Ben Plotnicki

A1 – 1-arm DB bench press x 6/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both
55-65-70-75
A2 – 1-arm DB bird dog rows x 6/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both x 4 sets
45-55×3
B – BB OH carry in snatch grip with exaggerate high knee march x 50ft, rest 90 sec x 6 sets (drive knee up high, rib cage down, down leg fully extended with active glue)
125 x 4 sets, 95 x 2
Went down for the last two sets to slow the march down and it was definitively harder. Way more steps and mofe time under tension
C1 – Acitve arch hang from pullup bar 10-12 sec, rest 60 sec
done
C2 – Hand circling front plank on rings x 10 small circles each direction, rest 60 sec x 4 sets
done
+
Bike 25 sec @ 95-97% effort
Bike super slow recovery pace 2:05 x 2 sets
21 cals – wattage was between 1108 – 1146, held 1146 for most of it until about the 21 second mark
19 cals – 1046 – 107?

A – Power clean x 1/Hang Power clean x 2 – new complex every 90 sec x 8
205 across
Hands were extremely sensitive today, I was a little bitch. Could’ve easily moved more weight for the power and the first hang, but I felt a huge difference of power and strength for the 2nd hang power clean
B – Push press @ 11X3 tempo x 6, rest 2 min x 4
155 across. Maybe a bit aggressive again, but I went for it staying there. Definitely a grind but good.
C1 – Banded strict HSPU x 2-3, rest 20 sec
0 the first set – 2 and 2
C2 – Strict HSPU x 6, rest 30 sec
3-3-4
C3 – Kipping HSPU x 12, rest 3 min x 3 sets
12 but not smooth at all.

Along these lines, in the comp, the strict press. My traps were so lit up and felt that was my limiting factor and not being able to hit more reps on the strict press. That is again were I felt the limiting factor today.

D1 – Wtd pullups x 3, rest 20 sec
3 @ 45
D2 – Strict C2B pullups x 6, rest 30 sec
done
D3 – Kipping C2B pullups x 12, rest 3 min x 3 sets
felt heavy, tired and joints were a little achy but felt technique and all the work up to this point helped.
+
5 rounds for time
3 bar MU
6 Dbl KB hang cleans @ 53/hand
35 DU’s
7:27
Bar muscle ups did not feel crisp, and kb hang cleans were no where near efficient today.

Today my joints just felt a little stiff and had a pretty good warm up, just think it was a bad day. I’m sure there was still some carry over from comp, travel, out of routine etc.

A – Paused power snatches – 1 rep every 30 sec x 15 (moderate load, 2 sec pause below knee each rep)
165
One thing I noticed today is that I am getting good hip extension but the leg drive is not where it needs to be. When I nailed both 165 felt light to moderate. When I missed the leg drive I could tell
B – 1-arm DB OHS @ 31X2 x 5/side, rest 30 sec bt sides x 3 sets
35-45-50
Left side is slightly easier than the right side. These are good and the tempo work felt solid. The OH iso hold is a minimal challenge compared to the eccentric and the bottom. Could easily feel on the right side trying to compensate.
C – Back rack split squats x 6/side, rest 45 sec bt sides x 3 sets
135 across
D – Single leg/single arm KB RDL x 6/side, alternating touching ground inside and outside of down foot, rest 30 sec bt sides x 3 sets
@53 – holy smokes these were hard, 53 might have been a bit aggressive mostly because I felt my balance get weaker as I got tired.

Miss these kind of leg focus training days.

+
Row 750m progressive intensity, faster every 250m, ending around 2k pace
rest 3 min x 4 sets
2:38.8
2:40.2
2:41.3
2:44.1

Goal for each split was 1:50 to 1:45 – 1:42
Was overpulling a little bit in the beginning and I could feel my lats were still a little tired. Felt pretty good on pacing until the last set and was just a little tired.

EMOM x 12
Min 1 – 20 sec strict press @ 115
Min 2 – 25 sec sandbag/stone over yoke
Min 3 – 30 sec AB @ 350-400 watts, pace you’d expect to hold for the DB/rope workout

Press – 10-10-11-8
Sandbag – 2-0-2-3 – brain fart on the second set, zones out with the clock and then tried to rush it with poor mechanics and bad angle of bag to get it over the yoke. All done with 200lb bag
Bike – 10-9-9-8 – first set was in low 500’s upper 400’s, next 2 around 461, last set was low 400’s made myself slow down to see the difference.

+
2 sets for times
Row 20 cals
15 chin over bar pullups
Row 15 cals
8 chest to bar pullups
rest walk 3 min bt sets, ensure you protect hands here, no rips!
2:58
2:55
Experimented on the second set, did chin over at 8/7 with a quick break. Second row was faster than in the first sets 15 cal row. Just above 1200 cal/hr. Butterfly c2b broke down at 4 though.
+
B – Single leg good mornings with knees touching, empty bar, x 4/side x 2 sets, rest 30 sec bt sides
C – Lightly loaded kang squats 2 sets of 6, rest 90 sec
done at 95
D – Hollow rocks – 3 sets of 20 sec, rest as needed
Done

AM
4 rounds not for time
4 strict HSPU + 6 kipping HSPU
4 strict pullups + 6 kipping pullups
4 thrusters @ 95 + 6 front squats
10 1-arm alternating DB snatches @ 50lbs + 10 (5/side) 1-arm OHS
I am loving DB OHS, it’s giving me this awareness of why I miss my snatch, part of it is my mobility in the thoracic spine issues, but when in single arm overhead I have to be super cognizant of the position.
Lats were pretty smoked today from the rope climbs yesterday
+
Partial ROM TGU x 3/side x 4 sets, rest as needed
done
+
Hypoxic drills x 6 sets, rest 2 min bt sets, track number of steps
24-24-30 (pushed the limits a little)-20-20-24

PM
A – Banded speed deadlifts 8 sets of 3, rest 60 sec, light and fast with glutes driving last bit of hip extension
165
+
1 round for time @ high effort, must finish in less than 60 sec
5 TNG deadlifts @ 225lbs
10 lateral box jump overs @ 20in box (feet tap top of box)
10 cal row
rest 1 min after each set, add 1 row cal each round until you can no longer finish inside of the 60 sec window
15+13
Rowing form went to shit in the round of 14, instead of trusting my mechanics when time got tight had a slight breakdown while trying to increase stroke rate. Don’t feel this played a role in not finishing the round of 16 though.
+
12 min watt bike easy pace, breathing control
walk and bike blend.
+
8 min parasympathetic breathing @ 3152 tempo from supine squatting position
done and peaceful position

Heavy rope DU skill work
done
+
For time
AB/DB clean/Rope climb workout in full
(i think since your division has standard rope climbs you might experiment with getting a little more aggressive on the DB, and trust your foot hook to take some tension off grip. so push the limits on this one and figure out what sort of threshold is either maintainable or just outside of it, so we have a good feel for comp)
24:59

Factors I had against me today, the only rope I have access to climb is set up for this years regional standard so the bottom of the rope is set at eye level, leading the first 4-5 pulls as legless, was just as difficult coming down as well.
I completed this workout after only one feeding, and normal training is after 2 feedings, shouldn’t be a big deal but it mentally got in my head.
What I learned, the hang squat cleans are not my biggest concern anymore. Sets were 10/10 – 10 – 5 – 10 – 16/4
Is there an average wattage that has the best return on cals?
The 40 cals, I was done around 1:35 and I felt decent going into the db cleans, it was the 20 cals that I think pushed me over the edge and spilled over to a bit too much threshold.
Good learning experience, now I just need to find a fast pace that doesn’t wreck me. I also don’t feel I got the closest to gameday stimulus with the rope climb set up.
+
10 min AB, nasal breathing only
done

A – DB movement exploration/variability
1-arm DB hang power snatch x 5/side
1-arm alternating DB shoulder to overhead x 10 (5/side)
(1-arm DB squat snatch + 1-arm DB hang squat snatch) x 5/side
2-arm overhead dbl DB walking lunges x 16 steps
DB burpees x 10, rest as needed x 3 times through
Even threw in some db squat cleans as well
+
B1 – Mini band fire hydrants x 8/side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkE3kqGwVIM)
B2 – Mini band psoas march x 5/side (alternating legs each rep, https://youtu.be/rA8V4jRP0l4?t=2m6s)
B3 – Mini band lateral monster walk x 10/direction (https://youtu.be/5wUk8wQNUT8?t=40s)
B4 – Mini band around knees hip thrusts with upper back on bench x 10 (squeeze butt at top, https://youtu.be/qa89MEDR37o?t=33s), rest as needed x 3 times through series
Awesome stuff here
+
Hang Muscle snatch x 3/Hang Power snatch x 3/BTN snatch grip push press x 3/OHS x 3/Snatch balance x 3/Snatch grip duck walk x 25ft, rest 90-120 sec x 4 sets
Energy levels were starting to fade here, so the following work was perfect to finish off with
+
Circling hip extensions on GHD x 5/direction
Skin the cat on rings x 2 for as much ROM as you can get without pain
Hip flow x 3/direction (shin box to half kneel to squat to pigeon pose and back)
3 times through, rest as needed

AM
Clean x 2/Jerk x 1 – 3-4 working sets as you feel good, rest 3 min
245-255-265-275
On the 275 did the jerk after the first squat didn’t have the confidence to do it the other way. Wanted to go for 285 but was in my own head so it was a good clean pull.
+
7 min window
AB 75 cals
AMRAP thrusters in remaining time @ 95lbs
41

Rep breakdown
7-7-7-7-13
Off bike @ 3:48, wanted to pick up bar pretty quickly, first thruster done @ 4:04. Possibly couldve gotten a few more reps on the first set but challenged myself to get into it quickly. Didn’t have a real plan, was just go and settled into 7 at a time. Last set of 7 was started at 6ish, told myself I was going to pick the bar back up at 6:30 and not put it down.
Bike efforts were 15 hard out of the gate, held around 4-500 watts for the rest of the minute, 10 seconds at the top of the minute hard but could only get up to around 7-800 watts, so backed off a little in the next 50 so I could get the output higher.

PM
Thorough run warmup
+
Run 400m @ 1 mile TT pace, rest 1:1 x 4, focus on breathing rhythm
1:48-1:45-1:45-1;42
+
Run 200m @ 1 mile TT pace (-3 sec), rest 1:1 x 6
45ish
Gps on watch started giving inconsistent distances each set and it started frustrating me, it felt like I was 100 double unders in and my judge said I was only at 64
+
Run 100m high effort but with good mechanics and breathing patterns, rest 2:1 x 8
Only got in 4, ran out of daylight, and feet started rubbing in the back of my shoes

Overall breathing and “higher” efforts on running felt way more comfortable than I ever recall
+
Hypoxic drills x 6 sets, rest 2 min
With stopping early didn’t get it in. Any value to doing it at the end of another session, or best suited after the intensity/effort of todays PM

A1 – Supinated grip wtd pullups @ 33X1 x 2-3, rest 1 min
45 across, 3 x 3 sets, 1 x 2 (negative was a bigger fight on set 3)
A2 – Kipping deficit HSPU, 1 set AMRAP, rest 2 min x 3 (3in deficit, try to beat numbers each set from last week)
24-21-18-17
It was written as 3 sets, but last week we did 4, and figured getting the volume to be more than last week overall was the goal. Also, wish I had written what I used to get 3 inches last week. So first set was done on 45’s but would not have been able to maintain or get more volume at that height which is about 4 inches. Then used 10’s x 2 which was spot on.
(+6 from last week)
B – Dbl KB bottoms up presses from tall kneeling @ 3131 tempo x 5, rest 2 min x 3 sets (bottom of ROM is elbow level with shoulder)
Tall kneeling here was a game changer. 20’s were easy, than 26’s were tough
+
3 sets for times
Row 25 cals @ 1400-1600 cal/hr, rest 15 sec
5 strict pullups + 6 kipping pullups + 7 C2B pullups, slow spin on bike 2-3 min bt sets
21-21-22
Last set was a grind even with the strict pull ups. Overpulled a little on the rower on the second set, but regained that on set 3. One more set of this would’ve been a huge struggle. I have video of set 2 and 3 if you would like to see it.
+
C1 – Single leg banded hamstring curls from single leg glute bridge hold x 8/side
C2 – Swivel hips to extension x 4/side, 3 sets, rest as needed
completed

For time
50 heavy rope doubles
Power snatch x 5 @ 165
PC/PJ x 5 @ 165
rest 2-3 min x 3 rounds

1:58/2:00/1:49
First round I tried to do a couple of tng c&j and that was not a good idea.
+
For time
15/12/9
deadlifts @ 255lbs
bar facing burpees
5:36
Something just felt off here today. Not sure if it had to do with the previous piece. Deads felt heavier than normal, thought towards the end of the 15’s I don’t remember it being this hard and heavy when we tested it, that got in my head, but remembered the workout itself was only 10. Deads done UB, burpee were too slow until I told myself in the back end of the 12 and all of the 9’s that you have to go faster.
+
Toes to rings big swing x 6
PVC OHS @ 3222 tempo x 6
Prone scorpion twists x 3/side
Supine leg whips x 3/side
3 times through
This was the perfect way to finish the day.

On another note, my gym was hosting a two day comp, so everything was super clean, no chalk available anywhere so this might have subconsciously affected me in my prep and execution of the training day.