If it was Wednesday, then some supremely difficult workout was going to be awaiting me at the gym. That's how it began to feel this past month. I know Jenna wasn't specifically requesting ultra-tough WODs, but I was starting to wonder whether I should skip her mid-week class. I was getting my ass kicked there every week. The chances that I could handle a hard workout this week were less than normal after experiencing "The Seven" the night before. Aimee wouldn't be so cruel as to program soul crushers on back-to-back nights, would she?
The answer was no. I breathed a sign of relief when I saw that the main part of the Wednesday WOD was finding a 1RM snatch. There would be a short metcon after we were done lifting, but that cash-out didn't look too ominous. Here's what our nightcap would be:
Cash-out:
21-15-9
Power snatches (115/75)
Calories rowed
Having the 1RM snatch as the focus of this workout was not only going to give my body a break after a nearly 41-minute WOD the night before, it was also going to help me prepare for my 1st ever appearance in an Olympic lifting meet in 4 days. I had agreed to take part in the Bridgeport Barbell Club meet taking place on Saturday and Sunday. As a novice, I would be lifting as part of the Sunday morning session. I would get three attempts at a snatch, three attempts at a clean and jerk. I hadn't specifically planned on attending Open Strength this week to work on either of my lifts, so I lucked out in getting this opportunity for some last minute practice.
There were four of us in Jenna's 7:30 class this evening: me, Bryan, Marissa, and Erika R. The BBC's eight-week program was still taking place, so the folks participating in that took up the right side of the gym, while we took up most of the left side. After Jenna walked us through the technical aspects of the snatch, we were set free to build up to a 1RM. My best snatch ever was 185 pounds, so I wanted to put together a progression that would give me a shot at 190 if all went well. I decided that I would go with 115-135-155-170-180-190.
My routine when working towards a 1RM snatch has been to do two reps at each of the two lightest weights just so I can get a feel for the lift. I'd be using a full squat on all of my attempts and sometimes it takes a rep or two before you feel comfortable landing in that position. I'd rather take four lifts using 115 and 135 to work out the kinks than rush to a weight like 155 while still feeling uneasy about my form. My two lifts at 115 felt fine, but wasn't in love with the two lifts I did at 135 pounds. The barbell didn't necessarily feel heavy when I pulled it above my head, but I definitely sat in the bottom of the squat longer than I typically do before standing up with the weight. My form didn't feel "off" per se, but I suspected that my legs might still be a bit shell-shocked from last night's encounter with "The Seven".
When I did my lift at 155, I got the feeling that this probably wasn't going to be the night where I hit 190. I didn't fail on this attempt, but I once again spent way too much time in the bottom of the squat. For a truly heavy lift, that wouldn't be abnormal. However, on these light-to-medium weights, there should have been some natural bounce out of the bottom. I didn't need to come right up immediately, but a gradual rise from the squat would have made sense.
What I read in the tea leaves of these early lifts came to fruition later on. By no means is 170 pounds a weight that I can snatch easily, but I struggled big time when I got to this step in the progression. My first attempt at 170 pounds was a complete failure. Jenna was watching and told me that I didn't keep the barbell close to my body. As I went to pull it overhead, I let it get away from me and there was no way I was going to be able to recover from that position. I took a couple of minutes before stepping up to my barbell to take on 170 again. I did a much better job of keeping the barbell close to me this time, but I still couldn't catch it in my squat. Jenna's critique of my second attempt was one that I had grown accustomed to hearing. She said I was way too slow and that I needed more speed during my initial pull. I cleared my head again before coming back and taking another shot at 170. Third time was the charm. I caught the barbell in my squat and took my time standing it up. I finally got by 170, but it was a lot harder than I would have liked. (Also, I'd only have 3 attempts at the snatch on Sunday, so I couldn't afford to screw up like this if I wanted to put up a big score or possibly PR at the meet.)
Jenna was fully invested in improving my form, so even though I had a successful lift, she was still ready with feedback. She was a bit shocked that I was able to get my 3rd attempt because she didn't feel I sped up my motion much at all. That was frustrating to hear because my focus was on speeding up my pull and I thought I had done it. How else could I have gotten that last snatch? Rather than spend time trying to unravel that mystery, I put my mental energy towards trying to figure out why I was always so slow on my initial pull. I came up with an explanation that made sense to me. Because the snatch is such a highly technical lift, it can be tough to nail every aspect of it. I'm probably overthinking all of those things and that is likely the reason for my lack of speed. I'm going slow because if I slow the lift down, I can make sure that my shoulders stay pinched back. I can make sure that the barbell stays close to my body. I can make sure that the barbell makes contact with my hip crease, not my legs. If I do all of that correctly, then I'm strong enough to hit a lift like the one I made at 170. But if I want to venture into the 200 area code someday, I need to be able to do all of those things while driving with my foot on the gas pedal rather than on the brakes.
I had time for at least one attempt at 180 pounds. Did I pull faster on that attempt? Sure did. Was it a successful lift? Not at all. It's gonna take some practice for me to mesh speed with form. The barbell hit my quads rather than my hip crease and I didn't get the barbell high enough. I rushed to get one more attempt in, but it was nothing more than a glorified deadlift. Final score: 170.
The four of us stripped down our barbells to the weight we would be using in the cash-out. 115 pounds seemed manageable to me, but there was a stipulation that we had to do power snatches, which are not my strong suit. Jenna was also asking us to try and do bigger sets, at least in the round of 21. That would be a real test of my grip strength. It's hard enough for me to hold on to the barbell with a normal grip. Because we were snatching, we'd be using a wide grip on the barbell. That was going to be tougher for me to maintain for a large set.
The four of us were ready to go. Jenna asked us to try and complete the cash-out in about 10 minutes before sending us on our way. The power snatches weren't too horrible early on. All those snatches I had done with 170 pounds made these ones feel much lighter. But I couldn't maintain my grip for very long, only making it through 4 reps before needing to drop the barbell. If I couldn't make it beyond 4 reps right off the bat, it was probably pointless trying to string reps the rest of the way. For the remaining 17 power snatches, I picked stuff up and I put stuff down.
My classmates were much better about stringing their snatches, which explains why I was the last one to the rower. I wasn't sure how much ground I could make up on the rower, but the surprising answer was "a lot". The 7:30 quartet all got off of the rower within a few seconds of one another. I might have gone a little too hard on that row though because I had a tough time making my way through the snatches in the round of 15. I dropped behind the group again, but I wasn't as far behind when I got to the rower the second time as I had been at the end of the 21 snatches.
If I was able to blow through 21 calories on the rower to catch up to my classmates in the first round, then crushing 15 more should be a piece of cake. That was basically the pep talk that I gave myself as I slid my feet back into the rower. 15 hard pulls as fast as you can and you'll be on the final round. As I closed in on 15 calories, I saw both of the girls get off their rowers, but Bryan was still on his. He'd get up at the same time I did. I needed to pick up the pace on the snatches if I was going to stay with him.
Those last 9 snatches were painful, especially because I didn't allow myself anything but one small break along the way. It was pick up the barbell, drop it to the floor, settle it, and lift again. Because I was doing them one at a time, I wasn't able to catch either of the girls. Marissa was the first one back to her rower. Erika followed her. One snatch later, I was headed to my rower. I had snuck ahead of Bryan.
9 calories was a pure sprint. I didn't concern myself with technique. I grabbed the handle, made fairly big pulls, and rocketed back and forth as fast as I could. Marissa finished before I could make it to 9, but I did row quickly enough that I edged out Erika for the runner-up spot. None of us stayed under 10 minutes for the cash-out, but we were all pretty close. Final times:
- Marissa - 10:18
- Me - 10:21
- Erika - 10:24
- Bryan - 10:40
Thursday preview: It's my last WOD before the BBC meet! Some strength work with front squats as well as a cash-out that mixes front squats with strict pull-ups.
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