During the 11 days off I have been doing some jump roping in the morning and have taken to completing a lot of push ups throughout the day.

Here are some dates and total push up volumes:
20080211 – 73
20080214 – 40
20080219 – 56
20080220 – 201
20080221 – 300
20080222 – 531
20080225 – 287

I have also been doing standard pull ups and also focusing a lot on getting back into ring dips–nothing I’d classify as a “workout”. I have been taking the ring dips very easily. It’ll still be a little while before getting it into a real workout.

Today’s session:
WARM UP
3:00 Jump rope
10 x Overhead Squat with a broomstick

MAIN COURSE
7 x Pull ups
7 x 50 lb dumbbell snatch per arm
7 x Burpees
5 rounds for time. 16:49

WARM DOWN
none.

This workout was similar to the Magic 50 with less repetitions. I was looking to break 20 minutes on my return workout and was able to get that done. As with all of the magic 50-esque workouts it was harder than I expected.

I got my hands on a digital camera. I’ll try to incorporate images.

WARM UP
5:00 jump rope.
Joint warm up.

MAIN COURSE
The custom workout was:
2 x 75 lb. Sandbag shoulders.
4 x overhead presses (50 lbs per hand)
6 x pull ups

As many rounds as possible in 20:00.

result: 11 rounds + 2 sandbag shoulders + 4 OH presses.
Mentally it was intense, but I didn’t really follow through. I should have done more than a measly 11 rounds.

WARM DOWN
3:00 Jump rope.

I have been throwing in a good 5-10 minutes of jump roping every morning to get the blood flowing.

MAIN COURSE

Burpees, Pull ups, One arm dumbbell snatches 50 lbs.
rep scheme 40, 30, 20, 10. Snatches are done per arm (e.g. 40 is 20 per arm).
For time.

Result: 54:31:40

Today’s session was made on the fly with specificity in mind. I figured it’d focus on pulls and burpees. I figured I’d throw some one arm snatches to maintain fatigue. It was a good thing I didn’t give more thought to the workout or I wouldn’t have gone through with it.

After the first round I was pooped. I even sat down and was ready to stop. I stopped the time. I sat for about a minute and came to the realization that I couldn’t quit. This workout was very tough for me. I haven’t maintained that level of intensity or anaerobic work for such a long period of time. I’m sure I was going aerobic (biologically speaking) but the movements were explosive movements that really can’t be done like an long slow jog. I’m glad I didn’t quit.

WARM DOWN
3:00 Jump rope.

This was definitely one of the more killer ones that I have done.

No warm up or joint work. Just went in dead and cold.

25 Walking Lunge Steps
20 Pull ups
50 Box jump overs
20 Double unders
50 Pushups
20 Knees to elbows
30 Swings (50 lbs)
30 Sit ups
10 Dumbbell snatches per arm (50 lbs)
25 Dead lift (75 lb. sand bag)
30 Overhead press (50 lb dumbbell)

Typically this is done for time. I was working out with a partner and equipment was shared/he hadn’t fully done one of these kinda workouts before. I was pretty tired during the workout and could have regulated my rest a LOT better. Either way, work completed. There wasn’t too much dead time which was good.

“There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics and the Great Pumpkin.”
- Linus Van Pelt

WARM UP
Joint warm up
3 x ring dips
10 x push ups
10 x sit ups
3 rounds
3:00 Jump rope

I was feeling not all there during warm up. I had to shake that thought and gain some focus.

MAIN COURSE
Not one to pass up a good pulling opportunity I did the workout on Crossfit’s site today, with some slight modifications. I didn’t have a 40 lb dumbbell, and I don’t have the shoulder flexibility so I am not able to do squat snatches. I did power snatches instead.

Crossfit “Joshie”
21 x 50 lb snatch right arm
21 x L-pull ups
21 x 50 lb snatch left arm
21 x L-pull ups
3 rounds for time.
Result: 43:00:00.

This was a pretty rough workout. All of the snatches went quickly and the pulls took forever as I had to do mainly singles. I didn’t really start engaging my lats until the last two sets of pulls. I think I could have broken 40 minutes if I engaged my lats earlier. All pulls were done with the non-opposable thumb grip. I also didn’t let my hands rotate past parallel (since they were performed on rings).

According to memory and what little written records I have, I believe this is now the most pull-ups I’ve done in the shortest amount of time. This workout was similar to the one I did yesterday, it was just scaled out significantly. Another three day cycle complete.

WARM DOWN
1:30 jump roping. I felt fresh, but my calves didn’t. They cramped on me and I called it a day.

Today’s set was fever fives…

WARM UP
Joint warmups
3 x Ring Dips
5 x Overhead squats
10 x situps
3 rounds

3:00 Jump rope
Basic dynamic stretches.

During/after the warm up I was feeling really fresh and I figured that the workout would be a good one. Re-introducing Ring Dips into the mix, but VERY SLOWLY, as I’ve got to be easy on the shoulders. I think the last venture with Ring Dips was too fast.

never the less,
I’m hella Fresh,…

MAIN COURSE
5 x pull ups
5 x 50lb dumbbell snatches per arm
5 x Overhead Press (50 lb. in each arm)
5 x 50lb dumbbell swings
5 x 75 lb sandbag dead lift
5 x burpees
5 Rounds for time
RESULT: 20:00:00

Unfortunately, I made the mistake of using my Cell phone as a stop watch. When someone calls, the stop watch stops timing for whatever reason. I received two calls. Judging by call logs I was off about 3 minutes with my timing. The final time with the watch restarted had 17 minutes, which explains the 20:00 time. NOTE TO SELF: DON’T USE CELL PHONE FOR TIMING.

The main purpose of this workout was to do split up major pushing and pulling movements by things that induce fatigue. As a result the major movements would have to be done while messed up enforcing a greater level of concentration. I was also hoping that doing the major movements under stress would help single set efforts in the future. The major moves in this case were Pull ups, Overhead Presses, and Dead Lifts. Movements that generally get me very tired are snatches, swings, and burpees. 20 minutes later I got more than what I asked for.

There were many moments of unregulated rest where I thought I wasn’t going to make it. The most difficult stretches were the Snatch, Press, Swing sequence. By the time I hit the dead lifts I was very tired. Seeing as how my burpees are so weak, that was the perfect lead in for the pull ups. All pull ups and press sets were done unbroken. I was beat. By the end of the workout all I could think about was lying down.

Unless you pull out the phat, crispy
Five dollar bill on the real before its history
Cos fools be havin them vaccum lungs,
An if you let em hit it for free,
You hollar dum-dum-dum-dum

WARM DOWN
3:00 easy jump roping.

During and after the warm down I was feeling good again. I did some random pull up sets and finished out. I attempted some one arm lock offs and was the closest I’ve ever been to doing them. My fear with changing my training protocol has been that my pulling power would be suffer. Thankfully the opposite is happening.

Then ease up,
Speed up through the eso,
Drink the vsop with a lemon squeeze up

Repeat 50,40,30,20,10….
I figured i’d skip warm up and head to catch the super bowl. Big mistake.

I wasn’t feeling double unders and also my workout area was tight and wet outside etc. To make a long story short I fell into what was going to be the Crossfit “Cindy” routine (refer to earlier posts), but that fell apart.

Here is what I ended up doing
20 Mins of chaos
4 rounds of Cindy (5 pull, 10 push, 15 squats)
2 x 75lb sand bag shoulders
2 x pull ups
5 x 50 lb snatch per arm
3 x pull ups
3 x overhead press (50 lb dumbell in each hand)
10 x push ups
5 x 50 lb swing
2:30 jump rope
10 x push ups
20 x single leg dead lift (10 per leg)
5 x snatch per arm
5 x pull ups
50 x sit ups
5 x pull ups
1:40 jump rope
12 x push ups
2 x L pull ups
12 x jumping jacks

Kinda sad but I think the key was that I did something. The workout devolved but I managed to hang on and throw something together. No excuses!

pre-bed, post-dinner, in room
Pushups, Squats, Curls, Janda Sit-ups
Four rounds
Rep scheme: 40,30,20,10
For time.

Result: 22:07:13. Doing the Sit-ups Janda style killed me. Otherwise the time should have been faster.

After that I did a NEN (no equipment needed) workout.

As suggested by one of the strongest pullers around

25 x biceps curl per arm
50 x pushups
3 rounds

Yes it says bicep curl. I don’t really need to do any defendin’ here on specificity and junk like that. In any case, I was feelin’ the hurt from dinner whilst doing this workout.

Time to complete, the duration of the following songs:
Ladies And Gentleman My Brother, The Failure
At This Velocity
Counting 5-4-3-2-1
Running from the Rain
Steps Ascending

All pushups done with full extension, chest to floor, elbows in tight to the sides and in.