The (mis)adventures and thoughts of an aspiring master archer, lifter, and fantasy author who happens to be irresistibly drawn towards wolves, raptors, and parrots. They may say there's no such thing as Paradise or Perfection, yet I'm still searching for them. Why do I keep searching? A voice speaks to me and says: "Search for Paradise and aspire for Perfection"...
So I have generally been trying to partition my training into a conditioning component (typically CrossFit or endurance work depending on what's on my barbell programming) and weightlifting. Today, I worked on endurance drills... after a general warmup, it was six rounds of three minute runs with a 45 second break in between. Suffice to say, I was thankful that I did NOT get lost in the vicinity of the gym and downtown! Suddenly, I understood why Coach J made a comment to the effect of it being a *tough* workout especially in the heat and humidity. He's a tough cookie to have done it in the mid-day heat versus the late afternoon I did this!
And then there was the clean & jerk training I did afterwards... suffice to say, I'm VERY thankful for Coach J even if he generally hung back because he was split between a whole bunch of athletes with varying levels of competencies and needs, including a little kid whose focus makes mine look halfway decent and two adults with some pretty significant injuries to work with and around. He's amazing at giving me very useful cues as well as reminding me when to stop and regroup. I tend NOT to remember when to stop while trying to hit perfection or at least as close as I can get to it.
Apparently with cleans, I'm not supposed to pull as high as I do with the snatch, and I'm actually supposed to wait a bit longer before I initiate the second pull. The second pull actually begins at the "pocket" and apparently is supposed to be much shorter and more abrupt than its snatch counterpart. And then there's my jerk... I've opted to focus on squat jerk because it's got far fewer degrees of freedom, which increases the probability of a long career in weightlifting and is actually more appropriate for me given my build. For the record, fatigued jerking is brutal, but it is a reality, especially if my lifts are relatively close to each other, like they were at X3 back in September. Semi-visible and semi-audible is Coach J, who is floating between multiple athletes, giving verbal cues, and/or doing his own lifts with the class to keep his own skills sharp.
And then there were the clean pulls to help me with my timing and positioning issues. These are typically relatively heavy, and Coach J was trying to get me to emphasize moving my knees out of the way quickly as well as getting my chest up, which in turn gets my knees back under the bar and maintaining balance. And then there's the issue of timing my second pull, which is supposed to happen relatively high up, but I tend to fire off way too early, which then hinders my ability to drop under the bar properly.
I had a little too much fun with I. Ramirez of Valkyrie Photography and my fellow CrossFit athletes after scaling 20.3 and completing it in 6:30 minutes.
Nothing like being among fellow CrossFit athletes on Halloween for a good grin!
And then there was barbell class, where I was working on snatches, primarily focusing on the high pull and power snatches, although I also had some fun with overhead squats. I'm also looking forward to the analysis from Coach J in the morning as well as corrective drills to help me strengthen my position and timing. Did I mention that I look up to Coach J quite a bit, especially with how he's able to actually give me good cues I can actually remember and utilize, as well as being a bit of a mentor figure despite being slightly younger than me?
I still struggle with NOT pulling the barbell during the second half of the first pull, although it's gotten a bit better with me starting with a wider initial stance combined with pulling my knees out of the way faster. The next challenge is to get me to drop at more than one depth and actually be able to control it. I do know it is a function of how high I actually pull the bar, although it's not the most linear of functions.
First... I dug up some old sheet music I haven't really touched in many years.
There's Tchaikovsky's Marche Slav, a rather watered down version admittedly, but still very entertaining and fun to play with.
And then there's Ippolitov-Ivanov's Caucasian Sketches, which I don't know too much about beyond that it's inspired by the folk music of the Caucasus mountains in Russia.
This morning, I had some fun with my barbell training, which included lots of critical fumbles on my snatches, but after observing the footage, I realized that I am too forward weighted and I'm STILL rowing the bar towards myself. My CNS is apparently a lot more fried than I thought from 20.3 with the 45x95 lb deadlifts and 45x135 lb deadlifts when I'm weighing in around 140 lbs. Those 135 lb deadlifts felt both easier and harder!
I did much better on the runs, and I was generally pretty consistent in my times on my shorter runs. The longer runs were a bit of an obstacle course because of the massive art festival next to the gym, but I think I still held up pretty well.
I hope to Rx at least one more WOD this season in the CrossFit Open. Whether or not it happens remains to be seen, but 20.3 was one I definitely scaled because I wanted to actually do the entire workout and see just how much progress I had made since February or March of 2018. So CrossFit Open was a repeat of 18.3, which was as follows for scaled: 21-15-9 reps of 95 lb deadlifts and hand-release push-ups followed by 21-15-9 reps of 135 lb deadlifts with a 50 foot bear crawl in between. This is FAR better than the 155 and 205 lb deadlifts and the handstand push-ups and handstand walks in Rx. All of this work is under a time-cap of 9 minutes.
I had a plan, and I stuck with it, which included pre-hydrating and taking a bit of First Phorm Project 1 and Ignition, doing the warmup prior to the WOD, and going into the WOD with my glasses off because I know I lost a lot of time in 2018 fumbling with my glasses on the hand-release push-ups and bear crawls, plus I notice I focus significantly better when I can barely see. Also, I had designated pausing points during the WOD, such as the transition from my final hand-release push-up to the 135 lb barbell and quick sips of water between sets of the heavier deadlifts. I was able to do 95 lbs unbroken without any issues, and I knew I could do 135 lbs unbroken... somewhat. I chose to break the round of 21 into sets of 7, round of 15 into sets of 5, and the round of 9 into a set of 5 and a set of 4. The result? Completing the entire WOD in 6:30!
And then there was the Halloween party that followed. I decided to test out my potential medieval garb and dress up as an elven archer, complete with Xibalba in hand.
So there's been some experimenting with my clean form because I have a tendency to row the barbell in past my knee as well as not having my posterior chain firing off properly. Coach J has had me experiment with changing my starting position yet again, including adjusting the height of my hips and/or the width of my stance along with speeding up my initial pull to give me LESS time to think about what I'm doing and just go through.
These are both with my higher hipped starts, complete with some cues to help me get started. Ideally, the bar path is almost entirely straight up. In reality with the way I tend to move, the bar tends to follow a much more curved path as I row it in. I get to work on my deficit deadlifts and pulls once more to make sure my posterior chain gets properly engaged as well as adjusting my timing so I can get a stronger clean!
Weightlifting has been a sanity saver in the absence of a reliable archery range and has actually given me far better results for the time involved, although I do try to get to a decent range when I can.
Monday was a pretty standard barbell class with hang power snatches, snatch pulls, and overhead squats. I was actually late for class courtesy of a doctor's visit that ran overtime and was in a bit of a mood from that combined with traffic and a less-than-helpful fuzzball.
First were the power snatches, where I still have a tendency to row the bar in as well as not always remembering to drop down fast enough. Apparently I also sometimes forget to get the knees back under the bar. It's a learning process, but it can also get pretty steep.
Then there were the snatch pulls to help with positioning, timing, and maintaining smoothness. Again, I do struggle there with my tendency to row the bar in, but that's where block pulls start coming in handy, as well as remembering some of the cues I've learned.
To cap it off on Monday, there were some overhead squats, which are my strength and one of my favorite, most comforting lifts. Granted, I struggle to get very much over my head, but if it safely gets over my head and stays up there, I can overhead squat it.
So today (Tuesday), I worked on some drills based on my observations of where I tend to struggle on my snatches. One thing I have learned from a mixture of working with Coach J and following sites like Ma Strength and observing other athletes is how to address form faults. Coach J has been especially helpful in teaching me what to look out for and what will likely help me reinforce better movement patterns. I ended up working on my drop snatches because I have some trouble dropping down quickly enough on my snatches as well as block snatch pulls because I have some trouble with timing and positioning on my pulls.
I do have a tendency to not be very smooth or continuous on my drop snatches and turn it into a bit of a piecewise function when it should be a continuous function where there's no abrupt change in direction. And then there were the snatch pulls from the blocks... Apparently I was able to finally figure out how to get my knees back under the bar in a timely manner, although it was very subtle and Coach J had to point it out to me.
I had to scale 20.2. I am NOWHERE near doing toes-to-bars. Even hanging knee raises are generally difficult for me. The 35 lb dumbbell thrusters and double unders aren't too bad for me, even if I will be slower than a tortoise.
Basically 20.2 for me as a scaled athlete was a 20 minute AMRAP of 4 dumbbell thrusters (20 lbs), 6 hanging knee raises, and 24 single unders. I was thrilled to have completed just over 22 rounds without any stops aside from when it got a little too hot and I had to shed a layer of clothing. My judge was amazing, and she crushed it at 27 rounds I think. I was just thankful that I didn't collapse, stop, have a hypoglycemia episode, or otherwise think I was going to die. This was nowhere as spectacular as my 20.1 performance, where I *almost* finished 80% of the WOD at RX, but still a respectable one given that I am extremely weak in gymnastics and usually fumble with the jumprope.
Coach J has taught me exceptionally well for breathing technique!
So circumstances got to where I couldn't make my usual class time on Friday. That's what Saturday is for.
This was a focus on clean & jerk, opening up with some triples at moderate-challenging weights, leading into heavy pulls and some moderate-challenging back squats. I generally notice that I tend to row the bar in and not keep my heels down long enough during the clean. By rowing the bar in, I'm not generating as much of the upward force I need to be able to produce a controlled squeeze that will then let me drop under the bar faster. And then on my jerk, I'm having some trouble dropping under fast enough, and I suspect it's a mixture of not enough explosiveness in my upward drive and not aiming the bar back far enough.
And then there were the clean pulls. I was pretty fatigued going into these, plus part of my circumstances of NOT getting to the gym yesterday involved some potential medical concerns. These were all done at 115 lbs, close to 95% of my 1RM. The benefit of the heavy clean pulls is that I'm forced to concentrate much more on smoothness, consistency, and positioning than on simply exploding upwards.
And then there was the back squat, which will help me build up the strength in my legs, core, and glutes to be a better lifter all-around. I'm especially trying to focus on my squats knowing that there is a very strong correlation backed by causation for enhancing my abilities to squat jerk. Ultimately, I want to move from power jerk to a more consistent squat jerk. I don't ever see myself ever becoming Lu Xiaojun or Shi Zhiyong, but I can always emulate them!
So I have some growing pains as I'm transitioning from being a split jerker to a power / squat jerker after realizing that I tend to do better with fewer degrees of freedom. My 1RM on my jerk has gone down significantly, but the name of the game is longevity, so I'm willing to take a temporary hit now for the long-term enjoyment of Olympic weightlifting and CrossFit.
I often have to do my workouts relatively independently because I choose to try and develop my power jerk into a squat jerk, plus the 1700 hrs time slot can be a little bit of a nightmare for me when I'm trying to share Coach J with a dozen other athletes with orthogonal needs. Luckily, he's also taught me many good cues to look out for as well as helping me program my supplemental drills.
Monday, I struggled massively on my clean and jerk once I got past my 85-90% mark. My last successful clean and jerk was at 100 lbs, although my form did fall apart because I'm not quite dropping down fast enough.
And then my three failed attempts, all about halfway through the jerk, where I didn't quite commit to the lift and therefore didn't drop fast enough. Part of the corrections involve working on both my jerk drive and then the tall jerk.
So some of the corrections I applied included the jerk drive, which involves a smooth dip and a forceful drive upwards, aka the first half of the jerk.
And then there's the tall jerk, which is effectively the second half of the jerk, where I'm extending my lower body and hitting the end of the jerk drive and then dropping under. This is a much lighter weight drill than the jerk drive.
And although my cleans are much, much more successful and reliable than the snatch, I still have some issues with my form, particularly in position and timing. I have a tendency to "row" the bar into myself once the bar passes my knees, so I have been working on deficit deadlifts to help me keep pulling until I reach my pocket. The massive acceleration is supposed to occur once the bar reaches my pocket, and that's where I have to work on my clean pulls. I also have a tendency to NOT squeeze upwards, and one of the cues I get as I pass above my knees is "chest up"... and every time I work on cleans or snatches, I can hear Coach J telling me "chest up" along with additional commentary based on what quirks I'm struggling with that moment. I usually don't hear a coach's voice in my head in their absence, but I think Coach J is getting through to my skull!
I still tend to pull the barbell in, but it looks like my balance and timing are getting a bit better... of course, I will most likely hear from him soon once he catches up on the dozens of other athletes he's working with and programming workouts and nutrition plans!
So I did a thing... I RX'ed 20.1. For RX, it was the following: 10 rounds of 8 ground-to-overheads at 65 lbs (snatch or clean & jerk acceptable as long as I lock out on top) plus 10 bar-facing burpees (both feet must leave ground at the same time when I actually jump over the bar) with a 15 minute time cap.
I had an amazing judge who also allowed me to be her judge as a practice for in case I actually have to judge other athletes. She also put up one heck of a fight in the SX division!
And of course, Killer Parakeet had to poke his head up a bit. Killer gave it 0 out of 10 stars, but I thought I did pretty darned well at RX by getting well into my 8th round! Then again, Killer tends NOT to enjoy CrossFit Opens very much. I didn't vomit or feel sick, and I didn't wind up in Xibalba or Tuonela even if I did taunt the Lords of Xibalba and the Swan of Tuonela quite a bit!
And then after watching my snatch and clean & jerk form go to heck in the name of CrossFit speed, Coach J gave me some accessory work for me to do to help me cool down and exit the hybrid Ranger / Barbarian state of mind that allowed me to do so well in this workout. Coach J knows VERY well what can happen if I don't do something about the Barbarian Rage courtesy of me acquiring a level of Barbarian once upon a time, and he also knows that my levels of Bard have helped temper the Ranger quite a bit.
I was able to get some work on re-educating my body on positioning and speed, including some buildup into squat jerk after working on some drop snatches, all at very light weights just to help get things to calm down.
And then there was the work leading up to squat jerks because they are much more forgiving than split jerks, plus Coach J thinks that I have the build and temperment that's much better suited for power / squat jerks along with a significantly reduced risk of injury. I am favoring squat jerks because that's one less degree of freedom for me to worry about in getting the bar overhead.
So as part of my quest to improve my snatches and clean & jerks, Coach J has given me drills such as deficit deadlifts / pulls, tall cleans, tall/drop snatches, jerk dips, jerk drives, and tall jerks. He's been amazing at giving me insights and feedback even when he can't be there physically (usually because he's either tied up with another athlete / class / family), and has done wonders for me when other coaches have had smoke coming out of their ears.
The drop snatch is to help me drop down under the bar faster and hopefully catch lower as well as improving my footwork. I tend to catch the bar really high, although I think my issues do arise from earlier in the lift due to questionable positioning during the pulls. However, it never hurts to work on simply dropping under the bar.
The jerk drive is to help me dip and drive the bar from the front rack position, so approximately half of the jerk. It's gotten better, but I do have a tendency to not be very explosive on my upward drive and not very smooth on my dip. This drill also helps me reinforce better starting position, particularly with the low and outward elbows as well as making sure my shoulders are up and my core is properly braced. I do tend to have some difficulty with the transition from the jerk drive into dropping underneath the bar, but first, we're working on my initial positioning to get some more consistency there.
Sometimes, I feel a bit impulsive and want to do some hypothesis testing. Today was a day for that because Saturdays tend to be my rest days. Tomorrow will be a hybrid barbell and endurance day after the disruptions to my schedule, courtesy of illness and a nuisance doctor visit.
Today's drill reminded me that I do need to work on pulling through the ENTIRE shot, which is a recurring theme that has also plagued me in Olympic weightlifting, where I've been shorting my pulls on my snatches and clean & jerks, especially when it gets heavy. Or my timing is just way off.
For anyone who's known me for a while, I think it's pretty well known that I'm a big fan of many Studio Ghibli / Hayao Miyazaki films. So as part of my hiatus from my standard mid/late Romantic era music, I've been digging up various pieces from Studio Ghibli films, particularly Spirited Away and Mononoke Hime, although I'm also hoping to find materials for Gedo Senki and Howl's Moving Castle.
Today, after a sudden change in plans revolving around a cancelled first aid class, I thought I'd have some fun with some relatively easy to sight-read material.
If my focus can hold, I may also have either another segment from Mononoke Hime or even a segment from Nightwish's "Imaginaerum" album. Realistically, my restlessness is a 12 on a scale of 0-10, so I'm just as likely to do an active rest day workout so I can get back on track with my Olympic weightlifting sooner.
