2 for 1

Well, I did not have time to write a post after the workout yesterday, and we went to the 9am class this morning. Anyway, I will jump right to it.

Friday Strength:
5x3 Overhead squat

This is my worst lift by far, so I took the opportunity to try and improve on it. I got a real good warm up and loosened my shoulders up very well. The most I have done on this lift previously was 75 pounds, because I just do not do it. I warmed up and had a lot of help from some people in the gym commenting and tweaking my form. I was able to start my first work set at 95. This felt very light and I did my second set at 115. Once again the weight felt light so I moved to 135. My form was still very good. This is an awkward lift where you have to keep the bar over your body and slightly behind your head. For someone like me that has been benching heavy for many years, this is an awkward position. I was able to work up to my last set at 155 and got it no problem.

Friday WOD:
5 rounds
10 Overhead Squat 75#
15 Kettlebell swings 53#
20 GHD situps

I already dreaded this workout because it included overhead squats, but my confidence was up because of what I had previously just done. I started the WOD and smoked through the first round doing all 3 exercises unbroken. I began the second set of OHS and my right arm began to go numb. It never hurt, it just began to lose its sensation. It was a very weird feeling that ran from my shoulder all the way down into my thumb. I pushed through and finished the KBS unbroken and moved to the GHD machine. If you have never done GHD situps, I highly suggest you try them. The are extremely taxing and take a lot out of you. I finished having to break them up in 2 sets of 10. I was complaining about my arm even though it did not hurt. I tried to hold the bar up to start my third set of OHS and just could not feel it. There was no way I was able to finish doing OHS, so I ran over and grabbed a 45# plate, threw it on my back, and did squats with it. At this point I was so frustrated I could not do the workout as it was written, I lost all focus. I ended up having to break my GHD situps into 4 sets of 5, but still did the KBS unbroken. My time ended up being terrible 15:38 I believe. I went to the school and asked or trainer what her thoughts were about my arm, and she said the same thing as I suspected. Since I am so big and bulky in my upper body, I basically cut the blood flow, circulation, and nerves off to my arm as I was doing OHS. This is something that I need to improve.


SATURDAY 1/14/12

We went into the box for the 9am class. I was looking forward to the workout because it is one that I had done before. My arm was still numb, but not quite as bad as it was the nigh before.

Strength:
Deadlift- 5x3

I decided since I do not know my true 1 rep max on deadlift, that I would attempt to find it. I warmed up and threw 405 on the bar, know I have already done this for 3 reps. I hit 405 very easy and was excited about being able to throw on some big weight today. One problem though....We only have bumper plates, which are very wide. The bar can only truly hold 4 plates and a clamp, which I already had on there. I decided to add 25's on each side and just not use clamps since I was only doing 1 rep. I hit 455 very easy and was now faced with a dilemma. I tried finding a way to put more weight on by using bands, but it did not work out for me. I put 475 on the bar and the weight was not fully on the bar. I knew this was the max I could probably load on the bar today. Frankie was very excited to see me do this and went to grab his camera to put pictures on the website. Everyone wanted to watch me perform this lift. I grabbed the bar and began to stand up. About 4 inches off the floor, the weights began to all fall off the bar in a big anticlimactic way to end my 475 attempt. I know I can get the weight, and presume my max to be in the 500's somewhere. Frankie is going to order some steel plates that are thinner and will allow me to put more weight on the bar.

Saturday WOD:
Cindy
20 min AMRAP(as many rounds as possible)
5 pullups
10 pushups (I did hand release)
15 air squats

I love this workout because it plays to a lot of my strengths, other than endurance. I flew out of the gate knocking out my first round in about 40 seconds. I was averaging 1 round a minute about 6 minutes through, then I began to die. The hand release push ups add a whole new dimension to this workout. If I were just doing regular pushups, I would fly through it getting in the 20's for rounds. I managed to push through 15 rounds plus pullups and pushups. So really I was close to 16 rounds. My goal was to get 18, but my body was just so taxed from not resting all week, I was not able to stay as consistent as I would have liked. Also, I only grabbed a protein shake on the way out the door, so I did not have any food in me. I felt lethargic by the end of the workout which probably hindered my performance. I wouldn't say it was a good or bad day, just solid.

I am really hoping that more people start signing up that are closer to my level of athleticism and competitiveness, because I want to be challenged. There has been very few workouts I have done that others in the class have done RX'd. Everyone has to modify the workload, which I feel is a huge difference from what I am doing. I want someone that will push me and challenge me when I am doing my WOD. right now I am just competing against myself and the clock, and I am not able to see where other people are at. As the word gets out, I suspect more will join that will challenge me and I will have to pick up my pace.