CrossFit last night was difficult and yet very satisfying. The first part of the workout was a 15 minute segment called "Work Your Weakness". In reality, just about everything at CF except for the power lifts is a weakness for me. I was going to do burpees - 5 reps every minute for the 15 minutes, but the coach suggested that we do a more strength-oriented movement. Given how many parts of my body were already tired and sore, I struggled for a while to pick something that was a weakness but that wouldn't hurt too much to perform. I finally settled on power cleans - 2 per minute at 155# - just under 85% of my current 1-rep max of 185#.
These lifts went OK, although I did fail on one rep as I was working on form, and a change in one part of the lift caused me to "forget" another part. I did an extra rep there to make up for the failure.
The main workout looked fairly innocuous, but it is exactly the kind of workout where I typically struggle:
5 rounds, as quickly as possible:
Run 200 meters
20 box jumps
20 ball slams
This is not a strength based workout. It is a lung burner though.
My first round took about 4:00. Times on the board from earlier classes showed times from about 13:00 to just over 20:00. If the first round took 4:00, I figured I was heading to the slowest workout of the day. There were three people in the class from the latest On-Ramp class - the newbies in our gym. My wife was one of those three. By the end of the second round, two of the three were ahead of me. Yeah, they were using a different height box and different weight slam ball, but I was at the back of the class.
But, by pacing things well, I found that I didn't really slow down. In the fourth round, I missed a box jump attempt and almost face planted, but I managed to remain upright. Overall, I was very pleased by my pacing on the 100 box jumps, which was the toughest part of the workout for me.
In the end, I managed to finish ahead of two people, in a time of 19:05. I know that I shouldn't compare my results to others, but it's a natural thing to do. Of the people who finished behind me, one was a new member who is older than I am. The other person who finished behind me is pregnant and I'm sure she didn't go all out.
I'm pretty tired today. I've been averaging six workouts a week for the past month or so, and it's starting to take its toll. My son and I are going to see Henry Rollins speak tonight, so that creates a natural rest day for me. This weekend, I have some work to do around the house to get ready for winter and the potential storm next week. I still have about 1.5 cords of firewood to stack. So, I'll probably be active, but I won't be in the gym.
I hope to get in an easy run or hike at least once this weekend. And I'm hoping to get out fly fishing at least once this weekend. But overall, I'm hoping that my body feels a bit more recovered by the time I get to the gym on Monday night.
Friday, October 26, 2012
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Bench presses
Yesterday's workout was 7x1 heavy bench presses, followed by this:
"Diane"
Rep scheme of 21-15-9, done for time:
Deadlifts
Handstand push-ups
I have never been very good at bench presses. Even when I was lifting on my own (this was when I was still focusing most of my training on running long distances), I did lots of squats and deadlifts, and less upper body pulling or pressing work. My main thought, at that point in time, was that lifts that made my legs stronger would help me with my running and skiing, but upper body lifts would not help as much. I didn't ignore upper body lifts, but I gave them less focus. I would frequently use an upper body gym session as something to do when I was too tired to do more important stuff, like squats or deadlifts or sprints. But, when I did upper body work, bench presses were usually part of that workout.
Along the way, I did manage to make some progress in the bench press, and I eventually got to 175 pounds. I tried 185 a few times and never came close. The gym where I was lifting at the time had no 2.5 pound wheels, so trying 180 wasn't an option.
When I started doing CrossFit just over two years ago, I stopped lifting on my own most of the time. In the latter part of 2010, I went to CF 18 times and lifted on my own another 8 times. In 2011, I went to CF 108 times and lifted on my own another 21 times. This year, I've gone to CF 120 times and lifted on my own only 9 days. So, my percentage of lifting workouts done on my own has gone from 31% for a partial year, to 15% for last year to 7% this year. Those numbers are only relevant because I tend to bench press on my solo gym days away from CF a lot more than we do bench press at CrossFit. This means, even fewer bench press days in the past couple years.
I also injured my shoulder late last February and the recovery has been somewhat slow. But, in the past 6-8 weeks, it seems that the shoulder is doing a lot better. Bench presses are no longer painful. Until two months ago, I hadn't lifted over 95# in the bench press in quite a while. But, then, I had a workout where I surprised myself by getting to 125#. In another, I got to 155#. So, last night, I had no idea what to expect. So, I simply started at 125# and kept adding weight:
125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 (tying my old PR and it felt easy), and 185 (fairly easy). We were about out of time but my lifting partner said I needed to do one more rep. I got conservative here and tried 190. I struggled a bit, but got it. I am pretty sure I can do 200 pounds right now, if I do fewer total reps on the way to that number. Considering how sore I was, getting a PR made me feel great.
For "Diane", I made some adjustments. Instead of the prescribed 225# deadlifts, I opted for 185#. I can't do handstand push-ups, so there were a few other options - band-assisted HSPUs, stinkbugs, barbell strict press, dumbbell strict press, etc.
I opted for 2x30# DB strict presses and finished in under 5 minutes. My previous attempt at this workout had been in May and I was way faster this time, but I'd changed some parameters. Overall, I think it was a better effort.
Tonight is 15 minutes of "work your weakness" aka "pick your poison". I will probably do 5 burpees, every minute, on the minute, for 15 minutes.
After that, some running, box jumps and ball slams - a fairly fast workout that should challenge the lungs more than the the muscles.
Tomorrow is a rest day.
"Diane"
Rep scheme of 21-15-9, done for time:
Deadlifts
Handstand push-ups
I have never been very good at bench presses. Even when I was lifting on my own (this was when I was still focusing most of my training on running long distances), I did lots of squats and deadlifts, and less upper body pulling or pressing work. My main thought, at that point in time, was that lifts that made my legs stronger would help me with my running and skiing, but upper body lifts would not help as much. I didn't ignore upper body lifts, but I gave them less focus. I would frequently use an upper body gym session as something to do when I was too tired to do more important stuff, like squats or deadlifts or sprints. But, when I did upper body work, bench presses were usually part of that workout.
Along the way, I did manage to make some progress in the bench press, and I eventually got to 175 pounds. I tried 185 a few times and never came close. The gym where I was lifting at the time had no 2.5 pound wheels, so trying 180 wasn't an option.
When I started doing CrossFit just over two years ago, I stopped lifting on my own most of the time. In the latter part of 2010, I went to CF 18 times and lifted on my own another 8 times. In 2011, I went to CF 108 times and lifted on my own another 21 times. This year, I've gone to CF 120 times and lifted on my own only 9 days. So, my percentage of lifting workouts done on my own has gone from 31% for a partial year, to 15% for last year to 7% this year. Those numbers are only relevant because I tend to bench press on my solo gym days away from CF a lot more than we do bench press at CrossFit. This means, even fewer bench press days in the past couple years.
I also injured my shoulder late last February and the recovery has been somewhat slow. But, in the past 6-8 weeks, it seems that the shoulder is doing a lot better. Bench presses are no longer painful. Until two months ago, I hadn't lifted over 95# in the bench press in quite a while. But, then, I had a workout where I surprised myself by getting to 125#. In another, I got to 155#. So, last night, I had no idea what to expect. So, I simply started at 125# and kept adding weight:
125, 135, 145, 155, 165, 175 (tying my old PR and it felt easy), and 185 (fairly easy). We were about out of time but my lifting partner said I needed to do one more rep. I got conservative here and tried 190. I struggled a bit, but got it. I am pretty sure I can do 200 pounds right now, if I do fewer total reps on the way to that number. Considering how sore I was, getting a PR made me feel great.
For "Diane", I made some adjustments. Instead of the prescribed 225# deadlifts, I opted for 185#. I can't do handstand push-ups, so there were a few other options - band-assisted HSPUs, stinkbugs, barbell strict press, dumbbell strict press, etc.
I opted for 2x30# DB strict presses and finished in under 5 minutes. My previous attempt at this workout had been in May and I was way faster this time, but I'd changed some parameters. Overall, I think it was a better effort.
Tonight is 15 minutes of "work your weakness" aka "pick your poison". I will probably do 5 burpees, every minute, on the minute, for 15 minutes.
After that, some running, box jumps and ball slams - a fairly fast workout that should challenge the lungs more than the the muscles.
Tomorrow is a rest day.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
What doesn't hurt?
My hamstring is feeling better and handled the CrossFit workout last night, but it's not 100%.
Last night's workout was as follows:
7 x 1 power snatch, trying to attain a new 1 rep max. My old PR was 115#, I believe. I did singles at 95, 100, 105, 115, 120, and 125. I then failed three times at 135. After the failures, I dropped to 115 and did more single reps.
Then, 3 rounds, as quickly as possible:
10 power snatches at 95#
20 pull-ups (band assisted)
30 wall-balls (14# ball)
My time was 14:41. The first round took about 4 minutes, but I slowed dramatically on all three segments after the first round.
Today, my shoulders are sore from doing snatches two days in a row, especially trying to do heavy (for me) snatches.
My elbows are sore from pull-ups. I think my elbows still haven't fully recovered from the 150 pull-ups in "Eva" last Wednesday.
My glutes are sore from the back squats on Monday. It wasn't the squat weight that caused this. For me, doing 10x2 at 255 pounds is not exceptionally difficult. It was the 5 second hold in the bottom position for each squat that left me sore.
Hamstring, glutes, elbows, shoulders. Is there anything that doesn't hurt?
Tonight's workout includes bench presses, deadlifts and strict presses.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Tweaked Hamstring
In May of 2009, I was playing kickball with my brother and some college kids after Penn State's spring football game. It should come as no surprise to anyone who has been to a Penn State game that there was alcohol involved.
At one point in the game, I kicked a weak grounder to the pitcher (if that's what they are called in kickball). Not wanting to be shown up by college kids, I sprinted for all I was worth down the first base line. A few feet before reaching the base, I felt a pain in my hamstring, somewhat like I would imagine it would feel like to be shot by a gun or a bow and arrow. I went down hard in a heap, knowing I'd hurt my hamstring badly.
That injury may very well be the reason I'm not running ultras any more. It has gotten better, and after a platelet rich plasma treatment in the summer of 2009 to treat a partially torn tendon, I would guess that I function at 90% of my previous level. I can still do sprint workouts. I can lift heavy. I can run and ride my bike. But, every once in a while, the hamstring will act up and I need to curtail my activity for a while.
I did a good weight workout last Friday after work. Essentially, I did the CrossFit workout that I'd missed on Thursday, although I made the strength portion (push presses) harder than prescribed. On Saturday, I did a sprint workout - 10 x 100 meters. The workout went well, although I was surprised that my quads felt a bit sore while sprinting.
Saturday night, I noticed that my left hamstring felt a bit sore. On Sunday, I had my first day of pre-season ski instructor training, plus the weather was miserable, so I gladly took a rest day. The hamstring felt fine when I got to CrossFit last night.
The first part of our workout last night was a ten minute time window to establish a one rep max muscle snatch. We don't do this lift often, and I struggled with form. I started my serious efforts at 95 pounds and I got to 120 pounds. At 120 pounds, my elbow lockout was a bit shaky, so it might not have been a legal rep. I failed badly at 125 pounds and I was done with that part of the workout.
Next, we did 10x2 of back squats at 70% of our one rep max, which is 255 pounds for me. We did the sets every minute on the minute. And, just to make it really fun, we paused for 5 seconds at the bottom of each squat. This is an uncomfortable position that really forces you to keep a tight core and a strong vertical spine. About the 5th set, I noticed that my hamstring was not happy. By the 8th set, I was thinking about quitting, as the hamstring got worse. But, I (probably foolishly) continued to the end.
After the squats, our workout was "Annie", one of the newer girl WODs. This workout is named for Annie Sakamoto, one of the original CF "Nasty Girls". She is one tough competitor and has finished as high as third in the CrossFit games, I believe. At age 36, Annie still looks and performs like the elite athlete that she is. But, the Annie workout is not what many would think. It's not about strength. It's not highly gymnastic. Instead, it's a somewhat short lung burner:
50 double unders (rope jumping, but the rope goes underfoot twice per jump)
50 Abmat sit-ups
40 double unders
40 sit-ups
...
10 double unders
10 sit-ups
I'm still working on double unders. Or perhaps I should say I'm not working on them enough, because I haven't perfected them yet. Normally, for people who can't do double-unders, we do single unders and then 50% more reps of tuck jumps. Because the tuck jump is performed by pulling the knee towards the chest, I was afraid it would bother my hamstring. So, I simply doubled the number of double-unders and did singles.
I got through this in 10:16. My last Annie had been the tuck jump variation, and I'd done 10:52. I think the method I used last night was slower, so I was happy with my time.
My wife completed the CrossFit introductory program last Thursday. On Friday, she did her first real CF workout. Last night was her second. Doing 150 sit-ups in a workout when you haven't been doing them is really difficult. She finished last in our class, but true to the supportive nature of our gym, she had lots of people cheering for her at the end. She finished in about 12:40 and I think she's pretty sore today. She's also hooked on CF already.
Tonight's workout includes power snatches, pull-ups and wall-balls. I think my hamstring will be OK for all but the heaviest snatches, and I'll give it a go. But, if the hamstring complains at all, tonight, I'll simply walk away from the workout or find something else to do.
At one point in the game, I kicked a weak grounder to the pitcher (if that's what they are called in kickball). Not wanting to be shown up by college kids, I sprinted for all I was worth down the first base line. A few feet before reaching the base, I felt a pain in my hamstring, somewhat like I would imagine it would feel like to be shot by a gun or a bow and arrow. I went down hard in a heap, knowing I'd hurt my hamstring badly.
That injury may very well be the reason I'm not running ultras any more. It has gotten better, and after a platelet rich plasma treatment in the summer of 2009 to treat a partially torn tendon, I would guess that I function at 90% of my previous level. I can still do sprint workouts. I can lift heavy. I can run and ride my bike. But, every once in a while, the hamstring will act up and I need to curtail my activity for a while.
I did a good weight workout last Friday after work. Essentially, I did the CrossFit workout that I'd missed on Thursday, although I made the strength portion (push presses) harder than prescribed. On Saturday, I did a sprint workout - 10 x 100 meters. The workout went well, although I was surprised that my quads felt a bit sore while sprinting.
Saturday night, I noticed that my left hamstring felt a bit sore. On Sunday, I had my first day of pre-season ski instructor training, plus the weather was miserable, so I gladly took a rest day. The hamstring felt fine when I got to CrossFit last night.
The first part of our workout last night was a ten minute time window to establish a one rep max muscle snatch. We don't do this lift often, and I struggled with form. I started my serious efforts at 95 pounds and I got to 120 pounds. At 120 pounds, my elbow lockout was a bit shaky, so it might not have been a legal rep. I failed badly at 125 pounds and I was done with that part of the workout.
Next, we did 10x2 of back squats at 70% of our one rep max, which is 255 pounds for me. We did the sets every minute on the minute. And, just to make it really fun, we paused for 5 seconds at the bottom of each squat. This is an uncomfortable position that really forces you to keep a tight core and a strong vertical spine. About the 5th set, I noticed that my hamstring was not happy. By the 8th set, I was thinking about quitting, as the hamstring got worse. But, I (probably foolishly) continued to the end.
After the squats, our workout was "Annie", one of the newer girl WODs. This workout is named for Annie Sakamoto, one of the original CF "Nasty Girls". She is one tough competitor and has finished as high as third in the CrossFit games, I believe. At age 36, Annie still looks and performs like the elite athlete that she is. But, the Annie workout is not what many would think. It's not about strength. It's not highly gymnastic. Instead, it's a somewhat short lung burner:
50 double unders (rope jumping, but the rope goes underfoot twice per jump)
50 Abmat sit-ups
40 double unders
40 sit-ups
...
10 double unders
10 sit-ups
I'm still working on double unders. Or perhaps I should say I'm not working on them enough, because I haven't perfected them yet. Normally, for people who can't do double-unders, we do single unders and then 50% more reps of tuck jumps. Because the tuck jump is performed by pulling the knee towards the chest, I was afraid it would bother my hamstring. So, I simply doubled the number of double-unders and did singles.
I got through this in 10:16. My last Annie had been the tuck jump variation, and I'd done 10:52. I think the method I used last night was slower, so I was happy with my time.
My wife completed the CrossFit introductory program last Thursday. On Friday, she did her first real CF workout. Last night was her second. Doing 150 sit-ups in a workout when you haven't been doing them is really difficult. She finished last in our class, but true to the supportive nature of our gym, she had lots of people cheering for her at the end. She finished in about 12:40 and I think she's pretty sore today. She's also hooked on CF already.
Tonight's workout includes power snatches, pull-ups and wall-balls. I think my hamstring will be OK for all but the heaviest snatches, and I'll give it a go. But, if the hamstring complains at all, tonight, I'll simply walk away from the workout or find something else to do.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Another of those tired and sore days
Wednesday night, as I wrote, we did a workout called "Eva". The toughest part of that workout for me was the 150 total pull-ups, even broken into sets of 30 and done with assistance bands. In reality, I borke each set of 30 into multiple sets, simply resting between my mini-sets. Yesterday, my arms were just fried. Not just tired, but seriously sore muscles, especially my biceps. My legs weren't too bad, but they were a little tired from tough workouts earlier in the week and the 5 x 800m runs on Wednesday.
So, I took a rest day yesterday.
This is the workout I skipped yesterday:
5x5 push press
Then, for time:
Row 1000m
75 jump-rope double unders
50 box jumps
25 hands-off-the-floor push ups (drop until your chest hits the floor and lift your hands briefly to prove you're as low as you can go)
10 lateral box-jump burpees (do a burpee, and instead of jumping straight up to finish it, jump laterally over a box, do another burpee, another lateral jump, etc.)
On Wednesday evening, I had predicted to my wife that we would do a workout called Karen on Thursday. Karen is 150 wall-balls for time. Essentially, a wall-ball is a front squat holding a medicine ball, and then standing up and using the momentum from standing up to "shot put" the med ball to a mark on a wall that is 10' from the ground.
I was off a day in my prediction, and today is Karen, along with heavy front squats.
I'm working from home today, so I will go to the local gym after work today, rather than CF. There are no medicine balls there, so I think I'll do yesterday's workout instead.
Tomorrow, I hope to find a break in the rain and get outside for some sprint work.
Sunday, I have my first day of pre-season work at Sugarbush - filling out paperwork, HR orientation, and some basic training - all requirements before we start skiing with students in December. Hopefully, I'll get in a workout on Sunday after the training - something like a moderately paced 8K of rowing.
It's going to be a wet weekend, so getting outdoors for workouts might be unpleasant. And, with up to an inch of rain expected today, fly fishing is probably out of the question for the weekend. I did see two photos of nice fish caught in VT this morning - one a beautiful rainbow taken in a tributary of the Lamoille river, and the other a nice brown from Otter Creek. The last fish picture I posted here was a decent brown I caught in Otter Creek, but I haven't been back there since then. But, today's rain will likely render the rivers unfishable for the rest of the weekend.
So, I took a rest day yesterday.
This is the workout I skipped yesterday:
5x5 push press
Then, for time:
Row 1000m
75 jump-rope double unders
50 box jumps
25 hands-off-the-floor push ups (drop until your chest hits the floor and lift your hands briefly to prove you're as low as you can go)
10 lateral box-jump burpees (do a burpee, and instead of jumping straight up to finish it, jump laterally over a box, do another burpee, another lateral jump, etc.)
On Wednesday evening, I had predicted to my wife that we would do a workout called Karen on Thursday. Karen is 150 wall-balls for time. Essentially, a wall-ball is a front squat holding a medicine ball, and then standing up and using the momentum from standing up to "shot put" the med ball to a mark on a wall that is 10' from the ground.
I was off a day in my prediction, and today is Karen, along with heavy front squats.
I'm working from home today, so I will go to the local gym after work today, rather than CF. There are no medicine balls there, so I think I'll do yesterday's workout instead.
Tomorrow, I hope to find a break in the rain and get outside for some sprint work.
Sunday, I have my first day of pre-season work at Sugarbush - filling out paperwork, HR orientation, and some basic training - all requirements before we start skiing with students in December. Hopefully, I'll get in a workout on Sunday after the training - something like a moderately paced 8K of rowing.
It's going to be a wet weekend, so getting outdoors for workouts might be unpleasant. And, with up to an inch of rain expected today, fly fishing is probably out of the question for the weekend. I did see two photos of nice fish caught in VT this morning - one a beautiful rainbow taken in a tributary of the Lamoille river, and the other a nice brown from Otter Creek. The last fish picture I posted here was a decent brown I caught in Otter Creek, but I haven't been back there since then. But, today's rain will likely render the rivers unfishable for the rest of the weekend.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
CrossFit Eva
There are three main types of "WOD"s (Workout of the Day) in CrossFit. First, and probably most common in our gym are the WODs that our trainer makes up or pulls from the main CrossFit web site or another gym's site.
Secondly, and done least frequently, are the "hero" WODs. These workouts tend to be very long and difficult. They are named for fallen heroes, usually soldiers, fire fighters or policemen. A good example of a Hero WOD is Murph: Run a mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats (you can do these bodyweight exercises in any order that you like, such as 20 rounds of 5-10-15), and then run another mile. Because of how taxing the hero WODs are, we do them fairly infrequently.
Lastly, and best know are the WODs known simply as The Girls. Last Friday, we did Fran. Tuesday was Grace. Last night was Eva. Eva is an interesting workout. Technically, it's one of the "girls", but in reality, it's more like a typical hero workout. For me, it might be the longest duration of the girls. The workout looks simple:
5 rounds, as quickly as possible:
Run 800 meters
30 Kettlebell swings
30 pull-ups
It's very important to keep good form on the KB swings. If you are sloppy and let your back become rounded, you can really torch your lower back, which makes the running segments even worse. But for me, the worst part of the workout is doing 150 total pull-ups. Even with assistance bands, that's a lot of pull-ups.
I spent most of yesterday dreading the workout. When I got to the gym, I wasn't any more focused or interested in Eva. But, once we got started, I simply powered my way through it.
I think my first round was about 8 minutes, the second about 9, and I averaged just under 10 minutes per round after that, for a total time of 45:51. Today, my legs are tired, but what really hurts is my biceps from the pull-ups.
Tonight's workout is a bit easier - 5x5 push presses and then a mix of rowing, rope jumping box jumps, push-ups, burpees, and lateral box jumps. It won't be easy, but after today, tomorrow will be a much earned rest day.
Secondly, and done least frequently, are the "hero" WODs. These workouts tend to be very long and difficult. They are named for fallen heroes, usually soldiers, fire fighters or policemen. A good example of a Hero WOD is Murph: Run a mile, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air squats (you can do these bodyweight exercises in any order that you like, such as 20 rounds of 5-10-15), and then run another mile. Because of how taxing the hero WODs are, we do them fairly infrequently.
Lastly, and best know are the WODs known simply as The Girls. Last Friday, we did Fran. Tuesday was Grace. Last night was Eva. Eva is an interesting workout. Technically, it's one of the "girls", but in reality, it's more like a typical hero workout. For me, it might be the longest duration of the girls. The workout looks simple:
5 rounds, as quickly as possible:
Run 800 meters
30 Kettlebell swings
30 pull-ups
It's very important to keep good form on the KB swings. If you are sloppy and let your back become rounded, you can really torch your lower back, which makes the running segments even worse. But for me, the worst part of the workout is doing 150 total pull-ups. Even with assistance bands, that's a lot of pull-ups.
I spent most of yesterday dreading the workout. When I got to the gym, I wasn't any more focused or interested in Eva. But, once we got started, I simply powered my way through it.
I think my first round was about 8 minutes, the second about 9, and I averaged just under 10 minutes per round after that, for a total time of 45:51. Today, my legs are tired, but what really hurts is my biceps from the pull-ups.
Tonight's workout is a bit easier - 5x5 push presses and then a mix of rowing, rope jumping box jumps, push-ups, burpees, and lateral box jumps. It won't be easy, but after today, tomorrow will be a much earned rest day.
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
CrossFit and Morrissey
As far as I know, Morrissey does not do CrossFit. But, I saw Morrissey last night, and before the show, I left work a bit early to get to CrossFit.
I was surprised at the strength dominance of the workout after our heavy workout on Monday. We started with 7x1 Power Cleans, with a goal of setting a single rep PR. For a long time, due to a shoulder injury, I'd been stuck on 175# for my max in this lift. About a month ago, I managed a shaky rep at 185. Last night, after my warm-up, I did reps at 145, 155, 165, 175, 180, 185 and 190. I really focused on two things. First, I wanted to make sure the bar was moving vertically the entire time and not swinging in front of my body. Secondly, I wanted to improve my speed getting under the bar as the bar neared its apex. When we do squat cleans, your feet have to move during the drop under the bar, and they have to move from a neutral stance to a wider squat stance. But, with a power clean, the feet don't need to move quite so far, and you don't need to open your stance. So, I focused on quick feet and a quick drop. It was interesting to do this, because just as I'd feel I was about to fail on each rep - as the bar stopped moving upwards - I was quickly underneath the bar and supporting it. From there, I simply had to stand up from the quarter squat position to a fully upright position, and I had the rep. I'll probably never be really great on form with the Olympic lifts, but last night was a definite improvement.
After the power cleans, we did a workout named Grace - 30 clean and jerks (any type of clean, any type of jerk allowed) as quickly as possible. The standard weight for men is 135 pounds, but I used 115 instead. I was able to do the 30 reps in 4:31. I basically used power cleans with a push press for the first 15 or so reps and then transitioned to a push jerk for the later reps.
After the workout, my wife and I went to see Morrissey with some friends. I've been a fan of the Smiths for a long, long time, but I never saw them in concert. Morrissey was their lead singer, but he's also done a lot of solo work. On his current tour, he's been skipping most of the Smiths' stuff (same four Smiths' songs every show) and even skipping some of his own biggest hits. The show was pretty much as expected, until the encore. He'd been playing a song called Still Ill as his encore every night, but last night, this song was in the main set. This had everyone hoping for How Soon is Now, the Smiths' biggest hit, as his encore, and he delivered. It was an amazing version of the song, and this video doesn't do it justice:
My ears are still ringing a bit this morning.
I was surprised at the strength dominance of the workout after our heavy workout on Monday. We started with 7x1 Power Cleans, with a goal of setting a single rep PR. For a long time, due to a shoulder injury, I'd been stuck on 175# for my max in this lift. About a month ago, I managed a shaky rep at 185. Last night, after my warm-up, I did reps at 145, 155, 165, 175, 180, 185 and 190. I really focused on two things. First, I wanted to make sure the bar was moving vertically the entire time and not swinging in front of my body. Secondly, I wanted to improve my speed getting under the bar as the bar neared its apex. When we do squat cleans, your feet have to move during the drop under the bar, and they have to move from a neutral stance to a wider squat stance. But, with a power clean, the feet don't need to move quite so far, and you don't need to open your stance. So, I focused on quick feet and a quick drop. It was interesting to do this, because just as I'd feel I was about to fail on each rep - as the bar stopped moving upwards - I was quickly underneath the bar and supporting it. From there, I simply had to stand up from the quarter squat position to a fully upright position, and I had the rep. I'll probably never be really great on form with the Olympic lifts, but last night was a definite improvement.
After the power cleans, we did a workout named Grace - 30 clean and jerks (any type of clean, any type of jerk allowed) as quickly as possible. The standard weight for men is 135 pounds, but I used 115 instead. I was able to do the 30 reps in 4:31. I basically used power cleans with a push press for the first 15 or so reps and then transitioned to a push jerk for the later reps.
After the workout, my wife and I went to see Morrissey with some friends. I've been a fan of the Smiths for a long, long time, but I never saw them in concert. Morrissey was their lead singer, but he's also done a lot of solo work. On his current tour, he's been skipping most of the Smiths' stuff (same four Smiths' songs every show) and even skipping some of his own biggest hits. The show was pretty much as expected, until the encore. He'd been playing a song called Still Ill as his encore every night, but last night, this song was in the main set. This had everyone hoping for How Soon is Now, the Smiths' biggest hit, as his encore, and he delivered. It was an amazing version of the song, and this video doesn't do it justice:
My ears are still ringing a bit this morning.
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