Day 235: CF Armoury: WOD: 10 - 20 - 30 - 40 - 50 Wall Balls and Box Jump Overs

Oh yes, I got punch this morning by a Wall Ball

Saturday; July 18, 2015 @ Crossfit Armoury

:0-10
Warm-Up:

No hip muscle cleans
Hip Muscle Cleans
Power Clean Fast
Push Jerks
Split Jerks


:10-25
STRENGTH:

Work up to HEAVY:
  1 Power Clean
  1 Push Jerk
  1 Hang Power Clean
  1 Split Jerk


:30-35
WOD Warm-Up:  

15 Unbroken Wall Balls
15 Unbroken Box Jump Over (Must Jump!!)


:35-55
WOD:  

10 - 20 - 30 - 40 - 50
Wall Balls
Box Jump Overs


Today's Coaches:  Aiden and Kyle

My Thoughts:
Oh, the dreaded box jump over.  Just mentioning box jumps makes me shudder in my spot.  But like everything else, one can scale.  As most of you know; I have issues with my ankles, due to past injuries with my Achilles.  Achilles torn a few times, each time resulted in recovery/rehab.  I always opted to avoid this and do step ups.  Until we I came to the Armoury.  I have been working on doing box jumps, but using 45 lb plates (3" in height).  I started last week with Coach Jason and use 3 of them, for a total height of 9".   Today, I decided to try 4x 45 plates and bring the height up to 12".  I talked to Coach Kyle and explain my situation.  He suggested trying it and if my ankle/achilles starts to stiffen up.  STOP, remove them and move to a step up process.   I can safely say that through out the entire wod, I was fine.  And even afterwards.    Just taking all this in slow and steady.  No rush to increase my height.

Warm-Up;
Using a wooden dowel to start with; Coach Kyle talked and Coach Aiden demo each of the movements.   As good as I think I am, I still have a lot of room for improvements.  Afterwards, we move to a empty bar and repeated each of the movements.  Always a student!  Never stop learning!!

STRENGTH;
Today, I ended up focusing on my technique with Coach Kyle watching and make minor adjustments on some of my movements.   I used 75 lbs to work with, as I think this has become my starting weight for any oly lifts.  We worked on my Power Cleans, slowing down my initial lift from the ground and than explode at the top.   We also worked on my foot work, so I'm not wasting energy focusing on the 'jump (floating)', trying to focus on keeping my heal on the ground.   I went thru it a few times to get it drilled into my stubborn head.   While the weight is not the issue, it really comes down to technique.  I'm not worried that I won't be able to increase it.  I would rather work on my technique until its close to flawless than worried about numbers.  Weight, you can always add.  Technique and proper form requires practice.   This where, I really appreciate the coaching staff who spend that time overseeing each of us with our lifts.   Thank you Kyle!

WOD Warm-up;
Coach Aiden stated firmly that we are to 'Jump' the Box Jump over.   The only people that cannot are those who currently have an injury.  You CANNOT Step Up.  He would rather we scaled the height and jump than have us do a Step Up/Over.    As mention above, I stacked 4x 45 lb plates on the ground and used that as my box jump height.   I used a 20 lb Wall ball for the Wall component.
I practice each and prepped for the WOD.

WOD;

One thing that was pointed out by Coach Kyle is when I do the wall balls; my knee tends to go over my foot.   I guess, ones not know this if you so focus on not receiving a Wall Ball Kiss to the face.   I'm usually looking up when doing this.  Anyways, the coach placed his hand in front of my knee and that gave me a better idea of how far my knee was moving forward (over my toes).   Actually, I found it much harder  and as explained; I'm using different muscles.    Yup, gonna have to work on this too!
First round of 10 Wall Balls and Box Jumps Over wasn't an issue.  However, the second round for 20 of each started to add up.  I think my slow down was the Box Jump Over.   I think there was a point where I didn't jump high enough, but I caught myself when I clip the top of the plate.   Yah, not very confident building at that point.   Each round, we increase each of the movements by 10.
Coach Adien suggested we break it down to do each of them in 10s.  And as you get more tired, break it down into 5s.    This WOD was very taxing for me.    The new Nike MetCon 1 are working perfectly.  No issues or soreness around my arch as I would have with my previous Reebok Nano 3.
There was an 20 minute time cap to which I managed to finish with 43 Wall Balls.  I didn't get to the Box Jump Over (50).
Again, I love our box; Gino who was waiting for the next class to start and came over and cheered me on.   Every time I wanted to stop; he pushed me.  And I heard a lot of other voices doing the same.   Thanks Gino and the rest of CF Amoruy!
Yes, I got crushed in this WOD.  But I just have to remember... I've come a long way since I started Crossfit.  I'll get better over time!!

Misc:
Extra credit; also known as extra programming for the likes.   In case you find that the WOD was not enough, or you are looking on increasing your skills, strength for an upcoming competition.  This little nugget is the thing for you!   Coaches are on-site and can be asked for assistance if there is a movement you don't understand.  They will also provide some guidance if you are doing it wrong.
Usually, the extra credit is performed after the class.   And more than likely, there will be others from the class who will want to do it.   This is definitely another way to get to know the other members at your box.

20 Tire Flips for Time

Remember to stay consistent in your training and tackle one WOD at a time!!