Its me and it's her (the wife)

[Alex Burden]

Thursday morning and things are not too bad. Wife was a little more tired as she got in late last night. No soreness at all from yesterday and feeling quite nimble. So keeping with the plan for the open, low intensity on Thurdays.

Warm up
more or less nothing, a very light stretch of the legs and calfs.


Low intensity - treadmill
We chose our speed but the incline had to be 1 degree


Wife:
10 min Power walk
10 min run
7 min Power walk
7 min run
3 min Power walk
3 min run

Total distance in 40min = 5130m
total cal - 352


Myself:
10 min Power walk
10 min run
7 min Power walk
7 min run
3 min run (did not power walk, just kept going)
3 min run

Total distance in 40min = 5850m
total cal - 604


Cool down
a cruising 5min on the rower to flush the system a little

40min stretch


Nice easy controlled day today.... ready for 18.3

[Alex Burden]

Friday morning and it's here 18.3. usual routine, gte up and watch the announcement while doing my business . I am pleased we have MU's.

So the plan is that the wife will do here own thing and i will prepare and then hit 18.3.

Warm up
1km row

then split up and do our own thing

Wife:
She did her own thing, a lot of hip work and rehab movements to strengthen and aid her hip flexors and quads. She worked on this for 50min and got a real sweat on today. She was really pleased with the results and how she felt afterwards.



Workout 18.3

2 rounds for time of:
100 double-unders
20 overhead squats
100 double-unders
12 ring muscle-ups
100 double-unders
20 dumbbell snatches
100 double-unders
12 bar muscle-ups

Men perform 115-lb/52kgs. OHS, 50-lb/22.5kgs. DB snatches

Time cap: 14 minutes


Result: 332 reps

There are 2 seperators right from the start that are going to split the field. The 52kg/115lb OHS will be heavy for allot of people and completing 20 of them will break many people, then you have the MU's that a lot of people have yet to master and for those that MU if you miss a rep you have to rest even more and 12 reps will be tough for a lot of people.

So before going into this WOD i had a plan and that was to complete the MU's. I know i can do them but to be safe i did them strict so as not to risk anything and did singles. I took my time and had just enough time to complete the DU's after that.

The plan for Monday is to kip the MU's from the start and speed them up a little but the main goal is to get to the dumbbell and complete at least 1 rep.

All i can say is plan this one because it is going to burn and if you fail any of the OHS/MU reps you will burn out early.


Cool Down
clean up my crap and breath

Wife tried her T2B technique and bingo she did 3 singles she was so happy jumping around like the jumping pepper This was the best part we can take from today... so proud of her.

[Alex Burden]

Woke up in realy early this morning and had trouble getting beck to sleep.. my brain was on the go and it took time to fall asleep again. When we did wake up when the alarm clock went off i was not as tired as i thought i might have been. Wife was also a little tired but in a really good mood.

Monday morning and it is moving day .... i have been looking at the scores for 18.3 over the weekend and as i predicted this is going to be a seperator for allot of people and today i am going to seperate myself even more and hopefully put myself back on track for my goal for The 2018 Open. The weight of the OHS and the MU's are putting people to the test. I was so focused on my plan because i need to move to reach my goal.

Same plan as last week, wife does her own thing and then she judges me.

Warm up
1km on the rower
PVC pipe work - we actually did some mobility work at home yesterday and a lot of shoulder mobility. It really showed this morning, we both felt very nimble.

From here we split up and did our own thing.

I started to set up my stuff to make sure i have everything i need where i want it. Started to hit squats, OHS, some strict C2B, DU's and snatches all in different quantities to increase my heart rate. I was in a comfortable zone after 50min of preperation, then it was time to go. My goal was to complete at least 1 DB snatch or at least 333 reps


Workout 18.3 - repeat

2 rounds for time of:
100 double-unders
20 overhead squats
100 double-unders
12 ring muscle-ups
100 double-unders
20 dumbbell snatches
100 double-unders
12 bar muscle-ups

Men perform 115-lb/52kgs. OHS, 50-lb/22.5kgs. DB snatches

Time cap: 14 minutes

Previous Result: 332 reps

Today's Result: 348 reps


*So today my plan was sets of 25 on the DU's to keep the heart rate down, first 100 completed in 1.30.
*OHS - snatch strait into the squat position and complete 7,7,6... took time to breath in between.
*2nd round of DU's same sets of 25... missed twice in 2 of the sets of 25 but kept calm. Was done with these 6.14 which is 22 seconds faster than on Friday but i felt really good and the heart rate was not bad.
*MU's - same as on Friday 12 strict one's and no failures, and was faster at completing them.
*3rd round DU's - just keep calm and breath, missed twice but did not panik and when i was done the clock said 13.18, i know had 40 seconds on the DB snatches
*DN snatches... did my first rep and knew that i have beated my score.. then it was to just try and rep it out right to the end.... 16 reps.... so F"#¤%n pleased with that result.

Wife was really good at judging and she kept to her plan on the counting and pushed me at the right time.



The Wife
She did this before she judged me


8, 6, 4, 2 - Deadlift 50kgs + 5 after every round
4, 3, 2, 1 - Farmers walk (KB overhead) 12 + 16kgs
8, 6, 4, 2 - Push ups
4, 3, 2, 1 - Sledge push 30kgs + 5kgs after every round
8, 6, 4, 2 - Weighted walk (grip) 5kg bumper weight walk

1 length = 20meters

Wife was quite pleased with what she did and felt it was a good push and pull WOD. Not difficult but focus on quality.


Cool down
breath, sweat and clean up my crap..

then a stretch for 15min or so, wife stretched for maybe 25min in total.


Great start to the week

[Vic McQuaide]

348! Congrats on the big improvement.

[Alex Burden]

Cheers Vic i was really pleased with it and it has more or less shot me back in line with my goal top 15% worldwide for the masters. All that technique work on the Mu's paid off , just need to keep my game head on for the final 2 weeks.


Woke up early again today for some reason which meant i was a little a little more tired today. My calfs and upper back were sore today and will need a little extra attension. Wife was tired and said she feels as if she was getting sick or maybe she was blown out from yesterday, will have toi wait and see.

As usual the plan after every week of the open is to focus on the wife and do a partner workout.



Warm up
1km or 5min on the rower
PVC pipe work and band work on the shoulders

light stretch and warm up with all of the movements to come.
All in all 40min preperation



Partner workout
3 rounds each of

7/10 Cal AAB
7/10 wallballs 6/9kgs
7/10 Cal AAB
7/10 C2B/pull ups
7/10 Cal AAB
7/10 T2B/K2C
7/10 Cal AAB
7/10 KB swings 16/24kgs

Wife = 7 reps
Myself =10 reps

This was not for time and no stress but all of the reps must be unbroken. So the wife started and i followed after her. The only time you really got any rest if you were lucky was when one of us was on the AAB. The wife enjoyed this one today and got a good burn from it. I was pleased with my pacing and controlling my heart rate throughout.


Cool Down
Clean up our mess

stretch for 30min

[Alex Burden]

Almost forgot to post a blogg for today

Wednesday morning and both of us are feeling well rested. Little sore here and there but nothing to complain about.

Plan - rear delts and focus on deep back muscles.


Warm up
1km on the rower
PVC pipe work for 5min
some light restance band rope work to loosen up the shoulders and back 5min



Plan
Thew following were very light resistance to build up a good blood flow and pump in the muscles before moving on.
6sets x 16 reps - Restance band rope row from high pull position
6sets x 16 reps - Restance Band Front Deltoid Raise

8 x 8 reps - lower trap, rear delt activation face down on bench, using small plates
6 x 8 reps - single arm, DB rear delt flyes
6 x 8 reps - Bench facing DB rows with a twist

Total focus on the feeling and connection with the muscles. Good pump after that.


To finish it off
Row 250m making sure we use the remaining energy and form correctly even when the back and delts are tired. Even though back is 30% of the total power used for rowing it was a perfect end.

Round 1 - Row 250m 22 stroke rate, drag 125 wife, 134 myself, this was our baseline.
Wife - 1.10.4
Myself - 56.4

Round 2 - Row 250m drag 125 wife, 134 myself, 5 big long strong fast pulls to get the fan going and then you have to settle back down to 22 strokes/min. We both found it really hard to try and slow down the stokes and hardly used any effort.
Wife - 1.08.1
Myself - 47.7

Round 3 - Row 250m drag 125 wife, 134 myself, start with 5 big long strong pulls and then continue at your own pace
Wife - 1.02.7
Myself - 47.8

Round 4 - Row 250m drag 125 wife, 134 myself - for time, go for it
Wife - 55.8
Myself - 42.7

The final round was so much better and our form was really good. average time for 500m was low and i believe we both could have held it for 500m. Yes the heart rate was high afterwards but we weren't blown out and our stroke rate was around 33 which means we were very efficient. Nice bit of fun.


Cool down
Upper body stretch for 20min

[Alex Burden]

Thursday morning and feeling really good. I came home early from work yesterday and took the chance to have a power snooze for just over an hour on the soffa/couch .

Plan - low intensity Thursday as part of the open planning

Warm up
A 2min light stretch on the legs



Treadmill
4min - Walk
4min - Run
8min - Walk
8min - Run
12min - Walk
12min - Run

Distance:
Wife - 5060m (359cals)
Myself - 7230m (745cals)

The wife started to feel her knee after the 4min run so she decided to walk the rest of the time and to increase the load she increased the incline to as high as 10 degrees.


Cool Down
35min stretch and mobility


and that was that... 18.4 next

[Alex Burden]

Friday morning and it is 18.4. The same routine... get the ipad out and check it out.... strait after Dave threw it in our faces i had a plan in my head.


Warm up
1.5km on the rower
PVC pipe work

Wife then went on to complete her warm up and i did mine in preparation for 18.4. I spent maybe 50min getting ready and taking it easy. This one is not going to gas me as i know from the start HSPU are going to be difficult as i weight 99kgs/218lbs and have long arms plus i can only do strict ones. Goal was to complete at least 10 HSPUs.

17.4 last year i could not do 1 HSPU, so just completing 1 is an improvement. I have done a few over the past few months but only strict ones so i have no idea how many i can do now, but it is game on. Last year 62% of all the men could not do 1 HSPU in 17.4 so th equestion is how much they have progressed over the past year.


Workout 18.4

For time:
21 deadlifts, 225 lb.
21 handstand push-ups
15 deadlifts, 225 lb.
15 handstand push-ups
9 deadlifts, 225 lb.
9 handstand push-ups
21 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk
15 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk
9 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk

Time cap: 9 min.

Result - 35 reps

The Deadlifts are not a problem but i still decided to do singles to keep calm and release the tension from my arms.. this took 1.43. So i had 7min left and i told the wife.... new plan at least 10 but the goal is 2 per minute. I did 14 HSPUs and had no failures or no reps .

So i am really pleased with that result and i have a target to beat on Monday.

The wife
She spent 45min on rehab and stabilty exercises for her knees and hips

After judging me she practiced T2B and boy was she determined this time. Watched her complete a few singles and then a 3 but her form was sloppy. I can her a few tips and all of a sudden 3 reps were no problem she was really pleased with that and then she did 2x3 again. now i am not the best in the world at T2B but i have good form and keep my body tight, so the tips really helped her.


Cool Down
clean up and stretch for 20min

Back Monday and will be ready for the repeat.

[Alex Burden]

Monday morning and both of us are feeling quite good... Mondays are always so so as it is the start of a working week but the good thing is that it is Friday again soon

Plan for today - repeat 18.4 and wife does her thing.

Warm up
1km on the rower

then we both split up from here, the wife did her warm up and i did mine in preperation for my repeat.



The Wife:
10, 9, 8, 7, 6.....1

Wall balls 6kgs
Sit ups
KB swings 16kg
DL 45kgs

she said this took about 15min



Workout 18.4 - repeat

For time:
21 deadlifts, 225 lb.
21 handstand push-ups
15 deadlifts, 225 lb.
15 handstand push-ups
9 deadlifts, 225 lb.
9 handstand push-ups
21 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk
15 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk
9 deadlifts, 315 lb.
50-ft. handstand walk

Time cap: 9 min.

Previous result - 35 reps

Todays result - 38 reps (timecap 1.28)

So based on last weeks result i knew i could beat my result but the question was by how much. Strict HSPU's are hard work, i even tried kipping during my warm up but that did not work for me.

3.2.1 GO!
So i hit my deadlifts with singles but went faster this time and didn't use bu,mbers because the bar would bounce all over the place... completed these 15 seconds faster than on Friday.

HSPU - i did singles on these but kept myself on my knees between reps so as not to waste time. As so as i was ready i would hit a rep. All of my reps to nr 15 were perfect... nr 16 first ever "no rep" in the open, my feet came away from the wall at the top, hit nr 16 and hit nr 17. Still 30 seconds or so on the clock...nr 18 = "no rep", i just could not get past that sticking point, stepped back and rested until there were 10 seconds left... "no rep" nothing left in my shoulders, got stuck 4" up and could not lock out.

I am still pleased with the result but this might come nack to bite me and make my goal harder to reach next week. The one thing i can take from this is that i have now done 17 strict HSPU which is 17 more than last year


Cool Down
clean up and some stretching for 20min

also did some du's 6x25 just to bring the heart rate up a little.


All in all a good day

[Alex Burden]

Tuesday morning, nice and bright outside and as the sun comes up you can feel the heat , winter is on the way out.

As usual the wife an i will work out together after an open workout.

Warm up
60 cal on the rower nice and easy
PVC pipe work

General warm up and stretch in preparation for what what to come 30min in total.



So for today

5 rounds of:
10 wall balls 6/9kgs
10 C2B/pull ups
10 Box jumps 20/24"
10 Thrusters 15/43kgs

This was not for time and we moved onto the next movement at the same time, so neither of us could get ahead, this also meant you sometimes got time to rest a little. This was a simple good allrounder.


6 x 8 reps back extensions to finish things off


Cool down
clean up our crap and stretch for 20min or so.