11-03-23: Front and Back Squats

CrossFit Garden City WoD for March 17th, 2011
Warmup:

• Dynamic Warmup

Training:
5 3 WORKING sets

• A1. Front Squat (30X0 tempo) x 3 reps
• Rest 10 seconds
• A2. Back Squat (30X0 tempo) x Max Reps
• Rest 4-5 minutes

Notes:

• Perform a set of 3 challenging Front Squats at a 30X0 tempo. Rack the bar and rest 10 seconds. Unrack the bar and complete as many Back Squats as possible with the same weight at a 30X0 tempo.
• The Front Squats are considered a failure if you are unable to hold tempo. If this happens go lighter.
• The Back Squat set is terminated once ROM is sacrificed, technique breaks down or you are unable to hold tempo (i.e. resting at top b/w reps).

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(CrossFit Camden)

(CrossFit North Santa Cruz)

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I hate that reading is so fundamental. I only did 3 sets. I only realized my mistake TWO DAYS LATER as I'm finally blogging this up. Son of a.... dangitall!!

As always, I struggled to keep the proper front rack position for the front squats, often resorting to the far less stable "California front squat" grip. (See pic to the left)  Still, better to get the reps in, I suppose. For the weights I used, I was able to complete all three front squats.  Back squats were fairly uneventful, though 3 seconds becomes an ETERNITY past rep 4 or 5.

Set	Weight	Back Squat Reps
1	105#	9
2	125#	8
3	135#	7

And had I done two more sets, this might have been a bit more effective. I was honestly unsure about this workout, going into it, as I was really sore from the previous two days, so its actually probably pretty good that it ended up being a lighter day. But still, I prefer to do my scaling on purpose, not by accident. :S

I did end up following up this workout with a few sets of empty bar (35#) reps of presses, push presses, and push jerks, just focusing on form, technique, and timing, and had worked back up to a fair sweat by the end of it. So there was that...