Met up with Jack, Match and Pete for some skills work this afternoon - a regularly scheduled 4pm time to practice - it's hard sometimes for me to get there from work that early but I do like working out with the boys even if I can't always do what they're doing. Like last night for instance. They were working on 'skin the cat' (poor name), iron crosses and muscle ups. Now I only know a little about these moves - from Match helping me do one 'skin the cat' on Monday (I can't get my legs over but I can get back unassisted), from seeing Tim do iron crosses at gymnastics and him showing me the grip and initial movements on a muscle up. I just don't have the strength yet to do any of them. That being said - even attempting the movements/ scaling them help me to get better. It gives me things to focus on. Now if the box had a set of rings facing the wall that would allow me to walk up part of the way before flipping over for 'skin the cat' it'd be a bonus. I think I need to get to those monkey bars near my house.
During this time I also practiced my pull-ups (a goal still to get an unassisted pull-up). I was getting single reps with only the red band which is a huge improvement from the last WOD where I was using blue and orange. I know I can't yet do a WOD with just the red band but if I keep doing a few when I can it will help. Also, Jack took some time to coach me on how to 'kip' so that will also help - something for me to definitely practice. My hands are getting tough from all this bar work.
The focus for today was Squat Cleans so we spent some good time going through the range of motion (rom). I struggled a bit with connecting the clean to the squat which ensuring that I was fully extending. It's just a lot more to focus on even though I don't have a problem with the rom for just the clean (one of my favorites).
WOD #1
3 rounds for time -
5 squat cleans (30/45kg)
10 double unders
5 squat cleans
20 double unders
9:10 Rx
Initially I put 28 on the bar again as this was what I had for the cleans on Monday. It felt a little hard but Tim gave me a little nudge that I looked great and another 2kg was really nothing. It was most definitely something. The squat cleans are what slowed me down in this WOD. I rocked the DU's - I like the lower numbers and managed some sets unbroken including stringing together the last 20 unbroken. It was a nice change to my previous DU struggles. My technique on the squat cleans wasn't great and even though Tim was trying to be a good coach it became a bit much and frustrating - too many parts to focus on be corrected all at once. It was good to drop the weight and spend more time afterwards focusing again on the technique which when explained in different terms by Jack made more sense to me - I think it definitely helped that Jack coached the cleans on Monday so knew my weaknesses there and could help break that down again. The three of us all learned a lot I think about the movement, explaining the movement, what is beneficial in the middle of a WOD and what terms work better (how to fix rather than stating what is wrong, etc.) so I think this was a huge benefit. We're all different and respond differently so talking through things is definitely good.
Afterwards (since I did the 5:15 workout rather than 6pm), Jack and I did a 100's workout. We chose to do dips - I did mine with my hands on the edge of a box and he did his on the rings.
WOD #2
100 dips for time
4:27
The first 25 weren't too bad - about 40 seconds to complete them then they got hard with my sets dropping to 15, then a lot of 10's a few 5's then 5-7's to finish it off. At one point when I had done 60-70 I laughed as I almost slipped off with one arm just buckling. My triceps don't feel to bad this morning (yet!) but I know they will.
Jack is absolutely awesome - he pushed hard to get 100 ring dips done. I was sure he was going to max out at 50 as he was doing sets of 2 at a time after about 30 but he kept on pushing. Truly inspiring. At 53 reps I called a 'no rep' on him which he graciously accepted after all - the point of the 100's is to solidify a movement with correct range of motion. To teach your body what that range is when it's extremely tired and wants to cheat. The reminder of the set seemed to increase his determination. It was also impressive during the last 4 minutes. He had 16 reps left. 4 per minute. 20 minute cut-off. I could see him eying the clock - skeptical. Unsure if he was going to make it. Quick break for water - 3 minutes, 15 reps. He pushed out 2 in a row, another, another. A failed attempt, back at it. One more. 40 seconds left - 3 reps to go. Eyes locked on the ticking seconds. One rep. Rest. Hands on the rings, one more. Break. He was racing the clock with everything in him - digging deep for the 100th dip. Hands on the rings, full extension, dip down, arms at 90, big kick, huge grunt and push. Full extension for the last time. 19:56. He did it. Success. Accomplishment. He got better today. A lot better.
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| Rx!!! |
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