At least I can Jump!

Surprisingly enough my body asked me to chill down, what’s even more surprising is that I actually listened!

12.30pm – A. Snatch, technique work up to 6-7 lifts on 61kg.

Rest 60 min

B. ”GHD-Annie”:

• 50/40/30/20/10 Double Unders
• 25/20/15/10/5 GHD Sit Ups

Time: 6’12 min PB!

C. 3 rounds of 30 sec each, with 30s between excercises:

• Frog Stand
• Head Stand
• Wall Stand

D. Today’s MobilityWOD.com

I expected to be really sore today from yesterday’s max lifts, but actually felt quite ok stepping in to the box. What happend next was that I had planned 1RM attempts for Snatch, and I was just off. No explosivity, no midline stability and stiff & hurting wrists and hands made me relize that ”maybe” my CNS did take a beating anyway..
Decided to just work on technique and did some Hang Power Snatches mixed with Power Snatches. Couldn’t really decide what to do, tried a Muscle Up but then the insides of my elbows screamed so put that in for tomorrow instead. Another reason for my lack of energy might have been that I tried to train on an empty stomach today. I’ve done it before, and it just doesn’t work for me. So, when Jobst & Roland invited me for some grassfed lunch I gladly accepted.

One hour later I felt better, during the warmup I finally managed to string rope jump cross overs together and my GHD-Annie is a fat PB with almost two minutes! Went all-out and really tried to do speed-DU’s wich felt good. I told my self that when I break my own PB for a regular Annie (6’40 min), I have to do the GHD for full reps as well. Guess that’s what I have to do next then!
Balance work was quite easy, even though my triceps got really tired in the end. The MobWOD was just awsome as always..

Tonight, finally I made a reservation for ”Carne”, a mean meat restaurant that I fell in love with on my first visit a little more then a year ago. Have been longing to get back since then, so my expectations are quite high!

Namaste!

When is it good to fail?

I actually think that today´s failed attempts was good for me!

2pm Part 1. CrossFit Football Total combined with CrossFit Total:
”15 min per excercise, including 3 warm up lifts and 3 max attempts!”

A. Power Clean: 93kg/F!, 93/1, 98/F!
B. Shoulder Press: 75kg/1, 79/1, 84/F!
C. Back Squat: 125kg/1, 142.5/1, 152/1
D. Bench Press: 125kg/1, 134/1, 140/F!
E. Deadlift: 165kg/1, 184/1, bar can´t take more load…

Total Lifted: 642 kg
CrossFit Football (PC, BS, BP, DL): 563 kg PB!
CrossFit Total (SP, BS, DL): 415 kg Same as prev. PB!

Power Clean was weird. Somehow I got a mindblock from not being allowed to squat if needed and both misses was just me not even trying to get under the bar, which was high enough. 79kg press was really easy and a smart man would have safely lifted 82.5 for a new PB, I obv didn´t. Squat was a repeat of my PB and since I haven´t squatted heavy for a while, I am very pleased with that. The lift was suuuuperslow from over parallel, but depth was very good and I kept my back str8. Bench press kind of the same as SP, 134 quite easy but slow and then I actually got the bar off the chest on 140 but got stuck.
Deadlift not much to say about, as with BS I am very happy to get this number without a heavy deadlift in over 3 months.
You have to do the excercise in a certain order to count them as ”TOTAL”+wods but that was not the important part for me today, just wanted to see where I am at…

Going to take a few days off from training soon so before letting my body rest, my plan is to smoke it with doubles for a couple of days. Second part was:

Very fun WOD today!

5.30 pm Part 2. Cape CrossFit WOD:

A. Turkish Get Ups, 2-2-2-2-2 (1 left/1 right):
24kg KB/1+1, 32kg KB/1+1, 20kg Barbell/1+1, 29 kg Bar/1+1, 38kg Bar/1+1 PB!

B. 3 Rounds for Time:

• 20 Pull Ups
• 20m Walking Lunges
• 20 KB-Swings @ 24kg
• 60 sec rest

Total Time: 6´51 min

TGU is a truly cool excercise that I do way to seldom. Never tried it with a barbell before and it was a totally different thing. Had a missed rep on 38 kg before I got them right.
Metcon, was suppose to be Jumping PU but I got ”permission” to do regular ones with a goal of getting them unbroken. Managed that til the last round, when I at rep 16 was hanging in my finger nails and it was just impossible to get my forearms to hold on. Lost time there, but when I got back from the lunges I decided that nothing was gonna stop me from getting the swings unbroken. Standing in front of the windows I was pretty damn worried that I was gonna lose the iron ball and toss it out through some glass and on to the parking lot, but my stubborness paid off. Paid off with an insane pump, that is, and forearms that not even Pop-Eye would´ve been able to compete against, no matter how much spinach you would have thrown at the poor guy…
Perfectly balanced work out anyway if you ask me, walls to the balls all the way and just enough to leave you totally smashed on the last round.

Namaste!

Sometimes you just shouldn’t…

Today was one of those days when I just should have told my self, stop!

No comments

9.00 am Cape CrossFit WOD:

• 1, 2, 3….9, 10 Clean & Jerks @ 70 kg
• 1 Round of Cindy between each round of C&J, (5 pull ups, 10 push ups, 15 squats).

Total Time: 28’26 min

Already during the light warm up my entire upper arm area started screaming and I was really considering not doing this. Problem was I have been looking forward to this specific WOD for more than a month..
Decided to give it a try, my goal before today was sub 20 min, lol. Had to force my self in to gripping the barbell at every rep, every round of push ups was nothing but pure pain, and as said: today was just a day I should have made a smart deciscion and let it go. Probably got through the entire wod never getting over 80% effortwise, and every Cindy round was unbroken. Well, not so suprising considering the tempo though. After the wod the pain was ridicilous. Iced it for more then 20 minutes but still I could barely move my arms and I cursed my self for being this stupid over and over again.

On the positive side, my back didn’t hurt at all nor cramp up afterwards. I did get 50 pull ups, 100 push ups, 150 air squats and 55 reps of quite heavy clean & jerk done. However, under 20 min is really where I should be on a good day. Not ever gonna expect to get near the Spealer-freak, who did this in around 12 minutes though…

Namaste!

And some more shoulders perhaps?

For being a man who want’s to live without excuses, I use them quite often…

10am Morning-WOD, POSE Beach Runs @ 75%. On every 5th minute for 4 round: get from side to side, rest the reminder of the 5 min.

1. 4’01 min
2. 3’47
3. 3’43
4. 3’45

Just light running to get my stiff body working. Again I was amazed by what nature has to show. This time 3-4 whales was playing around even closer to the rocks and there was also a couple of superfast dolphins swimming around the whales, so cool!
Could have stayed there forever, but was already a bit off my schedule. So feeling a bit spoiled and stupid not to really appriciate the show, I cursed my self once again for not getting a better cam then my iPhone and headed back for breakfast before it was time to lift some weights…

A1. Front Squats, Wendler 5/3/1+:
84.5/5kg, 95.5/3, 106.5/5PB!
A2. Bench press, Wendler 5/3/1+:
93.5/5kg, 106.5/5, 118.5/5

Rest 10 min.

B. Over Head Squats, find 1 Rm:
61kg/5, 70/5 PB!, 79/3 PB!, 88/1 PB!, 93/1 PB!

I really shouldn’t whine after a session like this, so this is just facts: Not surprisingly, my triceps, and upper back was completely smoked today. Already during the warm up sets I started cramping up and the familiar elbow ache showed up a little higher, just above the elbow, which led me to start losing confidence. Really didn’t expect any good numbers at all, so I am really happy with all this. Bench, I’ve done 5 * 120kg before, but considering how seldom I do bench press I’m satisfied to be around my max strength.

The OHS, was of course a part of my plan to strengthen up the bottom position of the snatch. I guess you can say it shows that it’s been a while since I did these. 93kg was actully not especially heavy, a little wobbly in the jerk to get it up, but I will try for 100kg within soon and see no reason for why I shouldn’t get it!

Right now there’s is three fine pieces of ribeye waiting for me on the braai, together with some steamed cauliflower, broccoli and some greek olives this will however only be my first dinner. Only had breakfast and some proteins around my training session today and trust me, gonna need a lot of energy for tomorrow’s morning session @ CCF. It’s gonna be legendary…

Namaste!

How about some shoulder work?

Two hours later…

A. Rope Climbs, ca 3m, ”as many ascends/descends as possible without touching the ground”: 4
Decided to do this only using my arms, since when locking with the feet you can get into an almost total resting position. Did lock and rest and before the last climb though.

B. In 8 minutes, perform 3 rounds of:

• 5 HSPU
• 10 Sit Ups
• 15 Air Squats

Then, use the reminder of the 8 min to get as many Push Presses @ 34 kg as possible!

Result: 3 Rounds in 2’10 min + 97 PP.

After my ”max attempt” on the rope, Roland challenged me to get a one armed Rope Climb, (allowed to use feet though). I got around halfway up, when he then let me change arm (still only using one hand on the rope) and I actually got to the top. Using the feet in five fingers only, well shorts also, and then slide down the rope with no power left in the arms turned out to be an excellent idea. Thx for the huge ropeburn half around my lower leg Roland…

Metcon was super fun! Had no expectations at all since my shoulder was pretty smoked from earlier work out, but in the end it actually turned out that I paced my self a little too much. Did the 3 rounds as fast as I could kind of, but then I never went to max on the presses. Expected to burn out, but in retrospect I definitely could have pushed my self harder and got more reps. Satisfied anyway!

Got a new load of grassfed today. It’s so ridicilously cheap, 69 rands/kg and like the best meat ever! This time I got ribeye and it was even yummier than the beef, damn I really have to find a ”Neighbourhood Butcher” when I get back to Sweden…

Namaste!

Ugly Kid PB’s

Approx two months ago I put up some goals on the CCF white board:

Today I got to tick another one of that list!

A. Max 1RM Snatch: 52/2, 61/2, 70/F!, 70/F! changed to:
Power Snatch: 61/2, 70/1, 75/F!, 75/1 PB!

B. Max 1 Rm Clean & Jerk: 61/3, 70/2, 84/1, 93/1, 102/1 PB!

C. 3 Rounds for Time:

• 10 KB-Snatches @ 32kg (5 left/5 right).
• 500m Row
• 60s rest

Each Round:

1. 2’50 min (row 1’42.5)
2. 3’25min (1’53.6)
3. 3’30 min (1’54.2)

Total Time: 11’45 min

So, today my hip flexors felt smoked when I walked in to the box. Maybe Kelly Starretts Mobility-WOD’s are taking their toll on my stiff body?
After a loong warm up, I decided to follow my plan and try to go for 1RM’s anyway. I still suck at recieving the bar with fully extended arms in the snatch. Failed both lifts on 70kg in the bottom of the squat, dropping weight slowly forward. Just, once again, showing I really need to work more on my snatch balance. Got pissed off and decided to get those 75kg at any cost. First lift I didn’t even get under, second just got there. Not pretty, still not a good recieving pos, but I got it!

I will do more snatch balance, I will do more snatch balance, I will do more snatchbalance…

C&J i got my 100kg last week, and I feel much more confident in the bottom pos of the clean. However getting up from the clean was heavier today than usual so I decided 102 was enough. Think it’s definetly beatable for me, next week I’m gonna try them on separate days and see if I’m right…

A little primal screaming always helps!

The metcon was nothing but pure humiliation. Actually almost gave up after second round, but rested 15s extra instead and manned up.. I really hate rowing, or maybe the rower hates me? Anyway, guess the positive side is that this is the longest I’ve rowed in like 3-4 months.
So, for the remaining goals on the list: Rowing, hahahahaha, L-sit, hahaha…

Somehow, when planning my schedule for this week I decided to do a double today. Gonna do the Cape CrossFit 5.30pm-class where HSPU and a lot of Push Presses is on the menu. Sounds perfect, it’s not like my shoulders are tired or anything right now anyway, zzz.

Namaste!

Rest day

Forgot to take a pic of today’s braai, but this what was put on it:

High protein, low fat and zip carbs - I love birds!

Took an early walk down to some rocks just south of Camps Bay this morning and did yesterday’s MobilityWOD just by the sea. Walked back and then did today’s one. After a quick breakfast and a shower, I then went down to Dr. Stuart for a not so pleasant needling session. My back is giving me a hard time and I’m recognizing the symptoms from when it cramped up. But now, several hours after the threatment, it actually feels much better. Hopefully it’s 100% tomorrow for my 1RM attempts, because except from that I feel strong!

So, weather was awsome today again which made it impossible not to braai again. Today’s amazing dinner was approx 500g of garlic bombarded Ostrich fillets accompanied by a salad of avocado, tomato and feta cheese – damn I’m a good chef!

Namaste!

It’s pulling me down…

There’s a lot of things I’ll miss about this place when I leave…

...800g of beef on the braai at sunset is def one of them!

1pm WOD:

A. Weighted Pull Ups, strict supinated shoulder wide grip, Wendler 5/3/1+:
19.5kg/5, 32.1/3, 44.6/2
B. ”Buy-out” – 20 Strict CTB Pull Ups, pronated normal wide grip:
11PB!/4/3/2

Rest 30 min

C. 5 Rounds:

• 5 Muscle Ups: 4/1, 1/1/1/1/1, 2*1 Struggle Up + 5 Ring Dips, 2*1 Struggle Up + 5 RD, 1 Struggle + 5 RD
• 20 GHD Sit Ups: 20, 20, 12/8, 12/8, 12/8
• 50 Double Unders, max 1 break per set that has to be over 25 reps: 50, 50, 50, 50, 40/10

Time: 27’20 min

D. 3 rounds:

• 3 Skin the cat + Max Tucked Front Lever: 7s, 7s, 7s
• Assisted Iron Cross, arms on the outside of rings: 15s, 15s, 15s

E. Mobility: ”Accumulate 10 minutes in the deepest squat position possible, twist and move around to stretch different angles and squeeze the knees back whenever you have so squat up.”

Little disappointed to not get more reps in the weighted PUs, but for me it’s way harder to do them strict then with a kip. Got 3 more strict CTB than last week anyway.
”Metcon” was meant to be muscle ups all the way obviusly. However, after reading Blairs Blog about how he felt that being used to the false grip MU slowed him down during the CrossFit Games 2010, I tried to do mine with a regular ”pull up” grip today. Way harder to string them together that way and when I couldn’t get my right arm to do the progression right in the last ones of the second round, I decided to do as written above. Still need to work a lot on the progression, luckily enough I’m strong enough to struggle my way trough to the dip position. GHDs felt good and obviusly I thought about how cool it would be to get all my DUs unbroken around rep 39 on the last round, and missed the next one…

Getting slowly stronger in the tucked lever, still think it’s pathetic that I can’t do a full one though. Mobility was something Roland showed me that he read in a new blog from Kelly Starrett, and it felt great. Apparently this new blog will post a mobility-WOD every day, which I plan to follow.

Rest day tomorrow and then I’m gonna try to get my BW-Snatch on Thursday, might as well aim for 80kg since my eating habbits keep pushing me closer to that than 75.

Chose a beef that actually fits the plate? Maybe next time...

Namaste!

Feeling the pressure…

Sometimes it feels like I have the world on my shoulders.

1pm WOD:

A. 1 Snatch Deadlift + 3-pos Power Snatch on the minute for 5 min @ 48kg, Mid tigh, knee, floor.

B1. Box Squat, Wendler 5/3/1+:
90kg/5, 102/3, 113.5/7+
B2. Shoulder Press, 5/3/1+:
56.25kg/5, 63.75/3, 71.25/3 PB!

Rest 10 min

C. 3 Rounds For Time:

• 5 Ground To Over Head Anyhow @ 61kg
• 5 Burpees

Time: 1’37 min

D. ”Buy-Out”: 20 Turkish Get Ups + Windmill @ 24kg, alternating sides.

Time: 12’22min

Very stiff all over today. Did a short walk, some Yoga by the beach and stretched a little in the morning but still my neck and upper back area felt super compressed. Trying to force my self in to the right position for the second pull in the snatch, but still it only looks good from the hang. Letting my hip go first and rounding my back when doing them from the floor…
If I was fast in my lifting this Saturday, today was anything but fast. Needed to foamroll, softball roll and keep my neck moving at all time to avoid cramping up totally. Wanted 5 reps in the press but I just couldn’t find any strength in the last part of the extension. Still a PB though!
For the box squats, it’s hard to do this to max. I can keep on repping ”forever” with these weights, but am trying to stop when I no longer keep my knees back enough from the bottom position. Feels good techniquewise now anyway.

The metcon was the ”Pre-FIT AS F*CK-Challenge”. One day to late to compete, but I had no illusions of beating the crazy sub 1min-finnish guy anyway. Also it was of course fun to ”compete” and beat Mr. Roland.
Pretty satisfied with my time and don’t think I can do this much faster, no chance I can powersnatch this weight for that many reps right now anyway. Would be interesting to do a touch n” go-Grace, since I think that would crush my last time when I dropped the weight and re-set between every lift.

TGU/Windmill was a long time ago. Tried to do ”perfect reps” all the way and the ”for time”-issue was just to stop me from slacking. Great exercises for stability and flexibility!

Went to Dr. Stuart after training and my trapz was slaughtered by his needles. Apparantly he also found signs of a mental pressure, with me not wanting to accept some issues in my life, as a cause for my compressed upper back. Might sound like mambo jambo, but might also be spot on since I really don’t wanna leave this place anytime soon…

Namaste!

Early morning equals Strength?

Since neither I or my body wanted to get out of the bed this morning, my expectations where low…

Superfun morning @ CCF!

A1. Front Squat, Wendler 3/3/3+:
90/3, 95.6/3, 101.5/6+
A2. Bench Press, Wendler 3/3/3+:
100/3, 106.25/3, 112.5/8+

B. Cape CrossFit WOD,  In a Team of 5 move ALL bumpers through half an Obstacle Course and then back the other way.
”Only one plate per person and round. No one can overtake another, there’s no I in T.E.A.M.”
(61 Bumpers from 4.5kg – 20.4 = 700 kg per round!)

1. 9’33 min
2. 7.42 min

C. 3 Rounds, no time, of:

• 5 Head Stand Push Ups, Practice!
• 5/5 Pistols to 30cm box

D. Wall Hand Stand Practice, One armed & Free standing out from the wall.

Soo, tired as hell from baking cakes half the night (lol), aiching legs from Fran and very little time for my Strength phase since I obviously overslept. This is actually not excuses, other way around I am very satisfied with my numbers! I actually speeded through this in just 12 minutes, usually it takes me three times that. FS I quit when I on the last rep felt my upper back starting to fall and on the Bench I just didn’t wanna take any chances with out a spotter, in both cases I feel I had atleast two more reps in me…

The Obstacle Course was very fun! I tried carrying the bumpers in different fasions and needless to say, overhead on straight arms was the toughest. Tried to do a box jump or simply jump over the box completely and I actually felt very agile when getting under benches, over boxes, forward rolling and so on.

Head Stand Push Ups, is something I really want to learn. Now I easily can go from the head balance to straight arms, to hold the balance up there and slowly lower my self back is another story.. Pistols felt quite good and when I finished up with some Wall Stands I actually managed to get a free stand of about 7 seconds!

All in all, a good morning work out and soon it’s time for an extreme carb intake that might go to history as one of my ”best”. To use this as a loading day, I will try to eat basicly only carbs and protein through out the day. Don’t really think that in anyway might spoil my chances on hitting an all time high on the scale tomorrow morning…

Namaste!