AndiMorris

By the way, this should have read make your armpit face as forward as possible. Sorry.

Crossfit 19/03/14 Warm Up: 1 mile run 2 rounds of: 2 lengths bear crawl 10 good mornings with pipe 10 push ups 10 air squats Mobility Lift: Bench Press - 3x5 @ 80% - 50kg Super set with max effort toes-to-bar 7-6-5 WOD: 10 minute AMRAP 10 push ups 10 kettle bell swings @ 24kg 100m run Completed 5 rounds, 10 push ups and 9 kettlebell swings. Pretty pleased with the bench press today, it’s only 50kg still, but last time I tried 3x5 at 47.5kg I failed on the last set. It felt relatively easy today, so hopefully I’m getting stronger in this department. The toes-to-bar were pretty bad at only 7 reps, 6 reps and then 5 reps. I know I can get more than that, but I always need to reset after each rep, which takes longer and therefore grip starts to go before anything else. This is the same problem I have with kipping pull ups, so hopefully practicing one will benefit the other. The WOD was tough, I had real trouble maintaining a tight core in the push ups, and kept catching myself worming back up. Also I usually do these WODs with a 16kg kettlebell, but as strength is my goal I tried this with a 24kg and was pleasantly surprised at myself, doing all rounds unbroken. They weren’t easy though! Rest day tomorrow, in preparation for the next Crossfit Open workout on Friday at 6:30am.

Crossfit - 18/03/14 Warm Up: 4 rounds of: 3 x deadlift @ 20kg 3 x hang power clean @ 20kg 3 x push jerk @ 20kg 10 wall balls @ 7kg 2 length bear crawl Lift: 3x3 Power clean @ 80% (47.5kg) 3x3 push jerk @ 80% (50kg) Wod: 12 minute AMRAP 5 deadlifts @ 70% (70kg) 15 wall balls @ 9kg (Scaled to 7kg) - Completed 6 rounds, 5 deadlifts and 13 wall balls. Another early morning session done. Both power cleans and push jerk felt pretty good today, I need to catch the bar with my elbows up in the power clean, rather than lifting the elbows into rack position as an after thought. I also need to get the confidence to drop the bar back onto my shoulders from an overhead position, which will save me energy in the future. I can't see to bring myself to do it at the moment and slowly lower it down. 70% of my 1RM on deadlift is actually closer to 80kg, but seeing as the last workout I did had a lot of heavy deadlifts I dropped this down a little. I went for 7kg wall balls so that I could try and get more in. I need to start reintroducing the 9kg back so that I get used to it again. Just two reps off completing the seventh round was frustrating too. Should've just taken 10 seconds less rest somewhere.

Crossfit 16/03/14 -Open Workout 14.3 Warm Up: 4 rounds of 30 single unders 10 single leg raises 10 glute bridges 8 light deadlifts Then build up weight on deadlift to get used to the weights in the WOD ahead WOD: 8 minute AMRAP: 10 deadlifts, 135lb / 62.5kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch 15 deadlifts, 185lb / 85kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch 20 deadlifts, 225lb / 102.5kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch 25 deadlifts, 275lb / 125kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch 30 deadlifts, 315lb / 145kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch 35 deadlifts, 365lb / 167.5kg 15 box jumps, 24 / 20 inch I knew from the start I would only be getting as far as the 102.5kg round on the deadlifts, and my goal was just to get out as many as I could at that weight. I'm pretty pleased that I got 10 reps out at that weight out, 65 reps in total. Not in any way record breaking, I'm pleased with it.

Rossco, you can buy kriek (cherry beer) in Tesco. I can't remember the name of the brand, but I think the bottles are entirely wrapped in paper so they stand out. Really good stuff.

Your form looks good for the OHS I would say, especially if that's a 20kg bar and you've only just started doing them! However you really need to lock your arms out with active shoulders. When the bar is in the overhead position try to turn your arms so that the inside of your elbow is facing as forward as possible. This will make sure your shoulders are in external rotation, which is a good stable place for them to be when they're under load. At the moment yours seem to bend as you are rising out of the squat. Try it with a plastic pipe to start with if it feels weird. If you think of your arms like metal rods when doing this exercise that might help. You're squatting, there shouldn't be a press involved in an OHS. It could potentially be a shoulder mobility issue too, if your shoulders wont get into the correct position, it might stop you getting low enough without the weight tipping. You look like you're nearly low enough for me anyway. Anything below parallel counts in my book. I'm not in any way a coach mind, so please if someone more qualified or experienced says anything contrary to what I've said, follow their advice first

Wow, that's an amazing choice already. Thanks. you probably just listed more vegan places in Brooklyn than there is in the entire of Wales. To be perfectly honest I doubt I'll go to the crossfit box to do more than just buy a t-shirt, but who knows. It depends how good the beer is Thanks for the advice, I'm not married yet, but yes she is pretty damn cool. If vegan drinks has a meet while we're there we may well go.

Crossfit - 13/03/14 Warm Up 500m row 10 pipe passthroughs Burgener snatch warm up Strength 5x3 snatch, building weight to 3RM - 30kg - PB 3x5 back squat @ 80% - 72.5kg 3RM sumo deadlift - 105kg - PB Skills 3 sets of max effort handstand push ups - 11, 1, 3 I love sessions like these that just concentrate on strength building. I had never done a 3RM on snatch before, and I think I probably could have gone higher than 30kg, but I know form was slipping and I'm chasing the bar. 30kg is still a PB though as it was the first one Back squat, first time in a while as I've been concentrating on front squat to try to keep my chest up. I still struggled keeping my chest up, but it's getting there. I really do find some time to do some accessory work for this however, things like GHD raises, good mornings, toes-to-bar etc. Still I got through at 72.5, so that's better than it has been. Sumo deadlift felt good. My 1RM was 120kg, my 5RM was 100kg, so I was hoping for around 105kg for the 3RM, which I managed with relative ease (it still felt hard, but felt good). I think with a little more time I could have got 110kg for 3. Still, another PB in the bank. Kipping handstand push ups have also progressed. I've only been able to do them in the past with an extra abmat, which lessens the range of motion. I did the first set like this, and got 11 reps out, equalling my previous PB for this, however I decided that for the next two sets I'd have a go at doing this as recommended, so that your head is level with your hands when at the bottom (I use 2 * 15kg plates either side of an abmat, for a bit of head comfort). The first set like this didn't go well and I got one messy rep, but the second I readjusted my position and got 3 out, with a little practice I can get more like this. Any time HSPUs come up now I'll try the recommended version. Weighed in this morning at 70.7 kilos (11st2lbs). Pleased with that, I'm hoping that next week this will have gone up to around the 71 kilo mark. We'll see.

Ha, nice. It's actually a port, rather than a porter. I'm not sure if you get that in the USA, but it's a fortified wine, kind of halfway between red wine and brandy. I would love to do a berry porter or stout though! My garden is actually tiny, but I'm trying to make the most of it for veg growing. I hardly got any last year, but I'm trying again this year but with more raised beds when I can persuade my Dad to give me a hand making them. Thanks for checking out the blog

Crossfit 12/03/14 Warm Up: 800m run 3 rounds of: 5 push ups 3 wall walks 5 air squats 3 box jumps @ 24" Then: Clean mobility Lift: 5x2 hang clean @ 80% - 50kg - PB WOD: 3 rounds for time: 21 power cleans @ 50kg (40kg level 2 scale) 15 box jumps @ 24" 10 minute time cap - DNF Hang clean last night felt ten times better than it did in barbell club on Sunday. No idea why, but 50kg felt pretty easy, even in the high hang position. I'm really making sure I shrug hard, and try to get the second pull in properly. If I can nail that then I think it will really help me throw more weight up there. I think I could have gone quite a bit higher on this lift, but it was supposed to be at 80%, and although I didn't have a 1RM set for high hang clean this felt about right, and there was also a lot of cleans coming up in the WOD so I left something in the tank. The WOD finished me. Again I decided on the level 2 scale to push my strength capacity, and it was a good choice, but it got heavy fast. the first round went quickly, but the second round of power cleans were in 2s or 3s. The box jumps were fine as long as I just kept chipping away. They weren't fast, but they were steady with no missed reps. I managed to get 16 reps of the last set of power cleans before the time ran out. Thursday has been a rest day for me over the last two weeks as the open workouts are done in the Friday morning session, however I can't make Friday morning this week, and I am going to a(nother) beer festival in the evening, so Saturday morning is also not a sensible time to do 14.3. This only leave me Sunday morning, so I may well be doing a double session on Sunday, with the open WOD first, and then barbell club straight afterwards. This should make up for the two days without training in between.

Glad to see you're on the mend emotionally. Just spotted you're in Brooklyn. I'll be travelling there in December for my honeymoon, looking for vegan eat, craft beer treats and if I'm feeling up for it perhaps a couple of visits to a crossfit box there. Any recommendations?

Yep, I make one every day, and split it into two portions. Perhaps I need to be having two every day, four portions!!!! 80-100g oats 3 bananas 1 spoon peanut butter 2 spoons flaxseed 2 scoops protein 5g creatine water

Ah that's a shame. It was worth a shot though. Better luck next time.

No, that's very clear, thank you

Approximately how many calories are you planning to eat per day? I always have a hard time bulking without it turning to fat.

Dude, you look solid! That's the kind of physique I'd love to achieve to spread the message that vegans are not skinny weaklings (pretty much where I currently am).

Crossfit - 11/03/14 Warm Up: 5 minute AMRAP 30 second wall handstand 10 ring rows 10 press @ 20kg 10 kettlebell swings @ 16kg Skills: 5 minutes pull up practise Lift: 3x5 press @ 80% (35kg) WOD: 3 rounds for time 21 push press @ 50kg (Level 2 scale - 35kg) 15 pull ups 12 minute time cap For the skills section I really wanted to work on chaining my kipping pull ups properly. This is something I've worked on before, and got somewhere, but then lost it again. I always seem to need to reset after each rep. So this time I made sure to push away at the top, and try to get my feet in the right position to chain into the next rep. I had some success, I chained 4 or 5 reps together on the first go. They weren't amazing reps, and I could feel the timing was off somewhere between my upper and lower body, but it was an improvement. I've been reading a lot about the technique of the kipping pull up recently, and I am really going to give this a go whilst maintaining a good hollow position where possible for maximised efficiency and also safety. 80% of my 1RM press is actually 32.5kg, but I did a 5x5 at that weight a couple of weeks ago, so I know I'm capable of more, therefore I bumped this up to 35kg. The first two sets were fine, but on the third set I rushed into it, and bailed after 4 reps. However I miscalculated the time and had another 5 minutes, so gave myself 4 minutes rest, and then completed the last set with comparative ease. Before going into the WOD I knew that 35kg for the push press would get heavy very quickly for me, but if the open has taught me anything it's to lift weight where you can, and if nothing else I would go slower and give myself a good strength workout, which is exactly what happened. I didn't finish the workout within the timecap, but made it through to 8 reps of the last round of push press. That's pretty good volume for me at that weight. The pull ups weren't really an issue, and if nothing else they were almost like a rest between the push presses. Last night I had another go at the stage I'm at for the 100 push up challenge too. I'm at week 3 day 2, but failed it last time, so gave it another go. The layout was supposed to be the following: 14 reps 19 reps 14 reps 14 reps Max reps (min 19) 90 second rest between sets (longer if required). The only set that felt in any way easy was set 1. After that my triceps were burning! There was no way I was going to be able to do this with only 90 seconds rest, so upped this to 2 minutes for the earlier sets, and actually rested for 4 minutes before the final set. Unfortunately I only made it to 13 reps on the last set, so I'm still stuck at this level. Frustrating, but with food, sleep and patience I'll make it up a level soon (hopefully).

Nice, thanks

Out of interest, the blood panel test you had, is that something provided by your GP, and is it something you have to pay for? I've always wondered if my test levels are anywhere near where they should be.

Barbell club (olympic lifting) - 09/03/14 Warm Up: 300m row 30 x 30s front squat hold 5 x power clean @ 20kg 5 x clean @ 20kg 5 x jerk @ 20kg Lift: 3x2 high hang clean and jerk - 40kg 3x2 hang clean and jerk - 42.5kg 3x2 below knee hang clean and jerk - 42.5kg 3x2 clean and jerk - 42.5kg This was my first time clean and jerking for months, and it really showed, I just couldn't get in the swing of it. The cleans weren't a problem at that weight and there wasn't a single failed lift, but I can tell I'm chasing the bar forward in the clean, meaning I'm not shrugging it enough, or perhaps popping too early. My foot position in the landing stages of the jerk weren't great either. These really need some work. In better news, one of the coaches gave me a tip to get chest to bar pull ups done, which was reversing my grip, more like a chest to bar chin up. Straight off the bat I managed 5 chest to bars with comparative ease. This is obviously only a progressive move to the real thing, but it felt good finally getting that connection.

Crossfit - 07/03/14 - Open Workout 14.2 The second workout towards of this years Crossfit Open, and another time I did this as part of the Friday morning class. The workout was: 0:00-3:00 minutes 2 rounds of: 10 overhead squat @ 45kg for males 10 chest to bar pull ups If you make it through those in the time cap then onto: 3:00-6:00 minutes 2 rounds of: 12 overhead squat @ 45kg for males 12 chest to bar pull ups And so on, with each interval adding two reps on to the movements until you can no longer complete this with that 3 minute section. Now with a 52.5kg PB for overhead squat I and the fact that I have only ever made one C2B pull up in my life, I had full intention on scaling both the weight, and the movement down to approximately 35kg and regular kipping pull ups. However, this was not an option. The level 2 scale was still with the full Rx weight, just with regular pull ups, and the level 1 scale was 30kg and band assisted pull ups. I didn’t want to do band assisted pull ups, I personally don’t get on very well with them, and wanted to do regular kipping pull ups, so I had no choice but to bite the bullet and squat at 45kg. The only way I was going to achieve this was to clean the weight up, push press it out, lower onto my neck and then push press up into the overhead squat stance. I’m not entirely sure that was allowed as part of the standards for the competition, but as I was scaling anyway, and I’m not registered..what the hell. I surprised myself in managing to get 8 reps off the bat in one set, and could maybe have squeezed the last two out, but the arm shakes were setting in and I dropped the weight out, meaning I had to reset in the method mentioned above. This takes time, and my squats weren’t exactly lightning speed, so by the time I’d completed 10 reps of the squat I only had 30 seconds left of the first interval. I quickly ran over to the bar and knocked out 8 kipping pull ups before the time ran out. So, a grand total of 18 reps for my 14.2 result. I’m not completely disheartened as 8 reps at 45kg was easily a PB for that amount of reps, but it was disappointing to only get in a 3 minute workout today. If I’m feeling up for it I might pop into the gym tomorrow and attempt the same workout, but with 35kg on the bar, and regular kipping pull ups, just to see how I would have gone. We’re bound to attempt this workout again in the future, so it will be nice to see how I progress, from getting the bar overhead easily, speed and strength on the squats, and hopefully chest to bars nailed too.

Have a look for a book called You are your own gym. It's entirely bodyweight stuff. Best of luck.

Those pistols are badass! I've just remembered I put pistols on my "to achieve" list for 2014, but I don't think I've attempted a single one this year. I must rectify this.

Oh man, that made my balls rise up into my body! Hope it's not too painful and you're recovering.

Respect!