Hang ‘em high

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Lately we’ve been doing a lot of 3 RMs (rep max) and 5 RMs in CrossFit. Those are great and really have their place, but I can’t tell you how excited I was when I finally saw an opportunity for a 1 RM on the board today. I was itching to get down and dirty with some heavy weight and see what I could really do.

Unfortunately the 1 RM was for a hang clean (curses!). Cleans are not my friends. Give me a pure press or squat and I’m a good, but anything that involves a clean and we’re suddenly enemies. I haven’t exactly grasped the right technique for a good clean yet, but I’m working on it. Luckily it was just a hang clean and nothing beyond that.

I was really surprised how good I felt through the warm up. I started with one of the light bars but quickly realized I could add a good amount of weight and still keep going. Once I passed the warm up (2-3×3) we had 4 sets of 1s. I was instructed to start at about 80% for my first, move to 90% for my second, max on the third, then try to push it a teeny bit further on the last.

The beauty of 1 RM attempts is they go fast and you get plenty of rest in between. The downside is you typically feel just as burnt out after 1 RM attempt as you do after 3-5 RM attempts. It’s crazy how 1 rep can you leave you feeling so hurt.

I felt like I was on fire… until I jumped from 70 lbs to 75 lbs. Man, those additional 5 lbs get me every time! I tried (trust me, I tried!), but I couldn’t get it. After a couple of attempts, I admitted defeat and called 70lbs as my official 1RM. I’m proud of that number, simply because I know that’s truly my 1RM max. Plus, I can only build from there, right?

The WOD that followed was pretty straightforward.

• 8 KB SDHP (I used 35lbs)
• 12 Pistols (one legged squats <- killer!)
• 24 DU or 60 singles (I went singles)
• AMRAP in 12 minutes

A couple of notes here:

1. Pistols hurt! They’re one-legged squats where you have one leg pointing forward as you squat down. It doesn’t sound bad in theory, but once I was trying to get down, I realized how hard those suckers truly are. We were allowed to do certain variations, so I chose to do them while holding onto a bar. It also helped to switch off legs each time.
2. I’m still no where near getting a double under. I’ve been practicing during warm ups for months and the most I’ve gotten is one at a time, never two. Le sigh.
3. I’m really good at pushing myself when I’m *this close* to completing a set and time is running out. I even surprised myself today how much I was able to push myself in that fifth round and still have enough will to push out 9 kettle bell lifts before time was called.

I made a killer breakfast afterwards.

Two eggs

BACON!

And a peach.

A delicious complete meal.

Have a great Wednesday!