Tag Archives: Fall Challenge

11222018 – CrossFit and Climbing

Happy Thanksgiving!!  The climbing gym was open this morning so I saw that as a good time to finish out testing my Fall Challenge lifts.  We ended up going as a family so I climbed a few routes afterwards too.  The family climbed around and did some cool climbs through hula-hoops!

My last two lifts were Snatch and Shoulder Press.

I had pretty much done 0 shoulder presses throughout the cycle.  I really wanted to improve my deadlift so I made sure to make those lifts up as needed.  But not so much the other two and it showed!  My pre-test came in at 95# which is actually where I ended today as well. After hitting 95 I tried once at 105 and once at 100.  I was able to get both just barely out of front rack but no where else.  I really wanted to dip and drive to get it up, but I held back!

I took a little break and watched the kids so my wife could climb a little bit before coming back for the snatch. I drilled a little bit before adding some weight and snatching away!  In the pre-test I ended up with 95#.  Today I was able to get more and hit 105# which is just under my lifetime max.  I tried 2x’s to get 110 up but couldn’t get under the bar!!

Based on these lifts here is my Fall Challenge 2018 data:

Lift Beginning Ending Improvement
Solcana Total 435 500 65
Deadlift 245 300 55
Snatch 95 105 10
Shoulder Press 95 95 0
Jackie 13:45 12:06 1:39

We will have to wait and see what the final results show!!

11212018 – CrossFit

This week is the end of the cycle testing.  I’ve not been able to make it yet this week due to schedules.  I don’t work today so I got up early for the 5:30am crew and completed the Jackie test. And ended up doing my Deadlift as well.  Here is my pretest writeup.

I went in the second heat and so counted and cheered for Nate and crew during the first heat.  I couldn’t remember my initial time so I didn’t have a strong goal in mind – just get the work done!  In case you forget…

Jackie – for time:

1000m row

50 Thrusters 45#

30 Pull-ups

I tried to go nice and steady on the rower and finished in under 4 minutes.  I did 5 sets of 10 for the Thrusters which I think took longer than I would have liked but it was ok.  I tried not to rest too long in between, but I was also wanting to catch my breath!  Then onto the pull-ups.  I was hoping for a set or two of 5, but after 3 I was good.  So I did a bunch of sets of 3 and got into the 20’s before I started getting some no reps.  Nate said that some of them were like 8 inches off so he couldn’t count them as even strong efforts. I did a few sets of 2 and finished with 3 sets of 1.  I started feeling really bad in the middle of the pullups –  like in my stomach but I kept pushing through.

I finished in 12:06.  This was 1:39 faster than my 13:45 to start the cycle!!

Since I had no where to be, I decided to try and get one of my 3 lifts in for the Solcana Total. Since Thruster and Pullups destroyed my shoulders I decided to go for the Deadlift instead of Snatch or Shoulder Press.  I took some time to recover before getting into it.  Erin was testing her Deadlift as well and Sara wanted to do the COW so we all hung out in the backroom and got our lifts in.  It was great to have them cheering me on and encouraging me to keep going.  I took a ton of lifts to get to my 1RM but I wasn’t sure how far I could go.

I started the cycle at 245 with a lifetime PR of 265.  I did a few at 135, then 185, 205, 225, 245, 265, 275, 285, and 295. I was almost going to stop at that point because I wasn’t really tracking what weight I had on the bar.  When I realized that I was almost at 300 which I saw as a far off goal I knew I had to try.  So I got 300 on the bar and pulled… it was definitely hard but I got it all the way up!!! I was very pleased with that and stopped.  I started wearing my belt at 275 just to be safe. Up to that point that had all felt good and Erin and Sara said I was looking good doing them.  I am very happy with that!!  So a PR of 35 pounds and 55 from the start of the cycle!!!

Now I just need to get the rest of the lifts done!

09182018 – CrossFit

Tonight the gym wasn’t going to happen again unless I went to the Bouldering Project again. On tap today was Snatch testing. After warming up and watching the video again I started out. I got to 95 pounds and realized that all of them ended up being power snatches. I logged my lifts under that. I assume that for the challenge it won’t matter which way we did them. 

I did some more drilling with the PVC and started back at 65 pounds and made sure to go all the way down. It doesn’t seem as natural and I only got 85 pounds at full depth. 

I’ll check with the coaches to see which way it should be. Depending my Total will be 425 or 435. A good starting point. 

Afterwards I did 500m on the rower. 

09182018 – CrossFit

Tonight was the pretest for Jackie. It was hard, but didn’t take as long as I thought it might.

As a refresher Jackie is 1000m row, 50 thrusters at 45#, and 30 pullups for time. We did a nice long warmup and then setup for the workout. Hannah challenged us to break up the thrusters into 25-15-10. And to take it a little easier on the row so we’d not be completely gassed.

I was the first off the rower in something like 3:45. I went for the Rx with the 45# barbell for thrusters and made the first set of 25 as Hannah suggested. After a break I was able to get 10 more and then another set of 10 and finished with a set of 5. I just really needed to set the bar down to give my shoulders a break. My legs actually felt ok during the Thrusters.  Done with that I hit the rig for pullups.

I’m usually good for several rounds of 3 at a time. So I was quite pleased with getting two rounds of 4 in before doing a few rounds of 3 and ending with 5 sets of 2. Pullups will definitely be an area that small improvements can go a long way.

My overall time was 13:45.

09172018 – CrossFit

I’m not sure if I mentioned that my new work schedule will make it almost impossible to do my 5:30 am routine any more. I’m bummed about that but have been optimistic about going to Solcana in the afternoon/evening for a class. I took last week off to recover from the marathon, so this was my first week trying to get back at it. It also happens to be the first week of the Fall Challenge, so it’s also pre-testing the lifts and workout in the challenge. (The Fall Challenge link includes a pic of me on the rower!)

The challenge is two parts. The lift is what is being called the Solcana Total and includes the Deadlift, Shoulder Press, and Snatch. And the workout is Jackie. Jackie is 1000m row, 50 thrusters at 45#, and 30 pullups for time. Yea…

I originally had signed up for the 4:30pm class and thought I could just be a little late for my 5:30 engagement, but then realizing that swapping the kids would make everything too stressful I decided to go to the bouldering gym after my engagement and do the lifts there.

Definitely not as fun and I know I still really benefit from coaching cues, but I’m still happy and impressed with my lifts. The plan was 1RM for both Deadlift and Shoulder Press. I warmed up and watched the CrossFit YouTube videos for each lift to remind myself of proper form and technique.

For the Deadlift I was able to build up to 245 pounds which is just 20 under my all time 1RM so that great.

The Shoulder Press I struggle with the initial lift getting off my shoulder and often try to sneak a dip and drive into it. I was successfully able to get 95 pounds up and failed 2xs at 100. 95 is just 10 under my all time 1RM so that’s great too.

After the 2 lifts I did an easy 5 minutes on the spin bike just to loosen things up a minute.