Post edited 7:42 pm – December 8, 2009 by Kurt

Crossfit Total on December 8, 2009

Back Squat – 255lbs (old PR was 230)

Shoulder Press – 115lbs (same as old PR)

Deadlift – 335lbs (old pr was 305 from way before I tore my hamstring)

I felt really good and with respect to the BS/DL I feel I left 15 lbs on the table for both of them. I was a bit surprised on my squat numbers but really surprised on the deadlift. Since my injury months ago I had practically no strength training on the deadlift so I expected it to go down. My form still needs some work as Harlan said I need to engage my ass more and use my back less. I’ll figure that one out and work on it because if I can get more efficient than the better off I am.

I’m still figuring out the back squat but I’m getting better. I initially had problems with going too low and going down too fast. Both of those combined to keep me from lifting heavier and I wasn’t engaging my hams to get back up. I’m just getting my body and brain used to slowly going down then powering back up after I’ve just reached parallel.

The shoulder press was a disappointment in an overall great night. 115lbs?!  What do I need to do to get that higher? This is one deficiency that carries over into thrusters, HSPU’s, PP and everything else where I need to push something overhead.

Anyways, I have a new baseline and I can now modify my strength training numbers accordingly.

strength club/oly club

5x5x5 BS @ 72% of 1RM = 185lbs

3x3x3x3x3 snatch balance at 65% 1RM = 75lbs

The bear for 5 mins @ 122lbs. Went 5 unbroken then managed 1 more for six total. My arm is really sore and kind of gimped my bear wod a bit. I also found out we're increasing the BS by 5 pounds three times a week! How will my body handle that kind of increase?

Post edited 4:00 pm – December 14, 2009 by Kurt

091212 – Josh and Oly training

13:32 for Josh I think but what I do remember is doing 12 OHS for the last set instead of 9. I actually dropped the bar after doing 9 consecutive, took a rest and finished three more before doing the last 18 pull-ups. That little error cost me over a minute. Overall I’m ok with how it went since I’ve been shying away from pull-ups in order to try to get this arm pain under control. I honestly think I need to completely rest it over the xmas holiday break and come back refreshed and repaired. Fish oil is only going to do so much and is not a substitute for actual rest.

Oly training was ok despite how I felt after it was done. The computer incident kind of put me in a foul mood and when that happens I should have just watched and listened instead of trying to force my body to correct lifting errors. If my head isn’t in it I’m screwed. Next week is a new one so I’ll approach it that way – relaxed.

091215 – rowing Kelly

35:38 as rx'd and I had to wait a couple of minutes for a rower.

I tried really hard to string together consecutive jumps and getting completed extended at the hips as I jumped off the box. It helped speed me up by a considerable amount. The wall balls were tough but not nearly as bad as I was thinking it would be. I managed to string together 15-15 on the 1st, 10-10-10 for the 2nd and 3rd then it went down to 5's, 6's and 7's for the last two rounds.

Rowing was difficult. I did 2:00 for the 1st round but each subsequent one saw me slow down quite a bit. I think I was 2:15 2:20 for the last two. That cost a lot of time but I was pretty gased.

091217 – Rest Day

My lower body feels like it took a beating and I need to rest it. Will this be a continuing theme ad naseum?

This leaves me with a workout on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm going to skip out on the Tuesday training to get ready for our trip to Nelson and then I don't work out until December 29th. My body and brain is really looking forward to a break – especially one in the mountains during the Xmas holidays. Can't wait! :)

This week officially kicks off the rehabbing of my left shoulder. I did the physio thing and had cold laser therapy which decreased the pain and increased the ROM of my arm by a considerable amount so this helps me considerably.

I’ve noticed a trend with injuries – people managing the pain but never addressing the problem and I was in that camp until I tore my hamstring. It became apparent to me that I need to prevent this injury from reoccurring and I need to extend it to my shoulder. I’ve been fighting my shoulders for quite some time and it makes it difficult to do any overhead lifts. Thrusters, push presses, snatch, c&j, etc all suffer due to this problem.

What to do?! I’m going to have to start doing isolation exercises. I’m not talking about arm curls (heh) but I need to strengthen the smaller connective tendons/muscles in my shoulders to balance things out. I’m using resistance bands/tubing to perform some different movements and that should do the trick. Combine that with low impact wods on my shoulder plus ice/adequate rest should get things back in order in 2-3 months. Yes, that seems like a long time but it’s better than living with a never ending injury. This also means that I will not being doing more than two days in a row of working out and the high volume overhead work is out for now. I’ll work back into PLU’s with deadhangs and do strict shoulder presses that have minimal jarring. Keep the inflammation down, strengthen, train smart and things will work itself out.

Workout on March 3, 2010

20 rep back squat @ 175lbs

3x5 bench press @ 120lbs

The squats felt really good but I think I may have gone a bit too fast. I'm not sure how long the whole set took but it was around 3 minutes. As Aaron mentioned it's going to get really heavy in no time and I can believe it. I went on my toes a couple of times, got too low a couple of times but my form is better. I'm really happy with my shoulder flexibility as I'm able to get my hands closer to my shoulder with the low bar position.

The bench press went well as I didn't struggle at all with 120lbs. I widened my grip considerably and tried to maintain that back arch. Aaron has me slow it down between sets as it is not a metcon – its strength building.

I choked down another 1/2 gallon of milk when I got home. I have no idea how anyone consumes an entire gallon of cold milk. Leya heard me gagging while I was chugging away. That's 1200 calories a day on top of what Leya normally feeds me. I'll try to get closer to 3/4 gallon and split my gagging sessions into 2-3 times.

Next 20 rep squat is on Sunday along with weighted pullups.

Friday is 3x5 deadlift and shoulder press day.

So let's amend this weekly workout:

Sunday – 20 rep back squats with weighted pullups

Tuesday – light metcon

Wednesday – 20 rep back squats and bench press

Friday – 3x5 deadlift and ring dips (weighted and negatives).

I thought Aaron said to get rid of the deads but I'm not sure.