Cycle 3 W3D2

PREAMBLE: This was a weird day. For starters, I woke up on the wrong side of life, severely cranky and irritable. I was not expecting great things in the gym - I always try to leave stress, attitude, etc outside the gym doors but when your overall mood for the day is "fuck this" it's hard :) Anyway, despite my mood, parts A and B went extremely well. I was still cranky but at least still meeting training goals. Then part C happened. It did not go well. I do not really know why. I am so frustrated - strict HSPUs are a CORE skill in CF at this point...I should be working to get bigger sets not barely scraping through 1-2 reps. Meh. Anyway, details below.

A. Strict Press + Push Press; 2 + 5; rest 2:30 x 5 sets *95-100lbs each set again this week*

Did a set at 95, then 4 sets at 100, at which point I decided I wanted a nice clean even result so I did a 5th set @ 100 - 5 sets of doubles at 100. 2nd rep on that last set was a FIGHT but max effort strict presses should be and I won that fight. Happy. Mood improving.

B1. KB/DB push Press right arm w/44lb KB; amrap 20s; rest 20s

B2. Strict Pull Ups *Chest to bar if possible - chin over bar if not*; amrap 20s; rest 20s

B3. KB/DB Push press left arm w/44lb KB; amrap in 20s; rest 90s x 5 sets

Results: 1) 17-10-16, 2) 17-10-16, 3) 17-9-16, 4) 16-9-16, 5) 17-8-16. Both sides of push presses were better across the board than last week, and managed to hold that for an extra set. C2B were the same as last week plus a strong 5th set. Happy again. Mood improves a bit more.

C. 12 Minute EMOM; 2 strict HSPU *work on finishing with quality reps this week*

Took some rest after B, warmed up what I thought was smartly - some HS holds, a few short kipping sets, then a couple strict singles working down to full depth. Not too much work but enough to help me be ready for them. But this was hard from the start and I just do not understand why. First 4-5 mins were ok, 2nd rep was a little struggly but got them done. After that, it got very hard to get full depth on 2nd rep and I started failing. Through 9 mins, I made up any failed reps but after than I made the decision to finish the last 3 mins with singles - getting the second rep was starting to make the first rep even suck. Not happy. Mood = serious crankypants, glad the gym was nearly empty so there were not many witnesses to my tantrums.

I just don't get it. I know the work that leads up to these makes them harder, but it just feels like this movement is still so foreign. Some days I understand how to engage the muscles, some days it's like I've never done a successful rep before.

D. Incline Powell Raise; 8 reps @20x1; rest 30s btw arms x 4 sets

E. External rotation - LIGHT - 8 reps each arm @20x1; rest 30s btw arms x 4 sets - want to rehab your shoulder still but don't push it on this exercise PARTICULARLY

Both done, same as last week. Nothing remarkable to report other than the fact that I actually forced myself to do the work even though all I wanted to do was throw some shit and storm out of the gym :)

OVERALL: Other than Part C, this was a good day. I managed to either channel my bad mood or push it aside enough to get really strong sets of presses and to push hard for those extra reps on the KB. I KNOW my pressing is getting stronger, and I just wish I could figure out why it's not translating to HSPUs. And more so why they are SO inconsistent - I HAVE done these in sets of 5+...why do I struggle even early on in an EMOM at 1-2???? Meh.