Murphalicious

We did Murph on Friday, it was the beast it always was. This workout was a favorite of Navy Lt. Michael Murphy:

For time:
1 mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run

Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed. Start and finish with a mile run.

It was surprising in that my time was about four minutes more than the last time I did murph, 69:51. What really killed me was the last mile run. My pecs and shoulder muscles were so exhausted that the actual movement of running hurt my shoulders. Sooooo frustrating, I wasn't breathing hard, my legs weren't sore, I just couldn't run because of my... arms?

Had quite the compliment during this workout. After the first run La Saun randomly came up to me, introduced herself, and said she knew me from the old blue room, and I've drastically improved since she last saw me. It always feels good to hear such positive feedback, especially since it was unpromted.

A break from the strength days

Well, today was more met-con intensive:

5 rounds
400m sprint
15 kb swing @ 53#
21 box jumps 24"
9 pull ups

According to Harold, the first lap I ran "like a bat outa hell". After all, these are suppose to be sprints, right? So I ran the first lap in 1:52, but after that I ended up slowing down a lot. I never broke up the kb swings, but I usually had to break up the pu's into two sets with a real brief pause for my hands. The box jumps weren't that easy, but they weren't that hard. For the last set, with Harold's support, I was able to jump onto and off the box jumps, as opposed to jumping up, and stepping off.

Finished in 25:20, not the best time, but after I finished I dry heaved for a bit, so I feel like I pushed myself sufficiently. I am really, really sore. Like all over sore, especialy my pecs. I've decided to let them rest today, and start the push up challenge tomorrow. I swear I'm not wussing out, I just think exercising sore muscles is counter productive.

The weakness that is my chest

Today was a surprize:

10,9,8...1 Power cleans (at 135#)
2,4,6...20 Ring Push ups

I thought the difficult thing would be the cleans, but I was totally wrong, that was the surprise. I was doing a really, really good job of just pushing through the cleans, I never really wanted to stop. The weight might have actually been a little too light, although my form is still not perfect, and I could feel that I was using my lower back ever so slightly. However, I focused on finishing the workout as opposed to my technique, and I think that really helped. ...I was also surprised to find that I am incredibly sore, and it's only Tuesday!

What didn't help was my atrociously weak chest. I was crushing the workout until I hit 10 ring pu's. At that point, I hit a strength wall, and my body was simply too weak to keep up the pace. I had to start breaking the pu's up into sets of 1 or 2. I was honestly trying as hard as I could, but my pecs simply stopped responding to what I was telling them. I had to hit two, recover for like 30 sec, and the hit them again. This took FOREVER. I mean, I was the only one who was having this much of a problem. All in all it took me 32:02, by far the longest time.

I'm really getting tired of my chest being so weak. I've been pretty spotty with greasing the groove with regards to pu's, but I think today was a sort of rock bottom for me. Now I am determined to work on them throughout the day, every day. I will start reporting in on how I did, and this shall keep me inline. Kettlebell guy does this with the various challenges (e.g. box jumps) he competes in, so I'll do the same. Think I'll start keeping a record of how many push ups I do in a day.

The increase in oly strength juxtaposed to the weakness of my chest is very... not sure how to describe it. Frustrating, yet motivating? I feel that once my chest catches up with my lats and legs I will be officially jacked. Can't wait.

Snatch one rep max

Well, I was hoping to really nail this workout:

Snatch
1-1-1-1-1

Unfortunately, I maxed out at 115, my previous 1 rep max. I don't know why it was so low. I mean, a lot of time has passed since my last 115 rep, not to mention I attended the oly lift cert. I went into this workout with the intent of really getting a great finish, finish being that moment when you're an inch off of the ground, the bar is weightless, and you're starting to dive under the bar.

Whatever the case, I lost my speed strength quickly. I feel like it was mental, but I couldn't tell what was wrong, what was bugging me.

Looking at getting myself a pair of oly lift shoes. Danny if you're reading this comment on what type of shoe's you're wearing so I know what to look for on eBay.

Deadlift delight

Well, the workout was deadlift intensive. I really haven't pushed my deadlift since December when I hurt my back, but I haven't felt anything in my back in months. So I figured this was as good a time as any, so I went heavy. The WOD:

5 rounds
5 deadlift (I went "pro" @ 245#)
10 pushups
20 squats

My time was 11:19. This was waaay slower then anyone else, but I was really pushing my strength and didn't want to hurt my back. The heaviest I've ever done was 265, so this wod was a mental challenge, almost more so then a physical one. I am starting to really see myself as a strong person. As I start to realize more and more of what i'm capable of, I'm able to push myself more and more. Although it took me twice as long as some, I think as I get more acustomed to really, really pushing myself physically in new ways, I will continue to improve.

Strict Press and Weighted Chins, with a PR

Well, because I didn't work very much yesterday I had to stay late at work. However, when I saw what the workout was, I realized I could do it at the PTO's gym. The Wod:

1-1-1-1-1
Strict press
weighted Chins

It was strange doing a xfit wod in a regular gym. It took me forever to find the belt with which to hold weights for the chins, but I eventually got it. I got up to 125# on the fourth round, but when I got up to 130 I failed completely. I'm pretty stoked about this because my previous PR was 116#, and I feel like an increase in shoulder strength will lead to the ability to do handstand push ups. It still impresses me that there are exercises I can't do, like a muscle up or a hspu. I also got up to 59#s on the chins, which I don't believe to be a PR.

Afterwards I worked on dips, they weren't ring dips, but I figured fixed bar dips are better then no dips.

Rest day

Today I decided to stop and smell the roses....I know these aren't roses, so don't bother pointing that out to me. ...I took this picture today while out visiting the botanical gardens by the capital. The main part of the garden was closed for Mrs. Obama's luncheon, but there was a side part still available. For those that prefer blue flowers: