Day 241: CF Armoury: 2 RM Thrusters; WOD: 5 Rnds: 30 Second ON 30 Seconds OFF, 4 movements

Tuesday; August 4, 2015 [after 7 am class] @ Crossfit Armoury

:0-10
Warm-Up:

Partner Front Rack Stretch
Duck Walk 50' or Squat walk 50'
21 Empty Bar Thrusters, STAY Relaxed!


:10-25
STRENGTH:

Work up to a HEAVY 2 REP Thruster from the rack


:30-35
WOD Warm-Up:  

Power Snatch from the hip
Load weight to ensure all members can go unbroken on snatches, keep it light!
Power clean from the hip


:35-55
WOD:  

30 seconds ON; 30 seconds OFF for 20 Minutes.  Alternating movements
Movement 1:  10 meter sprints, forward down, backward back
Movement 2:  Hang Power Cleans (M: 115 lb / W: 75 lb)
Movement 3:  Double Under
Movement 4:  Hang Power Snatches (M: 115 lb / W: 75 lb)

Score is total barbell movement per round, score separate for each of the 5 rounds


Today Coach:  Jason

My Thoughts:

My back is not 100% but being mindful; I went ahead and did the class.  Kept most of the weight light and used my lifting belt as needed during the Strength portion.  Another physio booked for later this week.

Warm-Up;
Started the morning off with a partner Front Rack Stretch.  One partner takes an empty naked bar and rack it (bar resting on your shoulders, both hands still attached to the bar in Front Rack position) and your partner lifts the bottom of your arms upwards.    Provided that he/she doesn't choke you in the process.   I found that whenever I do this particular stretch, the bar is press against my throat.   Trust your partner, trust the process.
Duck Walk; no.. this is not as cool as it sounds... and no, I did not want to quack.  I may had wanted to fart than quack.  <smirk>
Using the naked empty bar; performed thruster until sufficiently warmed.  Oh yes, I'm suppose to say I did 21 of them.  Hey it's 7 am on a Tuesday (which feels like a monday [following a long weekend]) and my brain wasn't fired up.

STRENGTH;
We had 15 minutes to build up to a 2 RM Thruster from the rack.  I managed to get the weight up to 135 lbs.  But Coach Jason came by and advised me that I wasn't using my hips (core) and too much of my arms.  [NOTICE:  this is a reoccuring theme with me... always using my arms instead of my hips and legs; I gotta stop this!]  He advised me to take 30 lbs off and worked on using the HIPS.
Thus, I followed his advice... and it was so much easier to use the legs to drive up and let the bar shoot up, only using the arms at the last bit to push over head.
I ended up running out time and Coach Jason mention I could've went higher on my weights.  This is rewarding to hear!  :)
I ended up working my way up to 145 lbs.    I'll need to work on my techniques and practice a bit more.

WOD Warm-up;
Perform the movements a few times and loaded up the desired weight.  I opted to use 75 lbs and we are doing 30 seconds of work for both the Hang Power Cleans and Hang Power Snatches [both from the hip].  Keeping in mind that it'll be 5 rounds and coming back from an injury; I didn't want to jeopardize my back nor sideline myself for longer.   Slow and steady is the strategy in returning back to a normal healthy back.

WOD;

After the first round, Coach Jason came by and advised me that I was doing that arm thing again.  Not using my hips, and jumping upwards when doing the Power Cleans, as well as the Hang Power Snatches.  The latter, I need to widen my grip.   I think I need a  Stick-It Note  attach to the barbell to remind me of this.   Once I got it drilled thru my head; the movements were easier and the reps went up.

Double Unders, well I tried...  I'm still working on them...  One day, I will be able to string more than 2 in a row before
  a) whipping myself
  b) stumbling over the rope
  c) stop swearing at myself

As each round progress, I managed to maintain the same amount of reps for the Power Clean (12) and the Power Snatches varied between 8 and 9 reps.  I did managed to squeeze out one more rep on the Power Cleans on the last round.   It wasn't until my 3rd round that I had turned and face the clock while doing the movements.  It helped with the pacing.
And yes, Ray "I did count them correctly!!"  LOL

It was a great workout today!

Tuesday; August 4, 2015 [Final Results; after 7 pm class] @ Crossfit Armoury

Misc:

Coach Jason; bringing out the wet vacuum to clean off
all the chalk from yesterday's  HERO WOD: MURPH

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.

Work up to a Heavy:
  Split Jerk from behind the neck
  Split Jerk from the Front

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