Day 311: CF Armoury: Back Squats; WOD - 14 Min AMRAP: Cal Rows, T2B, WB, Cleans, MU

Friday; January 22, 2016 @ Crossfit Armoury
Don B. - 'Mr. Smiles'

:0-5
Warm-Up:

20 Air Squats
5 seconds down, 5 second pause at bottom, 5 seconds up
Empty Bar slow controlled Back Squat


:5-15
STRENGTH:

Work up to a 2 Rep Back Squat @ 75% 1 RM

:15-33
Back Squat, 2 rep EMOM for 18 Minutes


:38-43
WOD Warm-Up:  

Row 25 Calorie SLOW
10 Beat Swings, 5 Toes-to-Bars
5 Wall Balls
Test Clean
Test Muscle Up


:43-57
WOD:  

 14 Minute Time Cap 

 60 Calorie Row
 50 Toes-to-Bar
 40 Wall Balls
 30 Cleans (M: 135 lb / W: 95 lb)
 20 Muscle Ups (substitute: Dips)


Today's Coach:  Jason

My Thoughts:
Squats, the next best workout for the muscles after the deadlift.   Seeing that percentage of 75% had me pulling out the calculator.   Seeing what was the second part of the strength had me questioning my 75%.  So, if you have notice in the last week, the volume had gone up in a lot of the workouts.  Well, that's because we (the members of the box) are gearing up for some upcoming competitions [Crossfit Lineage Winter Massacre, Olympic Lifting meet, Battle on the Border, and the Crossfit Open to name a few].  While not everyone will be doing all these competition, there will be a lot of who will be competing.  Its worthwhile to bring up that volume to build not only strength, but the endurance required.

Warm-Up;
Started with something simply, which was doing 20 air squats.  Clem led the charge, while Christina and Jonathan followed.  As for me, I just went my own pace and finished about 5 seconds later.  Next, we setup our rack, J-cups and an empty barbell.  Using the empty bar bell, we perform a slow squat (count to 5 seconds), pause at the bottom of the squat for 5 seconds, and then slowly raise up.  We did this for 5 to 7 reps.

STRENGTH;
It's simple, calculate your 75% of your 1 RM Back squat and worked up to that weight.  Once that weight was reached; this would be the weight you will be using for the next 18 minute; performing 2 reps each minute.   My 1 RM is 285 lb; my 75% is 213.75 or 215 if you round up.   I ended up using only 205 lb, which translated to 72%   I had asked Coach Jason how close to 75% do you need.  He said approximate, and I stuck with 205 lb.   
Yup, afterwards; I felt like I cheated myself and should had added the 10 lb.

WOD Warm-up;
Pulled the Concept2 Rower and did a slow 25 calorie row.  Perform a few beat swings and grabbed a Wall Ball (20 lb).  Changed the weight from the Strength component to 135 lb.  I didn't try any Muscle Up or Dips (which is what I would be doing for a substitute).

WOD;

This is actually a retest of a Crossfit Open - 14.4.    I actually took a look back to my attempt at 14.4 (it was my first year doing the Crossfit Open).     I didn't have Toes to Bar, and I don't have them now either.  Crossfit Open 2014 only had one setup, and it was Rx.  Scaling didn't come into play until last year (2015).   Here's a link to my write up about Crossfit Open 2014 - what I learned from it.
Not surprisingly, I only scored 60 reps, which just happened to be the 60 calorie ROW. I did that in 3 minutes and 30 seconds with a pace of 22 strokes/min.  The remaining 10 minutes and 30 second was used to attempt my first Toes-to-Bar.  It never happened.
As for today, I scaled my Toes-to-Bar and did Knees-to-Elbow.   The rest of it was Rx (20 lb Wall ball hitting a 10 foot target, 135 lb Clean).  I never made it to the Muscle Up stage.  I only got to 13 Cleans.
In the end, despite the scale; I'm happy to see that I've made progress.

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.

EMOM for 10 Minutes:
 1 Squat Snatch
 Start @ 65% 1 RM
 Add 5 - 10 lb per minute

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