Nasty Helen

Last week we did Helen and a version of Nasty Girls and if they weren't bad enough this week we did Nasty Helen which is a mashup of Helen and Nasty Girls:

For Time:

-

1 Round of Helen

Run 400m

21 KB Swings 24kg / 16kg

12 Pull Ups

-

1 Round of Nasty Girls

50 Air Squats

7 Muscle Ups

12 Hang Power Clean 60kg / 40kg

-

1 Round of Helen

-

1 Round of Nasty Girls

-

1 Round of Helen.

 

Honestly, who thinks this stuff up???

 

My scaling was much the same as last week:

• KB swings: 12 kg
• Orange band pull ups
• 2 ring pull ups:2 ring dips
• 25 kg hang power clean

I think I finished in a time of 25:42 with most of my time taken up with the ring pull ups and ring dips.  It takes so long to do 7 rounds of 2 pull ups and 2 dips but again I was pretty happy with how I went with these.  In fact, I was fairly pleased with how this workout went as a whole.  I didn't break that often and my swings, cleans and squats were all done unbroken.  I broke my pull ups into 2 sets which I thought wasn't too bad.  I shuffled/ran all my run legs and even though I'm slow it pleases me that I didn't slow to a walk although it does frustrate me that other people walk and they are still faster than me during the run bit.  I finished the WOD saying that I don't understand how something can be so horrible yet so much fun at the same time.

Our warm up was an interesting one.  We had to do bear crawls which I'm finding I'm liking more and more (although I moan about having to do them everytime) and then we had to do broad jumps from a kneeling position.  Now I think I'm above average intelligence but when it comes to stuff like that my brain just can't figure out how to do it.  Maybe it's a case of I don't trust myself to be able to do it.  I could get what Nick was telling me, I had to rock back onto my feet and just jump but for the life of me I just couldn't do it.  I wasn't the only one though and a few of us ended up just doing normal broad jumps.  I really want to figure it out so I can do it next time.

Helen Again

The benchmark WOD known as Helen seems to be quite popular at our box as this is the 4th (I think) time I have done it.  It's a fairly basic WOD:

400m run
21 kettlebell swings (16 kg)
12 pull ups

I really wanted to try to do this RXd but chickened out when I got into the gym.  I chose to do a 12 kg kettlebell and after trying some unassisted pull ups I decided to use an orange band which is the same scaling as I did the last time.

The workout didn't feel too bad although I struggled a little in the run.  I finished with a time of 12:42 and I had a quick look at my previous efforts and thought that my previous time was 13:50.  Unfortunately, that was from a couple of times ago and my real time was 12:20 which means I'm slower by 22 seconds.

To be honest, I don't feel that bad about it, it is what it is on the day and if I were to attempt it on another day I may improve by 22 seconds.  The fact is I got a bloody good workout today and I feel fantastic.

Helen

Today was my 3rd chop at the benchmark workout called 'Helen'.  Helen is:

Helen

3 Rounds for Time:

Run 400m

21 KB Swings 24kg/16kg

12 Pull Ups

 

This WOD would have to be one of my faves.  Even though I usually come in from the run feeling gassed I know that I can get through 21 swings unbroken and the pull ups seem doable.  I chose a 12 kg kettlebell for today and an orange band for my pull ups.  I feel like I'm on the cusp of going up to 16 kg for my kettlebell swings but I didn't think a benchmark workout would be the best time for me to trial it ... maybe I'll give it a go when we don't have quite so many to do.

 

The last time I did Helen my time was 13:50 with 12 kg and a green band and I would have been happy if I was around this time again.  I felt really good in the workout today despite not sleeping well last night and my back and hips took a little while to warm up.

 

As usual I was the last in from the run leg but as this is fairly normal I didn't panic and got stuck into my swings.  I was happy that I didn't have to break them down at all and got all 21 done unbroken in every round.  I was pleased with how my pull ups went as well and even though Jardan pulled me up on not getting my chin totally over the bar they felt good and I only broke a couple of times.  I really noticed a difference as soon as I corrected my form and while it was harder (obviously!), I know it will hold me in good stead for the future.

 

I was watching one of the girls as she passed me on the run leg.  She is tall and she seemed to run so effortlessly ... it felt like I was doing 3 steps to her 1.  She blitzed me on the run but I would overtake her in the box.  While in some cases it's an advantage to be taller (like for wall balls and rowing), there are many times it's a disadvantage.  Being shorter, my kettlebell swings were a lot faster as I didn't have to move the weight as far.  It can also be an advantage with my pull ups because I don't have to move my body as far.  It also helps being that little bit lighter ... although, I still need to have that base strength there.

 

As it turned out, this girl and I finished at exactly the same time of 12:20.  This is 1:30 faster than the last time I did it and I did a harder pull up option.  Another big thumbs up for progress!

Helen Revisited

Today we revisted the benchmark workout 'Helen'.  The WOD is:

Helen

3 Rounds for Time:

Run 400m

21 KB Swings 24kg/16kg

12 Pull Ups

My scaling was 12 kg and using the green band for pull ups.  Scaling was pretty important as we had a 15 minute cut off so there was no time to rest in between reps.  I would have liked to have tried a purple band today but, in hindsight, I'm glad I chose the green band.

I did this workout at home last time it came up which makes it a little difficult to compare my times.  I only have a 6 kg kettlebell at home and I didn't run the 400 m but instead ran our street which is around 100 m I think but has a nasty hill.  My time then was 13:35 and this time it was 13:50 which I'm pretty happy with as my kettlebell was twice the weight and I used the band instead of jumping pull ups.