A few people had mentioned feeling sluggish before we took on the mile time trial at Endurance on Thursday. I wasn't feeling drained when I showed up to the track, but 18 hours later, I began to empathize with my lethargic classmates. I hadn't slept well all week long and I knew early on Friday morning that it was going to be difficult to summon up the energy I needed for the strength-focused WOD we would be taking on. That WOD is called Crossfit Total.
Crossfit Total is a WOD where you get three attempts to find your 1RM back squat, 1RM shoulder press, and 1RM deadlift, with your score being the sum of your three maxes. Chances were slim that I'd be passing my previous best score of 830 pounds, so I was looking at this workout as an opportunity to test two things:
- Could I still back squat 300 pounds? (My max is 330)
- Could I finally deadlift 400 pounds? (My max has been 385 forever)
Both of those things were not going to happen and there was a solid chance neither would happen, but I'd be happy if I could manage one of them, with my bias being towards the latter.
We were one short of this week's magic number of 11 at the Friday nooner. I blame Aimee because she did not show up to coach this class like she normally does. Coach Steph was filling in for her today. Steph got us warmed up and then had us walk through each of the lifts before talking to us about how we should approach this WOD. We were only supposed to make three true attempts at each lift, but the amount of warmup lifts you could take was unlimited. Essentially, this is an honor system workout. Once you say you're beginning your three attempts, it is on you to only use your next three lifts towards your score. Steph let everyone know that the first of the three lifts should be a weight that we felt almost certain about getting. That didn't mean we should go light, but it also shouldn't have been a weight where we might have to worry about failing with it three times. The third lift should be a very difficult weight, possibly a PR attempt. And should we manage a PR, Steph had the PR bell ready for us to ring. It awaited us on the floor in the middle of the gym.
I took up residence at the far end of the gym, setting up my rack, bringing over my lifting shoes and belt, and assembling stacks of plates that I would need primarily for the back squat and the deadlift. The back squat was the first lift we had to complete and I began warming up by doing 5 reps at 135. Yes, we were only finding a 1RM for each lift, but I wanted to get loose and some extra reps with a lower weight was the way to do it. I went to 185 next and did 3 reps. No real problems there, but it felt heavier than 185 typically does. The plan was to do 2 reps at 225 pounds, but I called an audible and did my first single rep at that weight. I had reached the point where an extra rep wasn't going to help me (in terms of warming up) as much as it would hurt me (because I wasn't feeling very energetic). The rep at 225 didn't feel all that smooth and part of me worried that the plan I had come up with for my three legit lifts (285-305-325) might have been too aggressive considering that I didn't feel 100%. Despite feeling weaker than normal, I convinced myself that I would get that first lift at 285, so I rolled on with the plan. I did one more practice rep at 255 (felt kinda similar to 225) before getting started with my three real attempts.
Although I prefer the front squat to the back squat, I believe going through 4 iterations of squat programs has led to improvement in my back squat form, especially when I only need to do 1 rep. After putting 285 on the barbell, I stepped back from it, got my mind right, then tried to be aggressive as soon as my hands were on the barbell. I removed it from the rack, remained patient as I got my feet where I wanted them and then tightened my core. If I failed at this weight, it was purely going to be due to the fact that I didn't have it today. I lowered into the squat and had my toughest challenge yet when I tried to rise up, but I never hit my sticking point. I stood the weight up, placed it back on the rack, and felt mildly relieved that I had a score.
From there, I was playing with house money. If I didn't get 305 or 325, I couldn't be too upset. I would like to believe that I can still back squat more than 300 pounds, but today's results might not be representative of my true ability. That being said, my mental approach as I took on 305 was that I was 100%. Even if I wasn't, I was going to amp myself up so that the adrenaline in my body made me feel like I was 100%, at least for a few seconds. The second back squat felt very heavy, especially when I reached the bottom. I hit the sticking point and pressed my hips forward to try and get out of it. It worked, but the problem was that I pressed forward so much that I began getting up on my toes. While I am sure it wasn't the prettiest lift, I kept it under control and placed 305 back on the rack.
The final lift was likely another example of not believing that I could get the lift based on how difficult the previous attempt was. If 305 was that hard, how was I going to get 325? In retrospect, maybe I should have just went with 315 instead. Oh well. The plan had worked to this point, so I stuck with it. I tried to be as patient with that squat as I had with the first two, but the feedback I got afterwards makes me think I might have rushed it. I got to the bottom of the squat and hit my sticking point while trying to stand up. I ended up bouncing back down to the bottom about three times in an attempt to get some momentum, but I couldn't make it past that sticking point. I reluctantly dumped the barbell. Steph mentioned that it's always tough getting your speed right in the descent, that you don't want to crash down into the bottom, but that you also don't want to go too slow on the way down. My gut tells me that I was likely guilty of the former. Back squat final score: 305.
The express is 15 minutes shorter than a normal class and I had already used up most of the class on my back squats. I decided to move faster on the shoulder press. I did 5 reps at 65 pounds. Then I did 3 reps at 95 pounds. I moved on to a single for the last practice rep (at 115) before getting into my real reps. It was awkward getting it started, but once I did, the weight was fine. That's always the case with me when it comes to the shoulder press. I am not good at getting that initial momentum with the barbell. In the push press and push jerk, I can use my legs to generate that momentum. That isn't allowed with the shoulder press, so I struggle. My plan was to try 125-135-145 for my three lifts, with 145 clearly falling in the "would take a miracle" range. After my lift at 125, I worried that I needed to move 135 into that range as well. I can't remember the last time I struggled that much with 125 on the shoulder press, but it did not go up as smoothly as I would have liked.
I don't think that lift at 125 defeated me mentally, but there's always the possibility that it did. If I've been guilty of letting a struggle in an earlier lift have an effect on my lifts going forward, then the unexpected difficulty at 125 may have marred my chances at 135. Or I could just have weak shoulders. I took 135 from the rack and that thing went nowhere. I suppose it moved an inch or two off of my shoulders, but it was hardly noticeable. Since it had barely moved, I gave the press a second shot while I still it had under control, but I couldn't get it moving with any force. I placed the barbell back on the rack, a little bit angry with how that second attempt went. After a few minutes, I used my third attempt on a shot at redemption with 135, but it went about as well as my previous attempt had. While my sluggishness may have only had a minimal effect on my back squat, it had a huge effect here. Shoulder press final score: 125.
I received some feedback from Steph on that final attempt. She pointed out that my elbows were not forward like they should have been. The idea that it may have been a form issue rather than an energy issue gave me some hope that I might perform well on the deadlift. Even though I tried to move through the shoulder press quickly, I was still behind the class with my lifts, as one of my classmates (Nick) was done already. I stole a couple of his 45 pound plates as he was putting his equipment away. All my practice lifts were going to be singles as I didn't have time or energy to spare. I did reps at 225, 275, and 315 to get ready for the three real lifts at 365, 385, and 405. My original plan was to do a fourth practice rep at 345 to bridge the gap from the warmup lifts to the real lifts, but I had reached the "screw it" phase of the proceedings.
As was the case with the back squat and the shoulder press, my first real lift was not as easy as it should have been. My 3RM for the deadlift is 375 pounds, so getting one rep at 365 shouldn't have been a big problem, but I had to shimmy that barbell up my legs to reach full lockout position. Once again, I was grateful just to have a score. I moved up to 385 thinking that this was probably a weight that I could squeeze out before faltering at my attempt to break 400 on the final lift. I was mistaken. Just as my second shoulder press attempt barely came off of my body, my second deadlift attempt hardly left the floor. I rolled my eyes and decided to take a few minutes to reset before giving it one more go. In the meantime, everyone else was done and putting their equipment away, so I started putting away all of the plates I was no longer using. Might as well be productive during my break from lifting.
I came back to a very clean area when I was ready for attempt #3. It was my loaded barbell with nothing else nearby. I tried to psyche myself up, knowing that if I could get the barbell moving, I could probably slowly stand up with it. Alas, it was not meant to be. I gave it all I had, but the barbell stubbornly clung to the floor. Deadlift final score: 365. Crossfit Total: 795.
After I had dismantled my barbell and put the weights away, I hung out for a little while with Rich A and Steph. Rich was working on his toes-to-bar after putting up a very nice score of 900 pounds in the workout. Steph was deciding whether she wanted to work out now or later. We got into a discussion about how much of a factor mental strength is in a WOD like Crossfit Total. Steph had an interesting observation when talking about how you need a lot more mental strength for the shoulder press and the deadlift than the back squat. Why, you ask? Because it requires intrinsic motivation to move the weight. When you have 300 pounds on your back, you want to stand it up and get it off of you. Having that much weight on your body provides all of the motivation that you need to complete the lift. But with the shoulder press, you generally have a lighter weight that you'd feel comfortable holding on your collarbone if need be. It can sit there and it's not much of an issue. An even stronger example is the deadlift. That weight is sitting on the floor. If you don't lift it, your body isn't in any danger. As a result, you need to independently summon up the energy to move the weight.
I wanted to summon up the energy to get in some double under practice. Same routine as usual: try to get at least one big set, preferably of the 50 of more in a row variety. As has become my habit, that one big set came about in my very first set. I got the rope going and before I knew it, I was up to 20 reps. I tried to remain calm as my count grew, but at around 35 reps I was beginning to feel a bit tired. Right as I got to 40 reps, Rich said "very nice Dave". I tried to use that compliment to create some additional positive energy to keep me going. I passed 50 reps and I was now jumping wildly as the smaller jump was not going to work at this point. My PR of 62 was on the horizon if I could keep it together a little bit longer. 61...62...63. I ended up getting through 66 reps before I simply couldn't jump any more. I was exhausted, but I made my way to the middle of the gym, picked up the PR bell and gave it a ring. Definitely salvaged the workout for me.
Rich told me after the set that I was still jumping higher than I needed to, even early on in the set. He described my jump as a jump with a knee lift (he even did an impression of what I was doing). He felt that if I could take smaller jumps and eliminate the knee lift, it would keep me from getting so tired as I did larger sets of double unders. So I need to go back to practicing the smaller jump. I'll probably go back and forth between practicing the smaller jump and practicing getting huge sets. After all, I'm only nine reps away from 75 in a row, which has become my intermediate goal for consecutive double unders.
I didn't work out on Saturday. I desperately needed a rest day. I thought working out during the presidential debate would be a better use of my time than watching that nonsense, so I went outside on Sunday night and practiced the smaller jump. I still need a bigger jump to get the set started, but I did my best to take small hops from that point forward and actually got a set of 46 reps along the way. After finishing up double under practice, I came inside to row. The plan was to do intervals where I would row 1,000 meters with a pace under 4 minutes, get a minute rest, then take on another 1,000 meters at the same pace. I wasn't sure how many intervals I could handle, but I could tell after the first 1,000 meters that it wouldn't be many. I was feeling off again. I got through a second round of 1,000 meters under 4 minutes, but I called it a night after that. Wish I could have done more, but this felt like an instance where I needed to listen to what my body was telling me.
Monday preview: It's a benchmark day and we're taking on Christine for the final time in 2016. Rowing, deadlifts, and box jumps await.
We were one short of this week's magic number of 11 at the Friday nooner. I blame Aimee because she did not show up to coach this class like she normally does. Coach Steph was filling in for her today. Steph got us warmed up and then had us walk through each of the lifts before talking to us about how we should approach this WOD. We were only supposed to make three true attempts at each lift, but the amount of warmup lifts you could take was unlimited. Essentially, this is an honor system workout. Once you say you're beginning your three attempts, it is on you to only use your next three lifts towards your score. Steph let everyone know that the first of the three lifts should be a weight that we felt almost certain about getting. That didn't mean we should go light, but it also shouldn't have been a weight where we might have to worry about failing with it three times. The third lift should be a very difficult weight, possibly a PR attempt. And should we manage a PR, Steph had the PR bell ready for us to ring. It awaited us on the floor in the middle of the gym.
I took up residence at the far end of the gym, setting up my rack, bringing over my lifting shoes and belt, and assembling stacks of plates that I would need primarily for the back squat and the deadlift. The back squat was the first lift we had to complete and I began warming up by doing 5 reps at 135. Yes, we were only finding a 1RM for each lift, but I wanted to get loose and some extra reps with a lower weight was the way to do it. I went to 185 next and did 3 reps. No real problems there, but it felt heavier than 185 typically does. The plan was to do 2 reps at 225 pounds, but I called an audible and did my first single rep at that weight. I had reached the point where an extra rep wasn't going to help me (in terms of warming up) as much as it would hurt me (because I wasn't feeling very energetic). The rep at 225 didn't feel all that smooth and part of me worried that the plan I had come up with for my three legit lifts (285-305-325) might have been too aggressive considering that I didn't feel 100%. Despite feeling weaker than normal, I convinced myself that I would get that first lift at 285, so I rolled on with the plan. I did one more practice rep at 255 (felt kinda similar to 225) before getting started with my three real attempts.
Although I prefer the front squat to the back squat, I believe going through 4 iterations of squat programs has led to improvement in my back squat form, especially when I only need to do 1 rep. After putting 285 on the barbell, I stepped back from it, got my mind right, then tried to be aggressive as soon as my hands were on the barbell. I removed it from the rack, remained patient as I got my feet where I wanted them and then tightened my core. If I failed at this weight, it was purely going to be due to the fact that I didn't have it today. I lowered into the squat and had my toughest challenge yet when I tried to rise up, but I never hit my sticking point. I stood the weight up, placed it back on the rack, and felt mildly relieved that I had a score.
From there, I was playing with house money. If I didn't get 305 or 325, I couldn't be too upset. I would like to believe that I can still back squat more than 300 pounds, but today's results might not be representative of my true ability. That being said, my mental approach as I took on 305 was that I was 100%. Even if I wasn't, I was going to amp myself up so that the adrenaline in my body made me feel like I was 100%, at least for a few seconds. The second back squat felt very heavy, especially when I reached the bottom. I hit the sticking point and pressed my hips forward to try and get out of it. It worked, but the problem was that I pressed forward so much that I began getting up on my toes. While I am sure it wasn't the prettiest lift, I kept it under control and placed 305 back on the rack.
The final lift was likely another example of not believing that I could get the lift based on how difficult the previous attempt was. If 305 was that hard, how was I going to get 325? In retrospect, maybe I should have just went with 315 instead. Oh well. The plan had worked to this point, so I stuck with it. I tried to be as patient with that squat as I had with the first two, but the feedback I got afterwards makes me think I might have rushed it. I got to the bottom of the squat and hit my sticking point while trying to stand up. I ended up bouncing back down to the bottom about three times in an attempt to get some momentum, but I couldn't make it past that sticking point. I reluctantly dumped the barbell. Steph mentioned that it's always tough getting your speed right in the descent, that you don't want to crash down into the bottom, but that you also don't want to go too slow on the way down. My gut tells me that I was likely guilty of the former. Back squat final score: 305.
The express is 15 minutes shorter than a normal class and I had already used up most of the class on my back squats. I decided to move faster on the shoulder press. I did 5 reps at 65 pounds. Then I did 3 reps at 95 pounds. I moved on to a single for the last practice rep (at 115) before getting into my real reps. It was awkward getting it started, but once I did, the weight was fine. That's always the case with me when it comes to the shoulder press. I am not good at getting that initial momentum with the barbell. In the push press and push jerk, I can use my legs to generate that momentum. That isn't allowed with the shoulder press, so I struggle. My plan was to try 125-135-145 for my three lifts, with 145 clearly falling in the "would take a miracle" range. After my lift at 125, I worried that I needed to move 135 into that range as well. I can't remember the last time I struggled that much with 125 on the shoulder press, but it did not go up as smoothly as I would have liked.
I don't think that lift at 125 defeated me mentally, but there's always the possibility that it did. If I've been guilty of letting a struggle in an earlier lift have an effect on my lifts going forward, then the unexpected difficulty at 125 may have marred my chances at 135. Or I could just have weak shoulders. I took 135 from the rack and that thing went nowhere. I suppose it moved an inch or two off of my shoulders, but it was hardly noticeable. Since it had barely moved, I gave the press a second shot while I still it had under control, but I couldn't get it moving with any force. I placed the barbell back on the rack, a little bit angry with how that second attempt went. After a few minutes, I used my third attempt on a shot at redemption with 135, but it went about as well as my previous attempt had. While my sluggishness may have only had a minimal effect on my back squat, it had a huge effect here. Shoulder press final score: 125.
I received some feedback from Steph on that final attempt. She pointed out that my elbows were not forward like they should have been. The idea that it may have been a form issue rather than an energy issue gave me some hope that I might perform well on the deadlift. Even though I tried to move through the shoulder press quickly, I was still behind the class with my lifts, as one of my classmates (Nick) was done already. I stole a couple of his 45 pound plates as he was putting his equipment away. All my practice lifts were going to be singles as I didn't have time or energy to spare. I did reps at 225, 275, and 315 to get ready for the three real lifts at 365, 385, and 405. My original plan was to do a fourth practice rep at 345 to bridge the gap from the warmup lifts to the real lifts, but I had reached the "screw it" phase of the proceedings.
As was the case with the back squat and the shoulder press, my first real lift was not as easy as it should have been. My 3RM for the deadlift is 375 pounds, so getting one rep at 365 shouldn't have been a big problem, but I had to shimmy that barbell up my legs to reach full lockout position. Once again, I was grateful just to have a score. I moved up to 385 thinking that this was probably a weight that I could squeeze out before faltering at my attempt to break 400 on the final lift. I was mistaken. Just as my second shoulder press attempt barely came off of my body, my second deadlift attempt hardly left the floor. I rolled my eyes and decided to take a few minutes to reset before giving it one more go. In the meantime, everyone else was done and putting their equipment away, so I started putting away all of the plates I was no longer using. Might as well be productive during my break from lifting.
I came back to a very clean area when I was ready for attempt #3. It was my loaded barbell with nothing else nearby. I tried to psyche myself up, knowing that if I could get the barbell moving, I could probably slowly stand up with it. Alas, it was not meant to be. I gave it all I had, but the barbell stubbornly clung to the floor. Deadlift final score: 365. Crossfit Total: 795.
After I had dismantled my barbell and put the weights away, I hung out for a little while with Rich A and Steph. Rich was working on his toes-to-bar after putting up a very nice score of 900 pounds in the workout. Steph was deciding whether she wanted to work out now or later. We got into a discussion about how much of a factor mental strength is in a WOD like Crossfit Total. Steph had an interesting observation when talking about how you need a lot more mental strength for the shoulder press and the deadlift than the back squat. Why, you ask? Because it requires intrinsic motivation to move the weight. When you have 300 pounds on your back, you want to stand it up and get it off of you. Having that much weight on your body provides all of the motivation that you need to complete the lift. But with the shoulder press, you generally have a lighter weight that you'd feel comfortable holding on your collarbone if need be. It can sit there and it's not much of an issue. An even stronger example is the deadlift. That weight is sitting on the floor. If you don't lift it, your body isn't in any danger. As a result, you need to independently summon up the energy to move the weight.
I wanted to summon up the energy to get in some double under practice. Same routine as usual: try to get at least one big set, preferably of the 50 of more in a row variety. As has become my habit, that one big set came about in my very first set. I got the rope going and before I knew it, I was up to 20 reps. I tried to remain calm as my count grew, but at around 35 reps I was beginning to feel a bit tired. Right as I got to 40 reps, Rich said "very nice Dave". I tried to use that compliment to create some additional positive energy to keep me going. I passed 50 reps and I was now jumping wildly as the smaller jump was not going to work at this point. My PR of 62 was on the horizon if I could keep it together a little bit longer. 61...62...63. I ended up getting through 66 reps before I simply couldn't jump any more. I was exhausted, but I made my way to the middle of the gym, picked up the PR bell and gave it a ring. Definitely salvaged the workout for me.
Rich told me after the set that I was still jumping higher than I needed to, even early on in the set. He described my jump as a jump with a knee lift (he even did an impression of what I was doing). He felt that if I could take smaller jumps and eliminate the knee lift, it would keep me from getting so tired as I did larger sets of double unders. So I need to go back to practicing the smaller jump. I'll probably go back and forth between practicing the smaller jump and practicing getting huge sets. After all, I'm only nine reps away from 75 in a row, which has become my intermediate goal for consecutive double unders.
I didn't work out on Saturday. I desperately needed a rest day. I thought working out during the presidential debate would be a better use of my time than watching that nonsense, so I went outside on Sunday night and practiced the smaller jump. I still need a bigger jump to get the set started, but I did my best to take small hops from that point forward and actually got a set of 46 reps along the way. After finishing up double under practice, I came inside to row. The plan was to do intervals where I would row 1,000 meters with a pace under 4 minutes, get a minute rest, then take on another 1,000 meters at the same pace. I wasn't sure how many intervals I could handle, but I could tell after the first 1,000 meters that it wouldn't be many. I was feeling off again. I got through a second round of 1,000 meters under 4 minutes, but I called it a night after that. Wish I could have done more, but this felt like an instance where I needed to listen to what my body was telling me.
Monday preview: It's a benchmark day and we're taking on Christine for the final time in 2016. Rowing, deadlifts, and box jumps await.
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