Clean and Jerk | WOD 10.29.15

Every 90 seconds for 12 Minutes (8 working sets):
Performance: 1 Power Clean + Hang Clean + Jerk
Fitness: 1 Clean and Jerk (bail and reset each rep)

Start at 60% and add weight as appropriate. Work up to a max on the complex for the day, heavier than last week. 

Exposure 3/8
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5 Rounds Not For Time, or 15 Minutes:
10 Dumbbell Bench Press, as heavy as possible  
10 Erg Strokes
5-10 Floor Levers

Work up to a max set of 10 on the dumbbell bench press. Pull as hard as possible on the rower and record the lowest split you achieve each round. Scale to tuck levers as necessary or scale up to levers up and down (instead of just a controlled down haw we usually run them) if 10 is easy for you.

Post time/rounds and Rx to comments.

Griselle pulling hard at Fight Gone Bad 

• Get your yoga on with Jaclyn THIS MORNING at the new time of 9am! Whether you’re a seasoned practitioner or brand new to a yoga mat, Jaclyn will offer plenty of options so everyone feels challenged yet still comfortable in this Vinyasa flow class. Or check out Active Recovery at 7:30pm.

Bethany E. Shares Thoughts From the Starting Strength Fall Classic

Congrats to all our CFSBK folks who competed in the Starting Strength Fall Classic last Sunday. Superstar Bethany E. also competed, and sent us this cool write-up about her experience at the meet.

About six weeks before the meet I realized I needed to do some specific training, so I asked Coach Margie to write my programming and I switched to an Open Gym membership. I was nervous about squatting heavy for the first time since my second child was born. I had a few failed attempts at returning to heavier squat weights in group class that ended in injury and all seemed to point towards an end to heavy squatting for me. Margie’s program had me squatting three times a week which turns out to be very safe and highly effective. 

The day of the meet started EARLY—weigh-in started at 7am and it was in Long Island City so we all met at the gym at 6:30. I had not eaten or drank any water since 8pm or so the night before because it pays to weigh as little as possible to help your Wilks total. I missed the 56kg weight class by a pound and a half but tried not to care since there wasn’t anything I could do about it at that point. 

Squats are always the most nerve wracking part of a meet so I was happy that my first and second attempts felt smooth. Going on the platform and lifting in front of a bunch of people is always a bit of an out-of-body experience for me. Not having to wait for any cues from the judge was a complete luxury because I could simply look at the bar and then the floor and tune everything out. On my third attempt I hit a lifetime PR and long-standing goal of mine with a 200 pound squat!

My press was a mess—I did my opener but it did NOT fly up like it did in practice earlier in the week. My second attempt didn’t even come off my chest. My press training had been going well, but I guess under pressure I tend to resort to bad old press form habits because I’ve failed the same way at Strength Cycle totals (see the Mother’s Day Total video for example). Margie gave me some cues (hips forward, lean back) and had me practice them with the bar before my last attempt and I managed to pull it together enough to get 72.5 up on my last attempt. I had to use my hips a bit but that’s legit at a Starting Strength meet. Side note: be sure to ask Margie or Coach Jeremy about “Press 2.0” next time you see them. 😉

My deadlift opener felt pretty fast and solid at 215 so I decided to go off plan a bit and jump to 235. When 235 came up fine (despite getting one red-card from Rori who said I didn’t fully lock-out at the top), I decided to go for broke and try my old lifetime PR of 250. I didn’t even realize it until the announcer said it as I was approaching the bar that I was about to attempt a 2x bodyweight deadlift. It came up, it was ugly, my back was rounded, and I totally hyper-extended at the top, but I did it! Next goal is to do it but make it pretty.

Huge huge thanks and love to Margie for taking the time to write out both an A and B plans for attempts for all of the lady lifters. It removed any stress of selecting subsequent attempts and increased my total confidence because I knew that Margie wouldn’t have written down a number she didn’t feel I could physically accomplish since she’d already stated that the goal was to go 9/9 on all of our lifts and to do them with great form.   

I’ve totally got the lifting bug again and cannot wait for Iron Maidens in the spring. Meets are fun in that for the most part you’ve already put in the hard work and now you just get to show up and lift and cheer for and be cheered on by a bunch of other nice strong people. You don’t even have to load your own bar! 😉 I think the best part of the entire experience was by far the camaraderie and company of all the other awesome lifters, especially our crew from CFSBK. 

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