Motorcycle nomad Pat Sherwood is forced to embrace his weaknesses and finds he’s still got strengths.
I’m not a talented Olympic lifter, and that doesn’t bother me. I would get my ass kicked by Lindsey Valenzuela, Elisabeth Akinwale or Camille Leblanc-Bazinet using the same loading. I practice the snatch and the clean and jerk because of the positive adaptations they provide to my overall fitness.
With that in mind, I try to do 30 squat snatches a week just to keep my “skills” sharp. A few months ago I began this little ritual with 135 lb. Each week I would stay at the same weight or, if I felt froggy, bump it up 5 lb. These sessions are like a rushed heavy day for me. I don’t time them (just as I wouldn’t time a heavy day), but I move with a purpose and try to minimize my rest.
The heaviest I recently worked up to was 30 snatches with 165 lb. I was ecstatic! But given that we were about to begin a 100-day motorcycle journey through 16 countries, the only gear I decided to pack was a pair of wrist wraps and a jump rope. I was prepared for my precious squat snatch to go to shit.
That hasn’t been the case, though. My theory is that my normal training before this trip might have been slightly biased to barbell work. If that’s the case, it’s probably doing me more good than I realize to focus on running, body-weight WODs and WODs with light weights.
CrossFit has always professed that embracing the things you are not good at will improve your overall fitness in such a dramatic way that it’s tough to explain. I knew this already. So why am I shocked?