Thursday (9/10) was another test day and we would be taking on Grace, just as we had done in March and June. (As a reminder, Grace is 30 clean and jerks for time at 135/95.) We would also be testing out L-sits and shoot throughs as well. Because Grace is among the fastest of the Girls (don't judge), we tend to do this workout in multiple heats using partners, with the person resting counting for the person in action. My partner for Grace was TJ, a guy who had only recently started at the gym. Watching him do Grace for the first time brought back a flood of memories from when I started at the gym.
(Is this blog post the equivalent of a flashback episode from a television series? Kinda. I'm sorry! But there's only so much you can write about when the main workout is 3-4 minutes followed up by a cash out where you hold your body over parallettes for 30 seconds.)
I should start by saying that I think TJ will be an excellent athlete at the gym once he gets comfortable with everything. But it was the fact that he was going to great lengths to not mess anything up that reminded me of my start at the gym. For example, it was a while before I dropped my first barbell at the gym. Every time I lifted the barbell over my head, I made sure to place the barbell back down on the floor. Even if I was tired, I let the barbell come crashing down on my body before letting it touch the floor. It wasn't like I thought the barbell was made of glass or something. This was my first venture into weightlifting and dropping the barbell seemed rude to me. I don't remember who finally came over to me and said "moron, just drop the barbell", but I eventually got the message. (Except I then proceeded to drop the barbell with only 5 pound plates on it as well as drop a different one in the white outlined box by the rings - two no-no's at KOP. Clearly I need a lot of direction.)
During our warmup, #keithie had us go through a progression to work up to doing the full clean and jerk. As part of that progression, we did just the jerk. And each time we did it, we would hold for a second in the position where we partially squatting under the bar before standing completely upright. When TJ began doing Grace, he was repeating this pause for at least the first 5-6 reps. Having never worked out with him before, I wasn't sure if he was doing this because the weight he was using was too heavy or if he felt unsteady under the bar. But finally I spoke up and told him that he didn't need to pause during each rep. From that point on, he started moving more fluidly (and quickly).
The other thing that I noticed was something that took me quite a while to wrap my head around when I started. Coaches told me early on that I needed to use my legs to get the barbell overhead. What the heck did that mean? Was I supposed to do a handstand and then prop the barbell up while upside-down? Seemed pretty clear to me that I needed my arms to do all the work. Once I grasped what the coaches were saying, I was able to move heavier weight at a faster pace. But to someone brand new, this advice made little sense. As I watched TJ, I saw that he was not using his legs at all. It was me all over again! He pulled the barbell from the floor up to his shoulders without any contact with his body on the way up. Once it was there, he made a slight dip with his knees, but for the most part, he shoulder pressed the bar over his head. After he had finished the workout, I told him how I used to do all these same things and that it probably sounded counter-intuitive to use his legs for this movement, but that he'd find a lot of success with his clean and jerk once he got it down. After all, he had just done this workout using almost nothing but arms and he still managed it in a fairly quick 5:15. My guess? The next time he does Grace (possibly in December), he'll be under 5:15 using 95 pounds.
I am always hesitant to say anything at the gym in terms of giving tips because, well, let's face it, my form still leaves a lot to be desired despite having been at this for over two and a half years. People would be well within their rights to respond like so:
At the same time, I know there have been important pieces of information given to me along the way that helped me have breakthroughs. When I see someone struggling with a movement that I struggled with and get that deja vu feeling, I feel compelled to pass that knowledge on to them. So if I ever give you a tip at the gym, please know that I am not under the delusion that I know what I'm talking about. Rather, I am passing on info from someone who actually does know what they're doing.
As for me, when it was my turn to do Grace, I didn't have a goal in mind for once. It was hot in the gym like always and I wasn't feeling 100%. I guess "don't puke" could have been considered the goal. More than anything, I wanted to keep a good pace and not take any extended breaks. I strung my first 6 reps. Then did 2 sets of 3 and a set of 2. At that point, I was going to try and manage quick singles from there on out, but I have trouble dropping the barbell from overhead and controlling it to go right into the next rep. Seems like it always wants to bounce wildly to the right or left. At some point in the proceedings, I managed another two sets of 2. However, it was singles near the end. I didn't puke and I didn't take any extended breaks. And my time wasn't too bad. Final time: 3:23. (PR is 3:10)
We wrapped things up with some L-sit and shoot through practice on the parallettes. Not too much to say about this other than gravity has an issue with me doing L-sits. Mainly, my body starts rotating forward as my boobs seem to have a lot of gravitational pull. I did manage to keep my feet off the floor for 30 seconds while on the parallettes in something that was akin to the fetal position. I managed three consecutive shoot throughs without hitting my feet on the floor. Finally, I took care of my 6x2 back squat session at open strength.
That would be the end of the week as far as working out goes. The next day we had our end of summer party and my only athletic achievements there included making sure that my water balloon did not get popped and doing slightly more air squats than Samson did while being approximately 8 inches away from him in one of the strangest athletic face-offs you will ever see. I took the weekend off before heading back to the gym on Monday.
Monday preview: the low point of the year at the gym followed by some perspective.
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