Board Coach Bullying

Workout date: 10/12/16

With a 4:15pm flight to Vegas on the horizon, I had to hit up Coach Gordy’s Wednesday nooner for the second week in a row.  I was really happy to see a lot of the noon regulars there (Tim H, Joe M, Pam, Becky, Mike Sim, and Rob C).  There was also one person there that I was not expecting to see: Rachel.  Now to be fair, she was just sitting in the lobby working on the computer when I got to the gym.  She had the day off because of some Jewish apple-picking holiday.  (Note: It is entirely possible that I mixed up two things she told about me her day off.)  With a little prodding though, I got her to join the seven of us in a strength-based WOD.

Today we would be attempting to find a 3RM on the push press as one more benchmark workout was making its final appearance of 2016.  Even the cash out had remained the same from quarter to quarter, as we would be wrapping the workout up with a 5 minute AMRAP of 5 muscle-ups (Or ring dips.  Or banded ring dips.) and 10 power cleans at 135 pounds for the gentlemen and 95 pounds for the ladies.  Gordy let us know in advance that we didn’t need our water bottles for the cash out as we were not allowed to stop for a drink during that sprint.

I must admit: I kinda like Gordy’s warmups.  They’re different from what I experience in most of my other classes.  Sure, we started out with a 400 meter run like we almost always do, but then we did a bunch of exercises that made it seem like we were in an aerobics class.  There were jumping jacks.  There were hybrid jumping jacks (I didn’t catch the name of this one) where our legs scissored back and forth while we clapped in front of our bodies.  We did lunges where we had to clap overhead as our knees touched the floor.  (I’m suddenly realizing that I might just enjoy clapping.)  When we went through the progressions for the push press, we worked on stringing three reps in a row multiple times.   Usually in a warmup, we work on the form of one rep before finishing off with a single set of multiple reps.  The whole thing I had a different feel to it and since I’m a sucker for variety, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Even though there were only 8 of us in class, Gordy suggested that we might want to work in groups as it would give us about the right amount of rest between sets.  As I turned towards the barbells, I saw that Mike was looking at me.  Uh oh.  He’s super strong.  Me?  Not so much.  I asked him if he wanted to work together and he said sure.  I was going to have to dial it up a notch if I was going to keep pace with him.

Mike asked if I wanted to start out with 95 and I was good with that.  Prior to class, my plan was to go 95-135-165-185-200.  200 would be a PR attempt as I had set a personal best at 195 earlier in the year.  Gordy mentioned doing some warmup sets to begin though and that left me a little stumped.  Should I count 95 and 135 as warmup sets and the last three sets as the real deal?  I guess it didn’t matter all that much, but the wheels were turning.  Had I planned out enough sets?

Once I got started with Mike, I realized I had not.  The progression we wound up taking was 95-115-135-155-175-185-200.  That made more sense in terms of doing some warmup sets and doing about 5 real sets (typical for strength WODs).  The only problem was that it was a lot of work in a short period of time.  Remember, this was the express, so this class had 15 minutes less to play with.  Gordy told us we needed to get ready for the cash out at 10 of 1, meaning we would have about 20 minutes to move through these seven sets.

Early on I was able to keep up with Mike.  I enjoy the push press and rattling through three quick reps was not a problem at 95, 115, and 135.  Mike didn’t even have a trickle of sweat on him.  In truth, this was shoulder press weight for him, but he went through the formality of bending his knees a bit before powering the barbell overhead.  Gordy had encouraged us not to pause in between reps, telling us that a true 3RM was done with each rep going directly into the next one.  I knew that was going to be tricky for me at higher weights.  In the past, I would do a rep, bring it down, reset (as I do with squats) and then do the next rep.  That was how I got 195.  I had my doubts as to whether I could have done it without the pauses.

It was at 155 that I started having trouble controlling the barbell.  I would come down from my first rep and try to move directly into the second rep, but inevitably, the barbell would come forward a bit, putting the weight on my arms more than my body.  I wasn’t completely using my arms though.  I was using enough of my body still that I could dip, pop up, and generate enough momentum to press the weight overhead.  Mike was not having any struggles.  I may have seen him yawn during one of these middle sets.

Because my form was starting to waver, I put on my weightlifting belt for the next set.  That didn’t help my form per se, but it protected my back from my lousy form.  Once again, the second rep got away from me a little bit, but I held on and got through all three reps.  Mike may have been whistling dixie during his set. 

I wasn’t sure what our next jump would be, but I didn’t want to make another 20 pound jump to 195 because tying your PR is lame.  Mike only added 10 pounds to the barbell and I was surprised.  He had shown no signs of distress up to now, so I had no idea why he was decreasing the increment that we were adding to the barbell.  Perhaps he was just looking out for me.  He had no problems with 185.  Gordy and I stood behind him and marveled at how easy he made it look.  I took my turn next and needed some big dips in order to generate the power to get the barbell overhead (there may have been some minor grunting), but I was able to squeeze out three reps.

I had brought over 5 pound plates and 2.5 pound plates as Mike got ready to do 185 because I wanted to attempt 200 if I was successful at that weight.  Mike realized that was my plan, so he slapped them on the barbell for the next set.  It was time to go after a PR.  200 would not be a PR for Mike.  Not even sure 300 would be with how easily he did his push presses.  That set the stage for me.  There were only a few minutes left before we had to get ready for the cash out.  I went up to the barbell and tried to psyche myself up.  Took it off the rack and it didn’t feel unbearably heavy.  I dipped, drove up, got the barbell a little over my head, and realized it wasn’t going any further.  I dumped it behind me.  Damn.  I knew it was going to be tough after the set at 185, but I thought I’d at least get a rep or two.  Oh well.  Final score: 185.

While Mike and I were going back and forth with our lifts, Rachel was next to us working on her own.  During our 400 meter run, she had told me that she wasn't sure she wanted to lift today as she had been dealing with an injury of a gluteal nature.  And while the push press might sound like an arm-focused exercise, you need power from your legs to have success with heavier weights.  I wasn't paying much attention to how Rachel was doing until Mike and I were nearing the end of our progression.  As Mike got ready for one of his lifts, I saw Rachel complete a set of push presses.  She turned around and squinted at the big white board up front.  Not the main one where everyone's scores are written.  I'm talking about the one that lists the top three male and female scores in the gym to date.  Rachel confessed that she might make an attempt at grabbing Alison's third place spot on the board for the push press.  A little while later, Mike was making mincemeat out of 215 pounds to finish his push presses for the day.  I turned around to see Rachel grind through a rep with her barbell.  As soon as it was locked out, she dropped it to the floor.  For some reason, it didn't strike me as the end of a 3 rep attempt.  I asked her if that was the lift to get her on the board and she said yes.

Once upon a time, my unofficial title at the gym was "Rachel's board coach".  I worked out with her almost every single day and I was well aware of what she was capable of.  I could look up at that board and easily see where she might catch the third person listed, so I encouraged her to go after those spots.  There were even times where she would skip getting third and just jump straight to the top of the board.  I hadn't suggested the push press for her, but she would later give me credit on Facebook for bullying her into the workout and board coaching her at the express.  Trust me, there is zero chance that I could ever bully Rachel.  (Ever hear of someone bullying a Viking?  Me neither.)  And all the credit for getting up on that board for the millionth time belongs to her alone.

It was time for the cash out and only 6 of us would be taking part as Becky had injured herself and Joe either needed to leave or was injured as well.  Mike was going to do ring muscle-ups, but the rest of us were doing dips.  And for those of us who struggle mightily with the dips (like the author of this blog), there was the option to use a band.  Even that was no sure thing for me as I had all sorts of problems with banded dips recently when we took part in Elizabeth.  I'd have to make the best of it because my goal was to complete four rounds and that meant constant work for 5 minutes.  Like Gordy had told us earlier, there would be no breaks.

I was working with the right group of people to accomplish that goal.  I didn't see Mike and Tim as I was running around during this cash out, but Pam was directly in front of me on the rings, and I was facing Rachel and Rob during the power cleans.  The three of them did not take breaks.  It was simply go, go, go.  Stringing five dips with a band was not a problem at the start for me and I hurried to my barbell once they were done.  I picked it up immediately and held on through 10 power cleans. One round done in under a minute.  I was the first one headed back to the rings, but Pam, Rachel, and Rob were only a second or two behind me.  I couldn't have done that round any faster, yet I had no margin for error the rest of the way if I was going to stay with this group.

I completed the dips quickly in round two, then got to my barbell and started my cleans.  I could tell quickly that I wasn't going to be able to string all 10 reps again, so I dropped the barbell after only 2 reps.  It wasn't to take a break.  It was an attempt to conserve energy.  I did 8 fast singles to finish off the round.  It was probably too conservative a strategy, but there was still almost three minutes to go. Three minutes to try and stay with Pam as we had moved a little bit ahead of Rob and Rachel.

I freaked out when I got back to my rings and had trouble getting up on to my band.  This was the death knell for me during Elizabeth and I had no time during this cash out to struggle on something as simple as getting on to my band.  After two missed jumps, I got on the band with my third jump.  The dips hadn't failed me yet as I got through all five again.  Pam got to her barbell first and I knew I needed to make up time.  I wasn't stopping after two again.  I strung five together before resorting to the fast singles to complete the round.  That got me back to even with Pam.  90 seconds left to finish one more round and reach my goal.

The dips were fading by round four.  I didn't have any problems getting into the band during this round, but I did have to jump on to it twice because I needed to split my reps into a set of three and a set of two.  This time Pam and I headed to our barbells together.  I knew I could finish the fourth round at this point.  Could I stay on pace with Pam during this last minute?  I got off to a good start by making it through 5 power cleans in a row.  We were too close to the finish to catch my breath, so I just kept picking the barbell up over and over again until I made it to 10 reps.  As I hustled over to my rings, Pam was completing her last rep.  I hopped on to my band and did two reps.  Pam started doing her dips.  As Gordy started the countdown of the final 5 seconds, I jumped up to try and get more dips.  I managed two more before time was called.  Final score: 4+4.  One more rep than Pam did.  (Note: To be fair, Pam did not use a band for her dips.  But considering she is a Crossfit cyborg, I was thrilled that I kept up with her for 5 minutes.)

I needed some time to recover from that sprint, but then I pulled out my jump rope.  Gotta keep working on double unders while I am tired.  I did three sets post-workout: one of 32 reps, the other two being 25 reps long.  I knew I didn't have enough energy to put together a huge set, but in a way, getting three fairly strong sets in a row while feeling fatigued was more of an accomplishment for me.  I called it a day, packed up my bag, and got ready for my trip to Vegas.

Monday preview: How does a trip to Vegas affect my weight loss aspirations?  And will four days off  slow me down during a 15 minute metcon?