Olympic Weightlifting can feel a bit overwhelming after that initial stepping-up-to-the-bar moment. Where are my feet? Where do my hands go? How fast should I pull? When do I shrug? There are a lot of parts, cues, and different ways of moving to consider when executing the snatch and clean & jerk. I can remember starting CrossFit and laughing immaturely at the names of both movements, brushing off the idea of ever being good at them, let alone teaching them, but muscling through would only get me so far. It was only recently that I became very comfortable with performing these lifts, when I was forced
to improve for the Charles River Classic. How did it happen? Practice, practice, practice. Eric programmed different drills every week for me for a month to get ready for my 1 rep max attempts. I cannot tell you the difference it has made in my training. Instead of dreading my shoulders being smoked, fearing that I may not hit the weight I want, or any other bad habit I had picked up while lifting, I look forward to these movements. Now I just want to keep getting it right.
My story has a point. I want to encourage everybody who feels like they need a little tweaking in their Olympic lifts to give the Oly classes a try. Like anything else we do in CrossFit, practice is the way to improve. The classes consist of a detailed explanation of the lifts and offer an opportunity to think about what you could do differently next time rather than rushing to the next part of class. The variety of drills and exercises we have been doing are all to help break down the movements enough to give you a chance to get better at them. In just a couple weeks of teaching some of the classes I’ve already noticed a huge difference in form and confidence from a lot of you who have tried them.
At some point in your CrossFit journey you will be able to step up to a kettlebell, pull-up bar, or other object/obstacle and not have to think about what you’re doing. Your body just naturally moves the way you want it to, because you’ve done it so many times. That’s what we’re trying to do as coaches, especially with the more complicated movements; help you think your way through the safest and most efficient way to move now, so you eventually won’t have to think at all. Instead of seeing snatches, cleans, and jerks on the blog and staying home, you can look forward to these movements that I still immaturely giggle at.
February 21, 2012
Strength: Press 2-2-2-2-2-2
WOD:
3 Rounds:
15 Back Squats (50kg/35kg)
20 Double-unders
15 Ring Push-ups
20 Calorie Row
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Press: 44kg
WOD: 15:26 rx
Press — 33kg
WOD — 13:46Rx
Apologies to any/all who I kicked/stepped on during the Caffeinated Erika warmup!
Press: 65kg with some self inflicted chin music
WOD: 14:25 rx
Press: 62kg
WOD: 8:46 rx
Press: 55kg
WOD: 12:19 Rx
I love how my mood improves the moment I walk into the gym ^_^
Press: 27kg
WOD: 14:28
Press: 67kg
WOD: 7:42 Rx
Hey all:
I’ll probably post again tonight with my time for today’s WOD but I figured that people might want to take advantage of a deal that I just ran across. Inov-8s are on sale through the website Running Warehouse. f-lite 195s and 220s are both under $70 a pair. Pretty cheap if you ask me.
http://www.runningwarehouse.com/catpage-febMena.html
Hopefully this doesn’t come across as spam…
Press: 50 kg
WOD: 9:20 – Back squat and row were good. Other two movements, oof.
Agh!! I wish I had held off two days to order mine!
Press: 75 KG
WOD: 8:04 RX – tough wod to come back to after being on the 7-day sick list.
PP: 55kg
WOD: 11:49rx. Felt slow compared to the rest of the class. Killer times 6:30pm.
Press: 65kg
WOD: 7:29 Rx
Press: 33 kg
WOD: 10:30 rx
press: 65kg
wod: 10:17 rx. felt a little smoked right from the start. in hindsight, eating food today would have been a good idea…
Press 55 kg
WOD: 9:50 rx
Press: 50kg
WOD: 14:56 (double under substitute, otherwise, Rx.)