Just out of Curiosity

Workout of the Day:

Establish a 1RM Clean and Jerk

The Air Force WOD:

20 thruster (45 kg/99# for all)

20 sumo deadlift high pull

20 push jerk

20 oh squat

20 front squat

4 burpees at the top of every minute

Felt fresh and ready to get after it today. Walking over I couldn’t decide whether to do the heavy clean and jerks and the Air Force WOD, or just do the latter. I had seen some results from a sectional competition back in the States and wanted to see how I would fare. I decided that it was more important to get the heavy Olympic work in while I had the chance and just deal with the fatigue during the metcon. Never fear, I paid my pound of flesh for this hubris.

The cleans went really well. I got 125 kg again without too much trouble, and I had 130 kg racked comfortably moving upwards. I hit a sticking point though and didn’t have the balls to push through it, as the video will indicate. Now when I watch it I really hate myself for not finding a way to get it up. Oh well.

I didn’t take much time between the cleans and the metcon. I wanted to get it over and done with. In retrospect, a 10-20 minute break would’ve been nice. My goal going in was to get through the routine in 4 minutes, meaning I would have to average about 1 ¼ rounds per minute. At the end of the first minute I was on track, having finished 20 thrusters and 5 sumo high pulls. The second minute was even better, as I had finished the remaining high pulls and 8 push jerks. Things were right on track. At the 3 minute mark I had slowed a bit, finishing the push jerks but only getting to 8 oh squats. At this point, I knew 4 minutes wasn’t happening but I still felt okay for something close to it. The 4^th minute was where I lost things. My shoulders died with 2 oh squats and 10 seconds left before the changeover. I literally couldn’t keep the bar locked out. This meant I had to go to burpees and then do 2 oh squats before moving to the front squats. Because of this delay and having to switch bar positions, I was only able to get to 12 front squats before the 5^th minute expired. I finished in 5:42 when it was all said and done.

The wave of exhaustion I felt afterwards was total body—somewhat reminiscent of a workout like Fran. I completely underestimated the toll this would take on me, and got what was coming as a result. I think I will try this one again sometime without the heavy stuff before and see how I do.

That said, it did the job. If there was one exercise that would pre-fatigue the muscles needed to perform this WOD it's clean and jerk. I had to fight through failure and pain the same way I will have to in May if I want to qualify from what will be a very strong field. Workouts like this are what I need more than anything, I think, and they’re worth their weight in motivation.