AndiMorris

Olympic Lifting - 22/06/14 Warm Up: Row 400m 10 minutes mobility Lift: 8x2 clean & jerk @ 40kg I could definitely lift heavier than this for both the clean and the jerk but I kept the weight low as my landing position for the jerk really wasn't very good and I need to practice it. My stance is too narrow and I need to force the internal rotation on my back foot more. Pretty happy with the clean portion however, felt like I was dropping into the squat easily.

This week was snatch, and the workout was: 8x2 snatch at a working weight. I built up to 32.5kg and did the first 4 sets with ease, so stuck 35kg on the bar. Bear in mind that my previous 1RM was 37.5kg. The first rep of 35kg was shaky the second and the next set were fine. So egged on by Coach Ffred I upped this to 37.5kg and managed to get a fairly decent 2 reps at my previous 1RM, and pretty fatigued by this point too. So for the last set I went for 40kg. The first rep, I locked out in a power snatch and lowered down, no idea why my body decided to to that. The second rep was much better, but still not quite quick enough down to the floor. I still made both reps though! To finish up, I had a go at hang snatch at 40kg, just to see if I could get under that bar quickly enough, and I did it! It took a few seconds at the bottom to steady the weight and find balance, but I got down there pretty quickly. Really pleased as 40kg has always been just out of reach for my snatches for months, so it's a good landmark for me. I think that if I was fresh I might have been able to get a little more out too. So - a new PB: Snatch - 40kg

Crossfit 12/06/14 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 10 push ups 10 wall balls @ 9kg 5 knees-to-elbows Strength: 1RM bench press - 62.5kg PB! followed by 1 set max effort @ 80% - 7 reps @ 50kg WOD: For time: 100 wall balls @ 9kg (scaled to 7kg) 5 knees-to-elbows every minute (scaled to 3) Completed in 8:40. I scaled to the 7kg ball at the last minute and it felt really light for the first 50 reps, but it quickly caught up. Chuffed at the bench PB though, first time I've tested this in 18 months and was hoping for more than a 2.5kg increase, I think I could have got 65kg if I had let myself rest a bit longer in between sets.

Anyone care to check out my band's new video?

Crossfit 11/06/14 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 10 banded good mornings 10 kettlebell swings at @16kg 20 double unders Strength: 1RM deadlift - 115kg PB!! WOD: 12 minute AMRAP 12 kettlebell step ups @ 16kg & 20" 10 V-ups 6 pull ups 4 plate ground to overhead @ 20kg 5 jumping squats 3 rounds and one jumping squat, very close to 4 rounds. Found the step ups really tough!

Crossfit 27/05/14 Warm Up: 5 rounds: 3 wall balls 3 V-ups 3 burpees Front rack mobility Build to 50-60% of 1RM shoulder to overhead Strength: 15 mins - Every Minute on the Minute barbell complex @ 50-60% 1RM STOH: 2 x deadlift 2 x hang power clean 2 x shoulder to overhead I dropped the weight on this at the last minute from 40kg to 35kg as it's supposed to be around 60% 1RM shoulder to overhead. I've not tested this in a long time, but last time I did 1RM jerk it was 60kg. However 35kg wasn't too hard so possibly I should have stuck to 40kg. WOD: 2,4,6,8,10....20 Wall balls @ 9kg Toes-to-bar Burpees 20 minute time cap I did the first round as toes-to-bar, but these still need a lot of practice to get at speed so I went for quick knees-to-elbows, however it was the wall balls that really slowed me down here. I finished 16 wall balls and 4 knees-to-elbows before the time cap.

Crossfit 21/05/14 Warm Up:  Row 500m, each time the pace drops below 1:50 do 10 burpees This was tough, but I was determined not to do burpees. Just made it Rack mobility work Strength: Build to a heavy 2 rep power clean. Made it to 60kg, but didn't make 2 reps at that weight. The bar was high enough, but I just couldn't drop under the bar quickly enough. Out of practice I think. WOD:  7 rounds for time: 3 deadlift 3 hand power clean @ 70-80% 1RM (use same weight for deadlift) 6 knees-to-elbows 100m sprint Completed in 9:41. I had the weight at 50kg to start with but had to drop this down after 3 sets as I was really struggling with the hang power clean. However, due to this being mid-WOD I just took the 5kg plates off, leaving me with 40kg on the bar. This felt light, and after just doing the maths was actually 65% of my 1RM, so I was slightly below Rx on this one.

Crossfit 20/05/14 Warm Up:  10 burpee box jumps 2x30s plank (short rest between sets) 10 burpee box jumps 2x30s plank Wall sit until fatigue (lactic acid training) Hollow rock progression and practice Strength:  10x3 on the minute back squat @ 80% - 72.5kg I had to drop the weight to 70kg after 4 sets, I was really struggling to keep my back up and my knees out. Frustrating as I was really getting somewhere with form, and now it's all gone back a few steps meaning I'm nowhere near as strong in the lift. Having these on the minute was really mentally tough, it essentially meant I had a 20 second rest in between sets as I was going slowly with the reps, my legs are still shaking now as I type this up, the next morning! WOD: 5 rounds for time (15 min time cap) 10 box jumps @ 24" 15 push ups 20 hollow rocks Completed in 11:32. As I suspected before starting the push ups were the bit that got to me on this, and I was having to break them into 2s and 3s on the last two rounds. I was really trying to concentrate on keeping my core tight though and not letting myself sag in the middle as I often do under fatigue, so I'll take that small victory where I can.

Crossfit 19/05/14 Warm Up: Run 400m 3 rounds of: 10 push ups pull up progressions 30 second wall handstand then 200m run Skills: 3 minute double under Struggled to get more than 12 in a chain with this, probably didn't even make 100 reps in 3 minutes. A poor day for double unders Strength: 5x3 strict press @ 37.5kg Superset with 5 chin ups Felt great today, might even have been able to do this at 40kg, which was my 1RM until recently. WOD: 4 rounds for time (16 minute cap): 20 kettlebell swings @ 32kg (no way was I doing 32kg, I opted for 16kg) 15 burpees 400m run I hit the time cap with 3 kettlebell swings left and the run in the last round.

Crossfit 14/05/14 Warm Up: 1km run 3 rounds of: 10 HoG push ups 10 ring dips 30 double unders then 400m run (Struggled with the ring dips here) Skills: 3 rounds of: 6 strict chin ups (had to break these into sets of 3) 20 banded good mornings 30 second ring dip hold (hold at the bottom for 30 seconds, then complete the rep. A real struggle so I had to do it in 3 reps of 10 seconds each) 50 unbroken double unders (max I made was 30 in this, I'd still be there now if I went for 3 rounds of unbroken 50s). WOD: 15 minute AMRAP 3-6-9-12-15....ladder Wall balls @ 9kg Hollow rocks Bodyweight lunges This started off easy, but quickly mounted up. I made it to 17 wall balls into the round of 21.

Crossfit 13/05/14 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 100m run Complex: 3 deadlift, 3 power clean, 3 hang power clean @ 20kg increasing each round 6 knees-to-elbows 9 push ups Strength: Barbell complex - 12 minutes - on the minute: 1 deadlift, 1 power clean, 1 hang power clean I started at 47.5kg and increased over a few sets to 52.5kg. It felt ok, but I couldn't get my elbows up very quickly today. Not sure why. WOD: 400m sprint (1.25) 2 minute rest Then 5 minutes to complete the following, break up how you choose: 40 handstand push ups 40 toes-to-bar (scaled to knees-to-elbows) 2 minute rest Then 5 minutes to complete the following, break up how you choose: 50 kettlebell swings (16kg for me) 30 pull ups 2 minute rest 400m sprint (1.40) I managed 30 HSPU and 30 knees to elbows in the 5 minutes. Then 40 kettlebell swings and 22 pull ups. I chose 16kg for the kettlebell, but it actually felt pretty light and I should have gone for 24kg. The first sprint felt pretty good but the last was much tougher.

Crossfit - 09/05/14 Warm Up: 300m row 3 rounds: 5 thruster - increasing load 7 knees-to-elbows Strength: 10 minutes, on the minute: 3 thrusters @ 40kg 5 knees-to-elbows This was horrible, I found the thrusters so hard towards the final sets, but battled through. Ugh! Stamina: 1km row - 4 minutes WOD: 6 minute AMRAP Kipping pull ups Push ups The idea of this was that when you have to break on the pull ups you move to the push ups, and then back to the pull ups when you break on the push ups...etc etc etc. It was really tough, I started off with around 5 pull ups per set, but that dropped to 3 ish on the later rounds. Push ups were slightly more, but I have literally no idea how many I was doing as I just went to the point of exhaustion.

Crossfit - 08/05/14 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 1 length bear crawl 8 V-Ups 1 length spiderman lunge 10 kettlebell swings @ 16kg Skills: 4 rounds 50 unbroken double unders 45 second wall handstand hold 12 V-Ups Strength: 4x10 front rack barbell lunges 30kg, 40kg, 45kg, 47.5kg WOD: 12 minute AMRAP 200m run 20 plate twists @ 20kg (Scaled to 15kg) 12kb swings @ 32kg (scaled to 24kg) 8 ring dips I was just shy of completing 4 rounds. I need to work on ring dips to get these smooth and also get efficiency with the kip. At the moment they’re all done strict and it’s slow and hard going. The kettlebells were the worst part of this WOD though.

It is fun, the variation keeps me coming back. Still slowly gaining weight, although I have been on tour for most of the last week, which includes lots of beer, bad diet, lack of sleep and no training, so I'm not sure where my readings will lie when I weigh in tomorrow.

Crossfit - 07/05/14 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 1 length bear crawl 15 second wall facing handstand 8 good mornings with pipe Skills: 3 rounds: 3 muscle ups/chest-to-bar pull ups depending on skill level 10 handstand push ups 15 banded good mornings 60 second plank SO PLEASED! I slightly widened my grip on the pull ups in an attempt to really try to nail chest-to-bar pull ups now that I've got the kip technique, and YES IT WORKED! Chest touched bar, every rep. WOOOO! Handstand pushups were done with one abmat, and were pretty easy. I need to do these at Rx now. Good mornings were easy. 60 second plank....ouch. I managed the first round unbroken, but I had to break the second and third rounds into 30 second planks. Strength: 3x5 close grip bench press - 50kg Only had time to complete two sets of this unfortunately, but felt fairly good at this weight. Hard, but doable. WOD: 12 minute AMRAP 6 deadlift @ bodyweight (72.5kg) 12 HoG push ups 6 explosive squat jumps over bar Completed 5 rounds, 6 deadlifts and 10 push ups Rx The deadlifts were easy, but the push ups are still a huge weakness. It's only 12 reps per round, but I was really struggling to do more than a couple in a go. To be fair though there had been a huge amount of pushing in the session up to this point.

Crossfit - 01/05/15 Warm Up: 3 rounds: 30 second squat hold 10 thrusters @ 20kg 5 burpees 5 kettlebell sumodeadlift high-pull @ 24kg Strength: 5RM Back Squat - 75kg I've done this weight for 5 before, but I struggled with it today, again struggling to keep my chest up. WOD: 3 rounds, 1 minute on each: Thrusters @ 40kg Burpees Kettlebell SDHP @ 32kg (scaled to 24kg) Sit ups Total 161 reps. Thrusters at 40kg really took it out of me in this WOD. They were doable, but just slow. Tried to make up for it in the other movements, but not amazingly successfully.

Crossfit - 29/04/14 Warm Up:  3 rounds: 1 length walking lunge 10 ring rows 1 length walking lunge 30 second handstand hold Strength:  4 x 12 barbell step ups with 20" box - 20, 30, 35, 37.5kg - PR! These weren't nice, but I was pleased that I got up to 37.5kg. That's the most I've done, and doing it for 12 reps (6 each leg) means that there is more there. WOD:  For time 15-12-9-6-3 Deadlift @ 90kg (scaled to 70kg) Handstand push up - (used 1 abmat) Ring Row Completed in 11:08 This wasn't too bad, I did the first round unbroken, which is a record for handstand push ups (all kipped). I had to scale the deadlift as 90kg for 45 reps would have really got tough quickly. Pretty pleased with this in general.

Crossfit - 28/04/14 Warm Up: 400m run 2 rounds of: 5 front squat @ 20kg 5 clean @ 20kg 5 thruster @ 20kg 5 knees-to-elbows 5 toes-to-bar 5 box jumps 5 ring rows Strength: Front squat 3x3 @ 70% - 55kg 3x2 @ 80% - 65kg 3x1 @ 85% - 70kg I had to guess my 1RM here, as unbelievably I’ve never tested this with front squat. I guessed at around 80kg, but I probably could have gone up a little, this all felt manageable. WOD: 4 rounds for time: 100m run 15 box jumps @ 24” (scaled to 10 reps) 15 toes-to-bar (scaled to 10 reps, and also knees to elbows for 2 rounds) 15 ring dips (scaled to 10 bench dips) I had to scale the ring dips and toes-to-bar on this WOD, which also meant dropping the reps in accordance with the coaches programming. Fair enough. Blasted through it and got done fairly quickly, the main hindrence was the toes-to-bar, which went ok for round 1, but after that I had to do knees-to-elbow every few reps and then another couple of toes-to-bar. These are getting better however.

Olympic Lifting - 27/04/14 5x2 hang clean, jerk on last rep - 50kg 5x2 clean, jerk on last rep - 50kg All cleans felt solid and I could have upped the weight, however the jerk foot position still isn’t confident so I kept it where I was comfortable. As the reps went on this got better and better.

Nice, I'll look out for that place then. If you plan to come along let me know and I'll get you on the guestlist.

We are playing southampton on June 28th actually. At the Firehouse.

Blatant plug, but I might as well put this out here. One of my bands, Desecration (death metal) are releasing our new album, Cemetery Sickness on June 26th. Here's a bit of blurb along with a trailer and link to pre-order if it's your sort of thing. Thanks for reading UK death metal veterans DESECRATION have today revealed details for their forthcoming new album. The new album, entitled 'Cemetery Sickness', will be released on 26th June 2014 via Metal Age Productions. Comments vocalist/guitarist Ollie Jones: “There is no particular theme to this album but several of the songs are set in the graveyard. We've tried to hit the gore and perversion extremities that we’ve touched on from the start of the bands career but now we are playing better than ever.” In relation to previous album ‘Forensix’, ‘Cemetery Sickness’ is more of the same only better and in terms of production... “We've gone for a natural drum sound and generally keeping it old school as that's what we are fans of.” ‘Cemetery Sickness’ was recorded at Sonic Forge Studio, Cardiff, Wales and was produced by Joe Thompson. Jumali Katani who is known for his work with Scent Of Death & Thy Art Is Murder amongst others undertook artwork for ‘Cemetery Sickness’. Tracklist: Cemetery Sickness Coffin Smasher I, Cadaver Recipes of Horror Rotten Brain Extraction Cunt Full of Maggots Cabletie Castrator Mortuary Debauchery Tactile Necrophile Cut Up & Fed To The Dog Grave Secrets Formed in 1993, Desecration hit the headlines almost immediately with their debut album ‘Gore & Perversion’ (1995), which was immediately banned upon release. The artwork and lyrics led the band to their arrest under the Obscene Publications Act. A one-year court case was eventually dropped but they were warned to ‘tone down’ in the future. Naturally, after lying low for a short period of time Desecration hit back, this time with a new album entitled ‘Murder in Mind’ (1998). The band also penned a track for this album titled ‘A Message To The Censors’. Fast-forwarding, Desecration went on to release four more albums, 'Inhuman' (2000), ‘Pathway To Deviance’ (2002), ‘Process of Decay’ (2005) & ‘Forensix’ (2008). The band also embarked on numerous tours over the years, headlining and sharing stages with bands such as Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel, Vader, Deicide, Napalm Death and Behemoth just to name a few. All three members of Desecration also play in punk grinders Extreme Noise Terror and Mic has recently joined UK thrashers Onslaught. http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a54/andi666/Desecration/noname_zps1bf8e9b6.jpg~original Pre-Order ‘Cemetery Sickness’ Here - http://desecration.bandcamp.com http://www.desecration.co.uk https://www.facebook.com/desecrationuk

They are actually the most fun of all the workout I just did. There's something about slamming a medicine ball as hard as you can into the ground before heading off to work that is quite soothing. Things are good thanks, training 4-5 days a week where possible, both bands are busy with new albums on the way. One band is having a big album announcement release today, we've never had professional PR people before so I'm looking forward to seeing what they've done and whether it'll gain any new interest. If you're interested keep your eye out on https://www.facebook.com/desecrationuk I've been reading your journal too, shifting some serious weight around there Ross, really cool stuff.

Crossfit 24/04/14 Warm Up:  3 rounds: 10 push ups 10 pull ups 10 ball slams @ 9kg Strength:  3 x 8 Bench press @ 70% - 45kg 70% of my 1RM is actually closer to 42.5kg, but after I did the first set at that weight I figured I'd up it a little to 45kg as it felt doable, and it was....just. WOD:  12 minute AMRAP 8 ball slams @ 9kg 8 push press @ 40kg (scaled to 35kg) 8 box jumps @ 24" 8 v-ups Completed 5 rounds, 8 ball slams and 5 push press. Push press got difficult very quickly, but the most I broke them was into two sets of 4. Really tough mentally as for some reason I thought it was an 8 minute AMRAP going in to the WOD, and when Coach Ffred called halfway at 6 minutes my heart sank into my guts. I managed to keep a good pace throughout and got it done.

Crossfit 23/04/14 Warm Up: 100m run 1 deadlift with pipe 2 hang power cleans with pipe 2 shoulder to overhead with pipe 100m run 1 deadlift @ 20kg 2 hang power cleans @ 20kg 2 shoulder to overhead @ 20kg Mobility Build weight in the above complex up to working weight in strength section Strength: 12 minutes, on the minute, all the following as a complex: 1 deadlift 2 hang power clean 2 shoulder to overhead I did the first set at 50kg, and then dropped to 45kg. The shoulder to overhead were push press for the first 6 rounds and then push jerk for the remaining. Had I remembered I could push jerk for the movement I would have stuck to 50kg. WOD: 10 wall balls @ 9kg 10 toes-to-bar 100m run 9 wall balls @ 9kg 9 toes-to-bar 100m run 8 wall balls.... 8 ..... 100... 7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Completed in around 15 minutes, although I had to scale the toes-to-bar to knees-to-elbows for the middle rounds as I just couldn't get my toes up there. Something I need to work on there, I'm ok up to around 5-10 reps on toes-to-bar, but any more and it goes out of the window.