Drew Mathews Training

1000  ninja get up  I was challenged to learn this, so I did  bench press 5 x 135, 185, 225, 5 x 3 x 225  barbell row 3 x 10 x 135  1 mile run at moderate pace  1600  2 hours of football, frisbee golf, and shooting guns 8 minute AMRAP  10 kettlebell swings (70 lbs) 10 burpees  * partner 1 does KBS, then partner 2, partner 1 does burpees, then partner 2 me and Ben Peden got: 4 + 35  • sleep 7.5 hours  • notes: had a party for the Clemson and Carolina game today. Afterwards we did some football, frisbee golf and shot guns. Then 6 of us hit up the 8 min AMRAP in my garage. Me and Ben won by about 8 reps. Very fun day! 

0745  3 position clean (hip, knee, floor) - 95, 135, 155, 185, 205, 225 - then -  1 clean every 30 seconds for 5 minutes at 205  15 minute AMRAP  3 muscle ups  5 clean and jerks (115 lbs)  7 burpees  * alternated rounds with Hudson  * person not on movements is on air dyne  1500  rocking climbing and bouldering for 2 hours  • sleep 7.5 hours  • notes: my lower back (lumbar) is feeling really out of wack. I can't get a chiropractic appointment until Monday, so if it doesn't feel better tomorrow then I won't be lifting. Not taking a chance of injury. The 15 min AMRAP today was hard and fast. 

0800  8k (5 mile turkey run)  36:38  1900 mobility work for 30 minutes  • sleep 6 hours  • notes: well running is definitely not my strong suit, but the run went better than I thought it would. Considering I haven't been running much I think 26:38 is a decent time. Like Rich says, "you don't have to be the best at anything, you just can't suck at anything." 

1015 snatch technique work  mobility work for 20 minutes  1530 back squat 7 x 5 x 275 lbs  20 minute AMRAP  5 thrusters (135 lbs)  7 toes to bar  9 deadlifts (225 lbs)  * alternated rounds with Hudson  * person not working is on the air dyne  20 rounds + 1 thruster  for time:  500 meter row  30 bar facing burpees 3:34  handstand walk practice for 10 minutes  • sleep 9.5 hours  • notes: the 20 minute AMRAP was painful. My grip started to fail around minute 14. Need to work on that. 

1345  10 minute AMRAP  3 bar muscle ups  6 burpee box jump over (24")  9 power snatch (95 lbs)  * alternate rounds with a partner  10 + 5  power clean + 2 shoulder to overhead - 205, 225, 245, 265f, 265  5 sets  5 strict shoulder press - 95, 115, 125, 135, 145  5 strict weighted pull ups (53)  3 rounds  1 minute - row for calories  1 minute - handstand walk  1 minute - strict pull ups  * 1 minute rest between movements  power clean 3 reps on the minute for 15 minutes at 175  1930 mobility work for 30 minutes  • sleep 8 hours  • notes: Harrison and I tested out the first two Santa series workouts today. They went well, and I think that we will be able to beat our scores on competition day. 

1300  squat snatch 3 reps on the minute for 10 minutes at 125 lbs  - then -  heavy single - 165, 185, 205  back squat 5 x 185, 225, 255, 275, 300  5 rounds for time  15 kettlebell swings (70 lbs)  15 hand release push ups  6:52  1800  every 3 minutes for 15 minutes (5 rounds) 400 meter run  10 strict toes to bar  averaged 1:40-1:45 per round  mobility work for 20 minutes  • sleep 6.5 hours  • notes: got back late last night from my level one in TN. That is the reason of my sleep being lower than normal. Snatches felt good and smooth today. Stopped the squats short at 300 because my legs were dead.  Metcon went faster than expected. I went unbroken every round on the KBS except round 3. My 400 was anywhere between 1:09 and 1:16. 

overhead squat 3 x 95, 125, 135, 165, 185, 205, 225pr, 235pr deadlift 3 x 225, 275, 315, 345, 365  3 rounds fast but not timed 5 bench press (205 lbs)  50 double unders  5 weighted c2b pull ups (35 lbs)  rest 1 minute between rounds  • sleep 8 hours  • notes: stopped the deadlifts after 365 because my back was not feeling 100 percent. Definitely not as heavy as I could have gone. Did a good bit of stretching today. I was feeling really tight and beat up today so I took the volume down.  Drew

1445  clean 2 x 135, 155, 185, 205, 225, 245, 255, 1 x 275, 285, 300f  push press 3 x 135, 155, 185, 195, 205, 215, 225f  4 rounds for time  10 deadlifts (245 lbs)  10 toes to bar  10 dumbbell push press (50 lbs)  10 kettlebell swings (70 lbs)  my score: 9:47 50 strict handstand push ups (sets of 10) weighted sit ups 3 x 15 x 70 lbs   • sleep 7.5 hours  • notes: attempted 300 4 times on the clean and got under all of them. My goal is to get it before my birthday, so I got about a week and a half. Metcon was a lot worse than it looked. My grip went away very quickly which had a big impact on my overall time. 

1330  snatch 2 x 95, 125, 135, 155, 175, 195, 205, 1 x 225, 235f  back squat 3 x 185, 225, 275, 305, 315, 335, 345f x 2  8 minute AMRAP  3,3…6,6…9,9…12,12… power snatch (95 lbs)  box jump overs (24")  15 + 19 reps (18 ps and 1 bjo)  row 3 x 500 meters (90 sec breaks) - 1:44, 1:45, 1:44  1900 squat snatch 3 reps on the minute for 10 minutes at 125 lbs  3 sets of  1 muscle ups  1 muscle up + 1 ring dip 1 muscle up + 2 ring dip  1 muscle up + 3 ring dip…  5 full rounds (5 dips), 4 full rounds (4 dips), 3 rounds + 1 mu (3 dips + 1 mu)  • sleep 8 hours • notes: absolutely estatic that I hit 225 snatch today. That's a goal I've had for a while now, and it is a boost of confidence to reach it. I'm coming for 235 next. I got a good amount of volume in today. This is what I am hoping every day will look like volume wise from here on out. 

1500  hang snatch 3 x 95, 115, 135, 155, 165, 175(f)  back squat 1 x 225, 275, 295, 315, 335, 355 pr, 365 pr  3 sets of  5 glute ham raise  10 reverse hypers  10 pistols, alternating  "Open Test" (little heavier)  20 minute AMRAP  50 wall balls (20 lbs)  50 double unders  40 box jumps (24")  40 toes to bar  30 chest to bar pull ups  30 bar facing burpees  20 power clean (155 lbs)  20 jerks (155 lbs)  10 snatches (155 lbs)  10 muscle ups  my score: 1 round (19:56)  • sleep 9 hours  • notes: 20 lb pr on back squat today. Think I might be able to get 375. I'll test it again soon. I was able to get 1 full round on the metcon, Hudson got back to the box jumps.  Drew

1345 2 mile active recovery hike  handstand walking practice for 15 minutes  mobility work for 25 minutes  • sleep 8.5 hours  • notes: legs are really feeling beat today. After handstand skill work I threw around the football with my brother. I tryed making today as enjoyable as possible and not so strenuous. After that three week smolov cycle I'm just as mentally exhuasted as I am physically.  Drew

This past Thursday I went up to Lynchburg, Virginia, to visit Liberty University. I was up there for what they call CFAW (college for a weekend). I left Thursday morning and arrived there around 4pm. We checked in, found the room I was staying in, had dinner, and walked around campus for a while. That night we went to a welcome meeting with the other 2,000 high school students attending CFAW. Afterwards I headed back to my room and got to know some of the students there and here what they had to say about Liberty.  Before I continue to go on with what I did this weekend, here is a little bit about Liberty. Liberty is the largest Christian university in the world with 14,000 residential students and over 100,000 online students. They have the most recreational facilities of any college I've even been to or visited. Facilities that are free to students include;  - gun range  - multiple camp sites  - 50 miles of hiking trails (mountain biking)  - motor cross ...

back squat 10 x 3 x 320 lbs  hang clean + clean - 95, 135, 165, 185, 205, 225  5 sets of:  5 bench press (185 lbs)  10 pendley row (135 lbs)  1.5 mile jog for active recovery  • sleep 8 hours  • notes: today marks the end of smolov, which is the last strength program I will be doing before the open. I have built up some decent strength, now it's time to get that metabolic stuff up along with working on moving medium weights for multiple reps. The cleans today felt supper heavy after all the squatting I did previously... 205 which normally feels like cake gave me a hard time. This morning I got my ACT scores back and to my surprise it was a 28, which is equivalent to a 1270 SAT score. 

1330  back squat 7 x 5 x 305  hang snatch + snatch - 95, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195f x 3  • sleep 7.5 hours  • notes: not much time to train today. had a few things that came up that I had to tend to. Tons of make up work to get done from missing last Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow will be my final day on smolov. Knees are feeling beat up so I'm going to take a break from Squating for about a week.  Drew

1245  4 rounds for time:  400 meter run  21 pull ups  25 push ups  alternating with a partner • sleep 7 hours  • notes: trained with my friend Ben Peden today. Got back late from Liberty University last night. I will post later with a recap of what happened and some of my thoughts.  Drew

Mobility work for 20 minutes I'm up at liberty for the remainder of the week. I will post again on Sunday when I get back.  • sleep 8 hours  • notes: legs are hurting pretty bad other than that I'm fine. 

1345  back squat 5 x 7 x 285  tempo bench press (3 sec down, 3 sec pause) 3 x 135, 155, 175, 185, 195  10 ring rows between sets  3 rounds for time:  10 overhead squats 135 lbs  50 double Unders  mobility work for 20 minutes  • sleep 8 hours  • notes: body feels fatigued. this weeks squating percentages are super high and it is taking a lot out of me. 

1145  Clean (from blocks) 1 x 95, 155, 175, 195, 215, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, 275(f), 265, 270  5 rounds of:  30 calorie row  20 toes to bar  10 shoulder to overhead 135 lbs  rest 1 minute between rounds  1500  every 90 seconds, for 9 minutes (6 sets) muscle snatch 1 x 135, 145, 155, 165, 170(f), 165  foreword roll to support practice for 12 minutes  spent a few minutes in the pool; treading and breath holding  water temp: 54  mobility work for 30 minutes • sleep 9 hours  • notes: 15 pound pr on the clean from the blocks today. My pool was 54 degrees today, and it is only going to continue to get colder. I am going to try and be consistent with working cold water stuff in the next few months. I need to be comfortable being cold and wet in the future, so I'm going to start now and see how it goes.  Drew

1500  power snatch 3 x 95, 125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175(f)  back squat 4 x 9 x 270  3 sets of:  5 front rack box step ups per leg 135 lbs  10 strict toes to bar  1800 10 pull ups, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups (rest 2 min)  10 pull ups, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups (rest 2 min)  10 pull ups, 30 push ups, 30 sit ups  10 rope climbs 20 ft (not timed)  mobility work for 30 minutes  • sleep about 6 hours (probably less)  • notes: felt weak today on the strength stuff, probably do to a lack of sleep last night.  Drew

This past week has been super busy. I have literally been doing nothing but school, training, working, or studying. But anyways, here's a recap of some highlights of this past week.  * finished week two of smolov. Yesterday was 10 x 3 at 310 pounds.  * power clean triple at 245 lbs  * power snatch double at 195 lbs  * did metcons every day  Yesterday before Squating I trained with Hudson and hit a snatch balance pr at 245. Barely missed 250. We also did an old regionals workout that was;  For time:  Row 2k  50 pistols, alternating legs  30 hang power cleans 205  I got 16:59. The prescribed weight for this was 225, but I didn't want to be doing singles the entire time so I cut it down 20 pounds.  Drew