Getting back to the barbell. The question is what to do with it. And the natural answer is to squat! It was awkward to hit the gym at about 16.00 and there was no one else but me and Pauliina. Usually there's about 5-10 other people and maybe more on Mondays. Well, we worked for a while together before people started pouring in. I was still thinking whether to go for front or back squats after warm-up. Somehow it ended up in front squat, it felt more natural at that given moment, and I'm happy I did so. It was PR time! Afterwards a metcon I remember having seen done by legend Chris Spealler long time ago.
 |
| The King. Picture: @Rubywolff |
Strength.
- Front squat
- 2x100, 110, 110, 115, 115, 120, 120kg
- 1x125, 130, PR 135kg
Next stop at 125kg which felt light. She didn't give any slack: "put more weight on the bar". Yes sir. Next lift of 130kg was tight, no doubt it was heavy. My previous one rep max was 132.5kg so we were close. At this point I was done with the squats. I had the metcon looming in my sight already, anxious to hit it. But she had not had enough. "Today we'll take a new PR!"
Haha I love this woman. For a lot of reasons. But this was just something crazy. She was looking for that new record breaking lift and I couldn't disappoint her. Her eyes were glowing so I tried to answer with passion. Caught my breath, approached the bar, lifted it up, squatted and stood up, as simple as that. I'm very happy I was able to nail it! Old man can still make it happen =)
Squatting. Couldn't get the last lifts on video because there were too many people
Metcon. Time 9.09
- 5 rounds of:
- 7 deadlifts, 120kg
- 30 air squats
- 7 handstand push-ups
I went unbroken with the deadlifts each round. It's been a while since deadlifting last time. I took couple of reps prior to the workout with 100-120kg. It was mediocre weight. In a workout like this it starts to weigh more and more towards the end. Squats were bodyweight stuff. I had anticipated these to become an issue. I'm not saying they weren't but I got them unbroken too. It felt like the pace was getting slower towards the end. However, that seemed not to be the story as I look at the round times.
My first round was something like 1:35, and from then on the remaining rounds were about 1:50 per round, couple of seconds over that. That satisfies me a lot. Being able to keep up the pace with all the movements for the entire 5 rounds feels super. I don't wanna go running out of the gates but have a motor that can keep on running for longer time. It's a different game when you have a short workout.
Last Update Show of the Games
Handstand push-ups were the easiest of these movements. I was surprised I got them done so effortlessly, every round. Okay, there were "only" 35 reps in the workout but having a steady pace all the time might have brought more pressure on my shoulders but that was not the case. My legs were smashed after the workout but shoulders were feeling good. Breathing got heavy for sure but still manageable. Definitely a good workout that I suggest to everyone.
The weekend was full of Crossfit Games. Couldn't have asked for a better action! I was like a kid in a candy store when I was by my laptop watching the Games. Pauliina occasionally felt the spirit of the competition with me. Pretty awesome to have a wifey that shares the feelings with me. This competition is like the Olympic Games for me.
Jason Khalipa, finally finishing in 3rd spot
My prediction for the Top 5 were as follows prior to the Games:
Men
1. Rich Froning
2. Scott Panchik
3. Jason Khalipa
4. Matt Fraser
5. Ben Smith
Women
1. Valerie Voboril
2. Julie Foucher
3. Annie Thorisdottir
4. Jenn Jones
5. Kara Webb
On the mens' side I was close with those top guys. Those monsters were all in Top 7 in the final leaderboard. Fraser was even tougher than anticipated finishing in second and beating Khalipa in the process. Froning took 4th consecutive win which is something extraordinary. At this point there's no doubt - if there has ever been - who the king is in this sport. The fittest on earth, no matter what you throw at him, he'll smash it.
The ultimate Champ
I had predicted Valerie Voboril to step up on the first place after finishing 5th and 3rd on the previous 2 years. There were simply more fit women competing against her. Camille Leblanc-Bazinet was the woman to be crowned as the fittest on earth on Sunday night for the first time. This Canadian has always been one of the top girls but she didn't convince before. She really dominated some of the events, muscle-up biathlon pops up to my mind as first thought. She was crazy good! I was cheering for Kara Webb as she was on top of the leaderboard until 9 events. From then on there was a huge meltdown as she couldn't finish 2 workouts in a row and was time capped. That caused her to finally slide all the way to 31st place… I feel sorry for her, she fought bravely for those 9 events.
Anyway, the weekend was extremely fun and exciting to watch and definitely the best time of the year crossfit-wise. And I also get a big training boost for sure! Here's a link to the final leaderboard.
No comments:
Post a Comment