Day 6 - The Bulgarians are coming!

Day 6
Today was another rest day. I got the awesome opportunity to judge for the Gladiator Challenge an event put on by my gym. It was really great to see a good representation of our athletes at this event. Definitely gave me some inspiration to move forward with this and give it my all.

Stretch: 
3 x 30 Second Table Top Stretch R/L
3 x 30 Front Foot Plate Elevated Samson Stretch

*Wod:
Complete 6 Rounds:
4  Bulgarian Split Squat (2R/2L)
8 Alternating Walking Lunges (4R/4L)
Tempo = 32×2

Then 5 minutes L sit hold, 15 sec on 15 sec off

Results: Did the Bulgarian squats with a 40 lb kettle bell in the rack position and lunges were done without any weight.
Thoughts: What the heck is a Bulgarian split squat you ask??  Well it is a lunge involving the elevation of your hind leg that results an increase of your range of motion which allows you to get an excellent engagement of your glutes and quads. I did these in tempo, so in I dropped as low as I could in 3 seconds, held at the bottom for two then explode up out of the bottom like a freaking rocket. (or that's what I imagine I am when I do them). i've been told they can be done with weights to increase strength or done without to get a good deep stretch. Both are pretty brutal. I made sure while I was doing them to not let my knee go over the toes. The purpose of what I did was more to stretch out and prepare my body for lots o' squats. 

Intake:
Breakfast: Iced Coffee and leftover Thai Ice Tea, fruit
Lunch: Leftover curry, rice and chicken
Dinner: Taquitos with hummus and some fro yo

Overall, a great day! (minus the power outage mid-blog composition)  


*Smolhov programs bulgarian squats and lunges on this day and so I used Zach Filer IC Methodology to program this into my training. 

Day 5 - An uncomfortable 15 minutes

Day 5 - Rest

Cwod:
-5 minute warm up
15 minutes on bike
30 second sprint
30 second normal pace
-10 minute cool down

Results: I don't think it was very accurate but it said I burned around 100 calories and biked 4.5 miles
  
Thoughts: This. was. awful. The 30 seconds of sprint felt like an hour and the normal pace felt like two seconds. I had some technical difficulties and ended up dramatically throwing my headphones on the ground. #diva. My behind is sore but I'm guessing that is something I am going to have to get used too. I'm judging a crossfit competition tomorrow so hopefully I can get some lunges/stretching in at some point or I will be an unhappy camper.

Intake:
Breakfast: Iced Coffee
Lunch: Two chicken sausages and carrots
Dinner: Green Curry with eggplant and shrimp, three chicken skewers,and a Thai iced tea
Slip ups: Cheddar bacon popcorn (yeah that's right) and a cake pop

Day 4 - Resting, Jumping, Lunging

Day 4 

Cwod*
5 Rounds
12 Walking Rack Lunges 35 (6 each leg) 
10 broad jumps                                                             
6 C2Bs
-Rest 45 seconds Between Efforts -Record Fastest Split and Total Time 

Results:
Round 1: 48.25
Round 2: 53.51
Round 3: 54.43
Round 4: 50.49
Round 5: 49.69
Total: Around 9 minutes

Thoughts: I stretched a good half hour before doing this cwod. I found the hardest part of this workout to be the broad jumps by far. My back is still sore from monday! Also as you can imagine, I'm not known for my "mad hops". I did all the chest to bars unbroken which I was happy about. Overall a good sweat and lung burner but nothing too taxing strength wise.

Intake:
Breakfast: Protein shake with coffee
Lunch: Two chicken sausages, carrots and hummus
Pre-workout Snack: Zone bar
Dinner: Three eggs, three pieces of turkey bacon, tortilla and some zuchinni fries
Snack: Greek yogurt
Slip ups: Could't resist some qdoba tortilla chips..mmm salt!



*I based this off the CWOD from Zach Filer IC methodology that he used during heavy squatting cycles. Low impact but getting all the benefits you would form anaerobic exercise.(http://www.ironclubtraining.com/).

BACK it up

Why I chose back squats:

This was a big debate going on in my head. And from what I've found the muscles one engages while doing front and back squats don't really differ. The main disadvantage is that back squats are harder on your knees. But going into this knowing that, I just need to take my fish oils and not over train. 

The main reason though, honestly, is because I actually like back squats. I also feel like I have to do good form with back squats or ill fail immediately where as front squats I can bend the crap out of my back, have my knees knock together and still get up. (vomit at that visual). Overall, I think it will be nice tool in my arsenal to feel confident with this lift. 

Questions, comments and concerns are always welcome!

Day 1-3

I started blogging a little late but here is what I've done so far:
And to clarify, I am doing the smolov progression with back squats.

Day 1:

Cwod:

OTM X Failure

1 deadlift

5 hspus

*add 1 deadlift every minute

exit work:

300 dus 

Smolov:

3x8 95
5x1 100
2x2 110
1x1 115

Results: Cwod  8 of 9 deadlifts on round 9
Thoughts: Cwod sucked. My lower back was not having it today (another reason i should squat more). Smolov felt very solid. Nervous about where the bar should go. I think I'm sticking with high bar even though my monkey traps kind of get in the way.

Day 2:

Strength 

OTMx 12

2 Full snatches (75 - 85%)

Cwod

10 min amrap

5 snatches (75)

10 pullups

20 sit-ups

Smolov:

3x8 95

5x1 100

2x2 110

1x1 115

Results: 75 on strength, 5+1 on cwod

Thoughts: Strength felt awesome, I've never full snatched over 65 before today. Cwod was a brutal ten minutes but i did with minimal split snatching. (another goal of mine is to get rid of this horrid habit). I also believe i did all my pull ups unbroken but i kind of blacked out so who knows. Smolov went well, no crying.. yet.

Day 3:

Smolov:

4x5 100

3x1 110

2x2 115

1x1 130

Cwod:

Pulse

Thoughts: Went in and did smolov before class at the SRC. I enjoyed lifting in the morning minus the atrocious music selection they have playing in the weight room. I really worked on exploding out of the bottom today and I think it really helped. I'm definitely feeling more confident under the bar. Pulse is an hour long cardio dance party basically. Its low stress on my joints and ends in stretching so its perfect to do once a week on this cycle (and i get to practice my twerking skills). 

Are you crazy?

And so it begins...

So I am AJ aka the "little one" and at a staggering height of 5'2 and 115 pounds, I am not someone you'd describe as a heavy hitter. I can front squat 125 twice and the last time a did a 1 rm back squat i only made it to 145 which is less than impressive. Being able to squat heavy and with good form helps in so many aspects of life. Physically, you develop a stronger core, killer quads and a nice apple bottom. These assets (he he) can help you run faster, have better posture and if you're a crossfitter like me, help you drop it like its hot under heavy cleans and snatches and actually be able to get up. 

I am a goal-oriented person.  I cannot substantially improve something unless I have a light at the end of the tunnel. And while my gym's programming has really helped me improve my general fitness, I wanted something more targeted, hence, smolov. (see my page to read more into detail about this program). To say I'm nervous is an understatement, this isn't a walk in the park by any means. I'm going to want to stop. That's why I created this blog, I can post my workouts and hold myself responsible. 

So Here we go.