Getting comfortable being uncomfortable

Warm up
Star run
Walking OH lunges (forward and back)

Strength
Push Jerk 5×3 (50kgs)
Power Snatch 5×5 (40kgs)

WOD
Fran
21-15-9
Thrusters (40kgs)
Pull ups

Right, Fran… but before that we had some push jerks and snatches to go through. 50kgs on the jerk felt surprisingly easy, which was the recommended weight. I could have probably gone a bit higher but figured 50kgs was a good number to start off with. The snatches were a bit different though as I couldn’t dial in the technique this time around, did ok but not spectacular.

Then we had a few minutes fluffing about before Fran. The infamous Fran. It’s been a while since I did it and I think I sucked. This time I think I did a better job. I believe I managed to do it in around 10-11minutes, I was in pain for a minute after finishing it so couldn’t really look at the clock. I think I might be able to do it Rx next time around and looking forward to it. Huge thanks to Tom and the rest of the gang for cheering me on to get on the bar. It was uncomfortable but I’m starting to see again where I can push and where I’m just being a wuss.

Busy Busy Busy

Been a very busy couple of weeks so here a quick recap of what I’ve been up to:

1. Socs arriving in London! She is now UK based and I’ve got to shed my ‘single’ life away.
2. Watched an Olympic event. We found a spot near Hyde Park Corner to get a glimpse (very short one actually) of the Men’s Road Race event. Unfortunately, home boy Mark Cavendish failed to win a medal.
3. Bought a bike and some bike goodies. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the time to ride it on the mean streets of London given the weather. I have to learn to walk before I run.
4. 2 WODs in 2 weeks. Sad I know, but I’m hoping to make it up this week.

Last week:
Strength
4-4-4-4-4+ Front Squat 55kg (did 9 or 10 on the last set)

WOD
Heavier Jackie
1000m row
50 push press 30kg
30 pullups

14ish minutes if I remember correctly

Yesterday:
Strength
Front Squat Max reps of 60kgs (max reps means consistent bar speed did 9 or 10)

WOD
Mary – 20 minute AMRAP
5 Handstand pushup (2 abmats)
10 pistols
15 pullups

Score: 6 rounds + 14 pullups

Annie, you’re not ok

Warm up
Hip opening exercises

Strength
10-10-10-10-10 plus
Back Squat 50kg

Snatch 35kgs

WOD
Annie
50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit ups

Back in the gym for almost a week as I was in Dublin over the weekend and had to sort out a few things at the apartment before I could train again. Crossfit London UK is trying out new programming for the strength so I was quite eager for the session. Back squats. Nice! Rep scheme was different from what I am used to and I could feel my legs pumping up getting to the last set. I only managed to do 12 reps on the 10+ set at 50kgs. The recommended weight was 60% of 1RM which should put me around 65-70kgs. However it has been a while since we’ve done back squats and I’ve never done this rep scheme before so we settled for 50kgs at it seemed to fit the purpose of the session. This is just my first session so we’ll see how it goes.

We did a few snatches as well for good measure, wanted to do a bit more practice but we had a WOD to do. Pretty straightforward, double unders and sit ups. Unfortunately for me, I still need a bit of work with my double unders so it took me a little less than 13 minutes. A 10 minute cut off was in place but I decided not to save myself and just finish it and get a time in. Hopefully I can improve on this next time around

For Queen and Country

Strength
3-3-3-3 Weighted pull ups (max 16kg)

Skill
Squat Clean

WOD
Elizabeth
21-15-9
Squat cleans 45KG (60kg Rx)
Ring dips

I just found out we did another benchmark WOD yesterday, awesome! At least I get a chance to have a time against it. Unfortunately I didn’t do it Rx, although 45kgs was an ok weight. I’m not sure I could have done 50kgs though, or Rx. I think if I went any higher my technique would have suffered and it would just snowball from there.

In any case I managed to keep a good pace especially on the squat cleans. Still need a bit more on the ring dips, but it was a great session as I barely had enough breath to shout ‘TIME!’ at the end. Finished Elizabeth in 14:02

Not a good pre-WOD meal

Warm up/Skill
Squat Clean drills
Muscle up progressions
Squat Clean skill (maxed at 72.5kgs)

WOD
Helen
3 rounds
400m run
21 KB swings (20kgs)
12 pull ups

Coming to the gym, I wasn’t feeling great. I think it was the McDonald’s burger I had for lunch or the fruits for snacks, probably the burger. In any case I felt bloated and gassy but proceeded anyway and just scale down a bit or take it easy depending on what was on the table. We got to work on our squat clean technique which I think went quite well and I got close to my 1RM even after being away for a while. Olympic lifting is very technical and the skill needs constant revisiting to improve so I was happy with the session.

I was pleasantly surprised to know that the WOD scheduled was a benchmark WOD, at least I got a chance to log in a time for this particular one. We ran out of 24kg kettle bells (which is the prescribed weight) so I had to settle with a 20kg one. Which was alright considering my stomach issue at the time. It did get me during the run, but I managed to stick to a good rep scheme on the swings but I still need work on my pull ups. I tend to stop around 5 reps because I feel my hands slipping or I haven’t managed to get a proper grip on the thick pull up bars we have here. I have found that getting my hands over the bar, in an almost false grip hold made me a bit more confident. I will try that out next time and try to bang out 10 reps a set more consistently