6/30/10 - Deadlift + Squat Cleans & Airballs Metcon

242.0 (Yay!)

Strength:
Deadlift
1-1-1-1-1

340 (PR)

Happy to get the new PR in the Deadlift, even though the jump was only 10 pounds. Some issues that may have contributed to the lesser gain this time include the fact that I PR'd the Back Squat yesterday and then today, I actually did the Metcon before the strength portion, so that may have impacted it as well. But, I can't help thinking that the 5/3/1 program, with it's emphasis on more reps at lower weights, may not be as effective for someone at my stage to make pure 1 RM strength gains. At the same time, I still believe, since our goal is not just pure strength, but also endurance, that 5/3/1 is a pretty optimal program for CrossFit, especially in the Deadlift and Squat.

But, I am nonetheless tempted to try and get in some extra strength workouts next week and just go as heavy as I can one more time before we start 5/3/1 again. I'm also tempted to tweak the numbers a bit on 5/3/1 to try and get heavier loads, which I also realize is irrational, so I probably won't do it, but the thought is there in my head all the same. But, trying to get in an extra heavy cycle next week on all 4 major lifts makes some sense to me - something like 5 X 3 at 90%. Another thought is to just do Wk 1 of 5/3/1 and then repeat it again the next week when we start the cycle for sure. If I want to do either of those, it probably means hitting Stoneway in the morning and LAF at night.

Metcon:
AMRAP 3 Minutes
5 Squat Cleans 115/75
10 Air Balls
Rest 1:30
Repeat 3 more cycles for a total of 4

2, 2, 1 1/2, 1 1/2

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Half Chicken Breast
Grande Latte
Salad
Banana
Salmon Burger
2 Cheese sticks
1 small peach
bite of cake
bite of beef jerky
Decaf Latte

Pretty good day on the food. A little bit of bread with the burger and that tiny bit of cake, but otherwise pretty darn good.

6/29/10 - Back Squats for 1 RM + Air Squats & Power Snatch Metcon

243.0

Strength:
Back Squat or Front Squat

5-5-5-5-5
or
3-3-3-1-1

230 (PR) Note: I tried to go from 225 to 240 but it was kinda half-assed and ROM wasn't close enough for me to count it. So, I went back  and did 230. I could have tried 235, but even at 230 my butt wasn't quite touching so I called it good right there.


We'll start the new 5/3/1 cycle the week after next. I'm split whether I should go up 5 or 10 pounds. 5 would probably be better. Actually, the goal in 7 weeks or so, when we PR again, should be to get to at least 240 with complete ROM. My sense is that going up 5 is more likely to get me there. I'm also wondering if it would be good to mix in a set of Front Squats with the regular 5/3/1 stuff.


Metcon:
3 rounds of
50 Air Squats

10 Power Snatch, #115/#65

9:29 at #75. Good benchmark workout. 
  
Food:
Chicken Breast
Yogurt Mix - blueberries, walnuts, granola
Salad - no blue cheese dressing
Banana
Jerky
Nut Cluster things

6/28/10 - Strict Press for 1 RM + Metcon (Overhead Lunges & Burpees)

243.0

Love the new scale. Fluctuations are so much lower.

Strength:
Press or Push Press
5-3-3-1-1-1-1

1 RM = 145

This doesn't seem like a lot but is actually pretty good. End of the year, I should be pressing 165 or 170.

Metcon:
Complete 5 Rounds:
50' Overhead Lunges, #45
21 Burpees

19:03 Note: not a good benchmark since I know did less than 21 burpees on some of the sets, which is what happens when you don't take the weekend as rest days. I did what I could though. 21 - 22 minutes is probably more realistic, which is what I originally estimated.

Food:
Leftover steak (approx 4 bites)
Cheese Stick
Yogurt Mix
Jerky
Nut cluster things
Chicken Breast
Salad - lettuce, cucumber, apples, tomatoes, cottage cheese.
Pork Quesadilla
Grande Decaf Latte

Last Wednesday was my first day really cracking down on the low-carb, which makes this day 6 in this cycle. My guess is I'll end the week around 241. I'd love it if I could get at least one reading under 240 though.

6/27/10 - Bench Press

242.8 

50 Double Unders

Bench Press:
10 reps at 95, 115, 125, 135, 145
8 at 155
5 at 165
3 at 175
3 at 185

Inverse Rows:
6 X 5

Barbell Shrugs:
Smith Machine
4 sets of 10
135, 155, 185, 205 (or something like that)

Dips:
5 X 3 105/48 Counterweight

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Jerky
cheese stick
Ice Coffee
Grande Latte
Salad (cucumber, tomato, avocado)
Ribeye Steak

The last 3 days have been good low-carb days. I have a feeling I'm going to make good progress this week. Not drinking on the weekend made a big difference.  I cooked three chicken breasts which I'll eat this week. I also loaded up on jerky, trail mix, these nut cluster things, cottage cheese, apples, and bananas. Lots of low-carb options for the week.

6/26/10 - Discovery Park Pack Run

244.0

Ran/walked the loop trail at Discovery Park with a #20 pack. Skipped the lighthouse this time.  Finished in 1:03:50.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
2 cheese sticks
Banana
Peach
Grande Latte
Jerky
Nut Clusters
Quesadilla

6/25/10 - Military Press Wk 4 + Double Unders and 400m Run x 5

244.2

Strength:
Military Press Wk 4 (Deloading)
Set 1: 5 reps at #50
Set 1: 5 reps at #60
Set 3: 5 reps at #75

Metcon:
Complete 5 Rounds for time:
50 Double Unders (150 single skips)
400m Run

Time: 22:47

My original estimate was that it would be around 20 mins - i.e. 4 mins for each round. I was basically right, but there were two things that slowed me down. First off, we ran the alternate 400, with the hill, on the street behind the lab, which sucked. Second, I used my new jump rope and it's so fast, it actually slowed me down a little bit because my timing was off. I was able to do a few double unders though, which was cool.

Food:
Salmon
Yogurt Mix
Salad
1 Chicken Breast
Banana
1 cheese stick
1 chorizo sausage (no bun)
Jerky
Quesadilla

Putting more effort into low-carb. I'm focused more on staying away from carbs than I am calorie counting. Goal is 8-12 pounds by end of July. If I can get there, and then down to #230 by end of August, I'll be in a great position to get sub-220 by the end of the year. The next few weeks are critical though. Just gotta stay away from the carbs. 

If I get something from Schultzy's tonight, it will be without the bun. Maybe a good night for just the chili. 

I think I'll look for a salad bar somewhere tomorrow. It'll be expensive, but I know from past experience that if I can stay on this for a couple of weeks, I WILL make some progress. 235 by the end of July is all I need. 

6/24/10 - Rest Day

243.2

Rest Day

Food:
3 bites of leftover salmon
small handful of walnuts
2 cheese sticks
Grande Latte
Salad
2 chicken breasts
Two Pork Tacos
Nuts
Jerky

Calories probably high, but pretty good low-carb day.

6/23/10 - Deadlift Wk 4 (Deloading) + C & J's AMRAP 10 Minutes

245.2

Strength:
Deadlift Wk 4 Deloading
Set 1: 5 reps at 120 (40%)
Set 2: 5 reps at 150 (50%)
Set 3: 5 reps at 180 (60%)

Metcon:
"Grace" on crack
Clean & Jerks (135/95)
AMRAP 10 Minutes

34 reps at #115

Food:
Yogurt Mix
2 cheese sticks
Grande Latte
Salad Bar
2 chicken breasts
Salmon
10-piece spicy wings

6/22/10 - 1 mile run + a bunch of other stuff

245.6

Metcon:
1 mile run
100 Deadlifts, #65/#45
75 Pull-ups
50 V-Ups
25 Burpees

30:43

Scott seems to be pushing the endurance stuff this week.  This is the deloading week for the strength training, so I shouldn't be surprised.

One thing I'm noticing about going to the morning workouts is that I have nowhere near the energy level that I do at night. I'm pretty sure I push myself much harder at night.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Grande Latte
Lavash Wrap
12 oz. Soup - Italian Wedding
Coffee
2 Pork Tacos
Couple bites of Salmon

6/21/10 - Back Squats wk 4 + Metcon

246.0

Strength:
Back Squats Wk 4 (Deload)
Set 1: 5 at 75
Set 2: 5 at 95
Set 3: 5 at 115

Metcon:
30 Wallball
30 Ground to overhead (#95)
30 Kettlebell (#53)
30 OHS (PVC)
30 Burpees

21:36

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Grande Latte
Lavash wrap
8 oz soup - Pasta Fagioli I think is what it was called
Skirt Steak burrito
corn chips
Chocolate Bar

6/20/10 - Rest Day

247.2

Rest Day

Food:
Thai Food
Donut
Tall Latte
Salmon
Green Beans
Chocolate Bar

6/19/10 - Rest Day

247.2

Rest Day


Food:
Salmon Burger
3 Beers
1 Donut
1 Tall Latte
Orange Chicken

6/18/10 - Deadlift & Bench Press Wk 3 + Tabata Metcon

246.2

Strength:
Deadlift Wk 3
Set 1: 5 Reps at 220 (75%)
Set 2: 3 Reps at 250 (85%)
Set 3: 10 Reps at 280 (95%)

Bench Press
True 1RM max is #200/working weight is #180
Set 1: 5 reps at 135 (75%)
Set 2: 3 reps at 150 (85%)
Set 3: 7 reps at 170 (95%)
Extra Set 4 reps at 170 (95%)
Assistance set: 10 reps at 135

Assistance Work:
Dumbell Rows 10 X 3 at #40
Dips 5 X 5 (green and purple band)
20 Pullups (blue band)

Metcon:
Tabata
Handstand (subbed pike position)
Rest 90 secs
Burpees (completed 34)
Rest 90 secs
Weighted Situps #10 (completed 70)

Food:
Grande Latte
Skirt Steak Burrito
Fish

6/17/10 - Rest Day

244.0

Forcing myself to take a rest day.  I've done Bench Press the last two Thursdays, but I'll have to make it up either tomorrow or Saturday.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Coffee

6/16/10 - Back Squats Wk 3 + Elizabeth (Power Cleans & Ring Dips)

242.6

Note: This reading looked low so I weighed myself several times for the following measurements: 242.6, 242.6, 243, 243.6. I really need to get a new scale. The low reading may have something to do with all the water I've been drinking. I've been pounding down the water the last few days after I found myself getting dehydrated last week. While I would tend to think that a higher hydration level would mean a higher scale reading, it may also be having the impact of reducing cravings and improving performance, thereby leading to a little more marginal weight loss. Bit of a mystery though.

Strength:
Back Squats Wk 3
Set 1: 5 reps at 150
Set 2: 3 reps at 170
Set 3: 7 reps at 190 

I did not feel strong on the last set of squats. I wonder if it has something to do with all the air squats on Monday and the thrusters yesterday.

Metcon:
"Elizabeth"
Complete 21-15-9
Power Clean, 135/105
Ring Dips

12:54 RX on the weight. Green band on the dips. 


Note: the Power Cleans were hard, but one good thing was that I felt like I was really using my legs and getting some explosiveness out of them. The ring dips were a bit of a joke. We hardly ever do dips of any kind and trying to do them on rings is just that much harder.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Grande Latte
Salad Bar

6/15/10 - Military Press Wk 3 + Metcon (Thrusters & OHS)

247.2

Strength:
Military Press Wk 3
Set 1: 5 reps at  #90 (75%)
Set 2: 3 reps at  #100 (85%)
Set 3: 1+ reps at #115 (95%)


Metcon:
Complete 3 rounds of
21 Thrusters (95/65)
15 OHS (95/65) - PVC

Time: 9 -something (call it 9:30)

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Grande Latte
Trout
Mixed Veggies
1 piece of Cod
5 Dove Mini
Decaf Latte

6/14/10 - "Barbara" - pullups, pushups, situps, squats

247.2

Metcon:
"Barbara"
Complete 5 rounds of:
20 Pullups
30 Pushups
40 Situps
50 Squats
Rest 3 minutes

Time: 26:43 (scaled to 3 rounds)

I may choose to miss this one. Yesterday was a little more than Active Rest, so I could use the extra rest day. Plus, I just don't feel like doing a whole bunch of body weight stuff for the better part of an hour, which is what this looks like it will take.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Salad Bar
3 Pork Tacos
Decaf Latte

6/13/10 - Discovery Park Loop Trail w/Pack

245.2

Workout:
Walked/Ran the loop trail at Discovery Park with a 16 - 18 pound pack. The main loop trail is 2.8 miles. I went the longer route that goes down to the beach. I think this route must go over 4 miles, probably 4.5 or so, but I don't know for sure. I'll try and find out. 

Time: 1 hr 12 mins with a couple of brief stops and some delays getting around the lighthouse. True baseline is probably 1 hr 5 mins if I avoid the lighthouse.

It felt awesome to do this. I've been doing this loop for years, sometimes with a pack and sometimes without, but I've never felt this strong. Usually, I'll trot down some of the slopes to improve my time, but this time I felt myself running for long stretches at a time and it felt really, really good. I kinda felt like I was back in bootcamp.As for the time result, I'm pretty sure every time I did this last year it took me at least 1 hr 40 mins. It blows me away how much stronger I am now. Next time I do this, I'll add some weight to the pack to get it up to 20 pounds. This is a real good Active Rest Day - type workout.

Food:
Bacon Cheeseburger at Blue Moon
Peanut Butter Shake (thanks Charlie)
Pork Chop
3 slices of bacon
2 eggs
1 Beer

6/12/10 - Rest Day

246.2

Rest Day - No real exercise


Food:
Cuban Roast Sandwich
Midnight Cuban Sandwich
Pizza
Several drinks
Chocolate Bar

6/11/10 - Back Squats Week 2 + Body Weight Metcon

245.2

Strength:
Back Squats wk 2
Set 1: 3 reps at 135
Set 2: 3 reps at 155
Set 3: 10 reps at 175


Metcon:
AMRAP 15 Minutes
10 Pullups (blue only for first two sets then added red band)
10 Pushups
10 Squats
10 situps

My result: 7 3/4 - got all the way through the squats on the last set

Food:
Yogurt Mix
2 chicken breasts
Banana
2 cheese sticks
Diablo

6/10/10 - Bench Press + Rowing Metcon

245.6

Strength:
Bench Press wk 2
Set 1 3 X 125
Set 2 3 X 145
Set 3 11 X 160

Metcon:
Rowing
1 X 1000m (moderate)
8 X 200 sprints with 45 secs between sets

In seconds: 46, 50, 49, 48, 48, 46, 48, 44

I wasn't real precise on the rest so in reality it was closer to 50 seconds rest on many of the sets. The thing to do with this one and the 250's is to shrink the rest periods by a few seconds each week. I also need to get benchmark 500m, 1000m, and 2000m times.

This is supposed to be a rest day so depending on how I feel this afternoon, I'll either do this workout or skip it and call it good. I can make up the Bench Press either tomorrow or over the weekend at LAF. The other option is to just do the Bench Press and skip the metcon, which will make this something like an active rest day. We'll see.

Update: I did both the rowing and the Bench Press. Results are up above. It will be interesting to see how these times improve over the next few months. I need to find time to do a running sprint workout and I'm contemplating the idea of hitting up a spinning class and adding that to the mix every couple of weeks. No, that isn't CrossFit methodology, but oh well. Spinning is still pretty hardcore.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Salad Bar
Steak Nachos
1 Beer

6/9/10 - Power Snatch Metcon

245.6

Metcon:
21-18-15-12-9 (75 reps total)
Power Snatch, #75/#45
200m run w/Medball, #20/#12

time: 20:32 


My time was the worst of all the people in all the classes. A couple people were only 2 or 2 1/2 minutes ahead of me, but still, this is getting frustrating. At six months in, I feel like I should be farther along, but maybe it will take a year. I know so much of this is body weight related. The difference in times between me and everyone else should start shrinking towards late summer, when my bodyweight gets down around 230.

I was thinking about taking a rest day today and then doing strength (Bench Press) tomorrow, but how can I possibly resist a Power Snatch Metcon? Plus, it turns out I may be busy tomorrow afternoon and won't be able to make it, so there you have it. I'll try to do Bench Press today but if not, and if I can't make it tomorrow, then I'll do it over the weekend.


Food:
Grande Latte
Indian Food - Lamb, chicken, brown rice, naan bread
Yogurt Mix
3 tacos 
Yogurt Mix (again)

6/8/10 - Military Press week 2 + Metcon

244.6

Strength-Week 2

Military Press
121.5 working 1RM
Set #1- 3 reps x 70% 1RM #85
Set #2- 3 reps x 80% 1RM #95
Set #3- 7 reps x 90% 1RM #105

Metcon
AMRAP 3 minutes
#1-Press (45)
Rest-3 minutes
#2-Push Press (41)
Rest 3-minutes
#3-Push Jerk (43)

129 reps

6/7/10 - Deadlifts (strength) + Deadlifts (metcon)

245.2

Strength-Week 2:
Deadlift
Set 1: 3 x 210
Set 2: 3 x 240
Set 3: 10 x 265

Note: originally figured 270 for the final round but Scott said we should round down not up, so I changed it to 265. 


Metcon:
Complete 5 rounds of:
5 one arm deadlift left hand (#135/#95)
5 one arm deadlift right hand (#135/#95)
10 Box Jumps (24"/20")
10 Pull-ups

Time: 13:12 at #95 and with the blue band. This went pretty well but I'm still a good 3 minutes behind the pack. The box jumps were the real killer here. Six months from now my body weight will be down another 20+ pounds and it'll be a different story.

Food:
Yogurt Mix
Grande Latte
Salad Bar
3 peanut butter girl scout cookies
2 cheese sticks with hummus
2 pork tacos

6/6/10 - Rest Day

246.2

Rest Day - If I can get to LAF in time, I'll make it an active rest day. The thing is, since we've started doing more strength training at CrossFit, it simply isn't as important to get an extra strength session in on the weekends. So, what I'll probably start doing at LAF are some of the things I don't have time for, like more rowing and more ab work. Working on stuff like lunges and bulgarian split squats is a good idea as well. If I were really motivated, I would start hitting the pool. Who knows, maybe a triathlon is in my future.

Food:
Banana
Single Tall Latte
Double Cheeseburger

6/5/10 - Rest Day

245.2

Rest Day

Food:
2 Maple Bars
Grande Latte

6/4/10 - Back Squats + "Karen" i.e. 150 WallBalls

246.2

Strength:
Back Squat
Warm-up: 5 X 3  at 100 (50%)
Set 1: 5 reps at 130 (65%)
Set 2: 5 reps at 150 (75%)
Set 3: 11 reps at 170 (85%)

Pretty psyched that we're going to focus more on back squats going forward. 

Metcon:
"Karen"
150 WallBalls (20/12)

No idea what a good Karen time is but I would imagine someone like Scott can blow through it in about 5 minutes. Myself, I'll be pretty happy with anything under 10 minutes and even there I'm not sure if that's the right time to shoot for. Also, I will definitely use the #12 ball. I want intensity out of this more than anything else. But, whatever time I end up with, this will be a really good one to revisit in a couple months to gauge progress. 

If I have the energy and it isn't raining, it would be a good idea to go to one of the local tracks and do some endurance work afterwards - something like 2 X 8min runs.

Update: Karen time was 15:19. I did the first 75 tosses with the #20 ball and then regressed to the #12. The #20 was just ridiculously heavy AND it was lopsided AND it was raining out AND we had just done back squats. Also, I wound up using the #20 only because Kim wanted to use the #12, which was the girls' RX. So, when she was done I switched out.

I really don't like wallballs. They suck.

Food:
Grande Latte
Fried Chicken (Breast, Thigh, 2 legs)
Biscuit (ate 2/3)
Coleslaw
Yogurt Mix
I cheese stick
El Diablo
Quesadilla 

*Fried chicken special totally not worth it. No flavor at all and definitely not a good meal 4 hours before my workout. I can feel it sitting in my stomach. Oh well.

Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 Program

So I don't lose it, here is the link to the article about Wendler's 5/3/1 program. This is the program we are starting to follow at Stoneway.

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/how_to_build_pure_strength

6/3/10 - Bench Press and Power Snatches

247.2

Not surprised at this weight reading. No, I don't think I gained five pounds overnight, but I imagine all of the salt in last night's meal has me holding in a lot of liquids. Another day of the salad bar and something healthy for dinner should adjust things back.

Strength:
Bench Press
Set 1: 5 reps at 120
Set 2: 5 reps at 135
Set 3: 11 reps at 155
then I cheated and did one more set of 5 at 155

I'm pretty psyched about the Bench Press. I know it isn't the most important CrossFit lift, but it's very important for personal appearance. I would really like to build out my pecs over the next six months. How cool would it be to be able to bench 300 at some point? Also, I think I've mentioned this before, but I really think the Bench Press is underrated as a CrossFit lift. It IS a compound lift that exercises both pecs and triceps and I think there must be some nervous system benefits to pushing heavy loads from that position. Most guys that are strong are at least decent at the Bench Press.

Power Snatches
5, 5, 5, 5, 1
100, 105, 110, 115, 120

This was meant to be all sets of 5 but I failed on my second rep at 120. The original plan was for the Power Snatches to be the metcon, but I decided at the last minute to do a strength progression with them instead. That might not have been the best decision. After hitting them hard last week AND doing deadlifts both last week (for max) and yesterday (wednesday), it might have made more sense to de-load and do something like Randy (75 reps at #75), which coincidentally is what the main site programmed today.

Metcon:
Rowing
1000m warmup
5 X 250m sprints with 1 minute between sets
times: 58, 59, 59, 61, 61

Interesting times on these sprints. Not sure if I should go shorter or longer distance next time. I'm tempted to go shorter - something like 10 X 100m with 30 seconds between sets and THEN do a long one - something like 3 X 1000m or 2 X 2000m.

Food:
Salad Bar
Calzone (late night)

Got stuck at my Mom's house last night and hadn't eaten anything when I was heading back to my place, so I got the late night junk food. Overall, this hasn't been a good week for the diet. Next week is the last week of the contest so I need to make sure I'm eating well each of those days.

6/2/10 - Deadlifts + Metcon

243.2

This weight reading is awesome. I know my scale is only accurate within a pound or so, but that's why I weigh myself every morning rather than just once per week. It would seem that I have a legitimate shot at getting under 240 before the contest is over. I have a feeling I'm going to win this thing pretty handily. If I can get to 239 by the end of next week, I should make my goal of getting to 235 by the end of June. This puts me on target to be sub-230 on my birthday and sub-220 by the end of the year. Sub-220 will mean I lost more than 40 pounds in 2010, which would be pretty awesome. Also, at that point, I should be doing unassisted pullups and basically flying through most metcons. It'll be interesting to see what my Fran time is in November. It should be around 7 minutes. Also, my 5K time should be down under 25 minutes, which will feel awesome.

Strength:
Deadlifts
Set 1 65%: 5 at #195
Set 2 75%: 5 at #225
Set 3 85%: 8 at #250

Metcon:
21-15-9
Deadlifts (#225, #165)
400m Run

11:12 at #190

This metcon doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Maybe this is only for the people that don't do the strength workout. I'm going to ask Scott if I can do Power Snatches instead. Weight for Power Snatches would probably be #105 or #110.

Update: did the prescribed workout but lowered the weight to #190.

Food:
Grande Latte
Salad Bar
Burger (cheese and bacon)
Onion Rings
Lemonade
Peanut Butter Shake

6/1/10 - Military Press (week 1) & Metcon (KB, Burpees, Squat Hops)

244.2

Strength:
Week 1
Military Press-5/3/1
Set #1-65% of 1RM  (5 at #80)
Set #2-75% of 1RM  (5 at #95)
Set #3-85% of 1RM  (10 at #105)
all reps of 5 except the last one you do as many reps as possible.

Metcon:
AMRAP 3 minutes
5 KB Swing/5 Burpees/10 Squat hops
Rest 1:30
repeat for 3 more cycles

My results: 2, 2 1/3, 2 1/3, 2 1/3

This metcon was a bitch. I can't remember one recently that's blown me out like this one.

Food:
Grande Latte
Salad Bar
Tall Latte
Piece of fish
Dick's Deluxe
Fries
Tartar