Back Squat - 6 x 2 at 80% (285 lb.)

Started out the day with heavy back squats. I warmed up with a few sets and started on the back squats. I had a good day at the weight wrack, every set was great with the last two being the most difficult. I finished with enough time to set up for the days WOD.

WOD - For Time

21 toes to bar

15 deadlifts (115 lb.)

9 box jumps (24 in.)

21 pull ups 

15 power cleans (115 lb.)

9 box jumps (24 in.)

21 chest to bar pull ups

15 shoulder to overheads (115 lb.)

9 box jumps (24 in.)

At first glance this workout looks long but it goes by quickly. My concerns for this workout were the bar movements. 21 toes to bar, pull ups and chest to bars are going to suck. Mainly because I'm bad at them. Everything else didn't seem too bad. The barbell movements and box jumps were going to be cake next to the bar work.

As expected, the bar work was rough. I wanted to do most of the reps unbroken but I couldn't. I broke the toes to bar into sets of five or less. The pull ups were done in sets of five or a more and the chest to bars were in sets of two to five reps. I had to do singles by the end of chest to bar pull ups. The dead lifts and power cleans were not as hard. I finished the deadlifts unbroken and I finished the power cleans in two sets. The shoulder to overhead was also done unbroken, using a power jerk instead of a push press. I finished the workout at 11:44, under the 15 minute time cap. I was hoping I would finish under 10 minutes but the bar work was a lot harder than expected.

Tuesday

Gymnastics Skill Day

V-ups (3 second count)

Strict ring dips

Chest to bar pull ups

Worked on some strict movements and chest to bars. The original movement was strict toes to bar but since I can not complete those, I scaled down to v ups. The strict ring dips were not too bad. Was able to go unbroken on all sets. I tend to pull my legs up like I'm doing an L sit when doing dips, so I worked on keeping straight. The chest to bar pull ups were just as hard as Monday. I'm not able to string that many together yet and my form looks bad after a set or two. I took a lot of rest between sets. 

WOD 

CrossFit Open Workout 15.4 

AMReps in 8 minutes

3 handstand push ups

3 cleans (185 lb.)

6 handstand push ups

3 cleans (185 lb.)

Since the open is a month away, the gym is retesting last years open workouts. I was excited for this one since I didn't do that well last year. I wrote a post about it which you can read HERE. Last year I was only able to complete 21 reps but this year I was able to complete 51 reps, a PR of 30 reps! I was able to hit 21 reps at about three minutes into the workout. I was stoked. I didn't think I would be going this quick. I've been working on a lot of press work, mainly strict HSPU's and strict press. My cleans felt great as well. I struggled a bit last year but not this time.

The handstand push ups were the hardest part, as always. I started struggling during the last few reps of 12 HSPUs. I took a short rest before I started on the cleans but it wasn't enough. I struggled on the last few reps of my HSPUs before they called time. I was exhausted but I felt great. I knew I just smashed my old PR and I was riding that feeling. Hopefully I do better in this years Open. 

Thursday

Push Press 3RM 

Warmed up with the bar and slowly started adding weight. I didn't have a number in mind when loading the bar. My previous lifts were done at 165 lb. and I felt I had gained more strength since then. I worked up to 185 lb. and focused on my form. My right wrist was a bit tight so I stopped and stretched it a bit before the WOD.

WOD

CrossFit Open Wokrout 15.5

27-21-15-9

Row (cal.)

Thruster (95 lb.)

If you didn't do this workout last year, good for you. It was one of the worse workouts I've done. I remember laying on the ground for a few minutes before standing up. I wrote about it last year in this POST. This time around, I was determined to do better. After seeing my score from 15.4 improve significantly, I figured I would crush my new 15.5 time. I was wrong, very wrong.

The rows started great, I had a good pace and finished ready to get into my first round of thrusters. I broke up the first round into three sets, trying to set a good pace for these as well. I hit a wall after the second round. I kept repeating "finish" in my head, like a mantra to get through the rest of the workout. As the time cap loomed I tried to go faster but it wasn't fast enough. I finished the workout at 15:05, five seconds after the time cap. It was a small PR of 13 seconds but it was short of what I wanted. I've made some improvements over the year but I still have a lot more room to improve.

Lift Heavy and Level Up!