I Have 245...Now I Have 255...Do I Hear 265?

Workout date: 5/26/15

With my first (and hopefully last) kidney stone behind me, I was desperate to get back to working out.  Four days off is way too many, whether you spent part of that time in an emergency room or not.  I was relieved to see that the WOD was one that I was interested in doing, although I felt like I was sensing some deja vu.  Typically, you won't see a workout pop up in the gym's programming again if it had been done recently.  Sometimes you can go six months or even a year before certain workouts are repeated.  This year, that window has decreased, as we are doing specific testing every three months.  Still, this seemed even more recent than that.

Today we were testing our 5RM back squat and after some research, I discovered that we had done this only a month ago.  Very strange.  As was the case a month ago, Matt B. was in class to be partners with me.  In our last attempt at this, I had gotten 255, while Matt had gotten 225.  But to be fair, I did all 5 sets, while Matt stopped after the 4th, and the 4th set was 225 for both of us.  So I fully expected him to go higher than 225 today.  I had tried 265 after my 5th set at 255 a month ago, but I let the weight collapse on me like an elevator plummeting to the ground floor and couldn't manage a single rep.  The goal was to not repeat that mistake and get 5 successful reps at 265.

(Cool note about today's class: it was half-bald!  Of the 6 people taking class, Derreck, Brent, and myself were representing the follically-challenged.  Lindsey, Michal, and Matt were left to admire our domes.)

Matt and I didn't want to waste too much energy on warmup sets, so we decided to do a set of 5 at 135, then get into the real sets at 185.  As I got ready to do 185, Keith pulled me aside and told me "let's get that weight today that you couldn't get last time."  Awww...he was such a dick to me last month about this and now he was being so nice!  All kidding aside, a good coach knows when to inspire you with positive vibes, but also knows when to kick your ass to push you harder.  I needed that kick in the ass last month and Keith is a good enough coach to have realized it.

I let Keith know that the plan was to start at 185 and go up in 20 pound increments so that my last set was that weight of 265 where I had failed previously.  I was also using the lower setup on my back for these sets.  I had tried this twice up until now and both times it felt awkward.  I had been told that would be the case (isn't that always the case when you're trying something new?), but I certainly had concerns about feeling uncomfortable while trying to squat 265 pounds five times.  And I tend to believe that feeling comfortable during any Crossfit movement is essential to success.  Why do I struggle with squats and deadlifts?  At least partially because it doesn't "feel right" when I set up to do the lift or when I'm in the middle of completing the lift.  That was always the case with my footwork and it wasn't until I got lifting shoes that the problem went away.  Jumping rope didn't feel natural to me, so I struggled in my double under progression.  Being upside down?  Lot of work needed to feel comfortable with that.  And so the list goes on and on.

However, when I did the warmup set at 135, I spent some time making sure that I felt comfortable with where the bar was.  I wanted to know that it was going to stay exactly where I had it at the beginning of the lift while I maintained good squat form.  And as I did those lighter reps, I began to develop a level of comfort with the new lower setup.  Even later on when my weight shifted forward during the heavier lifts, I was never completely up on my toes, which is a big deal for me.

Matt and I alternated going through that progression of weight.  Neither of us had a problem at 185 or 205.  I had some minor balance issues at 225 that I wasn't psyched about.  Matt started shaking his head when getting stuck on his second rep at 245, but he polished off the rest of the set.  Now it was time to take on 265.  I told Matt that I was pretending I had no idea how much weight was on the bar because sometimes you simply mentally plateau with these lifts.  I took some time before the set to think about how I wanted to hold the bar, how I wanted to breath during the set, and how I wanted to control the bar on the way down and try to push up quickly from the bottom.  If I could get that first rep, I could grit my way to 5.  At least that's what I told myself.

I grabbed the bar, backed away from the rack, and controlled my descent much better than I had a month ago.  For a brief moment, I worried about getting stuck near the bottom on the way back up, a problem I have all too frequently at these higher weights, but I managed to stand up with the weight.  It wasn't some Herculean effort either.  I could get 5 of these.  I paused at the top for a second, gathered my breath, and controlled my descent again.  Soon I had completed reps two, three, and four.  Just one more left.  I wasn't shaking uncontrollably or anything, I only needed to follow the same routine I had used during my first four reps.  I squatted down, had only the slightest of hitches, then made my way back upright.  I put the bar on the rack and then shared some high-fives.  265 was my new 5RM for back squats!

Matt went after 265 as well and got the first rep before bailing on the second rep.  He's been out for a while with injuries, but you can tell he's rounding back into form.  I would not be surprised if he outlifts me the next time we do this workout.

Cash-out time and I was ready to go!  Not only was I riding a high from getting 265, the cash-out sounded like one I would like.  Until I remembered that a burpee box-jump did not involve jumping over the box (I've come to love box jump overs.  It was a bummer that we weren't doing them in the cash-out.).  The cash-out was a 9 minute AMRAP of rowing 15 calories and 9 burpee box-jumps.  Before any scores were posted, I figured that 5 rounds would be a very solid score.  Then the morning scores were posted and I saw the top athletes in the gym had ended up just shy of 5 rounds.  Didn't matter.  5 rounds was still going to be my goal.

I did get some unexpected motivation though when Michal challenged me in the cash-out.  She seemed super confident that she was going to beat me.  I knew she was faster on burpees, but I had the advantage on the rowing.  This would be a good test for me, because I would definitely have the early lead (rowing was first), but then I'd need to hold her off during the burpee box-jumps.  And I'd need to keep it together for 9 minutes.  Plus I wasn't about to let her punk me in front of the entire class.  I told her to move her rower back so that I could set mine up facing hers.  Game on!

I kicked the damper up to 9 and got ready to row.  Once we did, I got no calories with my first two pulls, but then they started coming pretty easy.  Before I knew it, I was up to 15 calories and only about 25 seconds had passed.  Maybe I was too amped up!  I got off the rower, shot a quick glare at Michal, and started the burpee box-jumps.  Got to move fast here.  I had made it through 5 of the 9 when Michal made it off the rower.  Not too bad, as I should have a lead headed back to the rower and I might be able to extend it there.  I finished my last 4 burpee box-jumps and got back on the rower.  There was not going to be a repeat of the first round, but I maintained a solid pace.  Michal was back to her rower pretty quick, but she was going to need to row faster to stay with me.  15 more calories down and I was back to the burpee box-jumps.  I finished almost the entire set of 9 before Michal got off her rower.  Now I had two goals: five rounds and try to lap Michal.

Unfortunately, I fell short of making either happen.  The burpee box-jumps became very difficult as time ticked by, forcing me to hop on the box like a frog and then stand up to complete each rep.  I kept moving, but this was definitely a slower pace.  I still had five rounds in my head until Keith yelled "two minutes!" as I was in the middle of my fourth round of burpee box-jumps.  I don't think facing the clock would have helped me any, but it was startling to hear how much time had elapsed, especially since I had done my first round so quickly. 

Lapping Michal was still a possibility though, as she had just made it back to her rower.  I got back to my rower with what I assume was about a minute left (probably slightly less).  I pulled with everything I had left, but as I passed 11 calories, Michal was off her rower again.  I kept working, but Keith gave the "3...2...1...time!" right after I reached 15 calories.  There was no way I could have gotten out of the rower and done a burpee box-jump in 3 seconds.  Michal managed 3 of them while I was still rowing, giving her a score of 3+18.  I ended up with a score of 4+15.  Despite not getting five rounds or lapping my adversary, I was really pleased with my first day back at the gym.