8/16 – Barbell Club WODing and Extra Work

Friday’s Extra

1)SXF WOD (see below)

7+7 reps

2)Backquats

8x4 @80% +10kg

8x4 @74kg

3)EMOM 10

X bar muscle ups

Did not do

WOD tonight included front squats and we were advised (told?) to get our backsquats done before the WOD (unless we wanted to die – those are perhaps my words).  So I planned to meet up with Ali and get the squats done at 4:30 before hitting up the 5:30 WOD.  That didn’t quite happen as planned however it still worked out all right.

Ali was running a little late leaving work and getting to the box so I started without her.  I (surprisingly) managed to talk myself through the first four sets of our 8x4 @80%+10kg (74kg for me) without having a spotter.  I think the difference between Wednesday and tonight was that I hadn’t just done a leg heavy (pistol) WOD and also the fact that there were only 4 reps and not 5.  By the time she arrived however I needed her there – not necessarily to physically help me but more so from a mental aspect.

I noted that having a spotter is as much about having someone there to physically catch you when you’re going to fail as it is about having someone there to be your mental cheerleader when you start to struggle and doubt your ability – just hearing you are looking strong or getting verbal cues to distract you from everything else but technique is a benefit that can’t be quantified.

Got through all my sets without failing which was good.  Ali still had two sets left when 5:30 rolled around so we decided we’d do the WOD in the barbell side rather than hitting up the class.

After we finished squatting Ali did the bar muscle-ups EMOM10 which I just mobilized my hip flexors (ouch).  I skipped out on the c2b pull-ups (scaled version of the bar MU’s) because my shoulder could use the rest.  Then when that was done we did the WOD.

WOD

Clean ladder

1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5…

Power clean (42.5kg)

Front squat

7+7 cleans (Rx)

Four of us (including Ali and I) did this in the barbell room.  It was kind of weird – totally different setting – but also with lots of people doing other work to add cheers here and there which helped.  Was good to change it up.  This WOD most definitely hurt.  The front squats were killer and by far the hardest (mostly mentally I think) part of the WOD.

I started well, going unbroken through all the squats until the round of 7.  The 6^th round unbroken was a struggle so then I went 4-3.  Definitely starting to feel it.  I switched between regular and hook grip on the cleans though didn’t really find my forearms having much issue – it was more about getting myself more comfortable with the hook grip.  It was a long 6 minutes though thankfully Coach Tara was timing it and giving us updates as there was no large clock to see.  The first 4 or 5 rounds went quick then suddenly it seemed to take forever.  Could be from the pain face I had on.

In round 2 I put on my weight belt.  It wasn’t that the weight was that heavy (in comparison to what we’ve been squatting lately) but my lower back just started to cramp up completely on the cleans (even though I was maintaining good form and dropping under the bar rather than going wide with my feet).  Figured it was better safe than sorry though – it didn’t stop the pain but probably kept me from doing any damage which would have sucked completely.

Sacha, Ali and I rewarded ourselves with Nando’s after.  It’s all I could think of before starting the WOD – the reward at the end (I was starving) so good.  Then I promptly wanted to be asleep.  Good times.