Deadlift - Metcon

Friday, February 26, 2021

Garag Gym

1200

Warm Up

Foam Roll

Jumping Jacks

Hip Hammy

Comptrain Barbell warm up

Weightlifting

4 sets of

Deadlift 3-5 reps @20X1 tempo

rest 20 seconds

Tall Box Jumps 5 reps

rest 2 minutes

I used

225x5

245x4 with straps

245x4 with straps

245x4 with straps

and did 5 x 24" box jumps

Metcon

AMRAP 8

2 Pull-up

15 KBS (35#)

30 DU

I warmed up with some rope skips, drills, kip swings and scap pull-ups.

On the very first round, my left calf started to lock up after 11 DU and I finished the round with air squats.  I did the subsequent rounds with 30 step ups to an 8" box.  I finished with 3 Rounds + 33 Reps.  Hopefully the calf calms down in the next couple of days.

Programming was from Crossfit Golden for 2-26-2021

Green Leaf Sports Recovery

Wednesday, July 10, 2019

I had another session with Charles.  We did the hamstring stretch again, a glute stretch and an IT band/Quad stretch.

Then he got out the Theragun with the ball head to loosen up and then the wedge head.

Finally he applied Rock Tape to my low back.

He challenged me to work on core strength
week 1 - 2x 30s plank with child pose/cobra between sets (wait at least 1 minute)
week 2 - 2x 30s
week 3 - 3x 30s
week 4 - 2x 45s

work up to 2 minutes.  should feel results in a few weeks.

Since I am coming in frequently, it was nice of him to charge the introductory rate of $19 and wave the Rock Tape application charge.  So $22 for the session.

Metcon

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Crossfit Golden - Diedre

1200 - 10 of us

Warm Up

2 rounds of
short lap
15 banded pull downs
15 banded pull aparts
15 banded pass through
short lap
10 ring rows
10 dumbbell renegade rows
10 tight kip swings

after round 1 - IT band stretch
after round 2 - calf stretch
end with 2 min lat stretch/athletes choice

Metcon

Every 8 minutes, for 32 minutes (4 sets) for times:

800 Meter Run
40 Double-Unders
20 Chest-to-Bar Pull-Ups

I scaled this to 40 penguin taps and chin over bar pull-ups (14/14/12/10 on subsequent rounds)

R1 - 4:03 run / 6:29 round
R2 - 4:15 run / 6:38 round
R3 - 4:20 run / 6:35 round
R4 - 4:34 run / 6:54 round

The cut off for the run was supposed to be 4:00, but I did not switch to 600m runs.  I did not even try to pick up the rope.  I was able to do sets of 2-3 pull-ups on the early rounds, but the last round was all singles.  Target for rounds was 6:30 with hard cut off at 7:15 so I feel like I scaled it pretty well.

Low Back

Finished with Reverse Hypers and Dead Bugs.  It is still feeling good, tightness is limited to right side.  If tomorrow does not help substantially, I will go by The Joint for an adjustment.

Tempo Back Squat - Metcon

Monday, July 8, 2019

Crossfit Golden - Lacey/Paige

1200 - 14 of us

Warm Up

3 rounds of
250 m row
10 quad/hamstring stretch
10 mountain climber circles each direction
10 segmented glute bridges
10 tempo goblet squats (30X1)

Weightlifting

Take 10 minutes to build do 85% or more of your 1-RM Back Squat,

and then… Every 3 minutes, for 9 minutes (3 sets):
Back Squat (2-3 reps @ 30X1)

I worked up from 20, 40, 50 to 55 kg and started sets at 60 kg.  I was able to do 3 reps each time and felt good about the tempo.  This is 60% of my 1RM

Metcon

Metcon (AMRAP - Reps)

Against a 2-minute running clock, perform the following:
Row 250 Meters
Max Reps of Squat Cleans (135/95 lbs) RX+ (185/125lbs)
Rest 2 minutes between sets, and complete a total of three sets.

I was able to do the 250m in about a minute and Coach Lacey recommended Front Squats as my back was still 80-90%.  This was a good mod and and I managed 6 front squats each round for 18 total.

I finished with 2 sets of reverse hypers at 90# and a little sarco freeze.  My back feels fine, but it was tight at the end range of motion.

Weighted Pull-ups - Metcon

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Crossfit Golden - Paige

1200 - 13 of us

Warm Up

400m run
10 around the worlds each direction
10 pass throughs
5 left/right/center plank holds
10 pvc btn press
10 floor prone raises
1 min pvc lat stretch

then

10 scap pull-ups
10 scap push-ups
5 paused ring row
30s chin over bar hold
2-3 controlled pull-ups

Weightlifting

Weighted Pull-ups (1)

*Set 1 – 3 reps
*Set 2 – 2 reps
*Sets 3-6 – 1 rep

I did:
3x0
2x3
1x5
1x7.5
1x10
1x12.5
1x15kg (33#)


Rest 2-3 minutes between sets, building to today’s 1-RM

Metcon

Three rounds for time of:
800m Run
30 Slamballs (30/20 lbs)
20 Pull-Ups

I ran the 800m, but scaled the slamballs to 10# and did ring rows.  I finished in 22:45.  The runs slowed down from 4:15 the first round, to 4:45 round 2 to 5:00 on round 3.  The other movements were pretty consistent around 3 minutes.

Lower Back Injury

I started the day with 3 rounds on the reverse hyper and foam rolling.  I finished with 2 round on the reverse hyper and grabbed a squeeze of sarco freeze.  My back felt fine during the workout and I think the rock tape helped my running form.

Green Leaf Sports Recovery

Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Green Leaf Sports Recovery - Charles

0930

In the spirit of showing my back some TLC, I finally scheduled a sports recovery session.  I called yesterday and Green Leaf was able to get me in this morning.  I worked with the owner Charles.

He started with a history and brief physical exam.  We started treatment with hamstring stretching (3 rounds of stretch, push against and relax).  As a feedback test, he lowered my leg until I thought I was level with the table.  In fact, I was at a nearly 30 deg angle.  This is my hamstring resetting to what if thinks is a natural position, when in fact it is flexed.  He suggested I get the wife or kids to help me with this at home a few times per week.

Then he got out the Theragun.  He started on my back, working along each side of the spine with the round head.  He then worked on my shoulders, then down the glutes, hamstrings, back of knee and calves with the wedge head.  He spent some extra time on my left calf where I seem to have a knot in addition to a tight Achilles tendon.

Hopping up, I felt a lot better.  He considered an E-Stim device, but thought it would be better to see how this treatment went. 

I asked about taping and he said it was up to me.  I wanted to try it and he applied 3 strips of Rock Tape on my upper back.  The motivation was hunched posture may be placing a strain on my lower back that was finally just overwhelmed.  It should stay in place for 3-5 days.

I intend to follow up in a week and will likely start a membership for $29/month which is essentially pre-paying for treatment.  I can cancel anytime and can use the sessions whenever.  The first session was $19 for the treatment plus $1 for each piece of tape.  Typically there is an application fee of $5 which he waived today.  The membership also allows use of the sauna once/month and I can drop in to use any of the tools for 50 cents/minute which is a fair price for 10-15 minutes of this doesn't feel right, but not I need you to work on me for 30 minutes.

OPEN GYM: Hang Snatch - Metcon

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Crossfit Golden - OPEN GYM

1100

Warm Up

foam roll
reverse hyper

2 rounds of
5 inch worm push-ups
5 boot strappers
10 mountain climbers
10 pass throughs
10 waiter ohs

with 15# bar
snatch shrug
muscle snatch
hang power snatch
ohs
hang snatch

Hang Snatch

5x25
5x35
4x45
4x45
4x45

Based on Lacey's suggestion, I will continue to not pull from the floor the rest of the weak.  Form felt really good on the hang snatches and squat was OK on back

Metcon

21 push-ups
800 m run
15 push-ups
800 m run
9 push-ups
800 me run

This took me around 16 minutes

Cool Down

Finish with foam rolling and scorpions (front and back).  Grabbed a little Sarco Freeze on the way out the door

My back felt fine.  I will continue with TLC.  Sports Therapy scheduled for tomorrow.

Hang Power Clean - Metcon

Monday, July 1, 2019

Crossfit Golden - Lacey/Janet

1200 - 20 of us

Warm Up

1 min jumping jacks
1 min air squats
pigeon stretch
calf/ankle stretch
pvc front rack

2x
10 around the worlds
10 pvc kang squat
10 trunk twists
10 front squats

barbell
3 high hang clean pull
2 high hang muscle clean
3 hang power clean
3 clean pulls
3 power cleans

Weightlifting

Power Clean (1)

Take 15-20 minutes and build to today’s 1-RM Power Clean

I took it real easy and did hang power cleans at 65, 75 and 85#

I talked to Lacey we agreed stay light and no pulls from the floor.

Metcon

For time:
Row 30 Calories
30 Burpees
30 Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lbs) (RX + 30/20#)
30 Kettlebell Swings (32/24 kg)
30 Dumbbell Push Press (50/35 lb DBs)
30 Pull-Ups (RX + 10 muscle ups)

I talked to Lacy and switched plank push ups for burpees and low box jumps for KBS.

I scaled to 10# wall ball and 25# DB push presses

I finished 26 of 30 pull-ups before the time cap.

Back Update

I felt OK during the workout.  I got on the Reverse Hyper before and after the workout.  I also foam rolled before and after.  I used the hypervolt hyperice before the workout and Aracanum Sarco Freeze after the workout.

UPDATE:  Back was no worse for the wear.  I iced it in the evening and the point tenderness reduced significantly.  It does not feel "right," but a little TLC over the course of the week should work things out.

Deadlift - Metcon

Friday, June 28, 2019

Crossfit Golden - Greg/Janet

1200 - 10 of us

Warm Up

8 min amrap
20 sec high knees
20 sec butt kickers
20 sec left-center-right toe touches
10 kang squats
10 lateral lunges
10 dead bugs
10 pvc rdl

finding neutral with pvc deadlift
mid thigh
knee cap
mid shin

Weightlifting

Deadlift (2)

*Set 1 – 10 reps @ 55% of 1-RM
*Set 2 – 10 reps @ 65%
*Set 3 – 6 reps @ 80%
*Set 4 – 6 reps @ 90%
*Set 5 – 4 reps @ 95%
*Set 6 – 2 reps @ 100%
Rest 2-3 minutes between sets.

Please remember, this should be based off of previously tested 1-RM, or your estimated 1-RM from the beginning of this cycle.

I started with
10x135
10x165
6x225
5x275 (I was shooting for 6, but was losing my neutral spine and bailed)
0x285 (back felt tight)
0x275 (back felt tight)
2x225 (back felt tight)

I felt like I had a 300# deadlift and was on track at 75%, but the 90% set did me in.  I think I had sufficient warm up and do not feel injured, but my body definitely said no.

UPDATE:  I took Advil Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday night and my back loosened up significantly.  I still feel twinges of soreness with certain positions and am going to continue rest it.  I will try to maintain blood flow, but avoid any heavy loading.

Metcon

Three rounds for time of:
800 Meter Run
40 bodyweight lunges (unweighted)
20 Pull-Ups

I scaled this to 25 BW lunges and 8 pull-ups (5/3).

R1:  4:08 run, 6:00 round
R2:  4:45 run, 6:54 round
R3:  5:01 run, 7:06 round

Work on low back

Foam roll
Reverse Hyper
1x8x45
2x8x90
Hypervolt Hyperice
Stretching

Cleans

Monday, December 14, 2015

Coach Meriah

(11AM) Steve C, Steve, B, Bill, Tom, Ben, Mary, Blair, Dan, a couple of others and me

Warm Up

800m Row, 150m Ski Erg, 200m jog followed by leg swings (forward/back & side/side), butt busters, and deep squats.

Technique

With 45# bar, Good Mornings, Back Squat with hands behind head, Strict Press Overhead, Hang Muscle Clean, Clean to 25% squat, Clean to 50% squat, Clean to Full Squat with and without pause at knee.

Workout of the Day

For time (25 min cap):
2 Rounds of Cindy
15 Squat cleans
2 Rounds of Cindy
15 Push press
2 Rounds of Cindy
15 Power cleans
2 Rounds of Cindy
15 Front squats

L3+ – 185/125 lb. If you can do 20/15+ rounds of the benchmark, do 3 rounds.
L3 – Use 155/95 lb.
L2 – Use 115/75 lb.
L1 – Use 95/65 lb.

I used 75# for the workout.  1 round of Cindy is 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 air squats.  The first 3 rounds I did pull-ups, but felt my left biceps tighten on the first rep of round 4 and switched to Ring Rows.  My push-ups and air squats were on point.  I did break down the sets pretty quickly (3-3-2-2 for push-ups and 5-5-5 for air squats).

Getting position for the lifting was much harder (even at L1-) due to fatigue).  I had a hard time setting and maintaining my shoulders and I bled off energy for the squat cleans and power cleans.  The push press kept turning into a push jerk.  Also on the power cleans, I was not dropping down at all, instead driving my hips forward.  The front squats were pretty good.  Overall I finished in 25:42, above the time cap, but pretty close.

Mobility - finished with biceps/pectoral stretches, runner's lunge,  and pigeon

My biceps continues to feel tight, but being a small muscle, I hope it heals quickly

Bench Press

Monday, December 7, 2015

Coach Meriah

(11AM) 15 of us including Steve C, Steve B, Bill, Tom, Charlie, Elian, Ben, Mandy, and me

Warm Up

Run out to the fence and back.  At 200 yards do 10 squats, at 400 yards do 10 lunges, at fence do 10 squats, at 400 do 10 lunges, and at 200 do 10 squats.

Then warm up with kip progression, inch worm progression and lunges.  Between 5-10 reps each round for 3 rounds.

Workout of the Day

OTM x 10 minutes: 3 Bench press.
Keep the same weight across.
Use 60-70% and push the bar fast.

I worked out with Steve B and Julien.  We started at 95#, but Pat inched up up to 125# by the third minute.  Around minute 7, I felt my right shoulder start to go, but I finished the workout reducing my speed for the last 3 rounds.

then

AMRAP 20:
Row 200
10 Kipping HSPU
12 Toes to bar
30 Double unders

As it was a full class, I used the ski erg for the first 2 rounds.  Instead of Kipping HSPU, I did attempts to stand for the first 4 rounds and then a walk up hold for the last round.  On toes to bar, I worked on a smooth kip which ended up being knee raises.  Instead of double unders, I did 50 single unders plus 10 double under attempts per round.

I finished with 4 + 2 rounds (the 2 being the 200m row and a handstand hold).

Finished with some banded shoulder stretching and ice when getting back to my desk.

Shoulder feels more thrown out than pulled, strained, etc.  I iced it Monday and took an Advil.  Little improved I did not work out Tuesday and followed the same regimen.  Somewhat improved, I am planning on running today.  Pain is most evident doing a lateral raise between 15 and 30 degrees.  It also occurs during the lowering phase of a lateral raise.

I had the chiropractor look at my shoulder on Wednesday and he did not suspect rotator cuff involvement.  Most likely a deltoid sprain.

Lower Back Pain

From Friday November 6 to Thursday November 12 I went to CrossFit 7 days in a row and was understandably feeling a little beat down.  I took Friday off and then went for swim Saturday morning.  I felt some lingering tightness, but nothing horrible so I did some strength work on Saturday as well.  On Sunday, I did the gymnastics WOD and it crushed me.  I was working on kipping pull-ups and the explosive nature combined with fatigue forced me to really scale back the last 5 minutes of “Mary”

The net-net is that my back felt pretty bad.  Sunday, I did the usual foam rolling, vibration massage and stretching with no relief.  I took a Vicoden and was still up periodically through the night.

Monday morning I popped a 325mg Tylenol and another 500mg around 9:00 AM and the pain subsided significantly.  I took another 500mg around 2:00 PM and then left work early to get some professional help.

I went by The Joint in Arvada and was warmly greeted by Dr. Sean and his receptionist Sierra.  After filling out a lot of paperwork, providing an oral history and an evaluation, Dr. Sean went to work.  He treated two spots in my middle and upper back and then worked L5 in two directions.  His post assessment showed that my pelvis was more evened out and that I should come back on Wednesday.

That night I took 325mg of Tylenol which was pretty useless, but I supplemented that with a heat pad on my lower back which felt really good.

Tuesday morning felt as bad as Monday morning so I took 650mg of Tylenol which really kicked in around 10:00 AM.  Hopefully rest and stretching continues to help.  I intend to go to my appointment on Wednesday and can hopefully return to training on Friday.

After Wednesday’s session, the majority of the left lower back pain resolved, but the center of my back was now experiencing point tenderness that I had not previously noted.  I tolerated it the best I could and visited the chiropractor on Friday.  He did some adjustments but avoided L4 (where the point tenderness was isolated to).  He recommended no more heat and to ice it to reduce inflammation.

Starting Friday night I used ice and an Advil and my back felt substantially better.  It was pretty good on Saturday and I took another Advil Saturday night prophylactically.  This seemed to do the trick.  I ended up going to yoga Sunday morning without issue.  

CrossFit Front Squats

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Coach Meriah

(11AM) Blair, Anke, Tim, Steve B, a few other guys and me

Warm Up

Single unders, RKBS (25#), 10 lunges (25#), double under attempts, 10 RKBS (25#), 10 lunges (25#), 10 AKBS (25#), Goblet Squats (25#), AKBS (25#), Goblet Squats (25#)

WOD

Front Squat – 5-3-1-1 at 75%, 85%, 90%, 95% then 1-3 attempts at 1RM

I partnered with Steve B.  For the progression I used 135#, 145#, 155#, and 165#.  Then I repeated my previous best at 175#.  On my next lift, I got 180# PR!  On my next lift, I buckled on the way down with 185#.  I am not sure what happened.  Maybe I wasn’t set properly.  On my final lift I was successful at 185# (another PR!) but felt a little pop in my left groin.  I will make a point of icing it at my desk if possible.  Steve B put up 205# after his PR at 195# last week.

then

AMRAP:  10 minutes:  10 double unders, 10 sit ups, 20 double unders, 20 sit ups, etc.  L2:  half double unders, L1:  single unders

I did L1 and got to the round of 50, completing the jump rope and did 11 sit ups before time was called.  I could feel the left groin on the early sit ups, but then it started to dull.  On the round of 20, I had to start breaking up the sit ups.  I was thrilled to get through the round of 40 (which represented 100 sit ups).  I did a few double under attempts at the end of each round of single unders.  Looking forward helped a lot.

Mobility – couch stretch, legs flared against wall, calf stretch

CrossFit Atlas Stone

Friday, June 19, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Lisa, Nick and me

Warm Up

500m Row, 20 Bandy Good Mornings (keep back tight), 15 Bandy Side Step (Left and Right), 15 Pass Through, 10 KB Swing (35#), 1 Rope Climb

Technique:  Atlas Stone

Get legs on either side of stone, arms straight, cradle stone, get hips low and deadlift stone.  Step legs together and wrap stone with forearm, engage hips and pop/roll stone onto adjacent shoulder. 

Metcon: 

5-7-10-7-5 Repetition Sets for Time:  Stone 2 Shoulder, Rope Climb, Box Jump (30”)

This was a brutal workout from yesterday with only 4 Rx performances among 32 people participating.  After seeing the rope burns and stone bruises on Arik and Nick, I nearly bagged the workout.  I did end up giving it a go with a 5-7-10-7-5 rep count on Stone 2 Shoulder with a small stone (~30#) and 3-4-5-4-3 rep count on the rope climbs and a 3-4-5-4-3 rep count on a 24” box.

The Stone 2 Shoulder was OK, but I would definitely favor my left arm.  Due to limited forearm mobility in my right arm, I cannot cradle the stone at the top of the sequence.  With a heavier stone, this would have been a real issue.

The rope climb was by far the worst part.  On the second round I was already taking 30-45 second breaks between trips up the rope to shake out my arms.  My technique improved significantly and when I could shimmy the rope over my foot correctly, I was making quick progress.  Coming down the rope was horrible, and my inner thigh will be paying a price for a few days.

The box jumps were fine and in retrospect, I probably could have gone 5-7-10-7-5, but I am still conquering some box demons.  If I had opted for a 20” box, I would have done the full rep count, but the 19 rep count was fine for me.  

I ended up finishing in 33:48 which was middle of the pack for the scaled efforts.  Some folks were pushing 40 minutes, which is a long time for the intensity of the exercises.

I also tweaked my back on the middle right hand around the rhomboideus.  I really need to freshen up my anatomy skills.  It is painful and I intend to foam roll it and take it easy.

Friday has been continuing the tradition of Open Gym.  The default workout was Karen (150 Wall Balls 20#/14#).  Nick and Lisa worked on Back Squats.  I like this format as it allows me to get in my favorite workout from Tuesday or Thursday.

CrossFit Metcon

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) T$$$, Laura, Matt, Dalton, and me

Warm-Up

200m skip, 15 squats, 10 box jump overs, 10 GHD sit-ups, 10 supermans, 10 strict pull-ups, 10 dips

The GHD sit-ups were new.  Once in position on the GHD, lay back with a bend in the knees to parallel, lock knees and pop back up.  While strenuous, this was a pretty cool variety of core exercise.

Metcon

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 rep sets for time of box jumps (24”), pull-ups, kb swings (53#), and burpees

We did a couple of practice rounds at 2-3 reps each and I was convinced that this would be a killer workout. I started off OK, but on the round of 8, I missed the box and got a beauty scar on my left shin.  Starting the round of 7, Arik suggested I go with jumping pull-ups.  On the round of 6, I switched to the 20 inch box and the 35# KB.  If not for these changes, I would not have been able to finish the workout.  I ended up finishing in 22:31.

The burpees were the toughest part and to go right into box jumps, did not provide an opportunity to recover at all.

Crossfit Gymnasty

Friday, May 8, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Ben, Lisa, T$$$, and me

WU

50 jumping jacks, shoulder circuit, 10 pass through, bear crawl, lizard crawl, duck walk, and horse walk down and back.

Lizard crawl was reaching with your right hand and bringing your left foot to your stationary right hand and repeating on the opposite side.  Horse walk was with knees pointed out in a wide squat position (as opposed to duck where the feet are close together).  The bear crawl was a little tough on my triceps, but OK.

Metcon (No Measure) “Gymnasty Like Fight Gone Bad!”  3 rounds of 2 minutes each station for strict form.  Hand Stand Shoulder Touches, Superman Rock, Skin the Cat, Hollow Rock and Candle Stick.  Rest 2 minutes between rounds.

I knew this would be tough going in as I have seen my girls do gymnastics and I have a relatively weak core on which these movements depend on.

Hand stand shoulder touches – From the hand stand position, touch hand to adjacent shoulder.  Scaling includes feet on a box and just rocking by lifting hand slightly off the ground.  Further scaling could include just un-weighting one hand at a time.  This was tough on my right triceps and I only lifted the right hand off the ground.  Locking the right hand and lifting the left was painful.

Superman rock – Arms extended in front feet close together in back rock on pelvis.

Skin the Cat – Hanging from rings with straight arms, pull legs up and through behind you, pause and rotate forward.  From the hanging position, I tried to bring my knees up to my chest, but could not leverage them through.  I also tried this with bent arms rather than straight arms to no avail.

Hollow Rock – Feet close together in front of you, arms overhead, rock on a rolled back.  I could do this but was often slamming onto a flat back rather than rolling.  I was also in more of a U shaped rock, rather than a more extended position.

Candle Stick – From hollow rock position, pull feet in and stand straight up.  For a more difficult challenge try it on one leg.  I could not pop up and used my hands to get my body over my feet.  A suggestion was to reach feet for the sky before launching forward.   This helped a little, but I could not bring myself to the landing.

Although the Metcon was a no measure, it was exhausting and I paused several times to catch my breath.  I will definitely feel it in my abs tomorrow.  I also developed a little crick on the left lower section of my neck.  After the first round, I felt myself giving less than 100%.

Injury:  The triceps feels stable, but I have developed a gouty elbow. 

Crossfit Rope Climb

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Coach Zach

(8AM) Heather, Liz, Rafa, Lee and me

WU

20 double unders, 10 air squats, 1 mile run, 1 rope climb, 10 wall ball.  I could manage everything except the wall balls.  I did 10 wall balls (14#) only pushing it up to about 7 or 8 feet as opposed to above the red line.  I felt pain in my triceps and Coach Zach advised me to not put any stress on it during this phase of recovery.

Technique:  Rope Climb

Start with hands straight up overhead.  Next wrap leg from outside-in.  Then pull knees to chest and shimmy rope through with short counter-clockwise circles.  Finally, hang back into sitting position and stand up on rope.  Repeat.  The sitting position was really important and made rope climbs a lot easier.

Metcon:  AMRAP 5 minutes of rope climb, 1 minute rest, 5 minutes of wall balls (20#), 1 minute rest, 5 minutes of double unders.

Starting with the rope climb, I finished 3 trips to the top and started a fourth, but did not make it all the way up.  This felt pretty good.  I should always bring tall socks on rope climb days as I grabbed a sock from the dirty bin instead of the clean bin.

Instead of wall balls, I did walking lunges.  This really started to burn after 4 minutes.  I managed to get 74 reps.

Finally with double unders, I was still not stringing them together but I could do single-single-double to get a few reps before having to reset.  The last 2 minutes was just a double then reset.  At the end of 5 minutes, I had managed 39 reps.

The triceps felt really good.  Zach said it would just take time to heal and there was nothing I should be doing except resting it and evaluating range of motion.  He was hesitant about knee push-ups also.  In retrospect, I probably pushed it too hard on Monday.

Crossfit Chipper

Monday, May 4, 2015

Coach Arik

(6AM) Karly, Mike and me

WU

2 Rounds of 10 Reps:  Samson Stretch with 3 second holds, overhead squat with PVC, sit-ups, back-extensions (supermans), pull-ups, dips.  With my triceps still really tender, I skipped the dips.  Pull-ups felt OK on the way up, but hurt on the way down.  I switched to jumping pull-ups.

Metcon:  (Time) 100m run, 80 air squats, 60 sit-ups, 40 push-ups, 20 pull-ups, 40 burpees, 60 kb swings (53#), 80 wall balls (20#), 100m run.

This was a really tough workout and even if my triceps was in good shape, it would have been tough to Rx.  I could manage push-ups on knees, jumping pull-ups, instead of burpees, I did jumping lunge, I used 25# for the kb swings, and instead of wall balls, I did thrusters with a 20# medicine ball.  The hot spot on my ass flared up again.  I was so spent near the end, I was doing the thrusters in sets of 4.

I finished in 29:17 and was just glad it was over.  I even walked part of the last run, I was sucking air so bad.

Injury:  Prior to starting, Arik wrapped my elbow with the Voodoo wrap and I did a minute of flexion, extensions which resulted in some nice tiger striping.  Post workout, my tricpes felt like a good sore.  I do not feel like I aggravated the injury, but it could be several weeks to get to 80%.  Box dips were extremely painful.  Also when trying to do a chest press with 20lb dumbbells, just getting under the dumbbell was extremely painful.

Crossfit Tabata

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Coach Arik

(8AM) Elan, Rafa, Heather and me

WU

Dodge ball, if you get hit do either 15 squats (2), 10 push-ups (2), 15 sit-ups or 20 jumping lunges (2).  We did three 5 minute rounds and I had to do 6 of the penalties as indicated in parenthesis.  I finished with 5 sit-ups since I did not get to do any of those.  On the third round, I slipped and landed nearly flat.  My right arm caught a lot of the blow, but my right triceps felt strained.

Tabata:  32 intervals of 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest where the first 8 intervals are jumping lunges, the second 8 are push-ups, the third 8 intervals are sit-ups and finally the last 8 intervals are squats.

The jumping lunges were exhausting.  Somehow I managed to get 76 in the 3:20 of work.  The push-ups were hampered by my triceps.  I still managed 27, but will be paying for those for the next few days.  The sit-ups were hampered by the hot spot on my butt from Monday.  I still got around 40 or 50.  It started to get blurry.  Finally, I finished with squats which I felt pretty good about.  I managed somewhere between 40 and 50.  The final total was 194 repetitions.  The only saving grace is that I Rx’d the workout.

Injury:  My distal triceps is definitely inflamed and moving it hurts.  I tried wrapping with an ace bandage, but that did not seem to help.  I will rest it today and inspect tomorrow on bruising and extent of injury.

Thursday, April 30th

Friday, May 1st

Suspected Triceps Brachii tear

Day 0:  Last Sunday while goofing around at Urban Acrobatics, I tried to copy my daughters cathang.  We were dropping into these from a ledge.  At the time I heard a distinct pop in both my shoulders and quickly got out of the position.  About an hour later, I tried to do a pull-up and it was really painful.  In fact it was painful to even hold my arms overhead.

Day 1:  Monday the pain was apparent, but only with certain movements.  I did some split jerks and did not feel horrible.

Day 2:  Tuesday I went swimming and that proximal triceps tendon was really painful.  I decided to skip sprints that day in the pool.

Day 3:  Wednesday felt much better and I did not notice any ill effects from doing push presses.  However, I tested by hanging from a pull-up bar and that felt OK, but actually doing a pull-up still felt painful.

Day 4:  Thursday I noticed bruising at the proximal triceps insertion and decided to start digging around on line.  I noticed an article referencing Frederic Delavier’s Strength Training Anatomy book that sounded exactly with what I have.  I will follow the suggestion to continue to take it easy and will probably test it a little more today.

Day 5:  Friday bruising seems stable and there were no signs of aggravation from lat pull downs and 1 pull up performed on Thursday

From Delavier's Strength Training Anatomy

Heavy training of the back and injury to the long head of the ticeps brachii

Although it is not the most-used muscle when working the back, the long head of the triceps brachii is the most frequently injured muscle during back lat pull-downs with heavy weights or during chin-ups with added weight.
The latissimus dorsi is a powerful, fan-shaped muscle that attaches the arm to the rib cage, and whose distal tendon is strongly attached to the humerus. This is the main climbing muscle. The long head of the triceps brachii, on the other hand, is a similar muscle whose main function is to extend the forearm and secondarily to bring the arm toward the ribcage. In this way it complements the action of the latissimus dorsi. 

Tearing of the long head of the triceps occurs when the muscle is fatigued, most frequently after an improper warm-up. It only takes a sudden relaxation of the latissimus dorsi during chin-ups with added weight to immediately shift the tension to the long head of the triceps.

This tendon my partially tear, most often close to its insertion on the scapula. (fortunately complete tears are infrequent)

Unlike incapacitating shoulder injuries, which may completely halt upper-body training, a tear in the long head of the biceps is less devastating. You can still perform back exercises such as seated rows or T-bar rows and movements for the triceps such as forearm extensions at a high pulley with the elbows next to the body despite the injury as long as you begin with lighter weights.

However, a brief rest period is recommended before beginning upper-body training.