I was in a much better state of mind when I returned to the gym on Wednesday. I intended on going to Open Strength and doing my 4x4 back squat set. Based on Jim's assessment that 5x5 day was the toughest in the program, this would theoretically be easier. I was concerned, though, for two reasons. Boot Camp on Tuesday was very leg-intensive and I was feeling a little sore from that outing. I also remembered that despite making it through 5x5 day a week prior, I had struggled midway through that set. Even if 4x4 day was supposedly easier, the possibility of failing was still very real.
Both Leslie and Jim were in the annex when I got there and they each helped me out that day. They are always going through their own routine when I'm in the annex and when they're not in the middle of a set, they tend to silently sit off to the side. However, I think they've been quietly keeping an eye on me as I've been going through my back squat program, looking to help me get beyond that 300 pound threshold that Leslie passed approximately seven years ago. (She's up to 355 already!)
I put on my lifting shoes and loaded my bar to 135 pounds to begin my warmup. I then grabbed my weightlifting belt and put it on. That's when I got my first tip of the day. Leslie came over and let me know that I didn't need to have the belt on the whole time I lifted. When I was warming up at lighter weights, the belt wasn't necessary. Instead, I could wait until I got to about 80% of what I would be doing sets of before I put it on. I never would have known that if she hadn't said something to me. And I was on board with any excuse that would let me wear that belt less. It is certainly helping me when I go heavy, but it also feels odd to wear and constricts your ability to breathe. I need all the oxygen I can get.
The 4x4 sets would be done using 265 pounds, so I wanted to come up with a nice progression to get to that weight. My plan was to go 135-185-215-240-265. I did a warmup set of 4 reps at 135 and 185 before finally putting the belt on. Then I did a set of 4 reps at 215 pounds. It was after this set that Jim came over to give me some advice. He let me know that even though I was doing sets of 4 reps at 265 pounds that I did not need to do 4 reps for all of my warmup sets. In fact, he recommended doing only 2 reps at 240 pounds before tackling 265 pounds. Sounded good to me. I did 2 reps at 240 and got ready to take on 265 pounds.
I have been practicing my routine before I back squat in preparation for the 1 rep max that I'll be finding in a couple of weeks. If I'm going to eclipse 300 pounds, I will need to do everything correctly that day. That means positioning the bar properly on my upper back/shoulder area. It means gripping the bar properly, bringing my elbows forward. It means holding my breath and pushing my core against that belt. It means not plummeting from the standing position and hoping to bounce back up. It means not rocking on my feet and not falling forward as I rise from the bottom of the squat. If I can't do all of these things at a lighter weight, then 300+ is not going to go well.
As I got ready for my first set, I was thinking about all of this (not neurotically, but very calmly...I swear). Jess asked me what I was doing today and after telling her 4x4, she let me know that I only needed to do 3 reps and then follow what it said on my shirt (I was wearing my "One More Rep" t-shirt). I laughed, but then I ended up incorporating this into my thinking during my 4 sets. In every set, I got through three reps before needing to steady myself. As I reset and got ready to finish the set, I would think to myself "come on, just one more rep". The fourth rep of every set was by far the least pretty, usually involving some rocking forward on to my toes, but all of them ended up being successful. 4x4 day had in fact been easier than 5x5 day, despite the heavier weight used.
To round things out for the day, I planned on doing some pull-up practice, some push-ups, and then roll out over in the main gym. I put on my grips and got ready to practice kipping with the closer grip I've settled on for pull-ups. Practicing in the annex was also helpful because the bars are at an intermediate height. I've been using the low bar in the main gym because I have no faith that I can string pull-ups together, so it makes more sense to be on the low bar if I'm attempting to do fast singles. Then again, I've always felt more comfortable trying to kip pull-ups or toes-to-bar when using the high bar in the gym. The bar in the annex was at a height that split the difference. I ended up doing 3 sets and none of them will be used for Crossfit instructional videos in the future. Well, at least not in the "this is how you should do this" manner. In the first set, I managed three reps before coming to a hang, at which point I managed one more rep. In the last two sets, I did two reps before going into a hang, then a third one before another hang, then a fourth rep. Four reps before coming off the bar is good for me, but my technique needs a lot of work. It is not efficient in the least.
If I could point to one thing in the gym where my form has definitely improved, it would be push-ups. Again, efficiency may be an issue here as well, but there is no doubt that my chest is hitting the deck when I do them. In the past, I was daintily trying to kiss my chest off the floor as if there was an electric shock in it that would fry my nipples (sorry for the imagery). Now I slam my chest into the floor with reckless abandon. My chest is always bruised anyways from front squats or power cleans, so why not just continue with that trend? And the bonus has been that by slamming my chest into the ground, I've effectively gotten a bounce off the ground which helps me push back up into the starting position. I wanted to get a set of 20 done before going to roll out, but as I got near 20, I decided to fight for 25 instead. The last three were a struggle, but in the end, I did 25 legit push-ups in a row.
I headed over to the main gym to roll out and #keithie was coaching the 6:30 class. He asked me if I was doing the 7:30 class and I said no. Then I watched the 6:30 folks do the WOD and the wheels started turning. The WOD was only going to take about 5-7 minutes. I could go light on the weight. Then Matt E. showed up and he was going to have to do the WOD on his own if I didn't join in. The hell with it...I'm in. Here's the Wednesday WOD:
21-15-9
Hang Power Snatches (115/75)
GHD Sit-ups
I wasn't enamored with doing 45 hang power snatches, but if I used 95 pounds, perhaps it would not be too awful. I knew the GHDs would be painful, but I'm decent at those (I do believe there are abs below the flab). I could handle 7 minutes of pain.
With just me and Matt there for the workout, the warmup was pretty quick and we were able to get right into it. Keith was telling us to really work hard on trying to hold on to the barbell. This would be especially tough for me as my mental game had not been wonderful recently. And this workout struck me as one that would be tough on your grip, with grip strength being another weakness of mine. Still, I was going to give it all I had to hold on for those first 21 reps.
We got started and almost immediately three sets of 7 was running through my head. I did my best to ignore those thoughts as I moved on to my 8th rep. Then I was thinking 12 and 9 would be good for round 1. I held on tight to the bar. When I reached the 15th rep, I dug in. Dropping at this point was going to suck immensely. By rep 18, it was time for some of my trademark grunting, but I was getting all 21 of these reps. Three grunts later and I had strung all 21 reps. Time for the GHD.
Being a little out of breath, I was hoping to calm myself as I worked on the GHD. That didn't go as well as planned. I did 12 reps before pausing. Then another 4 before a second pause was needed. Then I took care of the last 5. I got back to my barbell for round two and I knew this was going to be rough for me. Maybe if I had completely believed I could string 15 more, I would have held on to that barbell for the entirety of the second round, but instead I wimped out and dropped after 7 reps. I did manage the last 8 reps in a row before moving back over to the GHD. A couple more pauses were needed to get through those 15 reps.
In the final round, I needed to go unbroken for both the hang power snatches and the GHD. I knew it was going to hurt, but I also knew I had the ability to do it. When that 9th snatch went over my head, I happily dropped the barbell. And even though my form was poor and it hurt like hell, I did all 9 GHD sit-ups without any more pauses. Final time: 5:33. Easily my best performance in a WOD in quite some time.
Afterwards, we did a cash out involving tabata curls. Tabata is a 4 minute process where you do 8 rounds consisting of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest. Matt and I both used an empty 45 pound bar for the curls. I held on to the bar through three rounds before needing to put it down during the 10 second rest periods. For the 8 work periods, I went 12-13-11-11-12-12-12-14 for a grand total of 97 reps. As you might expect, there was much unfortunate grunting involved.
Thursday preview: short blog post covering my first real Endurance class of the year!
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