Snatch gains and GF TGUs

I had a great week of training Koda.
I was able to get in Olympic lifting sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and make is down to see Steve Miller at USA Stars on Friday. Most of my Olympic work these days is “from a box” that will allow the bar to rest below my knee. Thanks to the half dozen sessions I have had with Steve, I have fixed some of my form errors and was able to hit 205 this weekend. This is the most I have been able to snatch since I left for Afghanistan in March of 2011.

Here is a link to the vimeo clips of my recent lifting progression.
http://vimeo.com/user11819998

I love going back and looking at the progress that I have made since working with him. Still, I have a long way to go. This is an email that Steve sent me last night after he watched my 205 snatch from blocks.

“Okay...when you scoop to the explosion point, you must get there as quickly as possible but when you get there you do not bang or bump that area...you freeze the bar when you barely touch. The body and bar (one unit) will be motionless for a second. This is very important. You are focusing on getting from above the knee to the explosion point as quickly/efficiently as possible.

The trunk whip is carrying the bar out and up way too much. Control the bar.

Both movements must be refined. If you are getting a PR at this point...that speaks volumes about what it will be ahead.”

THAT GETS ME PUMPED!

I was also able to get in 3 WODs at Koda this week which included a C&J EMOM, a Helen PR, some lactate buffering thrusters, and a crazy 18 min AMRAP bear complex.

We have “Meathead Mania” every Sunday at Koda from 9-11. It is basically open gym time for anyone to come in and work on their goals or do a WOD that they missed. Even though there is no scheduled workout, lifting heavy and doing hill sprints is highly encouraged. Not only do hill sprints create elite athletes by eliciting insanely high hormonal responses, they also make you look awesomely ripped. You would think that hill sprints would be included in more training programs, especially programs that are based on measuring performance. The reason you do not see them more often is because HILL SPRINTS SUCK!!! They are painful and make you hate life.

Fortunately, misery it less perceived when shared.
-Brice

364 days

I had an absolute blast watching the 2012 CrossFit Games this weekend. It was crazy to see repeat champions in both the Men’s and Women’s divisions and very inspirational to see the efforts put out by all of the competitors.

This was the second year that I have missed going to the games by a couple positions at Regional’s. In 2010, I was in the South Central Regional Competition which had 4 spot available. I was in 2nd place going into the last workout but the Hand Stand Push-Ups were too much for me to handle and I fell to 7th place overall.

I was deployed for the duration of the games’ season in 2011 and for the qualifying events (the “Open”) in the 2012 games. Since I was in the Middle East for the Open I was required to compete in the Asia Regional in Seoul, South Korea. Asia only had 1 spot available for the 2012 Games. After falling down the leader board after the 1st workout (which, of course, included HSPUs) and having an embarrassing performance in the snatch ladder workout, I ended the competition in 3rd place which was enough to reach the podium but not enough to win a trip to Carson.

What I am most annoyed with is the fact that I had identified weaknesses in my CrossFit game 2 years ago but did not take the necessary steps in correcting them. If I had I would not have been watching the 2012 Games from Mandy’s heavenly white couch. I have re-started this blog for one main reason, to hold myself accountable for this next year of training. I fully understand that Jared and my mom will likely be the only ones to read these posts, but in my mind I am laying myself out to the masses of the World Wide Web.

It should be painfully obvious to anyone reading that HSPUs are a limiting factor of mine. I could attribute this to being 10-20 pounds heavier than the average CrossFitter but let’s be honest, it is because no one likes doing things that they suck at and I suck at HSPUs. My plan to correct the flaw is to hit up HSPU specific training 2 times a week. These workouts will include deficit training (elevating the hands so that the head can go deeper to increase ROM), ring training (for proprioceptive and stability), and interval training (to decrease recovery time). I will track my progress on this blog and report the strategies that I find successful and the ones that I scratch from my program.

It is a little less obvious to anyone but those close to me but my Olympic lifting numbers are atrocious. The funny thing is that I work on the movements quite a bit but do not see much success. I snatched 225 in 2010 pumped full of adrenaline with horrible form. Yet, I have not been able to hit 210 since. My clean numbers have also stalled out despite the large amount of cleans done in CrossFit WODs. In order to combat this I have outsourced the help of Steve Miller for technique. I am hoping that his guidance, coupled with some Outlaw Way strength programming and some hearty EMOMs will get my numbers up. Again, you (faithful blog readers…. AKA, Mom) will be the first to know.

-Brice