Our next cycle, “Tommy V,” named after Petty Officer Thomas Valentine, pushes us with high reps of moderately heavy thrusters and rope climbs. We’ll be running the pre-test for this WOD on Tuesday, July 31st, so come prepared and ready with tall socks to protect the shins from the rope.
Rope climbs are a combination of upper body strength and lower body skill, requiring the ability to hold and pull while quickly raising the legs and securing the feet. For those with adequate strength working on their first rope climb, or who those who are slow at climbing, our skill work will be focused primarily on improving coordination and efficiency with the lower body. For those highly proficient with rope climbs, we’ll be focused on legless variations to improve grip strength and raw pulling power.
As the thrusters in Tommy V are heavier than normal, we’ll be working on building confidence at higher weights. After hitting heavy triples, we’ll drop down and get some higher reps in at a lighter (but still challenging) percentage. The goal is for this to translate into the ability to handle the load in Tommy V and break the reps into fewer sets or spend less time resting. For most people, the upper body strength is the limiting factor with thrusters, so we’ll also be working strict press into our strength work for raw pressing power.
In addition to our WOD-specific work, we’ll continue to work on pulling strength from the ground with sumo deadlifts, as well as handstand work to promote balance and stability overhead. Since we’ll have a decent amount of shoulder work this cycle, be sure to work on mobility, keep the weights at appropriate percentages, and do your accessory and recovery work as much as possible.
