Drew Mathews Training

Back Squat  3 x 195, 3 x 225, 4 x 260, 3 x 295, 2 x 5 x 275  Starting off my legs weren't feeling great, but as I got into it they got to feeling better and it ended up being a good session.  Floor Press 7 x 3  155, 165, 175, 185, 195, 205, 215(f)  I failed 215 on the last rep; so close to getting it up. I don't do floor press very often but I like it because it is completely different than regular bench. You don't get the elastic type bounce or reflex it's more strict pressing with a shorter range of motion.  5 rounds for max reps of:  ME Strict Shoulder Press, 115  ME Weighted Pull Ups, 35  51 total reps  Rest 1 minute  100 double unders  100 air squats  3:29 I REALY NEED TO WORK ON my shoulder pressing strength. That score is not good. It was a good workout, but it exposed some stuff I need to work on. It was hard to stay strict all the way through. Always room to improve. And that short little burn...

Snatch Balance 5 x 5  115, 135, 155, 165, 185(f)  My thumb was hurting a little on these, so I think that was a limiting factor on why I missed 185. My mobility on overhead squatting has definitely gotten better but it still could use some work. I'm going to work on some wrist mobility for a few weeks then do some heavy snatch balances and see what the difference is compared to what happened today.  Snatch Cluster 5 x 3  (1 high hang, 1 hang, 1 full)  115, 135, 145, 155(f), 155  These felt good for the most part and I am surprised I was able to get 155 for all 3. I was expecting the high hang to be a huge limiting factor, but I was able to surprise myself. I failed the third rep at 155 on the first set then got all three the next set. The reason I didn't get it the first time was a combination of an early arm bend and my hands were sweating wich caused grip to go.  5 rounds of:  10 Barbell Roll Outs  10 Toes to Bar  Good ...

Back Squat  3 x 205, 4 x 245, 2 x 4 x 275, 5 x 275 First day back on smolov after a two week break. This was HEAVY! Previous to this workout I had only done 275 x 3, so going up 2 reps is pretty cool. I trained with my brother today. It's nice having someone there working out with you even if they aren't lifting the same amount or doing the same thing. Just gives you that little extra drive.  Romanian Deadlift 4 x 8 (185, 205, 225, 235)  Weighted Barbell Step Ups 3 x 10 each leg (115)  I think I picked a perfect weight on these  because every 10th rep was just miserable. I did 10 on one leg then 10 on the other, so I was not switching legs every rep.  For time:  200 meter run - buy in  5 rounds of:  6 vert jumps 16" above max reach  8 ring dips  10 toes to bar  200 meter run - cash out  9:32  If I were to be honest id have to say I'm disappointed in this workout. I was expecting 6-7 minutes, but s...

Everybody has good and bad days when it comes to training. Today… was not a good day! I got some good work in just not the results I was looking for.  Snatch heavy single  135, 155, 165, 175, 185, 195(f)  Clean and Jerk heavy single  185, 215, 225, 245(f)  Looking at the bright side at least i am consistently hitting my current PR at 185 on snatch. I can almost get under 195, just got to keep working. On Clean and Jerk today I was just not feeling it. I had 245 locked out in the split, but just couldn't stand it up.  Strict Deficit HSPU  5 x 1  As deep as possible  I got 12" fairly easily and felt like I could get 14". When I went for it at the bottom of the handstand my shoulders were touching the bumpers so I couldn't touch my head to the ground. I looked up a way to do it when it got really deep and I will practice it this next week.  Handstand Skill Work  Tomorrow is going to be a lighter volume day when it com...

I got out of school early today do to a field trip. I decided to make the most of my time before work by learning a backflip.  Backflip practice for 20 minutes  I started on the soft blue mat just to be safe and moved on from there. Feelin' a little gymnasty today. (See video above) Bench Press  5 x 5  155, 165, 175, 185, 190(f)  It started to get heavy at 185, and I struggled to get it up. Going for 190 was pushing it and I got 4 but failed the 5th.  3 x 10 Weighted Ring Dips (20)  Absolutely stoked to learn a backflip today. Next to come… backflip 360.  DM

My legs are feelin' quite toasty today. Literally I can barely walk. I decided to take a rest day and try and recover by stretching out. Hopefully I can go at it hard tomorrow.   I hate taking rest days, because in my mind I feel if I'm not putting in work then someone else is and they are getting better when I am not. At the beginning of the year I made a promise to myself that I would be the hardest working crossfit athlete in the country. So far id have to say that has not happened; for many reasons. I started the year off with baseball which took quite a bit of time away from training. Then soon after baseball started I broke my hand, which put me out for about 8 weeks. NOW. . . I'm back full force and ready to kill it! I have treated this week as a getting back into it type week. Next week, I'm going to put my best foot forward and start training at 100%. I will be starting back up with the second phase of Smolov on Monday, and will continue to focus on b...

Starred today out with some mobility just to loosen up. Then got into… Power Clean 5 x 3,  heaviest possible  185, 205, 225, 235(f), 235(f) I felt good through 215 then at 225 is when it got heavy. I attempted 235 two times and failed the third rep on both sets. Considering I'm feeling pretty sore from yesterday I think that if I was fresh I would have gotten 235 x 3.  I NEED TO WORK ON keeping my feet closer together and not letting them fly out wide when I do power cleans. (As you can see in the video above). Put more focus on receiving the bar with feet no wider than squat stance with butt back and a tall chest.  Work up to a heavy Front Squat   225, 245, 255, 265, 275  This is a 20 pound PR from my previous best. I need to work on keeping my chest up on these. I started to feel a little rounded when it got heavy.  Muscle Snatch  5 x 1  125, 135, 145, 155, 165(f)  I stopped at 165 when it started to get a l...

Yesterday I got 3 horse stall matts for flooring in my garage gym. Each of them is 6 foot by 4 foot. I will post pictures shortly.  Today's Training…  Work up to a heavy Deadlift  1 x 275, 305, 325, 345, 375  My back was a little tight on these today so I didn't go for a new PR. However, the set at 325 has never felt as light as it did today. I am definitely getting stronger.  5 x 1 Press Cluster  (Push Press + Push Jerk + Split Jerk)  155, 165, 185, 195, 205(f)  I havnt done overhead work in a while, it was nice to get back into it. 185 felt really good on the push press, the hip drive was great. But when it came to 205 I just couldn't press it up. If I could have got the push press it have no doubt I could have gotten the other two jerks.  8 minute AMRAP  7 Deadlifts (275)  35 Double Unders  7 rounds + 1 Deadlift I found this workout on Noah Ohlsen's blog. He did this a couple years ago years and got arou...

Prowler Pushes 4 x 25 meters at 190 pounds  Bench Press  1 x 185, 205, 215, 225, 235  Pendley Rows  5 x 95, 125, 135, 155, 165  Practice Handstand Walking for 15 minutes  Practice Rocking 360 Handstand Push Ups  (Almost got one, next time I will)  DM

Backwards Roll to Support Practice  (10 total reps)  Power Clean (Blocks)  1 x 135, 155, 185, 205, 215, 225, 235, 245(f)  Deadlift  3 x 225, 275, 295, 305, 315, 335, 345, 355  1 x 365, 375, 385, 400(f)  Big time PR on deadlift today. 20 pounds! 400 is coming soon!  DM

Bench Press  3 x 135, 155, 185, 205, 215(f) x 2  Deficit Deadlift (2" deficit)  3 x 255, 275, 295, 305, 325  Snatch Push Press  10 x  95, 105, 115  On bench I got 2 reps at 215 and missed the third. The Deadlifts went really well considering that it was my first time doing them with a deficit. On the Snatch Push Presses  I went fairly light because on the first set it aggravated my hand.  Mobility work for a little bit Good day today. Got to hang out with a couple friends, one who moved to NC a while back that I don't get to see that much anymore. (Rud and John Patrick) DM

Started the morning off with a 1.5-2 mile hike with Chloe at Parris Mountain.  Back Squat 5 x 135, 165, 185, 195  (Focused on exploding out of the bottom of the squat)  15:00 EMOM  3 Squat Cleans at 135#  L-sit Hold 10 x 10 seconds  15 minutes  3 Deadlifts 275#  3 Muscle Ups  3 Deficit HSPU  Rotate every 30 seconds to the next station.  Took a break for a while and went to Dicky's BBQ with my dad for lunch.  Weighted Pull Ups 5 x 25, 35, 3 x 45, 55, 60, 1 x 70, 80, 85(f)  +  10 GHD Sit Ups between sets  Split Jerk (blocks) - heavy single  1 x 135, 155, 185, 205, 225, 235(f), 235  My upper body strength has definitely been effected in the last month by having a broken hand. Hopefully I can get the strength numbers back to where they were or above in a few weeks.  DM

Back Squat  1 x 255, 275, 305, 315, 325, 335(f)  Clean  Technique practice, then 1 x 185, 225, 245, 255 Skill Practice:  Handstand Holds, Parallette HSPU, L-sit, and Gymnastics Kip  PR on both back squat (25# pr) and clean (5# pr) today. For me, my weakness is absolute(raw) strength, and I think increasing my squat helped increase my clean. The reason being the most I had ever squat clean before was 235. Still need to increase my raw strength, then I will be able to convert that into explosive strength.  Also congrats to my brother Ben on increasing his back squat from 185 to 205.  DM    

Back Squat 10 x 3 x 285  Next week is Max outs.  DM

Back Squat 7 x 5 x 270  Clean 1 x 135, 185, 225  My hand is feeling better, however I did not use the hook grip tonight because of my thumb.  DM

Back Squat 5 x 7 x 255  Did this around 9:45. Late night!  DM

Back Squat 4 x 9 x 240 Today I wasn't feeling it. It was either just a bad day or this weight was super heavy, because every rep was a struggle.  DM