Abs For Annie

Workout date: 8/14/17

The Monday 6:30 class was packed like it always is.  The number of people taking class wasn't crazy high (just a dozen of us), but there is a weird overlap in the scheduling that takes place on Mondays that ensures the gym will be filled wall-to-wall with athletes.  On most days, Open Strength is only 90 minutes long.  However, on Mondays we have a super-sized strength sesh, coming in at a whopping two and a half hours.  Not sure why Monday's version is longer, but in order to get everyone out of the gym by 9, Open Strength must begin at 6:30.  So even if there are a moderate number of people signed up for the 6:30 class, they have to share space with the folks who are there to lift.

Monday's WOD didn't seem to be one where we would individually need a ton of space.  For the first portion of class, everyone needed their own barbell.  For the cash-out, everyone needed a jump rope and an ab-mat.  It was a benchmark day where we'd be testing out our hang squat clean and our ability to complete Annie under a strict time cap:

Monday's WOD:
Strength segment:
Find your 2RM hang squat clean

Cash-out:
"Annie"
50-40-30-20-10
Double unders
Sit-ups
Time cap: 7 minutes

Giulz asked us all to grab a barbell and find some space so that we could go over the progressions that lead up to the hang squat clean.  As we all got organized, it seemed like there was just enough room for 11 people.  Then Giulz pointed out that there was still some space on the platform if anyone wanted to go there.  <Silence>  People started to find interesting things to look at on the ceiling.  It was sort of like going to a restaurant with a large group of people and one of you has to sit in the chair at the end of the table.  No one ever grabs that chair right off the bat.  There's some uncomfortable looking around as everyone hopes someone will volunteer to sit there.  When the number of unoccupied chairs dwindles down to two or three, someone will take one for the team and offer to sit there.  Since no one was eager to sit in the platform chair, I eventually gave in and moved over to that location.

My personal best 2RM hang squat clean was 225, so I needed a plan to get to 230.  I didn't want to perform a lot of sets to get there, partially because this isn't a lift that I'm really into.  The other thing on my mind was that if I did a bunch of hang squat cleans, I'd have no chance of finishing Annie under the time cap in the cash-out and that was a challenge that I was much more interested in.  I decided that I didn't want to do more than six sets, so the plan became 135-165-185-205-220-230.

The biggest issue for me with the 2RM hang squat clean is maintaining a strong grip between reps.  The squat clean itself isn't as much of a concern, especially since it is being done from the hang.  Starting from the hang kinda gives you a head start on the lift, so it is not uncommon for athletes to be able to clean more from the hang than they can from the floor.  The tough part about the 2RM is bringing the barbell back down from your shoulders and returning it to the hang position.  Remember, this is a very heavy barbell, so a lot of pressure is being put on your hands and your forearms as you prepare for that second rep.  For someone like me who has a notoriously weak grip, the natural solution is to try and go into that second rep as fast as you can.  If you don't move with urgency, you might notice your fingers slowly peeling off of the barbell and at that point, you're screwed.

Early on in this WOD, I was feeling good about my chances of setting a new PR.  135 was easy.  165 was easy.  Even 185 felt pretty easy.  205 was the first set that I did where the barbell felt heavy.  I was still able to move through my two reps quickly, but it introduced some doubt into my mind as to whether I could really handle 230 pounds.  I didn't take a lot of rest between my early sets, but I made up for that with the break I took between the set at 205 and the set at 220.  Perhaps I should have stuck with the routine I had going, but I became worried that I was rushing between sets.  My thinking was that if I took my time before these last two sets, I'd get through 230.

My experiences at 205 and 220 couldn't have been more night and day.  The 15 pound jump felt more like a 45 pound jump.  I caught the first squat clean, but I had to fight incredibly hard to stand it up.  It took so much energy to stand that 1st rep up that I thought there was little chance I'd get the second one.  My grip was still okay though, so I got right into the second hang squat clean.  I caught rep #2, but I was in a ton of trouble.  While I was stuck down in the squat for a few seconds, I adjusted my grip on the barbell.  It was something that I had seen Tia do during one of her heavy sets.  You didn't want to try and stand up with the barbell if it was cockeyed or if you only had a strong grip with one of your hands because the barbell was likely to slide off of you as you rose from the floor.  The downside to this adjustment was that you were now doing a front squat with absolutely no momentum.  (I believe the technical term is "front squat with a pause".)  You had to have a lot of faith that you could front squat this weight if you were going to take your time adjusting your grip in the bottom.  To be honest, I didn't put that much thought into it while it was happening.  I knew I was off-balance based on how I caught the barbell and that an adjustment was necessary.  If I wasn't strong enough to front squat 220 pounds after pausing, so be it.

The set at 220 did end up having a happy ending.  I thought I'd get stuck as I tried to stand up, but I was able to fight my way through it again.  While I was happy to complete that set, I didn't see much point in attempting 230 pounds.  How in the world was I going to complete two reps at 230 when it took everything I had to get through the set at 220 pounds?  I took a few minutes to think about things, spending my break watching my classmates as they took on their final sets.  Seeing them be successful on some heavy sets made my pessimism dissipate.  I still didn't think I'd get through a set at 230 pounds, but there didn't seem to be any harm in trying.

I'm not sure why I couldn't keep the barbell straight on this night, but I found myself in the same predicament on my 1st rep at 230 as I had been in during my 2nd rep at 220.  I sat in a squat with a heavy barbell weighing down on me.  As calmly as I could, I adjusted my grip and got the barbell straight.  Then I tried to stand up.  Didn't think I'd make it, but somehow I did.  I still had one rep to go though and my grip was a mess again.  I tried to get a better grip while the barbell rested on my shoulders, but I knew I didn't have much grip strength left.  Better get moving on this second rep and hope for the best!  That's what I attempted, but the barbell slipped out of my hands as soon as I came out of the hang.  Oh well.  Getting one rep at 230 was more than I could have hoped for after the tough set at 220.

I changed out of my lifting shoes and put on some regular sneakers for the cash-out.  Annie was one of those WODs I actually looked forward to now that my double form had gotten much better.  It was still asking a lot to finish it in less than 7 minutes though.  When I did this cash-out back in May, we were told we could run past the time cap if we were very close to finishing.  I had 19 sit-ups and 10 double unders remaining when the time cap hit, so I continued on to the end, finishing in 7:57.  The directions were a bit different today, as Giulz told us that we had to stop at the time cap no matter how close we were to finishing.  So our score would be 7:00 plus one second for every rep not completed.  For the sake of comparison, my time back in May became 7:29.

I couldn't help but look at this cash-out in the same way that I looked at Helen a week ago.  Was there really any way that I could beat the time I put up in May?  I had only one hiccup in the five rounds of double unders, so it was going to be nearly impossible to make up time on that part of the workout.  It was all about going faster on the sit-ups.  Last time I tried to pace it a bit so that I would still be strong in the later rounds.  This time I was simply going to move as fast as I could in round one of the sit-ups and hope that I didn't peter out at the end.

Giulz made sure we were all set and then sent us on our seven-minute journey.  My double unders were still strong as I sailed through 50 in a row to begin the cash-out.  I dropped down to the floor and got right to work on the sit-ups.  I rapidly rocked back and forth, behaving as though there was nothing left to do beyond the 50 sit-ups I was currently cranking through.  At about 40 reps, I felt some soreness in my abs, but I kept moving along until I reached 50.  I got up and shook out my jump rope.  It started to look like I might get all 40 in this set, but the rope hit me as I tried to do my 27th double under.  I didn't waste time on a pity party, immediately getting back into my double unders.  I took care of the remaining 14 reps and got back to the sit-ups.

I'm sure my pace was slower on the set of 40 sit-ups, but I never stopped during it.  It got very painful towards the end, but a look at the clock let me know that I was still on pace for 7 minutes if I could keep it together.  What happened next was a case of good news/bad news.  The good news was that I strung 30 double unders in a row.  The bad news was that I was getting very little break from the sit-ups because I completed the double unders so fast.  My "abs" were not eager to start another big set of sit-ups and eventually they refused to continue.  I had to stop three times during the set of 30 sit-ups, killing any chance I had of beating the time cap.

Time was running out on me when I got back to the jump rope.  I was able to string another 20 double unders, allowing me to sneak in some last-second sit-ups.  I moved as fast as I could in an attempt to match my time from May, but I fell one rep short.  (Isn't that always the case with me?)  Final time: 7:30 (20 sit-ups and 10 double unders remaining at time cap.)

This attempt let me know there was nothing more I could do in terms of double unders or sit-ups that would help me beat the 7 minute time cap on Annie.  If I was going to shave another minute off of my time, I would need to lose the flab and develop some abs.  That seemed to be the only solution.  It was easier said than done though.  I've gotten much better about cutting down on fast food, desserts, and alcohol, but the spare tire I've developed does not seem interested in going away.  I probably need to add a lot more cardio to my workout routine.

Tuesday preview: I use a trick I learned watching the Crossfit Games to improve my time in a WOD. A classmate experiences what it's like to be me on most nights.