Thursday 9.09.10

If your bench press looks like this, take some weight off the bar!

Today we will hit the second "slow lift" in our week long power lifting meet. The bench press often gets a bad rap among the CrossFit community for not being a "functional" lift. I say, the functionality of any lift is highly dependent on the individual needs of each athlete. For most of us who are not football players, wrestlers, MMA fighters, or human car jacks, it is probably not the most functional lift we can do. But all of us should be capable of lifting heavy loads off of ourselves from a supine position. I can think of several emergency situations where strength in this plane of movement would be beneficial.

SWOD:
Work up to a 1rm for the day. Then take 65% of that and do 3 sets of max reps resting at least 2:00 in between sets.

Metcon:
Tabata Mash Up Fran:
:20, :10 off, alternating until you've done 8 rounds each of:
- Thrusters (95/65) *Power clean the bar into place for the thrusters*
- Pull Ups

WOD Tips:
For the bench press, use a medium to narrow grip with elbows in. This will have the biggest carry over to push ups and overhead pressing, and is more likely the way you would push a load off of you in real life. It also doesn't put your pectoral muscles in extreme stretched positions that can lead to injuries like a wide grip with your elbows out does. Set your 1rm for the day, then rep out 65% for three sets of max reps. Remember that mid-line stabilization is still important in this lift. Take in a lot of air and hold it in order to maximize your intra-abdominal pressure , your stability, and strength. Exhale at the top to avoid getting dizzy!

For the metcon, it doesn't matter if you start with thrusters or pull ups. You will be doing max reps in :20, resting :10, switching movements and doing max reps of the second lift in :20, then :10 rest. Repeat that process 8 times for 8:00 of total work. Your score will be the lowest number of reps in any set of pull ups and thrusters, then add those two together. If your legs are fried from the last two days of WODs, still come in. We will make it an upper body dominant WOD for you by subbing push presses for thrusters. It will be less effective overall, but will give you a good workout while giving your legs a break.

Post your bench press 1rm, your reps at 65%, and your Tabata Fran scores to the comments section! bc