deadlift / bench press / overhead squat

Observations from my first time lifting real weights in almost a month:

1. grip strength is pretty weak — had a tough time holding the bar doing DL
2. overall strength is pretty good: I’ve done (5 x 185 DL) and I’ve done (15 x 155). Today I did (12 x 185) before my grip gave out.
3. chest/shoulder strength is very good — I did do a fair amount of pushups over the past several weeks

Row 500m = 1:58

Deadlift:
10 x 75 / 10 x 95 / 10 x 135 / 10 x 155
12 x 185 (grip fail)
6 x 185 (grip fail)

OHS:
10 x 45 / 10 x 65 / 10 x 65

Bench Press:
5 x 135 / 10 x 135 / 13 x 135

Pullups:
7-10

Knees-to-Elbows: 10

OHS / Cleans / Deadlift / Bench Press

Wednesday: easy classic rollerski over near Midd. 1:20.

Today: random workout after a 2:45am airport shuttle to Montreal… with 2 new PR’s.

OHS:
8 x 55
5 x 70
5 x 80
5 x 90
11 x 95 * PR

Cleans:
10 x 95 power clean
10 x 95 PC
5 x 115 PC
5 x 115 PC
5 x 115 PC
4 x 135 Hang power clean…ugly

Bench Press:
15 x 60 / 8 x 80 / 8 x 95
11 x 135 * PR
8 x 135
7 x 135
7 x 135
7 x 135

Deadlift:
20 x 135

and some assorted “jumping” pullups (both hands leave bar at the top) and other pullup fun.

Overhead Squat / Muscle Up / Ski Erg

Did a little jog with the team this PM, followed by stretching. Then it was on to a brief workout of my own:

-assorted muscle ups, ~10 total

OHS:
10 x 40
10 x 55
5 x 67
5 x 77
5 x 95 * PR (did 2 x 95 at the beginning of October)

Ski Erg, 1000m @ ~85 – 90% effort:
3:44.8

skill work

I am still quite tired today, so I did some technique and skill work on a few different things. Cleans (I normally do hang-power-cleans, and today I worked on the full deadlift-front-squat-clean), OHS, SDHP, and SP.

Cleans: 10-10-10 @ 67#
OHS: 7-10 @ 67#
SDHP: 15 @ 67#
SP: 5 @ 67#

still fairly torn apart from Cindy last Friday. And my legs are pretty shot from hard intervals yesterday. Go figure.

Overhead Squat / Back Squat

I friggin’ killed it today. 35:00 of barefoot running on trail that included some rough patches (to toughen up my feet). Then I did a squat workout:

OHS:
5 x 45
5 x 55
5 x 65
5 x 77
5 x 82* pr
5 x 87* pr
5 x 92* pr
2 x 95* pr

BS:
5 x 65
10 x 95
5 x 115
5 x 135
5 x 135
5 x 150
5 x 135
5 x 135

OHS / BS / German class / Spanish Club

One of the cool aspects of working at a ski school: the weekly schedule has 18-20 hours of training built into it, including double-sessions M-Tu-Th-F. We (nordo’s) can’t use all that that time on a weekly basis, so inevitably there are times when we finish practice way-early. Like Tuesday PM, we finished our strength training almost an hour before supper, so I hit up my 2nd or 3rd workout of the day: OHS practice, and back squats just to totally pwn myself:

OHS:
5 x 55
5 x 65
5 x 75
8 x 65 (fail on #9)
7 x 65 (fail on #8)

BS:
30 x 75

I overdid it on Tuesday, and I was feeling pretty shot yesterday. In fact, my chest and shoulders are still pretty sore. As for today, the jury is still out on whether I’ll have enough time/energy to do anything.

And yes, I am back in high-school: as of Monday, I’m taking German 2. Since my motivation seems to come and go with manic proportions, I’ve also got a few new Spanish books, as I hope to start a Spanish club. My idea is that if I can have a successful Spanish club this year, that maybe I can teach Spanish 1/2/3 in the future. “Spanish Verb Tenses” and “Spanish Pronouns and Prepositions” and “Deutsch heute”, here I come!

DP / OHS & BS / “T&A”

Wednesday: Double pole.

Thursday: OHS and BS

5 x 15 push ups

OHS: 5-5-5-5-5-5-3-8-7
45 / 45 / 45 / 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 / 75 / 75

BS: 5-5-7-5-6-3-2
95 / 115 / 115 / 135 / 135 / 145 / 155

Friday: “T&A”

I first did this workout on 7/27, which just happens to be my sister’s birthday. Her name is Tracy. That day is also my brother-in-law’s birthday. His name is Austin. So, named after those to, it is “Tracy and Austin”, or “T&A”.

AMRAP in 15:00

1. 10 wall balls
2. 10 GHD Situps
3. 10 Back extensions

Last time it was 6 rounds in 13:14 and I was cashed.

Today: 8 rounds in 15:01.

Right ankle is hurting again; I think it is related to the sprain on July 1. Not good.

R & R

Today was meant to be a rest day, and I took it almost entirely off. I did about 20-30′ worth of technique and skill practice on a couple of lifts. I have been reviewing information in the book, “Starting Strength,” and I spent a bit of time today focused on DL, OHS, and FS.

In the deadlift, I have to work on using more quad at the beginning of the pull, and not relying too much on ham/glute activation early in the pull. When I pull a heavy weight, my hips go up pretty high before the bar raises off the floor.  This means I am pulling with my upper-body at a very low angle (near parallel to the floor), leading to a pretty large amount of torque through my lower back. So, more quads at the beginning to straighten the knee, and then afterwards ham/glutes to extend the hip.

FS / OHS are pretty new to me, so I’m not sure how good or bad I’m doing them. I dig the OHS, and I was able to do a couple of sets of 5 x 65# in that move.

Tomorrow I have a bunch of meetings, but I think I’ll be able to get in a workout. I’m still thinking some GHD situps and back-extensions will serve me well. We’ll see what the main site has to say!