« Monday June 17, 2013 »
Lessons from the Muscle Up by Coach Kelly
On a whim last week, I decided to try a muscle up. Due to some wrist/elbow issues, I had not practiced the muscle up in about 6 months. I had just spent an entire weekend with my ipad watching both women and men do 30 burpee muscle ups at the CrossFit Games Regionals. Jealous? You betcha. Impressed? Absolutely. Inspired? Uh-huh. In the gym that day, Chad was doing muscle ups as part of his warm up. That's right... his warm up. I watched as he effortlessly turned over the rings and pressed out at the top. I locked in each part of the movement into my mind. I told him I just wanted to try one to see where I was now so I could determine what I needed to work on.
I set up a box beneath the rings. I walked over to the chalk bucket, rubbed chalk on my hands and wrists then set my false grip. One, two swings, and pull! All of a sudden I was up, way above the gym floor, looking down at a very shocked expression on Chad's face! I know my face mirrored his, then it hit me - I just did a muscle up!!!
I was now a member of the 'girls who can do a muscle up' club. A 3 year goal of mine and my last 2013 goal demolished! I am still in shock that I can do this movement and am terrified that when I try again the skill will have disappeared. Other than the smile that's been on my face for the last several days, the muscle up has given me some perspectives I want to share with you.
Set audacious goals. If your goals don't challenge you, scare you, intimidate you, inspire or encourage you, they're not big enough. If you haven't already, go write them on our goals board, share them with your coach, be accountable for them. In fact, I want everyone to post your 2013 goals in the comments below. Own them. Don't worry if you don't get them. Getting a muscle up was actually my 2012 goal. They will come!
1. Practice. I know I said I hadn't practiced the muscle up in 6 months - well, that's true, sort of. Did I follow a structured muscle up progression? No. Did I come into the gym every day and try a muscle up? No. But... did I continue strength cycles, making me stronger? Yes. Did I do ring dips every time they came up in a WOD? Yes. Did I work on my mobility so I could improve my nagging wrist/elbow issues? Yes. If you don't know what steps to take to make progress, ask! Do WODs you don't want to, try out barbell club, and sign up for the events we have programmed for you. They're FOR YOU!
2. Be coachable. I am blessed to have an amazing coach for a husband. I get the benefit of his undivided attention at the gym during off-hours. We use coach's eye videos to analyze what I'm doing and how to fix it. You all have access to all of our talented coaches who have a keen eye for correction and cues. Ask them to watch you, listen to their feedback and implement it.
3. Persist. Do you know how many muscle ups I tried and failed? Again and again and again. This was the same for pull ups, snatch, clean, and jerk. You don't get better by hitting your mark everytime. You get better by learning from your missed attempts, correcting them and trying again. Don't be afraid to fail. Embrace it, learn from it, correct it and conquer it!
Get inspired. Get some new PRs!
Workout of the Day
A.
Six sets of:
Deadlift
(All reps must be performed with PERFECT mechanics!)
Set 1 – 3 reps
Set 2 – 2 reps
Set 3 – 1 rep
Set 4 – 3 reps
Set 5 – 2 reps
Set 6 – 1 rep
Rest 3-4 minutes between sets.
B.
Using 85% of todays heaviest single, complete the following on the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes:
Deadlift x 3 reps
Burpees x 6 reps
Post weight and number of burpees completed (60 = perfect) to comments.
Reader Comments (9)
Second, I've missed you guys between vacation and work trips. Hope to be back in the gym more this month.
Third, great WOD today. I had a great session on the dead lifts at first, knocking out a 1RM PR at 345#! But that proved to be my downfall on the WOD. 3 dead lifts per round at 295 (85% of 345) was just too much to handle. Fred and I both were struggling to get it off the floor on the 3rd round. 4th and 5th rounds at 275 were better but still unmanageable at that point. So I skipped out on a round of burpees to drop the weight down to 225# and finished with 54 burpees total.
Got through 3 rounds and 2 reps at 295 and then someone bolted the bar to the floor when I wasn't looking. Missed 11 burpees stripping it all the way down to 225 - 49 total.
Off to PT tonight to see if I can fix this elbow business.
Marian, hows the mobwod search going? Trying some triceps fascia tack and floss?
In fact, where are everyone's goals? Post them! Share them! Own them!
One of my reps at 325 was far from perfect. This led my back feeling a bit strained. So, I scaled the EMOM to 255 and managed 60 reps.
Glad to see that Mike F(irebreather) is back in the box! I look forward to seeing some good numbers on the whiteboard from the early classes. It'll give me something to shoot for.
I had a solid first day shadowing Coach Chad on the 9am class. It's a real change of perspective watching other people sweat and work while I stand and stare. Thanks for being my first guinea pig class! It was very exciting. You guys are a great and dedicated group. It's a pleasure to work with you.
Bradley "Soupbone" McDevitt