It's Not A Coatrack (Strength Training Tuesday) - 04/05/11

In my quest for lean superhero-ness, I tackle the Strength Training Workout posted by Coach Wes every Tuesday at CrossFit Austin.

---

For most of my workout this morning, it was just me and another dude in the Craptastic gym. He was about my age, maybe a little older... classic apple shape... walking on the treadmill in a slightly hunched over position, his arms supporting his upper body as he clomped on the conveyor belt.

He looked fairly miserable and extremely bored.

I warmed up with 400m on the elliptical, some PVC mobility work, and a few deep squats to wake things up, then I made my way to the lifting cage to start my workout. Mr. Treadmill was on the hamstring machine – still looking miserable, but now resigned instead of bored – and his brown hoodie was hanging on the end of the barbell that was racked in the lifting cage.

"Is it OK if I move your jacket?" I asked him.

He looked surprised, then he moved his jacket and went back to his machines.

And that's when I realized it: three years ago, the lifting cage would have looked like a coat rack to me, too.

The barbells were something the 'big guys' would do.

And I most certainly would not have dragged the stool under the uppermost bar to practice chinups.

At that moment, I felt compassion for Mr. Treadmill and his workout rut because this morning, he didn't have a conversation with a barbell, visit with the demon that lives at the bottom of the back squat (G'Morning, demon! How are you today?), or breathe through the painful exhilaration of deliberate, chest-to-deck, elbows-back pushups.

Thank you to Dirty Deeds, for taking me to my first CrossFit Central Bootcamp... to Moxy-Boss for convincing me to lift heavy... to CrossFit coaches everywhere for spreading the good word. My workouts are often humbling or frexciting or annoying or enlightening – and on occasion, triumphant and joy-inducing – but they are never, ever boring.

And I will never mistake a barbell for a coat rack. For that, I'm grateful.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 – Strength WOD

4X 2 press + 3 push press
5X2 back squat @ 80% max
4X3 deadlift @ 70-75% max
plus... 1-3 chest-to-bar strict chin-ups between squat and deadlift sets

That was the workout; here's what I did:

4X 2 press + 3 push press: 65 - 75 - 80 (1 press) - 80 (1 press)
I couldn't squeeze out a second press at 80#, but the instructions were to go heavier than last week, and I did 78# last week.

5X2 back squat @ 80% max
120# + 1 chin attempt + 3 perfect pushups
120# + 2 negative chinups + 3 perfect pushups
120# + 2 negative chinups + 3 perfect pushups
120# + 2 negative chinups + 3 perfect pushups
120# + 2 negative chinups + 3 perfect pushups

A few words about my back squat: One of my struggles at the bottom, a.k.a., demon territory, is keeping my toes pointed straight ahead while I press my knees out. I've been working on minimizing the toe creep and today, my red Converse pointed straight ahead, even when my butt was smushing the demon. Yay!

4X3 deadlift @ 60-65% max
135# + 3 perfect pushups
140# + 3 perfect pushups
145# + 3 perfect pushups
145# + 3 perfect pushups

There are no chinups during my deadlifts because even jumping, I couldn't get my chin over the bar anymore. But my pushups were lovely.