4/20 - Saturday Sports Class

Partner WOD (2012 Games Team WOD)

row 750m while 97.5/65kg front rack hold

50 burpees while 61/42.5kg overhead hold

50 thrusters 42.5/30kg while dip support hold

16:25 

with Tarrsha (60kg front rack, Rx, Rx)

4/19 - Friday Night

Strength

Deadlift

5 x 5 @ 75%

78-78-78-78-78

then...

WOD

​5 Rds ​

5 Deadlifts 100/65kg​

10 Burpees​

4:06 (60kg)

4/16 – Clean and Jerk PR!

Another 1RM day at the box and I was looking forward to it.  Was looking even more forward to it when Ali showed up for the 4:30 class and also again when she mentioned that Tarrsha was also coming.  I love working out with these (crazy strong) gals and they push me so I knew it would be good.

WOD

20minutes

Find 1RM Clean and Jerk

63kg PR (power clean and jerk)

Then

15, 10, 5​

Strict Pull Up​ Ring Row

Sit Up​

Kettlebell Swing 25/16kg​

3:43 Rx KB

I stuck to power cleaning after all the reps of sntaches the day before.  Also, my previous PR was a power clean and jerk (62.5kg) so I knew I could.  I just wasn’t warmed up enough for the snatches (heavy) to feel comfortable.  My 1RM front squat is only 65kg – need to improve that one.  And so we rushed through 20 minutes of cleaning jerking.  The cleans actually felt harder for the most part than the jerks though there were still times as it got heavier that I doubted my shoulders more than anything. 

We did were mostly going up by 2.5kg as we got heavier and rather than going from 60kg to 62.5kg, I snuck on an additional 0.5kg (thanks Brendan for that tip the night before).  I knew I didn’t have 65kg in my after straining my back on the power clean at 60kg but still I really wanted a PR (after missing it on the snatch the night before).  I was actually scared of the power clean on this lift (wish I had my weight belt actually – it’s ordered) but got it and then stuck the jerk and was done.

Lifting with Ali and Tarrsha was great.  Ali was super strong throughout and solid in all her lifts.  Tarrsha struggled a bit with her mental game tonight.  It made me realize that (especially with the Olympic lifts) how important the mental game is.  You have to be very present in the moment with what you’re doing – not thinking about what comes next but just being comfortable in the movement.  All those reps at lighter weight are very important to allow your body to know the feeling of the movement when the weight gets heavy or you get a little tired. Repetition counts.

After we did a little WOD, it didn’t take long at all.  It was meant to be strict pull-ups but my shoulders weren’t going to have any of that even if it was scaled so I went with ring rows.  It was a good decision on my part.  I did all reps unbroken which felt good too.

Afterward I did a ton of mobility on my back and serratus (ouch my abs) and a little on my shoulders.  Need to do lots more of this too to keep my body going.

4/15 – Snatch!

Was definitely looking forward to tonight at the box after finding out what the WOD was –snatching! – though didn’t actually check until after regional tickets were sorted (it was an ordeal but it happened).  I wasn’t sure how my shoulders would hold up as they have been hurting lately, a different hurt though.  I woke up late Sunday night/ Monday morning and wanted to cry because my shoulders were aching so badly.  I’m not sure why but Luke thinks it might just be referred pain from spots on the back of my shoulders being tight.  Regardless I just wanted to heat them up so I covered myself in deep heat and through on a long sleeve shirt – Cam loved the smell… um, nope.  Ha.  A hot shower in the morning also helped as did a constant source of ibuprofen so though they didn’t hurt by the time the WOD rolled around I didn’t exactly trust them.

After a partnered warm-up we had I think 10-12 minutes to work up to our 1 rep attempts.  I did the warm-up partnered with Brendan and we used a 20kg bar which was no issue for me.  I switched to a 15kg bar when we started adding weight (he jumped in with someone else so I had the bar to myself) and did some reps at 25kg then 35kg.  Maybe I made the jump too soon or whatever (though 35kg was my working weight for sets last week in Oly class) but I really struggled with 35kg.  Basically I didn’t make any increase to weight beyond this for the entire time.  I even dropped a few of them – yup, complete misses.

Coach Jono was upstairs on the stationary bike and  was watching me lift.  There was a bit of a nod after my first wonky attempt at 35kg and then a questioning look after I dropped the next.  He wanted to know what was up, I pointed to my head.  He agreed.  I love silent communication.  Cam came by after I’d missed the lift and was trying to talk to me and I gave him the hand, literally.  I did apologize for it – not my finest moment but I was frustrated with myself and trying to sort it out with feedback from Jono which was where all my concentration was at that point. 

I’m not really sure how it progressed from there – after the next lift he actually gave me some words from above (I walked over to him), after a few more shoddy attempts he started to come down to coach me some more.  I was quite appreciative of the feedback especially as this wasn’t his coaching session, he was going about his own training so that was awesome – a bit of one on one on the side.  He stayed watching me for the rest of the class through good and bad lifts, acknowledging the good, encouraging the not so good and telling me when to add weight.  After a few solid attempts at 35 I bumped it up just a little.  37.5kg then 40kg followed by a bigger jump straight to 45kg which I managed to get.  He told me to add more at that point and I did – he asked what my PR was and I said 45.5kg which was why I was going up to 46kg.  I had about 5 attempts at it, a few times getting it high enough but not dropping and other times getting close but just not being able to lock out my arms (need to work on punching through) but never actually got it.  I’m happy with my attempts and how I got back at it even after struggling through at 35kg for so long.  I wasn’t afraid of it and I really wanted it but it just wasn’t my day.  It will be though, and soon.  Makes me want to practice all the more now.  50kg snatch by primal?

4/12 – Friday Night Free and Another PR

It’s both strange and awesome not to have Friday night sports class.  Strange in that I actually miss it.  I miss the badass-ness of it, everyone stepping up their games, leaving it all out there and doing extraordinary things.  The post Nando’s bonding, sweaty bodies squished in to the smallest of restaurants rehashing the events of the evening, being silly and laughing like crazy in a sleep deprived state.  It was awesome in that with it just being a WOD (and Barbell Club if you wanted) night it meant that we were done well before 8pm (or later) as so many of the last Friday’s have gone.  A bit of good, a bit of sad.

What it did mean though was WODing, still testing week and some more awesome programming. It also meant getting home and showering before walking to Nando’s in Freo.  Still though, tasty, tasty chicken.  Yum!

WOD

Find your 1RM deadlift

105kg PR

Then

5 minute AMRAP

Toes to Bar

34

It’s been a long while since I’ve gone heavy in a deadlift.  They scare me somewhat given that I have hurt my back doing these in the past though I know that my technique has gotten much better since then (I’ve learned to use my glutes and hammies more).  Still, I wasn’t sure if I’d manage to match let alone beat my PR (102.5kg).  I had a solid plan working in with Steph and got up to 102.5kg without issue but jumping to 105kg was still a little scary for me.  Thankfully Cam was there and let me use his weight belt (the plan was to get one for me on Saturday – a day too late, oops).  It definitely helped if not physically (though still it did) then definitely mentally.  It was funny though – he has a leather belt with a buckle and Steph had to help me get into it (getting it tight enough was the issue).  Getting out of it was another story – both Wayne and Cam had to help, it was quite funny actually but definitely highlights the fact that I do need my own (appropriately sized too).

Happy with the PR though – that made 4 for the week!

The toes to bar AMRAP was tough, between my shoulders and hands it was not at all easy.  Shoulders especially.  I thought I’d use my game plan from the pull-up AMRAP and do 5 every 30 seconds for as long as I could – well that worked for the first minute then I was down to 3 every 30 seconds sometimes in only 2’s and 1’s.  I did however manage to hold this for the rest of the WOD and set a mark of 34 which I felt okay with given the state of my body.  I do still really need to work on linking the reps though – much easier when I’m not so tired and sore though.

Strong finish to the week.  Cam and I went in on Saturday and there was no way I was going to be doing the Sports Class WOD even though they did dumbbell snatches (my fave).  It was a good call to just hang out and rest my shoulders.  I do need to adjust my rest days now though to add in training on Saturday.  I’m thinking probably having Thursday as a rest day, we’ll see how that plays out going forward.