Wednesday's Workout

Strength Skill: 

• Deadlifts (5-5-5-3-3) 

Yeeeeah, booooy. I love deadlifts, even though:

1. I didn't even come close to my PR today (I topped out at 265 pounds this morning), and
2. I was sweating sheets of perspiration despite lifting slowly and getting plenty of rest between sets. "Time under tension," Tim proclaimed.

Metcon: 

• Run 400 meters 
• 20 kettlebell snatches (10 with each arm, 24kg / 16kg) 
• 20 box jumps (20") 
• 20 kettlebell snatches (10 with each arm, 24kg / 16kg) 
• 20 box jumps (20") 
• 20 kettlebell snatches (10 with each arm, 24kg / 16kg) 
• 20 box jumps (20") 
• Run 400 meters 

We hadn't done kettlebell snatches since December 1 of last year, but I still remember Mint's words of advice from that day: Wear a sweat wristbands down around the middle of your forearms to keep the kettlebells from bruising the crap out your arms. Ever since, I've kept a pair of terry sweatbands in my gym bag, waiting for the day I'd need to bust 'em out for a kettlebell snatch workout. Ten months later, here we are.

I didn't go RXed today. I gave the 24kg kettlebell a shot, but I felt like I was going to put myself at risk of further injury, so I set it down and picked up a 16kg kettlebell. In retrospect, I should have stuck with the RXed weight, or at least split the difference and gone with 20kg -- the 1-pood KB felt way too light.

Thanks to my stupid fracking ankle, my gimpy running remains agonizingly slow (I got passed by just about EVERYBODY during the first 400 meters), and my box jumps didn't exactly set the world on fire, either. But overall, this was a fun one, and thanks to my handy-dandy wristbands: No purple bruises.

Result: 10:44.

"I don't use sweatbands, and I've never gotten bruised doing kettlebell snatches," Tim told me as we strolled over to coffee after the workout.

"Yeah, but you don't have crappy, sloppy form like I do," I replied.