Shin felt better, but still going to stay off it.
I'm flying to Virginia this evening so I bumped my gym workout a little earlier to make sure I had time to get home and get cleaned up. Got there around 1240 and met up with Padawan Josh again.
Shortened to a 3:00 rowing warm up on max resistance, just kept a steady sub 2:00/500m pace. Followed it with 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120831
For time:
100 Burpees
*Every minute, on the minute, do 3 strict pull ups
Tough workout, since burpees still kill me. After the first round, where I got 18 burpees in 1min, I tried to get between 12-15 per minute. Last few rounds were pretty bad. Finished in 8:24.
Second:
Abs. Did 5 rounds of max reps in 2:00 for 5 different exercises. Started with decline sit ups, then side bends, reverse crunches, flutter kicks, and finally scissors.
Third:
Another Crossfit strength wod, 091007. Thrusters, 7 rounds of 1 rep. Thrusters are basically a front squat holding a barbell on your shoulder/chest, as you come up from the front squat, you use your momentum to throw the barbell into a shoulder press above your head. Started at 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145, and then 155lbs. I tried 165 but it was not happening.
Fourth:
Did some fat grip pull up and towel grip pull up work with Padawan Josh. 3 sets of max reps for each exercise.
Fifth:
Did the quick leg blaster workout from Mountain Athlete. No rests, 20 squats, 10 lunges per leg, 10 jump lunges per leg, then 10 jump squats. Its a butt kicker. Padawan Josh was having issues with the jump squats so I finished before him. I got down immediately and did hand release push ups until he was done.
Headed to Virginia in a bit. Workouts will have to be all bodyweight stuff for a little while.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Wednesday
Legs were a bit sore. I had a meeting with the Army recruiters today at noon so I couldn't get a ruck march in. Got to the gym a little later than usual and met up with Padawan Josh.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching. Did a few minutes worth of foam rolling too.
First:
Someone was on the rower so we had to start with planks. 1min of planks for each side plus front.
Second:
Row 500m, 10/10 resistance, max effort. Bleh, always tough. PRed with a 1:32.1. Did not feel awesome.
Third:
Ankle/knee/hip mobility crap. Boring as always.
Fourth:
Another 500m row, 10/10 resistance, max effort. Started out well enough but nose dived at the halfway point. Didn't even think I was going to break 1:40 but somehow managed another PR in 1:31.9. I'll take it! Almost fell off afterwards, and then had trouble walking down the stairs.
Five:
Another round of 1min planks for each side plus the front.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching. Did a few minutes worth of foam rolling too.
First:
Someone was on the rower so we had to start with planks. 1min of planks for each side plus front.
Second:
Row 500m, 10/10 resistance, max effort. Bleh, always tough. PRed with a 1:32.1. Did not feel awesome.
Third:
Ankle/knee/hip mobility crap. Boring as always.
Fourth:
Another 500m row, 10/10 resistance, max effort. Started out well enough but nose dived at the halfway point. Didn't even think I was going to break 1:40 but somehow managed another PR in 1:31.9. I'll take it! Almost fell off afterwards, and then had trouble walking down the stairs.
Five:
Another round of 1min planks for each side plus the front.
Tuesday
Left shin is still sore. And pretty much every muscle below my waist is sore from the workouts yesterday.
Went to the gym at the usual time. Padawan Josh got there at the same time so he did all of the day's workouts with me.
5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
SealFit 120821
For completion, max effort:
Tabata Mountain Climbers
Rest 1min
Tabata Dips
Rest 1min
Tabata Sit ups
Rest 1min
Tabata Burpees
This wod is "for completion," meaning there isn't a score or anything to record, you just put in max effort and finish. Tabata is a form of high intensity interval training (HIIT) where you perform the same exercise for 8 rounds of 20sec of work followed by 10sec of recovery. It sounds easy, and for the first couple rounds, it is. Not so much after that. The recovery time is really only good enough for a couple quick breathes before having to start the next round of work. Good workout though. Going straight from mountain climbers to dips was rough. I think I averaged around 20 x 2 count mountain climbers per set, maybe 10 dips per set, 20 sit ups per set, and 6 burpees per set.
Second:
Shoulders. Started off with military press, which I could feel was more difficult than usual due to shoulder fatigue from mountain climbers, dips, and burpees. Then did a recovery set of balance drills. Then moved to shoulder shrugs. Then moved to an open barbell and did a Crossfit strength wod, 090818. 7 rounds of 1 rep for shoulder push press. Push press is kind of like military press, except you use your legs to help kip the weight up. I started off with 95lbs total, then 105, 115, 125, 135, 145 and finally 155. Couldn't get 155 up though. Did another round of balance drills, then did the shoulder range of motion workout.
Third:
Another biking workout from Runner's World. This was 3 rounds of biking 10min at a comfortably hard resistance with a 10min rest in between. During the 10min of biking, every 2min get off the seat and pedal hard for 10sec. Decent biking workout. Got me breathing a little hard. Legs were toasted, holy cow. In the 10min rest in between rounds, I went downstairs and did a max rep set of pull ups followed by a max rep set of push ups. Due to having to wait on the bar, by the time I finished the push ups, I only had a couple minutes remaining. In the 30min total of biking, I did 8.41mi.
Third:
Another biking workout from Runner's World. This was 3 rounds of biking 10min at a comfortably hard resistance with a 10min rest in between. During the 10min of biking, every 2min get off the seat and pedal hard for 10sec. Decent biking workout. Got me breathing a little hard. Legs were toasted, holy cow. In the 10min rest in between rounds, I went downstairs and did a max rep set of pull ups followed by a max rep set of push ups. Due to having to wait on the bar, by the time I finished the push ups, I only had a couple minutes remaining. In the 30min total of biking, I did 8.41mi.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Monday
Hands are good. Left shin is not so good. Decided I'm going to stay away from running for a bit to let it heal up. Hopefully its just shin splints. Those usually take a couple weeks to heal. I'll try to plan my workouts for this week and the following week (when I'll be visiting my fam in Virginia) to stay away from running.
Went to the gym at the usual time. Seemed a little busier than usual which was weird. High schools and colleges start this week so I would have thought there would be less people.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
CF 090909
4 Rounds, for time:
100ft Walking Lunge steps carrying 2 x 30lbs DBs
30 x 24in Box Jumps
20 Pull ups with 1x30lbs DB
This was a tough leg workout. 100ft is about 30m, and I've found that one walking lunge step for me equals 1m. So I just did 15 walking lunges down, turned around, 15 walking lunges back. Following that up with 30 box jumps was very tough. The first few would feel like I weighed 300lbs, just no pop or burst to the jump. After that the legs would loosen up a bit. The rest would be tough but I wouldn't feel like I was going to face plant after not getting high enough. I did the first set of pull ups unbroken. The rest after that I would do 7-10, then cut the remaining in half. This was a bit of a grip strength workout as well, from holding the two 30lbs DBs during the walking lunges to holding onto the bar during weighted pull ups. First time for this wod, finished in 28:27.
Second:
Abs! Or "core" as all the cool kids call it these days. Just did a mix of random stuff. Mountain climbers, flutter kicks, scissors, leg levers, reverse crunches, unanchored sit ups, flutter kicks and scissors with a 45lbs plate on my chest, and then finished with a max rep set of anchored sit ups in 2:00. Even after all the previous core stuff I still managed 108 which is 26 more than the max for my age group on the Army PFT.
Third:
Wanted to do some incline DB bench press work. Haven't done incline bench press in a loooong time, probably 7-8 months at least. Didn't know how it would go so I started off low and went up. Started with 50lbs DBs, and did 12 but could have done more. Then upped it to 60 and did 12 again, then 70 for 10, then 80 for 6, and finally 90 for 5. I tried 100s and couldn't get them off my chest haha. Ah well. This was much better than what I used to do back when I only did regular weightlifting. I think I maxed out at 70-80lbs for only 3-5 reps. So I guess the HIIT crap I've been doing works?
Fourth:
Bike. Bleh. Wish I could run but I need to lay off it for a little while so my shin can heal. Got onto one of the stationary bikes and did a workout I found in a video for "runners looking for indoor cross training workouts." Started off with 4 x 1min intervals with a low resistance but keeping a very high RPM. After each would be a 2:00 recovery at an easy pace. That was followed up by a 5:00 recovery spin. Then I did 10 intervals of 30sec at a very high resistance for max effort, with 30sec recovery at an easy resistance. Legs were pretty burnt up at the end of all this. Totaled about 6.58 miles.
Went to the gym at the usual time. Seemed a little busier than usual which was weird. High schools and colleges start this week so I would have thought there would be less people.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
CF 090909
4 Rounds, for time:
100ft Walking Lunge steps carrying 2 x 30lbs DBs
30 x 24in Box Jumps
20 Pull ups with 1x30lbs DB
This was a tough leg workout. 100ft is about 30m, and I've found that one walking lunge step for me equals 1m. So I just did 15 walking lunges down, turned around, 15 walking lunges back. Following that up with 30 box jumps was very tough. The first few would feel like I weighed 300lbs, just no pop or burst to the jump. After that the legs would loosen up a bit. The rest would be tough but I wouldn't feel like I was going to face plant after not getting high enough. I did the first set of pull ups unbroken. The rest after that I would do 7-10, then cut the remaining in half. This was a bit of a grip strength workout as well, from holding the two 30lbs DBs during the walking lunges to holding onto the bar during weighted pull ups. First time for this wod, finished in 28:27.
Second:
Abs! Or "core" as all the cool kids call it these days. Just did a mix of random stuff. Mountain climbers, flutter kicks, scissors, leg levers, reverse crunches, unanchored sit ups, flutter kicks and scissors with a 45lbs plate on my chest, and then finished with a max rep set of anchored sit ups in 2:00. Even after all the previous core stuff I still managed 108 which is 26 more than the max for my age group on the Army PFT.
Third:
Wanted to do some incline DB bench press work. Haven't done incline bench press in a loooong time, probably 7-8 months at least. Didn't know how it would go so I started off low and went up. Started with 50lbs DBs, and did 12 but could have done more. Then upped it to 60 and did 12 again, then 70 for 10, then 80 for 6, and finally 90 for 5. I tried 100s and couldn't get them off my chest haha. Ah well. This was much better than what I used to do back when I only did regular weightlifting. I think I maxed out at 70-80lbs for only 3-5 reps. So I guess the HIIT crap I've been doing works?
Fourth:
Bike. Bleh. Wish I could run but I need to lay off it for a little while so my shin can heal. Got onto one of the stationary bikes and did a workout I found in a video for "runners looking for indoor cross training workouts." Started off with 4 x 1min intervals with a low resistance but keeping a very high RPM. After each would be a 2:00 recovery at an easy pace. That was followed up by a 5:00 recovery spin. Then I did 10 intervals of 30sec at a very high resistance for max effort, with 30sec recovery at an easy resistance. Legs were pretty burnt up at the end of all this. Totaled about 6.58 miles.
Monday, August 19, 2013
How I schedule workouts
I thought I'd talk about how I plan my workouts each week.
For starters, I have a gigantic list of workouts that I've compiled. Some I've grabbed while scouring several companies' websites (CrossFit, SealFit, GoRuck). Others come from friends and family. Others come from magazines (Runners World, Go!, Competitor), books, or random training guides (Stew Smith, Furman FIRST). I've copied a lot of them down into a spreadsheet that I host on a cloud sharing service. This allows me to look at it regardless of where I am as long as I have my phone or access to the internet. In the spreadsheet, I've split the workouts into 3 groups.
The first group is comprised of workouts that contain no cardio, (for my purposes, cardio is either running, rowing, pool stuff, or rucking). These workouts are strength focused. For example, a popular one is called Cindy. In 20min, complete as many rounds of the following:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 body squats
The second group is comprised of workouts that contain cardio in addition to strength training. Typically the cardio involved is short, anywhere from shuttle runs for 5 meters to running 2 miles, or rowing 500m, or rucking 5-6 miles. For example, one of my favorite leg destroying workouts is 4-5 rounds of the following:
Run 1mi
30 Squats
30 Calf Raises
20 Lunges per leg
The third group is comprised of workouts where cardio is the focus. Some of these are comprised solely of running or rowing or whatever, others have a minor strength portion added in. These typically are longer cardio intervals, or the total amount of cardio is longer. An example would be one called Clovis. As fast as you can, and in any order or partitioning, do the following:
Run 10mi
150 Burpee Pull ups
After I separate the workouts into one of those 3 categories, I sort them according to the source, and then further by the date it came out or the name of it.
Now back to scheduling. I exercise 6 days a week, with Wednesday being my low-impact rest day, Saturday being my long run day, and Sunday being my complete do-nothing rest day. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I try to keep my total running mileage between 3-5 miles each day, knowing that Saturday will be my long run day of 9-12 miles. Here's the outline I try to use for Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri:
Monday - SealFit wod that includes cardio. I'll follow it up with sprint intervals.
Tuesday - CrossFit wod that does not include cardio. I'll follow it up with a longer tempo/trail run.
Thursday - SealFit wod that does not include cardio. I'll follow it up with a longer fartlek run.
Friday - CrossFit wod that includes cardio. I'll follow it up with sprint intervals.
With the sprint interval workouts, I try not to do the same distance twice in one week. So if Monday I do 400m repeats, Friday I'll do either 200m or 800m. I also will sometimes substitute running stadium steps in for the sprint intervals.
With the tempo/trail run, I try to keep it between 4-6 miles. No point in going higher, since I do a long slow run only a few days later.
The fartlek run is a type of run that blends interval training with continuous running. For example, it would be something like running fast for 30 seconds, then slow for 30 seconds, and doing that repeatedly until you reach your distance or time goal. Its supposed to be continuous though, no stops to walk.
My Wednesday low-impact rest day is usually a mix of rucking (which just walking, so I don't consider it high impact), rowing, pool stuff (treading water usually, but sometimes I try swimming), and joint mobility stuff.
My long slow distance (LSD) done on trails, usually with at least a few other people. The minimum is a lap that's about 9mi long. It follows the perimeter of the forest. Occasionally some of the other guys will want to go farther, so we'll add interior trails in which boosts it anywhere from 11 to 13mi total. There is a "Tour de Harbison" lap that runs almost all of the trails and its around 18mi. Haven't ever done that though.
Of course this is all assuming that I'm healthy and nothing important hurts. If I do have an injury, I'll still exercise but I'll plan workouts around that muscle group. So if its a running related shin injury, like shin splints, then I'll bike in place of running. If I start to have some elbow tendinitis, I'll do exercises that don't stress the elbow very much.
For starters, I have a gigantic list of workouts that I've compiled. Some I've grabbed while scouring several companies' websites (CrossFit, SealFit, GoRuck). Others come from friends and family. Others come from magazines (Runners World, Go!, Competitor), books, or random training guides (Stew Smith, Furman FIRST). I've copied a lot of them down into a spreadsheet that I host on a cloud sharing service. This allows me to look at it regardless of where I am as long as I have my phone or access to the internet. In the spreadsheet, I've split the workouts into 3 groups.
The first group is comprised of workouts that contain no cardio, (for my purposes, cardio is either running, rowing, pool stuff, or rucking). These workouts are strength focused. For example, a popular one is called Cindy. In 20min, complete as many rounds of the following:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 body squats
The second group is comprised of workouts that contain cardio in addition to strength training. Typically the cardio involved is short, anywhere from shuttle runs for 5 meters to running 2 miles, or rowing 500m, or rucking 5-6 miles. For example, one of my favorite leg destroying workouts is 4-5 rounds of the following:
Run 1mi
30 Squats
30 Calf Raises
20 Lunges per leg
The third group is comprised of workouts where cardio is the focus. Some of these are comprised solely of running or rowing or whatever, others have a minor strength portion added in. These typically are longer cardio intervals, or the total amount of cardio is longer. An example would be one called Clovis. As fast as you can, and in any order or partitioning, do the following:
Run 10mi
150 Burpee Pull ups
After I separate the workouts into one of those 3 categories, I sort them according to the source, and then further by the date it came out or the name of it.
Now back to scheduling. I exercise 6 days a week, with Wednesday being my low-impact rest day, Saturday being my long run day, and Sunday being my complete do-nothing rest day. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I try to keep my total running mileage between 3-5 miles each day, knowing that Saturday will be my long run day of 9-12 miles. Here's the outline I try to use for Mon/Tues/Thurs/Fri:
Monday - SealFit wod that includes cardio. I'll follow it up with sprint intervals.
Tuesday - CrossFit wod that does not include cardio. I'll follow it up with a longer tempo/trail run.
Thursday - SealFit wod that does not include cardio. I'll follow it up with a longer fartlek run.
Friday - CrossFit wod that includes cardio. I'll follow it up with sprint intervals.
With the sprint interval workouts, I try not to do the same distance twice in one week. So if Monday I do 400m repeats, Friday I'll do either 200m or 800m. I also will sometimes substitute running stadium steps in for the sprint intervals.
With the tempo/trail run, I try to keep it between 4-6 miles. No point in going higher, since I do a long slow run only a few days later.
The fartlek run is a type of run that blends interval training with continuous running. For example, it would be something like running fast for 30 seconds, then slow for 30 seconds, and doing that repeatedly until you reach your distance or time goal. Its supposed to be continuous though, no stops to walk.
My Wednesday low-impact rest day is usually a mix of rucking (which just walking, so I don't consider it high impact), rowing, pool stuff (treading water usually, but sometimes I try swimming), and joint mobility stuff.
My long slow distance (LSD) done on trails, usually with at least a few other people. The minimum is a lap that's about 9mi long. It follows the perimeter of the forest. Occasionally some of the other guys will want to go farther, so we'll add interior trails in which boosts it anywhere from 11 to 13mi total. There is a "Tour de Harbison" lap that runs almost all of the trails and its around 18mi. Haven't ever done that though.
Of course this is all assuming that I'm healthy and nothing important hurts. If I do have an injury, I'll still exercise but I'll plan workouts around that muscle group. So if its a running related shin injury, like shin splints, then I'll bike in place of running. If I start to have some elbow tendinitis, I'll do exercises that don't stress the elbow very much.
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Saturday
Woke up early with mildly sore legs from Friday's workout. Quads and butt were sore from all the squats and lunges I think. Ah well. Regardless of how my legs felt, I knew this was not going to be a fast 9mi lap since we got somewhere around 5in of rain in the last 24 hours.
Got there at 0650, it was sprinkling a little. Stretched while a few of the other guys showed up, including my buddy Josh (not Padawan Josh). Ended up being a small group since 3 of the usual guys are running the Pikes Peak Marathon this weekend. Two older guys started off first, then Hunter, Jonathan, Kyle, my friend Josh, the high school cross country son of one of the older guys who's name I didn't catch, and I followed behind. Maybe half way through Josh was struggling so I stayed back with him while the other guys left us. Fun run though. It was extremely wet. Within the first few minutes we were already soaked and it was like that the rest of the way. There were sections closer to the river where it was 6in of standing water for 50m sections. No way to go around that so you just plow through it. Finished it in 1:22:XX which is pretty slow for me, but I was keeping pace for Josh and with all the water and mud it wouldn't have been smart to try to go fast.
After getting back to the parking lot, I did a max rep set of body squats with Josh then headed home.
After breakfast, every 20 or 30 minutes I would do this quick leg blaster workout I picked up from Mountain Athlete. Its done with no rest:
20 squats
10 lunges per leg
10 jump lunges per leg
10 jump squats
It definitely destroys your legs. I'd follow that up immediately with a max rep set of ring dips and regular pull ups in my garage.
Got there at 0650, it was sprinkling a little. Stretched while a few of the other guys showed up, including my buddy Josh (not Padawan Josh). Ended up being a small group since 3 of the usual guys are running the Pikes Peak Marathon this weekend. Two older guys started off first, then Hunter, Jonathan, Kyle, my friend Josh, the high school cross country son of one of the older guys who's name I didn't catch, and I followed behind. Maybe half way through Josh was struggling so I stayed back with him while the other guys left us. Fun run though. It was extremely wet. Within the first few minutes we were already soaked and it was like that the rest of the way. There were sections closer to the river where it was 6in of standing water for 50m sections. No way to go around that so you just plow through it. Finished it in 1:22:XX which is pretty slow for me, but I was keeping pace for Josh and with all the water and mud it wouldn't have been smart to try to go fast.
After getting back to the parking lot, I did a max rep set of body squats with Josh then headed home.
After breakfast, every 20 or 30 minutes I would do this quick leg blaster workout I picked up from Mountain Athlete. Its done with no rest:
20 squats
10 lunges per leg
10 jump lunges per leg
10 jump squats
It definitely destroys your legs. I'd follow that up immediately with a max rep set of ring dips and regular pull ups in my garage.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Friday
Hands are all good. Left shin is still bothering me.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
SF Desmond Doss
Deck of Cards workout
Spades = Pull ups, Clubs = 2ct Lunges, Diamonds = Squats, Hearts = Burpees
Aces = 15, Kings = 13, Queens = 12, Jacks = 11, Jokers = Dealers Choice
Pretty simple workout. You shuffle a full deck of playing cards. Flip the top card over and do the number of corresponding exercises, ie 5 of Hearts means you do 5 burpees. It can be tough though, because invariably, you don't shuffle the deck enough and you get 3 or 4 cards all in a row of the same exercise. My padawan (Star Wars reference) Josh is back from India and was at the gym when I got there. We ended up doing the workout together, so there was a few times when I had to wait a few seconds for him to catch up. I decided for the Jokers I would do a max set of muscle ups. Finished in 39:23.
Second:
Abs. Did 25 reps of every ab exercise I could think of, with only a few seconds recovery in between. Crunches, flutter kicks, scissors, side bends, left side crunches, right side crunches, leg levers, reverse crunches, knees to chest, and seated V-ups.
Third:
Weighted pull ups. Did 5 reps at each weight. Started at 20lbs, then 30, 40, 50, 60, and had to struggle a little to get all 70. Then did 4 or 5 more sets of 5 with 70, changing grips each time.
Fourth:
Headed upstairs to the large group fitness room and did bear crawls back and forth across it. Its maybe 40 or 50m wide. I went down-and-back twice before my shoulders and hips said Nope!
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
SF Desmond Doss
Deck of Cards workout
Spades = Pull ups, Clubs = 2ct Lunges, Diamonds = Squats, Hearts = Burpees
Aces = 15, Kings = 13, Queens = 12, Jacks = 11, Jokers = Dealers Choice
Pretty simple workout. You shuffle a full deck of playing cards. Flip the top card over and do the number of corresponding exercises, ie 5 of Hearts means you do 5 burpees. It can be tough though, because invariably, you don't shuffle the deck enough and you get 3 or 4 cards all in a row of the same exercise. My padawan (Star Wars reference) Josh is back from India and was at the gym when I got there. We ended up doing the workout together, so there was a few times when I had to wait a few seconds for him to catch up. I decided for the Jokers I would do a max set of muscle ups. Finished in 39:23.
Second:
Abs. Did 25 reps of every ab exercise I could think of, with only a few seconds recovery in between. Crunches, flutter kicks, scissors, side bends, left side crunches, right side crunches, leg levers, reverse crunches, knees to chest, and seated V-ups.
Third:
Weighted pull ups. Did 5 reps at each weight. Started at 20lbs, then 30, 40, 50, 60, and had to struggle a little to get all 70. Then did 4 or 5 more sets of 5 with 70, changing grips each time.
Fourth:
Headed upstairs to the large group fitness room and did bear crawls back and forth across it. Its maybe 40 or 50m wide. I went down-and-back twice before my shoulders and hips said Nope!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Thursday
No exercising today. Got up early and drove to Charlotte to take an entrance exam for a Customs and Border Patrol job I applied for. The title is "Border Protection Officer," which is different from "Border Patrol Agent." From what I gather, BPO work at airports, harbors, and other ports of entry. BPA work on the border itself. Different uniforms, different titles, but same pay.
I applied for the BPA opening earlier this year and took their entrance exam in Charleston about a month later. 3 part test. First section was logical reasoning, second was an artificial language (how easy you'll be able to learn Spanish in other words), and then a work history section. I passed the exam with a 92 but haven't heard anything back from them.
I applied for the BPO opening a couple weeks ago and took the exam today. It was 5 parts. First was the same logical reasoning, then a mathematical reasoning section, then a grammar/punctuation/spelling section, then two work history sections. Results will take 4 weeks, since apparently it takes that long to slide a Scantron answer sheet through a computer.
I applied for the BPA opening earlier this year and took their entrance exam in Charleston about a month later. 3 part test. First section was logical reasoning, second was an artificial language (how easy you'll be able to learn Spanish in other words), and then a work history section. I passed the exam with a 92 but haven't heard anything back from them.
I applied for the BPO opening a couple weeks ago and took the exam today. It was 5 parts. First was the same logical reasoning, then a mathematical reasoning section, then a grammar/punctuation/spelling section, then two work history sections. Results will take 4 weeks, since apparently it takes that long to slide a Scantron answer sheet through a computer.
Wednesday
Left shin is still sore. Going to have to keep an eye on it. Otherwise everything else feels pretty good.
Got up early and rucked 5mi with ~50lbs. Pretty good pace and time. It was awful out, high 70s with 85% humidity. I was drenched by the time I finished. Kept a good pace though.
Went to the gym a few hours later.
5:00 warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
500m row with 10/10 resistance for time. This is always tough, even more so when your legs are a bit gassed from the rucking earlier. Had a good time though, 1:33.8, which is .2 off my PR. Jumped off and did 1min of side planks per side.
Second:
My usual ankle/knee/hip exercises. They are boring.
Third:
Back upstairs for another 500m row with 10/10 resistance for time. Much harder this time. Only managed a 1:35.1 and almost fell off at the end. Another 1min of side planks per side.
Wanted to get in the pool but I managed to forget my swimsuit at the house. I'm chalking it up to not a whole lot of sleep the night before.
Got up early and rucked 5mi with ~50lbs. Pretty good pace and time. It was awful out, high 70s with 85% humidity. I was drenched by the time I finished. Kept a good pace though.
Went to the gym a few hours later.
5:00 warm up and 10:00 stretching.
First:
500m row with 10/10 resistance for time. This is always tough, even more so when your legs are a bit gassed from the rucking earlier. Had a good time though, 1:33.8, which is .2 off my PR. Jumped off and did 1min of side planks per side.
Second:
My usual ankle/knee/hip exercises. They are boring.
Third:
Back upstairs for another 500m row with 10/10 resistance for time. Much harder this time. Only managed a 1:35.1 and almost fell off at the end. Another 1min of side planks per side.
Wanted to get in the pool but I managed to forget my swimsuit at the house. I'm chalking it up to not a whole lot of sleep the night before.
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Tuesday
Hands were good. Left shin still feels a bit wonky. Going to have to be careful with it. Also kinda fun today, I normally eat a half of a banana before exercising, whether its running or rucking or Crossfit or whatever. I was in a rush to leave today and completely forgot it. So all of today's workouts were done with no food.
5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
Crossfit 130808
10 Rounds, for time:
7 Burpees
7 Knees to Chest
Quick but tough wod. I'm trying to do a burpee-intensive week, 125 of them yesterday, and today's wods totaling 130. Hopefully it'll help make them a bit easier for me, since right now they are very difficult. Went well though. Did every round unbroken, and only rested for a few seconds between rounds towards the end. Finished with a time of 7:41.
Second:
Combined a flat dumbbell benchpress workout with ab stuff. I would do a set of benchpress, put the weights away, then get down and do a max set of some ab exercise. Benchpress went well, started with the 70lbs DBs, then 80, then 90, and even did a few with 100s. Tried with 105s, got halfway up and sat there for 10 seconds before the chest said Nope!. Dropped back down to 80 and did a few there before heading off. For abs, I did scissors, flutter kicks, side bends, seat V-ups, and leg levers.
Third:
Sealfit 120731
For time, run 6 miles, at every mile marker stop and do 10 burpees. If total time is over 60:00, complete 100 x 4ct mountain climber penalty.
This was pretty unpleasant. It was 92F outside and felt like 100, according to weather.com. Not to mention all the burpees I'd already done, and yea, this wasn't much fun. Add to that I did it on hilly trails and you start to get how bad it was. But I hate mountain climbers, so there was no way I was going to do it in over 60:00. Finished in 56:27.
5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
Crossfit 130808
10 Rounds, for time:
7 Burpees
7 Knees to Chest
Quick but tough wod. I'm trying to do a burpee-intensive week, 125 of them yesterday, and today's wods totaling 130. Hopefully it'll help make them a bit easier for me, since right now they are very difficult. Went well though. Did every round unbroken, and only rested for a few seconds between rounds towards the end. Finished with a time of 7:41.
Second:
Combined a flat dumbbell benchpress workout with ab stuff. I would do a set of benchpress, put the weights away, then get down and do a max set of some ab exercise. Benchpress went well, started with the 70lbs DBs, then 80, then 90, and even did a few with 100s. Tried with 105s, got halfway up and sat there for 10 seconds before the chest said Nope!. Dropped back down to 80 and did a few there before heading off. For abs, I did scissors, flutter kicks, side bends, seat V-ups, and leg levers.
Third:
Sealfit 120731
For time, run 6 miles, at every mile marker stop and do 10 burpees. If total time is over 60:00, complete 100 x 4ct mountain climber penalty.
This was pretty unpleasant. It was 92F outside and felt like 100, according to weather.com. Not to mention all the burpees I'd already done, and yea, this wasn't much fun. Add to that I did it on hilly trails and you start to get how bad it was. But I hate mountain climbers, so there was no way I was going to do it in over 60:00. Finished in 56:27.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Monday
The time off was nice but it felt better to get back into it. Hands are good, just the remnants of blisters left.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
Sealfit Thomas E. Creek
5 Rounds, for time:
25 Pull ups
25 Push ups
Run 400m
25 Burpees
25 Sit ups
Run 400m
I knew this was going to be a long wod. The exercises aren't bad, but they start to add up after the 3rd round. And the burpees were just terrible from the start. Sets of 25 burpees will make anyone hurt. Kept the runs at a good pace, somewhere around 6:42/mile pace. Running at that speed following burpees and sit ups was unpleasant. Push ups and sit ups were easy, I did all 5 sets of each unbroken. I did the first set of pull ups unbroken, then the rest I split into groups of 15 and 10. Thankfully no new blisters. Finished it in 1:07:27.
Second:
Shoulder stuff. Started with shrugs, then a recovery set of balance drills, then standing military press, another set of balance drills, and then finished up with the range of motion workout.
Third:
I was feeling pretty beat up from the SF wod, and since it totaled 2.5 miles, I just wanted to make it an even number. Headed to the treadmill and sprinted an 800m at 5:31/mile pace.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
Sealfit Thomas E. Creek
5 Rounds, for time:
25 Pull ups
25 Push ups
Run 400m
25 Burpees
25 Sit ups
Run 400m
I knew this was going to be a long wod. The exercises aren't bad, but they start to add up after the 3rd round. And the burpees were just terrible from the start. Sets of 25 burpees will make anyone hurt. Kept the runs at a good pace, somewhere around 6:42/mile pace. Running at that speed following burpees and sit ups was unpleasant. Push ups and sit ups were easy, I did all 5 sets of each unbroken. I did the first set of pull ups unbroken, then the rest I split into groups of 15 and 10. Thankfully no new blisters. Finished it in 1:07:27.
Second:
Shoulder stuff. Started with shrugs, then a recovery set of balance drills, then standing military press, another set of balance drills, and then finished up with the range of motion workout.
Third:
I was feeling pretty beat up from the SF wod, and since it totaled 2.5 miles, I just wanted to make it an even number. Headed to the treadmill and sprinted an 800m at 5:31/mile pace.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Friday and Saturday
Spent Thursday through Saturday in St Augustine, FL visiting my friend Mike. He graduated Friday from the Univ of St Augustine with a doctorate in physical therapy.
Wanted to do workouts Friday and Saturday morning, but when I got up Friday, my left leg was throbbing. I've been fighting shin splits on that side for a little while now so I decided the trip would be a good time to let them heal up a bit. Ended up wearing my compression calf sleeves nearly the whole trip. Hopefully they'll get better soon.
Wanted to do workouts Friday and Saturday morning, but when I got up Friday, my left leg was throbbing. I've been fighting shin splits on that side for a little while now so I decided the trip would be a good time to let them heal up a bit. Ended up wearing my compression calf sleeves nearly the whole trip. Hopefully they'll get better soon.
Thursday
Left palm is getting better, still taped it though. Fingers are all good thankfully.
Since I'm driving down to Florida to see my friend Mike today, I got up early to get my workout in before breakfast. Got to the gym about 0600. A little busy but not bad.
Unfortunately two guys were going back and forth on the rower so I couldn't use that for a warmup. Had to do 5:00 on an elliptical and I quickly remembered why elliptical machines are dumb. Stretched for 10:00.
First:
Sealfit 121211
For time:
Run 800m
Then, 10 Rounds:
10 x 4ct Mountain Climbers
10 Dips
10 Leg Levers
Then:
Run 800m
Decent workout. Not too hard on the upper body although going straight from mountain climbers to dips got tough at towards the end. I need to work more on my mountain climbers. I think I rely a bit too much on my arms to hold me up so I get fatigued faster than I should. The two 800m runs were good, I did both at 6:22/mile pace. Finished in 20:53
Second:
Since I was strapped for time, I combined shoulders with abs. Started with standing military press. Then balance drills followed by a max rep set of reverse crunches. Then shoulder shrugs. Then another set of balance drills followed by a max rep set of hanging knees to chest. Then finished with the shoulder range of motion workout.
Third:
Wanted to just do a short run since my left shin was bothering me. Headed upstairs to the treadmill and knocked out 4x400 with 1:30 recovery in between. Good pace on each 400, I think it was around 5:17/mile pace.
Since I'm driving down to Florida to see my friend Mike today, I got up early to get my workout in before breakfast. Got to the gym about 0600. A little busy but not bad.
Unfortunately two guys were going back and forth on the rower so I couldn't use that for a warmup. Had to do 5:00 on an elliptical and I quickly remembered why elliptical machines are dumb. Stretched for 10:00.
First:
Sealfit 121211
For time:
Run 800m
Then, 10 Rounds:
10 x 4ct Mountain Climbers
10 Dips
10 Leg Levers
Then:
Run 800m
Decent workout. Not too hard on the upper body although going straight from mountain climbers to dips got tough at towards the end. I need to work more on my mountain climbers. I think I rely a bit too much on my arms to hold me up so I get fatigued faster than I should. The two 800m runs were good, I did both at 6:22/mile pace. Finished in 20:53
Second:
Since I was strapped for time, I combined shoulders with abs. Started with standing military press. Then balance drills followed by a max rep set of reverse crunches. Then shoulder shrugs. Then another set of balance drills followed by a max rep set of hanging knees to chest. Then finished with the shoulder range of motion workout.
Third:
Wanted to just do a short run since my left shin was bothering me. Headed upstairs to the treadmill and knocked out 4x400 with 1:30 recovery in between. Good pace on each 400, I think it was around 5:17/mile pace.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Wednesday
Destroyed left hand is still chugging along. I'm taping it with Neosporin pretty often.
Thought about getting up early to do a ruck march, but after realizing that I would be getting up even earlier on Thursday to exercise and then drive 5 hours to Florida, I decided sleep was a better option. Still went to the gym at the usual time.
5:00 rowing warmup and 10:00 of stretching.
Started off with a 500m max effort row with 10/10 resistance. This is such a butt kicker. My brother Kirt "graced" me with this workout a long time ago and I've trying to do it on a regular basis ever since. It shouldn't take more than a couple minutes, at the most, but oh man it is an awful couple minutes. Up until a few weeks ago, my PR and average were around 1:38 to 1:39. Just couldn't do any better. Then I realized, hm, maybe I should look up some tutorials on rowing since I'm just kinda making this up as I go. Watched a few videos on proper form, which was maybe 3 weeks ago. I've PRed this workout every Wednesday, sometimes twice in one day, since then. PRed it again today with a 1:33.6, and nearly threw up haha.
Side Planks for 1:00 on each side. Not much fun after rowing.
A bunch of ankle, knee, and hip mobility exercises. People give me strange looks when they see me doing this stuff, but the way I look at it, its preventative maintenance. I do a lot of pretty awful things to my joints, I need to be making sure they are strong enough to handle it and keep me away from injury.
Back upstairs for another 500m max effort row with 10/10 resistance. Came close to the previous time with a 1:34 flat. Little pissed that I couldn't edge out the last few meters in time. The first 250m felt great, good rhythm, just trailed off the last 100m.
More side planks, 1:00 each side.
Changed into my swimsuit and jumped into the pool. 5:00 of stretching in the pool, then 5:00 of sitting in the hot tub. Then back into the pool to tread water for 30:00. Funny to think that a couple years ago, I struggled to tread water for 5:00. Not so much anymore. I've done up to 60:00 and probably could have kept going but its so boring. Now that its much easier, I'll mix it up by using only one arm, or not using my legs for a bit.
Went back to my house and practiced jumping rope for a bit.
Thought about getting up early to do a ruck march, but after realizing that I would be getting up even earlier on Thursday to exercise and then drive 5 hours to Florida, I decided sleep was a better option. Still went to the gym at the usual time.
5:00 rowing warmup and 10:00 of stretching.
Started off with a 500m max effort row with 10/10 resistance. This is such a butt kicker. My brother Kirt "graced" me with this workout a long time ago and I've trying to do it on a regular basis ever since. It shouldn't take more than a couple minutes, at the most, but oh man it is an awful couple minutes. Up until a few weeks ago, my PR and average were around 1:38 to 1:39. Just couldn't do any better. Then I realized, hm, maybe I should look up some tutorials on rowing since I'm just kinda making this up as I go. Watched a few videos on proper form, which was maybe 3 weeks ago. I've PRed this workout every Wednesday, sometimes twice in one day, since then. PRed it again today with a 1:33.6, and nearly threw up haha.
Side Planks for 1:00 on each side. Not much fun after rowing.
A bunch of ankle, knee, and hip mobility exercises. People give me strange looks when they see me doing this stuff, but the way I look at it, its preventative maintenance. I do a lot of pretty awful things to my joints, I need to be making sure they are strong enough to handle it and keep me away from injury.
Back upstairs for another 500m max effort row with 10/10 resistance. Came close to the previous time with a 1:34 flat. Little pissed that I couldn't edge out the last few meters in time. The first 250m felt great, good rhythm, just trailed off the last 100m.
More side planks, 1:00 each side.
Changed into my swimsuit and jumped into the pool. 5:00 of stretching in the pool, then 5:00 of sitting in the hot tub. Then back into the pool to tread water for 30:00. Funny to think that a couple years ago, I struggled to tread water for 5:00. Not so much anymore. I've done up to 60:00 and probably could have kept going but its so boring. Now that its much easier, I'll mix it up by using only one arm, or not using my legs for a bit.
Went back to my house and practiced jumping rope for a bit.
Tuesday
Fingers are good today. I taped them up just to be safe, since the stuff I had planned typically causes me some issues.
5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching
First:
CrossFit Games Regional Event 03
For time:
30 Burpee Muscle Ups
I substituted bar muscle ups for ring muscle ups, which is what you're supposed to use when it doesn't specify. Unfortunately, my gym doesn't have anywhere high enough that I can hang my rings to do a muscle up.
I knew this was going to be a tough one. I can do muscle ups just fine, but having to grip the bar, do a muscle up, then release, 30 times, was probably not going to do anything good for my hurt hand. And sure enough, it did not. Thankfully my previous opened blisters were fine, but it destroyed my left palm. I noticed it hurting pretty good somewhere around 20. Ugh, had to knock out 10 more with a...slippery bar...if you get my drift (it was bloody).
That was after I finished the wod and used a Clorox wipe to clean it, which felt delightful, definitely don't recommend trying that. Anyways, I got stuck on the last rep, so it took a few more seconds than I was hoping, but ah well, first time for this one. Finished in 9:13.
Second:
Ab stuff! Did max reps in 2:00 of flutterkicks, recovered for a few minutes, then max reps in 2:00 of side bends, recovered, then max reps in 2:00 of scissors, recovered, then max reps pf seated V-ups.
Third:
I wanted to do more upper body stuff so I stuck a Clorox wipe on my open blister and then taped it down with a bunch of athletic tape. Field expedient wound dressing! In my mind it was the best option. Rolled two towels over the pull up bar to make the grip fatter (makes it harder, works forearms, builds grip strength). Then did rounds of max reps of pull ups holding a 25lbs weight followed by 10 military push ups. Did 10, 10, 7, 7, 8, and 8. Hand hurt a little but the tape held up.
Fourth:
Cardio time. It was one of those summer afternoon torrential downpours, so I couldn't do a trail run like I wanted. I don't mind running in the rain, but the people who operate the trails I run don't like people using them when they're recently soaked. Opted to do a tough leg PT wod on the treadmill. Ran 4 rounds of the following:
Run 1mi
30 squats
30 calf raises
20 lunges per leg
Ran each mile progressively quicker. Started at 6:34/mile, then 6:25/mile, then 6:18/mile, and finally 6:10/mile. Legs and lungs felt great. This workout builds leg strength like nothing else, and honestly I'll probably be walking funny tomorrow because of it.
5:00 rowing warm up and 10:00 of stretching
First:
CrossFit Games Regional Event 03
For time:
30 Burpee Muscle Ups
I substituted bar muscle ups for ring muscle ups, which is what you're supposed to use when it doesn't specify. Unfortunately, my gym doesn't have anywhere high enough that I can hang my rings to do a muscle up.
I knew this was going to be a tough one. I can do muscle ups just fine, but having to grip the bar, do a muscle up, then release, 30 times, was probably not going to do anything good for my hurt hand. And sure enough, it did not. Thankfully my previous opened blisters were fine, but it destroyed my left palm. I noticed it hurting pretty good somewhere around 20. Ugh, had to knock out 10 more with a...slippery bar...if you get my drift (it was bloody).
That was after I finished the wod and used a Clorox wipe to clean it, which felt delightful, definitely don't recommend trying that. Anyways, I got stuck on the last rep, so it took a few more seconds than I was hoping, but ah well, first time for this one. Finished in 9:13.
Second:
Ab stuff! Did max reps in 2:00 of flutterkicks, recovered for a few minutes, then max reps in 2:00 of side bends, recovered, then max reps in 2:00 of scissors, recovered, then max reps pf seated V-ups.
Third:
I wanted to do more upper body stuff so I stuck a Clorox wipe on my open blister and then taped it down with a bunch of athletic tape. Field expedient wound dressing! In my mind it was the best option. Rolled two towels over the pull up bar to make the grip fatter (makes it harder, works forearms, builds grip strength). Then did rounds of max reps of pull ups holding a 25lbs weight followed by 10 military push ups. Did 10, 10, 7, 7, 8, and 8. Hand hurt a little but the tape held up.
Fourth:
Cardio time. It was one of those summer afternoon torrential downpours, so I couldn't do a trail run like I wanted. I don't mind running in the rain, but the people who operate the trails I run don't like people using them when they're recently soaked. Opted to do a tough leg PT wod on the treadmill. Ran 4 rounds of the following:
Run 1mi
30 squats
30 calf raises
20 lunges per leg
Ran each mile progressively quicker. Started at 6:34/mile, then 6:25/mile, then 6:18/mile, and finally 6:10/mile. Legs and lungs felt great. This workout builds leg strength like nothing else, and honestly I'll probably be walking funny tomorrow because of it.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Monday
Hand is doing much better. Just to be safe, I still taped up each finger.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up followed by 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120615
4 Rounds, for time:
Run 800m
20 Burpees
20 Dips
20 Pull ups
20 x 4ct Flutterkicks (or 40 each round)
Pretty tough workout, made more so by my stomach not feeling so great. Think it was something I ate yesterday. Kept the same good pace on the treadmill for each 800m, I think it came out to 6:42/mile. Going straight from burpees to dips was tough. My breathing would be fine after the run, the burpees would destroy it, and then I'd have to just suffer through the dips. Pull ups went decent enough, and the flutterkicks were easy. Finished with a 37:16.
Second:
Shoulders. Did some seated shoulder press with dumbbells. Some balance drills. Then shoulder shrugs. Then more balance drills. Then finished up with the shoulder range-of-motion workout.
Third:
Wanted to get a little bit more running in, but it was stupidly hot outside and my stomach still felt bad so I opted to use the treadmill. Sprinted two 800s at 5:31/mile pace with a 3:00 recovery in between. That about sucked the life out of me.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up followed by 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120615
4 Rounds, for time:
Run 800m
20 Burpees
20 Dips
20 Pull ups
20 x 4ct Flutterkicks (or 40 each round)
Pretty tough workout, made more so by my stomach not feeling so great. Think it was something I ate yesterday. Kept the same good pace on the treadmill for each 800m, I think it came out to 6:42/mile. Going straight from burpees to dips was tough. My breathing would be fine after the run, the burpees would destroy it, and then I'd have to just suffer through the dips. Pull ups went decent enough, and the flutterkicks were easy. Finished with a 37:16.
Second:
Shoulders. Did some seated shoulder press with dumbbells. Some balance drills. Then shoulder shrugs. Then more balance drills. Then finished up with the shoulder range-of-motion workout.
Third:
Wanted to get a little bit more running in, but it was stupidly hot outside and my stomach still felt bad so I opted to use the treadmill. Sprinted two 800s at 5:31/mile pace with a 3:00 recovery in between. That about sucked the life out of me.
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Saturday
Left hand is still pretty messed up, but I'm reapplying tape and Neosporin every few hours so I think its getting better. Legs were definitely feeling it from yesterday's jump lunges. It made the hills not so fun today.
Saturdays are my long group trail run day. I joined a group called "South Carolina Runners of Trails and Ultra-Marathons" a couple years ago. I never ran trails much before then, mainly sticking to the road or track surfaces. But I think that since I've started doing all my long runs on trails, my legs, ankles, and feet are much stronger.
Met up with the guys at the usual 0650. Stretched for a few minutes and then headed out with them at 0700. Small group this morning. Dean and Kyle in front (both on their second 9mi lap), then Hunter and Bradley (both younger and very fast), and me in the back. There were a few other guys but they started a bit behind us. We didn't see them again until the finish. The 5 of us stuck together until a little over halfway. There are 3 large hills on this route, the first is a series of switchbacks around the halfway point, then the other two are around the 2/3 point and are almost back-to-back. Dean and Kyle tried to stay with us going up the switchbacks but couldn't hold it and we dropped them. Hunter and Bradley were just chugging along chatting away while I tried to stick with them. They were running slower than they normally do, probably as a result of the stupidly high humidity, so I was able to stick with them to the finish, even after we picked up the pace for the last couple miles. Finishing time was average, a 1:13. I'm usually in the 1:10 to 1:15 range depending on the weather and how my legs feel. My PR was a couple months ago on a cool day with something around a 1:06.
After getting back to the house, eating breakfast and recovering, I did a bunch of sets of the two couplets:
10 ring dips + 10 body squats
10 fat grip pull ups + 10 body squats
Saturdays are my long group trail run day. I joined a group called "South Carolina Runners of Trails and Ultra-Marathons" a couple years ago. I never ran trails much before then, mainly sticking to the road or track surfaces. But I think that since I've started doing all my long runs on trails, my legs, ankles, and feet are much stronger.
Met up with the guys at the usual 0650. Stretched for a few minutes and then headed out with them at 0700. Small group this morning. Dean and Kyle in front (both on their second 9mi lap), then Hunter and Bradley (both younger and very fast), and me in the back. There were a few other guys but they started a bit behind us. We didn't see them again until the finish. The 5 of us stuck together until a little over halfway. There are 3 large hills on this route, the first is a series of switchbacks around the halfway point, then the other two are around the 2/3 point and are almost back-to-back. Dean and Kyle tried to stay with us going up the switchbacks but couldn't hold it and we dropped them. Hunter and Bradley were just chugging along chatting away while I tried to stick with them. They were running slower than they normally do, probably as a result of the stupidly high humidity, so I was able to stick with them to the finish, even after we picked up the pace for the last couple miles. Finishing time was average, a 1:13. I'm usually in the 1:10 to 1:15 range depending on the weather and how my legs feel. My PR was a couple months ago on a cool day with something around a 1:06.
After getting back to the house, eating breakfast and recovering, I did a bunch of sets of the two couplets:
10 ring dips + 10 body squats
10 fat grip pull ups + 10 body squats
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Friday
My left hand is still pretty messed up from yesterday. Decided to change the workout for the day to something that might use less gripping. Before leaving for the gym, I wrapped a sterile bandage with Neosporin on each open blister and then wrapped them in athletic tape.
Usual 5:00 rowing warm up followed by 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120813
For time:
50-40-30-20-10 reps of:
Jump Lunges (each leg)
Push ups
Sit ups
Run 400m after each set.
This might sound a little confusing but its simple. Start off doing 50 jump lunges, 50 push ups, 50 sit ups, then run 400m. Next do 40 jump lunges, 40 push ups, 40 sit ups, then run 400m. Etc, on down to 10. Ends up being not a whole lot of push ups and sit ups, just enough to get you sore, but ugh, so many jump lunges. Those are terrible. Kept a good fast pace for all of the 400m runs. When its a wod that has short intervals of running (100m to 1km), I try to keep the pace down in the 6:00 to 6:30 min/mile range. If its a wod with longer intervals of running (1mi, or 2mi), I try to keep it just a hair under 7, usually around 6:55 min/mile. Overall pretty good wod, and didn't bother my hands. Finished in 27:14.
Second:
Shoulder day. I have weak shoulders so I've been trying to build them up for a few months now. Started with standing shoulder press, max reps with 70lbs, 80lbs, 90lbs, then back down to 60lbs. Did a recovery workout focusing on lower legs and balance. Then did standing shoulder shrugs, max reps holding 100lbs, 125lbs, 145lbs, and then back down to 100lbs, in each hand. Another recovery workout for lower legs and balance. Then a quick shoulder range of motion workout that I've picked up.
Third:
Felt bad that I didn't do any pull ups. My hand still felt not-great but I figured I could wrap hand towels around the bars to both make it softer on my blisters as well as providing a grip strength workout. Did 3 sets of 10 strict pull ups before I realized I was starting a new blister on my hurt left hand on the little finger. Good thing I brought athletic tape with me. Wrapped the finger in tape and did 2 more sets of 10.
Fourth:
Headed upstairs. Didn't want to do a whole lot of cardio but I like finishing the day with an even number of miles. At this point I was at 1.25. Got on a treadmill and sprinted an 800m, recovered for 3:00, then sprinted faster for a 400m. Totaling out to 2mi, good enough. Headed downstairs, did a quick set of strict pull ups then headed home.
Friday, August 2, 2013
Thursday
Got to the gym a little later than usual. My car was at the mechanic having the A/C recharged, took a little longer than I was planning so my gym schedule got bumped back a half hour. Not all that big a deal.
Started off with the usual 5:00 of rowing and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120409
For time:
100 Body Blasters
A "body blaster" is a burpee, followed by a pull up, followed by a knees-to-chest. It is not particularly fun and this would be the most body blasters I've done in a single workout. Decided to break it into sets of 10 with a few seconds rest in between. Started off decent but by #50 I realized that I had two open blisters on the middle and ring fingers on my left hand. Did not feel awesome doing another 50 reps. Tried to finished under 20min but just got stuck in the last few sets and finished with a 20:06.
Second:
Abs! Did a variety workout with a little of every ab exercise I know, in a row with little rest time in between. Crunches, flutter kicks, scissors, leg levers, sit ups, reverse crunches, left crunches, right crunches, side bends, and seated V-ups.
Third:
Crossfit 120424
Flat bench press, 5 sets of 3 reps, for loads.
I prefer to use dumbbells for bench press, rather than barbells. I like that it works the stabilizer muscles in your shoulders more. Started off conservative with 75lbs, then 80, 85, 90, and then tried 95. Did all 3 reps of 95lbs pretty easy, so I tried 100lbs. Struggled a little but did all 3 reps. Tried 105lbs, got 2 reps but couldn't get the third rep up. Ah well. 105lbs is my new dumbbell bench press PR. By the way, the blisters on the left hand hurt for every rep. I had the affected fingers wrapped with some of those Clorox disinfecting wet wipes. Felt fantastic haha.
Fourth:
Headed out to Dutch Fork HS to get a run in. I was originally thinking maybe a fartlek run, which is where you run intervals of a fast pace combined with a slow pace, but without ever stopping. After I got down to the track I realized I hadn't run stadium steps in a long while, whereas I had done fartlek runs the last two weeks in a row. Went over to the visitors side, which I like more than the taller home side. The visitors side is more open and a lot cleaner, with almost as many steps. Went up and down each aisle, going back and forth between hitting every step on some trips and bounding over steps on other trips. Did 5 rounds of the visitors side, with each round having 5 trips up and down. Everything felt good. I was lucky enough that it only just started to rain as I finished and headed back to the car.
Started off with the usual 5:00 of rowing and 10:00 of stretching.
First:
SealFit 120409
For time:
100 Body Blasters
A "body blaster" is a burpee, followed by a pull up, followed by a knees-to-chest. It is not particularly fun and this would be the most body blasters I've done in a single workout. Decided to break it into sets of 10 with a few seconds rest in between. Started off decent but by #50 I realized that I had two open blisters on the middle and ring fingers on my left hand. Did not feel awesome doing another 50 reps. Tried to finished under 20min but just got stuck in the last few sets and finished with a 20:06.
Second:
Abs! Did a variety workout with a little of every ab exercise I know, in a row with little rest time in between. Crunches, flutter kicks, scissors, leg levers, sit ups, reverse crunches, left crunches, right crunches, side bends, and seated V-ups.
Third:
Crossfit 120424
Flat bench press, 5 sets of 3 reps, for loads.
I prefer to use dumbbells for bench press, rather than barbells. I like that it works the stabilizer muscles in your shoulders more. Started off conservative with 75lbs, then 80, 85, 90, and then tried 95. Did all 3 reps of 95lbs pretty easy, so I tried 100lbs. Struggled a little but did all 3 reps. Tried 105lbs, got 2 reps but couldn't get the third rep up. Ah well. 105lbs is my new dumbbell bench press PR. By the way, the blisters on the left hand hurt for every rep. I had the affected fingers wrapped with some of those Clorox disinfecting wet wipes. Felt fantastic haha.
Fourth:
Headed out to Dutch Fork HS to get a run in. I was originally thinking maybe a fartlek run, which is where you run intervals of a fast pace combined with a slow pace, but without ever stopping. After I got down to the track I realized I hadn't run stadium steps in a long while, whereas I had done fartlek runs the last two weeks in a row. Went over to the visitors side, which I like more than the taller home side. The visitors side is more open and a lot cleaner, with almost as many steps. Went up and down each aisle, going back and forth between hitting every step on some trips and bounding over steps on other trips. Did 5 rounds of the visitors side, with each round having 5 trips up and down. Everything felt good. I was lucky enough that it only just started to rain as I finished and headed back to the car.
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