2010.07.07

Today's WoD was something that was meant to tax your legs. We didn't label it that way at the beginning, but by the time we were done, we felt it. That said, everyone was done in under 20 minutes.

Try to finish the warm up in less than 10 minutes. Also, be sure to stretch out your legs before you do the WoD. We tend to focus on the muscles near your hips, since those muscles are easy to overlook. Also, you'll want them to be as loose as possible for the squats and thrusters in the WoD.

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Warm Up
2 rounds of:

• 30 sit ups
• 30 push ups
• 30 mountain climbers (both legs = 1 rep)

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WoD

• 100 jump box
• 100 thrusters
• 100 V-ups
• 100 air squats

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Exercises

• 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.
• Push ups
  Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.
• 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. Make sure that your lead leg also slides sideways, so that it is outside of your arm on that side. Do it again to switch the positioning of your legs, again making sure your lead leg ends up outside of your arm. If you're used to regular mountain climbers, the only difference is that your legs don't move strictly back and forth.
• Jump Box
  Set up stackable risers with a platform on top of them (most anyone used was 6). Before you jump on it, stomp on it really hard. You want to make sure it'll support your weight & won't move around when you jump on it. Just in case, look down at the platform when you jump, to help prevent injury.
  
  Jump up on to the platform, and stand straight up once you're on it (you can also think of it as bringing your hips forward). You want both your feet to land flush on the platform. The idea is to not stay hunched over the whole time as you're doing your reps. Jump back down, and make sure your hips come forward as you're jumping down, too.
  
  Scale down: Step up & step down instead of jumping on the platform. If you do step, make sure you alternate which leg is stepping up. Otherwise, you're only working one leg the whole time.
• Thrusters
  Grab two dumbbells - most guys used 15lbs and most women used 12lbs. Hold the weights up near your shoulders so your knuckles face away from you (this position is often called "racking" the weights). Do a full air squat (if you can, go lower). As you come up, press the two dumbbells over your head, until your arms are fully extended. Push the weights straight up & down, since any horizontal motion will put undue stress on your shoulders. Bring the dumbbell back to the “racked” position to finish the rep. For this, you can actually make it a smooth motion, and go straight into the next squat instead of stopping at starting position. This is fine so long as you fully extend the dumbbells, bring the weights back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time.
• 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
• Air Squats
  Make sure that when you go down, your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. If you can, squat farther down than parallel, so that your bottom ends up closer to the ground than your knees. 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.

As always, have fun with it.