crossfit fundamentals day 4–let’s get down olympic style

happy new year friends!

even though 2012 was a blast – i’m for sure ready for a fresh start – there’s just something exciting about the crisp & delicious smell of a new year – who’s with me on that?

i hope everyone had a safe and fun new years eve! i spent mine sipping wine and eating mini chocolate chip cookies, & judging jenny mccarthy’s horrible plastic surgery with good friends – it was delightful – and a great way to bring in the new year

i do feel sorry for the good serviceman that jenny mccarthy attacked at midnight – but i’m sure he’ll recover juuust fine

the crossfit box was closed today for the holiday but coach matt snuck us in so we could work through the fourth day of fundamentals before getting back to the early work grind tomorrow

to catch you up (just in case) you can read about my private fundamental training sessions -  day 1 (overhead progressions), day 2 (squat progressions) and day 3 (lifting things off the ground)

i’ve been sleeping so late this past week – i’m not sure what 5AM is going to look like tomorrow!

after a nice day off yesterday i was pumped and ready to go. today coach matt said “olympic lifts!” YAY!

these would be fun. i just knew it.

as per the usual we started with a warm-up – jumping jacks, burpees, air squats & push-ups – then some pvc pipe work – stretching & we were back at it

today’s focus = two things – the snatch & the clean

sounds like a nice normal day at the office right?

we grabbed our pvc poles & got to work.

the snatch

the snatch was/is SO much fun – it’s probably been my favorite so far – which is kind of shocking because for my entire life (or weight lifting ‘career’) i’ve been deathly afraid of overhead exercises (lifting, squatting, etc) – i think that stems from my good old college volleyball days and dealing with chronic shoulder problems (popping out, pinched nerves, etc)

great video above on a how to

t-nation detailed article on the snatch

coach matt was super impressed because i actually got this olympic lift pretty quick – my biggest reminder and this is throughout all of the crossfit moves is keeping my lumbar spine engaged & the weight on my heels

starting stance is also super important too – here is a fantastic article on proper stance & set-up – coach matt would not let me go through the movement until my set-up was perfect even if that meant standing in deadlift position for 22 hours.

if only snatching a man was as smooth as snatching a barbell…

i was excited & super happy with how i caught onto this move so quickly – we worked through the session first with a pvc pole and then with weight (the weight we used was about 40lbs)

once coach matt was satisfied with my progress we moved on

the power clean

t-nation article on mastering the power clean

BA BOOM!  hah. this lift i liked almost as much as the snatch – for me – just as with the other lifts it’s important to remember that your lower body propels the upward movement – and your arms are more of a ‘guide’ function than to provide actual strength – it comes from your jump to your shrug – and then to guide the bar around

i could totally feel the difference in weight from when i had a good jump-shrug then from when the weight mainly came from my shoulders (which is what’s not supposed to happen)

this especially shone through during the end of workout WOD which included snatches

after progressing through the two olympic lifts and pre-WOD coach matt and i went through a ‘proper row’

he asked me if i had ever ‘rowed’ before – i said ‘yes i had but i wasn’t sure if i was ever doing it correctly’

i hopped on and he corrected

the row

my main flaw – was making it more efficient by remembering “legs, arms, arms, legs”

extend with my legs, open my hips, pull the bar back, extend the bar back , & then my legs go in – before coach matt i was releasing with my legs too early and the bar would hit my knees – a definite no-go – on the recovery your arms go forward before your legs go in

as with most crossfit lifts – the power comes from your legs – legs legs legs!

check out these hotties showing off their rowing techniques…

once we were done coach matt asked ‘you feeling like working out?’ uh DUH.

like i would say no.

quote on quote from matt: “great today we’ll do a big boy workout – 12 minutes” – he also gave me the clean or snatch option – obvi i chose the snatch.

for the snatches i used the 40lbs that we had used during practice – this felt light at first but i wanted to make sure my form was good and toward the end of the workout it did get a little beastly. for the push-ups – i’m not near perfect form yet so coach matt has me doing knee pushups until i’m strong enough to chest-to-the-ground push-ups and for the 120m row my goal every time i got on the machine was to keep it under 2:00 minute average

i finished up 8 rounds with 4 snatches into the 9th round – it was intense and i could definitely feel my legs burning my the end

one thing i know i’m going to struggle with is comparing myself to others when i first start out – this is something i need to remember not to do – it’s important and so crucial to nail down form for the first couple of months before loading on the weight – so this is a note to myself to please please please focus on yourself through your crossfit journey

here is a really great article on the top 7 mistakes that crossfit newbies make.

it’s back to the grind for me tomorrow! i’ve been sleeping so late this past week – who knows what 5AM is going to look like tomorrow. i’ve got a rest day tomorrow and then my final day of training is thursday AM before work. after that i plan to hit my first official class friday morning!

hope you have a relaxing and delicious new years!

love to love you <3

-julie