I think for quite a while when I see bar muscle ups programmed I’ve been telling myself it’ll be the workout I get my first one. And then I boldly walk into class and announce, today is the day! And then I fail, because it’s a skill thing and skills take practice. Strength-wise there’s no reason I shouldn’t have had them a long time ago. So, I’ve actually been practicing a bit and I’ve felt within 1% since I got a couple when coaches or friends have spotted me through them (fitness with friends is the best combo).
I was pumped when I saw them come up in class. I texted a friend: “I need you to be at 8:30 tomorrow for when I get my first muscle up.” This might seem so excessive, but I visualized getting it before going to sleep in the same way I would visualize a wrestling match. I knew exactly what I was going to wear and everything.
Now, by the time 8:30 class rolls around all of that is gone. I’ve been up for hours and already through my first focus zone for the day, so I’m kind of obnoxious and loud and it’s basically social hour la la land where I just get to be with pals for 40 minutes of bs’in before starting the workout. Poor coaches. I love it so much.
The METCON
20 tall burpee box get overs
30 toes to bar
40 db snatches
20 bar muscle ups
40 db snatches
30 toes to bar
20 tall burpee box get overs
10second count down and go. Burpee box get overs no prob. I have to modify toes to bar right now because of my lower back, but toes to chest-ish were fine. Dumbbell snatches scaled with a 20lb, awesome. Then those fricken bar muscle ups.
Somewhere between 9 and 12 failed reps I asked Coach Nick to spot me through one so I could feel the pattern. And here’s where Coach Nick shined: he told me no. He had been giving me little queues along my failed reps—all the things I heard but wasn’t hearing or responding to, like bring your hips up, pull down on the bar, be patient as you pull back from the kip. . . but in this little 30-second window he told me to rest—to step back and visualize myself getting it. He told me to approach it the same way I would a big technical lift like a heavy snatch or clean. And I actually listened. I took legitimate pause and cleared everything out of my head, jumped up on the rig and the next thing I knew I had done it. I COULD HAVE CRIED. It was so cool. I went ahead and failed a couple more times and got back to the rest of the workout.
Patience is to skills what grit is to a grind match. The mind-body connection for skill work is wild. I’m excited to practice more.
Two other skills I’ve been woking on a lot extra are in the handstand position and butterfly. Getting the butterfly pattern down was an accident—two weeks ago I was doing a workout with pull-ups and my default is kipping. But I was so exhausted and kind of dead-hang felt the butterfly thing happening and then just did it. Now I’m addicted to the party trick.
The other skill that is all about patience and relaxing (I think) is obstacle handstand stuff. When I finally got over an obstacle successfully this month it was because I slowed down my approach to the obstacle—when I was moving too fast the angle I’d push up with on my hands would also push my feet forward or back, but keeping my shoulders stacked and pushing up stabilized my position enough for me to bring the other hand up and walk across and back down. Super cool feeling, also a party trick, also still 95% not good at it yet.
Yay, CrossFit!
GLK
