I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Today is the first day back from my little foray into lethargy after the games. It was a wonderful week of laying around and gorging on fast food, but now it's time to get back to business. The next sixteen cycles will be spent performing a variation on the Black Box format, with a focus on gymnastic skills and cardio endurance. I won't be touching weights at all for the next 64 days. My goal is to get my bodyweight back under 165 lbs, drastically improve my running and rowing times, and make marked improvements in all bodyweight exercises. I started today, with the main page workout from Sunday 7/13.

30 min AMRAP
12 walking lunges
15 GHD situps
15 hip extensions
5 muscle ups

9 rounds + 12 lunges + 8 GHD situps

I'm mad that I didn't get 10 rounds, but that's what a week of not working out and eating garbage gets you.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 2-M

3 x WU:
25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parallete HSPU's

5 rounds for time
500m row
400m run

22:19

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 3-M/G

3 x WU:

15 OHS w/ pvc
15 GHD situps
15 pullups (chest to bar)
15 hip extensions
15 ring dips

Tabata Pushups
20-20-15-12-10-10-8-7

4 rounds
400m run
50 squats (a2a)

12:19

I should have checked my last "Tabata Something Else" to better plan the pushups. I probably could have gotten a better tabata score and, possibly, a better total if I'd gamed it a little better. Run/squat time was slow; should have been running faster.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

I have the same problem every time I do tabata - Always plan out my attack wrong. But my numbers are no where near yours. Keep up the good work !

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 4- G+cardio

Today begins my first two-a-day cycle. The macro I'm using for this program uses 3-1 cycles of G-M-M/G-rest. The macro cycle goes: moderate cycle, hard cycle (two-a-days), moderate cycle, easy cycle. The program ends after the fourth easy cycle.

3 x WU:
25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chins w/ leg raise
5 parallete HSPU's

15-13-11-9-7-5-3-1 HSPU's
1-3-5-7-9-11-13-15 L-Sit Pullups

13:37

Half hour rest then

Trail Run-short course

22:50

I'm mad about my metcon time. I got 5 reps into the set of 9 HSPU's and realized that my watch had stopped at 1:27. The stop button for my wrist watches stopwatch function is on the side of the watch facing my hand. It's a new watch and the button is apparently very sensitive. Suffice it to say, I had to switch the watch position and start over.

I do my trail running on the trails that run between Landing Road and the Hilton Area of Patapsco State Park in Elkridge, MD. My short course is to take the Cascade Trail from Landing Road down to the Ridge Trail and follow that down to the Hilton Area. I touch the pavement at the bottom of the trail and turn around and go back up. The distance is somewhere between 2 and 2.5 miles round trip. I need to get a pedometer to see what the exact distances are. The trails in that section of the park are considered some of the most challenging trails in the state by the local mountain biking community and no are no less so for running.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 5-Mx2

3 x WU

15 OHS w/ pvc
15 GHD situps
15 pullups (chest to bar)
15 hip extensions
15 ring dips

5 x 500m row

1:47.2, 1:55, 152.2, 1:51.2, 147.7

2 hours later

2 mile road run

16:24

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 6-FB+MG

Football Practice:

Hour and a half of sprints, drills and scrimmaging.

8 hours later:

3 x WU
25 double unders
20 OHS
15 good mornings
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 HSPU's (from floor)

500m row
50 reps each of pushups, squats, hollow rock ups*
400m row
40 reps...
300m row
30 reps...
200m row
20 reps...
100m row
10 reps...

19:19

*hollow rock ups-basically a hollow rock into a sit up. I had originaly intended to do sit ups, but forgot to grab some dumbells for foot anchors. I started out with un anchored sit ups; during the 40 rep set I started kipping them, and they mutated into the hollow rock to situp during the course of the set.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 7-G

3 x WU:
25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parallete HSPU's

"JT"
21-15-9
HSPU's
ring dips
push ups

9:22

Tabata box jumps

12-12-12-12-12-12-12-8

Tabata= 8
Total= 104

Kind of ticked about that last set of box jumps. I had gamed for a Tabata score of 10, capping my sets at 12. I got a little lazy on the last set and had two missed reps, where I only landed one foot on the box. It messed up my rhythm and slowed me down enough to only allow me to do 8 reps.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 8-M

Swimming

30 min as many laps a possible

6

Just confirmed a forgone conclusion; I suck at swimming. Of course, since I haven't swam in 20 years, that's to be expected.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 9-MG

3 x WU:

15 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
15 pullups (chest to bar)
15 GHD situps
15 ring dips

"Michael"
3 rounds
800 m run
50 GHD situps
50 hip extensions

32:13

First time doing "Michael" as rx'd (previous equipment issues). Have to say, I've never given it the respect it deserves.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 10-G

3 x WU:

25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parrallete HSPU's

"Angie"

100 pullups
100 pushups
100 sit ups
100 squats

17:05

Nowhere near a PR for me. My hands started to rip about halfway through the pullups, so I didn't finish them as fast as could have. I think I got a little mentally defeated by that. Didn't help that I've been a little sleep deprived the last few days.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 11-M

30 min spin

423 kcal

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 12-MG

3 x WU:
10 OHS w/pvc
10 hip extensions
10 pullups
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

"Annie"

50-40-30-20-10

6:03

About 20 seconds over my PR, but my rope got tangled between the round of 30 and the round of 20 and I had to stop and untangle it.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 13-G

3 x WU:

25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parrallete HSPU's

"Mary"

20 min AMRAP
5 HSPU's (from floor)
10 one legged squats
15 pullups

11 rounds+5 HSPU's+5 one legged squats

First day of the second macro cycle. Would have liked to hit 12 rounds, but not a bad effort.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 14-M

Trail Run- Medium Course

29:33

Either I was really hauling *** today, or my medium course isn't as much longer than my short course as I remembered. I'll have to see if I can find a route alteration to make this a little closer to 40 min. Still need to get that pedometer, so I can figure out the exact distances of these routes.

For any readers: In my first entry pertaining to one of my trail runs I stated that I run on trails between Landing Road and the Hilton Area of Patapsco Valley State Park, in Elkridge. The name of the park area is actually Orange Grove; the Hilton Area is in Catonsville.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 15- MG

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/pvc
10 hips extensions
10 pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

3 rounds
row 500m
50 GHD situps
50 box jumps

28:56

I did not expect this one to be as hard as it was. My legs were fried coming into too. Wow!!

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 16-G

Flag Football Practice:

Not enough people for an intersquad scrimmage today, so we spent an hour running plays. For me that means rushing the quarterback every play, so I basically ran 15-20 yard sprints for an hour.

1 hour 30 min later

3 x WU:

25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hips extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parrallete HSPU's

"GI Jane"

13:01

I was hoping to get this in under 10 min, but I was a little spent from practice.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 17-M

3 x WU:

10 elbow to instep lunges
50 abmat situps (unanchored)
10 tilts
20 pushups

5 x 400m sprint

1:15
1:17
1:21
1:24
1:18

1 hour 30 min later

500m swim

23:30

Yeah, I still suck at swimming. I can definitely feel that it's going to take some work.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 18-MG

This afternoon

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/ pvc
10 hip extensions
10 pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

"Murph"

run 1 mile
100 pullups
200 pushups
300 squats
run 1 mile

35:51

This evening

3 x WU

10 elbow to instep lunges
20 situps
10 burpees
10 HSPU's (from floor)

2 x 2k row w/ 7 min rest between

8:06
8:13.9

I need to get a weight vest, so I can truly do "Murph" as Rx'd. I'm not too happy about the time today. My running was a off from my normal mile time, and I was resting way too much between the "Cindy" rounds I partitioned the work into. I'm definitely not getting enough sleep lately. I need to find a way to get more consistent rest.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

You have some nice times on your 400m runs! After this 65 day cycle are you going to start lifting heavy weights again and eliminate the metcon work? Or will you follow a hybrid program?

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

I just realized you had a journal. It was great meeting you at the games. Looks like your training has been rock solid since your return!

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

[QUOTE=Carla Tremblay;368203]You have some nice times on your 400m runs! After this 65 day cycle are you going to start lifting heavy weights again and eliminate the metcon work? Or will you follow a hybrid program?[/QUOTE]

Thanks Carla, I appreciate the compliment. I honestly don't consider myself much of a runner; it's an unfortunate side effect of only being 5'4". Obviously, that's why it's one of the focal points of the program. As for what I have planned next, I had originaly intended to do an MEBB cycle next. However, I've decided to put that off for a couple months. I'm planning to compete in the International Tactical Strength Challenge on September 13th, Fight Gone Bad 3 is on the 27th, and then my home affiliate (CrossFit BWI) is hosting the first Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge on October 11th. With all of that coming up, I don't really feel I can build a specialized program around it. At the moment, I'm thinking that I'll go back to doing the main page WOD's-with a little extra endurance work mixed in-until after the MAHC. I may even wait longer than that. I'm considering going to the Olympic Lifting cert in December, and I may wait until after that to do my strength focused program.

[QUOTE=Anthony Bainbridge;368225]I just realized you had a journal. It was great meeting you at the games. Looks like your training has been rock solid since your return![/QUOTE]

Anthony, it's good to hear from you. Meeting you and Jodi was definitely one of my games highlights. I actually didn't start the journal until after I came back; I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 19-G

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/ pvc
10 hip extensions
10 pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

50-40-30-20-10 rep rounds
GHD situps
hips extensions

13:53

then

3 rounds of the superset
10 ring pushups (feet on Dynamax ball)
5 parrallete HSPU's
2-3 min rest

Based on my "Michael" time, my goal was sub 20. Getting sub 15 was pleasantly unexpected. I'm hoping to see some more signifigant gains over the next few weeks. I've been teaching an early morning fitness bootcamp, three days a week, for the last two months, and it's finally over. Now that I'm done with that, I should be able to get an extra 8-10 hours of sleep a week. It's going to be awesome to actually be well rested for a change.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 20- M

3 x WU:

10 elbow to instep lunges
10 tilts
10 deadhang pullups (chest to bar)
20 frog situps
20 pushups

4 x 800m sprint w/ 5 min rest between

3:00
3:22
3:12
3:23

I've got to get more consistent with this distance. I definitely didn't keep up the intensity I had in the first one. I'm thinking about my form way to much; I'm a lot faster if I just run.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 21- MG

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/ pvc
10 hip extensions
10 deadhang pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

5 rounds
500m row
20 burpees

16:43

I was really hoping I could get this in under 15 min, but I guess my time wasn't too bad.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 22- G

3 x WU:

25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parrallete HSPU's

30 Muscle Ups for time

9:13

I'm really disappointed with this time. It's been a long time since I've done this workout, and I'm not sure what the time was on it, but I know it was a lot faster than this. I've got a big MU based workout coming in the last macro-cycle of this program. I'm going to take some serious steps to improving my MU's between now and then.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 23-M

10 swim laps

46:42

Got my first six done in under 20 min, which is a definite improvement over my pace in my last two swimming workouts.

NOTE: My last swim workout was incorrectly posted as 500m, when it was only 250m.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 24- MG

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/pvc
10 hip extensions
10 deadhang pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

400m run
10 parrallete HSPU's
20 pullups
30 box jumps, 20"
40 frog leg abmat situps
500m row
40 frog leg abmat situps
30 box jumps, 20"
20 pullups
10 parrallete HSPU's
400m run

18:52

Not real happy with this time.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

With the Mid-Atlantic Hopper Challenge only 8 weeks away, I've decided to restructure my program. I'm bringing back weightlifting, and in a big way. The next 4 weeks will look like this:

GW-M-MGW-rest (extra cardio on day 1, gymnastic training on day 2)
G-M-MGW-rest (extra cardio on day 1 and 3, weight training on day 2)
GW-M-MGW-rest (extra cardio on day 1, gymnastic training on day 2)
W-M-MG-rest
repeat

I will not lose in my own backyard.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 1-GW

3 x WU:

25 double unders
20 OHS w/ pvc
15 hip extensions
10 chin ups w/ leg raise
5 parallete HSPU's

5 rounds
9 hang squat cleans, 155#
3 rope climbs, 15 ft, legless

55:52

This workout was brutal. I probably could have done it in less time, but I've never done legless rope climbs before and didn't want to make any attempts that I wasn't confident in completing. I tore the crap out of my hands on this one, as well.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 2-M

150 pushups w/ a twist- you can rest in the plank position, but if the midline breaks- up or down- you have to run 400m before resuming.

10:11 - runs after reps 75 and 115

3 hours later

5k road run

26:08

For some reason, I haven't been able to get my 5k under 25 min for several months. I think the hot and humid Maryland summer has something to do with it (I'm a cold weather guy), but I also feel like I'm still not running as fast as I could be. I've got a long trail run coming on Wednesday; we'll see how that goes.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

I like the push-up with a twist workout! I'm going to steal that one from you!! :)

Your 5k time will improve dramatically once it cools down... It's amazing how much this heat affects me!

Good job!

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

[QUOTE=Carla Tremblay;377229]I like the push-up with a twist workout! I'm going to steal that one from you!! :)

Your 5k time will improve dramatically once it cools down... It's amazing how much this heat affects me!

Good job![/QUOTE]

Can't take credit for the pushup workout; that's courtesy of Adriane Bozman.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 3-MGW

Football Practice

2 hrs later

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/pvc
10 hip extensions
10 deadhang ring pullups
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

"Christine"

3 rounds
500m row
12 deadlifts, 175 lb (BW=172)
21 box jumps, 20"

9:23

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 4- G

3 x WU:

10 elbow to instep lunges
10 pvc dislocates
10 hip extensions
10 GHD situps

"Chelsea+5"

10 pullups
15 pushups
20 squats
every minute on the minute for 30 min, or until the round cannot be completed in the aloted time.

7 rounds+10 pullups+15 pushups+19 squats

I've been dissapointed with a lot of my times lately, but this one is far and away the biggest let down. I completed an immaculate Chelsea+4 back in April, finishing every round in almost exactly 40 seconds, and had been looking forward to this one for a long time. I could make a lot of excuses for this one (subpar nutrition on my rest day, the 90+ degree heat today), but what it boils down to is not being able to maintian the necessary intensity level. I didn't fail to complete the last round because I was too tired; I just wasn't going fast enough. I'll be going to the pool shortly, to put in some laps. I might do "Tabata Something Else" later today, just to make up for the volume I didn't get on this workout. I'm officially declaring the Gymnastic/Endurance Black Box a failed experiment. Hopefully the revised version will be more successful, and get me back up to speed.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

"Tabata Something Else"

pullups
15-12-10-10-7-7-6-6
pushups
15-15-15-15-15-13-12-11
situps
14-14-14-14-17-14-14-15
squats
22-23-23-23-20-20-20-24

Total=475 (PR)

I think I came out of the gate a little too fast on the pullups. I maybe could have gotten a few more if I'd gamed for 10 or 12 reps. Honestly, I shouldn't be upset, since this beats my old PR by more than 30 reps.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 5- M

Long Trail Run

45:11

Wish I could say how long this was, but not sure. It's probably around 5 miles. Should have been a few minutes shorter, but I turned the wrong way on my last trail connection.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 5-W

5 rep press

95-115-135-155-165(4)-155-160(3)

3 x 5 rep dunmbell bench

110-110-110

1 x ME BW bench

16 @ 175#

Not the best I've ever done on the press, but I haven't worked it in a while. Plus, it was 1am, so I'll take it. 16 reps is around what I get in my late rounds for "Lynne", so that's about right for the end of the workout.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 6- MGW

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/ pvc
10 hip extensions
10 pullups (chest to bar)
10 GHD situps
10 ring dips

"Helen"

3 rounds
400m run
21 kettlebell swings, 1.5 pood
12 pullups

9:50

10 seconds slower than my PR. Not surprised, coming off the long run yesterday.

Re: I've got a Monster in my Pocket!!!
 

Day 7- GW

3 x WU:

10 OHS w/ pvc
10 hip extensions
10 parrallete HSPU's
10 GHD situps
10 deadhang pullups (chest to bar)

"Elizabeth"

21-15-9
135# squat cleans
ring dips

6:29

Once again, I got did in by my watch. I finished the first round, looked down, and it had stopped at 10 seconds. I had to cool off for 10 minutes and start over again.