Day 244: CF Armoury: 1 RM Thruster; WOD: Benchmark FRAN

7 AM class; The Aftermath after completing FRAN
(Closest to the farthest: Shan, Arri, Clem, Brie, Tony
Missing: "Paparazzi" Ray [photo credit: Ray S.])

Monday; August 10th, 2015 [after 7 am class] @ Crossfit Armoury

:0-10
Warm-Up:

100' Walking Lunge with elbow touch
50' Duck Walk
Partner Barbell Front Rack Stretch
10 Empty Bar Thrusters


:10-35
STRENGTH:

Work up to a 1 RM Thrusters


:40-45
WOD Warm-Up:  

21 Unbroken Empty Bar Thrusters
Load weight
20  Beat Swings (15 Ring Rows)
9 Pull Ups


:48-55
Benchmark WOD:  FRAN  

21 - 15 - 9
Thrusters
Pull Ups

 7 Minute TIME CAP 


Today's Coach:  Jason


My Thoughts:

Warm-Up;
This was new; the Walking Lunge with an elbow touch to the floor.  Had to wait for someone to do it first and then follow their lead.  Watch both Shan and Brie who did it with ease.   Coach Jason was telling us that we need to push our our knee as we were lunging and at the same time, touching our elbow to the ground.   Took some practice to get it correct, all 100' worth.
Duck Walk; no quacking here... just trying to do the walk with out swinging my hip (pivoting on spot).  Apparently, it's much harder to do this.. I would like to blame my weightlifting shoes as my handicap..  :p
Coach Jason wanted us to partner up with someone of the same height.  But being a bit slow to partner up, I was with Brie.  She's a very tall woman.. but still shorter than this Asian.  No matter, we executed the Front Rack Stretch with no problems.  I think our flexibility is pretty good on the front rack.  She had the same issue as I did.  The bar ends up pressing against the throat.    Coach Jason did mention to me that all my fingers, even my "pinkies" has to be touching the bar on the Front Rack position.
Last, but not least.  Perform TEN Empty Bar thrusters.

STRENGTH;
Moment of truth; aiming for a high number.   Coach Jason gave us a rep count to follow to build up to our 1 RM.  I had no idea what my 1 RM is for Thrusters.  So anything today will be a PR.   Last week, I hit 145 lb for a 2 RM on the Thrusters.   Anything above that will be great.  Coach Jason did mention that what one gets on their Push Press is roughly what they should get on their Thrusters.

Today, I managed to hit 185 lb for my 1 RM Thruster.   I did have to do it twice as I had some issues with getting underneath the weight and not using my Hips.  You know, that snap with the hip as I'm coming up with the weight.  Yes, if you read my last week blog entries; you would already know that this is an on-going issue.
This is something I have to work thru.  I did get some great advice from Clem, Shan, and Arri after the class.  I will need to practice this, as I'm sure all my lift of this nature will go up.  Especially once I starting using my legs and hips more effectively.

WOD Warm-up;
After hitting our 1 RM, the entire class deloaded the weight and then perform Thrusters with an empty bar.   Some people loaded with the weight they felt great with.  Coach Jason suggested I just use the empty barbell.   It was a wise suggestion, as I would be needing every bit of energy to do the Benchmark WOD.   The rest of the warm up consisted of Ring Rows.  I'll be doing Ring Rows until I can do Pull-ups.

WOD;

'FRAN'  Both eagerly excited for this at the same time, having a bit of butterflies.  I even came in early this morning to watch the 6 AM class execute/crushed/get crushed the Benchmark WOD.

6 AM class performing FRAN

I even looked up last night what my previous FRAN time was.   Of course, it was slightly different at the other Crossfit Box.  I scaled it back then, but used an assisted Pull-Up machine instead of Ring Rows.

  May 12, 2014 - 8 Minutes and 41 seconds; 
                  Scaled: 75 lb Thrusters, 100 lb assist on Pull-Ups

 Aug 10, 2015 - 6 Minutes and 24 seconds; 
                  Scaled: 75 lb Thrusters, Ring Rows

Let's see if my math is correct; it appears that I managed to shave off 2 minutes and 17 seconds.  But can I really say that I'm comparing "Apples" to "Apples"?  Considering how I scaled it.  I'll let you decide.  Until I can actually do Pull-ups;  scaling will be the only way I can complete this.   I'll take this as piece of progress.  I'm slowing getting better.

Misc:
Just wanted to shout out to the entire 7 AM class for completing the Benchmark WOD: FRAN and as well as getting their 1 RM Thursters.  

I am so happy to be part of this Crossfit Box.  Every day, I'm surrounded by inspiring people and the great coaching staff at the Armouy.   I'm also glad to see the gains that I've made in the past few months since switching to this box.   The programming here do work!

For all those who read my blog and are on the edge of trying Crossfit, and or you may just want to give it a try; come on out.   Also check out the Armoury's new Kickstarter program.   More information can be read at their main page:

    Crossfit Armoury - http://www.crossfitarmoury.com

    Crossfit Armoury Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CrossFitArmoury

Monday; August 10th, 2015 [final results] @ Crossfit Armoury

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.

Maximun Deficit Handstand Pushup
Strict, then Kipping

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