2010.02.17

Russ was a trooper today and went to CrossFit as Sam & I are both out sick today.  Today's exercise is based on how many rounds you can do in 20 minutes.  So ensure you push yourself and beat the person who did 17 rounds.  You can then treat yourself to some pie afterwards.

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Warm Up

5 Rounds - Every minute:

• 10 Push ups
• 10 Sit ups
• 10 Squats

Rest of the minute is rest time.

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WoD

20 minutes - Do as many rounds of:

• 5 Burpees
• 10 V-ups
• 15 Jump Box (use 4 levels, most guys used 5)

Aim to do 15 rounds.  The range of rounds done were between 13-17.

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Exercises

• Push ups
  Bring your chest to the ground.
  
  
  Scale down: Do them on your knees
  Scale down more: Use a wall or a ballet bar to push off against. Since you’re doing them at an angle, you’re not pushing your entire body weight that way.
• Sit ups
  Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other) if you can, since that isolates your abs. Also, don’t go past 90 degrees as you sit up (like I used to, as Al made a point of pointing out to everyone). In fact, try to stay at about 45 degrees – it forces your abs to stay contracted, so it works them harder.
• Squats
  Your typical air squat. Now don't cheat and ensure your thighs are parallel to the ground. Also your knees should not go over your toes when you do your squat.
• Burpees
  You guys know how to do these, but I figured the scale down’s might be helpful.
  
  Scale down: Don’t do the pushup, just shoot out your legs before coming back.
  Scale down more: Don’t jump, either. Just come back up to standing position.
  Burpees really, really suck: Don’t shoot out your legs. Essentially, you start standing, duck/squat down and touch the ground, then come back to standing.
• V-ups
  
  This is everyone’s favorite ab exercise: lie on your back, putting our hands parallel to the ground “above” your head (if you were standing, they’d be directly over your head). Lift your legs off the ground and bring your torso up at the same time to touch your toes. In essence, your body makes a “V” shape. Go back to lying on your back to finish the rep. Be careful about slamming your legs into the ground when you finish the rep, that can hurt your lower back.
  
  Scale down: Bend your knees as your bring your lower body up. You only have to touch your knees this way
• Jump Box
  Use those platforms & 1 riser on each side. Since it’s only one level, you’re not allowed to scale down to stepping up/down. The idea is to simulate jumping rope. Make sure to stomp on it hard once before you start jumping on it, to make sure that it’ll hold your weight. You don’t want it to move around too much. Also, as a safety precaution, look down at the platform when you jump onto it. With only 1 level, it shouldn’t buckle under you, but if it does slip somehow, looking down should help prevent injury.

Again have fun with it and keep healthy everyone!