Before I start referring to it without explaining, me and Botch have got ourselves a healthy competition going. I'm gaining on him in terms of strength with this recent spike in progress, having surpassed him on our Olympic lifts. It kind of started yesterday when we were doing the 5x5 squats and he had 15# more on the bar than me. The competitive side of me just wanted to load my bar heavier but I knew that I should stay within the prescribed weights. As far as squats, and strict press as we'll find out today, he's a stronger guy than me but I warned him that I'm gunning for him now. As long as this stays friendly, and I'm sure it will, there can't ever be too much motivation.
Strength:
1 Power Clean + 5 Strict Press
5 sets, work up to 65% of 1RM Clean and Jerk
1 Power Clean + 2 Hang Squat Cleans + 2 Push Press at 65-70% x 3 sets
1 Power Clean + 1 Hang Squat Clean + 1 Push Press at 75-80% x 2 sets
I knew that I was in for some trouble with the strict press. It would have been interesting to go for a 1RM today as my established max is 135# from April 2013 at the Oh My WOD competition in Brockville. Needless to say that working up to 65% of my max for 5 reps of strict press wasn't going to happen. That would have been 162#. I warmed up at 75#, 95# and then worked at 115#. By the the time the fifth set rolled around, I was happy to be at 115#. It was manageable enough to do all the reps but there was a bit of struggling near the end. These went by rather quickly. It was tough to watch Botch work at 135# and then 145# but I knew that I just wasn't there yet...
I noticed that we've been doing a lot of complexes lately in the strength part of our workouts. Rather than just maxing out a certain lift, we've been increasing the volume at lower weights to focus on technique. That's just what I think, could be way off the mark but you'd have to ask the programmer. First part, I worked at 175#. The power clean was no problem at all, nor were the hang squat cleans. It was, however, a good time to reiterate the importance of finishing the extension so I kept that in mind. The push press were heavy but I surprise myself with how much strength I can generate from my legs. After increasing the weight to 200#, I did the final two sets. Both cleans were good again. I'm really gaining confidence with this lift. I knew the push press would be heavy and almost psyched myself out on them. Again, though, I was able to use the dip and drive enough to get the bar overhead without re-dipping. Felt like a good weight to be at for the work to be done.
WOD:
12 Min AMRAP
Rep scheme: Sets of 2, 4, 6, 2, 4, 6, 2, 4, 6... of:
HSPU
T2B
C2B
Box Jumps at 36"
Wasn't sure what to think of this WOD as I prepared for it. My HSPU are getting really strong and I know that I love high box jumps. T2B are slow, as I've lamented about on here more than once, and C2B are like rubbing salt in the wound of my weak pullups. I kept up with Botch for the early rounds, getting through the round of 6 for a first time. He would pull ahead on the T2B and C2B but my box jumps and HSPU were fast. This trend continued for the entirety of the WOD and I could see that Mitch was ahead of us out of the corner of my eye. There was about a minute left on the clock, Botch was already on his third set of 6 HSPU and I was finishing my third set of four box jumps. I think he was 3-4 reps into his set when I got to the wall and cranked out all of my reps quickly to pull almost even. I was happy to have caught him but dreaded the fact that we were approaching the T2B with only about :20 left on the clock. If there was one thing that I wouldn't want to be the tie breaker between us, it's T2B. He got one rep and dropped from the bar. I got 2 reps and dropped. He got back up and got two more reps for a total of three. With a few seconds left, I thought I could get the two reps I needed but to no avail. I got one and, dare I say it, we called it a tie.
Final score was 8+9 (Finished the 3rd round of four reps and got 9 reps into the next set).
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