the monkey club

2012-02-15T09:22:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
1x10 situps, pushups, squats, pullups

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x185, 1x225 then 1x5x260)

Tabata situps (abmat, subbed towel):
10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9

Dragging a little bit this morning after climbing hard last night and still recovering from/succumbing to a virus. Quick workout today to get in some DL, felt heavy but doable - probably should have warmed up a wee bit more. Should have gone to 265 but didn't remember the loads correctly.

Tabata situps felt too easy in the beginning but definitely not by the end.

TR: Tres Romantique

2012-02-14T21:52:00.000-05:00

V-Day special: another early evening trip to TRC with G and Evangeline, who's really progressing well. She worked a bunch of climbs in the 5.7-5.9 range. She's particularly good at off vertical slab, getting her feet really high and staying in balance. Emphasizing the mantra of working one's deficiencies, she also tried some more overhanging stuff, with a focus on awareness about footwork.

G and I worked mostly TR today, but it felt like a strong work session:

TR: 5.10, 5.11, 5.11
lead: 5.11
TR: 5.12

Despite an inauspicious warmup (really pumpy and non-obvious overhanting 10, we both took a hang right before the anchors), both 11 TR routes went up relatively easily. The first was a short vertical problem in the back, small holds and crimps, balancey but with stems and decent rests. The second was the long vertical sequencey 11 that gave us fits last week, but with the right beta linking the moves together was straightforward.

The 11 lead was fun, burly, and ended kind of oddly: overhanging up underneath the big arch, big exit moves with a foot out R, then a slightly overhanging traverse left on mediocre holds and tiny feet before finally heading up to the anchors. Toughest part was the last clip at the end of the traverse. The 12 TR was good, thoughtful climbing; I couldn't stick the crux move (off balance R-hand throw off crimps and tiny foot jibs for a far, far crimp), but G sure did.

Nice climbing tonight, plan for next session: multiple leads of routes in our range (9-10).

2012-02-12T20:14:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
2x10 situps, pushups, squats, pullups
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x185 then 3x5x200)

Every minute on the minute for 10 min (95):
2 deadlift
2 hang power clean
2 push jerk

1x15 bench press (5x45, 5x65 then 1x15x85)

On the verge of some kind of virus that's going around, but since I was at the office thought I'd put in a little effort off the couch. Squats felt pretty solid, but starting to get close to stalling on the 5th reps of the last 2 sets - up to 205 next time. Was going to do a scaled down DT, but didn't feel quite up to it. This EMOM metcon wasn't a bad substitute, good to work on a little clean technique. Post squats HR 144, post metcon HR 168.

Was going to bench 3x5 but they were closing the gym.

2012-02-10T10:17:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
half-court box drill
2x10 situps, pushups, squats
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x185 then 3x5x195)

3 rounds:
0.2 mi run (treadmill, 6:40 pace)
10 situps
5 pushups

3x5 shoulder press (5x45, 3x55, 1x65 then 3x5x80)

Lower back tweaky from a minor strain climbing with G last night, still sore under any kind of axial movement today. During squats, felt worst getting it off the rack but actually the load felt more solid at the bottom, maybe because the angle of the hips kind of locks you into place. Still adjusting technique: a little wider grip, thumbs over the bar, a little wider stance, and pulled shoulder blades back tight.

Coles converted one of the racquetball courts into a mini-fitness room, with treadmills and spin cycles and some nautilus machines. Tried to do a little metcon there, but the treadmills are rough for short sprints: take too long to wind up to speed and for some reason don't have an easily legible distance reading (or I was too slow to figure it out). Anything 400 m or shorter, think I'll do on solid earth.

Pretty burned out by the presses, *barely* got the last rep of each set up.

Retribution

2012-02-09T23:06:00.000-05:00

Hard night of climbing with G at BKB, felt nice to get some good climbing in after Tuesday's fiasco at TRC. We kept the intensity pretty high (4-5 range) but alternate with easier climbs (2) to keep the blood moving. Climbs in sequence below:

steep wall	2, 3	good warmup, 3 was reachy, with odd hand sequencing
vertical	2	way awkward and off balance
back vertical	4, 5	4 felt easy after the start, G killed it on the pinchy, crimpy, balancy 5
front vertical	5, 2	couldn't figure out the high crux (5), reach way out L off a giant sloper
small cave	5, 2+	weird ridged crimps (5), requiring inward squeezing
steep wall	5, 4	out of gas and going through the motions
steeper wall	2, 1	up and down to finish it out

Pretty beat at the end of it, but I thought we were climbing properly hard.

2012-02-08T11:02:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
court jogs
2x10 situps, pushups, squats

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x185, 1x225 then 1x5x255)

Burgener warm-up + power snatches to 65, then:

Outlaw Crossfit WOD 012512
AMRAP in 10 min:
30 double-unders (sub 60 single-unders)
15 power snatches 75/55# (sub 65#)

KL: 2 rounds + 60 SU + 8 PS

10 goblet squat (25# db)
5 OHS (25# plate)

Deadlifts felt nice and solid today, go to 265 next time. I'm trying to roll a little more conditioning into my programming, pulled this one from Outlaw Crossfit. Quite the burner, even at a lighter PS weight - broke up PS into sets of 5 (and smaller) with little rest in between. Power snatches felt good, getting a good extension at 65#; can go up to Rx'ed 75# next time.

The Burgener warm-up made me realize that my form getting to the bottom of the snatch is horrendous, real lack of flexibility. Tried working on it a little on the cool-down, but much more work needed.

Heart rate recovery:
0'-168, 2'-128, 4'-108, 10'-100, 30'-100, 120'-72

Hooky

2012-02-07T22:46:00.000-05:00

Left work early for a late afternoon/early evening trip to TRC with Evangeline and G. E tackled a bunch of progressively harder climbs on TR, I must say I was very impressed (5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 2x5.9). She's already excellent on slab, and with a little focus on footwork will be cranking the more vertical stuff.

In contrast, G and I were beat down pretty hard: 5.9, 5.10, 2x5.11(TR). The 9 was in a corner, lots of balancy positions and stemming that felt surprisingly insecure - certainly wamred me up. The 10 was a steep route going up under the arch, then exiting to a less steep overhanging wall to the anchor. We both took a single fall right after turning the roof, but the moves felt okay. Both 11 TRs were frustrating, the first because we didn't figure out at first to use the arete and the second because each move was very sequence-dependent (lots of high-steps to open grips).

Up and out

2012-02-07T10:19:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
2x10 situps, pushups, squats

3x5 bench press (5x45, 5x75, 3x95, 1x115 then 3x5x120)

"Death by Thruster"
CF Centurion WOD 011312
On the minute, perform one thruster (95/65), adding another rep each minute. So, you will do 1 Thruster, put the bar down and wait for the rest of the minute. Then on the next minute, you will do 2 thrusters and rest until the next minute. Then 3 Thrusters and rest until the next minute, and so on. You will go until you cannot do your allotted reps in the minute. You final score will be the total reps completed. Yes, you might actually die...
KL: 7 rounds (95)

Getting into a regular morning routine is feeling better each day. Lots of pushing work this morning, saving the pulling for climbing tonight. Bench felt ok but heavy, experimented with grip width a bit but think my current position feels about right.

The metcon's a killer that hits hard and heavy at the end. I broke up the last set. Been a long time since I've done thrusters and it showed; should be able to go to 8 or 9 rounds with better technique and a little more gutting it out.

The healing power of squats

2012-02-06T09:45:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
2x10 situps, pushups, squats
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x185 then 3x5x190)
1x15 bench press (65)

2 rounds:
10 KTE
10 good mornings (45)

Started out feeling pretty woozy this morning (a little too much super-drinking last night), but felt better through the squats. Positioning the bar lower on the rack is definitely helping; with the higher position I was shifting the bar back over my COG to get it off the rack, requiring a lot of effort just to steady myself and reposition at the start of each set.

Also switched back from trail running sneakers to more flat soled shoes, which felt much steadier under load.

2012-02-03T09:54:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
2x10 situps, pushups, squats
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135 then 3x5x185)
3x5 shoulder press (5x45, 3x65 then 3x5x75)

10 db swings (30)
10 standing plate twist (45)
10 overhead walking lunge (plate, 45)

Squat weight starting to feel heavy, but mostly in lower back instability - leg drive and hip opening feel alright. Last rep of last set close to sticking but not quite yet. Might move to 5# increments next week. Light weight on the press still felt tough by the 3rd set.

Remarkably still sore from the lab outing Wed afternoon (paintball). It was surprisingly stupid fun, running around with masks and guns, and got the adrenaline pumping:

2012-02-01T09:27:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
situps, pushups, squats, pullups

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x175, 1x215 then 1x5x245)

10 standing plate twist (45)
10 KTE
10 plank walk-ups
10 back extension
10 GHD situps

DL starting to feel comfortable again, focused on slow steady lifts and pushing through the ground with my feet. Will think about steeping increments down to 5 lbs soon.

As a (medium-term) target, here are goals from a little less than a year ago as well as what I was pulling then after a few consistent months of lifting (@BW 180 lb):
DL - 2xBW (360) - 1x5x305
BS - 1.5xBW (270) - 3x5x245
BP - 1xBW (180) - 1x5x155
SP - 0.75xBW (135) - 5x3x105

TRC with E

2012-01-31T22:37:00.002-05:00

Went to TRC early with Evangeline to try her new Evolvs. Beside showing off her Autobot t-shirt, she did a 5.6, 7 slab, 7, tried another 7 she couldn't finish, and an 8 she couldn't finish. She also tried two V0s. In between I did V2, V3, V4, V5, V4 and tried a few more I couldn't finish.

She still needs to get more comfortable moving her feet up and placing her body sideways, but overall it was a good start to what we'll try to make a weekly outing.

2012-01-31T09:03:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
sit-ups, push-ups, squats, pull-ups

5x5 decline bench press (45, 65, 85, 95, 105)

Burgener warm-up
8x30m sprint (bb court length, 20-30 s rest)

Active rest kind of day, intended to work some snatch balance and OHS but was really tight in the lower back today - rough getting all the way down. Need to do a little foam rollering tonight. Did some sprints instead, got the heart rate up; would be much nicer up on the track (without the quick deceleration into a cinder-block wall).

2012-01-30T09:44:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
decline situps, pushups

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x155 then 3x5x175)

7x2 shoulder press (45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 105[dna])
3-3-2-1 weighted chin-up (10, 25, 35, 45)

Squats felt pretty solid. Dropped the initial rack position a bit, which made getting the bar started easier and more on-balance. Shoulder press still weak but will keep working at it. Managed to find a belt and chain at Coles - great for weighted pulls/chins.

2012-01-27T09:46:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
court jogs
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 5x95, 3x135, 1x155 then 3x5x165)
3x5 bench press (5x45, 3x65, 1x95 then 3x5x115)

Slowly realizing that I've lost a lot of strength since I last lifted regularly (last summer) - jury's still out on whether it's due to the long layoff or just getting older. Squats felt heavy but mostly in the lower back, which is feeling tweaky after a busy week of climbing/lifting. Hopefully weekend rest and a little foam rolling will help. Bench went up fine but the last rep or two of the last set were close to limit.

Fourish

2012-01-26T21:00:00.000-05:00

BKB with Jess and G, ran into Jill C there too. Warmed up V1-V2-V3 then worked a bunch of mostly vertical V4 and V5s in the front of the gym. G was pulling much stronger than me tonight, though I did put in a lot of work on the problems - need to work on proper body tension and balance, those were the moves giving me trouble tonight.

Just a reminder for the old folks

2012-01-25T19:52:00.000-05:00

John Gill still hitting the front lever at 70+ years (via the Denver Post) And BITD

Dead simple

2012-01-25T08:51:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
dynamic squat stretching

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x165, 1x185, 1x225 then 1x5x235)
4x5 shoulder press (45, 55, 65, 75)

Short and sweet session today. Should take a rest day soon, starting to feel fatigued from the past week of lifting/climbing. Lower back felt tight all morning, but 235 went up fine if heavy. Still need to concentrate on DL form, think I'm hitting all my cues but really have to focus to do it.

Siege mentality

2012-01-24T23:22:00.000-05:00

TRC with Jess and G on a Tuesday night - put some real work in tonight. Jess TRed a bunch of climbs, up in the 5.9-5.10 range. G and I led 5.9/5.10/5.11, with the 11 (overhanging face, up below and along an arete, then up another overhanging face) feeling really tough - we eventually finished it after taking turns to move the rope up.

It was no small consolation that Ms. Psssst - who was cruising 12s - found it pretty tough going as well.

Andale andale

2012-01-24T09:04:00.003-05:00

Warm-up:
10 min run @10:00

running intervals (60-90 s work-rest, no incline)
2x7:30 min/mile
2x7:03 min/mile
2x6:40 min/mile

Keeping up the habit of morning workouts with some treadmill intervals. HR in the 170s, down to the 140s ~2 min after the last interval. Got a good sweat going today.

2012-01-23T09:42:00.000-05:00

Warm-up:
court jogs
dynamic squat stretching

3x5 bench press (5x45, 3x65, 1x85 then 3x5x95)

Burgener warm-up, then:
5x3 power clean (45, 2x95, 105, 115)

3x5 low-bar back squat (5x45, 3x95, 2x115, 1x135 then 3x5x155)

Still slowly reacclimating to working out regularly again. Light weight on the bench felt okay for the shoulder, but worked to get it up - go up to 115 max next time. Oly work while waiting for the squat racks to open up. Pulls were fine but probably went up too fast on the weight, can/should work on technique a little more.

No shoulder problems squatting today, kept a narrower grip which helped. Will stick with low-bar and see how it goes. 155 felt heavy but legs were solid, mostly weak in the lower back. Go to 165 next time.

Food for thought

2012-01-20T17:04:00.001-05:00

New workouts to try (have at em!):

CF Football WOD 012012
Complete 5 rounds:
1 Minute of Max Reps with Two Arm KB Push Press - 1.5 pood
1 Minute of GHD Back Extension Isometric Hold

CF Football WOD 011912
Complete 5 rounds:
2 Squats @ 133% of body weight
Sprint 30 yards
*Rest 60-120 seconds

CF Football WOD 011312
Complete 2 Power Cleans and 5 Chin Ups on the minute for 15 minutes.
*Use 75%-80% of 3 RM for this workout

CF Football "Kalsu"
Complete 5 burpees and perform max rep 135 lbs thrusters on the minute.
The goal is to complete 100 total thrusters.
*At the beginning of every minute perform 5 burpees, for the rest of the minute perform as many thrusters as you can during that minute. At the beginning of the next minute perform 5 burpees and then max rep thrusters and so on until you reach 100 total thrusters.
Post the total number of minutes it took to reach 100 thrusters.

CF Sunnyvale WOD 010611
3 Rounds
9 Cleans (w/ a squat)93#/135#
12 Push ups

Complete 7 rounds for time of:
7 overhead squats (you pick the weight)
7 burpees

2012-01-20T09:19:00.004-05:00

Warm-up:
dynamic squat stretching

1x5 deadlift (5x135, 3x185, 2x205 then 1x5x225)

1x15 shoulder press (45)
1x10 shoulder press (55)
5 toes-to-bar
15 decline situps

Rough getting up and going in this morning, sore from climbing and starting to lift again this week. Pretty tight in the posterior chain, from hammies up to the mid-back, but felt better as I warmed up (set at work weight was the most comfortable). Need to work my strength back up.

2012-01-19T23:00:00.000-05:00

I swear it gets more crowded every single time we go to BKB. Last night, it was literally 2-3 people deep at almost every wall in the gym.

G and I spent most of the night on V4-V5 (V0, V1, V2, V3, V4, 2xV5, V4 then various problems V3-5). Actually felt pretty good tonight, didn't really get pumped - correlates with me starting conditioning again, but that was only this week and I think G and Ryan felt that way too. Maybe it was so crowded we were just taking longer between climbs.

Should be noted that none of us could figure out one of the V2 problems, though certainly not for lack of trying.

2012-01-19T09:15:00.001-05:00

Warm-up:
10:00 jog (10:00 pace)

Running intervals (30-60 s work-rest, treadmill, no incline)
3x7:30 min/mile
2x6:40 min/mile
1x6:00 min/mile

Just some light running work on the treadmill, would actually prefer to be outside but wanted to make it quick. Intervals on the treadmill are tricky, especially if there's no automatic interval function. HR up around 170 at the end.