Monday, May 6th

A.

STRENGTH:

Every 2 Minutes, Back Squat

4 x 75% 2 x 81% 4 x 75% 2 x 85% 4 x 75% 2 x 89% Building on last week's percentage, in our second iteration of this rep scheme.

B.

Snatch Primer:

4 Minute EMOM:

3 Muscle Snatches + 2 Sotts Press Sets at 37%, 42%, 47%, 47%

Directly Into…

6 Minute EMOM:

1 Power Snatch Sets 1- 2 - 62% Sets 3-4 - 66% Sets 5-6 - 70%

On the Muscle Snatch, we are looking for a press to finish. There is no re-bend of the knees in the movement, and we are purposefully training the turnover of the movement at lockout. Keep the bar close, and be aggressive with the pull to punch.

Next, we have a single power snatch every minute building in load every 2 sets. This is a primer for our following part… our loads are intended to be light and fast. Let's confirm our movement here so we can bring our best technique to "Isabel".

C.

METCON:

“Isabel”

For Time: 30 Power Snatches (135/95)

"Isabel", despite sharing similarities on paper to "Grace" (30 clean and jerks), often feels quite different for athletes.

In "Grace", it is often a recommended strategy to open with a large set, finishing with smaller sets (if not singles). We can almost "outrun" the fatigue in such a fast workout. In "Isabel", naturally based on the athlete, it's often the opposite. We need to pace far more than the dead-sprint "Grace" effort.

When we slow on power clean and jerks, we can usually find that next single if we just get our hands on the bar. This isn't always the case with Isabel. Opening too aggressively can lead to a dramatically slower cycle time towards the end - if not some missed reps.

To find the right stimulus of the workout, it's less about going Rx. More about, finding a load that we can cycle for 10+ repetitions unbroken, when completely fresh. If we are beneath that, completing "Isabel" with 115/85, or even 95/65, is far better than grinding through a "heavy" workout. In the coming weeks and months, there will be plenty of heavy, grinding sessions where we want that feel. Not today however. Let's preserve the sprint.

Strategy wise, as we started to talk about earlier, it's often not the best idea to open up big (like we do in "Grace"). Moving straight to singles is a very common approach for many athletes, but there is no right or wrong here. The best way to think our strategy is to visualize the final 10 reps. This is the workout in "Isabel". We can grind out the last 10 in "Grace", but here, we are at risk of far more seconds lost in these final 10 power snatches.

The aim is to finish strong. To get the final 10 reps in the workout to be our most aggressive. It may not be our fastest (likely the first 10), but if we can back in to this workout, with those final 10 reps in mind as "the workout", we naturally start to gravitate towards an appropriate breakup scheme early.

Some example rep schemes, purely for thought. 5-5-4-4-3-3-2-2-1-1 (30 reps) 9-7-5-3-3-3 (30 reps) 5-4-3-2-1 (15 reps… and move right to singles starting with that final 1) 3-3-3-2-2-2 (15 reps), and move right to singles following)