To RX or Not RX

On Tuesday I was reminiscing about the Hopper event, thinking about where I could have done better. There are several obvious places. In the first WOD, my unfamiliarity with OH squats slowed me down because I was unsure of my ability having never done a high amount of reps before. My pushups were extremely weak at the time and I had never done a single bastard. For the deadlift, I know I could have pulled more weight then I did. With all those people around your adrenaline alone is good for blowing a PR out of the water. I would have planned my attempts differently. For the third WOD, I was still getting comfortable with double unders, I had never done a single push jerk (only split jerks) and I forgot to kip on the toes to bar.

Since the Hopper I have done high rep workouts with OH squats, my push ups have improved immensely and I have done many bastards. My deadlift is still right around where it was, but I have a better idea of how to compete with it. My skill level on double unders has probably increased the most since the competition along with my ability and comfort with the push jerk. I am confident that I could have dropped a few places if I were to compete in the condition I am in now.

With that being said, during my reminiscing, I was trying to imagine lifts that I am not, at least, comfortable with. I feel pretty confident that I can complete any workout I am faced with as rx'd. Except, probably, below parallel HSPU! Don't get me wrong, I am a slightly old, slightly rusted, in need of an oil change, MACHINE at 3/4range HSPU. When I am forced to go the extra two inches to the floor, well, then I become, embarrassing. My max head to floor HSPU's is 12. From there my sets quickly go down to 4, 3, 2, 1 and of course 0's. Muscle fatigue sets in fast for me on "dome to floor" HSPU. One of my strongest weaknesses (its a play on words), and something I surely need to work on.

So, Tuesday evening, after having this conversation with myself during my car ride home (sometimes out loud), I checked the already updated Crossfit.com website. The workout for Wednesday was a whole shit ton of HSPU's (weird right?). My debate from the time I looked at the workout until the time I arrived at the gym (about 21 hrs later), was, to RX or not RX???

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
strict dead hang supine grip pull ups
head to floor HSPU

41:00!!

I hope whomever is reading this (besides myself) gives me enough credit to realize that I decided to do this WOD as rx'd. I am confident that I could have done this workout sub 20 without going dome to floor on the HSPU's, hell, I have done 21 in a row before. I decided to focus on a weakness and not worry about the time. All 84 reps were done with my head touching the floor and no kipping. All pull ups were done strict dead hang with supine grip. They were actually quite enjoyable due to the amount of rest I got during the HSPU's. Many times I experienced complete muscle failure. I barely even broke a sweat, I just couldn't physically push myself up on some reps. I failed on at least three HSPU's. I had to take my watch off during this because I was so embarrassed about my time. Whatever, now that I look back, I think I did the right thing. I am much better at dome to floor HSPU's having done this workout rx'd. Although, I am still have a long way to go!