Workout No. 131
Wednesday, 26th August 2015

Squat 5/5/3 @ 87.5kg
Bench Press 4/3 @ 62.5kg
Bench Press 5 @ 60.0kg
Barbell Row 3x5 @ 75.0kg
Hang Clean 5 @ 40.0kg
Clean 5 @ 40.0kg
Clean 5 @ 45.0kg

CROSSFIT #6
EMOM
Thrusters 5 @ 30.0kg (even minutes)
Burpees 5 (odd minutes)

Time: 15:00

Felt significantly fresher today after the disastrous gym session on Monday so I decided to take a chance and give 87.5kg a go. Set the safeties at the lowest possible position to allow for my full range of motion (I usually set them at the 2nd lowest position and squat until just past parallel) and started my warm-up sets. Worked my way up starting from 10 reps with the empty bar, 3 reps @ 40.0kg, 3 reps @ 60.0kg and 2 reps @ 80.0kg before arriving at my working set weight. Felt comfortable even at 80.0kg so I was feeling confident about my chances. Stepped up and unracked the bar and tried out the first rep @ 87.5kg. Felt heavy but I managed to stand up fairly quickly. Struggled with the 2nd rep and it was a much slower rep but I think it was down to confidence. Took a quick breather, psyched myself up and descended for the 3rd rep. Easy. 4th rep. Easy. Had to grind a bit for the 5th rep but overall it was a comfortable 5 reps. The 2nd set was decent as well but only managed 3 reps on the final set. Happy enough though, setting a new PR and still losing fat on my cut.

Did not do so well on the bench presses. I have been told that cutting affects your bench pressing the most compared to squats and deadlifts. My bench pressing has not really improved much over the past month to be honest. After 2 failed attempts of 5 reps @ 62.5kg, I deloaded slighly to 60.0kg just to make myself happy and complete the 5 reps.

Loaded up the barbell to a total of 75.0kg and started rowing out 5 reps of the first set of barbell rows. Just about managed it and when I keyed it in to my phone, I realised that I achieved a new 1RM! Thought that I had been rowing 75.0kg previously but actually had been rowing 72.5kg instead. Finished off another 2 challenging sets after the first.

Practised some cleans, starting in the hang position and getting comfortable with it before starting from the floor. Still felt quite fresh so I decided to try a shortened version of my first ever WOD. EMOM first minute 5 thrusters @ 30.0kg and 5 burpees every other minute for a total of 15 minutes (instead of 30 full minutes). Felt much easier than my first attempt at this so I was fairly pleased with my progress.

Didn't get to measure my bf% as the machine was down today but hope to measure this soon to track my cut.

This post has been edited by justintga: Nov 19 2015, 08:14 AM

Workout No. 132
Saturday, 29th August 2015

CROSSFIT #7
FOR TIME
15-12-9-6-3
Deadlift @ 20.0kg
Overhead Squat @ 20.0kg
Burpees Over Bar

Time: 9:40

Glad that I had Saturday off, so as usual, headed for Crossfit in the morning. Today's WOD was 15-12-9-6-3 reps of deadlifts, overhead squats and burpees over the bar. The idea was to use the same weight for the deadlifts and overhead squat. Overhead squats are technically challenging and very strenuous on the core so the coaches suggested a lighter weight. Eventually picked an empty barbell (20.0kg) as everyone seemed to go with this weight although I was confident I could do 30.0kg.

Started the workout after some practice and as expected the deadlifts were extremely easy. Barely felt anything after the first 15 reps. Snatched the empty bar up and started the overhead squats and my legs and hamstrings were starting to burn towards the end of the 15 reps. Strength was obviously not the limiting factor but rather endurance. Had to take some breathers between the burpees over the bar, breaking the 15 reps into 3 sets of 5 reps.

Seemed to be the fastest at this point and was suffering slightly so I slowed down the next 12 reps of deadlifts to allow my heart rate to slow a little. Snatched the weight up again and managed the 12 overhead squat reps unbroken. Once again, my legs were burning and I was half glad that I only went for 20.0kg. Slowed down the burpees and took a few breathers while lying down on the floor between reps.

Happy that the rep count was dropping and ground out the 9 rep round, also suffering mostly during the burpees. Actually picked up speed for the 6 rep and 3 rep rounds as I knew the end was near. Had lost track of how everyone else was doing and after the final rep, asked for the time. The timekeeper called out "9:40". Surprised as the WOD felt much longer than that and it turned out that I had finished first!

Perhaps should have chosen a slightly heavier weight and was disappointed that the workout didn't even last 10 minutes which wouldn't have been the case if the weight was heavier. Expect to do this workout again in the gym in the near future as I quite enjoyed it.

Also, measured my bf% yesterday. Sub-20%!!! Time to celebrate!

This post has been edited by justintga: Aug 31 2015, 06:15 PM

Workout No. 133
Monday, 31st August 2015

Clean 5 @ 40.0kg
Snatch 5 @ 30.0kg
Snatch 5 @ 40.0kg
Front Squat 2x5 @ 75.0kg
Front Squat 1x5 @ 77.5kg
Overhead Press 3/3/3 @ 45.0kg
“Negative” Pull-ups 5/5
“Negative” Chin-ups 5
Single Unders 5x60

Not feeling super fresh today so I just decided to wing it at the gym based on how I felt instead of following my regular programme. Recovery has become much more difficult since I've started this cut. The squat racks were all taken, which was surprising as I was there at 9am on a Monday. Yes it is a public holiday but I expected the gym to be much emptier this early in the morning.

Started off with some clean and snatch practice @ 40.0kg while waiting for a rack to free up. Decided to go for some front squats today as my hamstrings were not feeling up to it and my quads were feeling fresher. Started the warm-up sets not knowing what working set weight I would go for as I was planning to go by “feel”. Started at 20.0kg moving to 40.0kg and then to 60.0kg, still feeling decently fresh. Tried 3 reps of 70.0kg before deciding to go for 3x8 @75.0kg as my working set. After completing the first two sets of 8 reps @ 75.0kg, I decided to up the weight by 2.5kg to attempt a PR considering that although the sets were difficult, I felt that I could still go on after the 8 reps. Went for the 8 reps @ 77.5kg and managed to complete them, still having a little left in the tank at the end. Another new squat PR while on a cut. Not too bad at all.

However, did quite poorly on the overhead press. Only managed 3 sets of 3 reps @ 45.0kg, perhaps also due to the slight fatigue from the snatches earlier.

Did some pull-ups and chin-ups before practising some single unders which I broke into 5 sets of 60 reps. Managed to do 20 continuous single unders which is a significant improvement from only being able to string 3 together at most previously.

Workout No. 134
Wednesday, 2nd September 2015

Squat 3x5 @ 70.0kg
Bench Press 2x8 @ 50.0kg
Bench Press 1x8 @ 55.0kg
Barbell Row 3x5 @ 70.0kg
Single Unders 5x60

Once again, I was not feeling too fresh today and was worried about my performance. Recovery is becoming more and more of a struggle and 3 solid gym sessions a week plus a session of Crossfit on Saturday seems to be too much for my body to cope with. I might reduce it to 2 gym sessions + 1 Crossfit session from now on while I am still on the cut. My calorie deficit is not significant and I’ve only lost about 4.0kg in about 7 weeks which is not very, very fast. Overall I’ve still gained / maintained strength in most of the big compound lifts with the exception of the bench and overhead presses where I have either stalled or deteriorated slightly.

Decided to take today as a light recovery day, so I loaded up a working set weight of only 70.0kg for my back squats. Paused at the bottom of each rep to make the sets a little more challenging. Overall the 70.0kg sets still did not feel as easy as they should have which is a good indication that taking today as a recovery day was a good idea.

Decided to deload my bench press weight as my attempts at 3x8 @ 60.0kg were getting pathetic. Have been stuck at this weight since the middle of July, blaming my cut for the poor progress. Pushed my ego aside and went for a nice and light 50.0kg for 8 reps, with a wider grip than usual. My bench press grip has always been narrower than a conventional grip and I might stick to the wider grip for a bit to target my muscles differently. The 50.0kg disappointingly did not feel very light and I went for the same weight for the 2nd set. Went up to 55.0kg for the 3rd and final set and struggled slightly but still managed a solid 8 reps.

Used a lighter weight for barbell rows, dropping 5.0kg from my previous attempt. Completed the 3x5 @ 70.0kg without too much difficulty.

Practised another 300 reps of single unders, breaking this into 5 sets of 60 reps before heading for my shower. Might or might not head in on Friday for a very light session before Crossfit on Saturday morning depending on how I feel.

This post has been edited by justintga: Sep 3 2015, 09:39 AM

Workout No. 135
Saturday, 5th September 2015

CROSSFIT #8
FOR TIME
5 rounds of
Pull-ups 10
Ring Dips 10
Thrusters 20 @ 20.0kg
And finish off with
Clean and Jerk 20 @ 30.0kg

Time: 15:40

The WOD today was held at the Honey Badgers Coaching Facility at 10 Boulevard instead of at The Outlaw. My first time there and I was quite impressed! Quality equipment throughout and it was quite well equipped. Had a go at some ring dips and kipping pull-ups today (first time trying both) before trying to establish a clean and jerk 1RM to appropriately scale the WOD. Never attempted anything above 40.0kg prior to today (and I am usually practising snatches) but with the encouragement of the coaches, gave 50.0kg a try which was fairly easy, and even managed to clean and jerk 60.0kg! Nobody attempted anything heavier than this so I stopped moving up in weight as well.

The WOD was 5 rounds for time of 10 pull-ups, 10 ring dips and 20 thrusters and when it starts hurting, start counting 20 reps of clean and jerks to finish off. For the actual WOD, substituted pull-ups with ring rows and ring dips with hand release push-ups as prescribed by the coaches. Clean and jerk weight was to be 30.0kg. The time cap for everyone was 20:00 and they even had a countdown timer at the facility which was quite cool!

Started the first round of the WOD rowing 10 reps unbroken on the rings before completing 10 unbroken hand release push-ups. The thrusters were easy as the weight was only 20.0kg, or so I thought. Went through the 2nd round roughly in the same manner and by the 3rd round, my pressing ability was suffering. Had to break the thrusters into sets of 10 reps.

By the 4th round, I was even suffering on the ring rows and was struggling to press the 20.0kg weight up above my head for the thrusters. Legs were also starting to get fatigued. Was past the 10 minute mark when I started the 5th round and my spirits were lifted slightly as I knew I had a full 10 minutes to complete the rest of the workout and was confident that I would.

Broke the final round of ring rows into 4-3-3 reps, hand release push-ups into 2 sets of 5 reps and the thrusters into 4 sets of 5 reps. Took an extended breather while loading up the bumper plates for the clean and jerks onto the empty barbell. Looked around and realised that everyone else was doing their 5 rounds. Started my clean and jerks, feeling quite fatigued, attempting 5 reps first. Was not being very efficient and sometimes just lazily reverse curled up the barbell into the front rack position as I was so so tired. Could only manage this because the weight was light. Finished off the remaining 15 reps in sets of 5 reps with a time of 15:40.

Was one of the very few that completed the workout and was mighty pleased overall. I very much look forward to these Saturday sessions and am bummed that I won't be able to make it for next Saturday's session due to work commitments.

This post has been edited by justintga: Sep 7 2015, 11:29 PM

Workout No. 136
Monday, 7th September 2015

Squat 5/3/3 @ 87.5kg
Bench Press 5/6/5 @ 57.5kg
Barbell Row 3x5 @ 75.0kg
Dips 3/5
Single Unders 5x100
Snatch 10 @ 40.0kg
Snatch 2 @ 42.5kg
Snatch 2 @ 45.0kg
Snatch 2 @ 47.5kg

Woke up on Sunday morning feeling sore all over after Saturday’s Crossfit session. Did not feel significantly better on Monday morning with achiness in the region of my shoulders, back, traps, forearms and quads. I don’t usually feel DOMS anymore after my regular powerlifting style training sessions but I do after Crossfit as I suspect some smaller muscles are missed during my compound lifts and are fatigued from the high rep Crossfit movements. Headed to the gym anyway as I was confident that the DOMS will not affect my strength performance very much and lack of recovery feels very different compared to this. Weigh-in today read 86.0kg meaning that I have lost about 5.0kg of bodyweight since starting my cut in mid-July which roughly equates to 1.5lbs per week which is not too bad at all.

Started off with low bar back squats using the warm-up sets to gauge my strength as my legs did not “feel” like they were at 100%. Worked up from 10 reps at 20.0kg to 3 reps at 40.0kg, 3 reps at 60.0kg and 2 reps at 80.0kg before loading up the 87.5kg working set weight. Gave the first 5 reps a go and the final rep was a bit of a grind but completed the set without struggling too much. Rested and got ready for my 2nd set, stepping up to the bar with a fair bit of confidence. Descended for my first rep and then some idiot started squeezing into the space between my loaded plates and the plate rack to reload his plates. Nearly hit him while ascending and had to side step a little. Wasted precious energy waiting about 15 seconds for him to finish. Started my second rep and there he was again, returning a second plate, just inches away from my bar. Only managed one more rep before running out of energy. Lost motivation in the 3rd set after the disruption, also only managing 3 reps to bring the score to 5/3/3 @ 87.5kg.

Upped the deloaded bench press weight to 57.5kg, aiming for 3x8. Only managed 5/6/5 in the end, knowing that I wouldn’t make the full 8 reps after attempting the first set. This lift has suffered the most during my cut.

Barbell rows were solid and maintained the 3x5 @ 75.0kg.

Decided to try some dips which I have not attempted in a long time as some chest and tricep accessory work. Set-up everything and started the dips, managing 3 not so convincing dips (only about 75% ROM). My arms were shaking. Rested a bit before getting tight and dipping with slightly more determination and managed 5 reps this time (also at about 75% ROM).

Arrived early in the gym today and the traffic was still very bad by the time I had finished my planned workout so I killed some more time with 5x100 single unders, sometimes managing to string together over 30 consecutive ones. Definitely improving. Rested a bit before some snatch practice.

40.0kg is becoming increasingly easy so I moved up slowly to a new PR of 47.5kg today, which still felt easy when my movement was fluid. Failed a few times though at this weight. Still need a lot of work!

Update (8th September 2015): DOMS actually felt better after the workout but woke up today with a very sore right wrist despite not feeling anything before heading to bed last night. Must be from the snatches...

This post has been edited by justintga: Sep 8 2015, 01:32 PM

Valid point sir. Definitely not optimal but I really do enjoy Crossfit and it is really helping with my cut so I think I will continue with this for a bit and see how it goes.

Workout No. 137
Wednesday, 9th September 2015

Squat 5/5/8 @ 82.5kg
“Negative” Chin-ups 5/5
“Negative” Pull-ups 5
Dumbbell Curls 2x10 @ 12.0kg

My wrist was feeling much better today (90% recovered) so I decided to head to the gym and decide which lifts I would avoid based on how my wrist felt. Just really wanted to get a simple workout in as I will not be able to go to the gym for the next two days due to work commitments. Arrived at about 9pm so was just targeting a short workout.

Started off with chin-ups and pull-ups as all three squat racks were taken. The chin-ups and pull-ups are now mostly strict without much (if any) jumping assistance but I am still unable to string together a few in a row and mostly just do them as single reps one after the other. Did not feel any discomfort in my wrist which was expected as I suspect the wrist strain was caused by supporting the weight overhead for the snatch and this is a vertical pulling movement.

Started squatting as soon as a rack was available and worked my way up to my last warm-up set of 80.0kg. Didn’t feel like squatting 87.5kg today although I was feeling fresh and strong so I decided to go slightly lighter and attempt a 3x5 @ 82.5kg just to get some volume in. Finished two sets without much difficulty and went for 8 reps for the final set instead as I was feeling comfortable. Nailed it and set a new 1RM record! Still getting stronger on my cut. Mighty pleased!

Stayed away from overhead presses as I did not want to risk aggravating my wrist with an overhead pressing movement. Have been avoiding deadlifts for a long, long time for no particular reason. Will force myself to deadlift the next time I am at the gym.

Finished off the quick gym session with some dumbbell curls.

Workout No. 138
Monday, 14th September 2015

Squat 5/5/8 @ 85.0kg
Overhead Press 3x8 @ 40.0kg
Deadlift 5 @ 135.0kg
“Negative” Chin-ups 5/5
“Negative” Pull-ups 5

Haven't had a proper gym session since last Wednesday. Went to the gym at the hotel we were staying at over the weekend with my girlfriend but that was barely considered exercising. My wrist is surprisingly not 100% healed. There is no pain but still some very slight discomfort. Most of the time I don't even think about it but then suddenly when my wrist is in some orientations over the course of my daily activities, I feel that discomfort unexpectedly. Hope it goes away soon.

Lost some self-control eating wise over the weekend so I was definitely not on a caloric deficit for the past few days and suspected that my strength today would be not too bad at all. Started warming up for the squats, and got up to 80.0kg at which I performed 2 reps. Decided to go for 5/5/8 @ 85.0kg with the 8 reps giving me a new 1RM record. Finished the first 2 sets of 5 reps, struggling on the 5th rep of each set. Was not too confident of my chances at a full 8 reps but I gave it a go anyway. Was very determined and focused on driving my upper back into the bar at the bottom of my squats. Started to get really challenging after the 5th rep but surprisingly was able to grind out rep after rep until I reached my target of 8 reps! Mind over matter!

Went a little lighter on the overhead presses after the squats to avoid further aggravating my wrist. Pressing 3x8 reps @ 40.0kg did not result in any discomfort in my right wrist.

Feeling a bit more energised than usual today so I loaded up my deadlift warm-up weights and worked my way slowly up to gauge my strength today. I have also not deadlifted any notable weight for about 3 weeks so I was not too sure how I would perform today. Got up to the 120.0kg and repped out 2 deadlifts which weren't particularly taxing so I decided to go for the PR with 5 reps @ 135.0kg. Was slightly slow at the start of each rep but generally locked out near the top without too much trouble. Still felt like I had a rep or two left in me after completing the 5 reps which was encouraging. Currently have a 1RM of 1.85x my bodyweight. Almost at the 2x mark!

Ended the session today with some chin-ups and pull-ups as the usual assistance exercises.

Workout No. 139
Wednesday, 16th September 2015

Front Squat 2x8 @ 70.0kg
Barbell Row 3x5 @ 70.0kg
Single Unders 2x100

My brother asked me to walk him through the basic Stronglifts 5x5 movements (squat, overhead press, bench press, barbell row and deadlift) as he intends to start the programme. Brought him to Jatomi as they were having an open day and there was free entry for guests. His movement and motor patterns were actually not too bad at all, especially his squats where he managed to achieve respectable depth on his reps.

Didn't manage to work out much but squeezed in some sets here and there. Haven't been front squatting any significant weight for a while so I went with some moderate 70.0kg front squats today. Also did some barbell rows and single unders. Wrists were better but still not 100%.

Workout No. 140
Saturday, 19th September 2015

CROSSFIT #9
“Roy”
FOR TIME
5 rounds of
Deadlifts 15 @ 60.0kg
24” Box Jumps 20
Pull-ups 25

Time: 33:00

Was excited to work out today as I haven’t been to Crossfit for a while and only had one proper workout the whole of last week. We did a scaled down version of a hero workout called “Roy” today which involves 5 rounds for time of 15 deadlifts @ 100.0kg (scaled down to 60.0kg), 20 24” box jumps and 25 pull-ups (scaled down to ring rows).

I think I can deadlift 15 reps of 100.0kg broken down into sets of 5 reps without struggling too much but I highly doubt I can maintain good form doing that for 5 rounds of 15 reps with box jumps and pull-ups slotted in. To add to that there was a target time cap of 30:00. Tried out the 24” box jumps before starting and found them to not be too challenging. 25 pull-ups is a far away dream for me at this stage so I substituted them with ring rows.

Started the workout, repping out 15 deadlifts unbroken. Fairly easy. Not used to doing high rep deadlifts so I was a little slow with each rep. The coach told me to keep my hips higher instead of doing a mini reset at the start of each rep, especially since the weight was very manageable which improved my efficiency. Started to have to catch my breath halfway through the box jumps. The ring rows were okay at first but after the 15th rep, I was suffering and breaking them down into sets of 5 reps. Took just over 4 minutes for the 1st round but from the way things were going, I didn’t have the confidence that I would finish within the 30 minute target time cap.

Heart rate was starting to get quite high during the 2nd round. Deadlifts were still unbroken for 15 reps but had to slow down the box jumps. The ring rows were very difficult this round and I completed the 25 reps in the following manner: 5-5-5-3-2-3-2. Total time at this point was approaching 10 minutes. 20 minutes remaining for 3 rounds. Not looking too good.

3rd round was even more brutal, and I even had to break the deadlifts up into a set of 10 followed by a set of 5. Went slow with the box jumps to bring my heart rate down and followed the same pattern as the 2nd round for ring rows. Suffering in the 4th round was not significantly worse and by the time I was done, I had 5 minutes left for the final round.

I was quite spent by this point and knew that I would not finish in time considering that I took over 4 minutes when I was fresh to finish a round. Went all out and managed the 15 deadlifts and 20 box jumps after which I was struggling to breathe. The 25 ring rows I did not complete would have taken me a good 3 minutes at least so I guess my total time would have been 33:00.

Definitely a lot of room for improvement but my metabolic conditioning has definitely improved. Also realised that I have not been taking my pull-up training seriously. I should be able to do many more strict reps by now but can’t so I will increase the focus on pull-ups from now on.

Also had a discussion with the coaches after and perhaps it is time to switch to another strength programme. Maybe Wendler’s 5/3/1?

Workout No. 141
Monday, 21st September 2015

Squat 5x5 @ 80.0kg
Bench Press 5x5 @ 55.0kg
Deadlift 5 @ 120.0kg
Power Clean 5 @ 50.0kg
Power Clean 3 @ 60.0kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1

Decided to give the Texas Method a try instead of Wendler's 5/3/1 after doing some research online. The Texas Method calls for a high volume day (relatively heavy weights with higher reps and sets) on Monday, an active recovery day (light weights with low reps and sets) on Wednesday and a high intensity day (near max weights with low sets) on Friday. Already can see how my Crossfit WODs will screw with my programming so I'll have to see how it goes.

Typically I only go for one Crossfit session a week on Saturdays so I may be able to sustain the 3 day a week Texas Method training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However, for this week, I have already made plans to go for Crossfit on Thursday as well with some friends when we are all off on the Public Holiday so I can't skip that. Probably I'll head in to the gym on Wednesday night for a super light session and go for Crossfit on Thursday and Saturday and start the Texas Method programme proper on the following Monday, repeating my volume day today (or with slightly heavier weights).

The programme prescribes 5x5 sets which I have not done in over half a year as my programming has mostly been 3x5 or 3x8 with lighter weights. Started warming up for the squats and got to my working set weight of 80.0kg. This is definitely not a max weight for me but it is by no means light as well. First 3 sets went okay as expected and the subsequent sets got progressively harder. Struggled a bit especially on the last set and I kept all my rest times between sets under 3 minutes.

5x5 bench presses @ a conservative 55.0kg. Used a conservative 1RM bench press when calculating my starting weights so I did not have much trouble with the 5x5 and still felt okay at the end of the sets. My bench press has suffered slightly since I have started cutting and I have no idea what my 1RM is at the moment.

Prescribed deadlift weight was 120.0kg for 5 reps. Not too difficult at all as I just pulled 135.0kg for the same number of reps last week.

Practised a few power cleans as they form part of the programme (usually on Friday) as I have barely any experience with them before a pull-up station was available (also not part of the programme today). Am determined to improve on my pull-ups so did strict singles and holds at the top of each rep for a total of 5 reps.

This post has been edited by justintga: Sep 23 2015, 09:11 AM

Workout No. 142
Wednesday, 23rd September 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 65.0kg
Overhead Press 3x5 @ 35.0kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1

Recovery day today based on the Texas Method programme prescription. Looked like today would be an easy day considering the target weights, sets and reps. Decided not to go all out if I was suffering as I have a Crossfit session to go for tomorrow morning.

Started squatting my warm-up weights until I got up to the working set weight of 65.0kg. Surprisingly the 5 reps were not too easy at all. They did not feel heavy but I could feel some slight fatigue in my legs from the volume on Monday. Finished the 2 sets of 5 with minimal rest in between.

The 3x5 overhead presses @ 35.0kg were not too challenging. The programme suggests doing some chin-ups and back extensions (which I have never tried before) but I just did 5 strict pull-up singles instead and called it a day, conserving energy for tomorrow.

Workout No. 143
Thursday, 24th September 2015

Bent Over Row 5x10 @ 50.0kg
Front Squat 7 EMOM @ 50.0kg for 10 mins
Kettlebell Swings 150 @ 16.0kg

Went for Crossfit today but we didn't do the typical WOD like the usual Saturday morning open sessions. Instead, we primarily did a strength training based session involving rows, front squats and kettlebell swings.

Not used to bent over rows as I typically do Pendlay-styled barbell rows with a more horizontal back and the weights returning to the floor after each rep. 50.0kg for 5 sets of 10 reps was actually quite challenging.

The next part of the session was the real killer. The idea was to do 7 reps @ 50.0kg every minute on the minute for a total of 10 minutes which equates to a total of 70 reps and a combined volume of 3500kg (3.5 tons). I thought that 50.0kg would be a decently comfortable weight and the first 3 or 4 sets were not too bad at all. Took me about 25 seconds to finish 7 reps and had about 35 seconds of rest between each set. Quads were starting to fatigue by the 5th set or so. By the 7th set, my reps were significantly slower and on the 9th and 10th sets, I took over 40 seconds to complete the 7 reps. The muscle fatigue was so bad that I could barely stand at the end. Even maintaining the front rack position was a struggle.

Finished off with some simple kettlebell swings which I am also not very familiar with. 150 reps @ 16.0kg would typically not be too challenging for me but I was so battered by the squats that I barely had anything left in me. Had two high volume squat days this week and am expecting severe DOMS over the next few days. Hopefully there will be no squatting in the Saturday morning Crossfit session.

Workout No. 144
Saturday, 26th September 2015

CROSSFIT #10
FOR TIME
Run 800m
Kettlebell Clean and Jerk 50 @ 16.0kg
Pull-ups 40
Overhead Squat 30 @ 30.0kg
Kettlebell Snatch 20 @ 16.0kg
Bear Complex 10 @ 40.0kg

Time: 31:20

Was still suffering from severe DOMS from the high volume squatting on Monday and Thursday and was struggling to walk down the stairs at home in the morning. Still I persevered (maybe stupidly) and still headed for the Crossfit session. Today's WOD was a typical "chipper" i.e. completing all reps of a given exercise sequentially, effectively "chipping" away at each exercise until the WOD is completed.

Before starting, I had one look at the WOD and thought that completing it within the 40 minute time cap would not be possible, especially considering the state of my legs. Eventually finished in a respectable time of 31:20, clearly highlighting my inexperience with gauging my own abilities in this relatively new sport of Crossfit.

Started off with a 800m run and my quads were screaming for me to stop. Surprisingly by the end of the 800m, my quads were feeling better than before I had started. Got straight into kettlebell swings which replaced the kettlebell clean & jerks (75 reps per side replacing 50 reps per side). Broke everything up into sets of 25 reps. Quite tiring towards the end but nothing too brutal.

Pull-ups were substituted with near horizontal ring rows. Very challenging and I only managed 5 reps at a time and after about 25 reps, I went with sets of 3 reps, and then 2 reps and even singles for the last 3 reps.

Was dreading the overhead squats as I was quite tired by this point. Got the loaded bar up with a snatch and started the overhead squats. Had to bail after completing the 5th rep. Decided to take an extended rest and try again, aiming for 5 reps in a row. Surprisingly after restarting and running some cues in my head (shoulders up, core tight, pull the bar apart), I was still comfortable after completing 5 reps and went for 10 reps before putting the bar down again. Completed the 30 reps in the following fashion: 5-10-10-5. The DOMS seemed to have went away and did not noticeably affect my performance.

20 kettlebell snatches were substituted with 30 kettlebell swings per side. Had to grind away at the reps slowly as I didn’t have much energy left in me.

Loaded up the barbell to start on the 10 bear complexes which involves a deadlift, clean, front squat, press, back squat and then a final press. Started off with two reps in a row but did not attempt a 3rd as I was afraid I would drop the barbell on my neck from all the fatigue while transitioning from the press to the back squat. Completed the rest of the reps in singles and plopped onto the floor taking my own sweet time to recover while the rest were still finishing their WODs. Quite pleased that I finished first and I think only two people managed to finish within the time cap. Very brutal session overall. Will probably take the next two days off to recover.

Workout No. 145
Tuesday, 29th September 2015

Squat 5x5 @ 85.0kg
Overhead Press 5x5 @ 42.5kg
Deadlift 5 @ 125.0kg
Pull-ups 2/2/2 and “Negative” Pull-ups 3/3/3

2nd week of the Texas Method programme but missed the Friday intensity day last week (replaced by two Crossfit sessions). Still following the prescribed progression though despite skipping part of the programme and I will see how this goes. My squatting volume last week was higher than I am used to so I took an additional recovery day instead of my usual Monday gym session as I was still suffering from residual DOMS and resumed training today. Weigh-in today was just sub-85.0kg meaning that I have not lost much weight this month. My cutting discipline has dropped slightly for sure. Gotta get back on track although I am still making slow progress.

Started off with the squats @ 85.0kg. First set of 5 reps wasn’t so bad. Am finding that I have a slight sticking point halfway up the ascent where I am slower compared to the rest of the rep. Rested a full 3 minutes before attempting the 2nd set which wasn’t any more difficult. The remaining 3 sets of 5 reps were also decently comfortable although I could “feel” the volume for sure.

5x5 overhead presses @ 42.5kg. Relatively easy weight and rep scheme so I did each rep slowly, keeping very strict form with some intentional pauses here and there and milked out every last bit of each press.

Deadlifts @ 125.0kg, once again relatively easy.

Committed to improving my pull-ups so although they aren’t part of today’s Texas Method workout and I still had a little bit left in me, attempted 3 sets of the following: 2 single dead hang strict pull-ups, followed by 3 “negatives”. Working towards my first strict 2 pull-ups in a row!

Workout No. 146
Thursday, 1st October 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 70.0kg
Bench Press 3x5 @ 50.0kg
Back Extension 5x10
Chin-ups 3/3/3
Single Unders 5x100
Pull-ups 1/1/1

Recovery Thursday on the Texas Method Programme today. Still feels weird heading in to the gym to squat only 2 sets of 5 reps of a moderate weight. As per last week,70.0kg felt heavier than usual after the volume day on Tuesday, still feeling some residual fatigue in my legs. Short rest after the first set before breezing through the second set of 5 reps.

Bench presses for 3x5 @ 50.0kg. Not too challenging so I went slow to milk out every last bit of each rep and increase time under tension. Short rests in between too.

Watched some Youtube videos on how to do back extensions so I tried them out for the first time today. Not sure if I am supposed to do them weighted but the 5x10 was not particularly challenging. Also difficult to know when to start and stop the ROM. May try and video myself next week to get a better idea of how I am doing.

3 sets of chin-ups to failure. Managed 3 reps per set in singles. Finished off the session with 5x100 single unders and 3 single pull-ups at the end.

Workout No. 147
Saturday, 3rd October 2015

CROSSFIT #11
AMRAP
Toes to Bar 72/50 (-22)
30” Box Jumps 41/50 (+9)
Overhead Press 41/50 @ 30.0kg (+9)
Pull-ups 46/50 (+4)
Squat 26/50 @ 60.0kg (+24)
Push-ups 24 (-22+9+9+4+24)

Time: 3:00 for each movement

First time doing an AMRAP WOD today. The WOD consisted of 5 movements, AMRAP in 3 minutes for each one with a threshold of 50 reps. The idea was to sum up the reps short of 50 for each movement and that number was the number of reps of push-ups to do at the end of the WOD with the aim of minimising the number of push-ups to be done.

The movements were toes to bar (substituted with hanging knee raises), 30” box jumps, overhead presses @ 30.0kg, pull-ups (substituted with ring rows) and back squats @ 60.0kg.

Before starting, my strategy was to go all out for the hanging knee raises as I was confident of getting more than 50 reps there. Suspected I would struggle with the back squats at the end and that I would miss out the most reps for this movement. Started with the hanging knee raises and the limiting factor after about 20 reps was my grip. Managed another 10 reps before I had to let go of the bar again. Subsequent attempts yielded less and less reps but the final count was 72 and I was quite pleased with that.

Tried 24” box jumps before and today was my first attempt at 30”. The 30” box looked significantly higher and I was slightly hesitant to try jumping onto it during the practice session before the WOD. Wasn’t too difficult when I actually attempted it though. During the WOD, I went slow and paced myself and completed 41 reps unbroken which I was quite pleased with.

Heart rate was quite high by this point when I started the overhead presses. Managed 8 reps before I started feeling some slight fatigue. Didn’t wanna go to failure or else it would take too long to recover. Managed a total of 41 reps in 3 minutes @ 30.0kg doing 8-6-5-5-5-5-4-3 reps in that order.

Substituted pull-ups with ring rows and surprisingly I was feeling quite fresh for this. Even my ring rows have been improving and I squeezed out 46 reps in 3 minutes.

Wasn’t looking forward to the squats at all as I was quite fatigued by this point. Broke the 60.0kg squats into 5 reps every 30 seconds or so and did 6 reps for the final set as the timer was ticking down the last few seconds to complete a total of 26 reps.

Missed a total of -22 (hanging knee raises) + 9 (30” box jumps) + 9 (overhead presses) + 4 (ring rows) + 24 (squats) = 24 reps of push-ups which wasn’t too difficult at all.

This post has been edited by justintga: Oct 19 2015, 08:26 AM

Workout No. 148
Monday, 5th October 2015

Squat 5x5 @ 90.0kg
Bench Press 5x5 @ 57.5kg
Deadlift 5 @ 130.0kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1

Hello volume day! Was dreading the 5x5 90.0kg squats even before I stepped into the gym and kept thinking if I could try 87.5kg instead. Set some accelerated parameters on the Texas Method programme for the first few weeks as the starting weights I chose were conservative so attempting 87.5kg instead of 90.0kg would actually be more in line with the actual programme. Decided to go for it anyway as I will be in Japan towards the end of this week and taking a week off training. Go heavy or go home eh? Warm-up sets felt lighter than usual so my confidence of pulling off the 5x5 @ 90.0kg went up. Started the first working set and the 1st rep did not feel so bad. Worked through the reps and the 5th rep was a bit of a grind but nothing too difficult. Rested 3 minutes between sets. Subsequent sets started getting slightly more challenging but all in all it did not feel too brutal. New 5 rep PR!

Bench presses at 57.5kg for 5x5 did not feel as light as I would have liked but finished them without much difficulty.

Starting to worry about constantly using a mixed grip without switching the sides for the supinated and pronated hands. Every time I attempt to switch, the lift feels awkward and I can barely pull any weight. A regular grip can only help me until approximately the 120.0kg threshold. Perhaps I should try the opposite mixed grip for warm-up sets and use my regular mixed grip for the working set? Any suggestions guys? Reverted back to my regular grip and 130.0kg for 5 reps felt heavy yes, but it was not particularly challenging.

Pull-ups in singles to finish off. Starting to get noticeably easier.

Workout No. 149
Wednesday, 7th October 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 70.0kg
Overhead Press 3x5 @ 40.0kg
Back Extension 5x10 @ 2.5kg
Chin-ups 3/3/3

Feeling quite unwell today probably due to the haze. Throat was dry and was feeling quite lethargic overall. Still made an effort to show up at the gym though against my better judgement. Today will be my last training session for a week as I will be going for a short holiday to Japan.

Was feeling weak and lethargic so the 70.0kg squats felt harder than they should have. Nevertheless, the 70.0kg weight was manageable and I breezed through the 2 sets of 5 reps.

Overhead presses were also fairly easy @ 40.0kg. Pushed through the sets with minimal rest although I was feeling weak from my flu.
Tried weighting my back extensions by holding onto a 2.5kg weight which surprisingly made the 10 reps of each set significantly more challenging. Felt some fatigue towards the last reps of each set.

Finished off the workout with 3 sets of chin-ups to failure.

Gonna eat like crazy in Japan over the next week and lose all my gains. DIRTY BULKING!!!