13 January 2008

Steven, a few days before he gets married.  This is Crossfit, not cold feet. 

Oh my, oh my, this one had heartbreak written all over it.  With the memories of last wod's spankings, confidence shaken and all, doubts were in abundance.  

WOD:

Power Clean 15 reps

Ring Dips 30 reps

Power Clean 12 reps

Ring Dips 24 reps

Power Clean 9 reps

Ring Dips 18 reps

Power Clean 6 reps

Ring Dips 12 reps

Power Clean 3 reps

Ring Dips 6 reps

My goodness, that was tiring just typing that.

Rx weight for Power Clean is #155

This day, I weighed in at #157.5. This is going to be tough. Nothing to it, my ass.

Sam: ~24:00 performed Cleans at #115 and assisted Dips (see below, but next time you are getting more weight)

Herbie: ~32:00 performed Hang Cleans at #85 and Pushups

Brett: ~31:00 as Rx'd

Let's talk about Sam first. Sam is definitely ready to step it up on the Cleans and bend the bar some more.  The form is not perfect, neither is mine, but I was happy to note on the times I caught glimpses that the split step he would do on the catch, a previously formed habit, was corrected. Obviously the Dips need work as ring dip strength is not yet achieved, this can be thrown in the warmup, but I was very happy with the Cleans. 

Herbie performed quite well.  Of the note were his push ups which have come a long way.  I am concerned that we are going to fast throwing in the Hang Cleans though.  I believe that we should go back to getting the Deadlift basics perfect before doing any more Cleans or other more progressive Oly lifts.  His Hang Cleans clearly got better as he became more fatigued, as often happens with high reps, but there were still a few in there that were beyond ugly and likewise beyond the 'safe zone' for the weight he was using.  We will go back to basics.  Before you Run you learn to walk, before you walk you learn to crawl.

As for me and as mentioned above, I was very intimidated by this WOD, but I was determined to finish as prescribed.  My PR on Cleans is #190, my body weight a few hours before performing this WOD was #2.5 over the weight I would be Cleaning.  Performing 45 reps of roughly body weight Power Cleans is not something I do often, throw in 90 Ring Dips, and I may as well slam a fifth of dirt cheap tequila and call it even.  

One by one I lifted, heaved, shrugged, and caught. Grunts followed.  The Ring Dips were handled in patient sets.  Only until the end did it get sloppy.  A missed a Clean on my last rep, I got greedy with my patience, and the sets of Ring Dips became mismatched.  Steady progress produced prescribed completion in ~31:00, the time was not my concern this time around, I was more than satisfied with the completion. 

Excellent work everybody. 

Next WOD:

Deadlift 3-3-3-3-3

then

Bench Press 5-5-5-5-5

Sam, I really want you to step it up on the Deadlift, and also coach Herbie on his form; start conservative.

The bench press, though unexciting, is a very good way to increase raw push and chest strength for pushup, dips etc.  Work hard, and spot each other.