Bars and Bumpers

There's nothing more wonderful than a beautiful snatch. I say that without a trace of irony  but I did hear a few titters in the crowd. Stop that. This morning I was wondering what WOD the Coach had programmed. I knew that he attended Olympic lifting certification over the weekend and I figured there was a good chance we'd be practicing the moves today. But, you never know. Crossfit teaches us to train for tomorrow. What happens tomorrow? Exactly.

By the grin on his face I knew we would be doing some heavy lifting today. Sweet! I took off my squishy running shoes - won't be needing those - and put on my lifting shoes. It felt like coming home. I'm always glad to practice these lifts because they can be so challenging. Just when you think you've got it nailed, the body does something funky and it's all over the map again. There is the tendency to overthink the lift because there are many parts to it. I picture a chain, each link being a step in the lift. Deadlift the bar, keeping it close to the shins. Over the knees and into the crease where the thighs meet the trunk - arms straight! At that point, everything speeds up. Shrug the weight up so the bar is traveling up close to the body, jump under  it while rotating the wrists. Catch it in a power squat with the feet wide apart in the jumping position and having active shoulders. Rise and hold the weight there. It's a complicated move that looks beautiful when done correctly and feels even more wonderful when you get it. Love the snatch.

I've been doing this for a while now and I'm still amazed at how the body has memory of its training. I make a small adjustment in how I am using my shoulders, train that a hundred times, and then it's part of my automatic repertoire. Adjustment by adjustment, we incrementally add skill to our lifts and they become smoother and easier. The benefit is being able add a few pounds each time you improve. If you're anything like me, it's a constant negotiation with myself to keep the weights heavy enough to be challenging yet light enough to keep excellent form. I have the urge to test myself - how much can I lift? It's a healthy ambition but must also be tempered with patience. I believe the heavier weights will come when I master the form that will allow me to lift heavier. And, my muscles need to adapt to this new thing I'm asking them to do. They sometimes protest.

I was so pleased with training the Clean & Jerk and the Snatch that I almost forgot I set a PR in the Front Squat. 185lbs for two reps. In a previous post, I wrote that I was feeling fear when I tried the squat clean because I had a confidence issue with jumping under a heavy weight. Practicing drops helped a lot. And Coach said, almost in passing, the route to feeling confident in the squat clean is to work on your front squat. That made a lot of sense to me. If I know that I can front squat 185lbs, then I know I'll be fine squat cleaning 135lbs. Elbows up!

We finished the morning with a quick Met Con routine of box jumps, pull-ups and sit-ups. It's not Crossfit without some fitness in there. Instead of feeling like this was a toss off, I got into it. I can do kipping pull-ups! Five months ago I felt like a fat kid jumping for a jelly doughnut trying to get to that bar. And missing. I was a sad panda. And now that's changed. Sterling wrote to me in those early days, encouraging me to keep pushing it. "I was once where you are!", he wrote. Man that meant a lot to me. Sticking with this has been completely worth it.

Clean & Jerk
105lb X 3
115lb X 3
135lb X 3

Power Snatch
75lb X 3
85lb X 3
85lb X 3

Front Squat
135lb X 2
165lb X 2
185lb X 2