Motivation
My family moved to California during the middle of my 5th Grade year. Being the new kid from Hawaii I guess I received some attention from the girls that the other boys didn’t appreciate. One Friday a group of guys approached me on the playground and told me about one of the popular girls. They told me I should call her a “Slut.” I didn’t even know what the word meant. I didn’t go along with it but by the lunch recess word was going around that I had called her a “Slut.” A group of her friends confronted me about it and I said nothing. I got a note from the girl at the end of the day. I remember reading it on the walk home from school. It was rather lengthy for a fifth grader. It went on to say that I had no right to call her that. That it hurt her feelings and she was surprised I would say such a thing. I put the note on my desk in my bedroom. I didn’t know what to do. I still didn’t know what the word meant. Well, my Mother found the note. I tried to explain to her what happened. She told me that even if I was telling the truth and never said it, I didn’t deny it when confronted by her friends. I didn’t stand up and defend her. By going quiet I was going along with the crowd and agreeing to what was being said. I also found myself in the Principal’s office on Monday morning. A number of lessons from this event. First, that my own Mother would turn me in. She taught me that to be a man I would have to take responsibility for my actions and that even though she loved me she would not defend me when I did something wrong. Second, going along with the crowd made me guilty of what the crowd was doing. These teaching points helped me navigate through my youth. I made several more mistakes that my Mother held my feet to the fire for which forged me into the man I am and strive to be today. The people and crowds we associate with do define who we are. What we don’t say can be more damaging that what we may have said. Character is defined by our actions. Take responsibility for your behavior and try to change for the better. Keep people of good character close and let others drift from your life. Thanks Mom.
Strength
Push Jerk – No split today. You must have the weight on your shoulders to successfully complete this movement. Drive through your heels and jump the weight off of your shoulders. Once you jump and the bar leaves your shoulders you need to drive your arms locked before your feet hit the ground. This will push you under the bar. Your knees will be bent in a 3/4 squat position. To finish the movement stand up. There is no pressing in today’s movement.
Workout Strategy
“Elizabeth” is a CrossFit benchmark workout that generally calls for “Cleans” Since “Cleans” are supposed to include the squat and we like to set standards we call this one Power Elizabeth which clarifies the clean to be a power clean. Ring Dips will be the limiting movement on this exercise for most people. Since this is a benchmark workout I want you to pick the level that will be the most challenging, that you can still complete in less than 12 minutes. Top times for this workout are sub 5 minutes. Figure out a strategy that will allow you to stay fresh on the dips. We want full range of motion on the dips. Most athletes will have to break up the power cleans as well so if you can do 21 straight, the weight is probably not heavy enough. Make sure you use the hook grip to save your grip from failing later in the workout.
| Workout of the Day | |
|---|---|
| Strength of the Day | Push Jerk: 5 Rep Max in 10 Minutes |
| Level 1:
21-15-9 Power Clean Box Dips |
Level 2
21-15-9 Power Clean, 95/65# Bar Dips |
| Level 3:
21-15-9 Power Clean, 115/75# Ring Dips |
Level 4:
“Power Elizabeth” 21-15-9 Power Clean, 135/95# Ring Dips |
Get more awesome: 33 Lunges
