Snatch Work With Lots of Verbal Cues

There is a second coach who works with me extensively on my lifts and has been my technical go-to person the last several months when I have questions that start delving further into physics and/or need more unorthodox cues.  I have a tendency to start my pull way too early as well as swinging myself and the bar instead of pushing/driving upwards.

This is me working on my snatch pulls, which is probably 99% of why I struggle with executing snatches properly and missing on my heavier weights. It's the equivalent of Hydra or Bronco misfiring while trying to flip someone in the air.

And then there's the snatch.  The second one was a significant misfire with me pulling the bar into myself instead of pushing my way up.  According to Coach J, my third snatch was the best one because I didn't start the actual pull until I was at my pocket, my feet stayed in position at the top of the snatch, and the bar actually went further back, startling me a bit because I'm used to it landing a bit more forward.  With proper position, including my weight being more forward and properly getting into proper triple extension, I can also drop under the bar much more quickly, allowing me to catch lower.

Rex Rumble 8 2/n

Forgot to post these in the midst of intense travel, but here they are...

There was WOD 1, which involved maximizing ground to overhead weight moved in five minutes. Once the weight was selected, it couldn't be changed. I chose a 25 lb dumbbell after realizing that I can't snatch enough weight fast enough. 

Then there was WOD 2, which was eight minutes of pain of doing as many rounds as possible of the following: 10 deadlifts, 8 hang power cleans, 6 front squats, 4 shoulder to overheads, and 2 thrusters, all at 65 lbs. 

Then there was WOD 3, which was 8 minutes of the following: 500 meter row, 20 devil presses at 10 lbs, 15 box-overs, 10 goblet squats at 10 lbs, and 5 wall walks.  All I can say is... holy crap!

Post-Rex Rumble Fun: Clean Pull Fun!

One disadvantage to doing CrossFit competitions with fast, high-rep movements with cleans or snatches is that my form does go from standard Olympic weightlifting to quick cycling that looks and feels much more like dancing with physics.

The repair? Working on clean and snatch pulls from various positions to re-train the body on how to execute the pulls properly.  These clean pull + squat cleans are at 100 lbs, and these are designed to help me work on maintaining a controlled pull up until the pocket, where I explode up and catch the bar lower. I'm not too focused on how high I can get the bar, but rather dropping under it quickly.

Rex Rumble 8 1/n

Rex Rumble was quite the success for me - solid 4th place finish with the third highest overall score, being able to wall-walk to the prescribed line without vomiting or curling up in pure terror, and finishing a workout in under the time-cap.  It was rather like me going in as Free Shipping in a field with the likes Yeti, Hypershock, End Game, and RotatoR, but I kept on moving and didn't die or stop moving aside from pre-planned pauses to avoid frying.  Killer Parakeet almost always stayed close by, except for when I did CycloCross because I didn't want to risk losing him with the presence of the gym canines on the lookout for chewy items.

The four WODs were as follows:
WOD 1 - Choose Wisely, which was pick a weight and accumulate as much ground to overhead as possible in 5 minutes. Once the weight has been selected, it cannot be changed, but the movement can be changed. I chose a 25 lb dumbbell and stayed with dumbbell snatches all the way through, which allowed me to just keep going... and going... and going... and going.  The lighter weight did drop my placement significantly, but I do also think of CrossFit competitions as a war or a D&D campaign, where I may "lose" a fight to ultimately win in the end.  The 25 lb dumbbell was a comfortable weight that allowed me 127 reps, which was easily more than double the weight I would have accumulated on barbell snatches at 45 because I do lose substantial time loading the bar and I have to do a lot of resetting.

WOD 2 - Griptastic, which was an 8 minute AMRAP of 10 deadlifts, 8 hang power cleans, 6 front squats, 4 shoulder to overheads, and 2 thrusters at 65 lbs for my division. All I can say was... yecch! I got through five rounds plus a few deadlifts, which was far faster than my practice where I was just barely getting 4 rounds in, even with me freezing a bit with about 90 seconds left when I honestly thought I was going to vomit on the judge. He was very lucky...

WOD 3 - Gut Check, which was an 8 minute time cap of 20 calorie row, 20 devil presses at 15 lbs each hand, 15 box-overs (stepping allowed in scaled), 10 goblet squats at 15 lbs, and 5 wall walks. This was a TOUGH one for me, but I still finished this event third with a time of 5:39.  I was by far the last one off the rower, but I got through the devil presses, which were burpees followed immediately by getting the two dumbbells overhead simultaneously however possible. I took them like dumbbell snatches because they were light enough. I was also among the slowest to finish the devil presses, but once I got to the 20" box-overs, that's when I was able to accelerate.  Goblet squats? Also trivial, and I was able to put some pressure on the two front-runners. Wall walks? Lots of foul language, but I got them done one at a time, and it helped that all I had to do was get my palms past the prescribed line. Plus being allowed to "splat" down also sped me up... Suffice to say, I'm usually screaming in terror at wall-walks, but I actually functioned and just kept going without vomit or a change of underwear.

Floater - CycloCross. This was by far the easiest event for me, although it took me a while because wet, bumpy grass + sharp turn + road tires = I don't want to land in the ER.  I still held my own considering I went in at a significant disadvantage, but at least I didn't demolition derby the obstacles or get myself stuck mid-course!

There will be many, many more photographs coming in once Jorge Huertas Photography finishes processing and uploading the pictures, but I did get some from a nice volunteer on the CycloCross event, where I was probably going in at a huge disadvantage with road tires instead of mountain bike tires. Then again, I'd rather have a bike that I knew EXACTLY how to control it and what it can / can't / should / shouldn't do.

The first place winner in my division (Masters SX Female) was my fellow Hobbit at Iron Legion, who made sure I tried a few different strategies for WOD 1, which was known as "Choose Wisely", and WOD 2, which was known as "Griptastic".  She blew us all away in every event except for CycloCross, where I missed the opportunity to photograph her in a spectacular demolition derby moment truly worthy of Yeti.