My Quest To Become an Animal - Frankel's Log

[Daniel Frankel]

Originally Posted by Jared Ashley

Sumo is way different, and it just doesn't work for everybody. I have very short legs, a short overall height, and a very long torso, supposedly the ideal candidate for sumo.

I've tried it many times, and at weights up to about 85% of my max it feels really good. It's easier to keep the lumber spine in alignment, the ROM is noticably smaller and just feels great all-around. But when I get closer to my max it just feels awkward and doesn't work at all. I though maybe it was just unfamiliar, so I tried restarting linear progression with the sumo stance, with the same result. Everything felt great until it got heavy, and then it went to crap. At one point I hadn't lifted standard stance in months, but my DL's were going so poorly I said to hell with it mid-set and went back to standard... banged out the last couple reps with ease. couldn't tell you why.

I think it's just personal preference. most people are stronger in one stance than the other, and once you've given both a fair shot you'll know which one is right for you.

Interesting. I think it will be beneficial for me to play around with different deadlifts on my current program, which is why Im doing conventional, sumo, and snatch grip. Ill wait a couple months and see how everything feels then.

[Daniel Frankel]

November 8th

Bench Press 5-5-5

40x3x5
80x5
95x5
110x3
125x3 (Form felt off so I just repped 3 instead of 1 to get it down pat)
132.5x5 (Forgot a 2.5# plate on one sde )
150x5 (PR 15# Under my old 1RM, which was not even to my chest.)
155x4 (f)

First time benching since coming off SS, and my bench feels quite strong. Interested to see my 1RM in a couple weeks.

Waited 5-10 mins, then did:

50 KB Swings @20KG
40 Slamballs @20#
30 Situps
20 Burpees
10 Squat Clean Thrusters @95#
Time: 10:48

This got tougher as it went on, aside from the situps. Maybe I should have started with those, done 40 KB Swings, etc.

Out on a field trip from tomorrow until Friday. If I'm not super beat when I get back Friday, I'll Deadlift then, maybe just work upto one heavy set of 5 for snatch grip deadlift. Probably won't have the energy for 3 full sets.

[Daniel Frankel]

November 12th

I'm back from my trip, and was too tired for anything yesterday, so I did a quick little burner today.

3xFT:
10 Pullups
10 Pushups
10 Hang Power Clean @25# DB
10 Thrusters @25# DB

Time: 5:39

[Daniel Frankel]

November 13th

Today was harsh. Woke up at 4 in the afternoon, still sleep-deprived from my trip a couple days ago. Went to bed last night at 3 am also, and I had one meal at 4:15 before working out around 6-ish.

Back Squat 3-3-3 (Was going to do 5 sets, but was just too tired)
40x3x5
95x5
135x3
170x1
200x1
215x3
215x3
215x3

I had it in my head that I was NOT going to PR today, and I was fine with that. Had trouble finding a good bar position on my back though.

Waited about 20 mins, then:

Tabata Situps
Score: 19, 19, 18, 18, 17, 17, 17, 17
Total: 142

This made me happy.

[Daniel Frankel]

November 15th

Bench Press 3-3-3-3-3

40x3x5
80x5
95x5
115x3
130x1
140x1
150x3
155x3
160x3 (PR )
165x1 (f) (Haven't hit this since February or something like that, so I was happy.)
165x1 (f)

Waited 20 mins, and was going to do something with KB cleans and box jumps on a rock outside my house, and all of a sudden I got the courage to attempt a KB snatch, and somehow managed to do it (I've been scared of it for awhile, but it just kinda "clicked")

So I did:

3xFT:
5 KB Snatch @20KG (Per Arm)
10 Ball Slams @20#
5 KB Cleans @20KG (Per Arm)
10 Box Jumps @18"
Time: 7:39

This was cool, I liked the fact that it was KB oriented, although I felt like my callouses were catching on the handle, so I may be gripping too tight?

Also, I did a 48" box jump today with little warmup, from a standing position. I've been able to do it with a run for awhile, but I was happy I got this after a bunch of failed attempts.

[Daniel Frankel]

November 16th

5xFT:
50m Farmer's Walk, 50# DB's
7 Burpees
5 OHS @95#

Not sure why I chose 7 burpees out of any other number, but this was pretty interesting. Haven't ever put farmer's walks into a wod, but I could have gone heavier, probably 60's or something. My grip was pretty good. I was able to easily power snatch 95# which felt nice, but I need to work on my snatching in general.

Time: Not sure, because my stopwatch didn't end up starting at the beginning, but I didn't notice it. Not a big deal. I think it might have been somewhere between 10 and 12 minutes, but I guess I'll never know...

[Ben Norris]

Just thought I would come by and say nice work recently on your squatting Dan, your progress is really good mate keep it up.

[Daniel Frankel]

Originally Posted by Ben Norris

Just thought I would come by and say nice work recently on your squatting Dan, your progress is really good mate keep it up.

Thanks a lot, it means a lot to me when people tell me they've actually been looking at what I post

[Daniel Frankel]

November 17th

Snatch-Grip DL 5-5-5

40x3x5
80x5
100x3
115x1
125x1
135x5
145x5
155x5 (PR ? Technically anything was a PR today as I've never done them before )


Wasn't quite sure what to expect out of this, but at least I have a baseline now. Could have gone a little heavier, but had no camera and was not interested in risking bad form.

[Daniel Frankel]

November 18th

Hopped into my after school WOD club, coach programmed the following:

AMRAP 15 Mins:
7 Thrusters, @25# DB
15 Situps
3 Story double stair climb, once up-down (2 stairs at a time)

Score: 9 Rounds

This was terrible. I sprinted my final climb to finish the round before the clock ended, and so I felt like I almost was going to puke. This was bad, because of the fact that everything could JUST be done unbroken. I could feel it in all the movements. The last thruster, situp, and final few stairs of everything was rough.

Anyways, going to take tomorrow off, and then probably do a heavy, weighted metcon sunday and squat monday + metcon, or maybe reverse it depending on how my weekend sleep goes.