A Wristed Development

Workout date: 2/4/16

I've finally caught up with the blog!  I get to take off for 3 weeks now, right?  (I'm kidding.  Mostly.)

Last night we had a new addition to the yearlong gym benchmark series, an addition that I was psyched to see added to the rotation.  It was a strength benchmark that only a sicko like myself would truly enjoy: the 15RM overhead squat.  Now 15 overhead squats in a row is a lot, even for someone like me who really enjoys doing them.  I imagine they are agony for those who can't stand overhead squats (and that would be most of the membership at KOP).  My 1RM for the overhead squat is 225 pounds.  I found an online calculator to determine what my 15RM should be and it told me approximately 150 pounds.  That seemed legit to me, especially since it told me my 10RM should be 165 pounds, which is exactly what I got last year when we did a 10RM for the overhead squat.

We only had 7 people in class at 6:30, but with Open Strength going on at the same time, rack space was a little more limited than usual.  As a result, a couple of us paired up for the overhead squats.  I teamed up with my Fight Gone Bad buddy Mike C.  Giulz explained to us that we were trying to find a 15RM, but that didn't mean that we had to do 15 reps in every set we did.  In fact, we should be doing less reps on our early sets so that we didn't tire ourselves out before going after the number we really wanted for our 15RM.

Mike went first in our group and I could tell he was very uneasy about doing overhead squats in general.  I always like to tell people that the key to overhead squats is balance.  People tend to go fast when doing overhead squats and for good reason.  They don't want to be holding a heavy barbell over their head any longer than is necessary.  But when you get moving too fast, you lose your balance and end up having to hold that barbell over your head even longer.  Mike was trying his best to stay in his heels, but he kept rocking way up on his toes every time he did a squat.  I watched him do a few more reps before realizing why he was rocking on his toes.  His setup was great, but as he got ready to squat, he would lower his chest to begin.  That brought his body weight forward and caused him to get up on his toes.  I told him what I was seeing and he made sure to keep his chest up before going into his squat.  He did an awesome job staying in his heels the rest of the class, allowing him to do bigger sets with heavier weight later on.

I got started with 95 pounds on the barbell.  I did a set of 7 fluid reps before putting the barbell back on the rack.  When it was my turn again, I used 115 pounds and did 5 reps, with a slight pause between the 3rd and 4th reps because I felt my balance was off.  After Mike did his next set, I was going to try 15 reps at 135 pounds.

Giulz had instructed anyone having difficulty with the range of motion to put a medicine ball behind them.  That way when their butt hit the medicine ball, they would know they could pop back up again.  Mike was using a medicine ball and I noticed there was one more tip I could give him in order to help him out.  Mike was doing what I do when I attempt handstand push-ups.  I know there is an abmat under my head, but instead of just hitting the abmat and coming back up, I slow down and reach for it.  Like I just want to barely glance my head off the abmat.  Mike was hovering just over the top of his medicine ball, hoping to barely graze it so he could stand up.  But slowing down like that kills your momentum (and probably requires more energy).  So I told him that he'd be better off just squatting down and confidently hitting that medicine ball rather than reaching for it.

He put this advice to use when he went for his 15RM at 65 pounds.  His first 7-8 reps were much better than the ones he had done in his warmup sets.  He paused for a sec, then did 2-3 more.  He was just on the verge of completing all 15 when he lost control of the barbell and had to bail it after 14 reps.  But the set was so good that Giulz recommended putting more weight on the bar if he was going to try again.

I got ready to do my set at 135 pounds and it was a lot more exhausting than expected.  I tried to maintain a good pace, but had to readjust my feet a few times in order to keep my balance.  Towards the end of the set, I was getting winded.  The weight overhead wasn't as much of a problem as trying to breathe was.  Finally I made it through rep 15 and put the barbell back on the rack.  At least I had a score.  That was important because I didn't feel good about my chances of getting another 15 reps in a row.

Mike went up for another shot at the 15RM, this time with 70 pounds on the bar.  He looked confident from the start.  I got nervous at the end of his set after seeing what happened with only 1 rep to go last time, but he was unflappable this time around.  He completed all 15 reps and had his score for the day.

I decided to go up to 155 pounds for my next set, mainly because I'm a greedy idiot.  I was supposed to be able to do 150, but there's something about putting 2.5 pound plates on the barbell that just doesn't seem right to me.  So I bumped it up to 155.  I took the barbell off the rack and quickly did 3 reps.  Perhaps too quickly.  Because as I went to do my 4th rep, I felt my body tilt forward ever so slightly.  Only with heavy overhead squats, it takes very little tipping before everything comes crashing down.  I bailed the barbell, feeling incredibly stupid.  What was that about focusing on balance and not going too fast, Dave?  Yup, can't even follow my own advice.

I took a few minutes before giving 155 another try.  It didn't feel like the weight was the problem, only my balance, so I was going to stay extra focused on balance this time around.  I definitely moved slower through this set, pausing and adjusting my feet any time I felt the slightest bit off balance.  At the completion of my 10th rep, I did this weird walking around thing because I couldn't quite get to a point where I felt steady.  I was starting to tire out, but there were only 5 more reps to go.  I could hold on for 5 more reps.  I did rep 11.  Then as I went to do rep 12, I felt my wrists give out.  I attempted to bail the weight behind me, scooting forward in the process.  My wrists were a bit sore afterwards, but nothing serious.  It was a little disappointing not getting 155, but there is little doubt in my mind that I will be able to get it when we do this again in May.  (Note: Afterwards, Mr. Intensity let me know that my bail attempt did not go well.  He said the barbell almost landed on the back of my legs.  "It was pretty ugly."  Guess I need to get out of the way a little quicker!)

The cash-out was to do 3 sets of 7 strict pull-ups.  Since I can't do one set of strict pull-ups, I grabbed a band and did them the way I used to do them all the time.  Even the band didn't help me all that much, as I struggled to get all 7 reps in each set.  Maybe my pull-up allergy is rearing its ugly head again.

With Ashley M and Cline working on their double unders after class, I decided to grab my rope and put in some practice as well.  Honestly, it was frustrating.  I keep doing sets of 10-20 before hitting myself with the rope.  The struggle to get a big set is very real.  After a lot of swearing at myself, I finally got a set of 42, but it was of the "hop real high" variety.  I sat down next to the rig and watched Faby do ridiculously heavy cleans for a bit, then I decided to try something different.  If I was only getting 10-20 reps anyway, why not practice doing them efficiently, but super fast?  Maybe I couldn't do 50 in a row, but if I could learn how to do 50 in 3-4 quick sets without tiring myself out, then perhaps I wouldn't fall all that far behind in workouts.  I tested this out and it seemed to go well.  I think I've been so fixated on humungous sets that I've lost track of what might help me out most in WODs that include double unders.

Saturday preview: Taking a needed rest day on Friday, so I'll be off until Competitors Class on Saturday morning.  Not sure what's being planned, but it sounds like we won't be taking on 13.1 like the regular classes will be.