Last Week's Recap

I was swamped at work and wasn't able to keep up with the daily posts last week, so I'm using this mega-post to recap the workouts and feelings associated therewith (oh wow, that was blatant lawyer-speak) in a nutshell.

As mentioned before, I was battling the remnants of an ugly cold last week along with a stupid bicep strain that was interfering with a lot more movements than I anticipated. Pressing, jerking, etc. all felt great going up, but it was the returning the loaded bar to starting position at my shoulders that caused a ton of pain and eventual imbalance and failure on the right side. I took it relatively easy in an effort to avoid doing more damage to the muscle, so I can't help but feel like it was a bit of a waste of a week. On a better note, my diet continued to improve. I had my last hurrah of cheat meals pre-paleo challenge over the weekend and am rarin' to go now that the challenge is in full swing.

Here are my workout summaries from last week:

1/4/10 Workouts

PART I: CFC
Jerks 3-3-3+
98 x 3, 112 x 3, 126 x 3 -- was supposed to go max reps, but the landing of the bar back onto my shoulders hurt too much each time. I started coming down really imbalanced and the pain in my arm was radiating up to my shoulder, so I called it quits after 3 reps.

4 Rounds: 15 KBS (20kg), 15 push press (53#)
5:38
1st 2 rounds were unbroken for both movements. KBS were a sub for pull ups since I couldn't do them due to the arm.

PART II: Quads
After the 7 PM class ended, I was too frustrated to go home, so I went to Quads to meet Dave for another workout. I'm really glad I did this because I was able to work through some of the anger developing regarding my arm, lungs, and general shitty schedule.
Bench Press
Bar x 10, 65 x 10, 75 x 8, 85 x 5, 95 x 5

"Clean" Deadlifts (deadlift with clean form rather than deadlift form; used oly shoes)
60kg x 5, 70kg x 5, 70kg x 5

Hang Snatch Drops (another accessory lift recommended by Roger; start position is legs barely bent)
20kg x 5

1/5/10 Workout

3 x L-Sits for max hold on parallettes (1 min rest)

33s, 30s, 29s

20 Rep Squat @ 140 lbs

Rudy suggested I work on strength endurance and a mentally challenging workout since my arm and lung capacity had me so hindered.  I had heard about the 20 rep squat program, and if anyone's looking for something mentally taxing, that is IT.  Good grief.  Here's the progression of feelings: Around rep 8, you decide you're not having fun anymore.  At rep 11, the legs get very tight and protest every descent, so you try to "fix" the bad feelings by shifting the bar alternately higher and lower on your back.  When you complete rep 14, it dawns on you that the end is near and you're actually capable of finishing the set.  Reps 16 - 20 are all singles, each time willing yourself to stand back up with the weight.  Then, you're done and you can admire the developing bruises on your back and enjoy the lightheadedness.  I finished the set pretty quickly, I think.  My longest breather was about 3 seconds, and I stayed under the bar the whole time.  Phew...

1/9/10 Workouts

PART I: WCS w/ Roger (and Mandie!)

(All weights in kilos here)

Snatch

25 x 3, 30 x 3, 35 x 1-0-1, 40 x 2, 45 x 1, 45 x 1, 45 x 1, 47.5 x 1, 47.5 x 1, 47.5 x 0 (too slow), 47.5 x 1 (good, fast)

Clean & Jerk -- arm felt OK for awhile, but then I had to stop

35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 2, 50 x 2

Jerk -- the upward movement felt great, but bringing the bar back down hurt too much to continue much higher in weight

55 x 1, 60 x 1

Hang Snatch Drops

15 x 3, 25 x 3

Dynamic Start Snatch Work -- Roger is trying to get me to move to a dynamic start on my snatches to avoid losing my power by sitting at the start of the lift for too long

25 x 5, 25 x 3

PART II: CFC

OHS (trying to find 1RM -- previous was 125#)

Bar x 10, 83 x 5, 103 x 1, 123 x 1, 133 x 0 (couldn't get bar up overhead to start), 133 x 1!

Took the bar from the high rack for the successful 133 attempt at Alison's suggestion, which made it much easier.  I need to get better at getting the bar overhead.  It's ridiculous that my OHS has been limited by my ability to get the stupid bar up into position.  IMPROVE THIS.

Pull Ups -- arm was feeling a bit better, so I maybe pushed these farther than I should have

10 kipping, 5 CTB, 5 CTB, 5 CTB (last rep took 3 attempts), 15 kipping (broken into 3s as the arm started fatiguing)

1/10/10 Workout

Bench (find 1RM -- previous best was 135# more than 2 years ago)

Bar x 5, 86 x 5, 105 x 2, 115 x 1, 125 x 1, 135 x 1, 140 x 1 (woo!), 145 x 0, 142 x 1 (woo!), 145 x 0

Lots and lots of thanks to Mandie, Amy, Kerry, and Rick for helping me through those later attempts.  I was shocked by how easily the 135 went up to match my previous best, which, as I recall, was a hell of a struggle back when I made it (weighing a fair amt. more than I do now).

500m row

1:55

I can comfortably row sub-2:00 on a regular basis now, so I'm pleased with that.  Now that I'm all recovered from the cold, it's time to jump back into those metcons.