Finally!

A little while ago the crew at CFG created a chalk board for the member to write up our goals.  I wrote 2 up there:

1. Handstands
2. 100 kg deadlift

When I achieved my deadlift goal I replaced it with a 60 kg back squat.  It has been months and months since I wrote this up.  I had gotten a 57.5 kg back squat in December last year but when I last went for my 1RM I only got to 55 kg.  Last night at weightlifting I was determined to get 60 kg ... it was time to go after that goal.

I was feeling really tired yesterday and I had considered giving weightlifting a miss but because it is a public holiday on Monday and therefore no class so I decided to go last night.  We worked on our power snatch.  I got to a weight of 27.5 kg and, as per normal, just muscled the weight up there.  We then moved onto clean and jerks.  Shane asked me my 1RM and when I told him he basically said that I should be capable of lifting more than that particularly after seeing me muscle snatch 27.5 kg.  I got to 37.5 kg and surprise, surprise I power cleaned it and then strict pressed it up there.  I don't know why I do that.  I don't think I fear getting the weight overhead but maybe I just don't trust myself to do the movement properly.  Explosive movements exhaust me and perhaps I just get tired and revert to what is comfortable for me.  I wish I could figure it out.

We moved onto back squats and although my legs were still sore from Monday's workouts my squats felt pretty good.  I tried to focus on keeping my knees out and drive from my heels.  I did 52.5 and 55 kg with relative ease.  I asked Matt to spot me for my 57.5 kg and, again, it felt good (not easy but comfortable in a tough way) and I thought, "no time like the present" and chucked on some more weight.  Again, it was not easy but it felt solid.  I wanted to keep going until I failed but simply run out of time.  It takes me a few lifts to get to my 1RM, I'm the sort of person who has to sneak up on a heavy weight by starting quite low and then working slowly to heavy.  I've noticed that this works for me and I've had the best success with doing that but I often run out of time.

Now I can rub that goal out on our "Dream and Achieve" board and replace it with something else or maybe just work on those darn handstands so I can finally remove that as well.

I Never Learn

I'm exhausted.  Yesterday's training took it out of me.  I know that there are a few people at my gym that can train multiple times a day but I'm not that person.  I did Crossfit, worked all day, took the dog for a walk and then did 1.5 hours of weightlifting.  I find that it is hard to switch off after weightlifting, it's like my brain is wired and I can't turn it off so I find it hard to go to sleep.  I should have had a rest day today and my effort in today's WOD reflected that.  Why do I keep doing it to myself?

Despite all that, I had a great session at weightlifting last night.  I actually got a full snatch last night!!!  Happy days!  Okay, it was just with the 10 kg bar but I'm not sure if I have ever gotten into a full snatch from the ground (I did when I did the one-on-one session with the weightlifting coaches but that was from the hang).  To most people this would seem like a small insignificant thing but, to me, it's a big fricken deal!

We then went onto power clean and jerk and I was really happy with how I went.  I got some pretty good feedback and worked on improving my shrug.  I also need to work on opening my hips more.

The last thing we worked on was our front squat.  I had Shane spot me when I went for my 1RM of 55 kg but unfortunately failed the attempt.  I still feel really good about it as it is good for me to try and push myself out of my comfort zone.

I may be tired today but I'm also really happy.  Early night for this chook tonight though :)

Lightbulb Moment

I had weightlifting class last night which consisted of cleans, jerks, OHS, back squat and clean pulls.  After a few days in a row of disappointing WODs involving jerks I wasn't sure how I felt about doing them again.  There was part of me that didn't want to struggle yet again but another (and bigger) part of me wanted to do it and get it down pat.

To help me with my foot placement we draw a cross on the platform.  I then position my feet a certain distance from the cross to where they should be in the split stance and mark that with chalk to give me a target.  As I said yesterday, when I'm under load my split shortens up so it's great to give me something to aim for.  Even with the bar I have a hard time getting into the correct position.

One of the cues that I have gotten from every coach is to bend my back leg more.  I keep it fairly straight which doesn't help me get under the weight.  And then I bent my back leg and, lo and behold, my front leg went out further, I was more stable and the weight went up a lot easier.  It was like something clicked.  Don't get me wrong, I had a few crappy reps after doing this but it gave me a glimmer of hope.

I'm going to miss the lifting sessions when I go back to my normal programming next week.  I have gotten so much out of it and it would be fantastic to go through the 12 week block just to see how much I improve but I just can't imagine fitting it in when the kids go back to school.  That's life as a working parent unfortunately :(

Weightlifting Club

I decided to go to the weightlifting sessions over the school holidays.  It was loads of fun and more laid back than a strength class in CrossFit.  There was no pressure to stack the weights and get a PB, I just worked consistently on trying to get my technique right.

Shane was a fantastic coach and was encouraging but also gave some great feedback on how to improve.  I have so much to work on and, not surprising, I have quite a few things I need to iron out with my snatch but hopefully I made some headway.  My main issue with both the clean and the snatch is that the bar tracks out too far from my body.  The good part is that I can feel when I do it now I just need to fix it (without bringing in some other weirdo habit).

As much as I tend to focus on everything that is bad about my lifts, there were also some good things in my lifting as well.  I have a tendency to think of everything that I do wrong which then leads to me beating myself up for not being good enough but I'm also reminding myself of everything that I did correctly.

I think these few sessions will help my lifting immensely and will also give me the confidence I need in a few aspects of Crossfit.

This Week's Lesson

Saturday's WOD was a doozy:

For Time:

20 Toes 2 Bar

20m Bear Crawl

20 Sit Ups

20m Bear Crawl

20 Burpee Box Jumps 24″/20″

20 Man Makers 20kg/15kg

20m Bear Crawl

20 Sit Ups

20m Bear Crawl

20 Toes 2 Bar

 

I was still feeling the effects of the night before but got through the workout in just under 20 minutes.

 

Something that I needed to be reminded of was the importance of organising my Saturday nutrition.  After Crossfit on Saturday we had a bit of running around to do before we went to watch Moo at cricket.  Instead of grabbing my normal banana smoothie I settled on having a protein bar and coffee to take to the fields.  Protein bars, to me, are a chemical shitstorm and in my effort to try and make the right choice for a post workout snack I stuffed up and my stomach let me know about it.

 

I had an Olympic lifting course on Saturday afternoon.  I scraped together something half decent for lunch but not nearly enough calories.  As a result my lifting was lack lustre at best.  One of the coaches came up to me as she noticed how shaky I was and gave me some suggestions for pre-workout food.  It was a little frustrating as I know what I have to do but in the busyness of the day I let my nutrition slide.  At the end of the day, if I'm going to do 3 hours of exercise I need to make sure I'm eating enough calories.

 

I likened it to drinking.  Most of the time I drink in moderation but every now and then I overdo it and then it takes me longer to recover than I would from minor surgery.  It reminds me how much it hurts and I don't do it again for a loooooong time.  My eating can be like that, most of the time I cruise along and then every now and then I do something silly and considering that I am still feeling flat today I can safely say that I have learnt my lesson and will make sure I'm eating enough in the future.

 

The lifting session was really good and I picked up some great tips.  It was a little daunting because when I showed up it was all the 'guns' and I have to admit that I felt slightly intimidated.  Not that our comp squad people are intimidating but I thought there might have been a few more numpties like me.  We were split into groups of 3 and luckily there were 2 other girls who, while they lift more than me, were within ball park of my 1RM.  We worked on the clean and jerk and broke it down into little bits which is just what I need to do to ensure I'm getting every part right.  Our group didn't get an awful lot of feedback but we were given some things to work on and I felt it really helped me to learn how to get under the bar.  As with a lot of things, I need to work on my confidence putting the bar overhead.