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| Back squat. It just doesn't get any more fundamental than this. Oh wait, probably the deadlift is a *little* more fundamental. They're both pretty important, and technique matters. The weight needs to stay over the center of balance at all times, heels need to say nailed to the floor, hip crease MUST go below the tops of the knees (a bit lower than shown in the picture, actually). Coming back up, the lower back needs to stay locked in, so the butt doesn't come up before the shoulders, meaning the legs extended without actually moving the weight. Not much point in THAT, now is there? (Teen Fitness Blog) |
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| Deadlift. Pick up heavy stuff. Hell, pick up light stuff with proper technique. Big muscles do ALL the work, while small muscles ALL work to stabilize and protect. It's sad how undervalued this lift is outside of CrossFit, powerlifting, and some weight-lifting circles. Again, all the weight should be on the heels, the weight stays over the center of balance, and the bar never leaves contact with the body. (2010 Crossfit Games) |
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| Tire jumps! It didn't look nearly this awesome with three dudes sharing a tire in the half-light of a rainy CT morning. But still, it was good fun to share the tire! (Crossfit) |
Strength: 3 x 8
- Back Squat @ 80% (205#)
- Deadlift (205#)
- Box Jump (24")
First, the whining. I was badly under-rested coming into today's workout, and had spent much of the previous day wet-vaccing my basement and driving through torrential downpours with drivers who had NO business being on the roads in good conditions, much less cataclysmic conditions. All said and done, I rolled in on about 4 hours of sleep (3 uninterrupted, the final one restless due to idiot cats who thought that just because I woke up for a second at 4am, that meant it was breakfast time. Idiot cats.)
As usual, I perked up a bit after some good rolling out, and the warm-up always makes me feel a whole lot less crusted up and miserable. After going over the standards and mechanics of the back squat with Coach Mark (good job today, Mark!), I was happy to realize I'd have a squat rack all to myself. ("It's not my fault being the biggest and the strongest!" - Fezzik) Of course, that's only because Mark was coaching. If he was WoDDing with us, I'd have shared with him, and felt like a weenie every time we had to dump a ton of weight to get from *his* work weight down to *mine.*
Going off a previous workout's revelation that my calculated 1-Rep Max is probably around 255#, I warmed-up to a working weight of 205# for my work sets. This felt freaking HEAVY today. Though it was always ok for the first few reps, I definitely felt like I was fighting for my life for the last 2-3 reps. Either way, I made it through all three rounds without having to dump the bar, so that was pretty sweet.
After several minutes recovery, we moved onto the WoD. Woody brought out one of the tires for a few of us to use for box jumps. Not including a few test jumps 8 months ago at my Level 1 cert, this was my first time box jumping to a tire. I loved it. The landing was a bit softer, which made it a bit trickier, but also a bit nicer, too. For the WoD, "5 Down" refers to going through both movements with decreasing numbers of reps, so 5 deadlifts, 5 tire jumps, 4 deadlifts, 4 tire jumps... Down to one and one. This was designed to be a burner of a workout. I opted to leave the same weight on the bar, since there was no range given for the deadlift weight.
For the first time ever, I got to celebrate my first "win" on a WoD, jumping off the tire at the end of the 5th round with a total time of 1:30. I felt good on this, like I finally found 3rd or 4th gear and was able to keep trucking, despite the rising oxygen debt. Though it was short, and therefore in my sprinter's wheelhouse, there was also enough going on that it would have been easy to stop for a second and catch my breath, or stop and make *sure* I was set-up correctly for the deadlift, rather than relying on experience and instinct to guide me through, which it did. Pretty sweet. Again, had Mark been WoDDing with us, (or if Larry or John had showed up), I'm sure I would have gotten smoked. But no matter, victory was MINE! Until the next WoD when I end up shattered on the floor... as usual. ;)
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