Monday, July 23

First, notice the correct possessive form of “it.” It’s the correct form. See what I did there?

I took Luke for a walk before leaving for work, and then took Luke and Cinna for walks at noon and this evening. Spoiled rotten.

I made two miniature lemon soufflés, and ate them both. Uhm, and thus needed to work off some calories. Ha!

Last night I dreamt of burpees. Today I programmed a workout that I would never program for anyone other than myself. ‘Twas certainly an endurance workout, and was as much psychological as physical.

AFAP
500 burpees

That’s not a typo. Five freaking hundred burpees.

I knew I’d have to pace myself, and I knew I’d have to be flexible with my approach. I began by completing the first 100 reps in rounds of 10 reps, with a very brief pause between rounds. I glanced at the clock and it read 9 minutes and change. I then set a goal to complete the workout in fewer than 50 minutes.

Uhm, and I wasn’t feeling all that winded or weak after the first 100 reps, so I completed the next 100 reps in 8 rounds of 11 and 1 round of 12 reps. And I still wasn’t feeling all that winded, so I completed the next 100 reps in 6 rounds of 15 and 1 round of 11 reps. Why 11? Because I decided to complete the next round of 100 in 9 rounds of 11 reps and needed that 1 extra rep to reach and even 300.

Whilst completing reps 301 through 400 I decided that I would complete the final 100 reps based on feeling, i.e., not complete pre-set number of rounds or reps a round.

I began and easily made it to 20. I told myself that if I felt good at 20 I’d continue until 25, and continue doing in this manner every 5 reps. In other words, I had to feel confident that I could complete 5 unbroken reps each time I had completed a multiple of 5. And this worked! I made it to 50 and told myself to make it to 55 so that I would be more than halfway finished. And then I kept going, working to 60, 65, 70, and 75. I had contemplated resting briefly when I reached 75, but kept going, even pushing it for the very last 10 reps.

I changed direction, alternating between North and South, throughout the workout (with the exception of the last 100 reps) if for no other reason than to work in a somewhat less slippery environment. My hands would occasionally slip as the mat became moist (my favorite word!), but I made sure to adjust my hand so as to be able to remain somewhat symmetrical for push off of the floor.

I had completed about 420 reps (if I’m recalling correctly) at the 40-minute mark and that gave me a boost of confidence, for I then knew that I’d be able to achieve my goal. I finished in a time of 46:36.

That’s a little more than 10 and a half reps a minute.

Give it a try. 

I rested Wednesday, and it was good. And much needed. Three consecutive days of burpees left me feeling slightly sore. I also knew that I was going to be completing 4 consecutive days of workouts that include wall ball shots. And I dislike (but don’t hate) wall ball shots.

Thursday, July 19

150 RFT of medicine ball burpee + medicine ball clean + wall ball shot (20# & 10′)

This was more challenging than one would imagine, as having to complete 1 wall ball shot at a time, and always beginning with a medicine ball clean, tended to slow me down and somewhat throw off my rhythm. I did work steadily, completing rounds of 10 until the last 20 unbroken reps.

Time = 24:17

That’s about 10 seconds a rep. I did rest briefly between rounds of 10 reps, often wiping the sweat off of the ball(s). See what I did there?

Friday, July 20

75 (85) RFT of strict HSPU + 155# DL + wall ball shot (20# & 10′)

Uhm, I doubted that I had completed 75, when in fact I had, and completed an additional 10 rounds. I completed 75 rounds in a time of 27:49 and 85 rounds in 31:04. I had no failed reps, and I was surprised that I was able to do that many strict HSPUs without failing. Deadlifts felt easy the first 50 or so reps and then began to feel heavy.

I eventually had to place a towel on gym mat, as my hands began to dangerously slip when I set up for HSPU. And that’s never good.

Saturday, July 21

‘Twas a rainy morning, but I nonetheless took Luke and Cinna for walks. ‘Twas also a chilly 62 degrees.

I then made 4 dozen white chocolate chip cookies and 2 dozen cocoa devil’s food cupcakes. I made boiled white frosting later in the afternoon, resulting in cupcakes covered in frosting and topped with a cookie. Delicious!

30 RFT of 5 unbroken T2B + 15-second strict plank hold + 5 unbroken wall ball shots (20# & 10′)

It was kinda sorta nice to complete continuous reps of WBS, although I did begin all 30 rounds with a medicine ball clean. I had no failed reps. Much like with HSPUs the day before, I surprised myself by completing all rounds of T2B in unbroken reps.

Time = 26:54

That’s about 55 seconds a round, including the 15-second handstand hold. Given the time it took to transition between activities, I’m pleased with performance.

Sunday, July 22

Four days streak, bitches! I took Luke and Cinna for long and short walks, respectively. I then enjoyed two delicious “old fashioned blueberry muffins” and made using the Sunny Point Cafe cookbook. Next? The garage/gym with Luke.

Uhm, my abs were sore. One hundred-fifty knees to elbows reps will do that to you.

11 RFT
11 calorie row
9 Russian KB swings, 53#
7 Abmat sit-ups
5 wall ball shots, 20# & 10′

My programmer is awesome. And this workout, whilst not overly challenging, was nonetheless just what I needed. In fact, I’d put this in the category of active recovery.

I focused on rowing 20 strokes/minute and 1 calorie/stroke, and was generally successful.  KB swings presented no issues, and all rounds (as with remaining activities) were completed in unbroken reps. Sit-ups were the most challenging, you know, because of sore abs.

And more wall ball shots. But honestly, 5 unbroken reps felt kinda sorta easy.

I chuckled a few times whilst looking at Luke, who stationed himself in front of the rower. He certainly knows how to relax.

Time = 24:56

I rested briefly, and then set up 10m course on 5th Ave. in front of neighbor’s house. I like the course because it’s 10m uphill and (duh) 10m downhill.

5 RFT
11 unbroken & strict pushups
5 shuttle sprints, 10m forward and 10m backward

This was quite exhausting. Luke joined me for part of the workout, and I then asked him to sit at the end of our driveway and wait for me to finish. He did just that.

Time = 5:26

 

Sometimes you just have to mix things up. I decided I would program three consecutive days of burpees. I’ll let you faithful readers do the math for both accumulated reps and accumulated time. It’s a shit-ton.

Sunday, July 15

AFAP
10, 1-legged burpee + pull-up

Time = 1:35

AFAP
10 burpee + 3 unbroken T2B

Time = 2:31

AFAP
10 burpee to medicine ball + twist + HSPU

Time = 1:58

AFAP 
11 (because I lost count) burpee + 4 windshield wipers

Time = 1:57

AFAP
10 wall crawl (nose to wall) + 15-second headstand hold

Time = 2:45

AFAP
10 burpee + WBS (25# & 10′)

Time = 1:17

AFAP
10, 8-count burpee + 100m (50m out & back) shuttle sprint

Time = 5:52

AFAP
10 burpee to KB + Russian KB swing, 70#

Time = :55

AFAP
10 weighted & twisting burpees, 45# 

Time = :51

AFAP
Box jump inverted pushup + burpee + box jump, 30″

Time = 2:30

AFAP
10 parallette pass through burpees, i.e., end with jump & clap

Tme = :50

Monday, July 16

AFAP
21 burpee + deadlift, 185#

Time = 3:15

AFAP
36 plate burpees, 45#

Tme = 4:30

AFAP
45 burpee + strict ring dip

Time = 7:17

AFAP
51 burpee + strict T2B

Time = 8:56

AFAP
21 burpee + strict HSPU

Time = 4:54

AFAP
27 KB SDHP, 70#

Time = 3:27

Tuesday, July 17

AFAP
10 burpee + 10 unbroken dus

Time = 3:20

Talk about getting the heart racing…

AMRAP 3:20
20# medicine ball burpee + medicine ball clean

Score = 35 reps

AMRAP 3:20
Burpee + parallette hop over (l) 
Burpee + parallette hop over (l) 
Burpee + parallette hop over (r) 
Burpee + parallette hop over (r) 

I set up the parallettes so that I could complete a burpee between the 2 stations.

Score = 40 reps

AMRAP 3:20
Burpee to sandbang + sandbag clean + twisting hop over

Score = 21 reps

AFAP
21 reps burpee + 10m uphill sprint + 10m downhill & backwards sprint

Time = 4:05

The neighbors think I’m crazy.

AFAP
21 burpee + lateral box jump (20″) + twist

Twenty-one reps both l & r sides, so 42 total burpees.

Time = 5:44

AFAP
21 “yoga” burpees
1. hands to floor
2. feet to plank
3. chest to floor
4. back so feet on floor and cobra
5. tuck toes and push up to plank
6. down dog
7. plank
8. jump feet to hands
9. jump and clap

Talk about a shoulder burner…

Time = 3:18

Thursday, July 19

I took Luke for a long walk at the Biltmore. It was a somewhat cool 68 degrees, and we both enjoyed ourselves.

Press
Establish 2RM

I completed 2 reps @ 139#, a mere 1# PR. And I’ll take it. As I often said, when you push you should pull.

Weighted pull-up
Establish 2RM and 1RM

Fifty-five pounds for 2 and 64# for 1. PRs, both. So there’s that.

AFAP
150 reps
Medicine ball burpee + medicine ball clean + WBS (20# & 10′)

This. Was. Tough. I completed in 15 sets of 10 unbroken reps, and didn’t miss a single shot. Yeah! In addition, I had a negative split, and completed the reps in 24:17. Give it a try.

 

Friday, July 6

AFAP
2-4-6…16-18-20
Twisting Burpees & 10m shuttle sprints

On the beach! Yup, as Fort Fisher wasn’t all that crowded, I was able to get in a beach workout. As it was miserably hot, I completed the burpees and sprinting in shallow water. This certainly helped keep me cool! I completed all rounds in unbroken reps in a time of 20 minutes and change.

Saturday, July 7

AFAP
Run 3 miles, pausing every .2 of a mile to complete 20 air squats

I ran 1.5 miles up and back at Echo Park. ‘Twas again a very hot day. I completed in 30 minutes and change. Air squats got significantly more challenging as the workout progressed, but I nonetheless completed in unbroken reps.

Monday, July 9

24 RFT
2 strict HSPU
4 box jumps, 30#
24 unbroken double unders
rest 40 seconds between rounds

Forty seconds was more than enough rest the first 10 or so rounds and barely enough rest the last 10 or so rounds.

Total time = 34:24. Rounds took from 30 to 40 seconds to complete, depending on how quickly I both began and completed double unders. ‘Twas a mind f@ck.

Tuesday, July 10

5 RFT
5 DL 275#
10 burpees

A mainsite WOD. I completed in 6:46. That was tough.

AFAP 
45 ring rows with feet on box and body parallel to ground

Time = 5:16. I completed as many 11 and as few as 4 unbroken.

15 RFT
1 wall crawl (nose to wall)
15-second headstand hold

Talk about a shoulder burner. I completed in 11:57. Headstands got surprisingly difficult, and I fell out of the 14th round and had to restart.

Wednesday, July 11

 

10 RFT
5 calorie row
5 HPS @ 65#

Time = 8:50

50 RFT
Burpee + stiff-legged DL + BoR + PC @ 95#

Time = 12:37

Max rep unbroken & strict pushups (only resting briefly in plank position)
1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 (complete as many rounds as necessary but must finish with PC) PC @ 110#
10-min time cap

I completed 25, 10, 12, 12, 11, 12, 10, 8, & 6 pushups for a total of 106 reps and in time of 9:42; thus, 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2 PC for a total of 24 PCs.

Thursday, July 12

Christmas in July
1 100m sprint
2 strict and unbroken HSPU
3 unbroken C2B pull-ups
4 FS, 100#
5 K2E
6 SDHP
7 WBS, 20# & 10′
8 BJ, 27″
9 FP
10 Russian KBS, 70#
11 DL
12X12 (144) double unders

This was tough, and I was a sweaty mess from start to finish. I’m glad that I pushed weight to 100#. The dus were perhaps the most challenging of the activities, as I was pretty spent by the time it came to complete reps. I didn’t look forward to SDHPs, WBS, or FS any of the rounds. HSPUs and K2Es were perhaps the easiest of the activities.

Time = 39:40

Saturday, June 30

Whaaaat? Two days not working out? Yup, and I both needed and enjoyed the rest. I was in Boston presenting training. Was the training a success? I’ll let you guess the answer to that question.

50-40-30-20-10
Floor presses, bent over rows, back squats @ 65, 75, 85, 95, & 105#
Rest 2 minutes between rounds

OMFG, this was tough, for even though the reps got fewer and the weight only got 10 pounds heavier each round, it felt like the reps didn’t decrease but that the weight increased 100 pounds each round. That might be a slight exaggeration. But just slight.

Rounds took 5:07 5:00, 3:59, 2:46, & 1:06 for a total accumulated time of 17:58. The only round that I completed in unbroken reps was, well, the last round. And even that was tough. It also didn’t help that it’s hotrnfk here in NC.

Uhm, and that’s 150 reps of each activity. Uhm, and I could hardly walk the rest of the day.

Sunday, July 1

I took Luke and Cinna for walks, then Jeff and I enjoyed breakfast at King Daddy’s and took Luke for another walk. He’s spoiled.

My quads are so sore that I could barely walk. Oh, and it’s still hotrnfk here in NC.

Today was all about 45s.

AFAP
45 6-count burpee T2B

Time = 6:46

Yup, count-6 was T2B. I needed the active recovery from all of yesterday’s pushing.

AFAP
45 KB SDHP (53#) & box jump with full squat landing (20″)

Time = 6:09

Yup, I needed the active recovery from all of yesterday’s pulling and squatting.

AFAP
45 Abmat sit-up + back extension + 20m (out and back) shuttle sprints

Time = 18:30

Yup, I needed full body active recovery.

Tuesday, July 3

As I taught in the morning and then we spent the rest of the day traveling to Wilmington, I didn’t work out Monday. A day of rest is always nice.

I worked out at Hugh McRae Park. The weather was hot and humid.

10-min ARMAP
5 pull-ups
10 pushups
15 air squats
20 Abmat sit-ups

I completed all activities in unbroken reps. Score = 6 + 5, i.e., 30 pull-ups, 60 pushups, 90 air squats, & 120 sit-ups.

5RFT
5 “walking” parallette dips
10m sprint
5 burpees
10m sprint

Time = 4:45

That was tough, as my arms were already tired

AFAP
Run 1 mile, stopping every .10 of a mile to complete 1, 2, 3…8, 9, 10 air squats and pushups (alternating activities)
Then
Run 1 mile, stopping every .10 of a mile to complete 10, 9, 8…3, 2, 1 air squats and pushups (alternating activities)

My goal was to complete in 20 minutes. I did not achieve my goal, finishing in 20:10. Uhm, but as often the case I may have completed too many reps.

Wednesday, July 4

Jeff, Luke, and I spent the morning at Fort Fisher, and then Luke and Jeff joined me at Hugh McRae park for another workout.

Every 10 seconds for 11 rounds
2 strict T2B
Then
5 scary (over wooden parallel beam) lateral hops 

AFAP
45 6-count burpee with K2E

Time = 7:57

Jeff walked Luke, so I did rounds of 10 lunges (5/leg), sprinted to them, and did another round of lunges, completing 11 total rounds and about a mile run.

Fun, fun, fun!