Rest Day
Great day yesterday and great performances. There were many who were pushed to get PR's by the weight standard, and there were many who lifted the load many more times than expected. Thanks to CF 209 Sport and Rocklin CF for coming out to take part in the fun. It truly makes if CrossFit to compete with you all, sharing in our triumphs and hardships.
Athletes of the week are Jon Bik and Angela Felsted who had to hit PR's on the clean, the front squat, and the jerk to get on the board for the week. Words cannot describe how exciting is is to see you guys rise to the occasion and achieve the unthinkable.
CF Open WOD 3 Analysis
Everything thus far in the CF Open competition has been classic CF programing. An AMRAP couplet and triplet followed by a pure weightlifting event for max reps. 5 minutes max clean and jerk is as CF as it gets, or at least I like to think so.
This event was on the opposite end of the ability spectrum from the last two and brought great balance to the overall competition. The first WOD was mono-structural skill/conditioning output based. The second was almost pure conditioning with a slight element of upper body strength. This week was about total body strength and weightlifting technique. If you were strong, you had a major advantage, as the weight was much more of a strength challenge than a conditioning challenge for most athletes. If you weren't that strong, but your technique was nails, then you still hung in there. If your technique was off, you likely wasted much energy with inefficient movements such as squatting on your toes, early arm pulling, or getting stuck in the sticking point on the overhead press.
This WOD required those who have shown great body weight output and light weightlifting output to lift heavier and show their mastery of the movements as well as their strength. As for the loads chosen by HQ for this competition… 165/110 was the perfect choice. It was heavy enough to scare the shit out of many of those who struggle with heavy. Heavy enough to prove who is strong and technical. It was light enough to allow most legitimate CF athletes to partake in the fun, and it forced those who struggle with heavy to PR by 15-20lbs just to get a rep and stay in this competition! It was so exciting to see those of you in this category rise to the challenge and do something you had previously viewed as out of your reach. For this weight selection and for the outcome of mass PR's, I deeply thank HQ on this programming.
There is nothing more exciting as a coach than to see your athletes do something they couldn't do before. It probably would have taken much longer to get some of you to these loads without this extra push. Now you all have realized what you are capable of and are much better off for it. Competing is the shiznit! If you aren't getting involved, it's time to take the leap.
If you struggled this week, here are a few words of advice. Olympic lifting can be nerve racking. What do you mean I am going to jump under a moving weigh that I can barely hold? How am I going to catch the weight in a full squat with the weight on top of me and my ass almost touching the floor? My mind tells me that it's not safe and I shouldn't do it… All I have to say is drill, drill, drill. Find your weaknesses, drill the living shit out of them, and walk up to that bar like you own that mf'er every time you touch it. You are not a real weight lifter until you can pick up really heavy shit the exact same way you lift the pvc pipe, and until you can approach the bar without fear. Do not let fear be your limiting factor. Fear only exists in your own head. Learn good technique, trust in what you have learned, and turn off all hesitations. Your bodies are much stronger than you would believe, and your bodies will do whatever you force them to do. Your weaknesses are only in your minds, and your minds will give out long before your bodies are ready to. Get your mental game squared away, and you will impress everyone around you including yourself.
Great week this week, and looking forward to the next three.
