If you've read the first 169 installments of this blog (I can't believe people are still reading this thing), you know that I am always focused on someone else in my class or on a specific time/weight for the workout. There's no getting around it. I've heard people say time and time again that I should only be focused on myself, but that's not how all this works. Everyone in the gym has their eye on someone else. People look at the KOP blog to see how fast their "secret rival" did in a workout or how much they lifted that day. Maybe I do it more than other people do. Or perhaps I'm the only dope openly writing about it on the internet.
That is what made Thursday night's workout unique. Here's what the WOD looked like:
1 squat clean (155/105), 1 front squat (155/105), 1 burpee
1 squat clean, 2 front squats, 2 burpees
1 squat clean, 3 front squats, 3 burpees
1 squat clean, 4 front squats, 4 burpees
1 squat clean, 5 front squats, 5 burpees
1 squat clean, 6 front squats, 6 burpees
1 squat clean, 7 front squats, 7 burpees
1 squat clean, 8 front squats, 8 burpees
1 squat clean, 9 front squats, 9 burpees
1 squat clean, 10 front squats, 10 burpees
Initial impressions: I felt like this was a workout I could do RX. If the number of squat cleans was ascending each round, then there was no way I would be able to handle 155 pounds. But for 10 squat cleans? That seemed like something I could do. In terms of the front squats, I thought about the last round only. Could I do 10 front squats in a row, after completing everything else on that list? Difficult certainly, but if I was at an open strength session and you asked me to take 155 pounds from the rack and front squat it 10 times, I don't think I'd have any hesitation about my ability to do that. Burpees? Well, they will always suck. I'd do my best to keep moving through those, but they were going to be slow.
Coach Jenna put us through some warmups that included doing med ball cleans and wall balls to mimic the squat clean and front squats we'd be doing in the workout. She asked us if anyone was going to attempt to do the workout RX and I raised my hand indicating that I would give it a try. Then we got barbells and went through those movements with an empty bar. I took a look at the white board and scanned for RX times. There weren't that many. Alarm bells began going off in my head. As I walked over to grab plates for my barbell, I made some decisions:
- I was using 135 pounds rather than 155 pounds
- I would focus on my form during the transition between the initial squat clean and the front squats
- I would not drop the barbell until all front squats were completed in each round
- Burpees will always suck (ok, technically that wasn't a decision)
This was another one of those workouts where we faced different directions depending on the movement we were doing, so while I was using my barbell, I had Cline in front of me and Steph C behind me. During burpees, Cline was to my left and Steph was to my right. While I wasn't focused on keeping up with them during the workout, it would have been impossible not to notice how they were doing as the workout progressed. So you get updates on how they did as well.
Rounds 1-3: If these rounds weren't lightning quick, then there was no chance of getting through the later rounds. That was true for everyone. Because there were less burpees early on, I was moving very fast. I was slightly ahead of Cline and Steph. I stayed true to focusing on form during the transition from the squat clean to the front squat. I paused every time after the squat clean was complete to get my setup just as I would have it if I was doing front squats from the rack. Even did it in the first round when there was only one front squat to do. Discipline!
Rounds 4-6: Even though we had only done 15 reps in those first 3 rounds, the cardio factor was already kicking in. Whenever I came up from finishing a set of burpees, I needed to pause and catch my breath. And let's be clear: this is the section of the workout where I was beginning to crawl through my burpees. But just because I was moving through my burpees slowly didn't mean I wasn't exerting myself. Cline was moving faster than me through the burpees. I would catch up as we did the squat clean and front squats portion of the following round. I discovered that taking the extra couple seconds to set up before the front squats allowed me to do 4 or 5 very quick reps at the beginning of each set. Towards the end of round 6, Steph began to edge away from the two gentlemen in front of her.
Rounds 7-8: Jenna had told us before the workout that when she had done it earlier in the day, she didn't break up her front squats until round 7. That made sense to me as the end of round 7 marked the midway point in terms of reps for the workout. (Note: Ascending from 1 rep to 10 reps over 10 rounds means you are doing 55 reps of that exercise. At the end of 7 rounds, you will have done 28 reps, which is essentially the midpoint.) Cline was a couple of burpees ahead of me, but he was also breaking up his front squats into two sets, which allowed me to catch up when I did mine unbroken. That wouldn't last long though as my burpees now consisted of me lowering myself down to the floor on my hands and knees, touching one side of my chest to the floor, then rolling so the other side of my chest touched the floor, before finally "peeling" myself up (good term: credit to Jenna) and doing a pathetic hop and clap.
Rounds 9-10: Dropping the barbell now would have crushed me. I was going to fight through those final two rounds no matter how much my legs hurt. I got through round 9 of my front squats and started my burpees when I saw Steph begin her final round. I think I had about 3 burpees left when Cline made his way back to the barbell for his last round. After finishing my 9th burpee, I gathered myself and resolved not to drop the barbell. The squat clean hurt a little more than it had previously, but I stood up with it. Then I made sure my elbows were up, that my breathing was right, and got to work. I did 5 quick front squats. From there, I moved slower, but I hung on for 5 more reps. The workout wasn't over, but I felt like I had reached the finish line when I dropped that barbell. I tried to get through the last 10 burpees as quick as I could, but it didn't matter much at that point. When I jumped and clapped following the final burpee, I turned to see the clock. Final time: 13:04. Cline finished in 12:41, while Steph finished in 11:45.
Was that a wonderful time? Not really. I thought if I did well on this workout, I might finish in around 12 minutes. But I was happy that I stuck to my guns and focused on my form. I didn't go for the RX weight, although I suspect that I could have handled it. Could I have held on through all of those front squats at 155? Maybe??? It would have required a lot of mental toughness (not always my strong suit in the gym), but it certainly wasn't outside of the realm of possibilities. My burpees need a lot of work, but that is just making time and effort for it, like I did with my back squat. At the end of the day, I was pleased with my workout even if I didn't beat Cline and Steph and even though I didn't use the RX weight. It's a different type of progress, but it's the type I need more of.
Weekend preview: Rest day on Friday. Not sure if I'll make it in for the KOP birthday celebration on Saturday, but if not, I'll definitely be at the gym on Sunday.
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