Good Day

Week in 5/3/1

Monday: Military Press

Bumped the weight up another 10lbs this month. I feel like I'm getting into a more appropriate range of resistance for this lift.

Managed 85 x 15. I did 85 x 14 2 weeks ago, so I'll take a rep.

Tuesday: Deadlift

Big PR for me today in the deadlift. Felt fairly well rested and was expecting good things. The plan, based this month on 275lbs:

5 @ 180
5 @ 210
5+@ 235

Last cycle, I managed 12 at 230 and 12 at 240, but only 9 at 255. I mentally committed to 13 reps before I even got out of bed this morning.

After a good warmup, I started my DL workout. 180 and 210 both felt heavier than I'd hoped. I let out an involuntary grunt on the 5th rep at 210. At that point, I was thinking, "I'll be lucky to get 8."

I went to the bathroom. Got some water. Chalked my hands up and convinced myself to go through with it anyway.

To my surprise rep 10 came and went no sweat. By rep 13, I was yelling, but the weight was still going up quick. After rep 15, I was better than 80% certain I could pull another rep safely, so I did. 16 went up okay but was shaky in a couple spots. After that one, my certainty in pulling again safely waned considerably, so I called it, sat down and let my legs twitch for awhile. I felt a little goofy after grunting out a few reps of "FCKNG CMON FCKNG GT UP" through my teeth. But whatever. Everyone already thinks I'm nuts b/c of the Vibrams and the Rope climbing.

First few sets were kind of crappy but the last one was a balls out A effort.

I was stoked! Not that I'd trust the Wendler equation enough to bet money that I could do it, but it predicts a 1RM of 360 in the DL. My best DL ever was about 310 last winter. Not that 360 is anything to brag about around the strongmen around me, but I'm pretty happy about the progress after some fairly dedicated strength training.

Oh. And the park workout last Satuday follows. It was a doozy.

Saturday in the park

Warm Up: 2 times through the following cycle

Jumping Jacks (10)
Mountain Climbers (20)
Downward Facing Dog (30 - 45 seconds)
High Knees (20)
Bird Dogs (20)
Glute Bridges (10)

Got the heart pumping. Most of us did a lot more high knees than 20 because it was good. It also made a very satisfying noise--Chuck Taylors on the concrete.

Work 1: 3 cycles through this complex

Reverse Lunges (10 each leg)
Sandbag Clean and Press from the floor (10)
Bent Rows (10)
Push Ups (10)

Work 2: Deerhunter Circuit

Sprint
Sandbag lift and carry to start
Sprint/Jog
10 Burpees
Sprint/Jog
Sandbag lift and carry to original spot
Sprint/Jog
30 Mountain Climbers
Sprint/Jog to SBs
Bear Crawl there....bear crawl back.
Sprint to finish

First and last sprints were compulsory. Other running legs were better described as "as fast as possible" optional and typically taken at a jog pace. These were done pseudo race style with 2 people going head to head through the circuit.

I had to take a knee during the mountain climbers.

Pairings were Don/Nick, Cadwell/Brooke, Me/Finnin

Work 3: Modified Beast of Burden

We pre-loaded the sled, which is now going by the name of "Tupperbeast," with a load appropriate for the 2 people running the circuit.

The sled was about 30-40 yards from the start.

Foot race to the sled (about a 40 yard dash)
Winner drags the sled a long fucking distance either backward or forward (funny how I always overestimate 'feasible' when dealing with the sled)
Loser does 10 burpees, jogs to end of course, does 10 more burpees, waits for winner
Winner runs back to the start w/sprint finish in final 40 yards
Loser drags sled back a long fucking way
Loser does 40 yard dash to finish.

This was a lot of fun. Pairings were Don/Nick, Cadwell/Brooke, Me/Finnin.

Work 3: Nick called down the thunder and demanded another run through the deerhunter. So all 6 of us ripped through it at the same time. We subbed crab walks for bear crawls, but otherwise it was the same.

I had to take a knee again during the mountain climbers.