Hatch Squat Program Week 1 Day 2
Back Squat
10 x 225
8 x 240
8 x 260
8 x 275
I am growing a strong dislike for the rep range in the early weeks of this program.
Front Squat
5 x 185
5 x 200
5 x 215
5 x 215
Bench Press
10 x 135
8 x 145
8 x 155
6 x 165
Im going to try and make this a regular weekly thing along with some strict press work and some other presses Ive been reading about. I’ve been neglecting shoulders/upper body for a few months and it a weak area.
GHD extensions
3 x 8 w/ 35#
Strength:
Burgener Squat Program Week 11 Day 1
Back Squats 6×1 at 320 lbs
This was surprisingly easy. I took 4 days off for labor day weekend. Unfortunately (or fortunately) these rest days coincided with a minor sinus cold. Its pretty much gone now but there are still some traces of it. I felt great getting the weight up and Im sure the solid block of rest days did my legs a lot of good even though my diet was pretty crappy. I was glad to get back at it.
Metcon/Skill Work:
4 x 30 Dubs
2 x 500m row – emphasis on technique
Strength:
Burgener Squat Program Week 10 Day 2
Back Squat 10×3 @ 280 lbs
My form felt a little sloppy today. I didnt feel like I got in my groove and I kept on playing with the bar position on my back. All reps were completed no real problems.
Accessory Work:
Bent Over Rows w/ 95# bar: 15,12,12,10
Farmers Walk w/ two 72# kettlebells: 50m x 4
Strength:
Burgener Squat Program Week 9 Day 1
Back Squat 10×2 at 310 lbs
Heaviest weight I have had to squat to this point. I felt relatively comfortable. I find that the heavy loads on back squat are a significantly easier to fight through than heavy loads on front squat. A heavy workout on front squat is a war on most reps. It’s still not easy. I just find it much easier to fight through a tough rep on back squat. I think it may be because there are less “technical” cues to worry about for me on the back squat. That being said the second rep was always the most difficult. That may seem obvious but for me the second rep of the sixth set was tougher than the first rep of the tenth set. I think its not so much muscle fatigue. I think I lose a little integrity/position in my core when I do the first rep and it’s almost impossible to reset while under heavy load. I’ve heard Kelley Starrett talk about this before. I guess he was right.
Accessory/Skill Work
GHD Extensions: 4×15
Kipping HSPU: 8, 10, 5, 8, 5
It was only my third time doing kipping HSPUs and I am feeling more and more comfortable with them. Last week I was only able to get 4-5 in a row. I will keep at it. The goals are to be able to hit 21 in a row and then 21-15-9 with minimal rest between sets.
Strength:
Burgener Squat Program Week 8 Day 2
Front Squats 6×2 at 280 lbs
Tough session. I really had to concentrate on my form to get through this one. There were a few second reps that I really had to fight through. Considering that this workout was done at 98% of my 1RM I have to be happy with the results. No failed reps.
Additional Work:
30 reps of kipping HSPUs
I worked on one of goats. I trudged through 4-5 reps at a time but considering that I just learned to kip on these and I generally suck at HSPUs I am glad to see some minor progress.
Strength
Burgener Squat Program Week 6 Day 1
Back Squats 10×3 @ 265 lbs
No problem with the back squats this week as it is kind of a de-load workout dropping from 87% of 1RM last week to 80% this week. I assume this is done in preparation for the front squats this week of 10 set of 3 at 95% which will be the “heaviest” week of front squats for the program if we are looking at total pounds moved. Can’t wait for Friday.
Metcon
“Strong Women”
5rds:
10 Power Cleans @185
10 Burpees
12:47 RX
I liked this wod. Simple straightforward and kind of heavy. Pacing again was the key. After the second round I tried to break up my power cleans into sets of 5.
Strength
Burgener Squat Program Week 1 Day 2:
10×3 Front Squats @ 225# (80%)
As with the back squats I felt pretty damn good. The first two sets may have been the most difficult. Once everything got warmed up and firing I mowed through the workout. I felt like my breathing was pretty key. I made sure to take a nice deep breath before each rep and exhale slowly after I’m off the bottom.
Strength:
Bergener Squat Prograom Week 1 Day 1
10×3 Back Squats @ 250# (75%)
I felt a lot better than I thought I would. No problems on any of the sets and I actually felt stronger as I went along. I took about 2 minutes between sets an that seemed to be more than enough. Things may get markedly harder in the next few weeks as I’ll be adding 10 pounds every week for the next 4 weeks but so far so good. I am aiming to do Day 2 on Friday.
Strength Work:
Back Squat 1RM –
warmup (135×5, 225×5, 2 sec pause)
315(PR)
325(PR)
335(PR)
I was really happy to hit some PRs back squatting after being stuck at 305 during CF Total only 5 days ago. I knew I had more in the tank. 315 and 325 went up relatively smoothly. 335 was slow and I had to fight through that hole in the middle pretty hard. A primal scream was involved. Very satisfied to see hard work payoff with a 30# PR (305# on 12/1/11). The bar doesn’t lie. The only downside of this is that now the weights for the squat program went up a bit.
Warm Up:
250m run, 10 spiderman lunges, 10 groiners, 10 shoulder taps, 10 push ups,
L then R of: 5 db snatches, 5 db clean & jerks, 5 reverse lunges, 5 db rows, 5 goblet squats, 250m run
Core Work:
5rds: 3o second front rack hold w/ 2 1.5 pood kb
Metcon:
3rds: 7 bear complex, 20 pullups
15:15 @115
From the high of hitting a big PR to the low of a horrible metcon. I felt like the walking dead about 1 min into this. I was just gassed way to easily. In all honesty I was tired going into the wod already. I just didnt feel like myself I dont know why this keeps happening but its becoming a worry. The only thing I can speculate is that maybe its diet, rest, and recovery and I need to reevaluate how I am approaching these areas.
Crossfit Total
1RM of Deadlift + Back Squat + Strict Press (3 attempts at each)
Deadlift – 415, 435 (PR), 450 (PR)
Back Squat – 255, 305, 325(f)
Press – 135, 155(PR), 165(f)
450+305+155= CF Total Score of 910
First time doing CF total.It’s a lot of fun. 3 lifts 3 attempts. Go big and go for some PRs. I was able to up my Deadlift PR by 25 pounds and I felt pretty good. I think I had a little bit more in the tank. I was glad to hit one of my annual goals by lifting 450. Next up is the big 500 but I got a feeling that’s going to take a while. Interesting to note that I had not been deadlifting heavy for at least a month. I think gains can be made in my deadlift through squats and cleans and not necessarily deadlifting heavy every week.
Back squat was disappointing. I tied my previous PR of 305 but considering that I did 300×5 a couple weeks ago and did 295×5 3 days before this I am disappointed. Im going to attribute it to two things: 1) the fact that I squatted on Wednesday after two weeks off from squatting and followed it up with 50 reps of back squats and 50 reps of thrusters on Thursday (albeit at 95#). My legs were very sore on Friday and Saturday; 2) I went too light on my first attempt. I went for something I knew I would have no problem getting. I think I should’ve gone at or near my PR. I got stuck in the middle on 325. Oh well.
I knew the Strict Press would be my weak point of the three and it turned out to be. I think I hit a PR at 155 but I put that down to my lack of strict pressing more than any strength gains in pressing. I need to concentrate a little more in increasing my pressing/shoulder strength. I think its my weak link relative to my other lifts.
I set a mental goal of 1000 for this in the next 6-12 months.
Snatch Work:
We spent about an hour and a half working on our snatch. We worked some full snatch at 70-80% that we videotaped. Then we slowly worked through some progressions from the “top down”. A lot of concentration on hitting the power position and speed in our turnover. The main takeaway for me personally was that my main problems come in the final third of the movement. I was hitting the power position but I am too slow getting under the bar after my third pull. My feet are hitting the ground before I’m under the bar and I am catching the bar with my elbows slightly bent. Brad also noticed that my knees were forward in my squat. It was a great learning experience and I hope to work on the progressions we learned and videotape more snatches (zing!) so I can work on an admittedly weak lift.
Pay The Iron Price 