Strong is Sexy

Pr’s at the gym tonight

1 rm clean: was 130, tonight: 140 ( did this a bunch of times-like 12- so could probably do more)

1rm jerk: was 125, tonight 135 ( need to work on my split a little more- got close when i tried 140 about 10 times)

Very happy with this progress. I haven’t had pr’s for a while with the tendenitis in my tricept- i kept things light for a while and tried to rest it. It felt good today for the first time in a few months.

Still woking on my muscle up. I can do the body horizontal and up high but just Started to get the violent forward kip. Feelin good that it’ll happen soon :)

why are muscle ups so damn hard?

i guess it will just be that much more awesome when i finally get one!

Todays goal: 1st Muscle Up

My goal for today is to get my first muscle up. I have been trying for months with no luck. I have gotten up in the low dip position twice but it happened so fast i didn’t have time to think to push up. After I got bicept tendenitis my arm has just felt weak and i haven’t been able to PR or even get near my PR for lifts like the press.. So i think my arm is feeling a bit better i have given it a lot of rest… So here goes nothing. FYI- If When I do get a muscle up i will be SOOOOOOO Exstatic.

Back to Basics-

My box is doing a back to basics week where we work on basic movements. I have been doing crossfit for over a year and a half and still learned stuff. So I will share some things I learned that might help you.

Monday- we did squats, worked on positioning of feet (slightly wider than jumping position, toes pointed out) and making sure chest is up, depth is low enough (below parallel) without your but coming dipping forward (called it the BUTT WINK). Everyone took turns going in the center of the circle and did a few squats so we could critique it and let them know what they need to work on. We also worked on front squats (elbows high and weight on heels) and overhead squats (focusing on keeping the bar over your heels and keeping your chest up). One thing I learned is when you come up from your heavy squat you should put your weight on the outside of your feet and as you push up push your knees out a little and act as though you are screwing your feet into the floor. Give it a try.

 Tuesday- we worked on presses. Started with the basic press- you should always start with a deep breath- hold it, keep your core tight, elbows high, move head out of the way as you bring the bar up, lock out and exhale. Then we moved on to the push press where we went up to the wall and put our shoulder blades, butt and heels against the wall. We then lowered/squatted until our heels came up off the floor (keeping shoulders on wall). That is how low you should go when you do the dip of the push press. So same rules apply here deep breath initiates the movement, hold it in, tighten your core, elbows high and weight on shoulders, dip down and explode up with legs and arms and lock out at the top and exhale. Then we did the push jerk (I never really knew what the difference was between this and a push press). With this movement you start in the jumping position and then do the same thing as the push press but on the way up with the bar from the partial squat (your not doing a thruster here) you actually lift your legs off the ground and move them out your squat position to catch the bar and then you bring your feet together and lock out with it.

Wednesday- we worked on muscle up progressions and handstand pushups. So there are two ways to do muscle up progression (there are probably more but we learned two). This is a way for you to get familiar with the movements of a muscle up so eventually you can start hanging from the rings and trying the real deal. Method 1- lower rings down to about your face height while on your knees. Go on your knees and hold on to the rings with a false grip (awkward feeling and kind of hurts but you will get used to it). Keep your elbows close together and pull your chest up to the rings, your head should be leaning backwards, then throw your head through the rings like there is a window there and your smashing it with your head and then push yourself up from the very low dip. They say it is like you are ripping your shirt off as you pull up  it is like you are at the top of your shirt pulling it down and when you throw your head through it is like your ripping it off ( don’t really rip your shirt off doing this.. haha). A second way to work on your muscle up and get a feel for the transition is to put a band on the rings and hold on to one end with your hand as the other is tied to the ring and sit in it (so hold onto it and have the band be behind you) and then you can hang there like a swing and lean way back and kip your head through the rings.  Then work on getting up from that low dip. At the top when you lock out keep your hands close to you act like they are in your pockets and turn them in slightly to help keep you locked up there. For handstand pushups you can start with a box and the easiest way is to put your knees on it and put your hands on the ground (facing forward) and keep your torso tight and vertical and lower your head down to a spot in front of your hands to make a triangle- so you don’t want your head to touch the ground in between your hands but up in front of your hands like it’s the top point on a triangle. Then once you have that down you can move onto your toes on the box and do the same thing (this adds more weight that you will be pressing up). Once you have that you can start on the wall- add 3 ab mats to the floor and kick up into a handstand and you can try lowering yourself until your head hits the mats and push yourself back up (if this is too hard try just holding yourself up there for as long as you can). Then as you progress remove a matt from under your head. Remember to keep your hands pointed straight in front of you and you want to keep your arms where you would for a press so you don’t want them to be super wide. Keep your glutes, abs and everything tight and point your toes- this helps keep you stable and keeps the weight in a straight line so makes it easier to lift. If you are close to getting a hspu or can do them you can try a kip. The kip is where you rest your head on the floor (preferably on a mat so you don’t hurt yourself- and you can put weights under your hands to make this hspu count as RX- to keep your head and hands on the same level) and have your butt against the wall and lower your legs to your chest and sort of turn your pelvis in (fetal position) and as your kick your legs up toward the ceiling/and toward wall you lock your arms out and push up. I got my first one yesterday J & am down to 1 ab mat under my head for hspu.

Thursday- today will be deadlifts and cleans. I am excited J . I hope they do one on split jerks & snatches next.  

Hope this helps someone.