Those were the words of wisdom our coach was shouting last night at CrossFit as we loaded up our bars with more and more weight for sumo deadlifts.

Sumo deadlifts are very similar to regular deadlifts, your feet are just in a much wider stance. They still majorly target your butt, hamstrings, etc.


One of the guys at my gym showing off the stance

The movement is a little bit uncomfortable, until you get used to it, and because we had a pretty small group last night, my coach was able to work with me closely to make sure I had good form.

The first few sets were shaky, but by the end I was kind of rocking it.

I think I'm slowly, slowly started to create some solid muscle memory for good deadlift form.

Oh and I PR'd my deadlift last night --lifting 103 lbs. It's not a ton, but it's a definite step up from where I had been when I first started. So hey, go me!

The WOD last night was brutal.

• 1 min row for calories


• 1 min rest


• 1 min ball slams


• 1 min rest

Don't be fooled by the minute of rest. That was pretty much just enough time to jot down your numbers from the previous round and then run over and set up on the rower before it was time to get started.

After the second round, I didn't think I'd physically be able to do one more round of everything. My legs were exhausted, my arms were trembling from lifting the weighted ball over my head and slamming it into the ground.

I don't know how, but I managed to get through the last round, and my numbers stayed fairly consistent each round, something our coach really wanted us to focus on for this workout.



Round 1: 34 ball slams / 14 calories
Round 2: 33 ball slams / 15 calories
Round 3: 34 ball slams / 15 calories

My total: 101 ball slams / 44 calories

Between all the deadlifts and the squats during the ball slams, I had some major jelly legs going on as I hobbled out of the gym and back to my car.

And boy can I feel my butt this morning -- no flat butts over here.