Author: Nick Momrik

I'm searching for my first hole-in-one. I enjoy being active and making things. I work for Automattic.

My legs have been really sore since Thursday…

My legs have been really sore since Thursday when we did front and goblet squats. I almost collapsed when I got out of bed on Saturday that’s how sore I was. It doesn’t help that I went hiking on Friday and walked 18 holes of golf each of the last two days. Who needs rest days?

I just got back from the Olympic lifting class at CrossFit Full Strength. I’ve really wanted to check it out, but this was the first time I could make it. Two weeks ago I was in Mexico and last weekend I was recovering from getting sick there. John, the Olympic lifting coach, was a key member of the 2005 Team Arizona Junior National Champions, so it’s a great opportunity to learn from him.

I got warmed up with a 500m row and then we started working on the snatch. To be honest it’s kind of a scary looking exercise because you are taking a barbell and weights from the ground to overhead in one fluid, but complex, movement. I’ve never done a snatch in my life so I got some special attention. I was able to learn the basics of the snatch quicker than most people I guess. John was impressed with how fast I picked it up and said it takes most people quite awhile. Of course I still was doing a lot of little things wrong and have a lot to work on. Felt good overall though and it’s not really as scary as it looks.

After the snatch, we moved on to power cleans, which I’ve done several times now in class. It was good to have John give me some tips because the clean in probably the exercise I feel the least comfortable with. In the back of my mind I fear the barbell is going to smash me in the face or smack my chin. It’s probably because of this that I don’t have the fast elbows yet when I get under the bar. It’s a work in progress for me.

I’m really glad I went to this class and I’m going to try and make it every week. Getting better technique will help me improve my strength and endurance, but will also make it safer for me to do the lifts and CrossFit WODs involving them.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up 400m Run…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 2 rounds:
    • Hip flexor stretch (45s each leg)
    • 10 Wall squats
    • Shoulder stretch with band
  • Tabata abs of choice

Strength
5 sets:

  • 2-4 Front squat, 3-0-X-1 tempo
  • 20s Rest
  • Max C2B or work on pull-ups
  • 2-3m Rest

WOD
5:00 AMRAP:

  • 15 Goblet squats (53# KB)
  • 30 Flutter kicks (each leg)

In the warm-up I did Russian twists for my abs with a 18# KB. For front squats I got up to 145# in the last set. In the first set I did strict pull-ups and got 4 in a row. Then I worked on kipping pull-ups the rest of the sets. In the WOD, I finished 3 rounds plus 15 goblet squats and 28 flutter kicks.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up * 2:00…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 2:00 Jump rope
  • Tabata isometric holds of choice, such as a wall sit, deep in air squat, top of pull-up, bottom of push-up, plank. etc.

Strength/Skill
5 sets

  • 8 RDL (65#)
  • 60s Rest
  • Max DUs in 45s
  • 60s Rest

WOD
5 rounds

  • 5 Deadlift (205#)
  • 200m Run

In the first round of strength/skill work I got 40 DUs. After that I think I somehow got into doing them for 60s and never even hit 40 again with the extra time. I finished the WOD in 8:53.

At CrossFit Full Strength Warm up 400m Run…

At CrossFit Full Strength.

Warm-up

  • 400m Run
  • 3 World’s greatest stretch on each side
  • 5 Turkish get-ups on each side (25# KB)

Strength
6 sets, 2 reps, 2-0-X-1 tempo, 2-3 min rest between sets
Shoulder press

WOD
8:00 AMRAP:

  • 5 Power cleans (105#)
  • 10 Burpee box jumps

For the shoulder press I did sets of 95#, 100#, 105#, 110#, 115#, and 120#. In the WOD I finished 4 rounds plus 1 additional power clean.

In Sayulita Mexico Warm up Max push ups…

In Sayulita, Mexico.

Warm-up

  • Max push-ups in one set
  • 3 rounds
    • 20 Box jumps (22′)
    • 40 Chair dips

Skill
Work on DUs.

WOD
24 minute beach and hill/mountain run.

I was able to do 32 push-ups without stopping, which is an increase of 4 after 2 weeks of the hundred push-ups program. Not very impressive. It’s moving me down to level 1 for week 5 (it started me on week 3).

Made some good progress with DUs. After about 10 minutes of practice I was able to string together 22 in a row.

In Sayulita Mexico Warm up Tabata Mash up…

In Sayulita, Mexico.

Warm-up
Tabata Mash-up

  • Jumping Jacks
  • High knees
  • Mountain climbers
  • Butt kicks

WOD
3 rounds

  • 30 Squats
  • 300m(?) Run
  • 20 DUs

The run goes down a small hill to some bars where I was going to do 5 pull-ups before turning around, but it turns out it’s a school so all of the kids and their mothers were lined up there.

I completed the WOD in 11:28. In the last round all of the DUs unbroken by doing single-single-double.