From June 28, 2021
I came back for another Workout of the Day (WOD) just 3 days after redlining last week.
Coming back wasn’t the difficult part, it was really whether I was going to complete it or not.
Today’s WOD included a variety of movements. Luckily with the practice that I had gotten with snatching from last week’s warm-up, I was quickly able to execute a similar movement called thrusters. Thrusters are a combination of a front squat, with the barbell at your shoulders, then into an overhead press, with the barbell over and slightly behind your head. I really had to make sure that I used full range of motion on the squat.
The WOD started with a 2,000-meter row on the rowing machine. If you’ve ever read the book The Boys in the Boat (I highly recommend it) or have read up on rowing, you’d know that rowing takes a lot out of you. To put it into perspective, you breathe as much oxygen in a 2,000-meter rowing race as you would playing back-to-back basketball games. Looking back now after redlining the previous week I feel super accomplished just in that one part of the WOD.
The next part of the WOD included 20 bar muscle-ups. Muscle-ups are difficult. They’re like pull-ups but you swing yourself over the bar. If you’re wondering, I can’t do them and I substituted them for another relatively easier shoulder exercise for reduced reps. After that was 40 thrusters. I used 5-pound plates at the end of the barbell. A combined 10 pounds with a 45-pound dumbbell may not seem like a lot but after 40 reps it takes a toll. Then after that, I did it! I completed my second WOD.
This also put into perspective what I’ve heard before and what I experienced in my first WOD. In these intense exercises, it may seem obvious that it is all physically challenging but it’s actually a big mental hurdle as well. Yes, redlining is still a thing. You shouldn’t push yourself if you’re physically not going to be able to keep going, but if you still have anything left in you, it’s much easier to have that little inner voice inside telling you to keep going. They always talk about this and it’s very cliché, but I don’t remember a time in my life where a voice like that has been so prevalent. Ultimately, I think that and taking an afternoon class instead of a morning class help me complete this WOD.