It's max week this week at the box. Instead of workouts, we stretch a little and then start to build up to our one rep max of the lift we're doing. We started the week with back squats. All of the guys love back squats; I like them too. I think they're a favorite because most people can back squat heavier than they can lift any of the other lifts. My previous PR (personal record) was 90 pounds. I squatted 120 and could have upped that another 10 pounds at least, but I was nervous about getting stuck at the bottom and having to bail which I've never done.
Lifting to a one rep max makes me really nervous. My coach says everyone gets nervous so I guess I'm not alone, but for some reason the thought of lifting to failure is scary. I feel a little about it like I
do about handstands, but not quite as panicky. When I told my coach I was hesitant about lifting to failure because I had never bailed on a lift before he said we would practice at the end of the class. There was another lady my age in the class who had never bailed either and was worried about it too. First the coach showed us how to let the bar go and jump forward. I practiced with a pvc pipe first and I'm glad I did because I dropped it on my lower back the first time I tried it. Then we practiced with 35 pounds and I think I got the hang of it--hopefully I won't be as nervous about it the next time we back squat. I do think it's an age thing though--none of 30 somethings in the box seemed to be worried about how to bail.
Wednesday we 1 rep maxed the clean and jerk. My max for the clean is probably about 80, and I just push jerked 75 last week, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to lift much more than that. I PR'd at 85 pounds and was pretty proud of that number--even though I didn't lift to failure. One thing I noticed was that I would get light-headed and see stars after every clean and I would have to stand there and
wait until my world stopped spinning before I could complete the jerk. My coach says this is common because the bar hits your windpipe when you clean properly--I think that's part of it, but I also think I have a tendency to hold my breath which probably contributes to the light-headedness.
Thursday was a ROM WOD--aahh, I love yoga days. ROM stands for range of motion wods and I'm lucky to be at a box where we have recovery days like these. They really help with mobility and soreness.
Friday was hang squat cleans. This is one of my favorite lifts.
Since you're not lifting from the ground there's not as much to mess up, and being able to receive the bar in the squat position makes it easier to lift more weight. I PR'd at 90 pounds fairly easily and only stopped because we ran out of time.
So that was max week. It was really fun to see the gains from all of the hard work I've put in this past year.
I had never done them before, and thought they would be fairly easy, but I was wrong! As with everything in CrossFit, what looks so easy on paper ends up being a killer workout. We did these in conjunction with wall balls and omg--so hard! I think what made made them so difficult was that you basically are doing two squats for each rep. My thighs and quads were screaming at the end of this workout. I used a 10 pound med ball which added to the pain I think because it's much smaller then the 14 pounder and I had to squat lower to touch the ground with it. This ball is similar to the 10 pounders at my box:
It's hard like a basketball, but a little smaller. The 14 and 20 pound balls are cushier and similar to the ball used in the video above.
I'll post an update tomorrow and let you know how my legs feel. This is a simple, but seemingly very effective inner thigh and booty workout.
Today's workout was a doozy. The wod was 'Nancy'--she's one of 'The Girls' in CrossFit. Greg Glassman, CrossFit's founder, jokes that he gave these killer workouts girls' names because "any workout that leaves you flat on your back, staring up at the sky, wondering what the hell happened, deserves a girl’s name.”
And that is pretty much what these workouts do. 'Nancy' is 5 rounds of a 400 meter run and 15 overhead squats (Rx 95 lbs for men/65 lbs for women) for time, with a 22 minute cap. It looks very simple on paper as do most of the CrossFit wods, but it totally wears you down in practice. Since the overhead squat:
is my weakest lift, and since the wod called for 60 overhead squats, I decided to only lift 25 pounds.
I was also kind of wishing that I had some CrossFit shoes--I think they would help my lifting--My running shoes push me forwards somewhat and throw off my balance--especially on overhead lifts. I've had my eye on these:
They are very nice looking and a couple of the women at my box have them and love them. Only problem is the price! I'm hoping it will go down in a few months--especially if they come out with a Metcon 3. If I do get them, I'll definitely let you know if I like them, and if they make a difference in my workouts.
The wod started with the run--I was the oldest in the group by at least 20 years, and was thinking that I would definitely be pulling up the rear on this workout, while hoping that I wasn't minutes behind the last person to finish, and also hoping that I could beat the cap. That's why I generally don't like the 'for time' wods. It's the absolute worst when everyone's finished and I'm still grinding. That used to always happen at my old box and it stunk--even though everyone was always super encouraging and would cheer me on until I finished, it was still somewhat humiliating. --As expected, most of my box mates took off on the run, although there was one guy who held back with me--I am always strategizing these workouts and knowing that I had five rounds of this, I didn't want to wear myself out on the very first 400.
I came in last from the first run and was a little winded, steeling myself to the fact that I was destined to bring up the rear in this wod especially since the only other female, a 20 something, was using the training bar without any plates (15 lbs) for the overhead squat since she has ankle mobility issues. I picked up my bar, snatched it overhead, and started in on my squats. The 25lbs didn't feel too heavy and I was able to string together all 15 squats pretty easily. I have good hip and ankle mobility, but bad shoulder mobility so the overhead squat is a bit of a conundrum for me. I am so afraid of hurting my shoulders that I don't want to strain them by lifting heavier weight, even though I am sure I could. My one rep max is 35 lbs, but that's because I haven't tried to lift heavier. My shoulders are always a little dinged up after doing the wide grip overhead work and increasing my weight is just not worth it to me. A couple of the guys were Rx'ing the workout and they had to split up their overhead squats since they were so heavy, so I was able to catch up from being last on the run and finished my squats around the same time as most everyone else and started in on the second run.
I came in for my second round of squats winded, but picked up my bar and started grinding. I was able to string all 15 together again--my bar was definitely too light, but in retrospect, considering how my shoulders feel now, using 25 lbs was the right call. Everyone else was starting to slow down, even the young woman who was only using the training bar, and on some rounds, the PVC pipe--she must have been having a hard time with her squats. So I finished the second round before everyone and started on my round 3 run. The middle rounds are always the hardest--I do a lot of talking to myself, especially on the runs--telling myself to just keep moving--a lot of the mental toughness I've written about has to kick in on these rounds. I was happy to not be the last one, lol, but also wishing I had someone else running near me for motivation.
The last few rounds went the same way--I was able to do all 15 squats unbroken and finished the wod first--lol--I was surprised, but the overhead squats were the separator and the guys lifting heavy were really slowed down by their weights. One of the guys couldn't finish--he had gone too heavy, I think, and was just fried. My final time was 15:46. Not too shabby for an old lady--however, in the class before, the women killed it--lifting heavier than me, and finishing minutes before me. But at least I was able to keep moving and finished in a respectable time.
I had never done 'Nancy' before and was happy to get a time for her under my belt. I look forward to tackling the rest of the girls in the future--although maybe not the very near future!
