Saturday, February 22, 2014

CrossFit Training Week 15

One Week Out

So, this thing is about to start next weekend.  Obviously, there's not a lot of improvement to be made by next week, but it's 5 weeks long; so, there's actually still a lot of training time left.  I'll continue to focus on my weak movements: snatches and pull-ups until one of the workouts has them.  Otherwise, I'm going to concentrate on met-cons, mobility, and recovery.  I'm hoping to perform well each week, not get injured, and maybe even enjoy myself.

Overhead Squat

I had a great session with John this week.  We worked on overhead squats (OHS).  This session really showed how improving my shoulder range of motion could dramatically improve my lifts.  Although that's obvious, increasing my OHS 1RM from 125# to 155# is still a good day.  I learned specifically what mobility things I need to work on, a better hand position on the bar, and some routines I can use before doing OHS or snatches.

Monday, February 17, 2014

CrossFit Training Week 14


Pull-ups

I've been working on chest to bar pull-ups more.  Although, they're still my weakest movement (along with snatches), I'm starting to learn how to get the most out of them.  I've found that a slightly narrower grip works better, allowing me to get my chest closer (not sure why).  I think I'm actually going higher than I need to, because I haven't quite found the right grove yet.  If I'm lucky, they'll show up toward the end of the open to give me more time to train them.

Clean & Jerks

I've had a few session with John about clean and jerks.  Recently, I've really started to dial in the cycling.  My overhead mobility restrictions are still a limiting factor on the jerk, but I feel like they're becoming one of my strengths.

Conditioning

I've noticed a perceived drop-off in my met-con recently; so, I've been putting some focus on that.  In particular, I've tried to figure out how to stay below the redline so that I don't burn out.   I've also added a couple workouts to focus on proficiency while fatigued and to just push my breathing.  I think a little more focus here will really pay off, and I don't need much recovery from these types of workouts.

WOD Preparation

As I've complained about before, my shoulder and hands are still a problem.  Most of the time I can mobilize my shoulders enough so there's no pain, but sometimes I just have to deal with it.  The annoying  thing is that it messes up some of my workouts.  I think I can mitigate this better than I have with more wod-specific preparation.  There's no excuse for my front rack to hurt in a workout just because I didn't stretch out my hands enough.

Highlight

I PR'd my deadlift.  Up to 345#.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

CrossFit Training Week 13

Shoulder

Not much improvement on my shoulder.  In fact, working on muscle-ups may have set me back a little.  I think failing on a muscle-up puts you in a really bad position.  I'll likely forgo working on them for a while.  As far as the open goes, the difference being able to do ONE muscle-up and ZERO is only 1 of hundreds of reps.  It's not gonna make much difference on my scores.  I'll likely see a higher ROI on chest to bar pull-up practice.

Sleep

I've been hurting on sleep this week.  I honestly don't feel more fatigued at workouts or notice any slowing of recovery, but there's no way it's not having a negative effect.  In general I need to free up my time more to allow for more sleep and more auxiliary work and mobility.

Diet

The lack of sleep has only exacerbated my poor diet.  It's not the worst I've ever done, but I could be doing a lot better.  It's actually embarrassing that I'm so weak by the end of the day.  All of my little tricks have been short-lived or just failed.

Routines

As I've fallen into a set weekly training routine, I've found that my pre and post workout routines have gotten more efficient, effective, and intuitive.  For a while, I had a scripted routine that I followed.  Now I base it more off of how I feel, the upcoming workout, and how much time I have.  It's been a positive side effect of my shoulder and hand issues as well.

Snatch 

We've been doing more snatching recently, which is great for me.  I even got to do a nice piece on overhead squatting over the weekend.  I'm gradually getting more comfortable in the shapes; although, I need to be more thoughtful during workouts with a lot of cycling.  Still no PRs or anything, but I'm getting a touch more comfortable.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

CrossFit Training Week 12

Just a few highlights.  My shoulder felt just good enough to do some snatching with John.  No PRs or anything, but I got some great work done on setup, position, what to think about, and what to work on.

I was sick for most of the week, but it didn't seem to be much of a problem during workouts.  It might have even helped me get more rest.

My diet is is a bit better, but not good enough.

I redid 13.4 and got 63 reps (vs. 50 last year).