Pretend You're About To Be Punched

Workout date: 6/17/15

Tonight's workout had something in common with Monday's workout: at first glance, it did not appear to have enough substance to it for a full blog post.  And who knows, maybe when I get to the end of this post, I'll realize it was only half a page and I'll hit publish anyways.  Trying to pull the combo blog twice in one week seems cheesy, so you're getting a full recap of...me finding my 3RM front squat.  Yup, that's the entire WOD.  (Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about the end of the run of Hero WODs that we had going for a while there.  My body appreciates the break.)

Making things even more awkward was the fact that I was doing the 7:30 class by myself.  Angie probably wreaked enough havoc yesterday that people were sensibly taking a rest day today.  I didn't feel wiped out from yesterday, although I might have if, you know, I did the entire workout.  Finding a 3RM didn't sound too bad, especially since there wasn't a cash out afterwards.  So after warming up with a run and some KB work, I set to finding my 3RM front squat.

My goal for the day was 245.  My 1RM was 260 and Keith told me that I should be able to do 92.5% of that for my 3RM.  Off the top of my head I thought that was about 242 (correct answer: 240.5), so 245 seemed like a realistic number.  I didn't want to do too many sets, so I started with 135, then jumped up to 185 before going up by 20 pounds from there.  Having 45 minutes or so to do 5-6 sets of 3 reps is a ton of time, especially early on when the weight feels light enough that you just want to get going on your next set.  But I did try to pace things so that I would give myself the best possible shot at reaching 245.

After taking care of 135 and 185, I went to 205.  As I finished the set, I told Keith that my last rep wasn't so great, but he told me I was being overly critical and that the set looked good.  Hmmm...if my form hadn't broken down yet, maybe there was hope 40 pounds from now.  He did remind me to keep my hips forward as I drove out of the hole and to really explode from that point, rather than simply standing up.  I took a solid 4-5 minutes before attempting 225.  That set went surprisingly well.  It was time to take on 245.

Before doing 245, Leslie yelled at me (poetic license!).  Okay, she didn't really yell.  But she did offer me her belt for my attempt.  I declined because I didn't want to change things up before this lift (foreshadowing alert).  What I really wanted to do was get the number out of my head.  Let's not make the brain think this will be any harder than it already is.  I took another break of 5 minutes or so, just walking around getting loose.  Finally it was time to get after it.  I got the bar off the rack and it felt pretty heavy.  Not the first impression I wanted to have, but so be it.  It was important to have a solid first rep, if only to get in the right mindset that I could handle the other two reps.  And the first rep was solid.  As was the second one.  The third rep?  Not pretty at all as the bar started sliding off of my left shoulder as I stood up.  I did manage to keep it under control though and 245 was mine.

Just as Keith had given me the cue with my hips, Leslie gave me a cue on my breathing.  She noticed that I was holding my breath in during the squat, when I should really be using that inhaled breath to press my midline forward.  She told me to pretend that I was about to be punched.  How would I brace myself in advance?  The same way I would brace myself for a punch is how I should brace myself for the squat.  She also gave me the example of how an unopened soda can can't be crushed, but once you pop the top, it can be crushed.  You would think someone who has drank as much soda as I have would have a eureka moment given such an analogy, but as you're about to see, I did not.

Having succeeded at 245, I thought I should give 255 a try.  With a 1RM of 260, this was definitely pushing things, but hey, if I failed, I failed.  I got ready to go after another break, remembered Leslie's breathing advice, grabbed the bar, went into a squat, and started to come up.  Not came up, started to come up.  The combination of a shaky final rep at 245 and trying something new with my breathing at this juncture led to me thinking way too much before bailing.  I briefly thought about trying it a second time, but I was good with 245 for the evening.

Was it wise to try the new breathing technique in the midst of trying to set a PR?  Probably not.  I do think Leslie's tip will help me in the long run, but I should be practicing it with lighter weights before taking on a 255 pound front squat with it.  Something to work on at the next open strength class.