AndiMorris

Workout 02/10/13 - Fight Gone Bad Warm Up: 400m run then 3 rounds of 250m explosive row 10 box jumps 10 kettlebell sumo deadlift-high pull 10 burpee box jumps WOD: Fight Gone Bad. 1 minute at each station, no rest in between stations. When all 5 stations have been completed rest one minute and then repeat, 3 times. Wall balls - 9kg Kettlebell sumo deadlift high pull - Scaled to 24kg Box jumps - 24" Push press - Scaled to 25kg Row - count calories as reps Score is total number of reps completed = 180 reps Another brutal dawn patrol session completed. Fight Gone Bad is a killer and will attack all angles and wear you down. The really hard bit for me was the wall balls. Ugh, I hate wall balls.

Nope I didn't try it in the end. I've since discovered that Amazon will deliver Sun Warrior to the UK, so I'm going to give that a shot. I don't use protein powder in the same way as I used to, but I haven't ditched it. I will have a tablespoon of powder in my recovery shake, one scoop in my morning smoothie and one scoop in my afternoon oat drink.

Workout 01/10/13 Warm up: 400m run then 3 rounds of: 150m row 10 deadlift - 20kg 10 over bar burpees Lift: 1RM - Sumo deadlift - 120kg PR!!! WOD: 100 power snatches - 30kg 1-10 burpee ladder on each minute Woop woop! A new PR! It’s been a few months since I got one and it’s nice to add 10kg onto my deadlift. I possibly could have done 130kg, but after a brief attempt the bar wasn’t moving. Next time! This WOD was brutal! The first round was ok and I managed 15 power snatches before the minute elapsed and it was time to do another set of burpees. In round 9 and 10 I was only just finishing the burpees when it was time to do them again. Very disappointed with 41 reps on this within the 10 minute time cap. I think I would have gone harder if I didn’t think that I was actually past the 50 mark, but I misheard my training partner George. Completely my mistake as I should have been at it hammer and tongs regardless of whether I was on 40 or 50 reps. So far I’m really enjoying the 6:30am sessions. My main struggle is knowing what to eat pre-workout though. I’ve been having 50g oats and almond milk about 30 minutes before training, but that’s starting to feel too heavy, and I think I need something with a quicker energy hit, but is lighter on the stomach.

Workout 28/09/13 - Stronglifts session 2 Warm Up: 400m run 10 slow bodyweight squats mobility Lift: Back Squat - 5x5 - 20x10, 40x5, 67.5x5x5 Deadlift - 1x5 - 60x5, 80x5, 100x2, 100x1, 100x2 Strict press - 5x5 - 20x5, 30x5x5 So Saturday morning I hit open gym again and had my second session on the stronglifts program. All seemed to go well, but my form is slipping so badly on the back squats, even at this relatively light weight. I’m struggling to keep my torso upright and my knees out. I was chatting to Nat who was squatting next to me and she suggested that I need to do core auxiliary work like good mornings. I’ll see if I can add more of these into my sessions at some point. Deadlifting relatively heavy immediately after squats was a mistake. I had to break the 100x5 set up into 2,1,2. I think when I do this routine again I’ll put the press in between the squats and deadlifts. Press is always my weakest compound lift, so I kept it light for this session to gauge where I am. 30kg was doable but only just, so it was probably just about right. I have a few weeks off touring now, so will hopefully be able to make more open gym sessions on the weekends and continue this program alongside the crossfit program during the week.

Workout 26/09/13 Warm Up: 3 rounds of: 10 slow deadlift - 20kg 5 box jumps - 24” 10 leg raises 30 second bar hang Skills: Handstand push up progressions Lift: Tabata deadlifts - 80kg - 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 WOD: 10 minute AMRAP 5 box jumps 5 toes-to-bar 5 handstand push-ups Another Dawn Patrol, my third in a row. A pretty smooth session all round. I actually struggle more with the handstand push up progressions more than the actual handstand push ups these days, I struggle to maintain balance when balancing on my head. More practice needed here. The Rx for the tabata deadlift was 120kg, and there was no way I was going to be able to lift that with any intensity, so I dropped to 80kg, which felt about right. I managed 4 reps for the first 3 rounds, 3 for the next 3 and 2 for the last 2. The WOD however I did the Rx version. I’m comfortable enough with toes-to-bar and handstand push ups in low reps as this required. I did struggle on the second to last round to complete the 5 HSPUs, and probably wasted a good 90 seconds just on that, but the last round I kicked them all off unbroken so it was just a momentary lapse. I managed 5 rounds and 4 box jumps, which I’m pleased with. After 3 days on the trot, with a lot of pushing in all the workouts my shoulders and triceps are absolutely shot now. Today (friday) is the first time in a while I’m having a deserved rest day. Hopefully back to the box on Saturday morning.

Workout 25/09/13 - Time Trials Warm Up: Mobility Dynamic stretching Time trials: 1km row for time - 3:50 100 push ups for time - 4:38/6:50 (first 50 were strict push ups, second were kneeling) 100 sit ups - 5:31 200 double unders - 8:18 1 mile run - 8:27 This was horrible from the word go and I utterly hated it. The worst was the push ups, I had in my head that I would do 10 sets of 10, but my arms and shoulders just went dead after the first 20. I got to 50 and could do no more, so did the second 50 on my knees, which was embarrassing to say the least. The splits are recorded above, so hopefully when we repeat this in a few weeks I’ll be able to do better. None of the others caused too much grief, double unders were slower than usual, but I was still tired from the previous trials, also my rope broke (again!) and I had to source a new one quickly.

You're very close to me. I'm in Newport and work in Cardiff.

Workout 24/09/13 - FRAN!!! Warm Up: 3 minutes double unders - 70 reps Split jerk technique Pull up practise Lift: 10x2 on the minute split jerk - 35kg WOD: FRAN 21-15-9 Thrusters (Level 1 - 25kg) Pull ups (Rx) 10 minute cap - DNF This was my first “Dawn Patrol” session, which is the nickname the 6:30am class at Celtic Crossfit has been given. I need to free up more time in the evenings so I'm planning on attending more of these, as long as it keeps on working out with the transport to work. All in all, a brilliant session. I decided to go at 35kg for the split jerk as there was an element of metcon there with the on the minute every minute for ten rounds, but I actually think I could have gone higher as none of the reps felt like a struggle. Note for next time. Oh Fran, how we all hate you. For some reason I didn't have written down what weight I used last time I did this benchmark WOD, so I took a guess and used 25kg, but still did not quite finish. I was 9 pull ups away when the 10 minute time cap elapsed. After checking my online diary later on I discovered that I have previous finished this benchmark in 10:21 at 30kg, which is somewhat annoying as I was nowhere near beating that this time. I think we’re repeating this soon, so I hope to at least finish in the time cap next time. It felt great getting the workout out of the way that early, but I should probably look into fuelling myself a bit better as I felt like I burned out very quickly in the WOD. I'll have another bash at the Thrive direct energy bites and see whether there's any notable difference between that and the oats I had around 30 minutes before this session.

I too get bored of logging calories. I now have a fair idea of how much is in what I eat on a day to day basis, but periodically go back to logging everything in myfitnesspal. It's a pain for both me and and my girlfriend as I'm always asking her what's in everything she cooks and how much it weighed.

I'm hearing you on GTA V. It arrived yesterday, but I've only had about an hour to play on it so far.

Thanks for the interest guys. I'm back from tour now and have now I think caught up on my eating and sleeping after not much of either went on over the weekend. I still won't be able to make the gym until the earliest Monday as I'm in the studio, I have to knock a wall down in my house, and then another gig in London on the weekend.

I'm playing gigs in st Petersburg and Moscow. It will be great fun, but the lack of sleep will be killer.

Cheers, on the way to Russia as we speak. Yes froning is a beast. An insane level of fitness and strength combined. Wall balls. Grab a medicine ball (usually 9kg for men 7kg for women but you make that decision yourself) with both hands at chest level. Squat down and as you return to standing throw the medicine ball up to hit the wall above a 10ft mark. Catch the ball and repeat.

Workout 12/09/13 - I f*&^ing HATE WALL BALLS! Warm Up: 200m run 3 rounds of: 10 x KB Swings 10 x wall balls 10 jumping air squats Lift: Every 90 seconds perform the following for 8 rounds: 3 reps of: 1 x hang power snatch 1 x squat snatch To be done at around 50% of 1RM (25kg) WOD: 3 minutes on each station, 3 minutes rest between stations KB Swings (64 reps @ 16kg) Box jumps (52 reps @ 24”) Wall balls (38 reps @ 7kg) Row (43 calories) I chose to do the Rx version of the lift, as I need to practice dropping down under the bar, and this was the only version that had the full squat snatch as part of the rep cycle. 25kg felt light to start with, but at the pace we were moving it quickly got heavy! The WOD was a real burner! The 3 minutes rest in between stations was absolutely welcome, and I only ever felt slightly recovered before starting again. The wall balls were the real killer, I f*&^ing HATE WALL BALLS! Last night was the last session at the box until next week as I’m off on tour tonight and don’t get back until the early hours of Tuesday morning. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to swing by Crossfit Moscow and pick up a shirt.

Workout 11/09/13 Warm Up: 600m run 3 rounds of: 5 ring rows 1 length lunge walking 10 slow air squats Shoulder mobility Skills: Pull Up or muscle up practice WOD: Level 1 4 rounds of: 400m run max effort pull ups Completed in 10 minutes-ish with 26 pull ups in total. I used the skills session to try and work on chaining my kipping pull ups together. At the moment I can do several in one set, but I have to return to a dead hang and then kip again, wasting valuable time and energy and therefore making the whole movement much less efficient. I didn't progress very far with this, but I have I think worked out a way that I can practice this. The WOD was fine, Rx was bar muscle ups, which I can’t do yet, and level 2 was chest-to-bar pull ups, which I've only ever done one of, so I opted for level 1. I did 7 pull ups in each round apart from the last, and I think I probably could have done more, the hardest part was that my grip was struggling due to the running in the rain.

I planned to get to the gym on Monday this week, but my girlfriend was ill and so I needed to get home from work and take over the household chores that she normally does while I'm at the gym (she's my true rock). As such I'm a day behind training this week, but I'm back tonight. Food has been going well for the last few days too, nothing crappy. Saturday Breakfast - Oats with almond milk and a hint of agave Post workout - lemon-lime recovery shake Lunch - houmous and salad sandwich (white bread, bit of a cheat) Afternoon snack - homemade mass gainer shake Dinner - chickpeas, chilli and potato dish Evening - 2 beers (playing a gig, difficult not to when it's sitting there waiting to be drunk) Sunday Breakfast - Fried up vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce Lunch - Vegetable fingers in buns (cheat central) Afternoon snack - homemade mass gainer shake Dinner - Boiled potatoes, runner beans and vegetable pie Evening - glass of wine Monday Breakfast - Oats with almond milk Morning snack - 25g nuts plus green smoothie Lunch - parsnip soup Afternoon snack - homemade mass gainer shake Dinner - Lentil dhal with potatoes Tuesday Breakfast - Oats with almond milk Morning snack - green smoothie Lunch - parsnip soup Afternoon snack - homemade mass gainer shake Dinner - homemade lentil shepherd's pie with runner beans

Great stuff! Some info regarding vegan products that are readily available in the UK which may help if SexyFitVegan isn't sure about UK products. MyProtein sell Vegan Blend, which is a blend of hemp, pea and rice protein. Personally I buy the unflavoured variety, as I put it in smoothies which masks the taste, but the flavoured versions are much more palatable if you're having it as part of a normal shake. You can buy from their website and the prices aren't bad at all. There are others such as discount supplements, and also myproteinworks, but I've never used these companies so I can't vouch for the products nor the service. I don't particularly like soya milk, you seem to get on with it fine, but most supermarkets now sell almond and hazelnut milks readily, and these are so much nicer in my opinion. Gluten free vegan sweets, you can't get much better than Nakd bars. These are also available in most major supermarkets. They're 100% natural too, no crap in there. As you mention Holland and barrett are also great. You seem to enjoy peanut butter, and I recommend the Meridian wholenut peanut butter that they sell in there, if you don't already buy this. It's around £5/kg.

Great journal, I'm definitely following this.

Hey Phil, another Welshman here.

Workout 07/09/13 Warm Up: 100 double unders Mobility Lift: Back Squat - 20kg x 10, 40kg x 5, then 5 x 5 @ 65kg Bench Press - 20kg x 10 then 5 x 5 @ 40kg Barbell Row - 20kg x 10 then 5 x 5 @ 40kg Last Saturday morning I decided to go to open gym instead of the crossfit class and make a start on a strength training program again. I’ve mentioned it a few times recently that my strength needs working on, so I’m going to try and make open gym on Saturdays wherever possible and slowly work through the stronglifts 5x5 program. This is going to be slow progress as I’m only doing the program once a week, when it’s supposed to be 3 times per week, however the Crossfit classes also contain progressive strength training, so this is merely supplementary to the programming, hoping to make up for time when I only manage to make the box twice a week due to being on tour etc. I started fairly conservatively, 65kg on the squat I knew was achievable with good form, whilst still being hard enough for a workout. I probably should have started heavier on the bench and row, but I know that this will build up over time, and I’m in no rush. Slow and heavy wins the race.

Hahah, fair enough. You win this fight...but I'll be back.

Ha, that's great to know that we're making waves in the fitness world.

I find bench press ridiculously hard too, and strict press. Keep at them though.

I'm from Europe too so i have a mind to order some proteins from here (myprotein), what's your opinion about their product? It's the only one I've used so can't compare really, but it's good service and the price is pretty good.

Workout 05/09/13 - Improvements all round Warm Up: 3 mins double unders (106 reps) 2 rounds: 10 slow deadlift @ 20kg 5 push press @ 20kg 10 push ups Clean technique with pipe Lift: 5x2 Hang power clean & jerk (50kg) WOD A (Level 2 with lower weight): 5 min AMRAP 5 power clean & jerk @ 40kg 5 ring dips - 3 rounds and 2 power cleans completed WOD B (Rx): 5 min AMRAP 10 deadlift @ 60kg 10 double unders - 5 rounds and 2 deadlifts completed First workout since upping my calories by having a homemade mass gainer shake and at first I thought I was a little full to be working out, despite having the shake 3 hours before training, but it actually worked out really well, and I felt FUELLED!!! Stuck at 50kg for the hang power clean and jerk, as any higher and my form would go, and it was shaky even at 50kg. I was getting the bar up no problems, but my foot positioning for the split jerk wasn’t the best and I was sometimes a bit wobbly. Still, 50kg is a 10kg increase on the last time I did this. The WODs felt good, I decided to give ring dips a try as I’ve never done them in a WOD before, and I was surprised that I could do them. The first round was unbroken, but the second two rounds were split into 3 and 2. Some work still required on them, but it’s another improvement. The first 2 power cleans I accidentally did as squat cleans, which felt good, but I switched to power cleans for speed purposes. My technique felt good for these and I could definitely feel the hip connection with the bar helping. The second WOD didn’t have a hugely heavy deadlift weight, so I thought I’d Rx it, seeing as my double unders are of a reasonable standard. 60kg felt fine, and the 10 reps were unbroken for the first 3 rounds, and split 5/5 for the second two, but I think with a bit more mental strength I could have done these unbroken too and maybe got another round in. All in all a great evening at the box, and I came away feeling I’d accomplished something.