Tuesday 101228

Snatch Day!

Today we'll review the skills from the past several weeks. Once we've gone through the Burgener WU, the skills transfer, and some 3 position snatches we'll do:

Perfect Isabel

Isabel is 30 reps for time of snatch. We're calling it "perfect" because you'll do 30 reps…perfectly (well close to it, right?!). No clock, load will be your choice nad biased to the lighter side, but the focus will be on range of motion, form, and technique rather than speed!

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David gettin down with burpee box jumps!

I had a great conversation about chalk the other day with one of our athletes and I figured I would share. This is really hard, but here goes. My name is Jon and I am a chalk addict. There, I said it. That feels good to get off my chest.

It started some time ago. At first I would only use it once in a while. On a really big day, like maybe some heavy deadlifts or working on oly lifts. Then my using became more frequent. Pull-ups, KB swings, muscle-ups. I needed it…..bad! It became part of my routine. If I didn't have it, I would become distressed like when I worked out at a generic gym and I forgot my iPod, which meant I had to listed to Madonna or Celine Dion or whatever they decided to pump over the stereo. It got in my head.

This abuse continued for some time. Then 2 things happened. First, I seemed to tear my hands fairly often. A little research confirmed that over chalking actually adds friction and can lead to hand tears. Then another thing happened – we opened a box and I realized what a pain in the arse it is to clean up all that chalk!

So I started to cut back. Not cold turkey, but little by little I would use less and less. Then I learned something else about myself. I had read about this phenomenon before, but I never thought it applied to me. I was wrong. Chalk was a built in rest during a WOD. When I needed a breath, I would walk over to the bucket and coat my hands. 10 seconds of instant rest. Damn it, I was doing that?! So now I'm on the road to recovery.

I wanted to share this because you don't have to make the same mistakes I did. You don't have to abuse chalk. The next time you're throwing down, think about just a light dusting at the beginning of the WOD, and resist the urge to re-chalk after every round. You may shave some time off your WODs AND save some skin on your hands. Please, use chalk responsibly.

6 thoughts on “Tuesday 101228”

  1. It is truly amazing watching the improvement in all of you that we are seeing as coaches in your O lifts. It makes being a coach very enjoyable.
    Talking with Shar, I know that these lifts can be frustrating and we may even nit pick a little. However, take a step back and look at where you are now with these movements as compared to where you were when you first started. Everyone is getting more proficent in these lifts and I want you all to see that. We expect you all to fight for perfection and everyone is rising to the occasion.
    All of our athletes are putting in the time and effort and it is showing and we, as coaches, are very proud of you! Keep it up!

  2. Hi, today Kristi and I went to CrossFit Firebase in Orlando…and we were the only athletes who knew how to do the Burgener Warm Up (did I spell that correctly?). AND, furthermore, we pretty much coached ourselves on the snatch…and that is because YOU coaches have taught us so well!!! Yay…

  3. My goal in life is to always be asking questions and learning. The best part about Evolve coaching is that you all beat me to the punch with my questions. All of you read me like a book and address what you see happening with me before I can get the words out of my mouth. This is a sign of good teaching. Know your students and know them well. This also shows the level of commitment from the coaching staff. I had no idea how to do an Oly lift before Evolve. I saw Oly lifting as something that the large Russian guys did on Saturday morning during “Wide World of Sports” (is that show still on???). As for the chalk, thanks Jon for the words of wisdom. I really didn’t know what the protocol was. Too much, too little, what to do? All I knew in the beginning was that my hands were bleeding and other people were using chalk. Less chalk = more better!

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