Thank you! Much appreciated!

Workout No. 150
Thursday, 15th October 2015

Squat 4 @ 90.0kg
Squat 2x5 @ 70.0kg
Overhead Press 5x5 @ 42.5kg
Back Extension 5x10 @ 5.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2
Pull-ups 1/1/1

Resumed training after a week off and discovered that I surprisingly LOST weight despite eating like a glutton on my Japan trip. Perhaps it was all the walking we did that burned off all the calories? Weighed in at 84.0kg.

Was unsure what to do today in the middle of the week so I decided to try doing a volume day although my legs were not feeling so fresh from all the walking. Worked my way up through the warm-up sets to the working set weight of 90.0kg and started the first set. Finished off the 4th rep but got stuck in the hole on the 5th rep. It was more of a determination and discipline thing rather than the lack of strength but since my body decided that it was not up to it today, I changed over to more of a recovery day format instead. Squatted 2 sets of 5 reps @ 70.0kg after my failed attempt @ 90.0kg.

Shoulders were feeling fresh so I went for a solid 5x5 @ 42.5kg which is the prescribed weight for the Monday volume workout this week (which I missed). First 3 sets were relatively easy so I shortened the rest time to under 2 minutes between each set. Final set was much more challenging.

Increased the weight by 2.5kg to 5.0kg for weighted back extensions and could definitely feel the fatigue when doing the last 2 reps of each set. Completed a total of 5 sets of 10 reps.

Ended today’s training session with 3 sets of 2 very strict chin-ups followed by strict single pull-ups.

Workout No. 151
Saturday, 17th October 2015

CROSSFIT #12
AMRAP
Squat 10 @ 60.0kg
Push-ups 15
Kettlebell Swings 20 @ 24.0kg
16” Box Jumps 25

Time: 25:00 – Completed 4 rounds or 280 reps

Missed the Saturday morning session due to work commitments but managed to convince my girlfriend to join me for the afternoon session at HBCF after attempting to coax her into it for a couple of months!

The WOD today was an AMRAP WOD in 25 minutes of as many reps as possible of 10 back squats @ 60.0kg, 15 push-ups, 20 kettlebell swings @ 24.0kg and 25 16” box jumps. Relatively straight forward WOD for me.

Managed a total of 4 complete rounds or 280 reps. My girlfriend managed a respectable 2.5 rounds doing back squats @ 22.5kg, push-ups on her knees and kettlebell swings @ 8.0kg. I think I didn’t push myself as hard as I could have as my coach said that 4 rounds would be a good target to aim for before starting and there was only two of us at the class so I had no one else to benchmark myself against. I was actually watching the countdown timer and pacing myself to complete the 4 rounds in 25 minutes and didn't push any harder than I needed to to meet the 4 round target.

I’d prefer having more people to “compete” against but had to miss the busier morning session and I wanted to get my Crossfit fix for the week so it was better than nothing haha.

Workout No. 152
Tuesday, 20th October 2015

Squat 5/5/4/4/2 @ 90.0kg
Bench Press 5/5/5/3 @ 60.0kg
Deadlift 5 @ 110.0kg
Power Clean 5 @ 60.0kg
Power Snatch 5 @ 40.0kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1

Had two days of recovery and was feeling quite fresh today, ready to take on a volume day. Surprisingly disappointing performance though. Started off okay with squats @ 90.0kg attempting a 5x5 which I managed earlier this month without too much difficulty but even the first set felt challenging. Managed 5 full reps for the first two sets but only 4 on the next two (could have pushed harder but was not very motivated after how difficult the first 2 sets felt) and failed horribly on the last set, only managing 2 reps. Not sure if the squatting volume of 10x4 @ 60.0kg plus the kettlebell swings and box jumps on Saturday messed with today’s session as I was still feeling some fatigue yesterday in the hip region.

Target for bench presses today was 5x5 @ 60.0kg. Warmed-up towards the working set weight and managed the 5 reps for the first set, really struggling with the last rep. Same experience for the next two sets but for some reason, failed on the 4th rep of the 4th set. Carelessly forgot to adjust the safeties a step up after my squat session so got myself pinned under the bar after failing to press up the 4th rep. Had to do the “roll of shame” to get the bar off me and didn’t attempt the 5th set.

Performance wasn’t too good for squats and bench presses so I decided to go with lighter deadlifts today. An easy set of 5 reps @ 110.0kg, using the regular grip to train my grip strength.

Had some energy left in me after the light deadlifts so did some power clean and power snatch practice which I haven’t done in a while before repping out some single pull-ups to finish. Also, noticed for the first time today that I have some visible lats! Mighty pleased!

Will give these weights a try again next week and see how I feel. Perhaps it is not too good an idea to run this programme on a cut and I may need to make some changes.

Workout No. 153
Thursday, 22nd October 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 72.5kg
Overhead Press 3x5 @ 42.5kg
Back Extension 5x10 @ 5.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2
Power Clean 3x3 @ 52.5kg

Arrived late at the gym and was told that there was going to be a TNB power disruption in 45 mins and that the gym would be closing early tonight. Lucky for me that it was light recovery day so I should be able to manage within that time period.

Started off with squats as with any other day and finished off the 72.5kg sets relatively quickly (didn’t feel 100% fresh when doing them though).

Shortened rest periods between overhead press sets @ 42.5kg and went through them quite quickly too.

Supersetted back extensions and chin-ups to save some time and finished off with some power clean practice which I always neglect. Total time taken: 35 minutes. 10 minutes to spare for my shower. Not bad at all!

Update (23rd October 2015): Woke up today with a very sore right wrist despite not feeling anything before heading to bed last night. Must be from the cleans. Same wrist as early last month...

This post has been edited by justintga: Oct 23 2015, 08:07 AM

Workout No. 154
Saturday, 24th October 2015

CROSSFIT #13
FOR TIME
5 rounds of
Push Press 12 @ 30.0kg
Toes to Bar 14
24” Box Jumps 24

Time: 18:27

Saw push presses as part of the WOD on the whiteboard as I walked into the gym and was slightly worried because of my aggravated wrist which was just starting to heal fairly well. 5 rounds for time of 12 push presses @ 30.0kg, 14 hanging leg raises (replacing the toes to bar) and 24 reps of 24” box jumps didn’t sound too bad and I estimated it would take under 30 minutes or so to complete.

The cut-off time was 35 minutes so I was fairly confident I would finish the 5 rounds. Was still feeling some slight residual discomfort in my right wrist although exerting pressure on it did not feel particularly worse. Borrowed a wrist wrap just for my right wrist and gave the push presses a trial go. No pain. Game on.

Started the first round of the WOD once everyone was ready at their stations. Completed the 12 reps of push presses @ 30.0kg surprisingly easily. Went through the reps unbroken and was only just starting to feel some slight fatigue on the last rep.

The hanging leg raises were the hardest part of the WOD for me. Definitely need some practice to nail this as I was unsure of how I should control my swinging. Using momentum made the reps easier but after 3 or 4 reps my swinging would start getting out of control. Not using momentum made the reps very, very hard and I could only manage 4 or 5 strung together before having to rest. Grip was a limiting factor as well.

Box jumps don’t hit me as hard anymore. Could do 24 of the 24” box jumps unbroken as long as I didn’t go crazy fast and could recover during push presses which came after the box jumps. Finished the first full round in under 3 minutes which was much faster than I had expected to.

Remaining rounds were completed in just over 3 minutes each as I paced myself based on the second fastest person in the room haha. Completed all 5 rounds of the 12 push presses @ 30.0kg unbroken. Box jumps weren’t too bad either and only really struggled for the hanging leg raises.

After a while, found that if I used momentum on the way up on the leg raises, and as my legs were falling back down, I tried tightening my core, I could reduce the amount of “swing” but still have the ability to “swing” back up again fairly easily, generating new momentum on the way up. Could keep this rhythm for about 8 or 9 reps, meaning that I would only need to demount the bar once for each round of 14 reps.

Finished the 5 rounds in a time of 18:27, much faster than I estimated I would.

This post has been edited by justintga: Oct 27 2015, 07:09 AM

Workout No. 155
Tuesday, 27th October 2015

Deadlift 1 @ 135.0kg
Deadlift 1x2 @ 130.0kg
Squat 1x5 @ 80.0kg
Overhead Press 1x5 @ 40.0kg
Farmer’s Walk 3x20m @ 64.0kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1

Arrived at the gym at about 9pm, nearly 2 hours later than usual due to work commitments with no food in my stomach since noon and it was already getting very late. Just bought some new kicks, the Nike Metcon 1s, and I was determined to try them out during today’s training session. Was planning to do a regular volume day but unbelievably all 3 squat racks were taken at this time.

After waiting for about 15 minutes, decided to start off with deadlifts instead. Worked my way up to 135.0kg but after pulling one rep, I knew that I wouldn’t finish another 4. The last time I pulled heavy was over 3 weeks ago when I deadlifted 5 reps of 130.0kg. Not sure why I struggled so badly but I deloaded to 130.0kg and pulled another 2 reps before deciding to attempt any more. Back was starting to round and I was really struggling.
One of the squat racks freed up so I started trying out some squats. Doubted that I would be able to squat a 5x5 weight heavier than 90.0kg today so I just went with some light reps and a 5 rep 80.0kg attempt. Was also feeling quite demotivated after the “fail” on deadlifts. Squats were not too difficult but it felt “different” because of the new shoes. Definitely need some time to get used to them.

Tried out some overhead presses to test out my right wrist but sadly was still feeling some discomfort there. Stopped pressing after the first set and for some strange reason, saw a pair of 32.0kg kettlebells lying around and tried out some farmer’s walks. Did 3 rounds of 20m with 32.0kg in each hand. Had to stop after about 20m mainly because of grip strength. Also walked much slower than I could have. Forearms suffered the most during this exercise compared to the rest of my body. Ended the training session today with 10 reps of pull-up singles.

Weigh-in before I left the gym read 84.0kg, the lightest I have been in maybe 6 years and I have lost about 10.0kg in just over a year of consistent training (was 94.0kg @ 185.0cm before starting my training), and 6% bodyfat (down to 18% from 24% at the start) if the Tanita machine can be believed. Have not starved myself so I consider this quite an achievement but I never expected the process of losing weight and cutting fat to be this hard or this slow. I like everyone else was wanting and expecting fast results but I am glad I have persevered despite the results coming really slowly.

I have been on my cut for 3.5 months now and am happy with the results so far. Am down to about 18% bodyfat, down from 22% from the start of my cut, based on the Tanita machine at my gym. I know it is not accurate but at least it is a rough guideline for tracking my cut progress. I am actually contemplating stopping the cut as my strength gains have plateaued for a while. Haven’t PR-ed much and my strength has stagnated for a while already and only my squat has gone up a little bit. Could decide to be patient and continue until I am down to 15% bodyfat or so, or I could start upping my calories and reaping some strength gains. Suggestions anyone?

Workout No. 156
Thursday, 29th October 2015

Squat 5x5 @ 80.0kg
Bench Press 3x5 @ 60.0kg
Back Extension 5x10 @ 10.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2/2/1

Didn't have a good workout earlier this week so went for a little more volume today although it should be recovery day.

Still getting used to my new Nike Metcon 1s so I decided to do some relatively lighter squats. Have also been trying not to squat ATG as a coach has pointed out that I have a slight butt wink at the lowest point of my squats. ATG is actually the most comfortable position for me as I have quite good mobility and a parallel squat actually feels like a half squat to me. Going all the way down also allows me to use the “bounce” or stretch reflex and I feel the strongest squatting this way. Have not had any problems with my back at all but I am just worried if I continue squatting like this, I may face long term problems. This is my second session trying out parallel squats but I feel significantly weaker and struggle in the hole much more than I usually do at 80.0kg. Will give it a little more time and reassess. Completed 5x5 squats @ 80.0kg.

Didn’t do so well on my last bench press attempt so I was determined to beast the 60.0kg weight today. Completed the 3x5 @ 60.0kg with a medium width grip and found it to be decently comfortable. Might stick with this grip width for a while. For a long time I have been benching with a relatively narrow grip and since starting my cut, I have been experimenting with a wider grip as most people do. This medium grip seems to be a good width to stick at for a bit and see how it goes.

Increased the back extension weight slightly to 10.0kg. Still manageable with my back starting to fatigue on the last 2 or 3 reps.

Completed 4 sets of 2 consecutive strict chin-ups and failed to string 2 in a row on the 5th set. Still a very good improvement. Now to get to the point where I can do 3 in a row!

Workout No. 157
Saturday, 31st October 2015

CROSSFIT #14
Kettlebell Swings 10 @ 16.0kg
Bear Complex 1 @ 40.0kg
Kettlebell Swings 9 @ 16.0kg
Bear Complex 2 @ 40.0kg
Kettlebell Swings 8 @ 16.0kg
Bear Complex 3 @ 40.0kg
.
.
.
Kettlebell Swings 1 @ 16.0kg
Bear Complex 10 @ 40.0kg

Time: 9:02

Did some pre-WOD work today in the form of high pulls and prowler pushes. Unfortunately I re-aggravated my right wrist while practising the high pulls. Was told to try slowly rowing the weight to my hip crease, pause, then perform a triple extension and pull explosively but when I tried that out, I immediately felt a sting in my right wrist. Perhaps the weight was way too high to try this without utilising momentum (paused at the hip crease). Stopped immediately and put on some wrist wraps for the prowler pushes and the actual WOD. This is unfortunately the 3rd time aggravating the same wrist, almost always when doing a clean / snatch type movement so I will have to do something to address this. The pain was worse this time so I am fairly concerned. Pulling and pushing is fine but dynamic or rotational movements hurt.

Started off the prowler pushes which were weighted with 30.0kg which were quite easy but after a few runs, the management asked us to stop due to the noise and potentially damaging the stone tile floor.

Started the WOD but replaced each bear complex with 2 kettlebell thrusters @ 16.0kg to avoid further injuring my wrist. The rep scheme was 10 rounds of 10 KB swings followed by 1 bear complex (deadlift, clean, front squat, thruster, back squat, back thruster) and for each subsequent round, reduce the KB swing reps by 1 and increase the bear complex reps by 1. The 10th and final round will be 1 kettlebell swing and 10 bear complexes (or 20 KB thrusters in my case).

Was a fast paced workout and completed the 10 rounds in just over 9 minutes. The wrist wraps I used were borrowed so I'll probably purchase some soon and ease off any wrist movements which hurt the slightest over the next week and see how it heals.

Workout No. 158
Tuesday, 3rd November 2015

Squat 5x5 @ 82.5kg
Overhead Press 1x5 @ 42.5kg
Pull-ups 1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1

My right wrist feels much better today but decided to go easy on the wrist all the same. Bought some decently cheap wrist wraps off a LYN seller (ssajnani) yesterday night but they were surprisingly good quality. Wrapped up my wrist even before starting my squats, just to give it that extra bit of security. Still trying not to squat ATG and to stop at parallel instead. Also tried out the high bar position today to see if it was any easier just for variation. Completed the 5x5 @ 82.5kg. The reps didn’t feel easy but I still had a fair bit left in me after completing each set of 5 reps. Will progress up slowly again back to my previous 5x5 PR of 90.0kg (which was achieved in the low bar position, almost ATG).

Tested out my wrist with some overhead pressing, starting with the empty bar. No discomfort or pain. Slowly ramped up the weight until arriving at 42.5kg and repped out 5 reps. Nice and comfy. Decided to stop there to play safe although my wrist was feeling fine. As before, pushing and pulling is generally okay but rotational and dynamic movements don’t feel as comfortable i.e. turning a tight door knob or steering wheel and of course cleans and snatches.

Did 10 pull-ups in singles. Slight, slight discomfort at the top of each rep but wrists generally felt fine as well. Not much volume today so I did some sprints to finish off the session.

Workout No. 159
Thursday, 5th November 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 70.0kg
Bench Press 1x5 @ 55.0kg
Sumo Deadlift 1x5 @ 110.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2/2

Still allowing time for my wrist tor recover today. Started off with some light recovery squats. 2 sets of 5 reps @ 70.0kg. All done in the high bar position and with a brief pause at the bottom. Challenging but manageable.

Warmed up for bench presses and worked up towards a single set of 5 reps @ 55.0kg. Comfortable but stopped after a set just to avoid overtaxing my right wrist. Pressing and pulling movements are 100% fine now but I can still feel some slight discomfort when doing rotational or dynamic movements.

Didn't deadlift on Tuesday so made today a light deadlift day. Tried out sumo deadlifts seriously today for the first time. Didn't wanna go too heavy as I am not accustomed to the sumo movement pattern. 110.0kg was not issue though. Feels very different compared to the conventional deadlift.

Skipped back extensions after finishing the deadlifts.

Some chin-ups to end the training session. Had to go really slow and not rely on any momentum at all because an explosive pull at the bottom causes some slight discomfort in my wrist. Better safe than sorry.

Workout No. 160
Saturday, 7th November 2015

CROSSFIT #15
5 rounds of
AMRAP in 50s, rest for 10s
Push-ups
Weighted Squats @ 15.0kg
Sit-ups
Weighted Burpees @ 15.0kg
Rest 1 minute

Very straight forward WOD today which was a circuit of push-ups, weighted squats with a 15.0kg bumper plate, sit-ups and weighted burpees with the same bumper plate. Each movement was AMRAP for 50s followed by a 10s rest and a 1 minute rest between each round. Total time for the whole WOD was 5+5+5+5+4=29 minutes.

Was slightly concerned for my right wrist as the weighted squats involved "cleaning" the bumper plate up to chest height and the weighted burpees involved "cleaning and pressing" the bumper plate overhead. My wrist was feeling fine but I wanted to avoid rotational or dynamic wrist movements as far as possible. Gave the movements a try pre-WOD and my wrist felt fine. Wrapped up my right wrist with some wrist straps nonetheless just for that added support.

In the end, could do the squats, burpees and sit-ups unbroken for the full 50s each round but had to take short breaks for the push-ups. Could have and should have pushed harder.

This post has been edited by justintga: Nov 9 2015, 02:23 PM

Workout No. 161
Tuesday, 10th November 2015

Trap Bar Deadlift 1x4 @ 155.0kg
Bench Press 3x20 @ 40.0kg

Squeezed in a very quick workout today at a powerlifting gym with my friends before heading for some Deepavali open houses. Tried out the trap bar deadlift for the very first time. Learned very quickly at the higher weights that pressing into the ground with my legs was more effective than trying to use my back and my hips to move the weight. Ramped up the weight until we arrived at the final set working weight of 155.0kg for 4 reps. Had to use straps to hold on to the bar (also a first for me). Managed to pull off the 4 reps but my back was rounding slightly. Still had some energy left in me to rep out maybe 2 or 3 more reps though.

3 sets of 20 reps of bench presses @ 40.0kg. Wrist was feeling good. Quickly finished this off and said goodbye to my friends who stayed for the remainder of the session.

This post has been edited by justintga: Nov 11 2015, 08:18 AM

Workout No. 162
Thursday, 12th November 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 85.0kg
Overhead Press 3x5 @ 40.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2/2/2

Finished work really late today. Didn't squat this week so I increased the prescribed recovery squat weight to 85.0kg. The sets were not particularly easy.

Intended to go for 3x5 @ 45.0kg overhead presses but lost some focus on the first set and lost tightness after my 3rd rep, and didn't have the willpower to do the 4th. Deloaded to 40.0kg just to make sure I got some volume in. Completed a full 3x5 at this weight. Disappointing.

Chin-ups were squeezed in between some sets and some even at the start of the workout before the squats at the rack was occupied. Still can't manage 3 reps consecutively. A supinated grip still causes some discomfort in my right wrist so I went for a neutral hammer grip instead.

Not really seeing much gains on this Tuesday Volume, Thursday Recovery and Saturday Crossfit pattern that I am on. One big factor is definitely that I am about 4 months into my cut. At least I am not losing any strength. Need some motivation.

Workout No. 163
Monday, 16th November 2015

Squat 2x5 @ 90.0kg
Squat 1x5 @ 95.0kg
Bench Press 2x4 @ 62.5kg
Bench Press 2x5 @ 60.0kg
Sumo Deadlift 1x5 @ 100.0kg
Deadlift 1x5 @ 100.0kg
Dips 2/2/2

Didn't train over the weekend as I was at the Strength Assembly Meet by the Malaysia Powerlifting Alliance supporting my friend who broke 4 national records on Sunday! Mirin brah!

Resumed training today feeling relatively fresh but arrived quite late at the gym due to work commitments. Been trying to rep out 50 reps of push-ups daily over the last couple of days whenever possible just to get some extra volume for my chest which seems to be underdeveloped compared to the rest of my physique. Tried squatting with a low quality nylon belt today in the low bar position and 90.0kg for 5 reps actually felt significantly easier. 2nd set was also easy so I tried slapping on an additional 2.5kg on each side and attempted 5 reps @ 95.0kg. Not too bad at all. Rep PR for me. Have ordered a leather powerlifting belt from the US but will only get it in early January. Might consider using this belt in the meantime for my work sets.

Left the belt on for bench presses but found that it did not help particularly much. Tried to go for 3x5 @ 62.5kg but only managed 4 reps on my first attempt. Had a short rest and once again, only managed 4 reps. Lowered the weight down to 60.0kg and did 2x5 reps at this weight. Slightly disappointing after a good squat day but perhaps I was weaker than usual today because of the volume from the push-ups which my body is not yet fully accustomed to.

Continued experimenting with sumo deadlifts, pulling 5 reps @ 100.0kg, followed by another 5 reps conventional.

Finished off the workout with 3 sets of 2 solid dips (which is to failure for me).

Workout No. 164
Wednesday, 18th November 2015

CROSSFIT #16
EMOM
Burpees 5 (even minutes)
Thrusters 5 @ 30.0kg (alternate odd minutes)
Overhead Squat 5 @ 30.0kg (alternate odd minutes)

Time: 15:00

Back Extension 5x10
Pull-ups 3/3/3

Very short workout today because I had to rush for a dinner after my training session. Instead of doing light squats and overhead presses for recovery, decided to do a short WOD instead with similar movements. EMOM, with 5 burpees for even minutes and alternating between 5 thrusters @ 30.0kg or 5 overhead squats @ 30.0kg on off minutes. Used to struggle about 4 months ago with a similar WOD of 5 burpees on even minutes and 5 thrusters on odd minutes, but today was actually relatively easy. Was still quite fresh after the full 15 minutes. The intention today was to just give my right wrist a slight test for the first time since my injury 3 weeks ago, trying out cleans for the thrusters and snatches for the overhead squats. Kept the weight light just to be safe.

Rushed through some unweighted back extensions and squeezed in some pull-ups in between the sets before heading off for dinner.

This post has been edited by justintga: Nov 29 2015, 03:26 PM

Workout No. 165
Saturday, 21st November 2015

CROSSFIT #17
FOR TIME
Squat 30 @ 60.0kg
Double Unders 30
Squat 20 @ 60.0kg
Double Unders 20
Squat 10 @ 60.0kg
Double Unders 10
Kettlebell Swings 100 @ 24.0kg

Time: 23:55

Pull-ups 3/3/3/3/3

Had to work the full day on Saturday so I missed the Saturday WOD. Headed to the gym right after finishing work and did the WOD solo by myself. A very volume heavy squat WOD. Prescribed weight for squats was bodyweight but that would've been too brutal and I would not have finished in the 30 minute time cap.

Broke the squats into sets of 10-10-5-5 for the first 30 reps. Pushed myself but kept some in the tank for later. Took a brief rest after finishing the 30 squats to let my heart rate drop a little. Each double under was replaced by 3 single unders so I completed a total of 90 single unders, relatively unbroken without much rest.

Quick rest before heading into the next 20 squats, broken into 5-5-5-5. Legs were still feeling okay and completed the next 60 single unders without much difficulty.

Last 10 squats were easy as 10 was a psychologically easy number, and quickly finished off the final 30 single unders. The elapsed time at this point was just under 15 minutes.

The kettlebell swings were much harder than expected. Went straight into them right after finishing the last single under and only managed 12 unbroken before I had to put the kettlebell down. Wasn't very disciplined and had no strategy at all and was doing 12 reps then 10 then 10 then 20 etc. It was a die die finish the 100 reps kinda thing, regardless of how I managed it. Completed the WOD in just under 24 minutes, happy enough with my time.

Rested for 10 minutes before doing 5 sets of 3 single pull-up reps.

Workout No. 166
Monday, 23rd November 2015

Front Squat 2x5 @ 70.0kg
Overhead Press 3x5 @ 45.0kg
Back Extension 5x10 @ 10.0kg
Chin-ups 2/2/2/2/2

Was still feeling my legs and my glutes from the volume heavy squatting on Saturday. Gave front squats a try today as I haven't attempted them in a long time. 2 sets of 5 reps at 70.0kg felt nice and smooth although the weight didn't feel very light. Could feel my legs during the first few warm up reps but the pain soon went away.

Solid 3x5 overhead presses @ 45.0kg. Haven't pressed this weight for 5 reps since I started my 10.0kg cut. Lost weight, grew leaner, maintained strength, increased relative strength. Not too bad at all!

10.0kg weighted back extensions and 5 sets of chin-ups to failure to finish off today's short session.

Workout No. 167
Wednesday, 25th November 2015

Front Squat 3x5 @ 80.0kg
Bench Press 3x5 @ 60.0kg
Power Clean 3x3 @ 40.0kg
Pull-ups 3/3/3/3/3

Didn't have much time so had to rush through the training session a bit today. Started off with some heavy front squats; went up by 10.0kg from Monday to 80.0kg because Monday felt quite light. Never attempted this weight before but felt fairly confident I would be able to manage it. Put on a generic nylon velcro belt from the gym to help me brace my core a little bit. Can't wait until I get my customised leather belt in January! The 5 reps were smooth without any sticking points and I think I can manage a fair bit more weight. Completed the full 3x5 fairly comfortably.

Failed to get 5 reps @ 62.5kg on my last bench press attempt and I was rushing for time so I went for a conservative 3x5 @ 60.0kg today to avoid failure and extended rest / reset periods. Completed the sets fairly comfortably.

Tested 40.0kg power cleans for the first time in ages since my wrist injury. Wore a wrist strap on my right wrist as extra insurance and did not feel any discomfort or pain. Not sure if my body is compensating in some weird way, but the cleans felt more right side dominant i.e. the upwards "brush" was felt more heavily on my right thigh and my right side seemed to get in the rack position faster and more comfortably. Need to address this imbalance but am happy that I can clean again! Gonna take it nice and slow to avoid re-injury.

Pull-ups to finish off, 5 sets of 3 singles, with less rest than usual between sets.

Workout No. 168
Saturday, 28th November 2015

Front Squat 5x5 @ 70.0kg

CROSSFIT #18
EMOM
Push Press 3+1 every even minute @ 35.0kg (even minutes)
Overhead Squat 3+1 every odd minute @ 35.0kg (odd minutes)

Time: 20:00

Pull-ups 10x1

Pre-WOD today was 5x5 front squats. Picked a reasonably light weight so as to not kill myself before starting the WOD. A fairly easy 5x5 @ 70.0kg, still feeling quite fresh once I was done.

WOD today was an EMOM WOD, starting with 3 overhead squats @ 35.0kg on the 1st minute, 3 push presses @ 35.0kg on the 2nd minute, followed by 3+1=4 overhead squats on the 3rd minute, 3+1=4 push presses on the 4th minute, 3+2=5 overhead squats on the 5th minute, 3+2=5 push presses on the 6th minute and so on. The total time for the WOD was 20 minutes.

The last 2 minutes would require 12 reps of overhead squats and 12 reps of push presses. I did not finish the reps for the last 4 minutes of this EMOM. Just tried to do as many as I could manage. The main issue was that my shoulders and forearms were giving way after having to hold weight above my head for much longer than I am used to (full duration of overhead squats + pressing during the push presses). Legs were feeling fine though.

Lost focus towards the end a number of times as I was really struggling i.e. set up to clean the weight up to the rack position but body got lazy and just deadlifted it up without the triple extension. Had to lower the weight back down to the floor and clean it up.

Didn't expect this weight to be so hard. After resting sufficiently, did 10 single reps of very, very strict pull-ups before heading home.

This post has been edited by justintga: Nov 29 2015, 04:07 PM