Ben Plotnicki

AM

Stage 2 workout with RC/GHD/third movement

252 – Man this is exactly what I needed…..a good humble experience that identified itself as growth……for starters I took some anti-inflammatories in the am to minimize elbow pain, i hate doing that but i know we need to get some work here. I also did know rope climbs in warm up, just wanted to minimize the wear, tear and pain/discomfort until it mattered. Well the first 6 it showed that it’s been a while. Between the hip flexor fatigue and lack of doing them recently the first 6 was a huge struggle, but most of that was confidence in myself and my rope climb technique. The round of 5 was much much better and smoother and felt like there was major improvement from the first group. We have done a good job of accumulating ghd volume and I feel I tolerated it decently today, but getting ⅓ of the work right out the gate took its toll around the rep 40 range. I did 25/15/ and 5’s with quick breaks on my hips – maybe hitting 25 out of the gate might or might not have been the smartest thing to do, I felt good in most of the next set but started feeling like I was slowing down with contraction speed. Pistols I’m not super fast with but I can grind and keep moving, set of 60 wasn’t as smooth as I would like but the set of 50 was good, i think I got those done in a little over 2 minutes and allowed me to get back to the ghd and chip away. 

Moving forward, I definitely need to get some more rope climb work, a lot of things clicked today in the round of 5 and the J-hook drill could be valuable. It will be a delicate balance for pain and tolerance. I am willing to use some anti-inflammatories to handle it but don’t want to over use or rely on them. I will definitely hit the J-hook drill up on my own regardless if you have that planned in write up or not. I will say, and this is trivial and me being a delicate flower, but I was a little concerned about the rope rubbing my shin raw where my knee sleeves weren’t. Wearing some longer socks and a better guard i’m sure would help allow me to expend more energy on working instead of worrying.

PM

Stage 2 workout with row/WB

10:33 – had a really aggressive wall ball plan and I bailed on it pretty early on. Didn’t see the value in fighting for it when I knew keeping a high row pace was more valuable, especially knowing I could take short/quick breaks and it wouldn’t hurt me all that bad. Done with wall ball at 4:3something, row was 90% of the time above 1200 – i was happy that I got up to 1200+ in 3 strokes, i dipped below 1100 a little bit and even a few strokes into the 1000…..my strategy that i developed was row 20 long hard strokes about 24 spm and then 10 or 11 hard not worrying about spm but trying to get into 1300/1400 range – i did this until 30 cals to go and I thought about doing a 10 and 10 but i looked at the clock and said fuck this i don’t think i can get sub 10 but i would like to make the effort as if i could

OHS – find tough triple from rack

245 – after i hit 245 i got really greedy and went for 265, got a double there and I was pleasantly surprised and my elbows gave out coming out of the hole on #3. So i dropped down to 255 and I was smoked and only got a single

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Strict press x 1 tough rep + 5 TNG push presses for speed of lockout, rest 2 min x 4 sets

125-135-145-155 – the 155 was a little beyond tough. I didn’t spend enough time with front rack prep as this irritated the elbows a little. 

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E2MOM x 2 sets

14 lateral box jump overs

7 kHSPU @ 4in deficit

40-38

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E2MOM x 2 sets

6 dbl DB box step overs @ 50/hand, 24in

12 dbl DB push presses @ 50/hand

The dbl push press at first irritated the elbow then it started to feel like an amazing stretch – i do not remember my times at this point

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Front squats – 5,5,4,4. rest 2-3 min, stick around 65-70% here and keep speed high

205-225

3 sets

50 DU’s

5 squat snatches for time @ 165lbs

rest walk 2-3 min bt sets

30-30-27 – the last one I just tried not to rush anything but with that tried to be faster out of the hole

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8 rounds for time

15 row cals

13 wallballs

11 burpees to 6in touch

30ft HSW (15 out and back)

25:38 – rounds  1-3 i was around mid 1200 on row’s but decided at the first few caloreis in round 4 I was going to push the row, from that point on each row took about 40sec and was getting in about mid to upper 1300’s each time, row to wall ball was a fast transition. After speeding up row, burpee speed suffered a little, but tried to keep moving even when I didn’t want to. Except for round 6, round 6 really hurt, i slowed down a lot on my burpee and stopped once. HS walk was the only time i took consistent breaks, I’m getting better here but my confidence isn’t high enough that I feel I can go unbroken no matter how tired i am.

Bike 7 min @ cruise effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 18-22 GHD situps

Bike 6 min @ high aerobic effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 18-22 GHD situps

Bike 5 min @ tough effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 18-22 GHD situps

Bike 4 min @ highest sustainable pace (if you slow down, you can recover and re-claim your pace, and can kick in last 30 sec)

after last set, do another 18-22 GHD situps, not for time

Ghd sets were 15-12-15-12 – bike paces were cruising and not worrying but really started to feel a groove towards the end. The 6 min time was probably not super high aerobic effort but felt like it was something that was hard and sustainable for an extended period. 5 min was mid to low 1:50’s….and 4 min was 1:50 – 1:48 – actually the 5 min domain felt the toughest

+

Partner assisted nordic curl negatives with a plyo pushup recovery – 5 sets of 5, rest as needed, goal of controlling the negative as low as possible each rep

In the gym solo so had to get creative for a good partner

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Breathing Awareness: 5 minutes 5050 box breathing (inhale on a 5 count, no pause, exhale on a 5 count, no pause)

Damnit – didn’t get this in immediately after……but got in in the evening

AM

Row 1k @ 85-88%, rest walk 45 sec x 2

rest walk 5-6 min x 2 (4k total, keep all intervals within 3 sec finishing times)

3:33.4 – 3:33.6 ——- 3:33.5 – 3.35.1 – it might seem as if these intervals were a little calculated, but after the first 1K i had to work to keep them the efforts close to the same…definitely on the high end of the 88% effort. I don’t get a ton of break time in between doubles on monday but that’s is probably a good thing to train through right now. 

PM

E3MOM x 6 alternating sets (cap any set at 2:30 if needed)

Odd sets – 10 sHSPU + 10 hang power snatches @ 115lbs + 10 sHSPU

2:25 – 22 reps – 20 reps – i was a little frustrated with this and was trying not to be a victim of negative self talk. I will say, even warming up shspu did not feel great today. On top of not feeling good and feeling like grinding through today. 

Even sets – 14 bar facing burpees + 80 DU’s + 14 bar facing burpees

2:16 – 2:20 – 2:19 – was wanting to finish each round of burpee around 40sec and I think i was in the range of 44sec on the back end and 40sec on the front end. As I got tired my main focus was to get on the ground as fast as possible and not stay on the ground long at all. I did feel like I was slower popping up and over but felt I was keeping close to the speed I need to be at with that as the focus.

+

Power clean x 1/Front squat x 3/Hang Power clean x 1/Front squat x 2/Hang squat clean x 1 – 4 working complexes, new complex every 2:30

165- 185 – 205 – 225 – the front squats were the hardest part…..but the hang power @ 225 was really tough

+

4 sets of 12 unbroken deadlifts @ 245lbs, rest no longer than 90 sec bt sets

Went with just over 60sec of rest, didn’t really want to but wanted to go ahead and go before that 90sec mark

Clean grip deadlift from 2in deficit x 3, rest 2 min x 4

275-295-315-345

+

For time

60-40-20 row cals

30-20-10 deadlifts @ 225lbs

15-10-5 BBJO @ 30in

14:20 – first row was done in 2:48 – had a semi plan for deadlift but knew if I had a strong pace on rower that might be a little harder to attack the deadlift as planned, hit 16 reps, might have been a bit much but from there I knew i didn’t want to rest too long bt sets so I took a short rest and went right back at it with a smaller set, don’t remember number breakdowns at this point, but think i was around 6 or 7’s. Bbxjo i wanted to take it a little easy internally but I didn’t let myself, i had a hard time stepping off of box so just found it easier to bound off, would go quicker for 3 or 4, and slow down for 2 or 3 and tried to stay at that pace. Back on rower was not as aggressive, was just trying to hold a pace but as soon as I knew i was under control I needed to attack the rower. Don’t remember dead scheme here but just wanted to keep moving with short rests. I decided i was going to attack the bbxjo and on rep 3 I went flying off the box from clipping my foot, and I thought after thats just like trying to rush a snatch, i was a little gun shy right after but settled back in. last row just tried to get moving. Deads unbroken, and tried to move as fast as possible on bbxjo. I’m pretty happy how I got a little uncomfortable on bbxjo (except for miss and few reps after), I thought that there’s more value to move fast and suffer there, if i move “slower” on the rower at least i’m moving, if i take it easy on burpee then i’m resting and not moving. This biggest improvement i can gain from this is the willingness to suffer on the rower.

Squat snatch – build to a single @ 200+ for the day, keep it fast, work on staying over the bar a little longer through second pull and getting a good leg drive at the top

210 – I hit 205 then went for 215 and missed that twice, but something i rarely do is keep attempting at that point, so i dropped down to 210 and hit that pretty cleanly……I must also tell you, birthday cake and bourbon and good food might be amazing, but I’m not sure all together they make for the highest of octane for workout fuel. But still amazing and totally worth it. 

+

Squat snatch – 10 reps for time @ 135lbs, do as singles

48 – had super bouncy plates, i never pushed the bar down to settle it but i did just grab it wherever and go

+

3 Rounds for Time:

15 strict presses @ 95lbs

21 Toes to Bar

50′ HSW

9:53 – first 2 rounds was cruising really well, then on round 3 i chose to do my presses in 3’s, as I might have hit failure had I tried to do more. Then when I got to TTB i thought what the heck you lost some time on pressing see if you can go all the way, made it to 16, could’ve fought for the rest but was losing my grip a little. It definitely played a little role in being as efficient in that last handstand walk set.

*rest 3 min

4 Rounds for Time:

9 bar facing burpees

12 Hang Power Snatch @ 75lbs

15 chest to bar pullups

8:55 – once again all rounds were good until the last, i lost my butterfly in the last round after rep 9, but it’s partly because I was trying to force the time on not rest much at all because I was defaulting to singles and doubles with little to no rest. My main goal was to do all sets of burpee under 30sec, and grab bb right away, most of the time I had less than a 5 sec transition from burpee to barbell and did 7 reps, might have rested a little too long before the next 5. 

*rest 3 min

For time

12 burpee ring MU

7:43 – this was not as pretty or didn’t feel great, as I missed 3 of my first 4 attempts….but then i settled down a little. The biggest limiter i felt was my abs in the arch and hollow portion of the swing. It was hard to turnover aggressively today, but it did get better as the reps went on

I have not seen a partner TD posted so any recommendations for training tomorrow?

Front rack walkouts – 8 sec tough hold, new set every 2 min x 4 (overload compared to target for front squat double to come)

345 on the bar, might have been a bit of over reaching but it was convenient loading and I handled it fine

+

Front Squat: 4,3,2; rest as needed – Work to a tough double

265-285-315 – there wasn’t much more in the tank after hitting the 315 – might have been able to hit 5 more pounds

+

12 Min AMRAP:

30 DB step over buy in 50lbs over 24″

…

Amrap in remaining time:

50 foot two arm OH DB walking lunges 50/hand

8 lateral box jump overs 24in

4 devil’s press 50/hand

4 Two arm DB hang clean and jerk 50/hand

3+10ft – I had considered pivoting and doing the masters version on DSGN but then i realized this version is the demon spawn of the masters and the elite pieces and thought you just wanted to kick me in the ass. I’m semi happy with my effort here, the box step overs I came really close to going for all unbroken, but did 25/6 – the overhead lunge is just tough for me but I did better than I expected with that. I rested more than I should’ve, biggest rest came after 25ft of lunges, always had a fast transition to box jump and got faster with those on each set. One time i went right from the db hang clean and jerk to the lunges and that was almost a mistake but was able to grind through that. Tough but fun workout overall.

Bike 6 min @ cruise effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 15-20 GHD situps

Bike 5 min @ high aerobic effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 15-20 GHD situps

Bike 4 min @ tough effort

rest 2 min while you accumulate 15-20 GHD situps

Bike 3 min @ highest sustainable pace (if you slow down, you can recover and re-claim your pace, and can kick in last 30 sec)

after last set, do another 15-20 GHD situps, not for time

20 reps on all GHD – it said bike so I was jumping at the chance to do this on the bike erg, i might regret saying that if this was supposed to be on the ass bike…….I did set it up as a program so I don’t recall what the exact paces are but I have that access and a general idea for next weeks progression

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3-4 sets, steady

Deficit kipping HSPU x 6-8 (3-4in)

Pronated grip BB bicep curls  x 6-8 (elbow focus, adjust to zottman curls if needed)

3 TGU/side

30 frog pumps

Deficit was a slight tick over 4 in – bb bicep curl was done with a bella bar and was going with about a 5-6 second negative. Did a mix of 53 and 35 on TGU

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Breathing Awareness: 5 minutes 5050 box breathing (inhale on a 5 count, no pause, exhale on a 5 count, no pause)

done

AM

Mcgill big 3

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3x through, not for time

Quadruped hip CARs x 2/side, slow and controlled

Quadruped rock backs with some controlled pelvic tilts at end range x 5-6

Adductor dips from half kneeling x 5-6/side, hold rig/support to remove some loading and get some controlled range

Just when you think you are somewhat mobile then you do CARs – it is a true hold my beer moment

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5 rounds @ steady pace, little sweaty with a movement focus

Bike 10 cals

20 quadruped plank to pike knee extensions (elevate feet slightly, and squeeze quads at top of each – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4H5hgPaIaw)

20 mini band around knees hip thrusts from bench

Bike 10 cals

10/side straight leg adduction liftoff from side lying (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsoa-SwMWlE)

10 banded pull throughs from semi-sumo stance, controlled range

These felt really good this morning…..the bike felt easier to hold a higher pace after the hip thrusts, i will remember that next time I have to hammer down on a bike sprint…..and I put on a 30 minute playlist so the goal was to move with some intention to finish before playlist was up. It was also really hard to get a little sweaty with as cold as it was this am

PM

Thorough warmup

One of the better warm ups I’ve hit when it was just on me for a workout

+

For times

20 bar facing burpees

5 squat snatches @ 165lbs

1:55 – burpee done in :56

(rest 2 min)

100 DU’s

4 squat snatches @ 185lbs

1:57 – felt the best of all the barbell lifts

(rest 2 min)

30 wallballs

3 squat snatches @ 205lbs

3:40 – took 30sec before hitting first rep, but it was not a pretty rep, 2nd rep was better, 3rd rep was rushed and missed.