back stay loose, i thrash around a lot and run like im wrestling an alligator. just another element to improve on. big props to buddy hitchcock and travis mcroberts for hitting some big pr's today!. travis finally broke that 200# snatch mark with ease and actually landed a 205# snatch! and buddy stuck a 315# clean and jerk! pretty impressive especially for a 175# guy. nice works guys!

i get a lot of questions about my nutrition too, im not planning on posting my daily diet by any means but heres an example of a typical dinner for me:

6 egg white scramble with 1 yoke, mushrooms, red onion, diced jalapenos, kale and swish chard with 4 pieces of oranic bacon....bomb!

LEGS, LEGS, AND THEN SOME MORE LEGS

AM)  STRENGTH: SQUAT 75%X5: 85%X3: 95% X MAX REPS
                                BENCH PRESS  "       "          "

1 MIN AMRAP OF JUMPING BACK SQUATS (135#)
REST 1 MINUTE THEN
2 MINUTE AMRAP OF PUSH UPS

4 SETS OF SLED SPRINTS (40M REST 10 SECONDS 40 M = 1 SET)

PM)  MAX DISTANCE AROUND UOP STANDIUM IN 10 MIN. THEN 50 BURPEES


Finally feeling back to normal! just a little residual shoulder and back soreness from Saturdays workout but im used to that!  i was anxious to squat today because my 95% was 365#, which was my 1 rep max about 4 months ago, and i knew i was getting it for at least a double. i didnt mention this in my last post but last friday after the deadlifts we did 3 sets of 20 walking lunge with 185#. every time i do these by butt checks get rocked, and i feel it really helps strengthen each leg individually. needless to say my butt was still pretty sore, but it didnt seem to affect my squat, i was able to get 365# for 3 reps! i was pretty stoked off this , especially since just 3 week ago my 3 rep was 350#.  im curious to see how this strength program is going to transfer into a 1RM, but i think ill give one or two more cycles before i try it. next we did bench press. i knew i wasn’t going to do anything spectacular here with the way my shoulders felt, and i was right. only getting 255# for 3. a little disappointed here but it is what it is, moving forward and hoping for some better numbers next week. after the bench we did the 1 min amrap of jump squats with 135#. this was brutal! a very easy way to tap out your legs in a short period of time, ill definitely be doing these again. my goal was 30 reps and i got 33. resting one minute, then right into max pushups in 2 minutes. again tapping out the chest, shoulders and arms pretty fast. i hit 50 straight, then it was 5's,4's and 3's from there on out. my goal was 80 and i finished with 82. next was the sled sprints, we did the first set with 90#, then 125#, and the last 2 with 180#. this was about a 7 second max effort each way. not really far enough to effect the legs too bad but my heart rate was completely maxed out after every set! theres not much else that can do that in 7 seconds except maybe hill sprints. a lot of stuff that ive never done, and a lot of stuff that i will be doing again soon!

for the pm session we went over to uop for some torcher. we decided to run the stadium as far around as we could in 10 minutes then immediately following, run to the middle of the field and hit 50 burpees. the first few sets of stairs felt pretty good, im finally starting to feel light on my feet again, but my quads were screaming at me! i could feel the fatigue from the am work but it was still a great leg and lung conditioner, as well as some pain management practice. hit all 50 burpees straight at the end with relative ease. im going to try and maintain this volume this week and slightly tapper off next week for the throwdown. i feel with my current programing and the way ive been progressing i should be opperating at peak performance by regionals!

LAST COUPLE OF DAYS

Been recovering from this flu still but i think its finally gone. last friday i did my deadlifts and presses then finished with a strongman style wod. this was my 1st workout back since the flu attcked me, i felt pretty tired but not as weak as ii thought. i got all 3 deads at 435# fairly easy, but i struggled on the strict press. i skipped it last week so id have some shoulders for the hspu wod we did and i felt it this week. lesson learned! i cant remember what excatley i got but i know it was less reps than i had knocked oput with that same weight a few weeks earlier..im hoping ill bounce back this friday, it was really nice to finally see a little progress on this lift. the wod we did was 5-4-3-2-1 atlas stone front squats (118#) and tire flips with a 40m prowler push between each exercise, finishing with 1000m row. great little burner to get back into it

Saturday i was wrecked from the deads and strongman wod but was feeling a little more recovered from the flu so i was excited to train. i was in aptos for the weekend so i shot over to santa cruz west for a workout and chat with owner sam.. this was the 1st time ive been to this gym and it is sick! huge facility with tons of everything a crossfitter could. i wanted to get in some front squats some how so i did a 1rm hang squat clean + 2 front squats. i built up to 275# but didnt have the pop in my back to nail 285#. i think fresh i could get 290#, i really liked this strength complex and im looking forward to trying it again in a couple weeks. next i did a quick shoulder destroying wod of 10 squat snatch (155#), 20 baer muscle up, 30 kb swing(70#), 40 hspu with kip, 50 wall ball(20#). pretty good gaser but i felt very tired and slow through it, i finished somehwere around 12 min. looking forward to getting back to a normal schedule next week and hopefully my full energy. hope you all had a happy new years!