S2B plus, making a better Buk

[Buk]

Thanks Kuri, not sure about their strength; but my legs are quite sore, and have been since Monday. Not sure about my pull-ups, maybe the extra effort in the thrusters zapped some of my pull-up capacity. But I still should be further ahead of where I was 2 months ago. 1/2 "Angie" took me nearly 9 minutes for 50 pull-ups. It is obvious I was off then, since yesterday was 45 pull-ups and thrusters in basically the same amount of time. Hopefully I am still recovering and not yet at 100%

No problem Dave. Log style chat like in your post is NOT something I want to discourage. I just didn't want a long dialog about range of motion or the value/devalue of kipping which is a bit of a tangent to fill my log, espically when I created another post for that purpose. Basically anything that would likely turn into a lengthly, specific exchange is what I wanted to keep elsewhere. Discussing what I did, reflecting on your own training as similar/dissimilar, talking about future plans, etc. is all log relevant and belongs here. I probably didn't do such a great job explaining this in the previous post.

I welcome all thoughts, questions, and reflections spurred by my log.

[Buk]

Thursday, November 17,2005

-Front Squat
145x5
155x5
165x5
165x5

Got through these front squats with realitive ease. I was pretty sore when I started, and felt stronger on the last rep than the first. This workout feels pretty measly with one of the recent Crossfit workouts having 84 front squats at 185 pounds and 84 situps on a glute-ham developer - done for time. But I am going to stick with the Hatch progression for now, intermingled with Crossfit workouts. I just didn't have time to get anything in earlier today. Unless you count wrestling with a 6 year old, 18 month old and a pair of 4 year olds for about and hour. It was fun!

[Buk]

Friday, November 18, 2005
Weight: 197

7 rounds for time
-Push Press 93 lbs, 15 reps
-Box Jumps 24 inches, 15 reps
-Rev-Hyper 70 lbs, 15 reps

20:54 total
1:50, 2:51, 3:16, 3:17, 3:10, 3:22, 3:08
6:59 Push Press, 6:37 Box Jumps, 7:18 Rev-Hyper
This was a cool workout - I love plyos, and that is basically all this was. I averaged right at a minute per 15 reps. Most sets were partitioned as 10 then 5. The breaks aerobically necessary, but mentally initiated. I am not unhappy with the result, but I need to get better at shutting my mind down and just working. Time on the different exercises was pretty consistent, but the numbers probably aren't super accurate because sometimes I would catch my breath before, and sometimes after hitting the lap button between exercises. And after the first 2 rounds, the round time was fairly consistent. I do my box jumps with a pause on the box, not on the ground. I drop off the box and rebound up - making them as plyometric as possible.

[kuri]

That's alot of push presses Craig! I'm sure that'll improve your Fran next time around (not that your time wasn't great).

I agree about the mental aspect. When I do Fran, Mary etc... I just try and get in a zone where all else in blocked and I just plow thru each exercise, finish and get on the next one without thinking. Not that I'm successful at it, but just a goal. I worry about rep breakdown, analyzing technique afterwards.

Good idea on the box jumps too - I'll try the pause at the top next time.

[Buk]

Thanks Kuri! I am always thinking about next set, or where to allow a rest for optimum performance, or last set/workout. When what I need to be doing is not thinking at all and working as hard as I can, then using the vidoe/watch to evaluate my performance and plan for next workout.

I like the top pause box jumps - depth jumps. But that is a fairly intense level plyo exercise, and I think some of these workouts might have a little too much volume perform them this way. The last 3 times have left my calf on the injured side of sore for a few days. They also seem to coincide with push presses a lot in the WOD - which makes the plyo level even higher. I seem to be slowly adapting to the level of volume on them so I will probably continue to perform them this way, but that is my warning.

[Buk]

Sunday, November 20, 2005

"Cindy"
20 minutes of:
-Pull-ups, 5 reps
-Push-ups, 10 reps
-Squats, 15 reps

12 rounds at 18:03(12 rounds at 20:26, 53 days previous)
1:30 average(12 second improvement)

Today

0:44

1:36

2:46

4:01

5:26

6:34

8:14

10:14

12:10

14:20

16:37

18:03

September 28

0:43

1:36

2:37

3:56

5:21

6:42

8:54

11:13

13:32

16:05

18:18

20:26

August 11

0:44

1:52

3:10

4:53

7:00

9:05

11:26

13:49

15:58

18:02

19:48

Repeat workout of September 28(53 days ago). Still the push-ups are my biggest nemesis on this workout. I am happy with my improvement, but not totally thrilled. I did this at my old elementary school playground. The pull-up bar was a little bit thick and also very low, I had to bend at the waist a bit to keep my knees from hitting. This made any kind of kipping completly impossible. Also the surface was deep pea gravel, but that had a minimal impact. Maybe slightly different heights for my hands and feed during the push-ups and squats. I think part way through I improved my push-up technique a little. I did better with a slightly wider hand placement and focusing on pushing my hands out, it also seemed a little less painful on my shoulder. My time was fairly consistent with my previous effort up through the first 6 rounds. I picked up 2:15 in the last 6 rounds.

This workout was surrounded by a half mile walk with my dad to then home from the playground where I went to elementary school. Much of the apparatus was the same stuff I climbed on when I was 8 years old. It was an enjoyable time.

[kuri]

Working out at your old school sounds fun. I like to shoot hoops at my old elementary school when back too.

Congrats on the improvement with Cindy. I bet if you were at your usualy gym you would have done more rounds.

btw, how come you stopped at 18mins?

Good idea on adjusting your hand position for pushups, it does make a big difference. Now that you've found a stance in which your shoulder isn't as stressed I expect even better scores from you - watch out! [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Can you do PUs with a very narrow hand placement? I sometimes switch to those when my shoulders/chest are exhausted and put the focus on tris.

[BamaDave]

That's a lot of improvement on Cindy, and even more so when looking at your progression from Aug to Sept to now. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Buk]

Thanks guys, slow and steady, 20 round "Cindy" will be mine some day. There is no good reason for stopping at 18 minutes. I walked to the playground with my pops and found the best apparatus for pull-ups. He knew my workout was 20 minutes, so he headed off to trek a few more blocks and I got started. I was just starting a set of pull-ups when I could hear him return behind me, and I knew my time was close; so I just finished off that round and called it good.

My shoulder would perfer I not do narrow grip push-ups.

[Buk]

Monday, November 21, 2005

"Grace"
For time:
Clean & Jerk 135 pounds, 30 reps

10:24 total
This was a new one, and I wasn't really sure what to expect. Overall I am happy with my effort and pleased with my results. I would have liked to break 10 minutes though - but there is always next time. This was done in mini-sets of mostly doubles and tripples. Eliminating the doubles and working in tripples or more is the goal for next time. 6 tripples is the same amount of work as 9 doubles, but with 1/3 fewer mini breaks.

[Buk]

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

-Squat
165x10
185x8
195x8
215x8

-Deadlift
225x3
275x2
315x1
365x1+1
385x0
335x1+1+1

I had a nice workout and nice conversation in the gym today. The squats felt solid, still not a lot of weight, but they are deep as you can imagine and coming up with some pop. I am sticking to the Hatch squat progression for now, only on workout 2. My only worry is that the progression percentages are designed for more experienced lifters who would see slower gains in max lifts. I may need to increase my assumed max(input into the prescribed loads) during the course of the 24 workouts, as I hope to improve faster(for the time being) than someone who is lifting 215KG.

As I was finishing off my squats Cappy showed up to start her TT workout for the day. She was pulling 135 for sets of 8

The 365 deadlift was a personal best, and felt pretty stong too. 385 was close, I got it up around my knees, but then let to go - deferred success for the 385. I wish I had video of todays lifts, I really would like to see my form on these. I know my upper back rounds quite a bit, but I am not sure if that is bad? I don't know exactly what my lower back is doing. The weight goes up, and I feel good during and afterwards. I brought this subject up in the Training Forum.

[hard_rox]

awesome time for "grace", Craig, and congrats on the 365 lb PB!!!

[kuri]

Congrats on the DL PR Buk!

I hope to reach those numbers before long- thanks for the inspiration.

[cappuccino]

You should've seen that PB happen...and then he went for more. MOre reps and more weight.

Was fun chatting and thanks for watching my deadlift form! I'm gonna hit your PB (or a nice fraction of) one day. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[BamaDave]

Good job on the Deadlift PB! Congrats!!! And after a bunch of squats.

[kmwest]

Wow. Awesome.

[Adam H.]

Do you ever do rack pulls? They might help you blast through that sticking point. They don't really help me much, but if I get a weight a couple of inches off the ground I can lock it out.

A lot of taller lifters round thier upper backs a bit. A video would help a lot.

Nice work. Keep the PRs coming!

Adam

[Buk]

Thanks guys. I was happy about the PB, but I had to go for more, trying to impress the ladies! Probably could have ground out 385 on a second try, but it would have been real ugly, and there was no need. I took a bit of a break after the squats, and used very generous rest breaks during the deadlifts. I don't think 405 is too far off.

I definately need to video a few heavy lifts, and will next time; I was out of town and no where near my video camera yesterday. I doubt they look great. I haven't ever done rack pulls, and likely won't unless I come across a need to specialize in the deadlift. Powerlifting is not a specific goal; and PRs are nice, but a measure, not an objective.