Category: Hang Squat Clean

2nd Inaugural

The second inaugural DCCF WOD is in the books.

Per HQ:

Hang squat clean 3-3-3-3-3-3-3 reps

Scaling
The hang squat clean is a good opportunity to practice full hip and leg extension, and speed under the bar. Ideally, each set will be as heavy as possible for 3 reps, but newer athletes should start light and slowly add weight as they are comfortable.

Completed: @ 35#, 35#, 35#, 45#, 45#, 45#, 55#

Holy that felt good. So light, but so good. It’s amazing what the body remembers and the mind forgets. As I was sinking into the squat under the bar I was thinking, I’m doing it. I’m doing it! In total disbelief. But the body, the body knew exactly what to do. The body said, leave it to me. Somehow these familiar movements bring you back to some place you once knew but long forget and miss nonetheless. It’s like going home. The familiarity found in rediscovering a movement it took years to learn and then left behind. There’s comfort in the body remembering what to do.

According to the notebook, I PRd my Squat Clean at 100lbs. on 7/28/2015.

Tonight’s an early night. Coffee machine is cued up. Dog walked. Check. Check. Check.

Soar.

“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” ― Helen Keller

The last time I did Elizabeth was in June. It was at 55lbs. and took over 9 minutes. (This all sounds so perverse and derogatory, but, it’s not… It’s anything but…) Anyhoo, in June I even lost count on the reps so who really knows my true score. I vowed to return and do Elizabeth again. *Fist held towards sky*

I never did.

Until today.

Today’s WOD: Elizabeth. Completed: at 75lbs. In 6:03. And definitely could have gone 10lbs. heavier. In case you missed that, I’m certain I could have gone 30lbs. heavier than my best in June. 10lbs. from RX at 95lbs.

My point: it’s incredible how you can feel certain you’ve hit a plateau, a stalling point, with no where left to go. Simply no more room to grow: In life, in CF, at work, with love, and then suddenly, one day, you wake up and your Personal Records punch through the ceiling and soar.

I. Barbell Gymnastics:

5 Sets –

1 Hang Squat Cleans + 1 Push Jerk

*Rest 90 seconds between sets

Completed: at 65lbs., 75lbs., 85lbs., 95lbs., 100lbs. Again, could have gone heavier. Remember the days when I was feeling stuck with trying to get 100lbs. overhead? Me too. No more.

II. Conditioning:

“Elisabeth”

21-15-9

Power Clean (135/95)

Ring Dips

Completed: in 6:09 at 75lbs. Scaled to ring push-ups.

Practice.

Strongman at 7pm. 3 Rounds. Sledge Hammer Swing. Farmers Hold (110 lbs.). One Arm Dumbbell Press (30 lbs.). Battling Ropes. YES!

Then, onto Ladies Night. With a group of wonderful women, and one very skilled teacher, take their time to practice together, Hang Squat Clean.

Bear Complex

I love Team WOD’s. When it was over our team headed back inside and went for an additional 3 rounds of 7 Bear Complex @ 55lbs. Why? I have no freaking idea. Freihofer’s 5K tomorrow. Somebody send for reinforcements.

Warm up:

Group Dynamic

WOD:

I.  With a partner, complete As Many Reps As Possible in 25 Minutes of:

1st 5 minutes:

Hang Power Snatches (95/65)

2nd 5 minutes:

Overhead Squats

3rd 5 minutes:

Hang Power Cleans

4th 5 minutes:

Front Squats

Last 5 minutes:

Push Jerks

*Every time the bar touches the ground, 15 Burpee penalty for each partner

Completed: @ 55lbs. with 3 of us sharing the load. Not sure how many total reps each, or as a team. Lost count. The good news; the bar never hit the ground. It’s amazing what the threat of burpees can do.

II. Stretch and Foam Roll

No Mojo

Somedays are better than others. And frankly, I’m okay with that.

If every day were good, we wouldn’t know it, because we would have nothing to compare it to.

Plus the bad can sometimes bring out the best in us, like hope and perseverance and hard work. And I get it; that our moods, our thoughts, our emotions, are up to us. We are what we choose to be. I get that.

But sometimes, I just don’t want to turn that frown upside down. Sometimes, I am okay with just being melancholy. Today was definitely one of those days. Not even my beloved CF could lift me out of it. Everything was just off. I was stuck in traffic, couldn’t find parking, sat in my Dr’s waiting room for TWO hours, even hit my head. Oh yeah, one of those days. It just kept coming. Even during tonight’s WOD, couldn’t find my mojo. Surely there was a Deadlift PR waiting in there for me somewhere. But alas, I felt hurried, then had to wait, then couldn’t get my math right, and even then when finally getting the bumpers on the bar, simply couldn’t lift the weight. Fail.

So, the day is drawing to a close. The sun is setting, I’m already in my PJ’s. And ready to crawl in bed. Will I be back tomorrow? You betcha’. Will I be in a better mood? We’ll see. Sometimes it’s okay to just sit in what we’re feeling. Not dwell, but acknowledge. It’s not all pixy dust and leprechauns. Somedays just simply suck. Somedays I’m just not feeling the love. Even after trying to chug the CF cool aid. But the beauty is, it will still be there in the morning.

And I will keep walking through the front door.

WOD:

I. Deadlift

2 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 2

Completed: 135lbs, then 175lbs., then 215lbs., then tried for 235 and failed. Stopped with a 1RM at 225lbs. My current PR. Ran out of time. If I’ve learned anything, I was trying to jump too much in weight too quickly, not warming up properly.

II. AMRAP in 8 Minutes:

10 Deadlifts (95/65)

8 Hang Power Cleans

6 Push Presses

Completed: at 55lbs. 7 Rounds. Could definitely have gone 65lbs. Wasn’t feeling confident enough until well into the WOD to go RX.

What if?

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” ~ Francis of Assisi

Warm-Up:

Russian Gymnastics Warm-Up – Day 1

WOD:

I. Hang Squat Cleans

5 – 3 – 2 – 1

Completed: at 55lbs, 65lbs. and then 75lbs. Thanks to Jason telling me to Git It. Which I did. Till the last rep. I tried for 85lbs. The weight was on there, all I had to was ONE REP. And I couldn’t pull it off. I was thinking too much, too caught up in the what ifs, and not enough in the just doing its. I basically psyched myself out. Put the weight down. Took off 10, and did the last rep at the same 75lbs. Felt kind of lame about this.

II. Kettlebell Swing Volume Ladder (70/53)

Completed: 17 rounds. If you do 1 rep during minute one, then 2 reps in minute two, and so on. And continue to do so all the way to 17 reps in minute seventeen. How many reps is that total?

Give up?

153 reps. Does that seem right to you? I was happy with this, at 30lbs. Until Kim called my bluff, and said, You can go heavier. And of course she’s right. And I know it. But, what if??

Interestingly, after writing this post, I meandered on over to CrossfitLizBeth, and she had linked to another post, This Bar Is Light. Pay attention to what’s written there, especially when he writes; “It’s like when I see a CrossFitter — usually, a woman — shake her head “no” in the middle of a workout. Shake her head. If you think the weight is heavy, it will feel heavy…”

Bet I was shaking my head ‘no’ today.