Georgia Chipper

Elm City this morning, and we did one of the WODs from today's Georgia sectional. I'll be interested to see what competitive times were like. I felt like this went okay, but also wondered how I would have done a little fresher -- big volume of deadlifts, pull-ups, and GHD sit-ups in the past couple days had me feeling pretty sore and tight at the start. The 60 kettlebell swings were actually a great mobility exercise to start this off -- a better warm-up than my actual warm-up.

For time:
60 kettlebell swings, 35# (finish: overhead position)
50 box jumps, 20"
40 wall ball, 12# (not sure target height, but higher than I was used to!)
30 pull-up
20 GHD sit-up (2-hand touch)
10 snatch, 65#
100' walking lunge, 25# plate overhead

TIME: 11:52

Where I could have cut the most time: wall-ball, pull-ups. Box-jumps were unbroken but not particularly quick. Dropped a few snatches from the top, should have sucked it up and done them all touch-and-go. Basically, this was okay but there was room to improve.

Split Jerks, Front Squats, Sit-ups

CF Performance for a midday workout.

First, SPLIT JERKS.
3-2-1-3-2-1 with 3 min. rest between sets.
3 x 155#
2 x 165
1 x 175
3 x 165
2 x 170
1 x 180 (PR)

Old PR was 170. Afterward got too greedy, failed at 185# twice. Next time!

Then, FRONT SQUAT
3-3-3-3-3 with 3 min. rest between sets
3 x 155#, 160, 165, 170, 175
Felt weak! Depth on 170# set was poor, but on 175# was good.

Finished with
100 GHD sit-ups for time (two-hand touch each rep)
TIME: 4:26

Deads, Pull-ups

CFP wod today:

Warm-up was 200 double-unders for time.
TIME: 4:28
This should be much better.

Then,
5 rds, with 3 min rest after each round, of
3 minute amrap:
-7 deadlift, 155#
-7 pull-up

Round 1: 4 rds + 4 reps DL
Round 2: 4 rds + 1 rep DL
Round 3: 3 rds + 7 reps DL, 2 reps p-u
Round 4: 2 rds + 7 reps DL, 3 reps p-u (? this may be wrong)
Round 5: 2 rds + 7 reps DL, 6 reps p-u

Great workout. If my math is correct, that's 126 reps deadlift and 116 pull-ups.

Cooking up a storm

Off day today, and the weather was crap. I stayed inside and binge-cooked Paleo food. A. and I will be fed for the next week.


Recipes:

Chicken Soup
In a stock pot, cover 3-4lbs. of chicken drumsticks and thighs with cold water. Bring to a boil, adding
-2 sweet potatoes (cubed)
-2 carrots (coins)
-1 onion (chopped)
-2 stalks celery (chopped)
-2 cloves garlic (chopped small)
When the chicken is cooked, remove from pot and pull meat off bones. Discard skin and bones, return meat to pot. Add salt, pepper to taste and stir in
-6 cups collard greens

Stuffed Peppers
Oven at 400. Remove lids and seeds of 2 green peppers. Place on a baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. In the meantime, saute onions, celery, carrots, ground sausage, and plum tomatoes. Remove peppers from oven, stuff with sausage/veggie filling, return to oven for 25 minutes.

Turkey Meatloaf
Oven at 350. Saute
-1 small onion (diced)
-1 clove garlic (minced)
-2 cups baby-bello mushrooms (chopped)
-1 small zucchini (chopped)
-2 cups spinach (chopped)
Mix with 20 oz ground turkey and a beaten egg. Add a bunch of chopped parsley. Shape into a loaf, bake one hour.

Cauliflower and Peas
Oven at 400. In a bowl, toss
-1 head cauliflower cut into florets
-3 Tbsp oil
-1 tsp salt
-lots of fresh ground pepper
-Tbsp curry powder
-shake of chili pepper, shake of red pepper flakes
-inch of ginger, grated
-garlic clove, minced
-a sprinkling of lemon zest
Spread this over a baking sheet, bake 25 minutes. Every so often give the pan a shake. Remove from oven, add a bag of thawed frozen peas, return to over for 5-10 mins. Cauliflower should be tender, not mushy.

Kale
Heat 2 T. olive oil and a little sesame oil. Throw in a tsp minced garlic and a tsp+ minced ginger. When those begin to brown, throw in a bunch of kale, ripped into bite sized pieces. Saute, stirring often, until bright green and tender.

Sweet Potatoes
Oven at 400. Cut some slits in sweet potatoes, bake until soft.

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli
In a bowl, mix
-2 lbs broccoli, cut into florets
-a little salt
-fresh ground pepper
-a teaspoon cumin
-zest of a lemon
-2 Tbsp olive oil
-red pepper flakes
Spread over baking sheet, bake ten minutes. Meanwhile, toss 1 lb shrimp with a little more oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Remove pan from oven, sprinkle shrimp on there, bake another 12 minutes.

I think that's everything I cooked . . . this is great for the last week of school, as I'll be well fed through my final exams.

Rowing Sprints

CFP wod tonight was rowing, a good change from all the strength work:

30 sec row, 2:30 rest x 5
rest 5 minutes
repeat

Meters rowed:
161
161
158
160
161
161
161
160
159
157

Damper at 9 all sets except 3rd. My worst sprint here was the same as my best sprint from last week . . .

Clean PR by 20#

I feel like things are clicking, like I am starting to figure out the Olympic squat position a little. What I think helped: ass-to-grass squats and OHS over the past few weeks. Anyway, I went to Elm City Crossfit tonight and the WOD was awesome.

Strength: 15 minutes to achieve max clean
3 x 65#
1 x 95
1 x 115
1 x 135
1 x 145 (old PR)
1 x 155
1 x 160
F x 165
1 x 165 (PR)
F x 170

I got really close to cleaning 170#, but my elbows collapsed and time ran out. Next time I think I will get it. Vin (coach) pointed out that I tend to lose my posture a little (letting the shoulders roll forward, scapulae get loose, etc). So that's something to work on.

Then, 3 rds for time:
25 pull-ups
25 split squat (alternating)
25m bear crawl
TIME: 6:54

Pull-ups still slow, but I got 21 in a row today -- another personal best! Video clip of the WOD here.

315

Yesterday Mike said to do heavy deads, so today I did heavy deads.

Very abbreviated warmup (2 min. row, hip flexor stretch, 10 OHS), then this:

DEADLIFTS
5 x 135#
3 x 185
1 x 225
1 x 245
1 x 275
1 x 295
1 x 305
1 x 310 (old pr)
1 x 315 (PR)
f x 320
f x 320
f x 320

I really wanted that 320, but not today.

Snatches

CFG this morning. Burgener warm-up with PVC and bar, snatch complexes with PVC, then . . .

10 min to find snatch max: 115#

Then, 5 rds for time:
3 HSPU to abmat
6 snatch, 75#
9 OHS, 75#
Time: 9:56

Finished with 120# snatch! PR.

Rest

Much needed recovery day today. Yesterday my appetite was raging, hamstrings screaming. So today I had an easy morning, cooked a little, and soon will head to hospital. Here is the dinner I packed: wild Alaskan salmon and broccoli rabe with olive oil.



Food for morning:
-coffee with cream x 2
-2 egg omelette with 1 strip bacon, handful green beans, 1/4 onion
-(later) 1 fried egg with 2 strips bacon, slice of turkey
And lunch will be salmon and salad greens, maybe a hardboiled egg.

Part II

Second half of OPT workout, 3.5 hours later . . .

Rowing Sprints:
30 seconds on, 3 minutes off x 4
ten minute break
30 seconds on, 3 minutes off x 4

Meters rowed (damper setting)
152 (9)
152 (8)
153 (10)
155 (9)
153 (9)
153 (9)
153 (9)
157 (9)

Food 2d half of day:
1pm: 4 oz turkey-veggie loaf, 3 cups spinach cooked in olive oil (1Tbsp-ish)
Dinner at the hospital, 5:30pm: cup of chicken-veggie soup, a ziploc of raw green beans, a pound of frozen broccoli + olive oil, small cup black coffee
Snack when I got home at 10:30: turkey and veggies, hard-boiled egg

Part I

I'm sort of following OPT a day behind but sort-of not following it. I'm probably getting 4/5 of their workouts done, but not on the right days and not on the right rest-to-work schedule either. Today I did the first half of yesterday's wod, which is supposed to be a double session -- whether I get to the second half (rowing 30-sec intervals with plenty of rest) depends on how fast I get my homework done before heading to the hospital.

Anyway. The workout:

First, high-bar back squat x 6,6,4,4,2,2 with 4 min rest b/w sets
6 x 155, 185#
4 x 205, 215 (poor depth)
2 x 225, 230

Then, 4 rds of this:
DB split squat (slow descent) x 8 per leg
Rest 90 sec.
GH Raises x 20
Rest 90 sec.

I did split squats with back leg on a Dynamax ball, 25# db per hand. Should've used heavier, but those were all I had.

Food for the morning:
Outrageous breakfast at 6: coffee with cream, 2 fried eggs, 2 strips bacon, sauteed mushrooms and spinach (handful each), half avocado
Post-workout meal at 9: 2 more fried eggs, half a sweet potato
10:45: coffee with cream, 2 or 3 oz serving turkey-veggie loaf

Push and Pull

This workout was a killer. I was a little disappointed in myself towards the end -- mostly that I didn't finish this wod rx'd, or even really get close. I went to the school gym, which has only one kipp-able pull-up bar and a bunch of people waiting to use it. So sets of pull-ups I couldn't do unbroken, I either cut short or finished with fewer strict reps on another bar (the kind with handles, palms facing each other). That was lame. And some of the last reps of PJ and PP I didn't even try, because I didn't want to drop the bar. That was lame too. This workout definitely exposed some weak spots, physical and mental.

5 x
A1. Push Jerk 4-6 reps, 150 sec rest
A2. Weighted Pull Up (strict), 4-6 reps, 150 sec rest

4 x
B1. Push Press 4-6 reps, 120 sec rest
B2. CTB Pull-Up, 15 reps, 120 sec rest

3 x
C1. Press 4-6 reps, 90 sec rest
C2. Pull-up, 20 reps, 90 sec rest


What I did:
Push Jerk 105 x 5, 115 x 6, 125 x 6, 135 x 5, 140 x 4
Weighted Pull-Up: 15# db x 5 all sets

Push Press 95 x 6, 105 x 6, 115 x 6, 125 x 4
CTB: 10, 10, 5, 10
All sets 5 in a row then the rest broken. On the 3d set there were too many people waiting for bar to finish 10 without waiting.

Press: 75 x 5, 80 x 3, 80 x 4
Pull-ups: 10 (kip), 8 (strict), 12 (6 kip then 6 strict)
The pull-ups were all messed up because my grip/arms were toast and too many people were waiting for the bar you can kip on. I don't think I should go to that gym for pull-up intensive workouts anymore.

This felt crappy. But looking back on it, I must have hit some PRs -- that was the most CTBs I've ever done, even though I was 20 short of rx. And 5 reps of 135 was a PR too -- last time I tried that I only got 3 reps. Being 30 pull-ups short of rx was the really disappointing part. Oh well.

On the plus side, eating today was very good:
breakfast: coffee with cream, 2 eggs with spinach, half a tomato, mushrooms, some onion
midmorning: hard boiled egg, coffee with cream, tasted turkey-veggie meatloaf I made
lunch: bowl of chicken and vegetable soup*, greens with a can of tuna and some olive oil
snack: green beans
dinner: bowl of soup, half a bunch asparagus cooked in oil

*Chicken Soup recipe:
In an 8-qt pot, boil a whole chicken in water, 40ish minutes. Remove chicken and add the following to the boiling water: 2 sweet potatoes (1/2 inch cubes), 3 carrots (half inch slices), 3 celery stalks (chopped small), 2 cloves garlic (minced), 1 onion (diced). Simmer veggies, adding some shakes of red pepper flakes, a little salt, a little pepper. When the chicken is cool enough, pick off all the meat and dump it back into the pot. Then add 4-5 cups chopped collard greens, cook until they're soft.

Food.

I've decided it's time to re-focus on good eating. That's why I've included food journals the last couple days. Below are a few thoughts, plus a little cooking video.

It's obvious, but you have to shop well if you want to eat well. Last night A. and I stocked up our fridge with green vegetables: broccoli, broccoli rabe, collards, kale, spinach, asparagus. It seemed like a ton, but greens cook down so much. And now we never have an excuse not to eat a green veg with any meal. We also bought some sturdier veggies: onions, carrots, a turnip, sweet potatoes, mushrooms. We bought 18 eggs, a whole chicken, more chicken, pork chops, and ground turkey. Some of this went straight into the freezer, but I just used a lot of it in the chicken soup I made this morning:



Basically, I'm trying to lock into cleaner eating by shopping better and cooking more from scratch. This means some trips to the supermarket will seem "excessive." Hopefully, though, it will be worth it to have a houseful of good food.

So, far, so good. This morning I cooked up an omelette with onion, mushrooms, tomato, and spinach. It was so flavorful it really didn't need salt or cheese. Then I took a couple hours and made a turkey-veggie meatloaf and that pot of chicken soup. Now, I'll have more stuff on hand for the rest of the week, so I don't end up eating handfuls of nuts and spoonfuls of almond butter every time I get hungry.

Unbroken AMRAPs

Today's CFP workout was all AMRAPs of unbroken rounds. For example, if you didn't get 20 double unders in a row, none of them counted and you had to start counting a new set of 20. The workout:

5 minute AMRAP -
90# bench press x 5, rack bar between rounds
Score: 8

2 min rest

3:20 AMRAP -
10 walking lunges, 35# per hand, drop weights between rds
Score: 8

2 min rest

3:40 AMRAP -
15 unbroken back extensions
Score: 9

2 min rest

4 minute AMRAP
20 unbroken double-unders
Score: 6

This was a great workout: tough and frustrating (failing on the 5th rep of bench a couple times, f'ing up d-u's), but a good learning experience.

Eating:
break: coffee with cream, 2 eggs with spinach and a little (1/2 oz) feta
midmorning: coffee with cream
lunch: 4 oz turkey/veg meatloaf, some green beans/olive oil, half a sweet potato
afternoon snack: couple pieces beef jerky, handful cashews, spoonful almond butter, 2 slices turkey
post-workout: scoop of protein powder (real gross), half sweet potato, hard boiled egg
dinner: cod fillet cooked in olive oil, kale cooked with sesame oil, 3 strawberries

KTE x 150

CFP wod, slightly modified from OPT:

3 rds:
35 x dumbbell deadlift, 50# per hand (touch floor each rep)
750m row
50 KTE
Time: 35:08

What I'm proud of: I touched knees-to-elbows on every single rep. I didn't count the few I missed, and it took me three tries to get the last one. Obviously, you're supposed to touch your knees to your elbows every single time, but I don't always, so I'm glad I stayed honest. Even though it took a pretty long time to finish.

FOOD TODAY:
breakfast: coffee + whole milk, 2 eggs, 2 strips bacon
midmorning: coffee with cream
lunch: an orange, roasted broccoli with 5 oz (ish) shrimp, baked sweet potato, sauteed green beans in olive oil
snack: handful walnuts, piece of beef jerky, 5 strawberries
post workout: hard boiled egg and (2 hrs later) a few almods
dinner: big slice of homemade turkey meatloaf* with sauteed green beans, cup herbal tea

*turkey meatloaf with NO CRUMBS:
RECIPE: mix turkey meat with diced carrot, onion, some red pepper, basil, chopped spinach, sauteed mushrooms, 1/3 cup grated cheese, 1 egg lightly beaten. Shape into loaf, bake an hour at 350F. I know I know, not Paleo, but would be easy to take that cheese out. Was delicious!

Push Press, 5 rd workout

CF Gotham Saturday morning class. Started with push press:

5 x 105#
5 x 115# (2 were push jerk, oops)
5 x 120#
4 x 130#
3 x 130#

This was frustrating. I feel like my push jerk has gotten better, and now I want to push jerk weight instead of push pressing it. Used to be the other way round. I wanted to get 5 reps at 130# and move up -- 2 reps is the best I've ever done at 130# -- but didn't get there today.

After the presses, we did a wod that I really dreaded when I saw it on the board. I've been really sore in the quads and chest, so I was fatigued before we even started. Halfway through, I realized it wasn't so bad.

5 rds for time:
10 push-up
10 squat
15 wall ball, 14#
20 walking lunge
20 double unders

Time: 10:03

Sprints

Friday workout:

5 x 5 accelerating sprints: ten second sprint from ground, 1:50 walk.
Rest one minute extra.
Repeat set of 5 three times.

Squats and more

CF Performance, went to 6:30 class. These OPT workouts are making me more sore than I've been in a while. This morning's workout:

A.
4 rds of
-OHS x 6: 3 seconds down, 2 second hold at the bottom
-90 sec rest
-5 chest to bar dead hang pull ups
-5 ring dips
-90 sec rest

Weight for OHS: 85, 95, 105, 105
Notes on pull-ups and dips: failed to achieve CTB on most reps. In 3rd dip round, began using band so I didn't have to do singles and wait between reps.

B.
3 rds of
-Jump Squat (weighted) x 10
-10 pull-ups

Weight for jump squats: 65, 85, 95, 105
Should have gone heavier?

C. 8 minute Tabata mash-up of
-split lunge jumps
-anchored sit-ups

Reps . . . not totally sure, may have been something like this:
Lunge Jumps: 25/24/22/25/26/25/26/25
Situps: 16/16/15/16/16/16/16/16

22 and 15 were definitely the "lows." 26 and 16 were the "highs."

I should be doing my homework, but I'll blog the morning eating too:
5:45 coffee with cream
7:45 (post workout): 1 cup chicken/vegetable soup (homemade), 1 hb egg
10 2 fried eggs, 2 cups spinach and basil with some olive oil

Frantic Plate Change Workout

Snowed in! Not really, but it snowed all day. Amy and I did today's OPT workout in our living room. With one bar and a million drop sets of two exercises, this required no fewer than 40 plate changes in less than half an hour -- we felt like a NASCAR pit crew. We made some slight changes, like hang power snatch instead of power snatch (no full diameter plates) and bench step-ups instead of box jumps (for our neighbors' sake). And "2 minute breaks" were pretty imprecise.

The workout:

First, 5rds of
a. hang power snatch in "drop set" of 2-2-2
b. bench press in "drop set" of 4-4
c. rest 2 minutes

Then, 5 rds of
a. 25 box step-ups
b. row 200m
c. rest 2 minutes

HPS: 105*/100*/95, 100/95/90, 95/90/85, 90/85/80, 85/80/75
*starred reps were so crappy they should not be called a snatch.

BP: 135/125(3), 125/115, 115/110, 110/105, 100/95

All 5 200m rows were under 45 sec.

The verdict: I like the timed rest in weight workouts like the snatches/bench part of this. However, I think the second workout would have been better/more challenging without the rests. It also would have killed me!!

Reading Material

http://discovermagazine.com/2004/oct/inuit-paradox

Performance

Worked out at CF Performance tonight with an awesome group of ladies. The workout:

A. 4 rds of
-15 touch-and-go deadlifts, 185#
-10 ring dips
-10 clapping push-ups
-3 minute rest

B. 4 rds of
-25 GHD extensions
-25 push-ups (not to depth)
-90 sec rest

C. 5 minute AMRAP of double-unders

Didn't note time on first two workouts. Ring dips were poor depth on all but first set.
Double-unders: 201

Slow and Low

Another OPT workout. I've never done ass-to-grass squats before, and these were at a super-slow tempo (4 second descent). This caused me to knock some weight off what I might normally back squat, but will be very beneficial in Oly lifts.

A. High-bar back squats, full depth
5 rounds of 4-6 reps, 4 second descent, accelerate up, 1 second at the top, 90 sec rest b/w rounds
5 x 145#
4 x 155#
4 x 155#
5 x 155#
3 x 175# (failed on 4th rep)

B. L-sit pull-ups, amrap x 5 with 90 sec breaks b/w sets
4, 3, 3, 3, 3
[note: I did these in Crunch, legs bent 90 degrees so I wouldn't kick people using cable machine]

C. DB Split Squats, 4 rounds of 5-7 reps each leg, 3 seconds down and 3 seconds up, 45 sec rest b/w legs
4rds x 6 reps each leg, 35# dbs
This was SO BORING. I haven't hated doing something at the gym like this in a long time.

D. 100 sit-ups for time on decline bench.
TIME: 5:00
This was surprisingly much harder than on a GHD because I couldn't carry momentum up.

This weekend has been bad for nutrition: birthday cake, drinks last night. I'm absolutely avoiding sugar and wheat this upcoming week, starting now.

OHS and Big Ups

First time back at Gotham in weeks!

OHS
5 x 75, 95
3 x 115
1 x 125, 135F, 135, 140, 145, 150 (PR)

Then box jumps for max height:
1 x box . . .
+ 45# plate
+ 2 45# plates
+ 3 45# plates
+ 3 45# plates and 1 25# plate

Couldn't get myself to even attempt 4 x 45# plates. Kept psyching myself out. Next time.

Hamstring burn!!

Just took BK's advice, tried the WOD posted at OPT blog. Despite feeling a bit micro-managed with some of the timing, I really liked the pacing of it, getting a lot done in not so much time. Nothing crazy intense, but whoa! Those G-H raises are a killer.

A. Build quickly to tough 3x deadlift (NOT 3RM), no more than 60 sec rest b/w sets.
I did:
135# x 3
185 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 3
Start to finish time: 4:08

B. 8 x 3 bench at 60% 1RM. 1 sec to lower weight, 1 sec at the top, 30 sec rest b/w sets.
95 x 8
95 x 8
95 x 8
Total time: 2:06

C. HPC 3 x 3, 80% effort, rest as needed.
115 x 3
125 x 3
135 x 3
Total time: 5:45 (Got a bit lazy between sets)

Glute-Ham Raises, 15 x 5. 2 seconds down, 1 sec up, rest 90 - 120 sec b/w sets.
I did this with calves under a barbell wrapped in a towel, knees on a yoga mat. Need more control on the way down. Here's some very homemade video of the last set:

OPT

Evening WOD at CrossFit Performance. BK uses OPT programming, and it was great. Kind of like 3 workouts in 1.

3 rds:
-10 thrusters, 80#
-Row 2 minutes @ 90%
-Rest 2 minutes

Then (immediately) 3 rds:
-10 front squat, 95#
-max high-knee rope skips
-Rest 2 minutes

Then (immediately after):
21-15-9
-pull-ups
-burpees

This whole thing took me 31 minutes and change, I think. It was hard to keep track of the times for each round. I think part of the point was to keep us mentally focused on numbers, times, despite physical fatigue. Here's a few things I did keep track of:
METERS ROWED: 556 - 550 - 546
ROPE SKIPS: honestly, no idea except the 2d round was 256. Other rds lower.
21-15-9 TIME: 6:19

It was awesome.

Sidenote: I've been lax about eating this week. Had a burger/fries/bottle of beer when I met a friend on Monday, and went out for sushi today and ate some rice in rolls. I feel okay, but it's time to cut that stuff out.

15 12 9 6 3 1

Elm City WOD:

15 - 12 - 9 - 6 - 3 - 1 reps of
OHS
RDL (standing on plate)
"Lift offs" (like DL but just to above knees)

Used 65#

TIME: 6:09

Then, 3 sets push-ups to "double-failure," 1 min rest between.
(Double failure: max push-ups to failure immediately followed by max knee-down push-ups)
35/13
15/10
10/10

Presses

Warmed up, then presses:

10-10-5-5-3-3-1-1

What I actually did:

10 x 65#
10 x 75
5 x 80
4* x 85
3 x 90
2* x 95
1 x 100 (PR)
0* x 105

(* = tried another rep but failed)

Also, Mike said to do some strict chest-to-bar pull-up ladders with #10. I don't know if I can do this yet. I tried a few strict CTBs with just 5#, and it was a challenge to get my chest to actually touch the bar. Then I ran out of time. Will try this again tomorrow.