Friday's Workout

From the looks of our box at 5 a.m., you'd be surprised at how many folks are inside, ready to kill a workout.

Strength Skill:

• Muscle-Up Progressions

The last time we worked on muscle-ups was in July of last year -- just a couple of weeks after I started CrossFit. But it opened my eyes to what good coaching and a little practice can achieve. After a few brief sessions of playing around with progressions, Tim was able to coach me into pulling off a strict, dead-hang muscle-up in class. I'm still amazed I was able to do it. So amazed, in fact, that I haven't attempted to do another one since, for fear that I'll discover that my one muscle-up was just a fluke.

Today, I started at the beginning again, and worked my way through the various progressions. The jumping muscle-ups felt good, so with a little more practice, I'm fairly certain that I'll be able to crank out more dead-hang muscle-ups before the month is over.

Ironically, the Terminator tore a biceps muscle just last week while practicing muscle-ups. (He was WARMING UP with muscle-ups before starting a WOD at a CrossFit box in Virginia when he got hurt.) So today, he was forced to take it easy...or so we thought. (That's what we like to call foreshadowing, folks.)

Metcon:

We tore through the second CrossFit Games Open WOD today.

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

• 9 deadlifts (155/100)
• 12 Games standard push-ups
• 15 box jumps (24"/20")

Having done my mobility work for this WOD, I was more than pumped up about this workout. As soon as the clock started, I burst out of the gate at breakneck speed. The deadlifts came smooth and fast, and I made it through the first few rounds of box jumps without the slightest pause. Three minutes in, I'd completed over 2 rounds. If I could keep the pace going, I'd finish with over 10 rounds!

But of course, I couldn't keep up the pace. At all.

The deadlifts weren't heavy (just twenty pounds heavier than me!), but by the fourth and fifth rounds, they began to slow. My push-ups started looking like they were being done underwater; I had trouble getting my chest flush against the floor as required -- though I seemed to have no problem smashing my forehead on the ground with each rep. And for good measure, I took a fun little tumble off the plyo box in the eighth round. But as humbling as it was, I thoroughly enjoyed this workout.

Meanwhile on the other side of the gym, the Terminator was busy dominating. With an injured right arm, he had to scale the workout -- but he decided to scale it UP. The Terminator did 95-pound single-arm deadlifts and one-armed push-ups, and managed to complete five rounds. The guy's relentless, I tell you.

As for me, I completed 8 rounds + 1 deadlift (as RXed), for a total score of 289. Unlike my one-armed robot friend, I'm not exactly setting the world on fire, but DAMN: this stuff is FUN.

P90X Day 78: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Ab Ripper X

It's too bad I just finished Chest, Shoulders & Triceps for the last time (at least until I complete my first round of 90 days). Now that I can actually perform all the exercises in this workout, I'm totally digging it -- including the moves I couldn't previously handle, like One-Arm Push-Ups and Airborne Plyo Push-Ups.

I'm also sad that I won't get to hear Tony call Dave the Karate Man / Substitute Teacher by the wrong name (e.g., "Sean," "Jason") anymore.

P90X Day 64: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Ab Ripper X

I thoroughly enjoyed Chest, Shoulders & Triceps this morning. My form continues to improve, and both my reps and weights are increasing. I'm positively killing the Tony-style airborne plyo push-ups, and I'm now able to squeeze out a respectable number of one-armed push-ups, too. I'm even getting the hang of the various triceps moves.

But thank God I didn't have to do any pull-ups or chin-ups today. I'm having a hell of a time with them. Although I'm now able to gut out almost twice the number of unassisted pull-ups as I could on Day 1, I've been stuck on a plateau for a while.  My rep count hasn't seen much upward movement in weeks, which frustrates and bewilders me. Why is it that I see significant progress in my ability to perform virtually all of the P90X moves except for pull-ups and chin-ups?

I don't have Back & Biceps until the day after tomorrow, and I'm already dreading my rendezvous with the pull-up bar in my garage.

P90X Day 43: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Ab Ripper X

16 fully-airborne plyo push-ups! 75 Mason twists! And I got through today's workout without collapsing on my face even once!

My pride is blunted, though, by my sucktastically unsuccessful attempts to properly perform one-handed push-ups.

But speaking of push-ups: M, who started ChaLEAN Extreme last month not able to complete a single standard (non-knee) push-up, can now crank out 7 in a row!

P90X Day 36: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps + Ab Ripper X

Today's Chest, Shoulders & Triceps workout was a welcome reprieve for my tired, wobbly legs. Plus, I've discovered that I love (almost) all of the push-up variations in this routine. I'm attacking each set with equal amounts of glee and fear, and feeling pretty good about being able to tackle the "difficult" versions of each move -- with one huge exception: I'm ridiculously awful at one-handed push-ups. I can only muster up two before finishing the set with my knees on the floor.

My proudest moment: I was too shocked/awed/scared last week to even attempt Tony's airborne plyo push-ups, but I decided to give it a shot this morning, and ended up completing 12(!) in a row. I totally collapsed, though, on my thirteenth rep, landing awkwardly on my chest and face, with my legs splayed out. I looked like a crime scene photo.

Fun times.