My crack at crossfit

DamienH

Monday, 6th July
Deadlifts
105, 95

Obviously no problems

Press
40,35

Spent some time working on how I grip the bar, I have it nicely up against the base of my palm now so my fingers aren't being pulled back. Elbows a little bit in front and I really focused on tensing my abs and glutes and trying to pull the bar apart. These shot up, didn't even feel it. The practice should pay off when I start getting up to 60/65 next week, can't wait.

TGU
35kg dB
3 x 1 each arm

Practiced my rowing technique on the C2. I've had a look at some videos and I focused on getting my back at the right angle on the end of the pull. Felt good and strong.

Band Chinups
6-5-4-4-3

The chinups are really paying off for me. My lats are getting bigger and my back has definitely gotten stronger/more defined.

Weight 114.2kg

DamienH

Tuesday, 6th June

Deadlifts
110, 100

Press
45,40

Chinups
6-5-5-4-3

Metcon
15 x lunge with 20kg plate overhead
10 x 10kg weighted crunches
5 x Burpees

All the above x 5

Time 11:41

10 minutes of rowing on the C2

The metcon was pretty difficult, I was breathing hard. I'm pretty sure once I get a few more under my belt I can get it down below 10 or 9. The lunges at the start were the hardest, it's not a movement I'm that used to especially with weight overhead. It felt alright once I got the hang of it though. Situps weren't any real problem and the burpees were all done without rest.

Still practicing on the C2, feeling good. It's amazing what a difference it makes bringing the damper setting down and really getting your back into it on the stroke. I used to feel a tightness after 10 minutes but I felt like I could of gone for 15/20 no problem. It makes for a very fluid motion, even at high speeds.

DamienH

Wednesday, 7th July
Deadlift
110, 100

Press
45, 40

Push Press with the 40db
2 ladders of 3,2,1
There was no rest taken between rungs.

Chinups
6-6-5-4-3

Intervals on the C2
5 minute warmup then
0:30 on/0:50 off
13 intervals.

These felt way better than usual. I set the damper to about 4 and I could really get some speed going. My rests were usually at about 500-700 calories and that went up to 1200-1350 for the thirty seconds. I definitely like the rower, it's so much nicer than the others.

Felt good today plenty of energy. Weighed 114.8 after the gym in my sweaty clothes.

DamienH

Thursday, 8th July
Deadlifts
115,105

Presses
45, 40

Did 10 sets of 4 reps at forty aswell.

Little bit on the c2, maybe ten minutes.
Called it a day after that, I've had 7 hrs sleep in the past two days. The world cup games are on at 3:30am over here, ah well. Day off tmrw and then a nice session on Saturday.

DamienH

Wednesday, 14th July

I've been doing chinups but didn't manage to get to the gym until yesterday

Deadlifts
115,105

Press
50, 45

Chinups
7-6-5-4-3

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
40KG
Deadlifts
Hanging Cleans
Presses

8:17

edit: My old time almost a year ago was 6:48 so I've put a little over a minute onto it. TBH I'm not too worried, I'm a little out of the loop with metcons but I don't think it'll take to long to get back into it.

DamienH

Wednesday, 28th July

My life has been pretty busy so I haven't updated the log. I've gone to the gym twice a week and I've been doing chinups on the bands whenever I've been at home. I just joined a gym so I'm going to roll back into Wendler's 5/3/1. I don't have any interest in powerlifting comps so I decided this was the best program for me. More importantly, it's one of the few that I've stuck with. Going balls out on the last set is always fun. I'm going to be going 4 times a week aswell but I've had to keep it to 2 days this week because I'm going out of town.

I'm still using the bossarky spreadsheet, maxes inputted were as follows. These are all pretty conservative.

Press 70
Deadlift 157.5
Bench Press 100
Squat 125

IP warmup
Squats
70 x 5
80 x 5
95 x 13

Bench
60 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 13 <--- this was meant to be 70

I've had to round all the weights down to the nearest 5 as there's no 1.25 plates in the gym. This isn't a problem for the deadlift and squat but it's a very big jump for the presses so a bit of experimentation is in order. I know I could buy 2 plates but I'd prefer if I could just find an easier solution. I can't find plates with the right diameter around anyway.

The plan is to add 5 kg to the presses every other month i.e. using the same weight on the presses for two cycles. I'll give it a whirl and see what happens.

Intervals and 30 mins of rowing are on the cards tomorrow.

In other news, my mind loves to squat but my glutes don't.

edit: My weight is coming down aswell. My scales broke cause I dropped my kettlebell on them but I've had a couple of people come to me and ask me if I was on a diet and all that. I'm aiming for about 200g of protein and I get it most days, that's with two shakes though. Mostly it's either chicken, pork or beef. Almonds are really cheap over here aswell so I've been eating those too.

I've found a guy who will send me 20kg of chicken breast for 40EUR. Mmmm, that's good chicken I'm going to eat about three or four of those a day for a while and it should help to pack on some muscle/take off the fat. I have to really sit down and calculate out how much I should be eating, at the moment I'm just winging it.

DamienH

Monday, 2nd August
Standing Press
warm up
40 x5
45 x 5
50 x 17

Tuesday, 3rd August
Deadlift
Warm Up
90 x 5
105 x 5
120 x 10

Pretty happy with my press but my deadlift strength seems to have gone down a fair bit. Not sure if it was me having an off day or what but I'm not too worried.

DamienH

Thursday, August 5th

Bench
Warm up
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 17

21-15-9
Push Press 45kg
Situps
4:56

Chinups with band
6-5-4-3-2

DamienH

Saturday, August 7th
Squats
Warm up
70 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 14

Standing Db Press
35 kg
3-2-1 each arm

Practiced some thrusters but I need to read up on correct form. Squats were good and standing presses were better than expected. If I start from fresh I'd say I could stick the 40 up. Most were done witha slight lean.

Did sets of 8 burpees in between the thruster practice aswell to keep my heart rate up.

DamienH

Thursday, August 19th
My lower back has been giving me gip for the past couple or days. After 5 days I took the girlfriend's advice and started going to yoga with her. For the past 4 days my back has given me no trouble, i'm only after doing 3 sessions. I would of went to a chiropractor (sp?) but I can't find one that speaks english. Anyway the yoga teacher showed me some stuff for back relief and I'm amazed with how well it worked.

Deadlift
Warm Up
100 x 3
115 x 3
130 x 3

The 130 was easy but I didn't want to push my luck. I'll go for it next week.

Press
Warm Up
45 x 3
50 x 3
55 x 13

I went in looking for 13 and I got it. I'd say I could of gotten 2 more. The third would of have been a grind.

Streched a little and then went to work. I'm looking to ease myself back into it, nothing too mad.

DamienH

Saturday, 23rd August
Squats
Warm Up
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 9

Bench
Warm up
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 10 (not sure if it was 10 or 11)

Standing press with the 40kg DB.
Got one with my right but it wasn't pretty. No hip drive though so I'll take it. Almost got the left but it wasn't happening.

Did a bit of rowing for about 20 mins, called it a day.

DamienH

Thursday, 26th August

Had to rush this morning to get a session in before work. I'm down to two gym days a week now because I'm helping my gf to get ready to move so I just get the bare essentials done with work.

On the plus side my diet is pretty much nailed in solid.

Weight today is 115.5kg, happy with that. It's not going to be coming up anyway, I'm on 2500kcal a day, all from good stuff.

Deadlift
Warm Up
105 x 5
120 x 3
135 x 8

A ninth was there. Delighted with the 8, I was worried my deadlift had gone to **** alltogether. No back niggles or anything, it all felt strong. Solid form but I have to get my calloses back!

Press
Warm Up
5 x 45
3 x 55
8 x 60.

I should of got the ninth but as I was bringing the bar down from the eight I lost the groove. I would of had to start pressing from my chest, didn't fancy that!

Good day in all, happy.

DamienH

Ok have to start getting more serious about my log.

Had my deload week so I've started a new one. Decided i'm going to do bodyweight assistance aswell.

Press
Warm up
40 x 5
45 x 5
50 x 18

Felt grand, beat my last time at 50.

Assistance
Pushups and Leg raises

Deadlift
Warm up
95 x 5
110 x 5
125 x 9

All felt good. No twinge in my back or anything, just came up. Bit of trouble with the lockout of the last two but I suppose it's to be expected.

More leg raises.

DamienH

Felt like doing something today so went to the gym and did this complex with a 40KG BB.

Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts
Bent-over rows
Power Cleans
Front Squat
Push Press
Squats
Good Mornings

6-5-4-3-2-1
90 secs rest between sets.

Held the tripod stand for 5 sets of 15-20 seconds.

Stretched for a nice bit.
30 minute quick walk home.

Weight: 115.1kg after the gym.

DamienH

Bench
Warm Up
50 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 18

Grand, seems like I've started a bit lighter than I thought I did but **** it.

Squats
Warm Up
75 x 5
90 x 5
100 x 14
One left in the tank.

Hamstrings were killing me today, grand now though.

Did some bodyweight assistance and called it a day. Not out tonight os I'm back in the gym tomorrow for complex/metcon and a bit of rowing.

DamienH

Standing Press
Warm up
45 x 3
50 x 3
55 x 15

Happy with that.

Did 8 sets of 8 pushups for assistance. Very slow and strict with a pause at the end.
Deads and conditioning tmrw.

DamienH

Deadlifts
Warm up
105 x 3
120 x 3
135 x 9

These felt really good today. I was hoping for the nine and got it without too much hassle. I have to pick up some liquid chalk somewhere, I had to leave go of the bar once cause it nearly slipped.

Lying leg raises
7 sets of 8 reps

Tripod Stand
Held for fifty seconds over 5 sets

Intervals on the rower
0:20on/0:40 off
9

DamienH

Bench
Warm Up
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 12

One in the tank.

Deadlifts
Romanian Deadlifts
Bent-over rows
Power Cleans
Front Squat
Push Press
Squats
Good Mornings

5-4-3-2-1
Took a few seconds rest in between sets, about a minute.

Streching for 20 mins.

Grand old day of it.
Weight was going between 114.1 and 113.9 this morning. About a pound down from last week. I'm going to eat 200 less calories a day and see where that gets me. I'd be happy with 1.5lb. Still nice to see the 113 coming up though.

DamienH

Squats
Warm Up
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 10 (or 11 I lost count)

Felt ok

Push Press 50kg
Burpees
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Started off with 70kg for 2 rounds. It felt way too heavy, the benching yesterday must have done me in. Then went to 60 for 2 rounds and failed on the last rep. Switched to 50 after that and got them out.

Didn't time it, no phone or timer.
Called it a day after that, sweat all over the shop.

DamienH

Just got back from holidays yesterday, I did my 5-3-1 day in 2 days. Not exactly ideal. Didn't bother with the de-load week this cycle so I went straight into a new cycle.

Standing Press
Warm Up
45 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 14
Left one in the tank.

Assistance
12 sets of 6 Pushups
Paused at the top and the bottom.

(Row 600M )
(20 Push Press with 2x20kg DB)
x 3

Walk home
3km in 28mins

Nice session.

DamienH

Deadlifts
Warm Up
105 x 5
115 x 5
130 x 9

Seriously need to get some chalk, I know I've got more than that in me. My grip just keeps letting up. I'd say I could get 3 more anyway.

Lying leg raises , slight bend
8 sets of 8

Hunger strikes!

I weighed myself today and I came in at 114.8kg. I've just come back from 6 days of holidays so I was pretty happy with that. Nothing stopping me between now and christmas.

Just had a look through my log and my strength seems to be coming back up to the same levels as at the start of the year. My bench is a bit stronger, my squat and press are nearly there too. Deadlift is still a little bit behind though, I'm sure it'll catch up soon enough.

DamienH

Bench
Warm Up
55 x 5
65 x 5
75 x 17

Delighted with the 17, I had 16 in my mind going in. 80kg for 13 is a pb so I'm looking to kill that next week.

Inverted Rows
8 sets of 8

Tripod stand
20 secs
20 secs
15 secs
5 secs
Pissed off I didn't get the last hold for 20 secs. It feels good now though, I'm going to keep at it until I can get my feet into a headstand.

Intervals on the C2
0:30 on/ 0:30 off
10 mins
Ugh

3K walk home.

holdfast

hi damien where in cork are you training ? good stuff by you

DamienH

I live in Korea now I'm over here for a year teaching english. When I was at home I trained in Fitnessworx (think that's it's name). It's the gym in the big building across from the Maxol garage in Donnybrook, it's a great gym!

DamienH

Squats
Warm Up
80 x 5
90 x 5
105 x 15

That equals a pb done when I was 6kg heavier, happy.
Assistance and a walk home.

DamienH

Press
Warm Up
50 x 3
55 x 3
60 x 10

Wasn't feeling good at all but the ten was alright. I was still really sore from the squats, that what you get for drinking the night after squats for reps.

Push Ups
6 sets of 10 reps.

3Km walk home.

Weight was 113.8kg this morning, good good.

DamienH

Deadlifts
Warm Up
110 x 3
125 x 3
140 x 10

I had to let go after 8 cause the bar was falling out of my hands. I just reset and got the other two. Still no chalk

Lying leg raises 5 sets of 8

3K walk home.

DamienH

Bench
Warm Up
65 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 9

Inverted Rows
10 sets of 7

Clean and press with a 30kg DB
30 reps each arm

Was sick for two days so I eased myself into it with that. C&Ps were a nice change. Just did 5 each arm, rest was taken in the top position.

DamienH

Squats
Warm Up
85 x 3
100 x 3
110 x 6

Assistance and a 5K walk home.

I feel like ****, still sick. Last squat wasn't a problem but I had **** all energy. In bed now going to sleep. Just weighed myself, 113.4. I'm waiting on 112 to show up on the scales. My goal is to get below 100KG by April. That's 2 kilos a month of a loss. I should be able to get to it before then hopefully. I just have to keep this up!

I'm not worried about getting stronger, need to lose this weight first. 5/3/1 will do the job until then. I need to really focus on getting at least three 'cardio' sessions a week in though, that's my goal for the next cycle. The walk back is helping aswell.

After that it's a 2BW deadlift and a BW press, I can dream anyway

DamienH

Press
Warm Up
55 x 5
60 x 3
65 x 7

Assistance 10 sets of 8 pushups
3K walk home.
Very quick session today.

Weight this morning 113.1kg!!! I want that 112! I'm stupidly close to getting that first chinup aswell. If I drop another little bit of weight I can get that chin above the bar.