2010.05.26

This WoD involved one of the "dirty words" from CrossFit: Tabata. If you've never done it before, it guarantees that the work out is over fairly quickly. During that time, however, the clock never stops. That means that the most rest you ever get between sets is 10 seconds, even between exercises. When you're not resting, you have to do max reps for every set. Let's just say that the shorter workout doesn't make it any easier.

Due in part to that fact, the warm up was fairly simple. You'll need your legs for the WoD, though, so be sure to stretch. You'll mostly to make sure your thighs & quads are loose, but don't skimp on the other parts of your legs just because of that. You'll also want to make sure you stretch out your arms & shoulders.

Why your arms & shoulders, you ask? A good chunk of the exercises are what we commonly call "push" exercises. These are exercises where you are pushing your body weight away from a surface. You're going to need those muscles plenty, so make sure to stretch them out.

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Warm Up

• 3 minutes of jumping rope

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WoD

• 8 rounds of: 20 seconds of push ups, 10 seconds of rest
• 8 rounds of: 20 seconds of dumbbell press, 10 seconds of rest
• 8 rounds of: 20 seconds of dips, 10 seconds of rest
• 8 rounds of: 20 seconds of mountain climbers, 10 seconds of rest
• 8 rounds of: 20 seconds of sit ups, 10 seconds of rest

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Exercises

• Push ups
  Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.
• Overhead (dumbbell) press
  Grab two dumbbells that you can comfortably press over your head. The guys used between 15 and 25lbs, most of the women used between 10 and 15lbs. For this exercise, the "racked"/starting position is you holding the two weights slightly above shoulder level. You want to hold them with your palms facing away from your body.
  From the racked position, raise the two dumbbells straight up until your arms lock. When you raise the dumbbells, make sure they go straight up and down. If you don't, you'll put extra pressure on your shoulders. Bring the dumbbells back to starting position to finish the rep.
• Dips
  Set up a platform with 4-6 risers on each side. Position yourself so your arms are holding you up/off the edge of your platform, with your legs straight out in front of you. You should just be barely forward of the platform; your butt should practically touch the platform as you do your reps. If you come forward too far, you'll put unnecessary strain on your shoulders.
  
  Lower yourself so that your butt touches the ground, and then raise yourself back to the starting position. That's 1 rep. If you do the exercise properly, you'll feel the exercise the most in your triceps.
  
  Scale down: Bend your legs, and put your feet flat on the ground before doing your dips. Since you're lifting less weight this way, this makes the dips easier
• Mountain Climbers
  Get down on all fours, almost as if you were about to start a race. It's also a bit like being in a push up position with a bend at the waist, with only one leg back. From the starting position, simultaneously bring your lead leg back & your rear leg forward; essentially, switch which leg is forward & which leg is in the back in a single motion. Do it again to switch the positioning again. You'll want to keep doing that as many times as possible during the 20 seconds. The exercise is commonly called "mountain climber" because it's analogous to what you would do if you were climbing a steep hill/mountain.
• 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.

As always, have fun with the work out.