Shed WoD #15: The Chief

After yesterday's uneasy reentry into the WoD atmosphere, I wanted to come back hard today while making use of some of the new plates and Olympic bar I got for Woodshed Fitness over the weekend. So...we met "The Chief" at 0900 hours.

It was an interesting 19 minutes, to be sure--form on the power cleans improved, then devolved while intensity picked up towards the end of the WoD. It's been quite some time since I hit a WoD whose pushups felt like rest, but I certainly "enjoyed" the 6 rep respite in between torching my quads and hips via cleans and squats.

That said, I'm reminded of the potential minefield that a difficult movement places within the multi-exercise WoD. I'd say that I spent a good 15 minutes prior to the workout just absolutely dreading the power cleans at 135 lbs, and sure enough I apportioned way too hefty a percentage of whatever mental and emotional energies I had at my disposal solely to the cleans--as a result, this felt less like a multi-movement interval based WoD meant to test power and endurance than it did a referendum on my power cleans with a sprinkling of pushups and squats as garnish. Not coincidentally, my squats were rushed and rounded. Focus on challenging movements is great; focus to the detriment of the remainder of the WoD is, obviously, not ideal.

Shed WoD #15: "The Chief"
Max rounds in 3 minutes of:
135 pound Power cleans, 3 reps
6 Push-ups
9 Squats
Rest 1 minute. Repeat for a total of 5 cycles.
Results: I hit this for rounds of 3, 3, 2 (plus 2 power cleans), 2 (plus 3 power cleans), 3.

For you: this simple challenge--during your next session, focus on bringing your best form and intensity to date to bear upon the movement you consider the second or third most difficult of your workout. After reading through this entry, you'll likely hit your most difficult movement with ample aplomb by sheer osmosis; now, make sure you're bringing that gut check to the movement you're dreading just a little bit less than whatever exercise it is that's got you cold sweating the WoD.