Crossfit log for Friday, December 20th: Bring Sally Up.

Last September Rich Froning tweeted a challenge to the Crossfit Community.

Jason Khalipa and his box answered with the following video:


So naturally every Crossfitter in the world had to give it a go.

I tried it in September at 95# and couldn't finish.

The Lyrics go:

Bring sally up, And bring sally down
Lift and squat, Gotta tear the ground

So, you guessed it, when they say "Bring Sally up" you get up, when they say "Bring Sally down" you squat. During the second line, you stay in the bottom position.  Every few reps of this you get a longer pause for the following lyrics:

Old miss Lucy's dead and gone, left me here to weep and moan

This is also while in the bottom position, for several seconds.  In other words: pure Hell.

The breakdown between the longer pauses is 8 reps, 6 reps, 5 reps, 12 reps.

On the 6 reps, I missed one (stayed standing for one rep), on the 5 reps, I missed another one and had to take the long pause before the 12 reps standing.  I made only 6 reps on the 12 before I had to rack it.

My mid back was so tight from trying to keep my torso upright, I couldn't hold the bottom of the squat.  And by the end my hips were screaming.

A couple of guys at the Y were game to give it a try.  We were supposed to be 5, but one was a no-show, and Ben bailed, so he was time keeper/DJ.  So it was me, Adam and Dave. 

This time, I planned on doing 65# or maybe 75#, but as the time to start approached, the more confident I felt that I could do 95#.

My recent mobility work, my bottom position is much better than ever before, and reading "Supple Leopard" last night, finally noticed Kelly Starrett's "all purpose squat stance" was a bit wider than my usual position.

I tried a few reps with a slightly wider than hip width stance, and it was night and day.  I did a few reps at 95# pausing at the bottom and I knew, I could do it.

So Adam and I did 95# and Dave did 135# (he is so strong in the squat)... and away we went.

The 8 reps went by without a hitch, 6 reps not problem. Coming out of the bottom for the set of 5 was rough, and in the middle of the set of 5 the music paused, so we were stuck in the bottom a bit longer. That sucked, big time. Coming out of the bottom for the set of 12 was torture!  But we were finally at the set of 12, the home stretch.

We made 7 reps and music paused again (bad signal at the Y, we really need to download the MP3 for next time), but this time when we were at the top, so it was a bit of a break. A couple more reps, and done.

We were all glad when it was over, no one more so than Dave at 135#. But he did it.  We all did. There was much rejoicing.

I was so pumped to have completed at 95# having failed last time, I think 115# would be doable. Next time for sure.