Blah

Things have been hectic with some work travel and whatnot.

No logging at all last week despite good 5/3/1 times.

DL 10 x 270
Military 4 x 120
Front Squat 18 x 155
Bench 2 x 205

Front Squat was a huge PR and the DL is back up to a range I'd hoped.

We finished up on Saturday in the park with a circuit workout designed by CES, and it proved an ass kicker.

This past week, I was in Florida for a bit. As luck would have it, deload on the calendar. Took it easy in the gym and nursed my shoulder which is not 100% but is also not feeling exceptionally injured either. Will keep playing it by ear.

Yesterday in the Park was solid. On the heels of a birthday party, we somehow found ourselves with 10 people, 3 of which had never come out for a park workout before. As the main group has gotten stronger and more fit, the workouts have gotten more difficult. It's probably become a little less accessible for people coming out for the first time.

I tried to keep an eye on people, and I know that the more experienced members of the group did so as well, so thanks for helping me to make sure that everyone worked within their means and no one was injured.

I've been inspired for the past couple of weeks by the level of enthusiasm brought by those who show up on Saturday, particularly DIV, who has been on a tear constructing DIY equipment in the basement. Now we've got some new sledgehammers, a tire setup, and a couple of grip tools (idea courtesy of Ross Training.)

We woke up to wet conditions and intermittent drizzle yesterday, but I've gotten to the point where I don't really let the weather change my mind, only the venue. We met at Demetral Field which has a shelter. Just after setting up and starting to go through the warmup, we were displaced by a family who had reserved the shelter for a birthday party.

Oh well. We moved it out onto the grounds. The bags got superficially wet (now those double bags seem like a really good idea), but we kept them off of the grass and in the pea gravel, so it wasn't too much of a problem.

Anyway:

Warm Up

1 x CES Complex w/ Jumping Jack Variations

2 x Sandbag/DB/Medicine Ball complex

Clean and Press
Front Squat
Good Morning
Bent Row
Romanian Deadlift

That took maybe 10 - 15 minutes and got everyone loosened up and warm.

Work

Tried to accomodate a group of 10 with simultaneously running circuits. One was predominately bodyweight, the other took advantage of equipment.

I

I definitely took some inspiration from CES on this one.

40 Pushups
Sprint to jungle gym (40ish yards?)
10 Inverted Rows
10 Box Jumps onto platform
Sprint back to starting point
10 - 15 Frog Hops
10 Burpees
10 tosses with the light (6lb) medicine ball
40 Mountain Climbers
Sprint back to Jungle Gym

I tried to leave nothing out there on the sprints and this one left me pretty gassed. I got distracted during the medicine ball tosses watching someone else doing frog hops. I had to deflect a medicine ball that was about 2 feet from my head. Focus on the task at hand, duder.

II

60 second slosh pipe hold, whichever pipe, whichever style
40 Air Squats--focus was on speed with caveat to go as quickly as you could with good form and only descend as low as you could with good posture
10 Inch Worms
Load all of the Sandbags (within your limits) onto a 4ish foot platform.
Unload all of the Sandbags from the platform
50 High Knees (I forgot my jump rope, this was basically running in place)
Walking Lunges/OH Presses for distance (5 Lunges/5 Presses)
Pick up Sledgehammer
Sprint up the Hill in the style of a Dwarven warrior
20 swings onto the tire
Sprint back to start w/hammer

Had to keep an eye on the sandbag loading in particular and pulled the plug for people if form was threatening to degrade.

Also, need a maul swinging clinic, for sure. I don't think anyone was getting unsafe with it. But I think people could get more out of it. I think the answer might be in the degree of trepidation. I think for me, maul swinging only felt natural after I totally let go of the urge to precisely control the hammer and accept that I was still going to hit the target. I learned this splitting wood several years back.

After the workout, I drove out to pick up some beef from my favorite local butcher. I want to make some chilli next weekend and he hooked me up with some shanks to throw in the slow cooker.

DIV, on his own epic, found us a tractor tire (probably one of the 2xx lb territory) submerged in a creek that he happened to volunteer to help clean up. Plans are underway to extract that tire. We want to get one as a sturdy sledge impact absorber. Also, I tried to flip a full sized tire at Ford's one day and it was way, way too heavy. This one, I think might be good for a beginner flipping tire. Finally, if (god forbid) the tupperbeast ever gives up the ghost, a tire might make a good alternative piece for dragging.

Good times for sure. I'll reiterate that the amount of enthusiasm is contagious. It should be a good summer for the raccoonbear crew.