Fight Gone Bad is a workout which really emphasizes the mental aspect of CrossFit, a workout where each and every athlete is pushing for one more rep, pushing for one more calorie, push, push, push. In honor of that, and with just two days to go before FGB 6, Thursday’s class took the pushing aspect to a literal level.
We covered the snatch balance back in July, breaking down the three variations and the benefits of each. We paid particular attention to the pressing snatch balance because, of the three, it really drives home the need to “continuously [exert] force upwards on the bar” as you descend under it.
Thus, instead of pressing the bar upwards, you are pushing against the bar in order to drive yourself under the weight. Done properly, the bar should remain in the same place through-out movement, with only the body moving downwards in a controlled, even manner. The pressing snatch balance also has great carry over into bettering your overhead squat, which is convenient considering there were quite a few OHS programmed into Thursday night’s met-con.
The reps could be divvied up between partners in any manner, so long as each pair completed all of the assigned reps. Suggested weight for the OHS was “light,” meaning anything that would allow an individual partner to complete at least 30 OHS in two or three attempts for the first round, since, presumably, it would take more during the second round of OHS. Burpees were done “games style” with hands off the floor at the bottom.
The plate push was accomplished by placing a bumper plate (45lb for guys, 25lb for girls) on a towel and then pushing it across the court. 1 Plate Push = down and back the length of the basketball court. These were the clearly the killer of the night, taking a toll on everyone. It didn’t help that the more people travelled the length of the floor, the sticker the wood became, creating massive friction that took a lot of effort to overcome.
Definitely a grinder, and a lot of great effort put out by those who attended. For those of you competing in FGB this Saturday, be sure to rest up and come ready to throw down. Congrats to Dian (above), Ethan and Tex who already fit their FGB workouts in Thursday night and all set some impressive scores. I’ll send out an e-mail confirming the times requested. Be forewarned that if you plan to simply drop in, heats are pretty full.
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That was the most awful workout I’ve done in a looooong time. It was definitely one of those where I hated it during but loved it afterwards. Thank you for such an ass kicker coaches!!
Partnered with Amelia for the first time and it was a lot of fun!! Thanks for keeping me going!
I used 45lbs for the OHS, did 2 rounds of 15 for the first 30. The first round of burpees were bad but wasn’t horrible. I feel like I was letting Amelia down on the plate pushes – I hit a few quick rounds at the beginning and at the end, but the middle rounds I was just sloooow, whereas Amelia was still moving. The floor definitely got stickier as we wiped them clean and then sweated all over them.
The round of burpees after the plate pushes were almost as horrible as the plate pushes. I think Amelia and I did the right thing when we just went straight into them after the pushes instead of resting. It seemed easier to just keep the heart rate up there rather than letting it slow down then spiking it up again. I thought I was going to pass out and/or throw up after the burpees though. I think coach Chris saw me and thought I was going to die 🙂
The last OHS weren’t as bad as I had imagined. I think having to really stabilize and control my breathing helped calm me down and thus not feel like death. Broke the 30 into 20 and then 10.
Sorry for such a long-winded comment, but it was such an awful/awesome workout that I really wanted to share how I felt. Also interested in hearing how everyone else felt. Were the plate pushes worst for everybody?
And big props to Dian, Ethan and Tex for completing FGB!
Dian was amazing! She just kept going, especially on those box jumps! I know a lot of people resort to step ups when they’re tired, but I think Dian only stepped on 3 or 4 of them and jumped on all the rest. That was really impressive. Awesome job Dian!
Good luck to everyone who’s doing FGB tomorrow and have fun!
Congrats to Dian, Ethan, and Tex!
FGB vets – any advice for first-timers?
7:30pm on the court, last night – MADNESS. Like the insane asylum version of a playground…
That was one of the most ass-kicking workouts I have ever experienced at CrossFit DC. The humid conditions in the gym did not help much (if at all).
Snatch balance: I like performing snatch balances; in fact, I like them so much that I have dedicated a few Wednesdays to practicing them. I usually perform heaving snatch balances then, but last night forced me to do pressing snatch balances. No worries: I just loaded the bar to 65# and cranked out a few reps.
Met-con: I used 65# for the overhead squat (OHS) and the 45# plate for the plate pushes. Sebastian was my partner; we did the first round of OHS with ease (each one of us did two sets of fifteen reps).
Burpees: SBV and I did staggered sets of ten reps each. Again, no problem.
Plate pushes = almost a near-death experience. Problem. 🙂 The lead that Sebastian and I had was almost eliminated with this exercise. I found out that once I got my wind on each rep, I was able to traverse the court without stopping (but I did slow down several times due to the friction on the floor). There wer times near the end of this ordeal where it was hard for me to catch my breath. With each rep, my quads and glutes were burning. But we made it through.
[Try doing plate pushes while wearing weightlifting shoes. I did. It wasn’t pretty. :-)]
Burpees, part two: We each did staggered sets of five. When will this agony be over? 🙂
OHS, part two: We each did three sets of ten reps. This was the recovery part, for I could feel my second wind (or was it third wind?) coming on strong.
Thanks to my partner, SBV, for pushing me. I have to thank Coach for pushing me as well. There were instances where I did want to quit, but I just could not quit like that.
That that does not kill me will make me stronger. 🙂
Congratulations to Dian (who looks great in that picture), “Easy E” (Ethan), and Tex for completing “Fight Gone Bad.” I would have cheered you three on, but… 🙂
FGB 6: My advice to anyone with big feet (or who is tall or both) is to start with the rower. For me, it takes a few seconds to get in and out of the rower; therefore, I can use the one-minute break to strap myself in without losing time in the process. My two cents. 🙂
I had to miss yoga last night. Oh well…there is always Sunday evening. 🙂
“Not too bad for an old man.” – CFDC’s own ODB (who is planning a 300 score for tomorrow’s “Fight Gone Bad”)
I had never done the snatch balance and actually liked practicing those.
Great workout!
I quickly realized I had too much weight on the OHS and went down to 35lbs.
The plate pushes were definitely the worst part. I felt like I could get through each one but would then collapse on the floor with my heart pounding. It was tough when it felt like there was no end in sight. Steph and I sped it up by starting to split them up. Once those were done pushing through to the end seemed doable.
See everyone Saturday!
Oh my gosh, I didn’t know I could make a face like that!
Thanks to Tom and Chris for having an early FGB for those of us with crazy Saturday mornings. Thanks to Amelia for staying after a tough workout to track my scores and Steph, also staying on after that brutal workout, for tracking our times. Thanks to all for the cheers and encouragement.
I scored 219 points an improvement of 60+ points from last year. Also, I recovered a heck of a lot faster after the workout as compared to last year (last year, I thought a firecracker exploded in my chest). Surprisingly, the push press was the hardest station. I thought I would do better there but my arms felt like gelatin by the time I hit the push press and my form was just crap so it was a disappointing effort.
Julia – First of all, I think you will crush this workout. Steph passed on some good advice last night. She said not to rest between stations but to try and knock out a few reps right away then take a quick rest if needed. Also, Tom B. kept reminding me last night to keep good form. My form was breaking down all over the place as I got tired. When I tried to concentrate on keeping good form the reps came easier. However you do it you will be amazing.
Also, anyone that got through yesterday’s met-con can handle anything. When I looked at the met-con last night I thought I was getting off a bit easy with FGB.
Good luck to everyone tomorrow. I’m hoping I can make it to the gym at some point. I spend most of my Saturday mornings chauffeuring my niece to her Saturday activities. I’m either the world’s greatest Aunt or a complete sucker.
Have fun all!
Big Swoll and I got staight-up nasty on this workout. It felt good to be back in the mix, i.e., not DNF’ing workouts. One of the best aspects of CFDC is the outside-the-box programming. Plate pushes (and partner workouts, for that matter) are not something you see on CrossFit.com or in most affiliate boxes. Same with sumo deadlifts, seated box jumps, and all the crazy variations of burpees we do. But, they’re a potent stimulus, and that’s why Tom and Chris program them. I love it!
First Congrats to Ethan, Dian and Tex on FGB.
@Julia – I second Steph’s advice via Dian. Get moving right away at the next exercise even if it is just one rep then take a rest and just go into it like it is just another workout. This will be a good one for you.
Onto Thursday’s Class workout:
I LOVED THIS WORKOUT. I partnered with Mackenzie and she rocked this workout. I used 65lbs on the OHS.
first 60 OHS: I knocked out 20 the first set and then 15 on the second set.
first 40 Burpees: they are what they are. I just did them and got them overwith.
Plate Pushes: Mackenzie and I went both lengths of the court for the first 10 pushes I know I was slowing down on the return each time so I suggested we switch off at each end of the court. Makenzie and I demolished the last 10 plate pushes.
Second 40 burpees: these were definitely slower than the first set but we managed to get through them fairly quickly. I think teph and Amelia had the right idea with getting right on the burpees. I think Mackenzie and I both took a break before the burpees
Second 60 OHS: I had a little stability trouble on the first set of these 60 so I only did 10. I think I did 12 on the second set and then cranked out 15 on the third.
Nice job to Steph and Amelia on that second set of OHS. We were well into ours when they got on the bar but they cranked them out so fast that they finished the workout before us.
Great work by everyone and once again I really loved this workout.
Sara actually really did like this workout, so much she did a bunch of extra plate pushes to help out in the 7PM class.
Great work by everyone with a real test of mental fortitude!