Mental aspects of Olympic Lifts

There are a number of things that drew me to CrossFit initially, but one of them is the focus on olympic movements. As a former college athlete (football) I know the importance of these functional movements. Yeah, after college I got lazy and slipped from doing most of these movements, except squats. Now (years later) I am back at it, and it's fun. I have a few issues to work around, one of which prevents me from squatting heavy, but I can deadlift heavy and do most of the other movements.

One of the things I like most about these complex, functional movements is the mental aspect required to perform the lift, effectively and properly. You really have to learn the movement, understand it, imprint it into your brain. Even something like deadlifts, which when done properly "looks" like a pretty simple movement. Not. Every time I get up to the bar, I am thinking, "sit down, explode (not snap), shoot hips!" During the rest between sets I am picturing the form in my head, replaying it, thinking of a time I had good form. But, there's a fine line where you need to stop thinking and just do it. I mean, don't think too much! That's where repetition, practice and coaching come into play. Get up to the bar, grab hold, and nail it..hoping the technique has been planted firmly enough into your head that your body takes you through the movement based on instinct! Fascinating. Contrast that to sitting on a pec deck or leg curl machine (ack), there's very little mental acuity needed there.

So today I set out to do what I am calling a clean progression:

Hang Squat Clean
5-5-5-5-5
Power Clean
3-3-3-3-3
Power Clean and Jerk/Push Press
1-1-1-1-1

The thought was to start on the hang squat cleans and work on the pull up, and shooting the arms through. Then, add a little weight and start from the floor, squat a little if needed. Finally, ramping up to a clean and jerk. Now, I CrossFit at the corporate gym where I work. It's not the ideal environment for serious weightlifting, let alone CrossFit, but it's my only option right now. The reason I mention that is how my mental ability was tested with all the "funny business" going on all around. I have a small area near a couple flat benches where I do the oly lifts. I can usually get it done with no one around, today someone pulls up to one of the benches, very close to me. At that point I was doing the singles, with the jerk. I eventually asked her to move, and she was pretty cool about it. I really just had to create a little bubble around me, shut out the external "noise" and focus on the movement. I have much less practice time doing cleans than say, deadlifts. And, it's much more complex.

At the end of the WOD, I was truly very pleased. Here's the weights:

Hang Squat Clean (focusing more on form than pounds)
95-135-135-155-155
Power Clean
185-185-205-205-215
Clean and Jerk (jerk needs work, not enough confidence to commit to full split, used more pressing strength)
215-215-215-220-225

The cleans were coming up strong on the last round of singles, I wasn't quite as steady on the jerk. I wish I had a better facility, and one with bumper plates. It sure would be nice to just drop it!

Rock on.

Flat tires, Kettlebells, and Fenders

What a roller coaster day. It starts off with bright sunshine, I got my bike in the Jeep planning a mid morning ride (workout), all is good. I did actually get out for about 45 minutes, legs didn't feel too bad. I was thinking the new Panaracer Pasela TG's that I just got roll pretty nice. I went down to a 28c for a little better rolling tire on my fixed gear, need all the help I can get to keep those cranks turning over. All seemed good until I left for the day, flipped the back hatch of the Jeep open, front tire on the bike is flatter than flat, stone cold flat. Dang it, 2 lousy rides, and this friggin' tire is flat, that really ticks me off. These tires will be short lived if they can't take the NE OH roads in the spring...(kicking self for not getting Conti's or Schwalbes..hope this is just a fluke).

I just stared at that flat tire as I carried it into my shop (basement). I was hoping it wasn't an indication of what lies ahead (I was planning more mechanic work on my geared commuter). I am no Park Tool Certified Mechanic by any means, I can do most of the basic stuff, but lack the ingenuity when things don't go according to plan. In any event, off to hook up with the kids and see how their day went.

I threw down a pretty solid 'green eggs and ham' frittata that included, ham, leeks, and spinach, not too bad. We watched the last episode of Ax-Men and then I retired to the basement for a fender and kettlebell WOD. My plan was to attack a fender install whilst doing some heavier kettlebell movements.

Here's how the WOD went....

30 KB swings with the 16kg (two arm, single arm)
inspect front fender, review plan of attack, configure in preliminary setup
6 KB deadlift cleans, left arm, 16kg
6 KB deadlift cleans, right arm, 16kg
re-align preliminary setup, attempt to connect, bolts flying everywhere, get annoyed
6 KB deadlift cleans, left arm, 24kg
6 KB deadlift cleans, right arm, 24kg
make another run at the fender, light bulb lights up, see now what I want to do
6 KB swing cleans, left arm, 32kg
6 KB swing cleans, right arm, 32kg
align fender, view the angles, snip the excess off the bracket, prepare for final attachment
From kneeling position:
6 KB shoulder press, right arm, 32kg
6 KB shoulder press, left arm, 32kg
attach fender, miss the bolt alignment and feeling enlightened by the fabulous design of these !@#$% fenders (ie. RAGE)
6 KB swing cleans, right arm, 32kg
6 KB swing cleans, left arm, 32kg
make final tweaks to fender alignment, tighten down all bolts, review the lines, feel pretty pleased with the outcome
From kneeling position:
6 KB shoulder press, right arm, 32kg
6 KB shoulder press, left arm, 32kg

Shut the lights off, it's done.

Grip WOD; then Helen...

3.7.2010 - Grip WOD

Here's a quick recap from yesterday's grip WOD. I was able to get out for a ride on my fixed gear in the afternoon, so that pushed my grip WOD back to the evening after dinner, after the kids were asleep. Since I needed to be as quiet as possible, I did some different work with the Rolling Thunders. I have 2 heavy tool bags filled with old window weight (the counter weights that would hold the window up). I have 2 large carabiners and 2 Rolling Thunder handles. Normally I will do a farmer's walk with them, that's fun. But this time, I just did a luggage style deadlift:

5 sets (10,10,8,8,8) - luggage style deadlift (a bag on each side of my legs)

85lbs, 95lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs, 100lbs
(weights are for one bag)

4 sets of 6 reps - Ironmind Blockbuster grip - 40lbs

2 sets of 8 reps - Ironmind Pinch Hub grip - about 27lbs

3.8.2010

'Helen' was in the house today. I would typically row Helen, but since I 've been doing a little running here and there, I decided to run it.

Helen is:
3 rounds for time
400m run
1.5 pood kettlbell swing, 21 reps
pullups, 12 reps

It went fairly well, however, after my grip WOD yesterday, I was really feeling it in my forearms after the pullups. Grip is pretty much toast.

I was able to get through Helen at 13:46:24. It would probably be about a minute less if I row'd it at 500m.

Pretty solid start to the week!