Eight rounds of the interval:
:30 Max Thrusters (75#/55#)
1:30 Recovery Burpees
Score = total thruster reps
Post reps to comments or BTWB
EYE OF THE TIGER
Many people wonder or simply do not know where they should be looking during the Clean, Snatch, Jerk, and Deadlift. First, your eyes should not be looking in the same place for all of the aforementioned movements. Below is a short article by Donny Shankle regarding where your eyes should be during the Olympic lifts:
Looking forward will help tighten up your back at the start of your pull. Of all the musts to be applied, this is the easiest one to change which will give you instant PR’s. If you have a habit of missing forward then check on where you are looking at the start. If you are looking down, you will always miss forward because the back is not straight. Draw an X on the wall across from where you are lifting to remind you to pick your head up and look forward. Looking down at the start of your pull usually comes from people walking in front of you when you lift. The movement is distracting and in order to avoid this distraction you start fixing your eyes on the floor. Practice good etiquette in the gym. Don’t walk in front of anybody when they are lifting. Even on the jerk looking straight ahead is crucial. If you have a habit of looking up at the bar when you jerk, you will always miss out in front. This comes from a lack of confidence in putting the bar over your head where you can’t see it. Your eyes want to follow what you are lifting because this helps direct the muscles’ job. Your sense of awareness needs to improve and you have to get comfortable with putting the bar overhead without actually seeing it. If you look up at the bar the head will not come through the LOB. You may even end up pressing your jerks. Keep your eyes looking forward or slightly up but never down.
Regarding the deadlift, eye positioning should be set so that you can keep a neutral spine. This point of performance can be controversial, like the Roe v. Wade of weightlifting, but let me elaborate with a morsel of information from Breaking Muscle. By looking up when you start your deadlift you expose your neck to a ton of pressure, but when the neck is kept neutral that pressure goes into your shoulders and upper back. When you are in that proper position you can effectively brace your spine and transfer force from your legs into the bar, not using the neck as part of your force transition. Keep your chin tucked when you pull and look forward at the top. Again your neck simply stays neutral. Your neck is not your core, and it just holds your head up. When you here us yell “Relax your neck” during your deadlifts, this is the reason why.
DON’T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEXT VERVE GATHERING SATURDAY, MAY 3RD @ 3PM!! The sign-up sheet can be found at the front of the gym. We would really like to know how many people to expect ahead of time so we can pre-purchase tickets and have them ready before hand. E-mail annam@crossfitverve.com if you need anymore details
