Ben Plotnicki

CNS prep/movement warmup

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A – Build to tough snatch in 12 min from empty bar

205 – should have made a few more aggressive jumps in build up

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For time

9-7-5

Ring MU

Squat snatch @ 135lbs

6:07 – rmu done in 4/3/2 – 2/2/2/1 – 3/2 – as you will see in breakdown (sorry the image came out so small) there is a lot of time to be gained. Pretty proud of my transitions, I kept those as tight as I get with ring and barbell set up, on first break of muscle ups I dropped off the rings and they kept swinging pretty aggressively. Mental error that I did not make again. Way too much time resting between sets of RMU. 

(rest 10 min)

For time

5-7-9

Bar MU

OHS @ 135lbs

5:43 – was not recovered – even had an attempt on the bmu that looked worse then the first time I ever attempted a muscle up.

2/19 (DSGN overlap)

Part 1 – Strength:

A. Below Knee Paused Squat Snatch x 1 + Squat Snatch x1; Rest 15 sec b/t reps; Rest 2 min b/t sets x 5 sets

165×1, 175×2, 185×2

B. Power Clean x 2 + Squat Clean x 1; Rest 12 sec b/t reps; Rest 2 min b/t sets x 3-5 complexes

225 across

C. BB clean grip floating deadlifts; 6 reps x4, rest 2 min

215

Part 2 – Cycling Speed:

10 sets for times:

5 Strict HSPU’s

10 TTB

15ft HS Walk

Rest 60-90 sec b/t sets

51-48-51-49-47-48-44-47-48-51 (took a little longer break after 6, original I had planned to modify in some capacity, at this point, Michelle was calling it and then she told me I had to finish)

Every 90-120 sec x 6 sets:

5 S2O – 115/75#

10 Deadlift – 115/75#

15 Box Jumps – 24/20″, any how

Did about 9 step ups per round and mixed in the box jumps strategically – longest round was 1:03 – went new set every 120

Part 3 – Core Finisher

3 sets:

D1. GHD Circling Back Extensions: 5-7 reps/side + 10-15 sec SL GHD Sorenson Hold/side

Did this piece at gym and did D2 at home – was running low on energy and had been in the gym a long time

D2. Star plank from elbow: 30 sec/side; rest 10 sec bt sides

Rest 90 sec b/t each

2/15

tttTD (thruster/ski, HSPU)

14:08 – I broke up each set of the thruster into three sets until I got to 12, my thought was that if I take small quick breaks (I do feel that I kept my rest fairly linear across all breaks) then I can keep the ski above 1200, and for the most part I did keep the ski above 1200, only once or twice did it dip but I got it back up pretty quickly. After finishing the set of 12 thruster I could feel my low back get really tight, I just think my hips were not open enough and my back was taking the brunt of the extension, so that burned and slowed me down a little and really felt it as my hspu got tired and my back went into over extension. HSPU were just survival.

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Back squats – 8,8,6,6,4. leave 2 reps in reserve each set, heavier each set., rest 3 min

205-225-255-275-295 – the 4 @ 295, might have had one more in the tank

Front Squats – 5,5,5,5, rest 3 min, same load across, rest 2 min

225 acorss 

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A1 – Mini band fire hydrants x 8/side (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkE3kqGwVIM)

A2 – Mini band psoas march x 5/side (alternating legs each rep, https://youtu.be/rA8V4jRP0l4?t=2m6s)

A3 – Mini band lateral monster walk x 10/direction (https://youtu.be/5wUk8wQNUT8?t=40s)

A4 – 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

done

2/16 – OFF

2/17

A – Sumo deadlifts x 8 (not TNG), rest 2 min x 4 sets

205-215-225-235 – i kept these fairly light but at this load I felt a super controlled tempo and major drive from my hamstrings

B1 – Goblet Split squats with rear foot on band @ 2121 tempo x 6-8/side 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VieCYbP8wdo)

Done at 26 and these were awesome and the perfect challenge. I’m sure I could’ve knocked out the 35 pretty easily but these felt solid, stable and controlled

B2 – Half kneeling hip flexor isometric contraction with 3 slow knee extensions (do not lean back – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl3yLlPmkaw), rest as needed x 3 sets

Man these were tough, getting full extension was a fight, and I didn’t know what you meant about do not lean back until I did one rep with that and realized that was too easy and not the goal

C1 – Straight leg bent over forward sled drag x 100ft, rest 30 sec

C2 – Backwards sled drag x 100ft, rest 30 sec

C3 – Sideways sled drag x 50ft/direction, rest 2 min x 3 sets

done

D – 12 1-arm TGU @ 53lbs, not for time, alternate every 2 reps

Done and TGU are not fun

2/18

AM

AB 100 cal progressive intensity warmup

done

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AB 50 cals @ 90% effort, rest 2 min x 3

rest 6 min x 2 (6 total, try to keep finish times within 5 sec of each other, high aerobic effort

2:56 – 3:02 – 3:07 – 3:11 – 3:11 – 3:07

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Diaphragmatic breathing 6-8 min

Done – in the neck hammock

PM

Active hollow body hold banded pulldowns and banded Y’s x 12/position x 2 sets, rest as needed 

(https://www.instagram.com/p/BSB6zCnhNmW/?hl=en)

done

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Active arch/hollow hangs x 6 iterations x 5 sets, rest as needed (https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj-ibFuHVXC/)

Done – and these felt the best they have ever felt today

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Sliding glide kip skill work x 5-6 min (https://www.instagram.com/p/BTWfJa2BvBw/)

Done and good stuff today going for time instead of predetermined rep structure

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Single arm DB bench press x 8/side, moderate load with good speed throughout, no grindy reps, rest 30 sec bt arms x 4 sets

50 across

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EMOM x 24-30 as able to keep good quality

Min 1 – 40 sec row @ 1:50/500m

Min 2 – Feet elevated ring rows x 10-12 tough reps (add weight vest)

Min 3 – 40 sec GHD sorenson hold

Min 4 – 15-18 ring pushups (add weight vest)

Min 5 – 40 sec AB @ 400 watts

Min 6 – 20 sec heavy front rack BB isometric hold (load this up to really challenge bracing/breathing mechanics, somewhere around 275-295lbs)

30 minutes – warming up I started having flashbacks of the bike in the am session, after I got going I was fine. Ring rows were the hardest, BB at 275

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1-arm banded KB OH carry x 75ft/side x 4 sets each, rest 60 sec bt arms, KB should be just below shoulder with band in hand, so double/triple strap it as needed

This was awesome and tried to not let it rest on my shoulders for support or stability. But I really liked these a lot

2/12 (DSGN overlap)

Part 1 – Strength:

A. Below knee paused squat snatch x1/Squat snatch x1; rest 2 min x 3 sets of the complex

165/175×2

2 sets:

B1. Power clean x 1.1.1.1.1, rest 12 sec b/t reps

185 – not as snappy as I would’ve 185 to feel like

Rest 1 min

B2. TNG Push Press: 6 reps with 1 sec hold overhead after each rep

155 – felt really really tough today

Rest 2 min

Part 2 – TnG BB Pulling & Bounding:

2 sets:

8-12 TnG Snatch Grip DL

Rest 60 sec

8-12 TnG Hang PC/J

Rest 60 sec

8-12 TnG Hang PS

Rest 60 sec

24 Box Jumps – 24/20″

Rest as needed

155-135-115 – everything felt pretty good except for the hang snatch @ 115, hit 12 reps the first round and only 10 reps the 2nd round

Part 3 – Strict Gymnastics:

1-2 sets:

C1. Strict HSPU on Parallettes (no depth): amrap.amrap; rest 30 sec b/t AMRAP

6-3 / 6-2

C2. Tuck Front Lever Hold: Accumulate 60 sec AFAP

Only accumulated 30sec – was mentally and physically pretty tired

Rest 1:30 b/t each

2/13 – OFF

2/14

For time

100 DU’s

100ft HSW

100 DU’s

50ft HSW

100 DU’s

25ft HSW

100 DU’s

10:22 – broke all sets of the dubz up to save the shoulders a little, except for the last set. I did fight for the last 30 reps or so to keep it unbroken. This did make me feel a little shitty and was afraid that it might bleed over into the next piece.

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3 min on/1 min off x 3 sets

16 SA DB OHS – 50lbs (8/side)

4 Bar MU’s

100ft DB Walking Lunges (one arm OH + one arm front rack, switch after 50ft)

16 C2B Pull-Ups

*Pick up where you left off after each rest break.

2+20 – the walking lunge zapped my time, energy and the life out of me… I didn’t feel great on the c2b but I broke them and had fast transitions

AM

AB 100 cal progressive intensity warmup

done

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(goal of completing all sets this week)

AB 60 sec @ 425+ watts

60 sec rest x 8 or until you can no longer hold pace

if successful on all 8 sets above

AB 60 sec @ 425+ watts

30 sec rest x 6 or until you can no longer hold pace

if successful on all 6 sets above

AB 60 sec @ 425+ watts

15 sec rest x 4 or until you can no longer hold pace

Wasn’t sure I was going to be able to complete it all the way through for the way I felt around set 5&6 in the first part. It mentally felt harder with the 60sec rest, not sure why, but when I got to the 30sec rest and 15sec rest I wasn’t able to think much just had to go. Pretty happy that I was able to power through.

PM

Ring MU x 3-5 reps, 2 sec isometric hold at the top of the dip lockout on each rep

new set every 2 min x 5
4-4-4-4-3 – only went for 3 on the last set because I felt in the 4th set that I was starting to lose power in the re-opening of the hip around rep 3….so I just made the call to hit 3 with what felt like really good quality.

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4 rounds for time

6 bench press @ 185

50 DU’s

25ft HSW

(rest 5 min after completing)

For time

30 deadlifts @ 315lbs

7:38 – had to break the bench press up in set 3&4, 1st round handstand walk kicked up and only made it about 3ft. Started back from the beginning and then did all 25ft walks unbroken

3:20 – didn’t feel as heavy as it did in the past but definitely felt heavy when I was 10 reps in and had to keep my sets around 4-5 reps at a time. Did finish out with a set of 6 as I told myself don’t put it down, bar path was not great on the last rep but was able to grind through.

Open workout 13.1 (snatches/burpees)

159 – 9 reps @ 165. Without having a video to review I can only conceptualize what I feel my time stamps are and my personal feedback from today. My goal was to be aggressive on my burpee and see what happens with the barbell. On the first 40 burpee, I finished somewhere around 2:30ish, I know I had 18 burpee in the first minute, 31 by the second minute. A little hotter than I had planned but I wanted to be aggressive, my original goal was to do 5’s at 75, but I transitioned quickly and got 4 right out of the gate, I thought hit a few 4’s, I did one set of 3 and thought that shit can’t fly. I did finish the 30 before the 5 min mark. I wanted to be faster with the 75lb barbell, but I also wasn’t planning on being as aggressive out the gate. The 30 burpee were pretty steady I feel and I believe I was around a 4sec/rep clip. I don’t remember # exactly but I hit 18ish reps, made my plate change and then finished a little after 7. My original goal was 1 rep every 6 seconds but the 135 bar is where I struggled to keep pushing hard. Having a judge/counter/coach here would have been huge to keep me on target. I didn’t want to push here but would’ve have been able to had there been another presence, I should be able to dig in myself, but when it started to hurt a little I let back a little. I know I finished around 12 ish, and the 20 rep of burpee I broke to change plates several times. With about 90seconds to go I grinded through the 165. Even though I only got 9 reps, the effort at 165 was way better than it was at 135. If I could’ve managed my 135 snatch better and the 20 burpee and plate change/rest better I could’ve been in a better position. Overall I’m not too bummed with my score, I took a risk pushing the first burpee and with something on the line I feel pretty confident I would’ve been more equipped to tolerate the pain.

tttTD (KB OHWL/DL/T2B that you missed when on-site)

2 rounds even – I had zero mental toughness today. I had mentally prepared that the lunges were going to be my biggest obstacle. And the first round wasn’t as bad as I predicted. However the deadlift took the longest and I had the hardest time mentally hanging on for high reps. My goal was to have really quick transitions and I succeeded there but where I was mentally weak was my breaks during the middle of those sets. On the second round of lunges I could feel myself overextending at my low back to try and create a better position overhead. I also could feel my left elbow wanting to bend. I fought it pretty hard but towards the end of each round it became a bigger and bigger fight. I fought to hang on for a big set to finish the second round of TTB but not enough time to really dig in and try and get a set of lunges in. Just wasn’t mentally prepared to put up a big fight today.

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A – Back squats – 4 sets of 10, no longer than 1 sec rest at top of each rep, rest 2 min bt sets, same load across

185

B – Front squats – 4 sets of 5, no longer than 1 sec rest at top of each rep, rest 2 min bt sets, same load across

215

C – Feet wide and turned out GHD hip extensions x 15 + 20-25 sec GHD sorenson hold, rest 2-3 min x 4 sets

Done – holy cow, the sorenson hold made my hammies shake like never before. I really really tried hard to make sure that I did not feed into my pelvic tilt.

Squat clean – 1 rep every 20 sec x 5, rest 3 min x 4 working sets, build to tough load by last set

185-205-225-245 – and the 245 felt really good too so was super happy with that. 

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Push presses – 6 TNG reps, new set every 2 min x 4

185 – the last 2 sets were a grind

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4 sets, rest walk 4-6 min to recovery bt sets

Bike 2 min progressive intensity (start at 250 watts, end above 450), rest 30 sec then into following pieces at 90-93% effort

Set 1: 20 row cals, 15 burpees to 6in touch, 15 wallballs @ 30lbs, 6 bar MU

Set 2: 15 burpees, 15 WB, 6 bar MU, 20 row cals

Set 3: 15 WB, 6 bar MU, 20 row cals, 15 burpees

Set 4: 6 bar MU, 20 row cals, 15 burpees, 15 WB

3:15-3:11-3:31-3:44 – except for the last set, I broke on each wall ball, I video sets 2 and 3 because I wanted to see how long the breaks cost me and how long I let the ball stay on the ground. I mostly did this for my benefit. BMU felt really good today. My main focus today was fast aggressive transitions. Rower was not able to maintain the power throughout the 4 sets. On the last set specifically even trying to hold a high output was having a hard time averaging a calorie per pull. I was even staying in the 1200 range and was just not maximizing my pull.

2/3

Squat snatch gauntlet

EMOM

5 bar facing burpees + 1 squat snatch

(start at 155lbs, add 10lbs/make until you cant hit the lift inside the 60 sec window. ideally have someone there changing weights for you so you can rest during the remaining time in each window, but if not and you start getting close on time, extend working window to 75-90 sec so you have a true chance at hitting each lift)

205 – smoke checked it – then wasn’t able to create anywhere near the same power or effort at 215

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Take 85% of last successful lift and hit 4 quality singles for the day on full rest

175

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Clean x 2/Jerk x 1/Clean x 1/Jerk x 1 – 3-4 working sets, try to have these start at 255 and build as able. take 10-12 sec bt cleans and 10-15 sec bt first jerk and third clean. rest as needed between complexes

255-260-265 missed last jerk. I didn’t feel like I was getting great leg drive, but I wanted to video to see what was going on and even on my dip, my weight is starting to shift forward, so not just on the drive phase but it starts in the dip. I did not feel this at 255. I just felt a weak leg drive at 260 but it’s not necessarily that 

+

Burpee volume progression

8 sets

Odd sets – 10 row cals @ strong effort into 12 bar facing burpees @ 2.5 sec/rep

Even sets – 10 AB cals @ strong effort (but NOT sprint effort, keep watts below 700) into 12 bar facing burpees @ 2.5 sec/rep

Rest 30 sec bt sets

*if you fall outside of 30 sec window rest 2 min then continue and accumulate volume for the day

I successfully made 7 full sets – on set 6 my bike output dropped drastically and carried over into the next row, I tried to mentally settle in and make sure the row stayed about 1200, and did so but that got me in the next round of burpee

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C – Front plank with hands on low rings x 60 sec on, 2 min rest x 4-5 sets

Only had time for 2 sets and forgot to get a couple more when I got home

2/4

AM

AB 100 cal progressive intensity warmup

done

+

(goal of completing all sets this week)

AB 60 sec @ 400+ watts

60 sec rest x 8 or until you can no longer hold pace

if successful on all 8 sets above

AB 60 sec @ 400+ watts

30 sec rest x 6 or until you can no longer hold pace

if successful on all 6 sets above

AB 60 sec @ 400+ watts

15 sec rest x 4 or until you can no longer hold pace

Completed……..the middle two sets w/the 15sec rest were hands down the worst, i hovered more bt 392-409 – but figured that was close enough to keep going

PM  (DSGN)

Ring MU x 4-5 reps, 2 sec isometric hold at the top of the dip lockout on each rep

new set every 2 min x 4

4 reps each time – they felt really good, I found my best mechanical position was to descend back into the bottom of the dip, I know this isn’t most efficient for reps in a workout, but this felt good for the set up for today and and since it has been a little while since we have gotten some in

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(DSGN)

For time: 

3 Rounds: 

10 OHS – 95/65# 

12 CTB Pull-Ups 

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3 Rounds: 

10 Power Clean and Jerk- 95/65# 

12 TTB 

+ 

3 Rounds:

10 Thrusters – 95/65# 

30 DU’s 

+ 

3 Rounds: 

10 Power Snatch – 95/65# 

12 Bar Facing Burpees 

19:59 – I planned on treating this as a 20 min time cap, I could’ve easily been more aggressive on the first 3 couplets, but I over paced because I had a feeling the power snatch and burpee would be a major bottleneck for me. I don’t remember exactly where I was but I believe I was around 13 minutes when finishing the thruster double under couplet. I was super conservative on that one. And at the point of the power snatch burpee couplet I just didn’t want to push hard mentally

(167) i counted my burpee total up to this point for the week

2/5 (partial DSGN)

Very very very poor night of sleep – as the session went on I didn’t have it and felt a little run down after the ghd sit ups, just being inverted in odd positions didn’t feel good. And then the up and down of the ski started messing with me as well. And as the day progressed and into today (Thursday – i have a little bit of sinus congestion build up)

DSGN HS Walk Speed + HSPU Strength: 

A. HS Walk: 25ft – AFAP x 6 sets; rest as needed for speed/high turnover 

Felt super fast here today, didn’t get the time on any but this was the best handstand walk efforts that I have had period

B. HS Walk: 100ft – AFAP x 2 sets; rest as needed to full recovery – aim for straight 100ft line if able

3:09 – 72ft unbroken (about as fat as I can go safely – completed in 41 seconds, took about 20sec to rest kicked up and ate shit after big time at the next 12ft marker 

2:19 – I think it was about 58/62 feet unbroken this time, and was quicker in transitions bt breaks

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Every 5 min x 3 sets

3 rounds of

1 rope climb + 30 DU’s

w/a 12ft rope I made sure I did  – 6 rope climbs in each round of 3, tried it in various to different set ups

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Every 5 min x 3 sets

2 rounds of

6 dbl KB hang snatches @ 53/hand

12 GHD situps

Couldn’t find a good set up for the ghd and it was messing with me and after the 2nd set I called it

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Every 5 min x 4 sets

Ski 750m @ tough but repeatable effort, finish times should be within 5 sec of each other

1 ski in and just felt off

1/29 (DSGN)

A. EMOM x 12:

Min 1: 5 Front Squats

Min 2: 7 Clean Grip Deadlifts

Min 3: 9 DB Strict Press

Wasn’t sure if bar was supposed to come from the ground for the front squat and use the same bar for the cgd, or use a rack. So I just used the same bar, which made the cgd super easy but that was ok as this is my long day. 165 and 35’s on strict press

Part 2 – Gymnastics & DB Cycling:

8-10 sets for time:

6 Strict HSPU’s

12ft HS Walk

6 Kip HSPU’s

12ft HS Walk

Rest 30 sec every 2 sets

I really really should’ve thoroughly thought about these numbers here and used last Friday’s session as an indicator of big picture as what was realistic for me to get the right stimulus. Did 2 rounds and got punched in the face really quickly. At that point I realized that 30sec rest was not going to be enough to sustain those numbers. So instead of lowering the reps per round I grinded out each round and rested a little longer. Also gave myself a time cap that if I wasn’t done to stop. So I got 6 rounds in and it was a huge grind on the strict and the hs walks

Rest as needed

For Times w/ 50/35# DB’s:

30 Wallball – 20/14#, 10/9′

30 Double DB Front Rack Box Step Overs – 24/20″

15 CTB Pull-Ups

5:47 – doulbe db step overs are the devil! – c2b was in 6/5/4 and i tried to drop, turn around right back up and I really liked that. Might not have needed to do it but wanted to try and see if I could make it work quickly.

Rest 2:1 (rest double the time it takes to complete the work)

30 Wallball – 20/14#, 10/9′

30 Double DB Hang Power Clean/Jerk

15 CTB

4:59 – took too big of sets on the dbl db work, it caused me to put the db’s down and walk away. Big mistake. 

Rest 2:1

30 Wallball – 20/14#, 10/9′

20 SA DB Split Snatch – Alternating

20 SA DB Power Clean – 10/side, then switch

15 CTB Pull-Ups

3:08 – all UB – I was mentally and physically smoked at this point, but I powered through and wasn’t planning on setting the db down at the start and I talked myself out of it several times in the middle of the set. 

Part 3 – Shoulder Health:

1. Bottom of Squat Banded Y Raises: 10 reps x 3 sets w/ 2 sec hold at end range

2. Bear to Table Complexes: 10 reps/side x 2 sets

3. Tall Kneeling KB Halo’s: 5 reps/direction x 3 sets Rest as needed b/t each for quality

Ran out of time to do it immedeately post training so had to get it in about an hour or so later