Ben Plotnicki

EMOM x 10

1 squat snatch + 1 OHS @ 155-175lbs, working consistency/positions

155×3, 175×7 – was lifting aggressive and angry. Losing in chess will do that to you

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2 min working window

20 single DB box step ups (50lbs, 24in)

AMRAP 1-arm alternating DB snatches in remaining time

(rest 1 min)

2 min working window

5 strict HSPU

10 kippin HSPU

AMRAP DU’s in remaining time

(rest 1 min)

2 min working window

20 power snatches @ 75lbs

AMRAP bar facing burpees in remaining time

rest 5-6 min to recovery x 2 sets

27-165-16, 21-135-15 – the box step ups took about 1:08ish, held onto the db and just kept moving to rep it out. The second half of step ups I could feel the slow down come around rep 16/17. Hspu were to about a 2cm deficit, i keep forgetting my mat at home. On first round went to 150 dubz ub and should have just fought to hang on. Second round, i did not feel recovered and went to 100 and broke. snatch/burpee first round i went 12/8 and burpee felt like I was doing them in quick sand. The second round i did 8/6/6 and probably rested a few seconds to long after the 2nd break but I just felt much quicker on the reps on really wanted to get the same score there. 

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Back Squat: 5 reps x 4 sets; rest as needed – 65,70,75,80%, leave a good amount in the tank for the day but move these loads fast

Actually did 5 sets here, since I have no idea where my BS is and knew I was a little tired I just started at 185, added 20 pounds each set and said I was going to keep going until the speed felt like it was slowing down. 185-205-225-245-265. Could have possible hit 275 with same bar speed

Back squat cluster – 2.2.2, rest 20 sec bt clusters and 3 min bt sets x 4, last set tough

204-225-245-275 – not real sure what the intention was here. But I remember WAY BACK in the day, outlaw used to do a lot of 5X5 at moderate loading pre-open workouts. I liked the fact that I felt some weight and it kind of calmed me down. I had a very good warm up prior to it and just felt a little more lower stress/tension going into the TD

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tttTD (14 min AMRAP, DU/OHS/C2B)

4 + 20 – i left 40 double under out there in the last round alone. It was that killer instinct thing, knowing hey you’re almost done, pick up the bar, jump up on the bar and just go. Approximate round completions – 2:41 –  6:30 – 10:?? (close to the end of the minute) – 13:47 – DU -> 100 – 40/60 – 40-30-30 – 40/60 – all OHS @ 11/7 and all c2b @ 9/9. Definitely longer breaks than I should’ve taken in intrasets, if someone where to pace me or judge then that could’ve been tightened up a little bit. But my whole goal was fast transitions to the next, and ok to take a little longer break in the intrasets. Pretty happy overall as this is a very realistic open style workout and i felt in control for the most part the whole time. My heart rate was super high at points and I think i managed it ok, but know that a few more workouts of getting back being uncomfortable and will be back in a good position of where i need to be.

1/29/2021

Every 45 sec x 6

5 TNG power cleans

(take a longer break every 2 sets to adjust loading, make last set tough but short of maximal, leaving 15-20lbs in the tank)

145 – 165 -185 – I think i could’ve done 205, but ill say, my confidence was a little less with the eccentric control at 185. Wasn’t getting great leg drive because of the attention to the negative 

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E2MOM x 6 (3 of each)

Odd sets – Row 250m + 5 ring MU

Even sets – Bike 500m + 4 squat cleans @ 225lbs

row/rmu – 1:18 – 1:25 (4) – 1:36 (3/2)

bike/clean – 1:21 – 1:28 – 1:33 

I was pretty sure I was not going to be able to get all of this in in the 2 min window. I was smoked by the last set of pushing for it. I felt I couldn’t create good tension in the bottom of the clean. The pull felt good, catch felt good, but felt it was hard to turn on tension and drive out of the hole. On set 2 of rmu, i only did 4, 4 in a row and then dropped off the top of the rings. Its’ a really really bad habit I have and have got to break as the rings always go flying over the place and in this scenario it would’ve taken 15 more seconds for them to settle. So the last round i wanted to do 3/2 and make sure i controlled the descent and got back up quickly. After I was done, i had someone who watched my muscle ups and got quite a few practice reps in after i was done. The takeaway is that I was pulling way too early, and normally on my 2nd rep throwing the rings off and out of rhythm. So at least in the controlled environment got some practice of that and re-opening my hips, 

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(from DSGN)

For Time:

18-12-6 reps of 1-arm Hang DB Power Clean and Jerk (must alt every rep)

8-6-4 reps of Burpee Box Jump to 24in

Rest 30 sec b/t sets, aiming to keep speed high.

3:33 – a lot of down time and cooldown time after the muscle ups and this but was good to go fast.

Push jerk x 8,8,6,6. rest 2 min, moderate but good speed and lockout

165-185-200-205 – loading might have been a little more than moderate, but speed felt good as I was getting better hip drive than the past times of jerk work.

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Every 4 min x 8-10 sets

10 bar facing burpees

30 DU’s

Row 20 cals

(keep around an 88-90% sustainable effort, work:rest will be around 1:1 throughout)

1:47 – 1:49 – 1:49 – 1:48 – 1:50 – 1:47 – 1:50 – 1:52 – 1:52 – 1:50 it was the 7th set that the row felt like it was a little harder to keep it in the high 1200’s….other than that, had the rope in my hand by 29-31 in every round except a few towards the latter round. Felt good

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Dbl DB reverse flys from incline bench x 6-8

Tall kneeling banded snow angels x 6-8

Arch body rocks x 20 sec, rest as needed x 3 sets

I suck at arch body rocks

I am so excited to learn today that you are a fan of chess……my dad got me into playing chess as a kid and have loved the game ever sense. I go through lulls were I don’t play much. But I picked it back up even before the Queen’s gambit craze. I have a great chess story about when I played against a chess master that I will have to tell you some time. Maybe we should get an online game going sometime in the future.

1/25 (easier)

Hang squat snatch – 1 rep every 20 sec @ 135-155lbs x 20

145 x 10, 155 x 10

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1-arm DB tempo OHS x 4/side, tempo = 32X1, rest 30 sec bt arms x 4 sets/side (adjust loading to challenge tempo/positions)

5/50/70/95 and the 70 and 95 actually felt better than the  lightler loads

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Sumo deadlifts @ 31X1 tempo x 4, rest 2 min x 6

235 x 1, 255 x 5

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Banded hip thrusts x 20 + 20 sec iso hold at top of last rep, rest 2 min x 4

Done – and nice deep burn

1/26 (cyclic/movement)

Bike 12 min warmup, 1 min nasal 2 min regular breathing x 4

done

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Every 2 min x 10

20 bike cals

(do this in a waveload format, getting progressively faster for first 5 sets to have the 5th set be about 90-92% effort, then back off for 6th set and do another progressive wave for 6-10, trying to have corresponding sets be a little faster than the first 5)

1:28 – 1:27 – 1:22 – 1:13 – 1:04 – 1:31 – 1:18 – 1:14 – :59 – :54

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2 sets

Banded ankle dorsiflexion x 10/side – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBrHvR0BomM

Banded ankle plantarflexion x 10/side – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak-LQboTk24

done

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Lower body flow – 2x through (should take about 5 min) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnwcRk7xTLY&list=PLVR7OsPPPm0ruXEMQes197ymqzmAQF0tz&index=10“

Dont quite have the cossack squat get up without hands…..in fact not even really close. But that is something I wouldn’t mind being able to achieve in my next lifetime

tttTD (snatch/burpee/box)

So my actual score in this scenario was/is -> 198 – 2 burpee short of finishing the round of the 165 barbell – however I have a caveat for myself today. I had 3 reps left of the 165 and I knew I could finish but I was trying to quickly calculate how fast I had to go without missing a rep but time to finish the burpees, i knew it was going to be close but didn’t want to risk a miss. Finished the last 165 and glanced at the clock and it was low 40ish, not real sure so I just went all out for the burpee, and on rep 7 was just coming off the ground as the bell went off. I hit the ground and definitely smoked from the final push. As I was laying there I said to myself, if you had a judge with you to help you with your barbells (I did pre-load 4 different bars), but I had to take the time to roll them out of the way, I would’ve had an honest chance to finish those 2 burpee, so I got up and did my remaining 2 burpee, my 8 step ups, changed the load on the bar to 195, I didn’t think I would finish the 165 so never put out a 195 bar, plus that would’ve been a shit ton of extra work to clean up after. After changing the load, there wasn’t a ton of time, but I said I’m going for one and I will make it count, so I waited until about 12 seconds left and set up, and nailed it. 

Some really good stuff today, I don’t think we’re fully all the way back, but we are close. The back is 95% so that is great news. One thing that I don’t know if it was a good call for me was I went 12 UB snatch @ 95, my original plan was 7/5 and in the middle of that I thought no go all the way, but after that I felt I got a little faster, even doing singles @ 115, and I moved the 135 much better than I anticipated. Same to be said for the 165. The biggest break through was the burpee, when I started my first set of the burpee @ 165 round, my first rep was slow with slow footwork and at that moment I told myself, nope that’s not an option, you have to suck it up and move fast and I was ok. The step ups on that ensuing round might have been slower but you can at least keep moving there so was a good win with the burpee in hindsight.

Today was one of the first days in a while that I was so excited and eager to train and get after it. Even though this was a movement freedom/focus kind of day I was eager and excited to move and looking forward to testing some things tomorrow in the throwdown

AMRAP 30 min @ 75% consistent effort

Row 1k

50ft forward bear crawl

50ft reverse walking lunges

Bike 2k

20sec freestanding HS hold (accumulated)

3 skin the cats on rings, controlled ROM

Spent an extra 10 minutes getting in handstand hold drills and skill work practice

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A1 – Single leg straight leg liftoffs from parallette support x 10 alternating reps, rest 30 sec

Done – flet pretty good.

A2 – Knee tucks with feet on sliders and hands on parallettes x 5 slow controlled reps, constant hollow position, rest 90 sec x 3 sets

Ummmm knew these would be hard but was surprised how tough they were

B – Negative body levers – 1 rep for control EMOM x 10 (long body line, minimum of 5 count negative from top to bottom)

Stayed long as long as I possibly could. Then went to 1 leg tuck and then finished that last few degrees in full tuck

C – Frog pumps 3 sets of 40, rest 90 sec

done

QL drills from email thread

Done + a few other iterations

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A. Squat Clean:

5 reps @ 70% AFAP – 210

Rest 2 min

4 reps @ 75% AFAP – 225

Rest 2 min

3 reps @ 80% AFAP – 240

Rest 2 min

x 2-3 sets

*Not Tng, quick singles

205 – (28 & 24), 225 – (24 & 20), 245 – (24 & 19) the loads are probably quite a bit aggressive for my current clean but in this controlled isolated movement just wanted to test the waters and it was convenient and easy to change plates. 

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B. Front Squat: 4 reps @ 85-90% of 3RM x 3 sets; rest 2-4 min

255 (didn’t feel very strong, so went to 250 for my last 2 sets

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On the 3min for 4 sets (2 each, alternate between):

Odd:

10 DB Thrusters @ 50lbs

50′ HSW

10 DB Power Cleans @ 50lbs

1:32-1:25

Even:

18 Wall Balls @ 20lbs

50′ HSW

10 Deadlifts @ 225lbs

1:43-1:36

2nd set was faster on both because someone started talking to me after the front squat and I didn’t realize the convo was going to go as long as it did, and I had already been in the gym for a hot minute so I did a very very brief re-warm up for this. And the hs walk on both 2nd sets were 25ft UB and good crisp calculated transitions

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6min AMRAP:

5 Box Jumps

7 Push-ups

9 Air Squats

8+10

Hardest part about today was the 2 min bike and keeping it above 300, 288 was my marker to get it back up, did hit that frequently and then would get back over 300 but try and do so without spilling over. 3rd one it got really hard to maintain that. So as this was a negative for struggling with 300 watts, the positive was I felt like I recovered much quicker during the rest time with these efforts

AB 2 min @ 300 watts, into

30 sec row @ 1100 cal/hr

30 sec row @ 1300 cal/hr

30 sec row @ 1500+ cal/hr

rest 4 min x 3 sets

Really started paying attention to my stroke rate and trying to only adjust that to get output where it needed to be. Felt really dialed in with that on last set, 23-24 to 26-27 and then 30+, bike effort wasn’t easy but hitting all row numbers was much more sustainable, tough but doable at the 1500

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AB 2 min @ 300 watts, into

30 sec bar facing burpees @ 80% effort

30 sec bar facing burpees @ 85% effort

30 sec bar facing burpees @ 90% effort

rest 4 min x 3 sets

7-8-10 (I really should’ve sandbagged my 80% a little more), 6-8-10, 6-8-11

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AB 2 min @ 300 watts, into

90 sec AMRAP (5 OHS @ 95lbs + 5 Chest to bar pullups)

rest 4 min x 3 sets

3+6 (transitions weren’t right because of set up, so I said screw it and moved bar my bar to a better set up. 3+7 kind of cared where I grabbed the barbell, also backed up to jump up to pull up bar. 4 – really wanted 4 so just dealt with it and didn’t give a shit where I grabbed the barbell, not a problem for 5 reps but more than that I could feel the instability.

QL drills from email thread

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A – 2-pos Halting clean grip deadlift x 3-4, rest 2 min x 5 sets (same positions, lets try to build in load from last week if QL doesn’t vote to veto)

4 reps on the following loads, 225-230-235 – was feeling pretty good and went 3 reps for 245 and 260. 260 today might have been a little ambitious, positions, tensions felt great on the concentrics but it’s the eccentrics at 260 that I felt a little uncomfortable pull, still felt strong and in control just felt a little pull – overall there is a lot less discomfort than there was last week. still not 100% but definitely feel some improvement

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Every 2 min x 5

10 BB ground to overhead @ 95lbs + 15 wallballs

56-54-53-54-59 – started playing around in round 3 & 4 with pulling the barbell down faster and it definitely took its toll on my recovery, overall felt good, gto by way of snatch

(rest as needed)

Every 2 min x 5

8 dbl DB devil press @ 50/hand + 5 RMU

First round took 1:23 and pulled on the low back/ql a little, was not recovered in 2nd set, so adjusted for the 3rd and went with snatch and burpee and that didn’t feel great either. So just accumulated 25 ring muscle ups. This was a tough scenario as I want time to rest as needed/recover but not so much that I had to warm up all over again. My cycle time on devils press for 8 reps was about 45 seconds, it’s about rep 5-6 that I start really slowing down. That foot position made me a little nervous the first round, and pulled a little but I was fine and then I just didn’t want to risk it for the ensuing rounds after getting a couple of reps in

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Front rack loaded wall sit 60 sec on, 2 min off x 3 (parallel, feet narrow and toes forward, little heavier than last week)

You said little heavier than last week so I was trying to figure out how to make the 20lb kb’s 21 pounds, but no dice and went with 26/hand – uhhh do these every get easier