I always hope that my thrusters will get forever faster as I get stronger at the front squat, but It’s been awhile since we focused on them solely. It felt good.

WOD

3 – 3 – 3 – 3 – 3

• front squats

Results

After a good long warm up of:

• Oly lift warmup
• 1:10 handstand hold (against a wall)
• 15 pull-ups
• 15 push-ups
• 15 squats
• 3 x 5 progressive weight squats

we jumped into heavy (for us) front squats. Jay’s form is really good and mine continues to improve. I can get a bit deeper than Jay, but I think I suffer more “forward lean” than he does. Gotta keep working on the straight back – never let up.

• Jay: 135, 155, 145, 145, 145
• Christian: 155, 175, 165, 165, 165

Finished up with some easy back extensions for good measure.

I’m gonna blame the new little puppy in my house for making me a little tired today – that and I also run 30 minutes barefoot each morning {wink}

WOD

10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2

• Power cleans to…
• Push press

One movement. Not for time, but for form.

Results

Phew, there’s a lot of work of work being done when you power clean and then take the weight overhead. Jay’s and my form continue to improve. I wish I could get my chest out a little more in the bottom position, and I really want Jay to focus on that tight lumbar, but for the most part, we’re doing these lifts well.

• Jay: 65, 85, 95, 95, 105 lbs
• Christian: 95, 115, 135, 145, 155 lbs

155 overhead feels surprisingly easy for me right now – my weakness is in the hip drive.

WOD

10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 (reps) of:

• deadlifts
• bench press

(no time for cleans – bummer)

Results

Good ol’ 10 minutes of 6.0 running, followed by Burgener warm-up and (2) 1-minute handstand holds got the blood flowing.

• deadlifts
  • Jay: 135, 135, 135, 135, 135
  • Christian: 135, 155, 185, 205, 235
• bench press
  • Jay: 135, 155, 160, 160, 155
  • Christian: 135, 155, 175, 195, 215

Jay’s deadlift is improving, but still shows signs of {slightly} rounding that back a little during the early part of the lift. I felt pretty good throughout the workout, paying close attention to keeping the bar close on the deads and arch properly on the press.

WOD

• shoulder press 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1
• push press 3 x 3 x 3 x 3 x 3
• push jerk 5 x 5 x 5 x 5 x 5

Results

• shoulder press
  • Jay: 95 – 105 – 115 – 115 – 105
  • Christian: 135 – 135 – 145 – 135 – 145
• push press
  • Jay: 115 – 125 – 115* – 115 – 125
  • Christian: 145 – 155 – 165 – 175* – 165
• push jerk
  • Jay: 45 – 65 – 85 – 105 – 105
  • Christian: 45 – 65 – 85 – 105 – 125

Jay and I have the press and push press down well, but the jerk is new to him, and honestly, I’m not the greatest at it either, so there we focused on form vs. load. I’m pleased with both of efforts in the press and push press …and even the jerk training.

Shoulders=trashed.

We worked on:

• Handstand holds (10 second progressions for 10-40 secs.)
• Kipping pull-ups (Christian worked on butterflies)
• Deadlift (Jay-135lb, CG-185lb) in sets of 5
• Power clean form
• Squat clean form

Results:

Jay is still a little clumsy with compound movements, but has improved quite a bit. We kept the weight light as we’re running a fast  5K race in the a.m. and Jay is still new to the deadlift.

Next time, we’ll crank him up to 155lbs.

…and to our handstand holds up to 1 minute.

WOD

21 squat cleans (but we did power cleans)
21 ring dips (but we did bar dips)
15 cleans
15 dips
9 cleans
9 dips

This WOD is is completed for time.

Jay: power cleans with 85lbs
Christian: power cleans with 115lbs

Results

Jay: 7:17
Christian: 9:14

Jay is very good at pushing movement (push-ups, dips), but needs to continue to work on form in the OLY lifts. Strong effort today.

I am horrible at dips, but getting better. It took me awhile to get through the cleans. They felt very heavy and my grip was weak. Form went crazy in the higher reps. Lots of work to do.

Tough week of CrossFit.

WOD – Fran

• 21 thrusters (men’s RX weight = 95lbs)
• 21 pull-ups
• 15 thrusters
• 15 pull-ups
• 9 thrusters
• 9 pull-ups

Completed for time.

Results

Jay: x:xx
Christian: 8:35

Yeah, I know, slooooow – but there’s something that feels good about completing it as prescribed as opposed to scaling. Shows that improving again and getting back to where I was when I was heavier. It’s easier to be stronger when your body weight is heavier.

I had to break the first set of thrusters up 3 times. Same with 2nd set. Third round was broken into twos. Pull-ups were all over the place with hands sore as HELL from Angie yesterday.

We’ve all seen the garbage before and after  style of supplement companies and fitness fools, but this particular story goes a bit deeper, with great examples, and a showcasing a real dude …with average genetics …and what can be accomplished using the CrossFit methodology:

Read Jason David’s story

and, watch Jason shred a “real man’s” Fran in 3:47

WOD

• 100 pull-ups
• 100 push-ups
• 100 sit-ups
• 100 squats

for time…

Results

Jay: 34:52
Christian: 27:25

As RX’d.

Again, Jay continues to work through kippings, so there’s a lot of jumping pull-ups goin’ on for him. I have the kips down, but fall apart after 50 and my reps become chopped up terribly.

I continue to struggle with push-ups, breaking them into sets of ten, and sets of 5 or less by time I reach 50 or 60 or so.

Once Jay learns kippings, I’m screwed.

21 thrusters
21 pull-ups
15 thrusters
15 pull-ups
9 thrusters
9 pull-ups

For time…

Results

Jay: 9:08
Christian x:xx

Scaled at 65lbs for the thrusters. Jay did this on vacation in Ohio