Training at Catalyst Athletics

[Blair Lowe]

Some of my friends will note poor recovery for a day or two following even a glass or two of wine or beer.

[Neill Smith]

Tuesday was off; day three was Wednesday, July 22.

Warm up:

• Light 500m row
• Joint mobility: different types of lunges and some hip opening drills on the floor

Strength:

• Front squat: 4 sets of 3 at 165# (80% of 1RM)
• Push press: 4 sets of 3 at 155# (80% of 1RM)

I sandbagged the front squats a little, but the push press is an honest 80%.

Conditioning:

• Team workout for time:
  • Alone: 400m with 125# sandbag
  • As a team: 150m tire flip
• Partition as needed (i.e., run a little, flip a little, run a little, etc.)

We had about ten people on the tire; so there was some standing and watching, but that suited me fine. I don't want to be scraping myself out of a sweat angel every day. We finished in just under 10:00.

Tire flips were fun. It's my first time doing them. There was a Goldilocks tire duo--one I couldn't get off of the ground and one pretty easy. I hope to do that movement again with a "just right" tire.

Recovery:

• Foam rolling and stretching.

[Neill Smith]

Day four, Thursday, July 23.

Warm up:

• Agility ladder
• PVC "Jedi Knights" and overhead squats

Power/Strength:

• Snatch 95# 3x3

The prescription was 3x3, and I chose to make this technique work. It's been forever since I snatched regularly, and even longer since I did it with any instruction.

Conditioning:

• 3 rounds for time:
  • Row 500m
  • 20 40# DB power cleans

13:09
The rest of the class did the workout that I did on Saturday, but Greg was nice enough not to punish me with a thrusters for the third time in a week. I probably wasn't getting enough leg drive on either the rows or the cleans, because my bi's were friggin' pumped, yo!

Recovery:

• Foam rolling and stretching

[Neill Smith]

Originally Posted by Blair Lowe

Some of my friends will note poor recovery for a day or two following even a glass or two of wine or beer.

Don't let MOD hear you say that.

[Neill Smith]

Day five, Monday, July 28

Warm up:

• Light 500m row
• PVC snatch progression - five each of: pressing snatch balance, heaving snatch balance, tall muscle snatch, scarecrow snatch, mid-hang muscle snatch, mid-hang snatch

Skill

• 10 minutes working the skill of your choice

I decided to focus on two pieces of equipment that I don't normally have: plyo boxes and a high pull up bar. I did a bunch of box-jump singles on the 38", with pretty good clearance, but not enough to feel comfortable going to 47". Then spent five minutes practicing the butterfly kip with full clearance for my feet, which I never have. The rhythm was tough to nail down.

Conditioning:

• 3 rounds:
  • Run 200m
  • 20 DB thruster at 30#
  • Run 200m
  • 15 burpees

17:24

This one didn't look that bad on the white board, but it felt like getting kicked in the balls by sadness.

My fiancee was in town for the weekend and joined us for this workout, which was cool. This exchange happened following the workout:

GREG: Neill, what's up with Ana kicking your ass today?
NEILL: Why should today be different from any other?
GREG: Wow, not even married and he already knows the right answer.

[Neill Smith]

Tuesday, July 28

Warm up:

• 400m run
• lots of PVC dislocates and overhead squats

Conditioning:

• 20-15-10-5:
  • Pull-ups
  • 32# Sandbag cleans

7:20
The sandbag was pretty light, but it was a fun workout. I'll try to repeat this some time with a heavier bag.

Recovery:

• Foam rolling and stretching