2012:
In 2012 I did my first Crossfit Open. I performed much better than I expected and finished in 182nd place (SW region). The biggest difference I saw in most of the guys who were competing in the top 60 spots were that they were much stronger than me. So I hit the weights hard for most of the year. I boosted my strength numbers quite a bit. I did several competitions through out the year and placed well. (14th at Alpine Legends, 8th at Alpine Warrior, and 10th in the Colorado Open). Towards the end of 2012 I started lifting more and more and got hooked on this whole Olympic Lifting thing. From October through February I did almost exclusively Olympic lifting. And man did my lifting numbers take off.
I had a 235# snatch, a 300# c&j, a 405# squat, almost 500# deadlift. How could any light weight met-con phase me? I thought I was ready to take on the world.
I made one fatal mistake leading up to the open though.... I forgot to do Crossfit.
2013 Open:
I looked back through my training log and saw that I was sticking to my weightlifting religiously. Turns out that I had only done about 9 crossfit style met cons in the last 3 months. That isn't very much. And when trying to compete in a crossfit competition, not doing crossfit is probably gonna hurt you. So there you have it. It is not rocket science. I have lifting numbers that compete with even the Games athletes, but you have to also have the engine to go along with it. I was like a diesel engine with only 1st gear. Sure I was strong in the beginning, but not very fuel efficient, and wasn't able to work for long periods of time (like 17 minutes worth of time).
So where do we go from here:
Well I love weightlifting, and will still continue to have an emphasis on it in my training, but I will definitely make time for more met-cons and dare I say it.... Running. (gasp). I think my programming is going to start looking a lot like Outlaw Crossfit. A heavy emphasis on weightlifting/Gymnastics, with some short hard metcons at the end of every session. I will re-evaluate after a few months and see if I am improving or not.
Back to weightlifting you slackers:
So this is a weightlifting blog so lets get back to the sweet science of lifting. I have USAW weightlifting meet in May. This week is my last week at 100% until I test my maxes the week before the meet, I love max out days. And I love them even more when I get PR's. Yesterday I got a 245# snatch, and a 315# jerk from the blocks. The jerk took me 3 tries, but I finally got it. I wasn't staying back on my heels enough in the jerk and it was putting me slightly off balance. I also was dipping a little too much. As soon as I fixed those last two problems, the 315# jerk went up with (relative) ease.
I think my next post will touch on some technique stuff since I think most of you read this to try and dig something useful from it instead of hearing me whine about how I suck at crossfit. So look for that later in the week. Until then I will leave you with some homework. Try to get to an open gym, or weightlifting class on Saturday and dedicate at least 1 work out to squats and either snatch or clean and jerk. Do lots of squats. Also try to do mobility work every day this week. I do the 1st 4 episodes of mobility wod every single day. My squat has improved because of it. You should do it too. Every time you sit in front of the tv or computer, you should be improving your flexibility, not sitting idly in a chair. That is your homework. Squats and mobility.
I will leave you with an awesome video of Chad Vaughn
Also here is the same Snatch Critiqued by Chad Vaughn:
Carpe Ferrum my friends.
