Four Goals for Today

Three hours of shoveling on Saturday and three hours of hiking on Sunday had me a little tired, which gave us a good chance to push through fatigue.

This Workout had Four Goals behind it:
1) Test the four 220's again before increasing the distance.
2) Keep pushing the pullups, increased resistance @ 5 reps.
3) Return to the Clean & Press, but at 40# and four circuits.
4) Add another new ab exercise - the 'leg raise/toe touch' - to an ab circuit.

So:
Treadmill - 220 yds @ 7.5 mph (8 min mile pace)
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -140#
Dumbbell Clean and Press x 5R/5L @ 40#
Plank x 60 secs

Treadmill - 220 yds @ 7.5 mph
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -140#
Dumbbell Clean and Press x 5R/5L @ 40#
Leg Raise/Toe Touches x 10

Treadmill - 220 yds @ 7.5 mph
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -140#
Dumbbell Clean and Press x 5R/5L @ 40#
Swiss Ball Crunches x 30

Treadmill - 220 yds @ 7.5 mph
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -140#
Dumbbell Clean and Press x 5R/5L @ 40#
Side Planks x L 30 secs /R 30 secs

Not as winded as I expected when we finished, but I am definitely feeling the new ab exercises.

Shock

Old & new exercises to shock our systems.
24 sets. It worked.

Regular Burpees x 10
Pullup bar hang x 20+ seconds
Thruster x 10 @ 45# bar
(squat into overhead press)
Prone Pullups x 5
(feet on floor, planked, pull up to squat rack bar)
(also called body row or reverse pushup)
Side planks x 20 sec each side
Swiss ball crunch x 25

Burpees x 10
Pullup bar hang x 20+ seconds
Thruster x 10 @ 45# bar
Prone Pullups x 5
Side planks x 20 sec each side
Swiss ball crunch x 25

Burpees x 10
Pullup bar hang x 20+ seconds
Thruster x 10 @ 45# bar
Prone Pullups x 5
Side planks x 20 sec each side
Swiss ball crunch x 25

Burpees x 10
Pullup bar hang x 20+ seconds
Thruster x 10 @ 45# bar
Prone Pullups x 5
Side planks x 20 sec each side
Swiss ball crunch x 25

This circuit pulled together a lot of things I wanted to work on.
- We got non-running conditioning from the burpees and showed improvement on the exercise.
- The thruster gave us a second multi-joint, full body exercise and worked on Crossfit improvement.
- We worked on getting to a real pullup by including the hang and prone pullups.
- We attacked our abs in a new way with side planks.

It was different and exhausting - just what we like.

Prone pullup, body row, reverse pushup, or whatever, it's tough.

I Hate Planks

I've been quite motivated to work hard recently, so Monday I decided on a test for this motivation: the plank.

I hate planks, with a passion. It's a hard enough exercise, being on elbows and toes & waiting for the stomach cramp, but being perfectly still, even for sixty seconds, drives me crazy.

Our lively circuits have allowed me to keep the plank in the background. I'll slip in thirty seconds or a minute here or there and generally avoid thinking about it.

Today, I would not hide from the plank.

Four circuits of low-rep power exercises with a minute of plank each time. It would be the first time of more than two successful full-minute planks in a workout.

So, The Plank Plan, with less than a minute rest between each set:

Plank x 60 seconds
Deadlift x 5 @ 175#
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -160#
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

Plank x 60 seconds
Deadlift x 5 @ 175#
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -160#
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

Plank x 60 seconds
Deadlift x 5 @ 175#
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -160#
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

Plank x 60 seconds
Deadlift x 5 @ 175#
Machine Pullups x 5 @ -160#
Machine Dips x 5 @ -90#

The last 15 seconds of the last plank involved a death mask and an obscenity-laden internal monologue, but I did make it. So now I have no excuses in the future. (I'll probably use music for distraction to pull it off again).