Mr Clean

Workout of the Day:

Ground to Overhead 3, 3, 2, 1, 1,

Squat Clean 1, 1, 1, 1, 1

Sooooore today. The sandbag run turned out to be much more effective than at first assessment. My core is sore throughout, my upper back and shoulders are aching, and I can feel fatigue all down my legs. If anyone has access to a bag/weight, do this exercise.

More good news? The weightroom is open for my 2 P.E. classes this week! This was both surprising and exciting to learn. I came in expecting the door to be locked just like last night, but just when you start expecting the bad the good comes running.

Also, I'm starting to win over the resident coach I think. Before I began working today, he came over and helped me rig a system of mats to soften the bar’s landing, enabling me to drop it from overhead without damaging the floor or anyone’s eardrums. This was HUGE. I could actually go for it on clean and jerks for the first time since moving to Paris. Considering it had been awhile, I did not expect to do so well with the top end weights. My numbers were: 85 kg, 95 kg, 105 kg, 115 kg, and 125 kg (tied PR). My form was sloppy receiving the bar on the last few sets (feet slid way too wide), but the clean was strong and the jerk was really smooth. Honestly, it felt great. The wide split of the feet was concerning, however, so I did 5 sets of squat cleans with bumper plates on either side of my feet to discourage over-splitting. This is a technique I picked up from Anders Knudsen at Butcher’s Lab in Copenhagen. I kept the weights low (55 kg, 75 kg, 95 kg, 105 kg, 105 kg) and practiced being comfortable dropping straight down instead of sliding out. Hopefully it helps in the future. I may even start my sets using this technique to try and get some muscle memory before hitting the heavy workloads.

No gym tomorrow, so things are going to have to get creative. If its a nice night, I’m thinking it may be time to pay a visit to the Louvre courtyard.