Bar Muscle-ups, Rope Climbs and a Crazy RX

Last night I had my first rope climb at the box!

I've been sort of "reverse cherry picking" this week.  I wasn't really planning to go Monday or Wednesday but those days had programming I really wanted to work on, so I altered my schedule accordingly.

I knew I needed work on rope climbs and overhead movements, so yesterday's programming was perfect.

Our warmup this week includes bar muscle-ups.  I had to use the biggest band we have, but I finally got one last night!

Instead of a strength, we had skill work on the pre-WOD agenda:

I decided I've been getting way stronger and could finally tackle the rope again.  I went super simple, no fancy foot wrapping, and just kept telling myself not to look down.

I made it to the top for the first time since I was like 7 years old.  And I did it without gloves and didn't get a rope burn.  Score!

Next was the WOD.  I'd been thinking I could handle #65, so I went in and loaded my bar up. 

If you're confused, the workout went as follows:

1 Front Squat
1 Push Press (or push jerk)
2 Front Squats
2 Push Presses
3 Front Squats
3 Push Presses
and so on up to
10 Front Squats
10 Push Presses
then
9 Front Squats
9 Push Presses
8 Front Squats
8 Push Presses
and so on back down to
1 Front Squat
1 Push Press

(Also if you are unsure...this workout with 65 pounds was brutal.)

I got all ready to start and then started to panic.

Me: "Coach Corey, do you think I should scale?" Please say yes, please say yes.
Corey: "Nah, I think you are totally strong enough to do this."
Me: Panic panic panic.
Corey: "Tell you what - if we get to the 15 minute mark and you aren't halfway yet, we'll drop the weight down."
Me: "Okay." Hope!  Maybe I won't make 15 minutes and then I can scale down!

I started out fine but was doing push jerk instead of push press by about round 4.  I was able to get great depth with the squats, which made me proud, but boy were the push jerks killing me.  One thing that helped was to link the final squat with the first press (e.g. four front squats, one thruster, four push press).  It was so hard to stay on the bar.  I took a ton of breaks, but made the end of the 10th round by about 10:45 or so on the clock, so I knew I was in for the full RX WOD!

I kept reminding myself, "Corey thought I was strong enough to do it."

I finally finished just over 20:00 minutes.

 
Coach Corey snapped this gem after last night's 5pm class. I think it really speaks to the soul.



 

You tell me: Ever RX'ed a workout you didn't think you could do?  How do you fight the mental game and keep getting back on the bar?  Am I the only one who collapses after a tough WOD?  Do you have secrets for rope climbs?