Bambi On Ice

Workout date: 2/23/15

After writing a post in which I tried to describe all the different types of lifts that might end up in the blog, I come to find that the workout for tonight involves a lift I forgot.  Dumas.  While I did mention the deadlift, I failed to mention there was a variant called the sumo deadlift.  The sumo deadlift involves lifting the weight with a wide stance.  The tradeoff for the more awkward stance is that your waist is lower and you're not lifting the weight as high.  Some people can lift more with a normal deadlift, others can lift more using the sumo stance.  My past experience has been that I lift about the same in each stance, although I definitely feel more comfortable in the normal stance.

The strength component of the workout this evening involved doing 5 sets of 5 reps of the sumo deadlift.  After each set, we were to do as many strict pull-ups as possible.  Warmups were an interesting experience.  I was able to do 3 strict pull-ups which gave me some faith that I would be able to do a decent amount in between deadlift sets.  But my sumo deadlift left a lot to be desired.  I really couldn't remember the last time I did this at the gym and it showed.  As we practiced with a lighter weight, Coach Aimee came around to see how our form looked.  When she got to me, she stopped and said "no, there's something wrong".  She looked at the girl across from me and said "she's doing it right, you're doing something very wrong."

Now for background, Aimee is not one to mince words.  My first experience at the gym involved me trying to do normal deadlifts with some incredibly bad form.  Aimee saw me do a rep and said "your form makes me nauseous."  So I guess I've gone from vomit-inducing to just bad.  Progress!  When Aimee figured out my issue tonight, it did not strike me as terribly surprising.  For the longest time, my knees buckled when I did squats.  I had to focus every time I squatted in order to make the habit go away, although it still rears its head when I stop paying attention to that aspect of the lift.  I was doing the same thing tonight on my sumo deadlifts.  Aimee said I looked like Bambi on ice, which may have been a generous way of describing my badly buckled knees.  I resolved to fix this when I put the real weight on the bar.

The goal for the workout was to start with about 70% of your 1 rep max on the bar and then progress towards 80%.  With a normal deadlift PR of 385 (I couldn't remember what my sumo deadlift PR was), I started off with a weight of 275 and figured I would make my way up to 305.  In an attempt to strengthen my grip, I used a normal grip on the first set.  And it was hard as hell.  Plus the reward for testing my grip was to hop on the pull-up bar.  Maybe I didn't think that through so well.  I did 2 strict pull-ups and fell off before I could get #3.

I added 10 pounds and did 5 reps at 285 with a more comfortable reverse grip (hands facing in opposite directions).  Keith came over and noted that I wasn't keeping the bar as close to my body as I should.  Another thing to fix.  The pull-ups were remarkably similar to the first round, as my struggle to get #3 came up short.  I bumped to 295 and did my best set yet, but the weight was still very difficult.  2 more strict pull-ups and then I got ready for two final sets at 305.  The first 5 reps at 305 were good, but Aimee noted that it could be even better if I kept my back tight.  Did another 2 strict pull-ups.  As the class was wrapping up the strength portion of the workout, I grabbed the bar for my last 5 reps.  Another battle, but I got through it.  My grip was feeling it now though, plus I was tired.  I managed only 1 pull-up in the last round.

If I wasn't so sweaty and tired already, I might have been more optimistic about the cash-out which was 5 round of 10 burpees and 35 double unders.  I didn't see any way I could finish in under 10 minutes, but most earlier times seemed to be below that mark.  I would do my best to keep up.  Not surprisingly, I fell behind rather quickly.  Burpees weren't so bad, but I couldn't string double unders the way a lot of the others in class were doing it.  My first two rounds were close to 2:15 each, but I was sweating buckets and tiring out fast.  The third round was over 3 minutes and I noticed that some people were already finishing up.

Despite the fact that I wasn't performing too far off of what I thought I would do in this cash-out, I started to get angry about the fact that I was nearly two rounds behind.  I used that anger in my fourth round of burpees.  I threw myself at the ground, basically punched the ground to raise myself up, and jumped higher than I did in any of my previous three rounds.  That burst of angry adrenaline got me through 8 burpees.  The last two were more of the kneel and crawl variety.  I hoped to translate this burst into some quality double under sets, but that was wishful thinking.  For every set of 6-7 reps, I'd have about three sets where I only got 1 rep.  When I finished my 35 reps, I looked and saw that only a couple of people were still going.  Plus the 6:30 class had begun their warmup.  More fuel for the last round of burpees.

I had that same burst as in round four, but this time it only lasted for 6 burpees.  Got through the last 4 and it was time to peck away through the double unders.  Slow going once again, but based on my final time, I would guess that my time for rounds 3, 4, and 5 probably were fairly similar.  I finished my last rep, threw the rope away from me, and heard that my time was 14:22.  Just glad it was over.

It didn't turn out to be a workout where I felt bad or good about the experience.  Instead, I really just felt tired.  Giulia wanted to do some Open practice after and I managed to do some toes-to-bar and some kipping pull-ups, but I was pretty drained.  In need of a good night's rest, but looking forward to training some more tomorrow.  Gotta get ready for the Open in a few days!

And congrats to Marci and Jill C. for getting their first strict pull-ups this evening!