Baseline x 3
Some of you may remember doing one round of today’s workout as your first experience at Crossfit Tacoma. We used it as our “baseline” workout for a while and I used to make threats about doing three rounds of it as a workout.
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Sumo
The wide stance on the deadlift shortens the range of motion and allows the back to be closer to vertical than with the standard deadlift. In theory you would be able to lift more weight this way. How many people found this to be true, though?
After deadlifts, we had the chance to work on handstand push ups. For those of you that competed or watched sectionals, you know how this movement was a glaring weakness for some people. It was for me and my only excuse is that they are hard and I didn’t do enough of them in training. One of my personal goals is to make sure that doesn’t happen again, hence today’s workout.
Litvinov
Bridget displaying excellent form as usual
It has been a while since we worked on the Jerk, so we will be spending the next few weeks pushing ourselves under heavy things. I know, it doesn’t sound smart but it’s good for you.
Who doesn’t love front squats and running? They go together like bacon and, well, pretty much anything. As I mentioned on the WODs page, Sergey Litvinov did this workout with 405 lbs. If you don’t think that’s impressive, I don’t know what to say to you.
Pressing Matters
It was pretty slow today, as Friday’s tend to be. Those of you that came in had some fun pushing weight over head, bear crawling or cart wheeling and more. Again, the emphasis was on the press. Christine finished her last round with 100 lbs and I finished with 155. Since Rob has moved to Sacramento, my measly 155 was good enough for the green box today, but I still know my place.
Tomorrow will be a fun workout. You will have to show up to find out what it is, but I think you will enjoy it. Also, the events for the Washington Sectionals for the first day are out. Anyone who wants to play around with those is welcome.
DOMS
Had enough handstand push ups yet?
DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness is something we’re all familiar with, especially after Tuesday’s festivities. It usually sets in 24 – 48 hours after the activity that causes it. Movements that emphasize an eccentric contraction (lowering yourself from a pull up or push up) are thought to be the biggest contributors to DOMS. A thorough cool down and stretch after the workout can help to minimize the after effects. Hydration and fish oil are two other helpful remedies. Just rub that fish oil all over. No, don’t do that.
Strong is the New Black
So, I don’t know if you noticed but today we did front squats. That other stuff was just some sleight of hand. It was similar to a workout that we went through on Saturday. Please tell me how your front squat weights today compared to what you thought you should be able to do for a set of 3. Did this format make it easier, harder or was it the same. I personally felt that removing the time element allowed for more attention to proper posture and form on the other movements.
“Angie”
Dan John “helping” someone loosen up their hip flexors
100 Pull ups
100 Push ups
100 Sit ups
100 Squats
This would be an all together different workout if you were allowed to break up the reps in any way you like. Physically there is not much difference. The same amount of work is being done but it takes a little more determination to finish one thing before moving on to the next. It reminds me of having to finish your vegetables before getting any dessert. But, in this case, dessert is sit ups and squats.
Mastery
During the seminar this weekend with Dan John we talked a little bit about mastery. Mastering a movement like the snatch takes thousands of reps. Today, we did about 20 if you count the warm up. You are on your way, but no where near the end, because there is no end. The important thing is to learn to love the process. We intentionally kept you below your max today to allow you to focus on the movement.
With the rowing intervals, my intent was to have you row, then rest the remainder of 2 minutes. Morgan decided to change this to a fixed rest of 2 minutes which was probably much better. 25o m is short enough that you could pretty much go all out. Morgan pointed out that with this short of a distance, it is better to sacrifice a little efficiency (length) in order to spend as much time as possible in the most powerful range of the stroke (the leg and hip drive).
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