karleagleman.com Better Than Yesterday

Daily Workout 2/8/10

Why?  Because it's fun!

Workout of the Day
For time:
135# Power clean and jerk / burpee
10, 9, 8, 7,...1

Time - 12:58

Notes:  I have got to admit, this one was pretty fun.  Well, fun in the sense that I had a change of scenery, and despite it being a little cold, it was a really beautiful day.  Also, regardless of what the workout I choose to do, the harder I push myself throughout, the better I feel when all the dust settles in the end, and that is pretty fun as well.  In retrospect, I feel like I went about 90% today.  Upon finishing, although I felt great (winded and exhausted), I know deep down that if I had a trainer barking at me or my dear ol' mum cheering me on, I would have managed to go a little faster.  Regardless it was a good workout today.

Pretty chill today too!

Daily Workout 2/6/10

Workout of the Day
Front squat 2x8, 2x6
80kg x 8
100kg x 8

105kg x 6
105kg x 6

Deadlift 5x5
140kg x 5
145kg x 5
150kg x 5
150kg x 5
150kg x 5

Then,

AMRAP 20:00
10 seated box jumps - 20" box to 30" box
10 double kettlebell push press 20kg
10 back squat 60kg
10 spiderman push-ups
10 bent rows 40kg

Rounds - 5 (+ 8 seated box jumps)

Notes: Whew!  Today was a doozy.  Still it was another good one, and another day that I can honestly say I gave it my all.  Isn't that interesting how those two go together?  When you give it your all, it will most likely lead to a good day.

Front squats were good.  Not much to report on that.  The deadlifts started off fine, then once I bumped up to 150kg on the third set I noticed I didn't feel as strong as what I was hoping.  Nate, another trainer at Force noticed I need to focus more on sitting back on my heels throughout the entire pull.  Equally important, I need to remember that after setting my stance and grip, that initial pull starts with setting the shoulders back, and chest out.  After putting all of this together, sets 4 and 5 seemed like butter.  Ah, it feels so good to get better in areas that need improvement!

And then geeesh!  That friggin' AMRAP wasn't a joke.  I'd rank this bad boy up there with Filthy Fifty!  Every movement seemed to be just challenging enough with the weight that was prescribed.  I was able to move through each exercise with a relative mechanical and methodical technique, until I came to the spiderman push-ups.  Those were definitely the limiting factor on this one.  After 20:00 of very hard work, I was happy when that timer finally beeped.

Daily Workout 2/5/10

I didn't have time to snap a pic from today, but here's one from my training log.  I do see a few errors/unfinished sets that I forgot to fill in.

Workout of the Day
Snatch (low catch) 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1
60kg x 3
65kg x 3
70kg x 2
75kg x 2
80kg x 1
85kg x (F)
85kg x 1 (New PR!)

Push Press 5x5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
85kg x 5
85kg x 5
90kg x 5

Then,

AMRAP 20:00

AMRAP in 20:00
10 kettlebell swings 2 pood
5 standing broad jumps (maximal effort each time)
20 push-ups

Full Rounds: 10 (+10, +3)  - New PR!

Notes:  Another friggin' good day!  Man, I just love even saying that, and it's even better when it's true. Haha!  Due to a change in plans I had to get in earlier than usual today for this one, and didn't any time to waste while I was there.  Regardless, it was one of those workouts where I could walk out the door after I was finished and know deep down that I gave it my all.

The snatch.  This is by far becoming one of my favorite lifts, not because I'm good at it (because I'm not. I'm definitely getting better though.), but because it involves such a great blend of both strength and skill.  Plus, taking a bar off the ground and going directly over head with it in basically one movement just looks pretty cool too.  A BIG TIME PR TODAY!  Thanks to some solid coaching from my trainer, Wil I was able to focus on some movements that really helped.  My old PR for snatch was 154# and today I pulled a 187#.  Furthermore, I feel it's safe to say I had some left in the tank.  It wasn't going to happen today, but the next time I work up to a 1RM on snatch I feel confident I'll be able to bump this PR up again.

The push press felt good today too.  My numbers today were definitely heavier than the last time I did this exercise 5x5.  It's a good sign that I'm building both strength and acquiring skill.

For the AMRAP, man I busted it today.  Not gonna lie, I pushed as hard as I could.  Thankfully I rewarded myself with another PR.  Last time I did this complex I went 9 full rounds (+10, +5, +20).  Again, the push-ups were the main killer.  I ripped up my hands on the KB swings and had to trim up some calluses later on this evening.  One thing that definitely helped me was some pacing/breathing advice from Wil.  Definitely something to apply to future WODs.

Daily Workout 2/4/10

Workout of the Day
Rest Day

Notes:  Overall, my body is feeling great!  The foam rolling maintenance, along with my eating have really benefitted my recovery.  Things are going really well.

Andrea and I had really good seats for tonight's IU game against the dirty Purdue Boilermakers.  We were able to score a pair of 9th row seats which are a LOT closer than our row 41 season ticket seats.  It really is a entirely different experience.  Speaking of entirely different experiences, it would be nice to see IU win some of these close games.  We lost tonight by three, but it was definitely a hard fought loss, if there is such a thing.

For inspiration, I'll leave you with a video of this Chinese Olympic weightlifter clean and jerking three times his bodyweight (!!).  Isn't that like the strength of an ant or something?

Daily Workout 2/3/10

Clean Pulls - I'm looking forward to the time when I can get under and catch this weight.  It's getting there.

Workout of the Day
Dumbbell Bench/Weighted Pull-up Complex
8 rounds - exactly 1:00 rest in between each round
Dumbbell Bench 5 x 100#
Weighed Pull-up 5 x 12kg

Times for each round - 0:43, 0:48, 0:49, 0:57, 1:07, 1:02, 1:08, 1:03

Then,

Clean Pulls (from the ground) 5x3
110kg x 3
120kg x 3
125kg x 3
130kg x 3
140kg x 3

Then,

5 rounds for time:
6 box jumps 30"
15 med ball slams 20#

Time - 3:13 (A new PR by 51 seconds! WHAT?!)

Notes:  Another great day today!  I still struggle at pull-ups and weighted pull-ups humble me even more.  Of course, therein lies the very reason why I need to practice them... and practice them, and practice them.

The clean pulls felt really good.  They actually felt a little awkward at first since it was my first time ever doing this specific exercise.  Like I stated above, I'm looking forward to the day that I can squat clean or power clean the weight that I am able to currently clean pull.  Great exercise though.  I can see how explosiveness can really grow through this movement.

And the box jump/med ball met con?!  Wow.  Where did that come from?  The last time I did this workout I finished in a time of 4:04 and was convinced that any margin of improvement was going to be significantly smaller from then on.  However, I was definitely wrong.  I felt awesome throughout the entire 5 rounds.  No real hesitation between movements.  The 30" box jumps actually felt lower than usual!  I actually must be building a little explosiveness from all this Oly lifting.  Go figure!