Thursday, July 21, 2011

Spotify and Sweet Snatches!

Spotify, music game changer.

Spotify, "all the music, all the time," is now available in the US, via invitation.  I just got my invitation this morning!  Their service is simple.  Literally just search and play, anywhere, anytime.  Their basic service is free, but for $5 a month, you can listen to songs without the ads, and for a well-worth $10 a month, you can listen to music on your mobile device, on or offline.  They essentially eliminates the need to copy music files and such!  This is a game changer.  Go sign up for an invite!


In other news, this week has been a week of PR's for me!  They are starting to mean a lot more since they happen less.  Today I got a 12# Full Snatch PR and a strict L-Pull-Up!



Let's talk about the snatch.  For a long time the snatch has been my least favorite lift mainly because I would fall backwards on my ass almost every time we did it.  The bar would land on me a couple times too.  The snatch is a harddddddd lift.  When I got my last Full Snatch PR of 68# in late May, I remember falling backwards with just the 33# barbell.  Even worse, the barbell landed right on top of me, right after our trainer Alex told Ana that it is pretty rare for the barbell to land on you.  My snatches were inconsistent.  I was at a 50/50 chance of hitting 63# and my 53# snatches were more like muscle snatches.  However, when I made my 68# PR that day, I remembered the weight feeling weightless.  Today I learned that the snatch is all about technique.


Rick had the magic words that gave me the confidence to perform awesome snatches today.  "Loaded hammies, big hips, high pull, drop under."  I started at 53# and quickly worked my way up to 83# (which I failed at since I started getting scared, mind not right).  Up until 80#, that weight still felt like 33#, when I was snatching correctly.  Otherwise, it felt very, very heavy.  Rick said being an inch off can be the reason why one would fail this lift.  It would have been great to PR by 15#, but I will take that 12# PR today!


My WOD Today:
  • Full Snatch: 5x1 (53#), 5x1 (63#), 3x1 (68#), 3x1 (73#), 2x1 (78#), 2x1 (80#), 5x1F (83#)
    • I did not fail until 83#.  All of those attempts were soooo close.  I was able to get the bar high enough.  I just failed to commit to it.
  • Practice stringing Power Snatches and Full Snatches
  • 1 strict L-Pull-Up during warm-up!
  • 4 rounds with 1min rest in between each round:
    • 4min AMRAP: 20 Sit-Ups, 5 Power Cleans 185#/135#
    • 4min AMRAP: 20 V-Ups, 5 Power Cleans 185#135#
    • 4min AMRAP: 20 Sit-Ups, 5 Power Cleans 185#/135#
    • 4min AMRAP: 20 Hollow Rocks (1 is back and forth), 5 Power Cleans 185#/135#
    • My score was: 3.5 rounds / 3 rounds + 10 V-Ups / 3 rounds + 5 Sit-Ups / 2 rounds + 15 Hollow Rock.  I did this WOD at 93#.
Mind right, body right, hit it right.  Next time I will get that 83# snatch.


P.S. I am looking for a lifting buddy.  Let me know if you want to be partners!!