Combo Press

 

 

 

 

 

“Strength” 

I have a love hate relationship with social media, but I really love Instagram and seeing the inspirational quotes and posts from the Crossfit people I follow. One post I saw this week talked about brick walls and how they are there to give us a chance to show how badly you want something. Our box brick wall says “Strength” and it helps me focus, get PRs, and I show it how badly I want to get stronger and better. I love setting up in front it-it has allowed me to conquer some heavy bars! Individualized training is the best!

One thing I have been learning through reading, my coach, and others I look up to is to visualize the lift or movement and use that to help get your focus before you step up and conquer it. Also breathing has been instrumental in getting through some hard lifts. It is amazing how a deep breath in can make such a difference, our bodies are such complex machines. When we learn to use our bodies to our advantage then it is just us and our goals! There are so many things to remember when lifting and pushing hard to surpass your goals-its not a magic trick or stepping up to the bar and going; it is truly a process and a journey.

Training: Coach Session
A: Build over 4-6 sets; 1 press + 2 Push Press

B1: KBS Max Reps 30 sec at 35#s
B2: Anchored sit ups, Max Reps 30 seconds
x4

 

For Times
50 Walking Lunges
25 Push ups

A: This was the first time I had done a combo press, usually we’ve only done one or the other. It is amazing to me how much stronger I have gotten to be able to do both presses and push-presses in the same combination. My arms were a little sore from yesterdays group class when we did lots of arms; but I was ready to do this combo! We were only able to get to 3 sets and the third set I needed a little assistance. Set 1-65#s, set 2-70#s, set 3-75#s. 

B1/B2: The Crossfit curse; when something looks easy you know it is going to kick your ass! There wasn’t anything easy about this combo-although I did appreciate my coach not putting on the timer because I get distracted by it and try to count my reps; this time I can honestly say I was just concentrating on getting those swings in. Sit-ups are getting better for me I feel like I have more strength and get move faster. For each round of KBS I did I increased my sit-ups each time until the final round where I did the same amount. 

 

For Times: 

50 Walking Lunges: Since I have gotten more focused and because I like to know what are good goals or good times I asked my coach “What I should shoot for here?”  He said,  “Under 3 minutes.”  “Really?!  Under 3 minutes?! I said, I’d be happy with under 5 minutes.” No under 3 minutes” Okay coach!  LOL! I got focused and for this he did put on the clock so I could see where I needed to be and watch my rests. I tried to work on just brushing my knee instead of slamming that sucker to the ground, because there’s no cushion there–trust me I have done it too many times. So I got to work and man did those buggers burn! I did about 10 and shook out my legs, then 10, then 15, then 10-15 until I was done. I stopped taking breaks or watching the clock, because at one point I just wanted to be done. What do you know…I did it under 3 minutes with time to spare! 

 

25 Push ups: I had to do full on regular push ups touching my chest to the abmat. I don’t think they were very pretty looking I felt my body feeling like a worm going up and down while I did the push ups. By this time my arms and body were pretty well fried. I just wanted to get through these and it took everything I had left in me to do that. 

 

 

 

I truly feel blessed that I can go to my coach and ask his advice and I get the truth, not just something I want to hear. I had registered for the Wodapoolza because I really wanted to do it. For a scaled competition it is incredibly difficult but I had high hopes that I would get it done. I asked if he thought I was ready for the competition and he told me he is afraid it will leave me frustrated and disappointed and never wanting to compete again. I value his advice, I love crossfit and he knows me as a person and knows my abilities and my goals. So sadly I won’t be doing the competition in January, but I did register to do the Big Dawg OPT competition. I know I will probably have to scale the WODs, but I want to do it to see where I fit it-for fun!

My goal for December is focus and as this week has come and gone, I know what I need to do in order to stay focused and continue on my track of greater goals! Sometimes there will be bumps in the road, but having the strength to endure those helps to make each of us who we are today! =)