Strict Pullups In A WOD

I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. It was a little cooler and less humid too. There was a decent breeze, and the light rain outside sounded nice, so it had me in a good mood.

Bench press felt great. Well, great for what bench press can feel. It is not a lift that I enjoy or even think is all that useful. I only do it for balance. If I had to press, I would rather do strict presses anytime.

The weight felt heavy, but the movement felt good as I warmed up and worked my way up through the sets. The heavier sets felt pretty heavy, but that is to be expected. Some days I feel like I might fail the last set before the AMRAP but not today.

The final AMRAP at one plus reps called for 180 pounds. It felt heavy on my hands, but the rep itself felt pretty easy. The weight just felt heavy on my palms. I could have gotten more than one easily, but I felt like I wanted to stop early once more this cycle.

I relaxed on my tablet for a good while, lying in bed and enjoying the sounds from outside and the light rain falling. Last night I was up late watching the Phillies. I just found the rain to be very calming, and after a shitshow of a week last week, I needed to just chill for a bit.

While scrolling on my tablet, I was thinking I want to get a workout in too. I wanted something different that might be a little more challenging than the ones that I have been doing.

I stumbled on one that had push-ups, step-ups, and kipping as an option for strict pull-ups. That is what I chose to do. It was a ladder of each movement. As much as I criticize street parking, I like that they almost always offer a strict pull-up option that is half the reps.

The pull-ups are something I haven’t done any of in a long time. I have gained maybe 10 pounds or even 15 since last time doing so. I wasn’t sure how they would go. The small earlier sets of courses felt good. Even the latter sets of 6 and 7 felt good. I had to do those and singles to rest my palms, but I got them done, and I didn’t get to failure. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised by that. That always makes me feel good because I was unable to do any pull-ups when I was in high school. Here I am in my 50s doing them.

The step up, though, really felt like they had my legs dragging. My legs have been dead weight since doing those squats yesterday and then the hang snatches with the bar later. They feel fine. Just tired and no energy.

I wanted to do something different for a WOD today.