Just. Do. The Work. Already.

Well, it just wouldn't feel like the kickoff to the CrossFit Games Open season without there being some sort of annoying non-troversy for everyone to get their knickers in a twist over. This year has proven to be no different. The first workouts were announced, and immediately the CrossFitters on the interwebz went nuts trying to figure out how to skin the WoDs most efficiently.

To review, for those of you lucky enough to be living under a rock:
Workout 15.1: 
9m AMRAP

• 15 Toes-to-Bar
• 10 Deadlifts (115/75#)
• 5 Snatches (115/75#)

Workout 15.1a
1RM Clean & Jerk

• 6 minute time cap

The first workout is an AMRAP (As Many Rounds/Reps as Possible) for 9 minutes, followed by a 1 rep max (heaviest weight possible) single lift Clean & Jerk. As discussed (at length) in the 6 minute standards video, the two workouts flow from one into the other, for a total combined time of 15 minutes.



If you watch the video (especially in light of what's to come), it rapidly becomes apparent that CrossFit HQ made a good-faith effort to account for every conceivable possibility in terms of how competitors could try to cheat the workouts. Re-watching the video is actually humorous to me now, because they clearly tried to deal with SO MANY ways people have tried to cheat in the past (or, to be charitable, "hack/bend the rules" in the name of competition.) Among those who actually wanted to try their best, the results were remarkable.

This year saw a slew of very strong athletes discover the tiniest loophole, and seek to exploit it for maximal gain. Why bother wasting time and energy on the AMRAP when you can just do a single rep of Toes-2-Bar
and then, fully rested, put up an amazing C&J. And so began the gaming of 15.1/15.1A. To be clear, some of the athletes involved are people I have the *utmost* respect for, and what follows is not me just ragging on people I look down on. Far from it. This is more disappointment than rage on my part.

To take a tangent, in college, I played Ultimate Frisbee. I was far from the best player on a team that was far from the best team... but we had fun. One of the BEST rules in ultimate, at least at that point, was "Spirit of the Game." What that entailed was everyone taking responsibility for their own actions, and their team's actions. You called your own fouls. If someone fouled you, you could call that, but it would be incumbent on the other player to really review what happened, and generally such fouls were upheld. There was never a need for a ref, and the idea of needing one was foreign. We were all out there to have fun, both teams, and that meant working to have a level playing field, without cheating or skinning the rules. Very sweet for a mediocre college team.

However, at the higher levels, where the stakes were higher, cheating and shitty calls abounded, fouls were made and then denied, or (a la the Italian National soccer team) fouls were claimed by players just looking to get that little bit ahead. But ALL the while, the values of "Spirit of the Game" were loudly professed to anyone naive enough to listen. It sounded good, but it was just another loophole being exploited by athletes more desperate to win than to win fairly and on the merits of their performance. (For the record, my love of Spirit of the Game makes me incredibly naive, too, as to hear any professional athletes talk about competition, its ALL about finding those loopholes and tweaks... but that doesn't make them right.)

Eventually, when Ultimate really wanted to go pro, they realized that, what with all the rampant cheating and poor sportsmanship on the field, they should probably get refs on the field and remove the ability to cheat from those most desperate to do so. At least as much as possible.

The CrossFit Open is struggling through the same transition right now. The Open has always been a grassroots effort to allow every CrossFitter, of every skill level, to participate, to test their fitness, to see where they compare against a global  collection of their gym-rat colleagues. Much like CrossFit has espoused from the very earliest days, athletes are expected to both know their own capabilities, but to also take ownership of their workouts. Sure, there are coaches to guide, but hopefully every CrossFitter has read
What Is CrossFit?, What is Fitness?, and Foundations. Nevermind that every article in the CrossFit Journal is now free for everyone to read, including all of the early articles that really broke down the basic movements. CrossFitters who've managed to avoid learning all of this foundational literature are really not so far removed from globo-gym members just rotely doing whatever their underpaid, undereducated trainer tells them to.

At the same time, CrossFitters, and especially those who aspire to the top of the Games Leaderboard, are expected to know what the workouts are really asking for, and what the workouts mean. In the case of 15.1 and 15.1A (to finally come all the way back around), HQs intent is *painfully* clear: Do grueling work for 9 minutes, blowing up your grip and back in the process. THEN, in a fatigued state, work up to the heaviest C&J possible. This is so elementary, it pisses me off to have to say it. AMRAP. As Many Rounds As Possible. Note the difference between that, and say... AMRAIFL. As Many Reps As I Feel Like.

The arguments put forward by those who only did a single rep, then hit a nice rested C&J, are of only the saddest, most pedantic variety. "HQ never said we had to do more than one!" "They should have changed to scoring, to combine the reps and weights. They should have seen this coming!" This is, of course, the most pathetic excuse for sandbagging one workout and then effectively cheating on the next. No, HQ didn't set a minimum, because then all of the sandbaggers would have just done that minimum, still completely missing the point of the competition.

Best part? The guy who did 3 full rounds and outlifted everyone else. Oh, and Andrew Rape completing 6+ rounds and still outlifting almost everyone. Cheating didn't even really pay off, except to be an also-ran anyways... oops!

Most delectable, as an observer, was watching the inevitable outcry from the peanut gallery when those scores were invalidated. "There goes HQ, changing the rules!" Um, go back and read the workout definition, watch the description, and tell me where HQ EVER implied it would be ok or encouraged anyone to not actually TRY on 15.1 before heading onto 15.1A. HQ didn't. Like watching Matt Murski bounce his squat clean & jerks off the ground in the 2008 games, this is a CLEAR case of people knowingly circumventing the intention of the workout, then getting butt-hurt when they got called on it. Even worse was HQ having to officially point out than an AMRAP should probably be treated like an AMRAP. Its so confusing...

So, where do we go from here? Clearly, Dave Castro has to spell everything out in purple crayon, and the standards videos will clearly need to be 10 times as long as the actual workouts, dealing with literally EVERY POSSIBLE WAY people might try to game the system. Every single workout will have to be done in front of Dave Castro himself to ensure that intentions are met.

After all, if we're going to cheat like 4-year-olds, we should probably be treated like 4-year-olds. Thanks guys. Another nail in the coffin of the Spirit of the Game. It's clearly too much to expect that everyone could be told the workout, and then go and DO the workout to the best of their ability. This is NOT the day and age of people just bucking up and doing the work. Actually, that's unfair. Probably 99.9% of Open competitors just did the work. That just leaves the whinging pedants to be told:

Just. Do. The. Work. Already.

NB. Big thanks to Matt Vincent for a fairly long conversation over Instagram on both his reasoning going into 15.1A after only a single rep in 15.1, as well as his acceptance of HQ's decision. His opinion that both scores should have been added together to really punish the sandbaggers makes a lot of sense. Given his upcoming strongman/highland games seasons, his desire to NOT epically eff up his hands on Toes-2-Bars, especially  in a competition he has no real incentive to kill himself for, makes a ton of sense. Its funny how the athletes who tried to skin the WoDs are the most accepting of HQs decision, but the peanut gallery is in absolute hysterics...

12-04-06: Clean and Jerks

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Friday, April 6th, 2012

Sage Burgener demos a perfect clean and jerk.

Natalie Burgener nails a perfect clean and jerk in competition.

More weight than I can deadlift gets thrown overhead. Unreal. But freaking inspirational!

WoD: 15 rounds

• 2x clean and jerk @ 60% 1RM (95#) 

The best kind of oly lift workout: one based on practicing skills, rather than practicing shit form racing a clock or working with overly heavy weights. And not that I wish unfilled classes on the fine folks at Elm City CrossFit, but it was even more awesome having only two of us there for the 6:30am class: the entire workout getting personalized coaching… well, 50% of it.

Final analysis after 30 reps of clean and jerk at 95#: Despite my always preaching and repeating it in this very blog, I apparently really need to focus on keeping the first part of the lift a deadlift. Go slow, yellow light, keep the bar ON the legs, and don’t worry about the hip extension until the bar hits mid-thigh. Coach Vin had me really work on just deadlifting the bar off the floor, and then, in a nearly separate movement, triple extend. The result was a much straighter bar path in the explosive part of the lift, allowing for an easier catch and transition to the jerk.

Other observation from this workout: I can pretty much throw the bar up in the air over my head in the jerk at 95#, a good thing when your pinkies have slipped out after the catch in the clean, but still kind of scary when the bar goes airborne over your head, and you feel yourself literally searching for it. Happily, both times I did it in a major manner, I managed to find and catch the bar safely (by touch… proper form has you looking forward, not craning your neck to look straight up). You know its even worse when other people can actually watch it happen. It’s a dumb habit to allow, since missing a 95# bar directly over your head will result in trying to catch it WITH your head. No bueno.

12-01-26: Death by Clean & Jerk

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Thursday, January 25th, 2012

Sage Burgener cranks through a perfect clean and jerk (the full version) with the bar coming from the floor, the catch in the full squat, etc.

Natalie Burgener bangs out a clearly awesome clean and jerk. Again, note that this is the full version.

A focus just on the jerk, with the dip and the re-extension to drive the bar up, allowing the athlete to drop under the bar with arms extended.

An insanely heavy (to me, and probably most people) clean. The technique of dropping under the bar and catching in the full squat means that you don't need to lift the bar as far. So, technique means you don't need to do *as much* work (as you would with crappy form) to get the bar on your shoulders.

Having stood up with the bar on the shoulders, there is another dip-drive, and the split (again) gets the body under the bar, so it doesn't need to be lifted as far. Technique equals efficiency, which means less total work per lift.

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• WoD:
  • Death by Clean and Jerk @ 65% (100#)
• Sell-out:
  • Skill work

Very simple: Minute one, one clean and jerk. Minute two, two clean and jerks. Continue 'til ya can't. The only spin on the rules was this: After the round where you reached inevitable failure, you had to rest the following minute, then start back down the ladder, the same way you came up, UNTIL the final athlete finished in failure. So, if you made it to three reps on the third minute, and failed in the fourth minute (perhaps only completing three reps), you would rest for the fifth minute, then in the sixth, start at THREE reps, then in the seventh minute, two reps, one rep in the eighth, and (should things come to that), work back UP the ladder. (It turns out, that last part would be unnecessary.)

We were given the choice of doing either the full squat clean, the power clean, or the hang power clean. Knowing that my form would probably crap the sheets just about the third round, I opted for the less skill-intensive hang power clean. Just for poops 'n' grins, I started each round with a power snatch from the floor. They felt ok, but very quickly, the fact that I'm at the limits of my forearm flexibility in the catch position of the clean started catching up with me. After the getting the bar onto my shoulders, the transition time to getting set to get it overhead grew longer and longer...

While the 6th rounds six reps took me all of 30 seconds, in the 7th round, it took me nearly the full minute, leaving me screwed to finish the seventh rep in time. I ended up having to rest in the 8th round, then started my way back down the ladder with six reps in the 9th minute. There was some confusion as to whether there WAS a ninth minute, as the person who had lasted the longest didn't actually complete round 9. Screw it, I finished my six reps to start on the way back down.

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total
Reps	1	2	3	4	5	6	6	rest	6	33

For skill work, I worked on a few different things. For the first, I banged out 34 push-ups (in 4 rounds), to get ahead in a facebook thing where for everyone who liked a status, i would do a push-up. 48 likes the last time I checked, and 34 tonight brought me to a total of 50. Much better than some other facebook denizens who, being way more popular than me, ended up owing 3,000 or more. Suckers.

Then, it was on to the joy of double-under practice.  As usual, I had no idea going in if they would chain or not. For the most part, they did not. But, several serious welts later, they did start coming together. Near as I could tell, I tend to rush the spinning of the rope, making the double-unders even harder than they need to be. Stupid me.

Finally, it was on to a little work on kipping pull-ups. I haven't worked on my kip since leaving NYC what, eight months ago? No good. So, a little work on the basic swinging motion... until my palms felt like they were on fire. I *had* just done a bit of barbell work, after all. :-/ It's important to not be this guy:

11-12-14: Olympic Total

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet at the bottom of the snatch catch... or in an overhead squat. Hard to say. 

Camille Leblanc-Bazinet sets up for the clean, getting the bar from the ground to her shoulders.

Heather Bergeron catches the clean in full "ass to grass" depth. I need to work on this some more. ;)

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Olympic Total: 30min cap (Three attempts at each lift)

• Snatch
• Clean & Jerk

Ah, the Olympic lifts. Skill, power, and massive amounts of suckage when not done correctly. My goal for today was to try to do the lifts as true to form as possible, meaning no power snatches or power cleans, but the full "squat" variety of each. As a result, my total numbers were nowhere near my "sloppy-as-I-needed-to-be" Personal Records. Oh well. 

After a thorough warm-up and refresher on the lifts using PVC pipes, we moved to the real bars. Goddamn they get cold in winter in an unheated gym! After warming up both lifts for a bit, I moved to 65# for a few reps on both, then 95# for a few reps. I started my snatch attempts at 115#, moved to 125#, failed once, then nailed it.  

After that, we moved to the clean & jerk. In the workout as prescribed, we were allowed to jerk out of the racks (ie, get the bar out of the rack in the front rack position, and jerk from there, rather than needing to clean the weight up.)  While doing that would have definitely improved my total, my main issue with the Clean & Jerk is the transition between the two, so I was more interested in working THAT and getting more experience in. After a success at 125#, I failed at 135#, then tried it again and nailed it. I found myself with some extra time, and made two attempts at 140#, and failed on both of them.

Snatch: 125#
C&J: 135#
Total: 260#

11-10-19: 1 Rep Max Clean and Jerk

Elm City CrossFit WoD for October 19th, 2011

Natalie Burgener cranking up some big weights in the clean and jerk. (Looks like 118kg according to the board behind her...260#? Yeesh. Someday, maybe. Maybe.)

Sage Burgener also cranking up some big weights. Strong family!

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Strength: 1 Rep-Max Clean and Jerk

• Complete no more than 10 attempts/sets

Pretty simple. After a bit of review and warm-up, we started in our warm-up sets. After a few reps at 45#, 65# and 85#, I hit my work sets. My previous PR was 125#, set back in June. I had the mental goal of 155#, just based off of setting two 30# PRs back on Friday. Not the sanest plan, but not a terrible one, either. After Monday's fun with power cleans and squat snatches, my right collar bone was a bit bruised up, making me a bit gun shy on the catches. I was also struggling with popping my elbows through quickly enough (picture #3 in the Natalie Burgener pictures, and #4 in the Sage Burgener set). They just felt crusty and slow, especially the left elbow.

I failed on my first two attempts at 95#, not due to a lack of strength, but due to a lack of technique. I can easily power clean that weight, which I did both times. However, after feeling myself slowly catch the bar and essentially lower it to my shoulders, I realized my pinkies had popped up into the way of the bar. I couldn't pop the bar back up into a full grip for the jerk, because of those damn pinkies in the way. In checking in with Coach Vin, we had a quick laugh at the fact that I was popping the bar up in front of my face (a several inch bump), but still couldn't get my hands back on the damn bar. At a heavy weight, where the bar would barely move a single inch, I would stand no chance. Technique technique technique. I finally nailed a 95# clean and jerk by not letting the bar actually roll all the way out of my fingers. It meant I didn't actually get my upper arms all the way parallel, but at that weight, I'm strong enough to do it poorly. This isn't necessarily a good thing...

I failed once at 115# (same issues), then nailed it on my second attempt. As there was a lack of 5# plates, I added two more 10# plates, and jumped to 135#, shooting for my first PR of the day. I failed twice, both for the same stupid issues as before. My clean form was getting a little worse, as I had completely stopped bothering to try to squat for the catch, and so was power cleaning the bar on every rep, without even getting my feet into the receiving position (a little bit wider than shoulder width). The only way I could have made it harder would have been to try to catch the bar while standing on my tip-toes. Still, it was all forearm/wrist/finger issues that was making me fail. Again, I finally nailed the 135# rep when I kept the bar from rolling out of my fingers, compromising my form overall. Meh.

I admit to being pretty psyched the whole way through with my jerk form. Though I wasn't overly happy throwing heavy weights over my head, I never once finished the rep by pressing out. Each time, I had a nice good pop, and my splits were all deep enough (and quick enough) that I was able to get completely under the bar. And hold and recover every single rep. As crappy as my cleans were, the jerks were all kind of awesome.

Finally, the time had come. My goal weight of 155#. (Another 20# jump... sheer stupidity, I know, but again, there weren't enough small weights to go around.) I failed once, but again, it wasn't strength that failed me... f'ing technique. F'ing pinkies!! I realized there was a pair of 5# plates, and that I could drop down to 145#... which I considered doing. Then I said "screw it" and tried again at 155#. This would be my 30# PR I was hoping for. All I needed was one good clean... crappy or not.

One crappy clean later, I had the weight on my shoulders. My hands weren't completely out of position. My pinkies weren't in the way. Holy crap, all I needed was one more good jerk. Just one more good jerk. I took a bit of time to gather my breath, trying not to panic at my stupidity for trying to throw 155# over my head. Dip, drive, CATCH! Holy crap, I had 155# over my head! I quickly got my feet back under me, spent a second to make sure the weight was solidly up, then dropped it, having just set a 30# PR on the clean and jerk.

So, though I struggled the entire time with form, and probably looked like an idiot with my crappy form, I still got that damn weight overhead. Can't complain too much about that. What it reveals though, is that I need to improve my form (and quick) if I want to lift heavier weights, and getting stronger will allow me to improve my form. Or, if you're from the 80s like me...

• Bill: Ted, while I agree that, in time, our band will be most triumphant. The truth is, Wyld Stallyns will never be a super band until we have Eddie Van Halen on guitar.
• Ted: Yes, Bill. But, I do not believe we will get Eddie Van Halen until we have a triumphant video.
• Bill: Ted, it's pointless to have a triumphant video before we even have decent instruments.
• Ted: Well, how can we have decent instruments when we don't really even know how to play?
• Bill: That is why we NEED Eddie Van Halen!
• Ted: And THAT is why we need a triumphant video.
• Bill, Ted: EXCELLENT! 

11-08-24: Clean & Jerk Madness

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Wednesday August 24th, 2011

Sage Burgener demonstrates the Clean & Jerk. Click the link to Olympicize the picture. (crossfithawk.com)

(motherfitness.com)

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Strength: 3 x 6

• Clean and Jerk @ 70% w/
• 45 seconds between sets

WOD: on the minute for: 10 minutes

• 1 Clean & Jerk @ 80%
• 5 Shoulder-Width Push-ups

I totally suck at the Olympic lifts again. Seriously, its like I never even vaguely learned them in the first place. Not that I was ever coached, so maybe this is just all of my half-assed technique under the microscope of experienced coaching. Either way, even if my form has always been crap, I at least *felt* more comfortable with Clean & Jerks 6 months ago than I do now. For the record, I guess its fair to say that i really never did the full version (catching the bar in a squat), but that's not even the part that's giving me trouble... the trouble begins long before that, and the squat is just part of the ensuing train wreck.

My PR weight is 125#, so the strength portion was done with 85#, and the WoD with 95#. My wrists and forearms are *still* sore from last week's farmers carries, and the receiving position of the C&J didn't do me any favors, which added yet another thing to worry about throughout the workout. For the WoD, I ended up alternating sets of regular push-ups with fist push-ups, which allowed me to keep my wrist straight, which felt much better. Being out of shape on the fist push-ups meant that they knocked the crap out of my hands, instead.

"It's always something." - Gilda Radner

I ended the workout tired, sore, and sweating, so there was definitely some good work going on, but I can't shake the feeling that, having struggled with form the whole way through, that the workout wasn't as good as it could have been. Meh.