CrossFit Total (Personal Record!)

After a long day that started at 4:00am, there is nothing like a good WOD to wake up for the rest of the evening!  It had been a while since my last "CrossFit Total," a benchmarking WOD used to gauge progress and shoot for personel records (PRs).  It consists of the following three olympic lifts:

1. Back Squat
2. Push Press
3. Deadlift

You get three attempts at each lift with about 3-5 minutes between sets.  Your best of the three is added to your "total," hence the name of this particularly nasty WOD.

My last CrossFit Total was 555, but I had a serious form issue with my back squats.  After taking the fundamentals course at Kitsap CrossFit a few weeks ago, I really made a commitment to myself and to the CrossFit community to keep the numbers, whether that mean form, reps, rounds, or whatever the "unknown" brings, as legit as possible.  It has really made a difference for me.  Really focusing on my form has decreased recovery time, increased real strength, and has aided my efforts in tracking my progress, which I am really obsessive about.

So, when I started my back squats, I tried for 185lbs, and had to dump the weight at the bottom of the squat.  Fail.  Turns out when you go all the way down to the fully extended squat position it is much more difficult to start the momentum back up.  I ended up with 165lbs.  The great news is, however, I PR'ed my deadlifts!  (see below at the moment of victory)

The moment of victory!  The bar is even bending a little bit :)

Despite the loss (not really... the initial number was tremendously inflated) of 20lbs on the back squats, I ended the WOD with a CrossFit Total PR.

Back Squat: 165lb
Push Press: 145lb (same as last time... I could have gone another five pounds, but I need some 2.5lb plates)
Deadlift: 255lb (PR)

CrossFit Total: 565 (PR!)