Wednesday's Workout

I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. More precisely: A monster truck named Murph.

Approximately 84.5 percent of me wanted to hurl my alarm clock against the wall and go back to sleep. But 12.5 percent of me recognized that my beloved iPhone was serving as my alarm clock, and stayed my hand. And the remaining 3 percent of me realized that today was my last chance to work out with the 5 a.m. crew until next Wednesday.

I staggered out of bed on legs that wouldn't bend, and pulled on my clothes with arms that refused to be raised more a few degrees. A slug of coffee later, I sprawled out on the floor of the hotel room, stretching and mobilizing as best I could. It was an unpleasant but necessary way to start the day.

After a creakier-than-usual warm-up at the gym, I paired up with Jay for some front squats. We got some decent weight on the bar, but both of us were feeling wrecked, and steered well clear of PR territory. I tried to focus on my form instead, working on leading with my elbows, pushing out my knees to generate torque, and keeping my gut tight.

Next -- the metcon:

• 5 rounds for time (with a 15-minute cap) of:

• 25 push-presses (75# / 55#)
• 50 double-unders

Surprisingly, my full-body soreness seemed to disappear once I got going. As soon as the clock started, my body somehow managed to crank out push-presses and double-unders without hesitation. (Well, for the first couple of rounds, anyway. After that, there was plenty of hesitation. I'm embarrassed to report that I took more than my fair share of mid-round rest breaks during the push-presses.)

Result: 14:48 as RXed. I snuck in under the wire by just 12 seconds.

And then I promptly went back to being sore.

Wednesday's Workout

Strength Skill:

• Weighted Pull-ups (5-3-3-1-1, with 10 push-ups between sets)

I think I've pinpointed the reason why a dull ache still plagues my upper arms. It ain't 'cause of the gazillion push-presses from last week. It's from those damned diamond push-ups I did in-between sets of pull-ups last Wednesday.

This morning, my bad case of DOMS was finally subsiding, so despite my chronic lack of sleep, I happily drove to the gym for our morning beatdown. I enjoy doing weighted pull-ups, and was looking forward to doing more.

But just like last week, we did 10 push-ups between each set of pull-ups. Tim allowed us to pick the types of pull-up variations we wanted to do, so I did some decline push-ups, some medicine ball push-ups, some spiderman push-ups, some parallette push-ups, and some more of those nasty diamond push-ups. They didn't feel bad in the moment -- but a few hours later, I could feel the creeping ache in my triceps. And reaching way, waaaay back in the recesses of my brain, I pulled out a vague memory of how I used to do diamond push-ups as part of my P90X regimen, and how my arms always felt wrecked afterwards.

I've come full circle.

Metcon:

• 21 box jumps (24")
• 21 kettlebell sumo deadlift high pulls (32kg / 24kg)
• 21 kettlebell swing - catch - squats (32kg / 24kg)
• 15 box jumps (24")
• 15 kettlebell sumo deadlift high pulls (32kg / 24kg)
• 15 kettlebell swing - catch - squats (32kg / 24kg)
• 9 box jumps (24")
• 9 kettlebell sumo deadlift high pulls (32kg / 24kg)
• 9 kettlebell swing - catch - squats (32kg / 24kg)

What's a swing-catch-squat, you ask? Good question. It involves swinging a kettlebell up, releasing the handle and catching the kettlebell upside-down, performing a goblet squat, and then pushing the iron ball away from you and catching it by the handle to start another swing. It's both easier and harder than it looks.

On the one hand, this movement isn't altogether unfamiliar. It feels a bit like a barbell clean.

On the other hand: Holy crap. I'm not very physically coordinated to begin with, but ask me to perform anything technically demanding at 5 a.m. and you're in for some entertainment.

For today's workout, I used a 24-inch box for my jumps, but I scaled down the kettlebell weights. I used a 24kg KB for the sumo deadlift high pulls, and a 20kg KB for the swing-catch-squats. (You know who else used a 20kg kettlebell? XFitMama. She's a beast.)

It wasn't exactly a cakewalk -- I had a helluva time trying to catch the damned kettlebell -- but I got through the workout okay. Frankly, I'm just happy I didn't cave in my face with a big-ass metal ball.

Result: 8:34 as RXed.

Wednesday's Workout

As you may have noticed (but probably didn’t), I neglected to post about my workout on Monday…mostly because I didn’t actually work out on Monday. With M at work and no babysitter to stay with the kids, I ended up sleeping in.

And it’s a good thing I did. After last Wednesday’s weighted ring dips and pull-ups and last Friday’s presses and jerks, I spent the entire weekend with a bad case of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). (By the way, a great article about DOMS is available to CrossFit Journal subscribers here.) The dull ache in my arms made me cranky, and I was annoyed that I couldn’t raise my arms over my head without my lats catching on fire. I was in dire need of a rest day.

 By this morning, though, the inflammation had almost completely subsided, and I was eager to get the gunk out with a hard workout.

After five sets of weighted ring dips, we cranked out a quick WOD:

4 rounds for time:

• 5 chin-ups
• 10 power cleans (95lb / 65lb)
• 30 running ropes

This was a fast one -- though I tried not to go so fast that I’d sacrifice good form on my power cleans. Surprisingly, even with my lingering soreness, the chin-ups were quick and easy, and the cleans felt solid. At first, the running ropes (essentially, running in place while jump-roping) were a bit of a challenge -- especially for a klutz like me -- but I got the hang of it soon enough. I spent too much time transitioning between sets, and could have (and should have) hustled more, but in the end, I was happy for the opportunity to crank out a good, intense workout.

Result: 6:08 as RXed.