Ben Plotnicki

A – Snatch pull to hold at power position x 1/Floating snatch high pull x 1/Floating squat snatch x 1, new complex every 2:30 x 6, build in load from last week)

145×2, 155×2, 165×1, 167.5 x 1

B – PC/PJ x 9 unbroken reps, rest 3 min x 3

165 – not sure who upset you this day that you wrote up this progression but this was terrible. After the first set I seriously contemplated dropping down to 155. It hurt and it hurt bad. But I stuck it out and made it hurt even worst

C – PC/PJ x 6 unbroken reps, rest 3 min x 3

175-180-185 – these weren’t as bad as the set of 9 or last week but still terrible. As long as I caught these in a good rack position I was fine going overhead but was a grind if I didn’t. It started getting tough as grip became a limiter and wasn’t as smooth in eccentric control

D – PC/PJ x 3 unbroken reps, new triple every 3 min x 3

205 – missed the last jerk on the first set, I actually had to almost squat the last clean as I struggled with resetting my hook grip from rep 2 to 3. Cleaned it up for set 3 as I was prepared that resetting hook was going to be a challenge, so lowered the barbell to the shoulders to keep my composure instead of going straight to the ground.

E – Back squats – 10*215, 8*255, 6*265, 4*285. rest 2-3 min

Done – I might have went into the well too much for the set of 9 pc/pj or was just under fueled, but this was extremely tough for me to do in one session. I was spent mentally and physically. I did grind through them but had to use a belt and knee wraps but didn’t want to it. If this is general plan for Friday for a while with implementing a squat routine, would it be ok to hit this in 2 sessions?

F – Front squats – 5*(200,230,230,230). rest 2-3 min

This was better than the back squat but still was just a bit much for me in one session

G1 – Spanish squats on racked BB x 15-20 with KB goblet hold, rest 1 min 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxfc4rFLxk)

Did not do, my knees were toast. I did 3 sets of frog pumps as I wanted to do something to finish just didn’t think I had it in me to execute G at high quality. 

G2 – Band assisted nordic curls x 4-6, rest 1 min x 3 sets

Breathe Retention Holds: 5 attempts; rest 90 sec b/t attempts

33-28-27-21-38(accidentally took a breath in on the last set when it was time to go)

+

A/B 5 min – start easy & increase speed every minute to a 90% effort

Done 

+

EMOM x 5:

At the top of each minute, standing behind rower, get on & sprint for 10 seconds, then settle into a 85-90% effort for 20 seconds; rest remainder of minute/reset.

done – this was good. the last set I tried to go a little too fast and a little out of control and I almost fell off the seat

+

Death by Machines:

EMOM x until failure:

Even Minute: A/B 5 Calories

Odd Minute: Row 5 Calories

*Increase by 1 calorie on each machine each set.

Bike – 17 + 13

Row – 25 + 25

Total = had no killer instinct on the bike, the time just kept creeping away and I didn’t push enough on the front end of the minute to finish strong. But I fought on the rower. I will say, the 26th cal turned over fractions past the buzzer, if we had instant replay it would have been super close. 

Cool Down:

Breathe Retention Holds: 5 attempts; rest 90 sec b/t attempts

*Compare scores to warm-up

14-19-20-21-23 – started bad but got better as I went. Really tried to relax a little more on the back end

A – Exaggerated arching hang into dead hang x 4-5 ‘reps’, hold each position for 3-4 sec, rest as needed x 5 sets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C995b3KLXS4)

Done – positions felt a little better today than last week, just felt stronger in them

B1 – Band resisted strict C2B AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

5 – 4 – 4

B2 – Strict C2B AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

4 – 4 – 4

B3 – Band assisted strict C2B AMRAP (-1) into Band assisted chin over bar pullups AMRAP (-1), rest 4-5 min x 3 sets

7+4 – 6+4 – 6+4

C1 – Strict HSPU AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

10 – 9 – 8

C2 – Kipping HSPU AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

12 – 11 – 12

C3 – BB shoulder to overhead @ 115lbs AMRAP TNG reps (any pause terminates set), rest 4-5 min x 3 sets

15 – 14 – 12

D1 – 1-arm DB bench press x 10/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both

done @ 50

D2 – 1-arm DB bent over row x 10/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both x 3 sets

Done @ 70

Really pleased with todays session. I wasn’t super jazzed up about it too much. Did a ton of yard work yesterday and was out in the son all day so had a pretty nice sun burn as well so didn’t have huge performance expectations from today.

3/24

10 rounds for time (push the pace here, want to benchmark this and come back for retest)

Row 500m

15 burpees (minimal jump, hands clap behind head) 

30:31

Row splits –    1:49.6 – 1:52.8 – 1:54.5 – 1:56.9 – 1:56.1 – 1:58.6 – 1:59.7 – 1:58.8 – 1:58.5 – 1:55.5

goal was to be sub 30…..I knew this would take keeping the row a little bit faster and fast transitions. My burpee pace started slowing down around round 6 it felt like, rows started feeling like a ton of work around round 7. This was about the time I realized it was going to be hard to make my goal. And shortly after that moment I started thinking about which social media platform I was going to unfriend you on first. 

3/25

Ring MU exposure if you can get to gym this day, if not no worries

Did them in sets of 3,4, and a 5 here and there. I think I accumulated bt 20-26 reps 

+

AMRAP 7 min

3,3,6,6,9,9,…reps of

Toes to bar

OHS @ 95lbs

131 – completed 18’s and started on the set of 21 ttb – broke the 18s of the OHS, couldn’t see the clock and if I could’ve I might have grinded through 6 more reps, would have definitely allowed for several more ttb. As I got deeper into this piece I felt my grip became a bigger limiter overall than trunk flexion.

(rest 7 min)

AMRAP 7 min

5 squat snatches @ 155lbs

50 DU’s

50ft HSW

2+4
took me a few reps on the 155 to loosen up from the previous piece. it was more my shoulders and wrist that were senstive and then leg drive out of the squat wasn’t as fast as I would like.

3/26 – OFF

3/27

A – Build to a tough front squat single

330

B – Build to a tough back squat single

355

(going to use these numbers to start a squat cycle, so make them tough)

C – Snatch pull to hold at power position x 1/Floating snatch high pull x 1/Floating squat snatch x 1, new complex every 2:30 x 6, moderate loading, goal of building consistent launch positions while keeping good tension on the bar and good leg drive through floor)

135×2, 145×2, 155×2

D – PC/PJ x 6 unbroken reps, rest 2 min x 3

175 – this was the hardest one of the 3

E – PC/PJ x 4 unbroken reps, rest 3 min x 2

190

F – PC/PJ x 2 unbroken reps, new double every 3 min x 4

205

G1 – Spanish squats on racked BB x 15-20 with KB goblet hold, rest 1 min 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNxfc4rFLxk)

15 each set, finally got a set up that felt good, knees were a little achy by the end of the day so that is the only reason I didn’t go for 20

G2 – Band assisted nordic curls x 4-6, rest 1 min x 3 sets

This is hard to find the appropriate amount of resistance, not too much or too little

A – Exaggerated arching hang into dead hang x 3-4 ‘reps’, hold each position for 3-4 sec, rest as needed x 5 sets (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C995b3KLXS4)

really like these – myabe in my post crossfit career I want to dream of moving like these guys in the Ido Portal clan

B1 – Band resisted strict C2B AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

3-3-1

B2 – Strict C2B AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

5-5-3

B3 – Band assisted strict C2B AMRAP (-1), rest 4-5 min x 3 sets (same)

6-6-5

C1 – Strict HSPU AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

10-8-5

C2 – Kipping HSPU AMRAP (-1), rest 30 sec

11-11-8

C3 – BB shoulder to overhead @ 105lbs AMRAP TNG reps (any pause terminates set), rest 4-5 min x 3 sets

17-16-15

D1 – 1-arm DB bench press x 8/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both

50 – controlled and felt good. 50 is as heavy as I have for db’s but do have a 70lb kb

D2 – 1-arm DB bent over row x 8/side, rest 15 sec bt arms, 60 sec after both x 3 sets

70

3/20

Squat snatch – accumulate 10 reps @ 165-185lbs for quality

165 x 5, 185x 5

+

Split Jerk – accumulate 8 reps @ 205-225 for quality, 3 sec hold in catch

Stuck with 205 across….wrist was super irritated today. 

+

Front Squat – 3×3, rest 2-3 min

255-275×2, 275 might have been a little aggressive for the day. 

+

Every 5 min x 4 sets

30 wallballs

20 AB cals

10 bar facing burpees

3:26, 3:49, 3:52, 3:56 – for the record, a small detail I kind of forgot to mention is that at time of doing this I did not have access to a 20lb wall ball, only a 30. Wall ball target is outside of the garage so was going to have to transition quickly to bike to make this work. Then the rain came! My options were 30lb wall balls in the rain, not a great combination. 2nd option was dbl db thruster @ 35/hand, then the rain starting coming down really really had, so really really wet wall balls become not an option at all. So thrusters it was, yuck, yuck and double yuck. I did extend my rest my about 90sec going into the 4th set, I was originally going to power through but my burpee speed really slowed down in the 3rd set.

3/21

tttTD (either full or at home version)

Full version @ 24:16 – fyi runs, were about 750 (with a huge elevation change uphill both ways ;-). I came into the garage @ 22:03 after the last run and knew I had to do big sets of the front squats, so I started and tried formulating a plan. As I got closer, i thought I can do 2 sets, and then I thought just keep going, my hands, grip became what I was more worried about for doing the set unbroken, not as much for the legs. So was pretty happy with the ability to finish the 50 squats unbroken to make sure I didn’t cap.

3/6

A – Snatch x 1/OHS x 3, new complex every 2 min x 4, build to tough load

195

B – Banded back squats 4 sets of 6, light load/skinny bands, speed focus, rest 2 min

135

C – Paused front squat @ 26X1 – 1 rep EMOM x 5, posture focus, adjust loading to challenge but not overly compromise

185-195×2, 205, 215 – holy poop this was tough

+

AB 2 min @ 375-425 watts, into

3 rounds of 

20 WB

50ft HSW

50 DU’s

rest 4 min x 2 sets

11:32 & 13:33 – in the first set, 2nd round hs walk fell apart. And it was survival from there out. In 2nd set I tried to plan accordingly and break them into small 5ft increments and it was still just survival. It didn’t matter how much I broke up the wall balls to save myself. As I got tired, what I could notice is I was arching big time, over extending and then looking aggressively at the ground. My thoracic was compromised big time so it led to poor positions for the handstand walks. When/if they come up this week, this was good feedback for me to be aware of going into the event. I will just make sure that I do whatever I can to be prepared for thoracic position. I did not get any neck hammock in before this session, I do believe that I ever thought this part but my neck from looking at the ground was extremely lit, and I was even a little dizzy after the 2nd set from the neck strain.

+

Row 2 min @ 1300-1400 cal/hr, into

2 rounds of 

15 C2B

10 bar facing burpees

5 deadlifts @ 275/315 (second set heavier)

rest 4 min x 2 sets

5:03 & 4:57 – I approaced the 2nd set with a better plan, I also think the dizziness from the hs walk had subsided as well. I also did 6 fast burpee and then slowed down for the final 4 on on both sets and I do think this helped a lot as well. All singles on the first set of 315 and then all 5 for the last.

3/7

A – Squat clean x 1/Front squat x 2 – 5 working sets, build to tough load, rest 2-3 min

275 – I did miss @ 285 but the bar was slightly forward, the only reason I didn’t call it for the tough is because I knew it was a technical miss

+

2 min working window (50lbs DB per hand)

7 dbl DB burpees

7 dbl DB power cleans

7 dbl DB thrusters

AMRAP row cals in remaining time in 2 min window

rest 1 min, repeat until you accumulate 100 row cals (6 round cap, 17 min mark)

13:51 – I was a little intimidated about this one but it was more so what the db work was going to do to the overall workout. Only on set 4 did I feel that I went slower on the db work, the db burpee might have taken a few seconds longer and paused in the rack on 1-2 power cleans, but my goal was to try and hit 1100-1200 pace as an average. I did think I could push it a little more in hindsight but not enough to gain a whole round faster. I think I was averaging about 22 cals per minute so actually proud of myself for that. I just kind of embraced it when I got going.

3/3

AM

2 sets:

800m Run @ low effort

200m Run @ 1mile goal pace

600m Run @ low effort

200m Run @ 1mile goal pace

400m Run @ low effort

200m Run @ 1mile goal pace

rest as needed bw sets

1st set I did on the air runner – yuck!!!!!!!! 2nd set was outside. The biggest noticable differences were the 1 mile goal race pace on the air runner was way faster than I would probably actually race with, but the low effort was extremely low, found no in between. Changing paces in road running was harder but a little more realistic w/actual pace. Hamstring tendon flared up mid way through 2nd set, never got so bad that I had to stop but it was irritating for the rest of the day.

+

10min Easy Jog/walk Cooldown

done

PM

A – 1-1/4 bench press x 6, rest 2 min x 4 sets (1 rep = down to chest, press to halfway, back to chest, press to full extension)

135-160-175-180

B – Bar MU – accumulate 25 reps for the day for quality

done

C – 1-arm DB shoulder to overhead x 5/side @ 60-70-80lbs, rest 20 sec bt arms, 2 min bt sets x 6 sets (2 at each weight)

Only had access to 70/75 – so  I did 3 sets with 70 and 3 sets w/75, I did try to get a 95lb off of my shoulders, but it didn’t move very much, I also couldn’t get much leg drive to the hamstring tendon being not happy.

D – Back squats 4 sets of 6, build with each set, last one tough, rest 3 min

225-245-265-285 – last set was a little tougher than I wanted

E – Front squats 4 sets of 5, same load across, good speed, rest 2-3 min

Opted for 205 – just happy to be squatting and didn’t want to push the issue on that leg

3/4 (DSGN)

Part 1 – Strength:

A. Hang Squat Clean: 1 rep every 30 sec x 12 reps

185 – kept it light

B. Hang Muscle Snatch + Hang Power Snatch + Hang Squat Snatch: 1 complex every 90 sec x 6 sets

95 – same here. 

Part 2 – Gymnastics:

2 sets:

C1. Strict Parallette HSPU’s: AMRAP. AMRAP; rest 15 sec b/t AMRAP

7&2 + 5&1

C2. Tuck Front Lever Hold on Bar: Accumulate 75 sec AFAP

Done – these felt super good today

Rest 2 min b/t each movement

+

D. EMOM x 12:

Min 1: 15-20 sec AMRAP – TTB – high speed/high turnover focus

11-12-14 – secretly tried to syncronize with Michelle

Min 2: 15-25ft HS Walk- AFAP

Felt good, i’d guess around 13-15 seconds for 25ft

Min 3: 10-15 sec AMRAP CTB Pull-Ups – high speed/high turnover focus

15-15-14 – on the last set I could feel my knees bending in the arch to hollow portion so I decided not to fight it and just come off the bar at 14

Min 4: 15-20 sec AMRAP – Lateral Box Jump Overs – 24/20″ – speed focus

Just hit 10 every round – hamstring tendon got more warm but my body was just tired.

+

E. 15 min AB, done as 5*(1 min @ 425-444 watts, 1 min @ 375-395 watts, 1 min @ 300-333 watts)

Called it, my body and mind were tired at this point. Just a long Wednesday, that’s all.

2/28/2020

1min Ski

1min Run

1min Bike

1min Row

x3 @ easy effort with full inhale/exhale on each breath – focusing on deep diaphragmatic breaths

Done – used concept 2 bike as was easier in the room set up with the cardio equipment

+

28min Clock:

60sec AB / Row / Ski @ easy recovery pace

done

60sec Gait Flow (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QpdeWCpn7s)

This is now one of my favorite flow pieces we’ve done

60sec AB / Row / Ski @ easy recovery pace

done

60sec Animal Crawling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?index=8&list=PLVR7OsPPPm0ruXEMQes197ymqzmAQF0tz&v=6pB3o_ghK4g)

done

2/29

tttTD (6 min AMRAP)

2+12 – the burpee box jump over was what just ate my lunch here. The first round was pretty consistent. First round took me about 1:40/2min – ball park ish, but the second round the jump to 30” I feel took every ounce of energy I had, I kept trying to stay positive with this and not give in to negative self talk here and keep moving. Starting the 3rd round I knew I didn’t have much time but I decided that I was going to push as hard as I could on the bbxjo – as soon as I finished the overhead squat I went into the burpee to get after it and my shin clipped the box on the very first jump and I ate it pretty hard with a nice tumble that can only be reviewed in my memory (thank goodness). I still found a way to finish that round of burpee.

+

A – Accumulate 20 wall walks with 5 sec hold at the top of each rep, not for time

Almost harder than the throwdown thank goodness it wasn’t for time

B – Accumulate 30 ring pullups with controlled negative, break as needed

Did this at home so had to be creative with setting my rings up from the pull up bar and had to tuck my knees

C – Accumulate 40 parallette shoot through reps (1 rep = shoot legs forward into reverse plank + bring legs back into front plank, try to push ‘down’ on handles to elevated body as you go front to back)

Started getting a little sloppy and had a hard time maintaining peak compression in multiple reps

D – Accumulate 50 alternating pistols for quality

done

E – Accumulate 60 sec parallette L-sit in as few sets as possible, rest as needed

Done 

3/1 – OFF

3/2

On an 18 min clock

3 rounds for time

15 deadlifts @ 225lbs

30 wallballs

90 DU’s

with remaining time

Find a 1RM snatch

10:50 – 185 – tried to find a legit effort of pushing the 3 rounds and not gaming it for the snatch but gaming it to minimize rest breaks and maximize efficiency and overall time. Today double unders were really elevating my heart rate, pretty sure I wasn’t holding my breath. Broke everything up, but goal was to break and keep short short breaks, either stay on top of the barbell or stay on top of the ball. 1st round was great at this, 2nd round was so so, and 3rd round was better than the 2nd round overall even though I should’ve just brought it home to finish. I made a jump from 185 to 205 for the snatch, I knew in my head that I should’ve gone to 195 but just went for it. Got 5 lifts in, wasn’t sure how the first one would go down, made small jumps in the beginning and then the more aggressive jump, but should have just made a couple of those “bigger” jumps bt set 2 & 3

AM

Clean complex for max load, 8 min window

Squat clean x 1/Hang squat clean x 3

260 – went for 275, got the first hang squat clean and lost the 2nd one forward…..the clock forced me into the lift sooner than I wanted…one more minute on the clock I could’ve gotten one more, not sure about all 3

PM

For time (15 min CAP)

5 rounds of:

4 muscle-ups

13 shoulder-to-overheads, 135 lb.

Then, increase the weight for 5 rounds of:

4 muscle-ups

7 shoulder-to-overheads, 185 lb

110 – in hindsight this is the one I should’ve taken more risks on. The muscle up without a doubt creates a little bit of intimidation in me, more so of volume and miss factor. This fear/feeling led me to break up the barbell more than I should’ve, I broke the 13’s up into 3 sets, in the first 3 rounds I stayed on top of the barbell didn’t walk away and kept my round splits tight. Goal was 90sec/round – but in that next round of muscle ups I could feel the triceps for lockout getting a little taxed, I didn’t panic on the muscle up but I started being more conservative on the rest breaks with the barbell. I did not need 3 breaks, I would’ve been fine otherwise, but was just too conservative. Transitions were pretty good across the board, consistently 6-7 seconds from bar to rings and rings to bar, just some of the intra workout things that played out. The 185 barbell felt a little easier than the 135 just from the number of reps, weight was a little tougher but wasn’t this huge huge difference maker. On the last round of muscle ups I knew time was running short and I went for 4 in a row, got 3 and missed the attempt at 4, there was about 17 seconds left, but had to walk a little to visually see what the remaining time was. I’m glad I went for that and would do it again, but would’ve had time for a 2/2 scenario if I would’ve came down quickly and right back up. 2/2 is how I approached the muscle ups in the whole workout. 

Thursday update – biceps are pretty sore, neck is a little stiff but that’s pretty par for the course for me, neck hammock will loosen that right up, other than that body feels pretty good. In the qualifier scenario, I would be able to redo a workout as long as it was not upper body pulling intensive.