Today was a surprize:
10,9,8...1 Power cleans (at 135#)
2,4,6...20 Ring Push ups
I thought the difficult thing would be the cleans, but I was totally wrong, that was the surprise. I was doing a really, really good job of just pushing through the cleans, I never really wanted to stop. The weight might have actually been a little too light, although my form is still not perfect, and I could feel that I was using my lower back ever so slightly. However, I focused on finishing the workout as opposed to my technique, and I think that really helped. ...I was also surprised to find that I am incredibly sore, and it's only Tuesday!
What didn't help was my atrociously weak chest. I was crushing the workout until I hit 10 ring pu's. At that point, I hit a strength wall, and my body was simply too weak to keep up the pace. I had to start breaking the pu's up into sets of 1 or 2. I was honestly trying as hard as I could, but my pecs simply stopped responding to what I was telling them. I had to hit two, recover for like 30 sec, and the hit them again. This took FOREVER. I mean, I was the only one who was having this much of a problem. All in all it took me 32:02, by far the longest time.
I'm really getting tired of my chest being so weak. I've been pretty spotty with greasing the groove with regards to pu's, but I think today was a sort of rock bottom for me. Now I am determined to work on them throughout the day, every day. I will start reporting in on how I did, and this shall keep me inline. Kettlebell guy does this with the various challenges (e.g. box jumps) he competes in, so I'll do the same. Think I'll start keeping a record of how many push ups I do in a day.
The increase in oly strength juxtaposed to the weakness of my chest is very... not sure how to describe it. Frustrating, yet motivating? I feel that once my chest catches up with my lats and legs I will be officially jacked. Can't wait.
4 comments:
As I'm sure you know Ring PU's are a little deceiving.
In order to get stronger we gotta work the weaknesses; that's how we attain virtuous movement. Practice perfect pushups (as Jerry says: Chin, Chest, Hips to Deck, full arm extension!) do as many reps as you can until muscle failure and just repeat. You can do it dude, you're strong and yes, frustration is motivation, so do it!
Sean
Actually, from what I understand it's important to do sub-max reps of pushups at random times. E.g your max is 20 pu's, do do random sets of 15 throughout the day.
I believe you - you're more knowledgeable than I so go for it! I look forward to your progress.
LOL
Post a Comment