Days 43-49: Is this really making me stronger?

I am not sure if I am getting stronger or weaker, but on the positive side, I am sore a good chunk of the time.

Day 43: "Tommy V" (scaled). 12-9-6 Thrusters (85#), rope climbs or 4 strict pull ups (Scott!!!) for each rope climb. This sucked so bad that I decided to stop writing about exercise forever. I got over it. I don't remember the time, but it was not impressive, unless, of course, you are an endurance athlete.

Day 44:"Annie" 50-40-30-20-10 Double unders and sit ups. 7:45 (Matt was our bitch*, see below)

I never started working on double unders until the day after this workout (they are coming along nicely now, thank you), so I set up two 45# plates flat on the ground, and put a loaded (or is it laden, I always hated this distinction. I am loaded, I shouldn't drive, but my truck is laden. Should it drive? Should I stop loading my truck?) bar on top. This makes a 15 inch or so obstacle to jump back and forth over, and if you say "whoosh, whoosh!" really fast and loud every time you jump, it feels like a very strenuous double under. This is, according to BrandX, a legit substitute.

*Matt had a dilemma to ponder. Should he do double unders and risk being torn up by Scotty and having no excuse, or should he go the obstacle route, and try to beat Rob at the only event he comes close to owning, sit ups. Watching him do double unders is like watching one of those movies where a child valiantly struggles through some terminal disease, eventually cheating death, but looking really rough in the process. There are points in the film where we are sure the brave boy will never make it, cries of "what will we do without him," and "we won't give up on you, Billy" are uttered, and yet nobody ever pulls the plug. A dog in the same condition would have been put down long before, and yet the audience, while sad, still derives some measure of sick pleasure from the suffering it witnesses. Cathartic, to say the least, yet draining. Such is the nature of Matt's double unders.

The brave boy chose double unders, and when we look at the times (Rob: 7:45, Scott: 8:36, Matt: Still going [18 minutes and change, I think), we might say it is time for him to go the obstacle route, or start practicing his double unders, because there is no way to explain his way out of this.

Day 45: Rest

Day 46: Humility returns to Rob's game

Prescribed: 20 x 185# shoulder to overhead, 40 Burpees for time. Rob: 95#, Scott: 135#, Matt: 115# (I think).

I thought I was going to die. Matt and Scott were very encouraging cheering me through my last 25 burpees, but then again, they had already caught their breath by that time.

Day 47: Sinister. 4 rounds for time 400 meters, 30 Squats (Rx'd 50 squats)

Came in dead last. This workout is twisted and cruel. My legs felt surprisingly good the next day, though.

Day 48: 21-15-9 Handstand push ups (band rig, two bands), ring dips (one band) and push ups (the old-fashioned way).

15 minutes and change. This is the upper body version of yesterday's cruel excuse for a workout.

Day 49: Rest.