2010.01.06

Today’s WoD probably looks a lot worse than it actually is – most people finished in 15 to 20 minutes. The warm up is pretty light, but that’s because the WoD itself works your legs quite a bit. That also means you should stretch out your legs (calves in particular) after the warm up.

Everything before the good mornings is all body weight, so you’ll be plenty warmed up by the time you get to everything that involves weights. That should make it a little bit easier once you get to the stuff at the end.

Warm Up
1 minute running in place
1 minute high knees

WoD
50 pushups
25 jumping jacks
50 air squats
25 jumping jacks
50 dips on risers/stackables
25 jumping jacks
50 lunges (each leg/side = 1 rep)
25 jumping jacks
50 jump box on risers/stackables
25 jumping jacks
50 good mornings with weighted bar
25 jumping jacks
50 air ball
25 jumping jacks
50 one-handed dumbbell swings (weaker hand)
25 jumping jacks
50 one-handed dumbbell swings (dominant hand)
25 jumping jacks
50 thrusters
25 jumping jacks

Exercises
· Air squatsStart standing, and squat down. You want a good curve in your lower back, and ideally your thighs should be parallel to the ground at the bottom. It helps some people to look upward at about a 45 degree angle as they do this, to help with balance & to make sure you don’t bend your back incorrectly.
· Dips on risers/stackablesThis should be pretty straight-forward, it’s just like doing dips off the end of a bench. Stick your feet straight out & keep your legs locked for the full rep. Use the same height as for the jump box (most people use about 4, with 6 being the highest).Scale down: Bend your knees. You’re not lifting your whole body weight that way
· Jump boxAgain, most people use 4, but some go as high as 6 risers/stackables. Make sure to look down as you jump onto the platform. You want to test it before you jump on it, but if you do slip or it’s unstable, looking down should help to prevent any injuriesScale down: Step up on to the platform & step down off of it instead of jumping. Keep as brisk a pace as you can
· Good morningsThe guys used 12 lb bars, most women used either 8 lb or 10 lb bars. Rack it on your shoulders, behind your head. Face forward, keep your legs shoulder-width apart, and keep a slight bend in your knees. Facing forward the whole time, bend over at the waist as if you were bowing. Your back should be straight the whole time. Come back up to finish the rep.
· Air ballGrab a medicine ball: people used anywhere from 8lbs to 16lbs. Holding the ball at chest level, do a squat. As you come up from the squat, throw the ball up in the air (the goal is about 2-3 feet in the air). Keeping your eyes on the ball, catch the ball at about chest level. Technically, that’s a full rep. Most people, however, just go right into the next rep, so it’s a continuous motion rather than stopping once you’ve caught the ball. The end result is usually that you finish your last rep in a squatting position, rather than standing.
· One-handed dumbbell swingsYou’re going to need the same weights for the thrusters, so pick a weight that’s comfortable. Most guys use 15 lbs, and the women usually use either 8 or 10 lbs. Keep your feet a little wider than shoulder-width apart, and bend your knees to about a quarter-squat. Hold the weight in one hand between your legs (the grip on the weight should be parallel to your feet), about knee/mid-thigh level. Keeping your arm locked, straighten out your legs (i.e. come up from the mini-squat) and swing your arm towards the ceiling. Stop at 45 degrees above your line of sight. Still keeping your arm locked, bring the weight back down to starting position, and bend your knees again. If you do it right, you shouldn’t have to bend over at any point, it’s just a bending/straightening of your legs (bending over with the weight is bad for your back).
· ThrustersGrab two dumbbells (guys mostly used 15 lbs, women 8-10 lbs). Hold the weights at about shoulder level, with your palms facing outward away from you. Do a squat. As you come up, shoot your arms above your head until your arms are locked. Bring the weights back to the starting position to finish the rep. As with air ball, you can make it a continuous motion, but the caveat is that you have to bring the weights back to shoulder level before you go into your squat.

Have fun.