Lifting With Your Brain

Today's WOD was the kind that gets me out of bed in the morning. I love "oly" WODS.

20 minutes to find 1RM clean and jerk,
then every 30 seconds for 4 minutes: 2 power cleans @70% of 1RM + 1 jerk

It wasn't really my day to go to CF. I typically go on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but when I saw today's WOD, I wanted to go. I also measured out my week's schedule and realized that I can't go on Friday, anyway. A couple of weeks ago I lifted 95# which was my previous 1RM, and I was determined to get to 100# today. I did that and more, with 105# being my new personal record!

A point about performance that I understand with increasing clarity is this; the execution of every move must begin in my mind. Last night I found myself in phases of lighter sleep, visualizing the perfect clean and jerk. This morning when I woke up, I was thinking about everything I know about the move. Phrases such as "deep breath, keep the bar close, big shrug, throw yourself under the bar..." were running through my mind. As we practiced the moves in class, I made sure to "feel" the weight as I pulled the bar off of the ground, before I added any weight. "Fast elbows..." I would run through the movement dry before stepping to the bar. I tried not to fuss over the bar, but rather make my movement intentional so that when I stepped to the bar it was time to work, not time to fret about if I made it or not. At the moment that I finally grabbed the bar, breathed, and pulled, there wasn't a lot of thought. The thinking part was already done, programmed, settled. Now was the time to execute. It is bizarre how easy I find lifts to be when properly executed. From beginning to end it is as though I can't really understand how I get there, I just do. If I miss a lift or do not lift properly, it is never easy. There is too much thought, lack of form, or too much weight. It usually hurts to do it wrong, but a proper lift never hurts.

105# felt right today. I tried to lift 110#, but was unable to clean it, so I'll save that weight for the next time.

Congratulations to all the others in the class who PR'ed, and Wendy even made it onto the leader board at the box!