3 Position Clean / "Metabolic Mania"

A. 3 Position Clean (Floor, Mid Thigh, high hang) 70% x 4

These were squat cleans, just to be clear.


I used 155 for the first one, and 165 for the last three.  That's a bit higher than 70% of my one rep max, but you can blame Brad Fo for that. 

The trick to doing the high hang is pulling yourself under it really quick. 

 

B. “Metabolic Mania”

5 rounds:
1 min of Double unders
1 min of plank Push ups (start in plank position on elbows, walk hands up to push up position then back down to plank. Alternate hands that push you up)

Rest 30 seconds

Plank push-ups were horrible. 

Going from memory, here's how each round looked like for me:

DU  PPU
70    17
61    16
60    15
51    14
50    15

Total score of 368. 

Max Clean and Jerk / Angie to the Max

A. Max Clean & Jerk 3-2-1-1-1

 

135x3, 155x2, 185x1, 205x1, 210x1(PR)

 

 

B. “Angie to the Max”

 

2 rounds of 2 minutes AMRAP each of:

• Pullups
• Pushups (not exactly modified, but, as Leya pointed out, they were substandard and shitty ... though I don't really blame her*)
• Situps 
• Squats

I really need to pay better attention.  I thought this was two minutes of Tabata for each of these exercises and didn't realize that it wasn't until I looked up at the clock. 

Then when I fiinished the squats on the first round, I thought I was done.  I sat down and started adding up my results, glad it was over.  Then I realized everyone else was back doing pull-ups. 

Knowing I had to do another eight minutes of this was a very unpleasant wake-up call.

 

Total reps, if I did the math right, was 363. 

Overheard at the Gym:

"My God, Leya, your shins! You should wear socks.  Not to protect your shins.  To protect me from having to see your shins."
-Me.

.

Clean and Jerk / 800m runs

Clean and Jerk: 1-1-1

Then, 4 x 800m runs, resting as needed between.


C&J
I really enjoyed re-acquainting myself with the clean and jerk. The most I had ever cleaned was 195. The most I had ever put over my head was 185, last fall at the SCFC in Saskatoon, but then we got to take the weight from the rack, and I used a push press because I wasn't confident in my jerking ability. I remember failing to do 185 in a WOD a little while after the SCFC,

Today, I started out at 145, then 165. Then I put 185 on the bar, which was a little intimidating, just because it's bodyweight and it would be tying a PR.

But I told myself it was gonna go the fuck up, and it went the fuck up. And then some.

185(PR)-195(PR)-200(PR)

I'm optimistic that I've got a bit more in me, but time was short and I still had to do the 800m runs.

3:03
3:17 (I think)
3:28
3:33

"Grindy"

10 clean and jerks (135lbs, and the cleans are full squat cleans)
5 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats)
10 clean and jerks
5 rounds of Cindy
10 clean and jerks

The last time I did Grindy, it was back in June of 2008, about a month after I joined CrossFit. Back then, I did it with 95lbs and it took me 34:29, and I'm pretty sure I wanted to die afterward.

As it turns out, that was the first day I was able to do unassissted pull-ups (I always thought it took me a few months to get those) and that was also the day I tore my hands to shit... which led to me wearing gloves and mummy-taping my fingers for a long time, which is the reason for the title of this blog.

Today, my time was 24:33.

I'd be lying if I didn't say I was a little disappointed in myself on this one. I really lacked some intensity this morning. I spent more time trying to figure out which shoes to wear than I did warming up and getting comfortable with the C&Js, and it showed in my shitty form. I'm not saying I should be getting a sub-15 minute time on this, but I could have shaved two or three minutes off of this.

Basically, from almost the beginning, I was in the "Let's just plod through this mode" rather than saying "I'm gonna attack this fucking workout like a pack of crazed dogs." I'm not going to blame the music this time, even though Taylor Swift was playing at one point, because Franz quickly addressed that situation.

Other ways I sucked:

-Resting too much in between reps on the C&Js. BrianB flew through his and actually looked back at me as he was going through his first round of five Cindys and said, "You only have to do 10." Yeah, I know. I just suck, alright?

-My squat cleans came around toward the end, when I remembered to hold my breath and keep my core tight. But there was a point earlier in the workout where I basically did a power clean, front squat, ugly push press/half-jerk hybrid.

-I apparently have forgotten how to do a split jerk. My push jerks felt and probably looked completely amateur.

-I took breaks during the squats in Cindy. I took a break during fucking squats.

Anyway, enough of me whining like a little bitch. Everyone's entitled to a less than stellar workout once in a while... the key is to figure out what made it shitty and fix that for next time.

I'm gonna take a rest day tomorrow and come back with a big fucking smile on my face on Friday.

Here's a video of some guys doing a Grindy, but with 3 x 5 rounds of Cindy, and only 2 x 10 C&J. They also only do a power clean, which makes me think that maybe we didn't have to do squat cleans. Oh well, a little more hard work never killed anyone. Check out the nice butterfly kips they're using, and notice that they're basically doing push presses.

Gearing up for the Games

Today, participants in the upcoming Saskatchewan CrossFit Games (co-organized by the Regina and Saskatoon affiliates) were invited to do two workouts, one at 9am and the other at noon, in order to begin to get used to what it's going to be like in a couple of weeks.

9am

Three rounds of:

12 x 115 lb overhead squats
12 x 24" box jumps
12 x chest-to-bar pull-ups

We were given a 15 minute time limit to do this, and each competitor was assigned someone to count our reps and make sure our form was perfect. I was lucky to have Ferrah do mine. She provided just the right amount of steady encouragement throughout.

The worst part of this was the overhead squats. Actually, getting the 115 lbs overhead with a snatch was very tough, so it actually probably helped my time in a way, because it made me more reluctant to drop it. The first set of 12, I was able to do all of the squats uninterrupted. Getting low enough without losing my balance was a big challenge. I did end up falling on my ass during the second set. Always fun.

Somehow, I managed to finish with a time of 8:18, which was the best time of the day. I attribute it mostly to Brad Flood being next to me. I was finishing my squats a bit faster than him, but then we'd move to box jumps and he was popping up and down like it was completely effortless. (Note to self: Do more box jumps) It was everything I could do to just try to stay ahead of him.

12pm

At 9am, all we knew about the noon workout was that it would involve a salt bag. I joked, "Hey, after the 115 lb overhead squats, a 45 lb salt bag will feel light."

I should have known better.

With two saltbags in an oversized army surplus duffel bag:

400m run (yep, carrying the 90 lb bag anyway you like, without using the straps).

30 clean and jerks with the bag. ("Grace")

Climb the rope and ring the bell (thankfully, not carrying the two salt bags with you.)

I was placed in the second heat, which means I had to count for one of the competitors, James, who's an absolute animal and one of CFR's most elite athletes. That's when it hit home just how frickin' hard this workout was going to be. James's weighted 400m run was faster than a lot of people's regular 400m time, but he looked like he was going through Hell on the C&Js. He finished in just over 10 minutes, which was pretty incredible. Here's a video of BrianB doing C&Js with the bag. BrianB is in awesome shape, so watching this should tell you how tough this workout was.


After ripping up my hand on a rope dismount a few weeks back, I wasn't thrilled about the idea of a rope climb. But after seeing how the other competitors did in the first heat, I figured that I probably wouldn't finish the 30 C&Js before the 13 minute time limit, so it wouldn't be an issue.

When it was my turn, I had a pretty good time on the 400m, but it was very tough to get any kind of speed on the C&Js. I was taking way too long between the reps, but James was very good at keeping me going, making me aware of the time and giving me advice on the best way to keep the bag jerkable. He said my form got better and faster as I got toward the end. Part of that was just me wanting to get done so I wouldn't have to do it anymore.

I finally got done the 30 C&Js at around 11:00, so it was time to climb the rope. I took a quick drink, chalked my hands, and got on the rope. If I was fresher, I would have tried it no-hands, but today I needed my feet, too. Although I'm not sure how much spreading my knees out bowlegged and pinching the rope between my feet really helped. When I finally got to the top, it took a fair amount of willpower to get one hand off the rope to ring the bell at 11:50. This time, I climbed down and emerged free of any hand trauma.

Clean & Jerk on the minute

I never did go out to the garage last night to atone for my nacho sins.

Men use 135lb / Women use 95lb

With a continuously running clock do one Clean & Jerk the first minute, two Clean & Jerks the second minute, three Clean & Jerks the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.

Use as many sets each minute as needed.

On the minute workouts start off good, but they start to suck really fast as you have less time to rest and more work to do. 135lbs is still pretty heavy for me, and it probably always will be.

I did 5 rounds and did 5 of the 6 required in the 6th minute. My sissy hands were still a little sore from yesterday's Cindy pull-ups, so I wasn't sad to be done. Probably not the best attitude.

After that, it was back to wall balls. I was already paid up for today, but I can't come in on Thursday or Friday, so I did the wall balls for those days. 84 + 85 = 169. Started with a little race to 75 vs. TallTerry. We had a difference of opinion about whether his 6'7" height (I'm guessing) makes it easier or harder to do wall balls. He argues that he has to come down and up higher on the squat. I argue that he doesn't have to throw the ball nearly as far as I do at 5'9". It's probably a wash. Anyway, I edged him out on that, then did 9 more to finish Thursday's 84, and did lazy sets of 11 (meaning, they definitely were not on the minute) to get to Friday's 85. So I've got three WB done for Saturday. Whoooo!