Week in Review 1/13/13

Monday

Yoga at Remorca Studio.

Tuesday

The WOD was five rounds for time of five front squats at 155/225 (from the ground), three rope climbs (no feet) and 12 knees to elbows.  I used 83 lbs and climbed with feet and finished in 20:38. 

As a cash out, I did five sets of three sots presses at 33 lbs.

Wednesday

Oly Practice: I attempted 7 singles snatches at 63 lb.  I got it three times, twice I wound up power snatching, and twice I failed.   63 lbs was a PR,* which made me very happy.  This was my third one.  It looks like I'm pulling early and catching high (?), but I got it.  

And since I did it three times, there's probably more in the tank!

Next, I did three rounds of 12 bent over rows at 8 kg with five, then four, then three strict pull-ups between them.

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WOD: Split jerks: 83 lbs, 88 lbs, 93 lbs, 93 lbs.  Sadly, I feel like these are getting worse.  I can't seem to lock out my arms.  Tabata burpees for total reps: 49 burpees.

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Core Fusion at Exhale.  (More on this soon.)

Thursday

Rest.  

Friday

Cindy: 14 + 8 (PR!)  My old Cindy was 12 + something, so this is exciting, especially since I did it on my own.  A few weeks ago, I had said that my goal for the year was 15 rounds; I'm revising that up to 17.

Practiced double-unders and muscle-up progressions.

Saturday

Oly Practice:

Snatches: 1x58 lbs, 1x58 lbs, 1x63 lbs.  (There was a failed rep at 63 lbs and an accidental power snatch at 63 lbs, too, but I didn't have my notebook out yet and don't recall the order.) 

Cleans: 2x78, 1x83 lbs, 1x88 lbs, 1x93 lbs, 1x93, 1x93, lbs, 93(f), 1x93, 93(f).  (My 1 rep max is 98, so I felt pretty good getting four in at 93 lbs.)

Split jerks: I did a few sets of two at 73 lbs.   I kept the weight light to work on form, but I think I was just too tired at that point.  My focus was shot.

Sunday

Endurance WOD: 3x 1 mile sprints with three minutes rest between.

1. 7:36
2. 8:02 (darn you, cat hill!)
3. 7:35

Nutrition Challenge WOD: Tabata mashup of burpees and 1 pood KB swings for total reps: 127.  (Somewhat sad performance.  I blame the adult beverages from Saturday night .)

-Gym Belle-

*I've actually power snatched more, which is odd, but I find it a lot less scary. 

Mental Toughness

In addition to setting various tangible goals for 2013 (muscle ups, heavier lifts, faster rows, faster Fran, etc.), I am actively trying to work on my mental toughness.  Too often, what holds me back in a workout is either nerves (i.e. I don't drop under the bar enough) or an inability to embrace the suck and keep moving.  

I am part way through Jason Selk's 10-Minute Toughness.  He advocates spending 10 minutes a day on mental preparation for training.  I'm waiting until I finish the book to put his full method to the test, but today I experimented with aspects of what he talks about.

The WOD was five rounds for time of five front squats at 155/225 (from the ground), three rope climbs (no feet) and 12 knees to elbows.  

First, I visualized myself going through each and every rep.  I'm not a good visualizer, so this was tough.  I tried to focus on not stopping.  I wasn't sure if I should be breaking up the knees to elbows in my visualization, as this was bound to happen at some point in the WOD.  I also didn't realize that we'd be taking the bars from the floor, so in my visualization there were no cleans to deal with.  It's hard to say if the visualizing helped me. 

Second, I set a "process goal" for the WOD.  Instead of focusing on a time, I focused on something that I would do to achieve a faster time.  My goal today was to not rest any more than necessary between the rope climbs.  Usually, my thought process on the ropes goes something like this: I really don't want to fall; There aren't enough ropes so there's traffic here anyway; I really don't want to fall; I should let the faster people (i.e. everyone else) go first.  I decided that success for me today would be blocking those types of thoughts and powering through the three climbs one right after the other.

For the first three rounds, I did a good job of getting the climbs with very little time in between.  By round four, I did stop to catch my breath a bit and shake out my forearms, but only because I really needed to and not for long.  I slid a bit on one of my descents, and I ripped my hands a bit in round five, but for the most part I felt totally in control going up and down with less rest. 

20:38 at 83 lbs was not the fastest time by any stretch, but I feel pretty good about the workout.  I think I like the idea of setting process goals for each of my WODs.  Selk would probably say that a process goal should be measurable, so next time maybe I'll say something like "no more than five seconds rest between climbs" or something like that, but this was a good start.

I'll keep you posted.

-Gym Belle-

Week In Review: 1/6/13

Monday-Wednesday

Rested to recover from dropping a 93lb barbell overhead (oops!)

Thursday

Oly Practice: 5x 2 power snatches plus 2 overhead squats.  I did the first two sets at 52 lbs, and the last three at 57 lbs.

Friday

Lynne (five rounds for max reps of body weight bench press and pull-ups): 102 reps at 83 lbs

Saturday

Oly practice: 7 single cleans at 83lbs for 4 and 88 lbs for 3; worked up to a 63 lb snatch balance

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Front squats: 5x 83 lbs, 5x 83 lbs, 3x 88 lbs, 3x 93 lbs, singles at 98 lbs, 103 lbs, 108 lbs, 113 lbs (PR)

Sots presses: 5 sets of 3 at 33 lbs

Sunday

Endurance: 8x cat hill sprints (legs felt like lead from front squats)

1. 0:57
2. 1:01.8
3. 106.7
4. 109.1
5. 107.4
6. (fogot to hit lap - d'oh!)
7. 1:09.7
8. 1:02.9

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Deads: 5x 143 lbs, 5x 153 lbs, 5x 158 lbs, 5x 158 lbs, 5x 158 lbs, 5x 158 lbs

Toes to bar: 5, 7, 10, 10, 10, 10