Back to the Grind

Workout of the Day

WOD 1 – in the morning…

Skin the Cat w/ L sit 5, 5, 5

Ring Handstand Pushups 5, 5, 5, 5

Planche w/ leg support 5 x 10 sec

WOD 2 – in the afternoon…

Power Snatch 3, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1

WOD 3 – in the evening…

Trail run 40 minutes

After a weekend of rubber cutting and plywood drilling, I definitely didn’t have as much energy as I would’ve liked today. Still, it was great to be back on the rings and moving heavy weight again.

I’m really falling in love with the first gymnastic drill on my list today. Doing skin the cats with straight arms and piked legs is a phenomenal beginners exercise for control and strength, yet I find it building aptitude for me in other skills. Since I’ve been making a conscious effort to do this and other ring exercises more consistently I’ve noticed an increase in overhead stability (see 305 lb OH squat), increased pressing strength (see bench press 265 lb x 6), and big jumps in core conditioning (see 3 x 20 GHD situps with no soreness). If you’re not already, I strongly recommend you start programming exercises on the rings that are out of the ordinary. Too many crossfitters only use the rings for muscle ups and dips when there are so many other great options. Google some.

In the afternoon I had a mini breakthrough in Olympic lifting. I worked power snatches instead of squat snatches because last rotation I noticed I wasn’t quite getting my hips all the way through the second pull before I began dropping under the bar. This is frustrating. So today I set the video camera up and took long, hard looks at myself in slow motion, really trying to pinpoint my flaws and improve upon them from set to set. I found that fully extending was an easy fix—simply thinking about laying back more at the top brought me well through triple extension. However, as I got heavier in weight I noticed I was leaving the bar further and further forward. Nothing drastic, but far enough that I’d have to take a step to settle myself. This was more difficult to rectify. It wasn’t until I thought about pulling the bar into my stomach that it actually travelled straight. The lift felt shorter, quicker, and more efficient, but a little weird as well. A couple good ones in a row at 90 kg was enough to end my session on a high note.

Thanks to everyone who came to the Open House yesterday… looking forward to getting classes running a week from today!