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Other/Mixed Kettlebell Snatch Test vs. "Grace" (barbell C&J) workout

Other strength modalities (e.g., Clubs), mixed strength modalities (e.g., combined kettlebell and barbell), other goals (flexibility)
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Comrademode said:
I highly recommend looking into barbell cycling. It'll feel weird & may slightly mess with your technique for a bit but it'll make the process of this workout a lot less painful. Resetting for every people is awful & very energy taxing.

Well the workout as a whole is awful & energy taxing but you can make it less so!

A dry run may be a good idea just to get a feeling & to benchmark
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Yeah will have to find somewhere with the black rubber bumper plates... the gym I have used them at in the past is closed at the moment. Maybe I should look into a 30 day trial membership at a local CrossFit facility :)
 
watchnerd said:
If you're using actual good WL technique on Grace, you're doing it wrong. ;)

It's like a muscle clean with a forced eccentric slam down from the jerk and catching the rebound.

It's a distinct (and ugly) beast of it's own. ;)
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This is why I prefer to use kettlebells for high-rep "Olympic" lifting. Easier to cycle through without the nonsense of bouncing the bar off the floor (I've seen that and I can only imagine that it contributes to wear and tear). Doing 30 reps of long-cycle with 2x32 would be like meeting these terror birds.
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I did CF for a few years before I transitioned to KB’s/StrongFirst. My best Grace time was 3:48 RX’d so 135lbs. Some people have mentioned it here but quick singles are the way to go. Remember, if it’s a CF style event, you’ll have bumper plates so Clean, Jerk, drop to bar from OH to the ground, reset and repeat. Don’t try to cycle the bar and let gravity be your friend!

Good luck.
 
DannyHoj said:
My best Grace time was 3:48 RX’d so 135lbs.
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Nice job!

I just found the highlights reel from previous Donor Games open for this event and the women donors times are way faster than I expected! 2:05, 2:50, 3:19... If I can do it, this might be over even quicker than a snatch test.

Here is a highlight reel from last year's version of the event I will be going to on 9/17/22.

 
Searching the past videos for the Open event (competing by video submission), what she is doing here looks like a good strategy for me.

Really curious if I am capable of doing what she does here! I will have to wait a few weeks to try it, though... No CrossFit shenanigans for me until after my weightlifting meet on 8/11.

 
Another good example.

Definitely seems to be WAY more efficient to push jerk from the PC catch, as opposed to power-clean-stand, then dip-push-jerk. So that will be a new thing for me to learn to do.
 
Anna C said:
Definitely seems to be WAY more efficient to push jerk from the PC catch, as opposed to power-clean-stand, then dip-push-jerk. So that will be a new thing for me to learn to do.
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It is, and if the weight is light for you, you can and should do this.

I hesitate to give advice because my knowledge of OLs is rudimentary, but yeah, like I said initially, I'd stick with 5 reps a shot (less or more depending on your strength/stamina), dropping the weight in between, or dropping with a little control and hands close so you can stop the bar bouncing around too much and so you can start the next rep more quickly.
 
Long cycle kettlebell clean and jerk would be a more similar kind of effort. KB snatch, a single movement, makes use of pendulum and elastic mechanical properties that the barbell clean and jerk, two movements, doesn't. Crossfit CJ is not very strict, it's sort of a bar to shoulders, then shoulders to overhead anyhow. The crafty CFers catch the bar on the bounce after the drop and thus save energy on the clean. If you plan for 6 RPMs, you will be done in 5 minutes, less than that if you pick up the pace after 24 reps and you will do better than "the as fast as possible crowd" who will gas themselves. (When I was your age, Anna, I did Grace Rxed with crappy hips and no specific training for it in 4 .5 minutes. PC + PJ. Light weight. )
 
randyh said:
If you plan for 6 RPMs, you will be done in 5 minutes, less than that if you pick up the pace after 24 reps and you will do better than "the as fast as possible crowd" who will gas themselves. (When I was your age, Anna, I did Grace Rxed with crappy hips and no specific training for it in 4 .5 minutes. PC + PJ. Light weight. )
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Totally - the "take it out as fast as possible crowd" is almost comical to watch as they fade.

Yeah, Anna, when I say 5 reps a shot, I didn't mean burn through them - do them at a reasonable pace, then reset.
 
randyh said:
(When I was your age, Anna, I did Grace Rxed with crappy hips and no specific training for it in 4 .5 minutes. PC + PJ. Light weight. )
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Ha! I was there for that. I think it was the week I met you, I was on the platform beside you for that workout!

@Anna C - Back in my CF days (I know, I know). I could do Grace in a smidge over 2:00. I think 2:12 was my PR. It was a rounded back straight-leg deadlift into a muscle clean into a push press, drop and catch on the bounce. Not a pretty sight. I did rapid-fire singles, cycling the bar took more energy for me.
 
miked said:
@Anna C - Back in my CF days (I know, I know). I could do Grace in a smidge over 2:00. I think 2:12 was my PR.
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Wow that's fast! And quite a high intensity fast workout...
 
Alright, I got my first opportunity to do the full Grace today, 30 C&J reps with my competition weight of 95 lbs / 43 kg.

This workout was paced; sets of 3 every :30 and a minute rest after each set of 4 of these. Finished in 7:10.

Overall, not too bad! And yes, kind of like a snatch test, but different. Each effort is harder, and there are less of them. But the overall work feels similar.

I know my coach will have a good plan for next attempt's pacing, so I've got that covered -- but any technique suggestions are welcome!

The event is 3 weeks from tomorrow.

 
30 in 5 minutes is 1 rep every 10 seconds if you think about it.

I have nothing to add other than Brian Shaw crushed it in like a minute despite never doing it before, with an ugly snatch-like form, so being strong as hell helps a lot. I think you will crush it.

 
Very nice. This is what I would have wanted mine to look like, but I get caught-up with trying to get the RX weight as close to 5 minutes as I can without actually training for it (because I am an idiot). The RX is close to my bodyweight, and after the first 2 reps they get really ugly for me. I can't cycle either, so I do clusters of singles.

Snatch Tests have always been my biggest StrongFirst challenge (people who saw me on my last re-cert when I hit 97 know this ROFL), but the Grace WOD definitely felt worse for me. There seemed to be a lot more moving parts with a lot more load--way more things that could go wrong--plus the fact that I could get away with ugly reps to get a better time.
 
Anna C said:
Alright, I got my first opportunity to do the full Grace today, 30 C&J reps with my competition weight of 95 lbs / 43 kg.

This workout was paced; sets of 3 every :30 and a minute rest after each set of 4 of these. Finished in 7:10.

Overall, not too bad! And yes, kind of like a snatch test, but different. Each effort is harder, and there are less of them. But the overall work feels similar.

I know my coach will have a good plan for next attempt's pacing, so I've got that covered -- but any technique suggestions are welcome!

The event is 3 weeks from tomorrow.

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Good looking reps. Harder than the snatch test and will make the snatch test even easier than it already is for you.
 
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