Sunday, April 5, 2015

4/4/2015- Grid practice

We had our first Grid practice today and it was SO AWESOME! I had so much fun. It was definitely a huge learning experience. We had 6 people today (3 females and 3 males) and we ran everything like an actual match. The time frame was the same but Stephen cut down the reps since there were only 6 of us. We were mostly getting the hang of transitions, subbing in and out, and learning how each individual race works. Here is the summary of the day:

Race 1, 4:00, MF, trading off every movement:
5-4-3-2 of:
DB thrusters, 55-65-75-85/35-40-45-50
Burpee box jump overs, 30/24
Kelly started with the 5s, I did the 4s, and Jen did the 3s and 2s. I was paired with Tommy for this one. I accidentally ran out on to the floor too soon after he was done with the DB thrusters, I kept rushing the transitions. Oops. It took me awhile to get the hang of when I was allowed to switch out with the other person. This is why we practice. 

Race 2, 5:00, MMMFFF, bar cannot touch the ground, advance after every 8 reps:
32 hang power snatches, 175/105
This one was really cool. Before we started, we agreed we would just go 8 unbroken every time and then move to the next quadrant. It was kind of depressing how heavy 105 felt today, usually it wouldn't be an issue but I haven't really moved heavy weight in awhile and it was tough today, I really had to think before each rep to make sure I was in a good position instead of just bouncing it off my hips. Jen started, then I went, then Kelly, then Jen. I was paired up with Eric and he was being really encouraging even though he was in the middle of snatching. What a guy. Everyone moved the weight really well and we never dropped the bar, transitions between quadrants were good all the way through.

Race 3 & 4, 5:00, FF, 1 working @ a time:
20 DB snatches, 50
20 CTB pull-ups
2 rope climbs
20 ground-to-overhead, 105
This was pretty terrible. The transitions were confusing and we only had a minute rest before we had to go again. I started with 10 DB snatches then Kelly did 10. I tagged in Jen and she did 10 CTB pull ups and I finished them. She ran over and did the two rope climbs and once she was done she ran and tagged me in while Kelly started on the GTO. I think I did 6 reps and then Jen finished them out. When we did it the second time, Kelly did 10 DB snatches and I did 10, then I think Kelly did all 20 CTB pull ups? I can't remember. Jen did the rope climbs again and I started on the GTO. I think I only did 5 that time before Kelly took over and then Jen finished them. I was pretty disappointed with my performance on this one, I feel like I barely did any work and everything was too slow. My DB snatches were way too slow, although I didn't know I could just use the same arm for all of them so I think I'll do that next time. My GTO were also too slow and felt heavy. This race was really tiring. 

Race 5 & 6, 5:00, MM, 1 working @ a time:
20 DB snatches, 75
20 CTB
2 rope climbs
20 ground-to-overhead, 165


Race 7, 5:00, all go, 1 @ a time, start anywhere, can skip bars:
Clean ladder, 115-135-155-175-195-215-235-255-275-295-315
The clean ladder was one one of my favorite races, I always enjoy a nice ladder, especially if it's cleans! I wasn't sure how I would perform on this one since everything was feeling heavy up to this point. I knew I could easily hit 175 but I wasn't sure about 195, especially with no real warm up. The order was Jen, Wolf, me, Tommy, Kelly, and Eric. I ended up hitting 195! I caught it a bit low but I was pretty surprised I was able to even clean it. I was very happy with this.

Race 8, 6:00, MF, 1 working @ a time:
40 handstand push-ups
25 handstand push-ups, 5" deficit
10 freestanding handstand push-ups
This was my other favorite race of the day. I had done pretty well with the deficit handstand push ups at Pro Day so I figured this would be a good one for me. Wolfgang, Kelly, and Jen (I think) split up the 40 HSPU. Tommy and I did the deficit, he did 13 reps and I finished it out with 12. They were really easy and fast so that's good. Eric did all 10 freestanding HSPU. I've been practicing the freestanding HSPU with an ab mat, but Eric reminded me that in Grid matches they basically just do them on the ground with a tiny circle as reference, there's really no mat. So I need to start practicing the freestanding HSPU with no ab mat from now on. 

Race 9, 6:00, FFF, all 3 on the floor working @ once, cannot advance until all reps @ all 3 stations are completed:
7 OHS, 105
15 TTB
100 double-unders
10 pistols, 25
7 muscle-ups
This race was harder than I thought it would be. The overhead squats actually weren't that bad,  neither were the toes to bar. When I got to the double unders, things started getting iffy. I did 92 in a row and then stopped for a brief second before finishing the rest. This was really tiring. The 10 pistols were no problem because I did them all on my right leg, so they were really fast. I went over and finished Jen's pistols for her. This was another race where things were sort of confusing, I wasn't sure when to go over and help finish reps. Once the pistols were over, all three of us sort of just stood there and stared at the rings for a few seconds. My plan was to go 4/3 on the muscle ups but that didn't happen. I did 3 in a row and was shocked at how bad they felt. I did another rep, then I was able to string together two more. Kelly came over and did one rep on my rings to finish my set, and Jen finished Kelly's set. I think Kelly and I were both pretty surprised at how bad our muscle ups felt, because I know muscle ups are a strength for both of us. I like the aspect of being able to finish each others reps, that's pretty cool.

Race 10, 6:00, MMM, same as 9:
7 overhead squats, 185
15 toes-to-bar
100 double-unders
10 pistols, 45
7 muscle-ups


Race 11, 6:00, MMMFFF, relay:
15 wall balls, 30 to 10
80' handstand walk
10 burpee DB box-overs, 30/hand
9 bar muscle-ups
6 ground-to-overhead, 225
The relay was pretty fun. Tommy started with the wall balls, Kelly did the handstand walk, I did the DB burpee box overs, Eric did the bar muscle ups, Jen did 15 hang squat cleans at 85 (we added that in) and Wolfgang did the 6 ground to overhead. I was kind of hoping I would be able to do either the handstand walk or the bar muscle ups but Kelly and Eric were more efficient at those so I did the DB burpee box overs and those are no joke. It actually sucked a lot. It was also a 24" box which is tall for me. I knew I was going too slow but I really don't think I could have gone any faster, I was trying my best. I've never done those before and they are pretty awkward, and it got harder to step up on the box once my legs got fatigued. Looking back, I probably should have done the 15 hang squat cleans since Jen is taller than me but it doesn't really matter, I should be practicing all the movements anyways. 

This was a really fun day and I learned a lot. I definitely need to work on speed and quick turnover on all movements. It was pretty tiring, we were doing a lot of work for two straight hours. I'm looking forward to practicing again next week now that I have a better understanding of how the races work. I'm really thankful that Jen, Wolfgang, Tommy and Kelly took the time out of their Saturday to come down and do this with us. Also, it was really nice of Stephen to set this whole thing up so Eric and I could practice. Thanks Stephen! Can't wait to do it again next Saturday!

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