Day 249: CF Armoury: Squat Snatch; WOD: 5 FAST Burpee plus 50 ' Sled Push

The Speed Demon (Arri) - Post Fast Burpees + Sled Push
Clem (left, tying his shoe),  Coach Jason (sitting, smiling and watching on)

Wednesday; August 19, 2015 @ Crossfit Armoury

:0-10
Warm-Up:

Behind the neck press
Sotts Press
Bottom to Bottom Overhead Squat
High Hang Snatch
Low Hang Snatch


:10-25
STRENGTH:

Work up to a heavy set of:
1 High Hang Squat Snatch
1 Overhead Squat
1 Above knee Squat Snatch


:30-35
WOD Warm-Up:  

Empty Sled Push 50'
Loaded sled Push 50'
Demo 5 burpee FAST

:35-55
WOD:  

1:00 (minute) ON  1:00 (minute) OFF for 10 rounds:
5 FAST burpees + 50 ft Sled Push (M: 45 lb / W: 25 lb)
Rest in time remaining

Today's Coach:  Jason

My Thoughts:
We have a guess today, Eddie Winslow is in the house..   Actually, it's one of the coach's dog.  He name him Eddie Winslow.   I haven't asked him why he name his dog that; but I'm sure it's an interesting story.
Sled Pulls and Fast Burpee is the highlight for today.

Warm-Up;
Used a wooden dowel to warm up with.  Perform TEN behind the neck press, keeping the form and path of the dowel directly behind the neck.   Afterwards, we were to do another TEN Sotts Press (same movement, but in a squat position).   Then repeating the same amount for the remaining movements; bottom to bottom Overhead Squats, and both the High and low Snatch.

STRENGTH;
We redid  the last three movements with an empty naked barbell.    Once I added some weight to the bar; my process starts to unravel.  

As pointed out by Coach Jason; my Below the Knee Squat Snatch  has some issues.
- initial observation is that I'm not pulling up the bar, but windmilling it out.  Which in itself cause
  some imbalance.
- I'm pulling too early, instead of letting the barbell travel to my hip crease; I'm exploding up already
- I'm not keeping my feet on the ground at the moment when I should be using it to push myself down quickly to get underneath the barbell.  I'm usually kicking my legs up like a donkey

Suggestions by coach Jason:
- slow it down when it comes to the barbell, you can't rush it...   you have to build up to the point.

My execution:
Mentally, I had to slow myself down and forcefully cue myself to ensure that the barbell path hits the indent by my hips before exploding upwards, then forcing myself to keep my feet closer to the ground (not kicking it up like a donkey!!) so I can efficiently push myself down underneath the barbell.
It's lots of mental notes to myself; as I'm very process oriented (my friends call this being 'anal').  And the sad part, is I tend to overthink things.   The struggle is real people!!  ;)

After performing a few and slowly increasing the weight; I managed to settle down my wild movements and now with a more efficient motion; things will get better with more practice.  I managed to make it up to 85 lbs for today.

I'll be looking forward to tomorrow's night Olympic lifting class.

WOD Warm-up; empty sled push to start

WOD Warm-up;

We started the process with just the empty sled.   After the first push; Coach Jason suggest that I do it faster.

However, my right achilles had a slight pull in it.  As some of you might know; I've been in physio for my back (which now is about 95% back to normal; but also in for some work on the Achilles).

I decided to put on the 45 lb plate and give it a push to see how it felt.  The sled push wasn't fast and I opted to talk to the coach.
My physiotherapist, Arri was also doing the class and I had to call him over for some discussion with Jason.    It was best determine to scale it for me.  We had a few options:
1) pull the sled, by walking backwards - dragging the sled.
2) Do Sled Pulls

I tested the Sled Pulls once I attach the cable with the pulling attachment to the sled.  It felt fine with my achilles.  I didn't try pulling the sled by walking backwards; I couldn't see how this was efficient in movement nor for time.

my modification (Sled Pull); due to my achilles

WOD;

Needless to say, I opted to go with the Sled Pulls.   The first one was not that bad, but I was executing the fast Burpees behind the sled.   Which is all fine when you are pushing, but you lose a few seconds to run to the front; pick up the harness/rope and set yourself up to pull.    After the second round; I ask Jason if I can move myself to the front of the sled.  He agreed and it was good.

Burpees, who loves burpees, especially when done FAST!?!   Clem actually suggested that when I'm dropping to the floor to spread out my legs so that when I jump back up, it's actually less height to move (hey, I'm 6'2"; any advantage is a good advantage!).
Coach Jason made a suggestions on the downward portion of the burpee; that I should kick out with me feet instead of stepping down and backward    That seemed so much easier.

While I was no speed demon like Arri, Clem or even Victoria (who decided part way thru the wod to sport a weighted vest); I did finish and had no issues with my achilles.

Misc:

Happy to watch his master, Arri

Eddie Winslow; yes, that is his name!

Wednesday; August 19, 2015 @ Crossfit Armoury

Other things that I'm fulfilling this week.  I've signed up for the Gymnastic class that is offer on Sunday at the Armoury.   Coach Kyle will be teaching this course.  I've heard so many great things about this class from most of the members that had been taking it and as well as my friend, Sydney who took it last weekend.

I'll update the blog on Monday with my experience in gymnastic course.

For more information, check out the Armoury's page - Gymnastic.   And of course, to sign up for it; please CHECK HERE - http://crossfitarmoury.com/signup/


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.

KB (KettleBell) Front Rack Walk
  100 ft EMOM for 10 Minutes

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