Obviously, the write up is going to look a little bit different as a result. I'll try to balance the details of proper form with not writing massive walls of text, but any feedback would be helpful.
Also, it may not be obvious, but the WoD's aren't officially for time now. That's not to say we didn't all try to finish as fast as we could, but form is more important than speed. So if you have to slow down in order to do the reps properly, please do.
That said, today's work out was all about the squat clean. The warm up was geared towards getting the muscles in your legs warmed up, since you're going to need them for the squat clean's.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 20 air squats (do them slow, focus on form)
Technique
Squat Clean:
A single rep of a squat clean is essentially two squats with some hand motions thrown in. We did them with a single dumbbell, so grab a weight that's comfortable (you'll end up doing 70 of them for the WoD). Most guys used 15 or 20lbs, most of the women used anywhere from 8 to 15 lbs.
To begin with, hold the dumbbell in both hands. Grab each end of the dumbbell, not the handle, and squat down. Your knees should be fully bent, your arms should be fully extended and the dumbbell should almost be touching the ground. Keeping your arms locked, stand up, and shrug your shoulders. I know it sounds silly, but it should be an *aggressive* shrug. You really want to build some momentum in that motion. Remember, though, keep your arms locked as you're doing this, or you'll end up doing more of a curl. To make sure you've got it down, practice just that part of it a few times (we did).
The next step, starting from the shrugged shoulder position, is to quickly bring the dumbbell up to about chest level and squat down at the same time. If you were to watch the path the weight travels, it should be completely vertical. If the weight travels in an arc away from your body, you're doing it wrong. Your hands don't lift the weight as much as they adjust themselves to hold the weight differently.
You can almost think of it as letting go of the weight in midair, and positioning your body underneath the weight so that you end up in a squat with the dumbbell at your chest. Don't actually let go of the weight, that can be all sorts of bad. However, you'll find that because it's a quick squat down, it almost feels like you're jumping into it. At the same time, your hands will suddenly shoot up to hold the weight at your chest.
As always, keep a good lumbar curve. You don't want to start bending over as you do this. If you do it wrong repeatedly or with a heavy enough weight, your lower back will pay for it. Again, practice just the squat motion a few times so it feels natural.
Lastly, just stand up while holding the weight at your chest. That's the end of a single rep. Now all that's left is to put it all together in a smooth motion. If you were counting, you did one squat down to start the rep, you came back up with the shrug, you squat back down when you move the weight to your chest, and then you come back up. Those are the two squats for the motion.
WoD
7 rounds of:
- 10 squat cleans
- 10 burpees
Exercises
- Air Squats
Make sure that when you go down, your thighs are at least parallel to the ground (you can squat farther down than parallel, but it's not required). You want to keep your weight on your heels the whole time, that will help ensure you keep a good lumbar curve & will help with any potential balance issues. For some people, it helps to look up at about 45 degrees to ensure you're not leaning forward & straining your lower back. To ensure this happens, you can throw your hands up to 45 degrees and focus your eyes on your hands on each rep. - Burpees
It’s a 4-step motion: 1) squat down & touch the ground, 2) kick your legs out into a push-up position & do the push-up, 3) jump back to the squatting position, 4) come up & jump a couple of inches off the ground (touch your hands above your head).
Scale down: Instead of kicking your legs out in the second step, step back with one leg & then the other. The end result is the same, but it’s not as tough.
Scale down some more: Cut out the push-up. This really should be a last resort, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment