Moving Weight!

WOD:

***OPEN GYM***

This morning being New Year's Eve Jerry allowed us the distinct pleasure of working whatever Girl, Hero, Benchmark, Barbell, or Olympic Lift our little hearts desired. So if we had some goal or PR we hadn't yet achieved in 2009 this was our chance to do so.

One of my goals was to get on the whiteboard for Men's Top Jerk - the top Jerk loads look like this: 275, 265, 255, 255, 255. I wanted 260 really bad and I was willing to lay the shoulder on the line as the sacrificial lamb in order to do so... until Jerry caught wind of my plans and nipped that in the bud real quick - coach style! Darn his care & thoughtfulness!

And just like that my dreams of a new Jerk PR were quickly vaporized but I was still able to have an awesome morning of some barbell & oly work. Here's the breakdown:

Front Squats 5 x 3
135 - 155 - 165 - 185 - 205

Deadlifts 5 x 3
135 - 185 - 225 - 275 - 315

Back Squats 5 x 5
135 - 165 - 185 - 205 - 215

Squat Cleans
135 - 135 - 135 - 135 - 155 - 165 - 185 - 185 - 205 - 205 - 205

Felt really good on all the movements this morning but I think I was most proud of my Squat Cleans this morning. I hadn't planned on even doing them but I had time to kill with the cruddy weather and all. Started with 135-lbs. on the bar and just planned to work on form & technique while making some necessary adjustments. One of things that I implemented that Jerry always talks about is setting up a little differently when it comes to cleans. A lot of times people get set up in a modified Deadlift position where the butt is a little higher than it should be. Jerry said I should try getting my butt down and getting the chest up higher but not high enough where the shoulders are no longer forward of the bar. From that position Jerry says to pretend you're a rocket when coming up off the floor - I tried that and found it to be very successful in establishing power off the floor as opposed to kind of jerking it off the floor. Using what I'll now dub the "Rocket Position" I also found it to be extremely helpful in getting the bar to the pockets during the hip extension phase of the lift. That combined with a little extra patience in the pocket realm made a WORLD of a difference in the lift for me. I felt like the weights were lighter and allowed for me to use speed to my advantage to whip elbows and body underneath the bar.

Another thing I changed up was the position of my hands and feet. I generally would employ the "thumbs length from the smooth" position and a more narrow foot stance but this morning I opted for a wider approach; I placed my the outside of my hands on the outer most power ring on the bar and I positioned my feet in almost a Front Squat position (not too wide mind you) and that seemed to help my elbow whip immensely! Like even after I did all that earlier barbell work I was whippin' elbows and getting under the bar quick! Felt good! The only reason I missed those 3 attempts at 205 was not because I wasn’t able to get under the bar, nay, I just couldn’t Front Squat that baby back up! At that point it was obvious that I was completely burnt from the strength work this morning so I called it quits for the day, completely satisfied with my work output and progress made as far as form & technique is concerned.

See you guys in 2010 – I’ve got a lot of goals in mind for the New Year. Maybe I’ll clue you in… maybe not. I’m also going to try and debut a new look for the blog sometime next year. It all depends on how badly my Photoshop skills need brushing up!

Is there anything you’d like to do or say regarding yours truly? Comments, questions, critiques, concerns? Sound off in the comments section!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Listening To: AFI - "Medicate"