135 Ways to Impress Your Baby Brother (My 4th of July)

He's four years younger, but apparently we look like twins?

Holiday celebrations for me usually include some form of workout.  It honestly makes the day more fun, and I think it's really healthy to keep the "fun celebrating" from only revolving around food.
Mercer Island CrossFit typically offers 5 classes on Wednesday, but due to the holiday, there would only be 1 class for the 4th.  I was particularly excited since Jared (now bearer of his CF Level 1 certificate) would be teaching the class!  My mom was coming to watch and take photos (she's a champ), and my baby brother wanted to try CrossFit for the first time.


Jared and I arrived early so he could work on his medical school secondary applications (this will be an essay filled summer for us):

The WOD was a Hero WOD - a great way to celebrate July 4th and honor those who have served our country.


From the Mercer Island CrossFit website: In honor of USAF SSgt Timothy P. Davis, 28, who was killed on Feburary, 20 2009 supporting operations in OEF when his vehicle was struck by an IED. Timothy is survived by his wife Megan and one-year old son T.J.

—
WOD

“DT”

Five rounds for time
155 pound Deadlift, 12 reps
155 pound Hang power clean, 9 reps
155 pound Push jerk, 6 reps

*scale to your ability. keep good form

There was no listed female RX.

We figured the class might be a little light with the holiday...but boy were we wrong!

Jared got everyone warmed up - currently our box does a "warmup of the week" which we repeat each day.  It gives everyone a chance to improve their skills over the course of the week.

It's easy for the coach to laugh...he doesn't do the WOD!

After the warm-up, anyone who had not yet done July's 2-minute challenge got set up for pushups.  The specifics: as many chest-to-floor pushups as possible in 2 minutes.  My brother Max got to battle it out - and he did great!

Then it was time for the WOD.  Due to the great weather, a lot of us took our bars outside.  (And yes, I was wearing sunscreen as usual!!!)

Max cracked me up by asking, "Are you doing more weight than I am???"  He was fooled by my 15lb bar and mistook it for a 45lb bar. 

Max and Joel setting up!

The WOD was absolutely killer.  I'd never done hanging power cleans before and had falsely assumed they'd be easier than regular power cleans.  I decided to scale the 155lb RX to 65lbs - I figured my one rep max for power cleans was around 80lbs, so it seemed like a reasonable swap.

I don't usually think much about strategy on workouts...usually I'm just trying to get done with good form and without puking or dying.  But after reading All Around Joe's recap of the MICF 5k WOD, I realized strategy could be a big help in tough workouts!  I made it through all 12 deadlifts unbroken on the first round...and then realized I'd need to do a 13th deadlift after resting before I could start the hanging power cleans!  For the remaining rounds I did 11 unbroken deadlifts, rested, and then did the final deadlift so I could move right into the next motion.

Max rockin' the power cleans

The same held true going from the power cleans into the jerks...sort of.

I think I might've made it through the hanging power cleans unbroken on the first round.  But by round 2 I had to split it up...and by the final round, I could only handle two reps at a time...they killed me!  One great thing about going heavy in weight is it forces you to use good form!  No way could I have made it through the workout "cheating."

The push jerks were tough, but not as bad as the hanging power cleans - I've been working on not letting the bar slam down and bruise my shoulders between reps (although I still made sure to wear a tee shirt instead of a tank top to try and get a little extra protection).  Most rounds I made it through all six reps unbroken.

We were all dying on this WOD...thankfully Jared kept coming out to correct our form, encourage us, and remind us that the Hero WOD honors the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for us and our country - the least we could do was keep pushing through the end of the WOD!
On the last round, I wasn't sure how much I had left in me...but when Jared came out and gave us an update on the time, I thought, "I bet I could finish in under 20:00 if I really tried!"  And I did - I made it through all six of the last push jerks at once to finish in 19:13.
I realized today that I'd done DT once before in March.  On 3/20, I had scaled to 55lbs and finished in 15:24.  Even though it took me longer this time around, I'm proud that I could add 10lbs!  (I HIGHLY recommend tracking your workouts on WODClub or some similar site - watching your growth is a huge motivator.)

Plus, nothing beats impressing your baby brother with your Olympic lifting prowess!

How did you spend your 4th?  Can you outlift your younger brother?  Did you outEAT your younger brother?  What's your best weight/time for DT?