Workout of the Day
“Mind Eraser”
AMRAP in 20 Minutes
7 Power Cleans (135/95 lb)
7 Burpees
200 meter Run
Notes
This workout is one of CrossFit New England’s (CFNE) official benchmarks, first posted on their website April 27, 2011. Check out this article written about this workout if you’re curious for more.
Coach Ben Bergeron says: “The beauty of this WOD is that because each movement doesn’t directly interfere with the other and requires only a handful of reps each round, you can really push hard.”
Let’s get after it!
Power Clean: This is a relatively light load for experienced athletes. Scale the weight back to something you can complete in 1-2 cycled sets throughout the workout.
(Programming Template: Week 7/8 )
Kesa, Rainer and Meredith think chairs are for the weak.
When To Scale and When To Go Heavier
The balancing act between performing workouts with their intended metabolic stimulus versus going heavier or doing a harder version and being slowed down considerably can be somewhat nuanced. Here is an interview with coach David where he discusses this balance.
What did your journey with approaching the loads and movements in CrossFit look like?
When I started CrossFit, I was self-teaching myself the movements, so I did what I could and then practiced the movements that I didn’t know how to do yet. It took me about a year before I was doing almost everything “Rx’d”. The culture back then was pretty different in CrossFit with much more emphasis on the goal of doing the workouts “as Rx’d”. Times have changed, and even here at CFSBK we deemphasize that aspect of training, but it’s still important to be pushing past our comfort zones with the versions of movements we select. I definitely was biasing a heavier weight and slower times in the beginning, which helped me develop the requisite strength to be able to eventually move the standard weights. Back then, if it said do 315lb deadlifts and I was literally slogging through single reps and taking 15 minutes to do something that should have been done in 5, so be it. We don’t need to always take it to that extreme, but forcing myself to do weights outside my comfort zone on a regular basis had a profound effect on my abilities over time. That being said, I still scale workouts when it makes sense. Last week’s 115lb hang power snatches were a bit too much for me, so I did them at 95lbs. It was still hard, it still sucked, but I was able to hit the goal of the workout while still challenging myself. Similarly, I often do 9 feet on the wall ball target, although I do try and force myself to go for 10′, even if that means I’m doing sets of 5. There is absolutely no shame in scaling, and most people in class will be modifying something on the workout which is exactly how CrossFit’s methodology is intended to be executed, that being said, its important to not always take the familiar or comfortable path. I say this about single unders versus double unders a lot. People get comfortable with singles, struggle with doubles and just resign themselves to always doing the single under version. I like to encourage people that even if you have ONE double under, do a version of the workout that forces you do to double unders. Even of the white board says sets of 50 per round and you’re doing 5 per round. That’s 5x closer to developing your skillset than doing 100 single unders.
How do I know when to go heavier during WODs?
When you feel like you “own” a weight or are able to hit sets unbroken, then it’s time to bump it up. Don’t get complacent with certain loads. For example, if you’re always doing 65-pound thrusters, even if it still feels difficult, you need to start gradually adding five to 10 pounds to push your strength and comfort level. A little weight goes a long way. Even if you just commit to doing 70 or 75lbs every time thrusters come up, it’s going to compound. You’ll realize you can still get through the workouts, and people often profoundly underestimate themselves in my experience. If you always swing the 16 kg kettlebell, start venturing out to heavier territory as long as you feel confident in your technique, which might mean going a bit slower or breaking up reps more. The strength segment in class is not the only opportunity to get stronger. Every workout provides opportunities to tweak the stimulus. You’ll have to dip into loads or movements that intimidate you a little if you want to get better. Don’t stress about being “the last person to finish the workout”. Literally, every day in every class someone is the “last person”, but you know what? They’re still miles ahead of the millions of people sitting on their couch.
Any parting thoughts?
Use your coaches as a resource! We want you to improve and will always let you know how a movement looks and whether you should scale up or back down. Let us know you’re trying to get stronger and we can give you some thoughts about how to modify your workout intelligently. Also, make sure you’re logging and writing down both qualitative and quantitative data! You’ll never remember to go heavier on that barbell if you can’t refer back to previous experiences. Focus on writing notes specific to how heavy things felt and whether you think you could have gone a bit heavier and kept your technique together.