And runnin, runnin...

5:30pm at FitBodies

3 Rounds Not For Time:
1MU + 4 Dips
15 Hip Extensions

NOTES: It felt really weird to do dips on the high rings. We flew through this in a couple minutes.

Strength Endurance Training: 
7 x 2 OTM Squat Snatch at 80% max (115)

NOTES: This wasn't too bad. I did these on the plates. I feel like I keep back in my heel a lot more. Thank goodness. It was about 200 degrees at the gym today and I was dripping sweat the whole time. It was epic.


Back Squat
20 x 175
REPS COMPLETED: 16 :(

NOTES: I was extremely rushed today. We had to make sure we could jump in the class WOD at about 6:15. I didn't have my belt on, I wasn't focused on my squats, and I was trying to hurry, which meant that it was a disaster. I know I can get this weight. I was very distracted.


7 x 2 OTM Squat Clean & Jerk at 80% max (155)

NOTES: I was made after my back squats, so these felt really easy. My anger transferred into better pulls. Sliver lining. I push jerked all the jerks (I usually split jerk), and they felt really easy.

WOD:
1 Mile Run
50 Wall Balls (14# at 9')
40 Russian Swings (53)
30 HSPU
20 Box Overs (20")
10 MU

TIME: 18:05
NOTES: I really liked this WOD. I ran a 7:40 mile, which is really good for me! Then, I broke up everything into sets of 10. I took 8 seconds between sets on the wall balls, 6 on the KB, 10 on the HSPU, and like 5 seconds on the box overs. I planned to do at least double on my MUs, but I was so sweaty that my hands and arms kept slipping on the rings. It was actually really terrifying. So, I decided to value my safety and stick to solid singles. I really wasn't too gased after this.

Rest 5 minutes...

EMOM (6 Minutes)
15 American KB Swings (53)(Odd Minutes)
30 Double Unders (Even Minutes)

NOTES: The 'heavy' KB swings don't feel too heavy anymore. Yay for getting stronger.

Running: 
6 x 400m Run (2 Minute Rest)

NOTES: I'm glad we stuck around and did these after the WOD. 2:08, 2:00, 1:56, 1:55, 1:44, 1:39. Obviously we got faster on each run. My legs and lungs felt great today. I was able to really sprint it in on the last rep. I always feel accomplished after repeat 400s. #bettereveryday

Ryan knows what's up. 

Cheers to Loyola Law Journal!

30 Ways to Train Better

Tom posted an article this morning:  "30 Ways to Train Better". I think it's a pretty solid list that is more than worth sharing. Some seem more applicable than others. 

And here it is. 

1. Finish every last rep, regardless of your time or placing
2. practice ‘intentional perfection’
3. write down each WOD and strength workout and your results
4. go to that “dark place”
5. study mobility WOD
6. foam roll
7. lacrosse ball
8. stretch
9. sleep 8 hours a night
10. eat breakfast (preferably healthy)
11. show up early and get a great warmup
12. hydrate
13. eat well (whatever this needs to look like and mean to you)
14. work one on one with a gymnastics coach
15. study gymnastics WOD
16. learn proper gymnastics movement progressions
17. work one on one with an olympic lifting coach
18. check out Spencer Arnold’s Olympic Lifting Blog
19. PR your snatch
20. PR your Clean and Jerk
21. set SMART goals and write them down!
22. take an active recovery day
23. learn burpee mechanics and “skill transfer”
24. cheer on the athletes better than you
25. cheer on the newest athletes in the gym
26. film yourself practicing your weaknesses
27. know all of your gym’s members names, use them!
28. practice squatting with vertical torso, hitting full bottom, and activating stretch reflect bounce out of bottom
29. high five the new person at the gym
30. HAVE FUN

For the whole article, check out http://www.tyrellmara.com/debunking-crossfit-rx-fallacy-30-ways-train/. 

Cheers to sunburn!

Twinkies

8am at FitBodies

WU:
DU
HS Walking
Sots Press

NOTES: I didn't have any set number of reps or rounds, I just messed around with each movement.

Snatch
1RM snatch on plates
1 x 75
1 x 105
1 x120
1 x 130 (fail, fail, make)
1 x 135 (f, f, f, f, f)

NOTES: I got pretty frustrated with 135. I couldn't figure out why I was missing it. I think it was a combination of bringing the bar too far away from my body and not catching it above my head (I was catching it a little forward...because I'm chasing after the bar).  I was pretty excited that I got 130, though.

Back Squat
20 x 170

NOTES: I went pretty consistent through all 20 reps. The last three were pretty hard, but tolerable.  I felt warmed up this time, so it wasn't as bad.

Rest 10 minutes...

15 AMRAP
3 DL (95)
3 Hang Cleans (95)
3 Jerks (95)

ROUNDS: 27
NOTES: I thought that this was a pretty good WOD, I was doing about one round each 30 seconds. When I reported back to Andy he said I probably should have gone a little heavier, which is awesome.  I can tell that, finally, both my strength and my endurance are improving. It felt good. I never really got fatigued.  I was just really sweaty and I had to keep chalking up my hands so the bar didn't go flying.

Sled Pulls

6 x Sled + 100# down the turf

NOTES: Jenna and I did this in super sonic speed! We only had about 10min before the gym was going to close.  We also had to use our enginerring skills to come up with a substitute for a harness, since neither of us has one.  So, we just grabbed two thick bands, wrapped them around the base of the prowler, threw our weights on top, grabbed a band in each hand, and pulled the prowler like a farm animal. ha. It actually worked out really well! I LOVE that FitBodies has this awesome turf to work on!




 Also, you can tell that Jenna and I have been spending a lot of time together. We showed up to the gym this morning in the exact same outfit :) Purple tops, black spandex, purple shoes, and of course, a stylish braid!




Cheers to bunheads!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 'MERICA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREAT U.S OF A!

#back2backWWchamps
(teams of 4: 2 men, 2 women)
4 laps around turf (each partner must carry med ball for 1 lap)
30 Lateral plank burpees AND DL hang/front rack (1 woman holds plank while other woman does burpees over her; 1 man holds DL hang while other holds front rack, everyone must complete each movement)
30 Front squats (both men must complete 30 squats each while both women hold iso squat, then switch)
30 Push Press (both bars moving at same time, can only complete 5 reps at a time)
100m partner carry (each partner must be carried for 100m)

NOTES: This WOD was a blast! I had an awesome team and we had a great time! I wasn't worried about times or scores or ranks.  It felt good to WOD with the group and enjoy ourselves on this beautiful morning!


Now it's time to head to the lake!  Happy 4th of July!



Cheers to AMERICA!

blondebarebell on YouTube!

I've starting uploading videos to my new channel on YouTube

Check it out!

blondebarebellvideos



Cheers to red, white & blue jello!

Morrison

11am @ FitBodies

3 Rounds Not For Time
10 KB Snatches (35)
8 Deficit HSPU
8 GHD Situps

NOTES: The KB snatches felt a little strange because I haven't done them for so long. The bell kept slamming into my forearm. It was not the most comfortable thing ever. The deficit HSPU felt pretty good. I did all my sets in 5/3. I didn't want to burn out my shoulders before I even started. Tom pointed out that I need to work on making my kip more efficient. I'm not even bringing my hips off the wall. The GHD were so painful after Annie yesterday.


Power Cleans
15min to establish 1RM off plates
2 x 85
2 x 115
2 x 145
1 x 165 (fail)
1 x 170
1 x 180 (fail, make)

NOTES: These felt pretty good. Last week I couldn't even get up a 180 power clean for the life of me. This drill is slowly changing my life :)

Back Squat
20 x 165

NOTES: This was pretty hard. But not impossible. I think I need to work on getting just a tiny bit lower on my squats. I'm getting to comfortable barely breaking parallel, which is not good when you have a mean judge.

Rest 10 minutes...

"Morrison"
50-40-30-20-10
Wall Balls (14 to 9')
Box Jumps (20")
KB Swings (35)

TIME: 18:32
NOTES:

Round 1 - 5:37
Round 2 - 5:11
Round 3 - 4:02
Round 4 - 2:34
Round 5 - 1:08

I tried really hard not to redline on anything. I broke up things more than I probably needed to, but I was able to finish really strong. I tried to limit my rest to 5-8 when I would break up the movement. I used the box jumps as my rest. Surprisingly the KB swings were hard for me (I thought those were going to be the easiest). I tried to do either sets of 20 or 10 for pretty much everything. My upper back and traps were pretty tight after this.


Shoulder Mobilization/Stabilization


Cheers to Smoothie King app!

Snatches off Plates

5:30pm @ FitBodies

3 Rounds Not For Time
10 DB Snatch (40, 45, 50)
30 WB
5 UB Bar MU

NOTES: The snatches felt pretty good. The wall balls were all over the place. Tom was showing me show to squat early and catch the ball more at the bottom of the squat. When you do it right, it's fabulous.  When you do it wrong, it feels super awkward, and I usually drop the ball.  It's a work in progress. The bar muscle ups felt great.   I love this movement when I have a good bar to work on.


"Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
DUs
Sit-Ups

TIME: 5:41
NOTES: (previous Best 6:16 ). I didn't miss any DU, and I stayed pretty consistent on my situps.  I don't know how I could go any faster, besides learning how to do a more efficient sit-up.  It was a bit of a delayed reaction, but my abs were on fire by the time we left for the night.



Squat Snatch
15 min to build to 1RM
Do this standing on plates with toes hanging off so you can't shift weight to your toes.
2 x 65
2 x 85
2 x 105
2 x 115
1 x 125
1 x 135 (fail, fail, stepped off plates)


NOTES: These were crazy. It took me a couple rounds with the empty bar to figure out how to stop my feet from jumping wide and forward. But, once I got going, these felt awesome. Even though I stepped off the plates on 135, I still was able to stand it up on the plates.  The bar's momentum took me forward. So, yes, I did go to my toes, but I didn't go to my toes till a lot later than usual. I definitely need to add this drill to my bag of tricks. I guess Andy does know what he's talking about :)

Power Snatch Prison Rules
Every 15 seconds for 4 minutes complete 2 Power Snatches (75)

NOTES: I should have gone heavier on this.  It wasn't bad at all.  My heart rate didn't even rise very much. 

WOD
3 Rounds:
400m run
20 burpees
10 Toes to bar

TIME: 11:00
NOTES: So, by the time we got done with everything else, we had missed the class WOD and only had 15min left before the doors were going to be locked on the gym. After some confusion and a misinterpreted phone call to an unnamed coach, Jenna and I were able to sneak in three rounds of this WOD. Turns out, this is not what we were supposed to do.  Oops. But, who doesn't need more burpee practice?? The run actually felt pretty good today. I felt strong, even though my legs were burning.



P.S. I have no idea why the pictures will/won't show up sometimes. They usually show up on a computer, but not on my iPhone.  Weird.




Cheers to Mike Wazowski!