WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170

WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170 No Rings:( PUs (kipping of course) continue to surprise me by being the EASIER of part of the WOD. No blister issue this time though left ring finger is acting up a bit. I miscalculated my PU potential by doing them in sets of 5 and realize in the last round that I could in fact hang in there (just barely) for the whole set of 10. Something to remember for next time. The WOD time was slow with about 3min per superset but this was partly due to crowded gym. Dips were surprisingly difficult. I just cannot seem to go deep enough in the dips. It feels somewhat unnatural position for the shoulders and puts exponentially higher stress on shoulder as I start reaching some depth. So its less of a strength issue and more of a Range of motion issue. Perhaps thats why coach prescribed ring dips instead of parallel bar dips. Its virtually impossible to stress shoulder as I would shoot the rings outwards long before that. Burpee challenge has suddenly become a nightmare since I breached a minute. My time deteriorated from 1min for 21/22 burpees to 23@1:17min and 24@1:33min. I finally started taking breaks. Ouch.

WOD#153 10x(10PU/10Dips) 31:00@148/170

WOD#152 Karen 9:39@171/185, Rope PU/ HSqtC65#

WOD#152 Karen 150 no throw wallballs 9:39@171/185 Compare with WOD#83 #15 7:27@173/184! 9:39 is no comparison to 7:37. Only excuse I can think of is the 20burpees in warmup and full depth in squats (as opposed to bench depth in previous attempt). The workout was not easy though. I did 10 sets of 15 with about 30sec break each and was wobbling by the last round gasping for air. It was fun to do the wod on (plastic) lawn though. The only downside of being in delicate glass tower is that there is no place I could throw the ball at and had to scale down the workout to no throw and lost the accuracy aspect of the workout.

WOD#151 3 x (9xHSqtC 65#, 15 Rope PU) 21:15@142/173 Rx called for 5 rounds but 4th round started with HSqtC failure and I stopped. Rx also called for 3 legless 15ft rope climb which I subed with 3x5=15 strict rope PU. Rope PUs were in set of 5 till last three sets. Never done legless rope climb but thats gotta be harder than strict pullup. As I had found last week in Badger, HSqtC is a heart pumping exercise. The 19 burpees in the warmup did not help. Once again, near perfect form at the cost of low weights and less reps foe HsqtC and full extension on pullups, which were quite costly. WOD felt good ecept or missing 2 rounds..

WOD#152 Karen 150 no throw wallballs 9:39@171/185

WOD#151 3 x (9xHSqtC 65#, 15 Rope PU) 21:15@142/173

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153 Compare with WOD#115 45/60/85/95# 19:03@119/152, WOD#42 45# Full depth and near perfect form. 95# was pretty difficult but I didnt attempt higher weights, partly due to stiff legs from the race. Thrusters with heavier weights need a strong drive on the way up and I was running out of steam by the time I stood up. Timing and strong drive is everything.

WOD#150 1x7 Thrusters 95# 15:37@135/153

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152 Compare with WOD#90 17:04@162/177, WOD#41 16:33@120/135 I dont have a GHD machine at Gym so had to improvise. Just like last time, I used the Leg machine with 45 degree inclination. I am not sure if this is harder or easier since at "bottom" of the sit up, you are horizontal with max torque but the middle of the sit up is easier. Also lack of leg jam probably doesnt make it easier. But its functional so works. Back extension had the same issue but I did them at 45degrees which is clearly easier. But I tried to do them fast. Also I went down using hip extension motion and back extension on way back which just felt more natural movement. So I was essenstially making circles with head in the air. All this fast swinging started causing a problem which I dont think I have encountered before. Blood started rushing to head getting my eyes red and more importantly started giving me headache. I didnt think much of it during the workout as I thought it was dehydration and drank Gatorade. But now I know that I need to do some headstands to get used to this.

WOD#149 5 x (30 GHD/25 BkExt) 20:12@140/152

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144 Compare with WOD#117 30 Baby MuscleUps 18:07@113/136, WOD#47 60 PU/jumpDIP 22:15@132/158 Muscleups still need a lot of work but they definitely felt better than those on 5/31. The height of the rings was still shoulder level but I made sincere effort to pull myself up as much as I can and also lowered myself for some portion without support. Couple of times, muscles just gave up which was demoralizing. But overall, I feel good about it given progress from last time that this is something I can do with some work. I I think the active warm up I started doing daily might be a factor. I also improvised and used some flour as chalk which was just perfect, especially given the 83degree heat. If only I can figure out a way to sneak some of it to the pull up bar at my gym without anyone noticing or complaining:) The muscle ups put finishline to a heavy three days of wods. My legs are still sore from 4mi race yesterday. It was good that muscleups is purely upper body workout.

WOD#148 30 Baby Muscleups 17:05@129/144

WOD#147 4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200

4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200 Barefoot at pace of 7:54min/mi which is not PR but not too shabby. I didnt push too hard but did pick up speed in last mile (7min) including finishline sprint at sub 6min/mi just like last time. I havent been running lately since I shifted to rowing but it felt good. I have slight heel pain on right leg but no DOMS or stiff muscles. During the sprint in the end, I had my knees bent the whole time and was utilizing thighs actively which felt weird. Also I my thighs were bit sore from 90 65# squat cleans yesterday but I guess it didnt matter. If I keep up with squats and rowing, I should be able to improve my sprinting speed.

WOD#147 4mi@7:54 in 86deg 32:22@181/200

WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178

WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178 A "Hero" workout. Its been a while. I almost gave up after first round and might have if it wasnt a hero workout. Over 77minutes of heavy duty shoulder and legs torture. Incredibly, the EASIEST part of the workout were the pull ups (go figure). I think the PU mania few weeks back really did its magic and I was scoring 10 kipping PUs at the beginning of set. There was a subtle change in form wherein I started actively pushing the bar away in mid air which was hard but somehow made it easy to connect two pushups. Also grip and blister situation has improved though still a limiting factor. The squat cleans were the hardest. They were not too bad initially but the volume and heart pumping started to take toll after first round. It was just amazing how much inertia I felt against doing the squat cleans. It was the part of pulling up from bottom of the squat which was repulsive. I did however do all squat cleans with perfect depth and feel very good about that. I dreaded rowing as well but at least I am getting my form and speed improved and was pushing through the exertion. I did the 800m in about 3:33min each including a 1min max effort at 250m. It was a very long and hard workout (second longest after the devilish Eva last week) but I think I will recover by tomorrow.

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WOD#146 "Badger" 3 x (30Sqtclean65#, 30PU, 800mRow) 77:29@144/178

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154 Compare with WOD#96 (65#) and WOD#52 at 65#. 45#/65#/75# sets. 45/65# were easy and I didnt finish all rounds and went on to 75#. 75# was just about right weight for this wod as I had SP failure at 80#. By end of wod, my wrists were hurting bad. But apart from that, it was an easy workout. A rest day tomorrow...finally. Today was also day#2 for burpee challenge which I did right after wod which made is fun, especially the push up part. 11 burpees took me 50sec compared to 34sec yesterday with avg/Max HR about 12bpm higher.

WOD#145 75# 5x1SP/3PP/5PJ 40:39@125/154

Eva! 89:49@150/183 and row/squats 17:06@167/184

WOD#143 Eva! Row/35#KB 150PU 89:49@150/183 Rx except 35#KB/rowing. Compare with WOD#19 58:52@153/184 (with 25#KB/5x20PU) BY FAR THE LONGEST wod by more than half an hour. If Barbara is EVIL, Eva is the Devil. I was just about ready to cry by the time I finished. I subed running with Rowing and used 35#KB instead of 72#Rx. I did not scale down pullups which were very hard. I was loosing grip by the time I reached 150 PUs. I in fact lost a grip in second last set which was scary. Every one of the 30 PUs were broken in 5sub sets. Splits were as follows 13:37/16:59/18:58/22:16/17:56. I peaked at 800m rowing at 3:30 in third set which was exciting. I also broke KBs in 2 sets except last one which was continuous. The real limiting factor was the grip for pullups. I could not stay on the bar for all 6PUs per subset by last few reps. I just about to start getting blisters but in general whole fingers were getting powerless with the workouts. 10 20 10 0 20 10 10 10 10 0

WOD#144 4 x (400m row + 50 squats) 17:06@167/184

Compare with WOD#110 3 x (400m@6min/mi + 15 squats) 10:17@188/199

Subed rowing for running. Rowing is harder than running since I am better conditioned for running but I think the HR stays low despite all out effort in rowing since its done while sitting down. The squats were surprisingly tough. I was just gasping for air the whole time. I also was wobbling on some of the squats which felt really strange given no weights. But all squats had full depth and in fact I was pressing down on calf at the bottom which was fun. Splits: 3:57, 4:31, 5:02, 3:35. 1600m rowing interval in total 6:50ish

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WOD#143 Eva! Row/35#KB 150PU 89:49@150/183

WOD#144 4 x (400m row + 50 squats) 17:06@167/184

75x65#snatches and 84x95# Front squats

WOD#141 Randy 75x65# Snatch 14sets 35:19@136/172

65# 5x13 +10 to finish. The squat rack at gym was not available so I had to do this in open which is bit dangerous. I began with 75# as Rxed but quickly realized that I was having trouble doing 1 rep, never mind 75 reps. Since part of the wod was the stamina aspect, I scaled down to 65# which was just about perfect (bit on heavier side). Most of the snatches ended with shoulder presses which is less than ideal. I have never done power snatch before, I think, so I had to learn proper technique on the fly. Late in the wod, I realized that the trick is not to lift the bar from ground but push knees back (as Coach Burgener says). This somehow makes the whole motion more natural. I still had trouble keeping bar close to body. There is something inherently scary about taking weight on top of head while exausted. Overall a great well rounded workout. 0 20 10 10 30 20 0 10 0 0

WOD#142 95#FrontSquat/GHD 21/18../6/3 20:23@150/172

I scaled front squats all the way down from 185# to 95# as I still have trouble with proper form/flexibility with front squat and I did not want to do front squats with bad form. I managed to get full depth on all squats though I had to break each set into 3 subsets. I figured out a great technique to do GHD at my globo gym by using back support on one of the machines. Those were reasonable good subs. I was surprised at how quickly HR raises to 165+ range while doing multiple reps of front squats. I didnt realize it at the time but my thighs were burning for three full days after this workout. It was pretty bad but no injury per se. I do however remember the few scary moments where on the bottom most part of the squats, it would feel like the legs would give up on me and start shivering. Pretty hardcore. I cannot believe the Rxed weight is 185#. 10 20 20 20 10 10 0 0 10 0

WOD#141 Randy 75x65# Snatch 14sets 35:19@136/172

WOD#142 95#FrontSquat/GHD 21/18../6/3 20:23@150/172

WOD#140 2 x mirror x (30#LeftPP + 45#RightDL + 800mROW) 26:51@167/187

Splits: 6:03, 6:29, 6:43, 7:30, 3210mROW in 15min (max resistance!), weights too light.

Original WOD Rxed barbell with 65#PP and 135#DL which includes a huge balance element but it just wasnt practical to do in my globo gym. Not to mention, 45# one handed Pushpress would probably be impossible for me even as one rep max, nevermind 12 reps after intense cardio. The workout was designed to get heart pumping and then see if brain can function the complex movements involving single hand and moving weight above head. I scaled down weights quite a but to 30#PP/45#DL DB and I could have gone a bit heavier but I think I would have missed out on the cardio/weight combo element of the workout. The workout wasnt a killer but i had no real excuse not slowdown between rowing intervals for weights. PP was still hard. DL was easy but somehow, my form wasnt right and I was getting funny sharp pains.

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WOD#140 2 x mirror x (30#LeftPP + 45#RightDL + 800mROW) 26:51@167/187

225#DL, nicole etc

WOD#136 50/35/20 15#Wallball/Pullups 30:46@138/167

This was surprisingly painful. Wallball seem to be my weakness as I just cant get over the feeling of stopping and dropping the ball sometime after 15-20 wallballs. I didnt even do the throws. Pullups were fine. I continue to struggle with maintaining rythem while doing the kipping pullups, especially when I am tired. I realize that I need to keep core firm but I loose it all and kip all over place loosing all the momemtum. This wod should not have taken 30minutes. Very slow.

WOD#137 3x(5HSPU/10Bench/15PushP50#DB/20Dips) 20:00@133/158

I sub HSPU for very high level table. I also replaced benchpress with elevated pushups. Pushpress was done with 25#DB each (which was surprisingly difficult). The DBs always surprise me. I was initially unhappy that I didnt have barbell available and my only option was 25# DBs. But I was shocked to learn how hard it was to do push press with DBs. I just couldnt hold the DBs on top position. In general, the work out turned out to be harder than I imagined. Perhaps it was due to 105pull ups and wall balls yesterday. With post race tenderness in heels, I am doing mostly upper body workouts and its getting to me. Dips were quite hard as well.

I did change something today. First I did a thorough warmup routine which was fun. It takes about 10minutes. Otherthing is my attempt at get a feel for which of the 10 crossfit skills are used in a wod. The skills are as follows: CardioResp/Stamina/Strength/Flexibility/Power/Speed/Coordination/Agility/Balance/Accuracy

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WOD#138 Crossfit TOTAL! DL 225#PR, SP75#, BkSqt135#(rack) 48:53@115/151

Compare with WOD#116 Crossfit Total (SP/BkSqt/DL 85/95/215#) 43:51@109/134 and

WOD#99 Crossfit TOTAL! DL 205# (PR), BkSquat 85#, SP 75# (PR)

DeadLift 225# was sweet PR. I slowly progressed doing 5reps upto 205# and then 3 reps at 215#. 225# was difficult but not impossible. SP was disppointing but I was lifting the bar from floor making it more awkward. I maxed at 60# in DBs and 75# for barbell. I even did half pushpress at 95#. Backsquat was guided at 135#.

CardioResp/Stamina/Strength/Flexibility/Power/Speed/Coordination/Agility/Balance/Accuracy

0 10 50 0 10 10 10 0 10 0

WOD#139 Nicole! 6 rounds@5PUs and 400mRow 20:00@165/186

Compare with WOD#50 Nicole 6 rounds 400m+5strict cont PU 20:00@163/179 (Hmm)

First three sets of PUs were strict and were UGLY. I know Nicole had kipping pullups in mind for this workout as this is a cardio workout. my splits improved with time as I badly need to get 6 rounds in (3:19/3:42/3:30/2:57/3:44/2:44). Especially last 5minutes were very intense and gave me taste of what doing Nicole really all about. Average HR was about 180 and peaked at 186 which is quite high for no weight/running workout.

CardioResp/Stamina/Strength/Flexibility/Power/Speed/Coordination/Agility/Balance/Accuracy

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WOD#136 50/35/20 15#Wallball/Pullups 30:46@138/167

WOD#137 3x(5HSPU/10Bench/15PushP50#DB/20Dips) 20:00@133/158

WOD#138 Crossfit TOTAL! DL 225#PR, SP75#, BkSqt135#(rack) 48:53@115/151

WOD#139 Nicole! 6 rounds@5PUs and 400mRow 20:00@165/186