Are Weak Men Allowed To Post Routines!?

[lifesnotfair]

24.11.2008

Warm-ups... I felt kinda crappy this morning. I ate a ton this weekend, I need to get serious with food. Pants are tight now

Squats: 95x5, 145x5, 175 (I think?) x3 ...

205x2 - ugh, it felt so heavy.... at this point I got angry and depressed. Wanted to quit working out. Started saying to myself how much I hate squatting, being compressed under the bloody bar... argh, was gonna stop the workout all together. But I decided to try again after 5-6 minutes rest.

205x5 x3 sets. Got it done. Grinding reps, but got them.

Pendlay rows: 95x5, 115x5, 150x5 x3 sets.

DB bench press: 43x5, 58x5, 78x5 x3 sets - yay! I must be at my strongest ever on DB bench, feels nice.

One arm DB hammer curl: 45.5x8. Some hanging leg raises.

[lifesnotfair]

25.11.2008

Played a bit of tennis... right elbow ached afterwards, I need to let it rest. It hurts if I curl something with a supinated grip, or do a chin-up with underhand grip. But no problem at all if I use overhand grip for pull-ups... It went away after a couple of weeks of only using overhand grip on stuff, so I'll do the same. It kills my ego to do weighted pull-ups and not chin-ups, as I handle less weight, but oh well.

26.11.2008

21, 15 and 9 reps of:

33# DB thrusters (that's a front squat with the dumbells, and push-press at the top)

Kipping pull-ups.

Total time: 5:40 - 16 secs improvement over a month ago. Very little improvement, but oh well, an improvement none the less.

[lifesnotfair]

27.11.2008

Quads sore from yesterday's workout. High reps in short time does this. Damn.

Warm-ups....

Squats: 95x5, 145x5, 175x3

210x5

210x4 - argh! Failed the 5th... it had been a long while since I failed a squat. But it's a mental thing, SO....

210x5 - yeah, I knew I had it in me. Grinding reps.

One arm DB press: 33x5, 43x5

Right: 60.5x5 x3 sets.

Left: 60.5x5, x4 (failed 5th), x2 (felt so heavy and I felt so tired, I didn't even go for a third, but I kinda knew I wouldn't get it).

Left arm lagging, gonna have to start using different weights here. It's not super strict though, I use no hip drive, but some shoulder drive I guess you could say, like a quick shrug upwards...

One arm DB push press:

Right: 88x5 x2 sets.

Left: 80.5x5 x2 sets.

This was tough, specially after those presses, arms feeling tired. I wanted to quit the workout, I was pretty tired... but decided to keep going!!

One arm DB row: 53x5, 88x5 x3 sets. Only one warm-up set here, was tired like I said.

One arm DB hammer curl: 48x8 - last couple of reps with each arm not very strict.

[lifesnotfair]

29.11.2008

Deadlift: 115x5, 165x5, 205x5

255x5 x3 sets - taped all 3 sets, looked nice. It was not easy though, last reps of every set were pretty slow.

DB Bench press: 43x5, 58x5

80.5x5

80.5x0 - failed the clean, in a way that my right elbow and shoulder ached. Elbow still aching now.

80.5x5

80.5x4 - fourth rep was a grinder, I failed the fifth. Still a PR on DB bench.

Pull-ups, OH grip: BWx5 (felt sooo weak!), +30x5, +30x5, +30x4 .... on the very last rep of the very last set, it seems that I let my shoulder get a bit too "stretched" at the hang possition... when I went to pull, I felt a huge "crack" in my left shoulder, with pain, so I obviously didn't continue trying to get that rep. It was at the very start, at the bottom of the movement.

I don't know what happened, but it now hurts my shoulder when I put my arm behind me. Only with that motion though. I hope I did not injure myself. My damned "subluxation" of my shoulders is what caused this, I know it, it's how it feels. Maybe I need so strengthen those stabilizres some more before I continue. I should maybe do some Turkish Get-ups... I hate being able to subluxate my shoulders at will, coz it sucks if it happens "accidentally" while lifting, as I have to focus on not letting it happen.

Sometimes weight training can suck, now I have this shoulder and my right elbow aching. The right elbow is the one I've mentioned has been aching if I curl with suppinated grip.. when I failed that clean with 80.5 dumbells, I tried to fight it since I can't drop my DB's here... and this is the result, argh!!

[lifesnotfair]

01.12.2008

Shoulder is wrecked. I think nothing major, as it's better than two days ago, but still not fine. I am now smarter (hah) and know that I shouldn't push it in these conditions, so I gotta skip today's workout. Even the Squats , since putting my elbow too far behind me is what causes a bit of pain right now. So I did this workout instead:

150 alternate pistols for time. (75 per leg, on the floor).

Time: 9:55.

Nice - two months ago while I healed a wrist, I did this one, but since I had very sore hip flexors from sprinting, I stood on a box, to reduce the work done by the lower leg. Today was on the floor, I have not done pistols as part of any workout for a long while, and I'm a bit fatter than two months ago (maybe a bit stronger too? Who knows)... and I still got a better time, so at least I was happy.

Also, today is the day I start eating more right. I've said this a million times, but eventually one time will be the one I actually stick to it. We'll see, I've got my plan written down and I hope I have no problem following it. I'm just a bad sad I could not continue with the strength training due to my shoulder, because I was seeing gains in pretty much every movement.

[lifesnotfair]

03.12.2008

Buttocks quite sore from all those pistols. Quads a bit sore, specially right one.

Left shoulder still not recovered, so taking it easy...

40, 30, 20, 10 reps of:

Rope jump Double Unders.

Sit-ups (feet anchored).

Time: 6:50.

I actually did about 15 DU's in the last set just for fun. I think in the latter sets I got the groove of the DU's and was doing them without having to bend my knees in the air. In the first set I had to bend my knees (raise my feet towards my butt) and it's a waste of energy.

[lifesnotfair]

04.12.2008

Shoulder a bit better, seems to be recovering, but some movements are better avoided right now. So I did this workout, which did not bother me.

30, 25, 20, 15, 10 and 5 reps of:

Virtual Shoveling**

Push-ups on my fists.

Total time: 26:26.

** Virtual Shoveling: I loaded a 35lb plate only on one end of my Olympic barbell. I then grabbed it like a shovel, one hand close to the plate, and the other hand in the center knurling. I would touch the end of the bar (on the plate side, obviously, which was in front of me) in the floor, and then raise it above a barrier I set at 36" and touch the right side of the floor. For the "barrier", I used my sledgehammer, 36" tall. I was clearing the sledge with the barbell's end, and not the plate. Touching both left and right side equaled one rep, so it's pretty tough. I alternated left arm/foot in front and right arm/foot halfway between the sets. At first, my traps were burning. But as it went on, my lower back was on FIRE.

[raymo]

Maybe I should borrow your shovel, I live in Michigan and broke my shovel handle in half shoveliing snow Monday. I shovel in the morning and at night let it snow,snow snow, SNOW......... Help

[lifesnotfair]

raymo: lol.. shoveling sucks, my lower back is still sore!

06.12.2008

Even with a little soreness in lower back, I decided to workout.

Deadlift:

115x5, 165x5, 215x5

265 x5, x5, x4 - got that last rep a couple of inches up but lowered it. Back seemed allright in video. And I haven't been eating to gain strength, which is the cool part!!

Barbell strict press: 45x5, 75x5, 95x5, 105x5 x2 sets.

Barbell push press: 125x5, but I felt that thing in my right palm, in the middle, at the bottom, like something gets stretched there.. did not like the feeling so did not continue. Not that I could have added so much more weight, but a little more. Also, left shoulder hurted a bit on the lockout possition.

It also hurts in any rowing movement, so I practised some handstands against a wall, a few sets of 20-30 seconds.

DB alternate hammer curls: 33x10, 43x7, 48x5, 50.5x5.

Hopefully this session wont interfere with the recovery of that left shoulder I strained exactly one week ago.

[lifesnotfair]

I can't edit now, but the last two pressing sets were at 100# and not 105#. With a shoulder that hurt a bit, that's fine for the time being, I guess. Oddly, my traps felt a bit of a burn after each pressing set?? Weak traps maybe? I have heard that OverHead shrugs are useful, maybe I should do them.

[lifesnotfair]

07.12.2008

10 rounds for time of:

10 alternate pistols (5 per leg)

10 jumping pull-ups

Total time: 12:50.

Jumping PU's became quite tough after round 3 or so, had to do 6+4 in all rounds after that one. I tried to touch my chest to the bar, while keeping the jump at minimun. I chose this because my left shoulder hurts a bit with the arm fully extended, but this exercises fits perfectly as the little initial jump takes stress off the arms in that first bit of the pull-up.

[lifesnotfair]

08.12.2008

Today, my son Alejandro turns 2 years old. How quickly time goes by!! He needs a brother now

95# from ground to overhead in whatever form (I chose to do power clean and push-press) for time, 30 reps.

Total time: 4:53. I know, pathetic. First time doing this one. Lungs gave out before muscles, it seems.

[lifesnotfair]

10.12.2008

I did a workout very similar to this one a little over 5 weeks ago, but I elevated my push-ups a little less than 2" that time, although I used a wider stance. Since my left shoulder is still not fully healed, today I had to change things a bit, but upped the reps from 7 to 8.

10 rounds for time of:

8 hang squat cleans, 43# dumbells.

8 push-ups in my fists, upper arm close to my trunk (like close grip on the bench).

Total time: 17:48.

This workout is a bastard. Hang squat cleans are evil. I never let go of the DB's during a set, but I did rest a bit with them in the hang possition. The push-ups were broken into two mini-sets in most sets. Although back then I elevated my push-ups a little bit, today I used a narrower stance, and I ended up doing 80 reps of each movement instead of 70 (160 vs. 140) and I still got a better time, so I'm kinda happy. But there is still lots of room for improvement, I found myself taking longer than I would have liked before some rounds.

[lifesnotfair]

11.12.2008

3 rounds for time of:

Run some distance (what I call 400m, but on a park, uneven surface, grass, some up/down hills, and I'm sure a bit more than 400m in length).

21 Dumbell swings (from between the legs to locked overhead), 53# dumbell.

12 pull-ups (hung PVC handles from a tree, tried to keep a neutral/hammer grip, pretty strict, but not FULL deadhang because I'm nursing my left shoulder).

Total time: 17:00.

Nice. I did this one back in August I think, with a 43# DB, and took longer... so I'm happy. My goodness, this workout is HORRIBLE... Running is still a huge weakness for me. Even after the first run I was already gassed... the Swings were all broken at about halfways (just once). The pull-ups were 5-4-3 in the first two rounds, in the last one it was a mess, even some singles were needed.

Edited December 11, 2008 by Arturo

[maidenfan]

Good workouts here - just the kind of thing I need to be doing. I'm going to try the db squat/cleans in x time workout - sounds brutal. The db hand snatches work great, but I'm finding they're really gassing my lower back for the rest of the workouts during the week. Good job.

[lifesnotfair]

Good workouts here - just the kind of thing I need to be doing. I'm going to try the db squat/cleans in x time workout - sounds brutal. The db hand snatches work great, but I'm finding they're really gassing my lower back for the rest of the workouts during the week. Good job.

Hey maidenfan, thank you.

I can quickly think of two reasons why the Snatches tire your lower back quickly: bigger explosion/opening of the hips is needed to get the weight higher, and then in the squat portion (if you're doing squat-snatches) then you obviously use a lot of "core" to stabilize the overhead squat.

It is an evil exercise, the first rounds isn't that bad, but after you get back to them, they are TIRING!! And I don't feel any particular muscle reaching failure, but me as a whole really, with the weight I'm using. I felt my traps a bit sore to be honest! Just those. If you have the time to download a 66Mb video, be sure to check this out: http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/CrossFi...SCPushupWOD.wmv - might inspire you to try it.

[lifesnotfair]

13.12.2008

I didn'ts sleep as much as I wanted last night, and I ate a ton of crap + a few beers, my body was not liking this today, as I went to the restroom like 4 times in the morning alone. It sucks that today is my deadlifting day! So I took a cup of coffee before the workout, I almost never drink coffee, but did it today, thinking it might help????

Warm-ups, then:

Deadlift: 115x5, 165x5, 215x5 all DO. I switched to Mixed Grip after this because I was going for a weight I had never lifted, even for a single.

275x4 (missed 5th after about two inches of air).

275x4, 275x4 (in these two sets I did not attempt a fifth rep). PR!

I videotaped myself, and my back was not as straight as I would have liked, but I'm a harsh critic, it was not that rounded either. And since I did 4 reps in all sets, I think next saturday I will keep the weight at 275 but will try to get 3x5, and with cleaner form, I'm gonna do it!

Standing Barbell press: 45x5, 75x5, 105x5, 105x5, 105x4 (missed 5th, argh!). I think this is a PR, but it's embarassing to admit it.

Alternate DB hammer curls: 33x10, 43x7, 53x5 x3 sets (not the strictest hammer curls with 53#, but not Hang-Cleans either; the first two reps of each set were actually pretty strict I think). Oh, and I've never used this weight for hammer curls either, so I guess it's another PR?

My left shoulder, which was hurt exactly two weeks ago I believe, has still not healed. It did not like today's presses either, it hurts a bit to support weight overhead like that (not in the clean possition though). So all the handstand practises against a wall I did this week might not have helped it heal. I'll try to go this week without any movements that prevent it from healing 100%.

Edited December 13, 2008 by Arturo

[deadgame1]

also new so whayts an isg?

[lifesnotfair]

15.12.2008

Went to the track at noon. Had not ran at max effort in a long while... took my time to warm-up, I did a lot of things. Then the workout was:

3 laps, no rest between laps, doing:

100m max effort speed

100m slow walking to recover

In total, that was six 100m sprints... the rest in between was the time it took me to walk the other 100m, so I'd say 1.5 minutes maybe? I wanted to do a fourth lap, but my legs did not, and my lungs were screaming for air since the first one. I reckon that by the third and final lap, my "max speed" was probably slower than that of a 5 year old kid... but all that counts is that I give it my best.

This is supossed to be a "cold" time of the year around here.... but today it was 30*C with 64% humidity. My wife says I'm crazy for going running at that time. But I like it, as I'm the only one at the track.

[lifesnotfair]

17.12.2008

I decided to do a workout I did on 22.09, almost three months ago. Back then, I used 105# on the power cleans, I decided to use more weight today.

Five cycles, each one lasts three minutes, 1 minute rest between cycles. During those 3 minutes, you do max rounds of:

3 power cleans (115#)

6 push-ups (I used a shoulder-width grip, upper arm close to body)

9 air squats (unweighted)

Cycle 1: 4 rounds: had maybe 15 secs left so I rested.

Cycle 2: 4 rounds: I got them just in time. Truly gassed after this round.

Cycle 3: 3 rounds + PC + PU: I knew since the end of previous round I wasn't gonna get 4 rounds again, but I was glad to get so further on the fourth.

Cycle 4: Squats to finish previous round, + 3 full rounds.

Cycle 5: 3 rounds + PC: had about 15 secs left before those PC's, so I decided to do them, even though I was dying, since it was the last cycle.

Total rounds: 18-1/3 ..... or 18 + PC.

Almost three months ago I got a total of 17 rounds, using 10 less pounds, so I'm sorta happy.

Believe it or not, I have so little endurance on these darn legs, that in all rounds except maybe the first one, the squats sets were broken!! Stuff like 4+5 or 5+4... jeez. Near the end it was even worse than that, lol.

I must also mention that my legs are SORE as hell from the sprinting two days ago, specially hamstrings, hip flexors and inner legs. Incredible soreness in those three areas.

[lifesnotfair]

From 24.09.2008:

3 rounds for time of:

run 600m

25 superman's (holding top possition for almost a second, it seemed)

35 sit-ups (knees bent, feet anchored, arms crossed over chest).

Total time: 16:07, done at the track.

Today, 18.12.2008:

Same workout, BUT the sit-ups were completely different: knees straight, arms by my side, feet UNanchored!

Total time: 17:15.

How on earth could I be slower? ... The first two runs were unbroken! That second run required some serious mental toughness to finish, after I did it (and reached a towel I had under a little shadow, so at least I wouldn't be under the sun all the time (82*F with 53% humidity, and that's kinda low humidity for our standards), my whole body ITCHED, it was a horrible feeling. On the third run, I did 400m, walked while I breathed 10 times, then finished it. In that last time, both the 2nd and 3rd run were like today's last. So I was thinking I was faster today.

The supermans (supermen?): today they were all consecutive! Holding the top possition for at least a second, I did not break any set of 25!

And I did not find myself resting a lot in between sets of anything... how could this be? I blame it on the sit-ups. Last time, with my wife sitting on my feet, my knees bent, and arms crossed over chest, I could do them quite fast and with less rest, those are easier. Today I had my arms parallel to the floor in the starting possition, down by my sides, legs straight and feet unanchored. These sit-ups are slower than the ones I did last time, AND they seem to take a bit more work, since I needed a few breaks, specially in rounds 2 and 3. But even in round 1 I needed like 3 breaks, I think 3 months ago I did my first round without stopping, not sure, but I think so.

So... I don't know... I "felt" faster than last time, but was a tad over a minute slower.

[lifesnotfair]

20.12.2008

Warm-ups, then:

Deadlift: 115x5, 165x, 215x5 all DO grip.

275x4, 275x3 (attempted 4th but quickly decided to leave it at that), 275x4.

Darn! I thought I'd set a PR today. Comingo into today, my hamstrings, at least the right one, was still quite sore from monday's max effort sprints. I know, 5 days ago!! But it's true. Also, yesterday my traps felt sore from some cleans I did a couple of days ago, so I was comingo today thinking that was not a good condition to deadlift... but screw it, I went after it, and I don't think that's what held me back anyways. Will try 275 again next saturday and I WILL hit 3x5 darnit! .. oh, BW might be lower than last saturday though, maybe that affected strength.

I decided to check out if pull-ups without letting my shoulders get to my ears at the dead hang hurt my sore left shoulder joint or not. Apparently they don't!

Towell grip pull-ups: 10, 10 ... jeeeez!! This KILLS the grip.

Overhand grip: 8 reps, forearms super pumped by now, I think it affected me.

Some other grip I invented, 6 reps.

Overhand, 9 reps.

Towel again, but different, perpendicular to the bar, pulling to one side, then the next, 6 reps.

DB alternate Hammer curls: 33, 43 and 53 pounds all x5 reps. 53 done twice I think... this too was affected by those grip-killing pull-ups.

Some ab work. 3 pistols each leg with a 25# plate just for fun.

Some push-ups too, sets of 10, 15 and one of 20. I should NOT have done this, seems to bother the shoulder a bit.

I tried to do an L-sit twice, and again, I should NOT have done this either, also seems to have hurted the shoulder a bit.

As a matter of fact, the hammer curls might have affected it too! Argh! But at least I felt that pull-ups, if I don't let the shoulders go out of the socket at the bottom possition, are doable. I always did them that way, with a one second pause at the bottom and shoulders up to my ears, that is what I consider a true deadhang. But until my shoulder heals I will just lower until my elbows lock, but keeping the shoulders tight.

[lifesnotfair]

21.12.2008

I was at a country house where I did a workout about 40 days ago, that consisted of 10 trips down a hill, down and up, which back then I did in 17 minutes. Very high degree of incline. I started and was going at a good pace... I got 6 full rounds, down and up, in 8 minutes and maybe 20 seconds. But it had started to rain about two rounds ago, and the concrete I was running in got VERY slippery, I feared for my health, seriously, as the last thing I need is a new injury... so I had to call it quits. To "make up" for up, I did an 8 round tabata sit-ups (legs straight, feet unanchored, arms by my side) about 5 minute later; the round with least sit-ups had 8 of these I think. These aren't as fast as anchored ones though.

I was very angry, I hate not finishing my workouts... the rain had not stopped me before, I don't mind working out under the rain, but this day it was a real problem, because on the down trip of the hill, I felt I was kindof skating a little... I really felt I was gonna fall if I kept going. So, was I gonna beat my previous time of 17 mins or not? I got 60% of the workout done in less than half the time to beat. But fatigue was REALLY kicking in by then. But still, I had only 4 rounds left and not 6... I would like to think I would've been faster, but I will never know. This is still in my mind and I will try this workout again soon, when I go there again.

Anyways, this was at about 10am... after eating a ton of food this day, and feeling like I did not complete the workout, I decided to workout again! No, not the same workout... I remembered I had my 6lb sledge in the back of my Xterra, and I saw an old tire, probably from my dad's Montero... and I said, "hey, I've always wanted to workout hitting a tire, but have never done it!", so I had plenty of reasons to workout again. I did this at about 6pm, so about 8 hours after the first workout that got cut off in the morning. I came up with this:

20 hits as hard as I can, with right hand on bottom.

20 hits as above, with left hand on bottom.

10 air squats

5 chin-ups

Did 6 rounds in 20 minutes. Found myself resting a ton. That sledge is tiring. Little amount of squats, should've done more, or pistols. At least I have a starting point and I'll have a reference for next time, I am definitely using this exercise again in the near future.

[lifesnotfair]

23.12.2008

Went to the track... at noon again. It says at 2pm the wether is 30*C again (86*F) and 64% humidity. Says it feels like 90*F. But I went there a bit before 1pm, not at 2pm, must have been worse. Yeah, this is the "cold" time of the year As usual, I was all alone at the track, love it.

As soon as I got there, I decided to jog a bit, very easily, to see how it felt... oh my, I will never jog again like that, without doing anything before... everything felt tight and stiff, I felt "heavy" while moving. After my warmup drills and a bit of stretching and whatnot, I jogged and I felt like I was floating, compared to that first time. I just had to make sure I wasn't wasting time warming up, and I definitely am not.

After all the warm-ups, I decided to do the 100m max-effort / 100m walk intervals... I did 4 laps like this, finally I managed 4 laps and I did not quit at 3 laps. It was HARD, and I could tell in the later sprints that I was going sloooooooow as heck! I mean, I'm not fast by any means, but in those last sprints, I bet some 100 year olds could have beaten me. I meant to go all out, but by then my "max" effort was embarassing. The track was so hot and I had no water with me, darn, not the best conditions. Luckily there is a guy selling orange juice right at the exit... freshly squeezed, I actually see him cutting the oranges and squeezing them into the jar, then serving into the glass, I love orance juice.

In my warm-ups I did a couple of pistols, and they felt awfuly hard with my right leg. I've said it before, I think I could benefit greatly from strengthening my pistols, specially because this right leg sucks at them. I bet if I get strong at them with this leg, I'd see carryover to other exercises. Or I'd like to think so.

[lifesnotfair]

On 24.12 I think I had food poisoning or something, my goodness, so many trips to the bathroom... had to take a rest day obviously.

25.12.2008

Went to my folks country house again. Took my 8# sledgehammer with me. Did this workout:

As many rounds in 20 mins as possible, of:

20 hits, as hard as I could, to a tire, left hand in bottom.

20 hits, as hard as I could, to a tire, right hand in bottom.

10 alternate pistols

5 strict chin-ups (V-shaped tree branch).

6 rounds in about 20:30.