2010.04.20

Today's WoD was a core work out. Sure, we had to do lunges, squats, and burpees, but anytime the "Dirty 30" is involved, you're working your abs/core muscles. We only had do two sets of the "Dirty 30" though, so most people finished in about 20-30 minutes.

Remember, every time you see "Dirty 30," you have to do 3 rounds of the sit ups, elbows to knees, and V-ups. That means you end up doing 90 sit ups, 90 elbows to knees, and 90 V-ups before you move on to the next exercise. You don't do 90 of anything in a row, but all three of those exercises are ab exercises. I wrote it all out in the description for simplicity's sake.

The warm up was leg-intensive, so make sure to stretch out your legs afterward. In particular, make sure you stretch out your hips (kneel down, cross one leg behind the other, and drag it as far over to the opposite side as possible).

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Warm Up
3 rounds of:

• 30 seconds of jumping jacks
• 30 seconds of high knees

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WoD

• 30 weighted lunges
• Dirty 30
  3 rounds of:
  
  • 30 sit ups
  • 30 elbows to knees
  • 30 V-ups
• 30 weighted squats
• Dirty 30
  3 rounds of:
  
  • 30 sit ups
  • 30 elbows to knees
  • 30 V-ups
• 3 burpees with multiple push-ups

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Exercises

• Jumping jacks
  You should know how to do these, but the caveat here is that you need to touch your hands together above your head. That's not always a requirement when we're warming up, but in this case, it is.
• High knees
  It's pretty much what it sounds like; run in place, only bring your knees up as you do that. You want to bring your knees up as high as possible. Also, stay on your toes the whole time. If you do land on your heels, it'll likely hurt, and it'll also slow you down.
• Weighted lunges
  Grab two dumbbells (heaviest anyone used was 25lbs, lightest was 10 lbs). Hold the weights at your side, one on each side. You can also hold them on top of your shoulders, if that feels more comfortable. Do a lunge with either leg forward, and then do a lunge with the opposite leg forward. That's a single rep. The idea is to weigh yourself down with the weights. Make sure you plant the heel of the leg that comes forward, and bring the knee of the back leg (the one that's bending) as close to the ground as possible.
• Sit ups
  Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Come up to about 45 degrees for each rep – it forces your abs to stay contracted, so it works them harder. Any more or any less, and you're doing less work.
• Elbows to knees
  ie on your back, and touch your right elbow to your left knee. Then alternate, touching your left elbow to your right knee. As you’re doing that, do bicycle kicks (i.e., kick out with the leg that’s not touching your elbow). You have to touch both elbows to both knees for a single rep.
  Scale down: Leave out the bicycle kicks.
• V-ups
  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. Some people call these "jack knives," if that helps at all.
  
  Scale down: Bend your knees as your bring your lower body up. You only have to touch your knees this way
• Weighted squats
  Using the same two weights that you used for the weighted lunges, "rack" them at about shoulder level. That means you hold them with your palms facing away from your body, with your elbows tucked in. From this position, do an air squat. Make sure you keep a good lumbar curve the whole time (you can tweak your lower back otherwise), and you bend at least far enough so that your thighs are parallel to the ground. Come back up to the standing "racked" position to finish the rep.
• Burpees with multiple push ups
  If you're used to regular burpees, the only difference is how many push-ups you do per burpee. In this case, you do 10 push-ups for every burpee (that works out to 30 total, if you're counting).
  If you're not familiar with the technique, it's a 5 step motion: 1) squat down & touch the ground, 2) kick your legs out into a push-up position, 3) do 10 push ups, 4) jump back to the squatting position, 5) come up from squatting and do a jumping jack.