Ben Plotnicki

Ring MU warmup

Hip bridge single leg extension x 6/side with hard glute squeeze at top of each rep

Reverse table top plank pressup x 6 with hard glute squeeze at top of each rep

(Hollow rocks x 3 into hip extension x 1) * 3 reps

1-2 times through this series

Done – 2 sets

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Ring MU snap pull with hip extension into turnover from feet on floor – 3-5 reps (hard pull on rings timed with hip extension to generate momentum)

Ring MU pop swing with snap pull from hang – 3-5 reps (swing feet, then stop them abruptly and push hips forward/up)

Strict dips for depth x 2-3 + kipping dips with pause in bottom before kip x 3-5, rest as needed x 2-3 sets

Added in some positional pulling work on the ring thing – accumulating 15 reps or so with some tempo dip work + dips from external rotation and wide grip 

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E2MOM x 8-10 (4-5 of each for quality)

Odd sets – 25 cal row @ steady effort (picture a pace that you could hold for 50-60 cals/round, long pulls, steady breathing)

Even sets – 4-5 ring MU for quality/crispness

10 sets – rmu were 4 sets of 5 and the last set of 4 – row pace was in the upper 1100’s and low 1200’s I even sprint started one round for 12 sec. On set 4 I wanted to see what staying in the 1100’s did for time domain, the time difference was minimal, however that was the round I felt my heart rate got a little bit higher. It was also in that set that I felt my muscle ups get a little squirrely. On rep 4 of muscle up in set 4 I felt myself pull too early and not sure if the row was a cause and effect or if mentally just got a little away from me. In set 5 I felt my mechanics of holding a good hollow got away from me a bit and on rep 3 and 4 I didn’t keep as tight as I needed so when falling and swinging into rep 5 I was way off and didn’t even make an attempt for the 5th rep. Muscle ups felt great in the beginning, was focusing on trying to stay sustainable on row but might have been working a big harder to keep the pace as the sets went on. Watch said heart rate was around the upper 140’s/low 150’s went getting off the machines and close to the same for the gymnastics work.

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Loaded GHD sorenson hold – 30 sec on, 90 sec off x 5-6 sets (hold a load against chest that challenges the time domain but stays doable)

6 sets + 15lb plate in chest

Doesn’t matter whats going on, but I’m not where I need to be but, with the WIC events as a good humbling experience and internal motivator, I will just focus on staying the course and continue to push through. I know it will take time, and hopefully not too long but we will get back to where we are supposed to be. 

WIC Event 2 (RMU/DB/HSW)

2 rounds + 45 feet – and the last 5-10 feet became a little dangerous as I was just trying to go as fast as possible. Muscle ups went well, of the 5 sets – 3 were ub, I just knew I was resting too much so knew even resting more than I should be I wanted to minimize the time I would rest if I broke them up. I moved ok but getting inverted after the first handstand hold is what made me feel the most uncomfortable from a mental and physical breathing stand point. 

12/19

WIC Event 3 (chipper)

6:06 on the burpee – 20 bar muscle up – this was just a struggle all the way around. Right from the jump, my legs were way more tired than they ever should be on the walking lunge and the burpee I just didn’t have another gear to push. I finished the lunge around 2:33. From that point on I just could never catch my breath. I even missed a jerk on rep 18 as I was trying to push the pace. 

I will be patient, not get frustrated, except the fact and continue to push on.

WIC Event 1 (row t2b clean)

24:51 (3495) – today was a huge mental and physical obstacle to overcome. Of course the fear and anxiety that I did have the shortest stint of covid. There was definitely something going on that made it hard to breathe upon getting back into training upon my return. Could it truly have been the time off and have some altitude issues, very possibly. So on with the info from the day. I opened the first 2 rounds at 245, had I kept this load I would not have finished. The first round I was about 5 minutes and the second round I got off TTB at the 10 minute mark or so. I didn’t look at the clock when I got back on the rower, but I knew that I needed to cycle the bar faster and decided at that point I was going to strip the bar during ttb breaks. So I stripped to 225 and feel I cycled the bar very well on rounds 3 and 4 and started shifting the clock back in my favor. Row splits were all under 3 except for the last set. TTB on the last set went 8/7/ and then couldn’t do the last 5 UB. was just really pushing the transitions on the last round as I wanted to get that time back down under 5 minutes per round after I started the way I did. Breathing felt kind of out of control at one point but the mental breakthrough was that I felt OK and knew I was going to be fine.

Squat prep

Leg swings side to side x 5/leg

Leg swings front to back x 5/leg

shin pulls x 5/leg

trunk twists x 5/direction

spider man stretch with thoracic rotation x 5/side

half kneeling hamstring stretch x 30 sec/side

90/90 hip stretch x 30 sec/side

russian baby makers x 6 slow reps

alternating supported cossack squats x 5/side

Tempo air squats x 10 controlled reps

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Front squat – 1 rep every 30 sec x 12, take a longer break every 4 to build slightly but goal will be strong reps with good speed

225-250-275 – 275 felt better than 250, and I know this wasn’t a slight build either. Didn’t know where the heck I was going to be after a week of being off. And there I had anxiety for training today as there is still some skepticism in the back of my mind that I didn’t have an actual short stint of COVID. Still no other symptoms other than running the fever the one day, allergies feel greatly effected but can taste and smell everything. Not sure if my stress and anxiety are creating bigger issues than anything but will monitor everything the next couple of days and make a judgement as I know there is such a wide variance of actual symptoms.

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EMOM x 20

Min 1 – 12 ski cals @ 1100-1200 cal/hr

Min 2 – 3 squat cleans @ 205-225 (go for crisp/speedy reps)

Min 3 – 16 row cals @ 1300-1500 cal/hr

Min 4 – 12-15 kHSPU

Called it at 16 – heart rate was up pretty high, barbell had the biggest effect. Was ok on ski erg, rower was a little higher and with hspu (I left my mat at home so I had a slight deficit with plates and an abmat)

A1 – 1-arm DB hang squat snatch x 4 alternating reps + 1-arm DB power snatch (touch floor between each) x 4 alternating reps @ 70lbs, rest 30 sec

The changing hands with the 70 is the tricky part, if I try and release and catch then it pulls me into the hang position and most of the time deeper than I want, if I lower to my shoulder I’m much more in control. And making the brain switch from snatch to power at times was a mind F.

A2 – 1-arm DB hang squat snatch x 8 alternating reps + 1-arm DB power snatch (touch floor between each) x 8 alternating reps @ 50lbs, rest 60 sec

The 50 felt so light, but timing felt off because my changing hand strategies were different. But overall enjoyed the combo of squat to power and heavy to light

A3 – 10 dbl DB power snatches for time @ 50lbs, rest 4 min x 3 sets

21-21-23

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2 rounds for time (cap 16 min)

60 row cals

50 lateral burpees over erg (face away from monitor, no rules on jump/step, get over anyhow)

14:02 – row splits were right about 3, and 3:13, felt slow on the first round of burpee, I would say about 4 minutes-ish, that it was about what I expected but just felt even slower. In the last set of burpee goal was to keep moving, but at 3 points I took short breaks, number 18 and 22 on the ground, then at rep 31 I took a short break for breath for maybe about 3 seconds because I knew it was time to push to finish and starting to really fight for the last 19 reps, don’t remember exactly but the last 19 reps were in the ballpark of 1 minute.

3 Rounds for time (goal finish of sub 8:30)

12 DB Box Step Ups – 50/hand, 24in

10 TTB

8 Burpee Box Jump Overs – 24in

10 CTB Pull-Ups

12 SA DB Hang PC/J – 50lbs, 6/side

9:04 – not sure where the fall off came exactly, finished first round about 2:40. After last db c&j didn’t leg go of one db and grabbed other db and went right into step ups, I think I glanced at the clock and think it said 3:40 (ball parkish) which means it took me about 1 min of course to do the step ups, first round took 41. I feel transitions were pretty quick, I also think burpee were consistent, don’t know splits I’m sure they slowed down slightly, on 3rd round of step ups I tripped stepping up to the box on rep 8, so not only was my pace probably of the 1 min split time but the trip slowed me down quite a bit as well, wasn’t able to shake it out and get right back in the groove. Glanded at the clock and didn’t think I was going to make it but pushed the burpees with the intent to do so, glanced at the clock for c2b and was on the bar right around target time. Rounds 2&3 were super hard (more perceived of) db c&j, and holy shit this was grippy. Last round of c2b wasn’t smooth at all but I knew my grip was a factor but wasn’t going to take a break to gather myself and just managed and found a way to keep going.

(rest to 12 min mark after finishing)

Squat clean x 1.1.1, rest 15 sec bt reps, 2 min bt sets x 3 sets (not maximal, just get some lifting done under a little residual fatigue)

225-245×2

Every 6 min x 6 sets

1000m Ass bike

500m row

(try to start the sets at the avg pace/round from last week’s tester, and get marginally faster each set from there)

3:36-3:34-3:33-3:28-3:26-3:25 – I didn’t write down the 500m splits, but in guestimation it was was 1:52-1:52-1:51-1:50-1:49-1:47 – either my rowing is way off when it comes to meters, I feel pretty good with calories – i do know they are different…..in this scenario does the bike take that much out of the row? I will say that I didn’t want to just lay the hammer down and lose sustainable bouts and not be able to recover.

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Ido portal squat routine in full

Had to split this up after filling in to coach a class

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Sliding lunge series x 3/direction/leg x 3 sets

done

KB drag through from elbow plank x 5/side

Banded face pulls x 10

Scap pushups x 8-10

Change plate teacup rotations x 3/direction/arm

3 times through

I kind of have missed this prep

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A1 – Snatch pull x 1.1.1, rest 5 sec/30 sec

205-215-225-230

A2 – Seated tall box jump x 1.1.1.1, rest 5 sec/3 min x 4 sets

B1 – GHD situps x 3131 tempo x 6-8, rest 1 min

I love/hate ghd sit ups at tempo

B2 – GHD raises x 4 + GHD hip extensions x 8, rest 1 min x 4

done

C1 – Sumo stance deadlifts @ 31X1 tempo x 5, rest 90 sec

230-245-265×2 – I know I could’ve gone heavier, but I felt really strong and controlled with this tempo and rep range. bar felt strong and felt fast

C2 – Straddle tuck ups x 12-15, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

I don’t know if it was the combo of all the core contractions or too much caffeine but my stomach did not like me and I hung out in the 12 rep range

D – CO symmetry full, add in 10-15 sec straight arm ring support hold between each movement

Had to improvise on crossover symmetry…..did do top support and tried to get good external rotation on each of them

11/21

tttTD (bench/t2B)

Well that was humbling – 2 reps away from finishing 185 – my first rep @ 185 felt like a 1RM, and at that point I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hit any big chunks, so there was a lot of singles and a few doubles and at that point I just knew to try and keep chipping away

11/22 – OFF, chill

11/23

A – BB deadlift – 30-20-10 unbroken reps @ 155lbs/225lbs/275lbs, rest 60 sec bt sets to change weight

41-30-21

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5 min clock

Dbl DB shoulder to overhead x 30 @ 50lbs

AMRAP strict HSPU in remaining time

rest 5 min

5 min clock

BB shoulder to overhead x 30 @ 115lbs

AMRAP kipping HSPU in remaining time

15 & 27 – these did not feel good at all today. I don’t know if the shoulder to overhead pieces had that big of an effect. I figured they would definitely play a role. I didn’t game it at all, in hindsight I did 2 sets of db’s and think I did 4 sets on barbell. 

+

Dbl KB bottoms up OH carry 50ft, rest 30 sec x 4, rest 3 min x 2

26/hand – these are so hard for me, was really focusing on external rotating shoulder and keeping rib cage down

+

Dbl DB light reverse flys with tempo negative x 8-10, rest 2 min x 3

10’s – 12’s would’ve been perfect but don’t have any. 15’s were too heavy to control negative

11/24

5min Bike

5min Row

5min Ski

x2

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5 Rounds for Time:

1000m Assault Bike

500m Row 

18:49 – so this was an interesting day. I started out getting the bike/row/ski work in and someone at the gym looked like they were struggling, well I just renewed my CPR so all of that was fresh on my mind and jumped in to help out the coach. Anyways, threw off my day and my mindset. Didn’t have enough time at that point to get the full 2 rounds in so I had to condense it quite a bit. On the tester, I struggled to get the row up more than I was able to. I tool pictures of the row splits so I have that for my records, but just wasn’t able to push there like i wanted. Bike, I think I stayed around mid 300’s. I know we have a progression of this but would love to retest this some time in a moment where I’m really in the state to get uncomfortable.

11/25 (DSGN overlap)

A. Push press x4/push jerk x4; rest 3 min x5 complexes (2 sec pause overhead on each rep)

155-165-175-180-185 – I completely underestimated how tough this was going to be

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6 min AMRAP

3 PS @ 165lbs

9 Bar Facing Burpees

4 +1 – this was about my goal, snatch was just heavy and knew I wasn’t going to be able to cycle them fast and didn’t want to risk a miss, but the inner game/goal I had was to make sure each set of burpee was under 30 seconds, and pretty sure I stuck to that.

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Rest 2 min

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6 min AMRAP

3 Hang Squat Clean – 185lbs

9 TTB

6 rounds, all ttb unbroken, thought about breaking but knew I wasn’t going to break up the barbell but that really slowed me down today

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Rest 2 min

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6 min AMRAP

9 PS – 75lbs

21 DU’s

7 + 2 – started breaking the power snatch up and even did a few sets of 3/3/3 or 4/3/2 – i made up my mind to break that up otherwise my transitions were going to be terrible, first round i went ub and thats when I told myself if i don’t break it up I won’t be able to keep the pace I would like. This was a really tough day and a tough week.

11/26 – OFF, Happy Thanksgiving

It was a great thanksgiving and I hope yours was too

11/27

Self directed, get some ring MU work here, some HS walk skill, and then some mixed intervals

Not as much handstand walk skill work as I would like but I got a bunch of holds and skill work in. rmu – untimed sets of 3’s and 4’s for about 6-7 sets. Then michelle had 10 rounds – 200m run/8 burpee to target/5 c2b so I jumped in with her and halfway through and upped the c2b to 7 at the halfway point. This was fun to jump in with her and get that work in

11/28

Self directed, though i imagine the tttTD Thanksgiving partner edition will be a good option, up to you and Michelle

Ended up driving to knoxville and work on the house so ended up taking the day off from training.

warmup series for MU

Hip bridge single leg extension x 6/side with hard glute squeeze at top of each rep (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjwrrFzWwcM)

Reverse table top plank pressup x 6 with hard glute squeeze at top of each rep

(Hollow rocks x 3 into hip extension x 1) * 3 reps

1-2 times through this series

+

Ring MU snap pull with hip extension into turnover from feet on floor – 3-5 reps (hard pull on rings timed with hip extension to generate momentum – https://youtu.be/2Dq6NbpRar4?t=110)

Ring MU pop swing with snap pull from hang – 3-5 reps (swing feet, then stop them abruptly and push hips forward/up – https://youtu.be/N4Q9JDRcAac?t=98)

Strict dips for depth x 2-3 + kipping dips with pause in bottom before kip x 3-5, rest as needed x 2-3 sets

+

A – Ring MU beat swings x 8 sec + 2 ring MU + 4 strict dips after second rep – new complex every 2 min x 6-8

Did 6 sets – my triceps are still sore and now my lats are sore from c2b on wednesday…hopefully they will be good tomorrow for some throwdown bench press action

B – Back squats x 8, 1 sec pause at or just below parallel, rest 2-3 min x 3

225 – tried to only have 1 sec on extension as this made it a little harder but every so often I had to take a breath and take some tension off

C1 – BB 1-1/4 hip thrusts x 6, rest 60 sec

225 – had a hard time emphasizing extension in the first set and almost backed off the load but was good on the rest of the sets

C2 – Banded quadruped to pike knee extensions x 15-20, rest 1 min x 3 sets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG7H-WUw5sE)

20 per round

D – GHD hip extensions x 10 + GHD sorenson hold x 15-20 sec, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

10 and 15 sec