Ben Plotnicki

9/5

I wanted to try something a little different this morning. We’ve had so much warm up/movement prep to work on thoracic extension/shojkxer/front rack which I know is so valuable and important for my performance and long term health. But I think I’ve kind of lost the ability to be ready quickly, so today I wanted to try and get prepped as quickly as possible, tried to take the best of what we have been doing and be time efficient and effective. Some sacrifice of true overall preparedness but thought it would be a good exploration for when I might be put in a position that I have to. 

On a 40 min running clock

Starting at 0:00

For time (7 min cap)

21-15-9

Thrusters @ 75lbs

Bar Facing Burpees

5:54 – I tried to stay smooth here and not go all out and hold a little back for the middle piece. Also goal with that was to not slow down in burpee, was decent but finishing the last set of thruster into burpee had a bad transition as I let the bar bounce  and roll too much and wasted at least 7-8 seconds to get that first burpee on the last round. 

+

Starting at 10:00

7 Min AMRAP:

21 Double Unders

7 Toes to Bar

21 Double Unders

7 Chest to Bar Pull-Ups

4+22 – in warm up I did no gymnastics pulling prep, just wanted to trust myself and see what happened. I didn’t force transactions as fast as I need to but I actually I’m pleased with the execution of the movements. The first round I kind of wanted to feel it out and was conservative on transitions there but after that I knew I was ok so was a little tighter with things. 

+

Starting at 25:00

15 Min AMRAP:

25 Cal Row

30 Power Cleans – 95lb

25 Cal Row

25 Power Cleans – 135lb

25 Cal Row

20 Power Cleans – 185lb

25 Cal Row

AMRAP Power Cleans – 205lb

8 reps @ 185 – first off I didn’t just man up and row. I felt like a little bitch when it came to rowing effort, so to try and combat that, I used a break on the rower to make a plate change. I don’t know if this saved any time but it made me feel I could row harder in shorter intervals. Wildly enough I felt the 95 barbell crushed my soul and took way more energy than it should and actually felt much better at the 135….i didn’t video so not sure the actual splits but internal perception during felt that way. 

9/6 – OFF

9/7

Expedited the warm up today, was on the road driving back from spending the labor day weekend with my father who was in knoxville for the weekend and Kelsey wanted to get some pool time so I still wanted to get in the session but game myself a hard stop time limit

Part 1

Thoracic drills + Banded activation with your Macgyver setup

+

3 sets of lightly loaded movement work, rest as needed

Medball/Dball bear hug hold alternating get ups x 10 steps (5/side)

Bottoms up KB high windmill x 3/side

Prone snatch grip BB liftoffs with training bar x 3-4

25ft forward seal walk + 25ft backward seal walk (feet on slider)

+

A – Empty bar burgener snatch prep x 2 sets

B – Empty bar burgener clean and jerk prep x 2 sets

C – Dbl DB z-press x 12 reps, rest 2:30 x 4 sets

*stick at 30

Next week if we keep this progression I am going to get a set of 4-6 @ 35 for a pre-set/warm up set just to see how it feels with control and position overhead

+

D – Every 90 x 6 – Squat clean x 1

*3 sets at 235, then build to 245

235 felt strong, was confident with 240 and I think to the expedited warmup the 245 was more tough mentally through the pull off the ground than it actually was with my internal perception. 

(rest 2 min)

E – Every 90 sec x 6 – Hang Power Clean x 3 reps @ 195lbs

Felt a little spicer than last week but, if I go to the knee or just above the knee I feel pretty confident and strong with it, it’s the 3rd rep I don’t trust the bop bop and end up pulling under more than expressing powerful hip extension. 

+

F – Push press x 1 strong rep/Split jerk x 2 reps, new complex every 2:30 x 4

*lets go 155-165 here if moving well

Stayed at 155

+

G – Back squats x 6, rest 120 sec x 6 sets @ 235lbs

Done – did the super set set up to be time efficient

Part 2

Self-directed mobility

Skipped today

9/4

1 set current thoracic ext/rot drills

Tall kneeling thoracic extensions against wall x 3-4 reps with 3 breath cycles/rep

2-way half kneeling thoracic rotations against wall x 3 ‘reps’/side

1-arm KB snatch to high windmill x 3 reps/side

+

Additional thoracic extension drills

A1 – Hanging cobra stretch with bar in j-cups x 20-30 sec with controlled breathing (don’t hold your breath!!), rest 30 sec

*I like this setup as you can control the intensity by adjusting the height of the bar

A2 – Blocked thoracic extensions on GHD pads with hands behind head x 8-10 reps, rest 60-90 sec x 4 sets

*Picture trying to segment the flexion/extension movement as much as possible, one spine segment at a time. Try to set this up where you isolate the movement JUST at upper back, everything below sternum stays still. This hopefully allows us a way to ‘own’ the ROM by actively turning on the spinal erectors in that segment

+

A – Front squat build to strong double

*I LOVED the numbers from last week, lets see if we can build just slightly on that but really make sure that you are coming into this with confidence

280 – confidence was there and there was a few more pounds in the tank today. 

+

B – Front squat 4 sets of 2 @ 80-84% of best hit from A, rest 2 min

235 – why do these doubles feel harder than the heavy set

+

3 sets, rest as needed

C1 – Wide grip strict pullup with lean away negative x 5 reps

C2 – 1-arm overcoming isometric in shoulder flexion x 10-12 sec/side

C3 – Banded top-arm rows from side plank x 7/arm

C4 – Band assisted tucked front lever hold on low rings x 15-20 sec

done

+

3 sets, rest as needed

D1 – Foot assisted segmented strict RMU x 3 + Ring Dips x 5

It feels so fucking good to be able to do dips again 

D2 – (Dbl DB chest fly x 1/Dbl DB squeeze press x 2) * 5 complexes @ 25-30

30-then to 25 I liked have greater control from a deeper range of motion at the 25

D3 – Dbl DB pullover x 8-10 (light DB in each hand)

D4 – Alternating shoulder taps from belly to wall HS hold x 7/side

Done – and upper body felt smoked by this point

+

E – Piked HSPU with feet on box – 6 sets of 6, rest 90 sec

*can start this with feet on ground or weight plates, and then bring them higher as you go to place more weight on hands

Felt better than last week but man i was tired by this point.

9/2

A – Thoracic mobility and front rack prep (let me know what this looks like now and what feels best)

+

B1 – 6 thrusters @ 135lbs, rest 20 sec

B2 – 12 thrusters @ 95lbs, rest 20 sec

B3 – 24 wallballs @ 20lbs to 10ft, rest 4 min x 3 sets

Man i really like these set ups, forgot to prepare myself and bring a 20 with me and I was not going to do the 24 with 30, probably would’ve broke and that defeats the point so used slam ball, and I felt that was harder as you had to grip it a little more

+

C1 – 1-arm DB OH walking lunge x 30ft/side @ 35lbs, into

C2 – Dbl DB OH walking carry x 120ft @ 35lbs/hand, rest 2 min x 3 sets

120ft dual oh was a bitch, if i had multiple turnarounds that was way harder than the last one where I set it up to do 60 out and back, goal was to fight overextension through the lumbar, and did ok but as I fatigued that was a fight

+

Every 2 min x 16 sets (3x through)

1 – 90 sec echo

2 – 90 sec row

3 – 90 sec ski

4 – Walking rest

*consider these strong working efforts. probably 62-63 RPM bike, 1050-1100 cal/hr row, 900-950 cal/hr ski

I felt it was easy to hit numbers on bike and ski, row felt like more work than the other two, I still had no problem being in this range, but if I would catch myself zone out too much I might dip below but that didn’t happen on the other one’s

8/29

Self defense class

This was one of the most amazing/fun experiences I have had in an educational setting (minus TTT camps)….I learned so much, and we worked so time and energy were not preset lol

*if you have time/energy*

Every 4 min x 5-6 sets

Run 600m @ target bebop effort

8/30 – OFF

8/31

Part 1

Thoracic drills + Banded activation with your Macgyver setup

+

3 sets of lightly loaded movement work, rest as needed

Medball/Dball bear hug hold alternating get ups x 10 steps (5/side)

Bottoms up KB high windmill x 3/side

Prone snatch grip BB liftoffs with training bar x 3-4

25ft forward seal walk + 25ft backward seal walk (feet on slider)

+

A – Empty bar burgener snatch prep x 2 sets

B – Empty bar burgener clean and jerk prep x 2 sets

C – Dbl DB z-press x 10 reps, rest 120 sec x 4 sets

*stick at 30

These are starting to feel really good, it’s more the owning the end range of motion that I’m super happy about, or at least the feel of it

+

D – EMOM x 5 – Squat clean x 1 @ 225-245lbs

235-235-240-240-240 – just didn’t feel as confident as I was hoping on the first 2325, but the second one was better, but that is also why i only made the small jump i did

(rest 2 min)

E – EMOM x 5 – Hang Power Clean x 3 reps @ 185lbs

Found a rhythm here

+

F – Push press x 1 strong rep/Split jerk x 2 reps, new complex every 2:30 x 4

*mod loading, challenge the push press and really make the split jerks technical

Did a set at 165 – but the 2nd jerk felt less technical, so I backed off to 145 – push press might have felt a little easier but at least the jerk felt smooth and technical

+

G – Back squats x 6, rest 120 sec x 6 sets @ 225lbs

good

Part 2

Self-directed mobility

done

9/1

TTT Gait Prep – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llfzaIRyY8I

+

For total time:

2 Rounds:

800m run

25 bar facing burpees

…into

2 Rounds:

600m run

35 bar facing burpees

25:07 – my goal was really keep my run pace as consistent as possible to allow my burpee cadence to stay the same, without split times on these, my internal feel was yes, I played little pacing rep games in the 35’s to try and keep moving consistently, and set myself up to finish the last 35 with a strong push. As I was running, I was trying to have a positive conversation with myself on what my limiter was for the day on the burpee, was it just uncomfortable, my arms/body felt much better on the burpee than the past 2 weeks. Just some self reflecting I was trying to go through.

8/28

1 set current thoracic ext/rot drills

Tall kneeling thoracic extensions against wall x 3-4 reps with 3 breath cycles/rep

2-way half kneeling thoracic rotations against wall x 3 ‘reps’/side

1-arm KB snatch to high windmill x 3 reps/side

+

Additional thoracic extension drills

A1 – Hanging cobra stretch with bar in j-cups x 20-30 sec with controlled breathing (don’t hold your breath!!), rest 30 sec

*I like this setup as you can control the intensity by adjusting the height of the bar

A2 – Blocked thoracic extensions on GHD pads with hands behind head x 8-10 reps, rest 60-90 sec x 4 sets

*Picture trying to segment the flexion/extension movement as much as possible, one spine segment at a time. Try to set this up where you isolate the movement JUST at upper back, everything below sternum stays still. This hopefully allows us a way to ‘own’ the ROM by actively turning on the spinal erectors in that segment

+

A – Front squat build to strong triple

265 – I really like how wave loading preps the body and the brain for heavy loading so this was challenging balance of don’t build too aggressively or too much. But when you lock in for the one that counts it feels pretty good. So building didn’t know how this would feel but when I went for it, it felt good and pretty smooth out of the hole. But I was hoping to feel more confident with a bit heavier but I actually felt this was a good strong lift.

B – Front squat 4 sets of 3 @ 80-84% of best hit from A, rest 2 min

220

+

3 sets, rest as needed

C1 – Wide grip strict pullup with lean away negative x 4 reps

C2 – 1-arm overcoming isometric in shoulder flexion x 10-12 sec/side 

I can really feel the difference from right side to left side on this

C3 – Banded top-arm rows from side plank x 5/arm done

C4 – Band assisted tucked front lever hold on low rings x 15-20 sec 

+

3 sets, rest as needed

D1 – Foot assisted segmented strict RMU x 3 + Ring Dips x 3 done – ring dips felt the best they have felt

D2 – (Dbl DB chest fly x 1/Dbl DB squeeze press x 2) * 4 complexes – 30’s were grindy for fly and challenged ROM

D3 – Dbl DB pullover sx 6-8 (light DB in each hand) 15’s

D4 – Alternating shoulder taps from belly to wall HS hold x 5/side good

+

E – Piked HSPU with feet on box – 6 sets of 5, rest 90 sec

*can start this with feet on ground or weight plates, and then bring them higher as you go to place more weight on hands

Started on ground and then did 2 sets on 1 45, and the last 3 on 2 45’s – I was training to focus the press more vertically than back as the body might want to do naturally much like an actual strict hspu

8/25

TTT gait prep

+

3 min easy jog

+

For time

800m run

20 bar facing burpees

800m run

40 bar facing burpees

800m run

rest 4 min x 2 full sets

17:28-19:37???? I kept a running clock and have been trying to reverse engineer the split time but under that level of o2 debt and not knowing what planet i was on i wasn’t 100% sure. Still the positive mindset was once again in a better place….but all seriousness, 1st set, pacing felt great, split times on burpee to the best i can tell was where i wanted them to be, the 2nd set was a whole other story

+

easy biking cooldown

8/26

A – Thoracic mobility and front rack prep (let me know what this looks like now and what feels best)

+

B1 – 5 thrusters @ 135lbs, rest 20 sec

B2 – 10 thrusters @ 95lbs, rest 20 sec

B3 – 20 wallballs @ 20lbs to 10ft, rest 3 min x 3 sets

I LOVE these kind of pieces, they are hard in the moment, but you know you can, just grind and trust yourself and breath….so i haven’t looked at my email yet and i’m projecting 6-12-24——and i just now looked. Hah i knew it. 

+

C1 – 1-arm DB OH walking lunge x 25ft/side @ 35lbs, into

C2 – Dbl DB OH walking carry x 100ft @ 35lbs/hand, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

The double overhead carry is so surprisingly hard. I always lunge first with my right hand overhead because i know that is the side i struggle with position on so i want it to get a little bit of a break before the double

+

Every 2 min x 12 sets (3x through)

1 – 90 sec echo 20-20-21

2 – 90 sec row 26-26-26

3 – 90 sec ski 24-25-26

4 – Walking rest

*consider these strong working efforts. probably 62-63 RPM bike, 1050-1100 cal/hr row, 900-950 cal/hr ski

Hit those numbers on the first 2x through. On the 3rd time through I wanted to see if i could sustain a little more, i did on echo, but not on row and did 950-1025 on ski

8/24

Part 1

Thoracic drills + Banded activation with your Macgyver setup

+

3 sets of lightly loaded movement work, rest as needed

Medball/Dball bear hug hold alternating get ups x 10 steps (5/side)

Bottoms up KB high windmill x 3/side

Prone snatch grip BB liftoffs with training bar x 3-4

25ft forward seal walk + 25ft backward seal walk (feet on slider)

+

A – Empty bar burgener snatch prep x 2 sets

done

B – Empty bar burgener clean and jerk prep x 2 sets

done

C – Dbl DB z-press x 8 reps, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

*stick at 30

One thing i really tried to focus on today that i haven’t done in the past one…that is a full breath in the locked out position, last week i was just trying to press and keep the position so today staying the same weight i needed to dial that in and that was breathing to own the position

+

D – EMOM x 5 – Hang squat clean x 1 @ 205-225lbs

205-215-225-225-225

E – EMOM x 5 – Squat clean x 3 TNG reps @ 155lbs

Didn’t feel as strong out of the hole as i did last week but put more emphasis on positions and fast turnover

+

F – Paused split jerk dip x 1/Paused Split Jerk x 1, new complex every 120 sec x 6 @ mod/strong loading

*1 sec pause in bottom of dip on each rep

*same Rx here, lets keep cleaning up the footwork until you feel strong and consistent

Because of a weird scheduling monday I chose to superset these just to maximize time and efficiency, footwork and speed under the felt more dialed in

+

G – Back squats x 6, rest 120 sec x 5 sets @ 225lbs

done

8/19

A – Thoracic mobility and front rack prep (let me know what this looks like now and what feels best)

+

B – 7 singles of squat clean thruster @ 155lbs, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

*28 total reps, all done as singles, still prioritizing the rack. I’m ok with the mini pause if you want and feel like it helps

done

+

C1 – 1-arm DB OH walking lunge x 25ft/side @ 35lbs, into

C2 – Dbl DB OH walking carry x 100ft @ 35lbs/hand, rest 90 sec x 3 sets

Very tough on the right side just because of stacking and positions. I feel like there is some improvement though but not sure if that’s due to a 35ln dumbbell or just gaining a degree of a better position. 

+

Sooooo….gym location today, all of the 20lb medballs have been sat on, dropped, slammed, so basically abused to the point where they are being repaired. My options were go with a slam ball, which would be at 20 but those can hurt the hands of a sensitive guy like myself or do will a little extra suffering and use a 30lb medball. So i went with the 30. I hit target goals, but I did use 3 sets, with very very short breaks. I do feel the difference in the 30 is the heart rate response.

Every 3 min x 4 sets

2 min working window, 1 min rest

15 cal echo bike (finish sub 60 sec)

45 DU’s

AMRAP wallballs in remaining time

*push your transitions and bike pace enough that you can try to get around 13-15 WB’s each round

14-13-15-14 – as long as i’m prepared and have my shit together, then i can bring a 20 with me next time if i need to

8/20 – OFF

8/21

1 set current thoracic ext/rot drills

Tall kneeling thoracic extensions against wall x 3-4 reps with 3 breath cycles/rep

2-way half kneeling thoracic rotations against wall x 3 ‘reps’/side

1-arm KB snatch to high windmill x 3 reps/side

+

Additional thoracic extension drills

A1 – Hanging cobra stretch with bar in j-cups x 20-30 sec with controlled breathing (don’t hold your breath!!), rest 30 sec

*I like this setup as you can control the intensity by adjusting the height of the bar

A2 – Blocked thoracic extensions on GHD pads with hands behind head x 8-10 reps, rest 60-90 sec x 4 sets

*Picture trying to segment the flexion/extension movement as much as possible, one spine segment at a time. Try to set this up where you isolate the movement JUST at upper back, everything below sternum stays still. This hopefully allows us a way to ‘own’ the ROM by actively turning on the spinal erectors in that segment

+

Belly to wall HS hold x 40 sec with hands as close to wall as possible and controlled breathing, rest 2 min x 5 sets

Done – positions felt great, 40 sec on first and was a bitch the rest of the way and bailed around 3$-38

+

A – Front squat waveload – 3,2,1,3,2,1. rest 3 min bt sets 

*each set heavier than corresponding set from last week

220-255-285-235-305 – really bummed because last week my last set was 9.5/10 and don’t think I could’ve got 305, so today I only went 305 because of last weeks perception but today I’m pretty confident I could’ve got 310

+

B – 1-1/4 BB hip thrusts x 5 + regular hip thrusts x 10, rest 3 min x 4 sets

245

+

C1 – Banded spanish squats x 12, rest 60 sec

C2 – Banded pull throughs from sumo stance x 15, rest 60 sec x 5 sets

done

+

Lower body prehab x 3 sets, rest as needed

Seated banded hip abductions x 15-20

Half kneeling adductor dips x 6/side

Feet on row seat hamstring curls x 5-6

Mini band alternating psoas march x 10-12 steps (5-6/side)

done

8/22

AMRAP 3 min (get as far as you can)

Ski 500m

24 bar facing burpees

24 GHD situps

24 power cleans @ 115lbs

24 row cals

16 burpee

*rest 2 min*

AMRAP 6 min (get as far as you can)

Ski 500m

24 bar facing burpees

24 GHD situps

24 power cleans @ 115lbs

24 row cals

24 ghd sit up

*rest 4 min*

For time

Ski 500m

24 bar facing burpees

24 GHD situps

24 power cleans @ 115lbs

24 row cals

10:02 – i had a goal today and that was a smooth steady pace on burpee. My goal was to be around but not over 4 sec/rep on the bar facing burpee. So I hit my target on the first one and the second piece as well. However, it is the ghdsu where i fell apart. I was fine being out of breath on the burpee but going into the ghdsu being out of breath, i had a hard time bracing and not holding my breath at extension and that got me all feeling some type of way, so that really threw off my mojo. Going into the chipper piece, i felt like i was already in the red even with the 4 min reest time, i still pushed the ski a little, kept it under 2 and around 1:54 and my pushers just felt really tired on that round of burpee.

8/18

TTT gait prep

+

3 min easy jog

+

3 rounds for time

600m run

10-20-30 bar facing burpees

rest 3-4 min x 2 sets

*second set starts back at 10 burpees

14:19 – 15:59 – I talked someone into mutual suffering with me so I really pushed on the first set and the second set I died, it was on the second run and the 20 burpee were just brutal. My goal on burpee was to keep moving but on the 2nd round of 20 and even a little on the first round towards the end, i felt like i couldn’t control anything. However, on the 2nd set, I had a much better inner dialogue with myself much like you did the week before so you inspired me to stay positive and be proud of myself for keeping my head down and moving forward. So thank you for inspiring me.

8/17

Part 1

Thoracic drills + Banded activation with your Macgyver setup

+

3 sets of lightly loaded movement work, rest as needed

Medball/Dball bear hug hold alternating get ups x 10 steps (5/side)

Bottoms up KB high windmill x 3/side

Prone snatch grip BB liftoffs with training bar x 3-4 – still really freaking hard

25ft forward seal walk + 25ft backward seal walk (feet on slider)

+

A – Empty bar burgener snatch prep x 2 sets

done

B – Empty bar burgener clean and jerk prep x 2 sets

done

C – Dbl DB z-press x 6 reps, rest 90 sec x 4 sets

30 – could have possibly pushed more here, but was making sure I had a good position overhead

+

D – EMOM x 5 – Squat clean x 1 @ 205-235lbs

Stayed at 205 – just felt confident and strong off the ground. Wanted to prioritize positions over forcing the load

E – EMOM x 5 – Hang squat clean x 3 @ 155lbs

This felt really good, and makes me think we have done so much various work from the hang while i felt more confident here then in the clean off the ground outside of it being lighter. 

+

F – Paused split jerk dip x 1/Paused Split Jerk x 1, new complex every 120 sec x 6 @ mod/strong loading

*1 sec pause in bottom of dip on each rep

155 – my main focus for the day was active shoulders, vertical torso and continuing to press up on bar, my footwork was not as clean as I would have like, but by the 5th and 6th set I cleaned it up a little, but still some room to go

+

G – Back squats x 6, rest 120 sec x 4 sets

225

Part 2

Self-directed mobility