2010.07.22

Today's WoD was a variation of something called "One Bar." It's named that because you use a weighted bar for most of your exercises. A lot of the exercises focus on your core, so it's a decent ab workout. Actually, this routine is very similar in nature to one we did on March 30 of this year, if you want to get an idea of how much progress you've made. Everyone finished in under 15 minutes, and the fastest time was right around 11 minutes.

Today's warm up, however, was a little different. Rather than doing a prescribed number or timed amount of exercises, we worked on a skill for 5 minutes. In this case, it was double-unders. So, for the alloted time, try to work on being able to do those. If you can already do double-unders, then see how many you can do in a row, and try to increase that number.

For the workout, you'll need a little bit more space than usual. Between the platform, the ab exercises, and the stuff with the bar, you'll need to make sure you don't bump into anyone else. Otherwise, odds are that you've done all of the exercises before, so you shouldn't have any surprises.

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Warm Up

• 5 minutes of double-unders

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WoD

• 50 jump box
• 50 sit ups with bar
• 50 leg ups with bar
• 50 wipers with bar
• 50 good mornings with bar
• 50 overhead squats

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Exercises

• Double Unders
  Jumping rope, you want the rope to make two full revolutions each time you jump. The important part is actually the flick of your wrists, not so much how high you jump. If you worry too much about jumping higher, you’ll throw your rhythm off.
• 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.
• Sit-ups with bar
  Grab a weighted bar (heaviest anyone used was 20lbs, most people used about 12lbs). You can do these either from butterfly position (soles of your feet together) or with the soles of your feet on the ground. Lie on your back, holding the bar with your arms extended parallel to the ground (if you were standing, it’d be directly over your head). You don't want to actually touch the ground, but hold the weight a couple of inches above the ground. Do a sit-up, and come up all the way to 90 degrees; your torso should end up perpendicular to the ground, and the bar should end up in front of you. Go back to the starting position to finish the rep.
• Leg-ups with bar
  These are like modified V-ups. Lie down on the ground, hold the bar up in the air, above your chest. Keeping your legs straight, bring your legs up to touch the bar for a rep.
  Scale down: Bend your knees as you bring them up
• Wipers with bar
  Lie on your back, and hold the bar in the air above your chest. Lift your feet so that they’re perpendicular to the ground. Swing your legs to one side, bring them back to the middle, and then swing them to the other side. That’s 1 rep. Try to keep the bar still as you do so, because that will force your abs to work harder.
  Scale down: Bend your knees
• Good Morning with bar
  Stand with your feet about two shoulder-widths apart and rest the bar on your shoulders behind your neck. Keeping your legs locked, bend at the waist (as if you’re bowing), and keep your eyes forward. Keep your back flat as you do that, and finish so that your back is parallel to the ground. Come back up to standing to finish the rep. Unlike the other variation of this exercise, there shouldn't be a bend to your knees during any part of this.
• Overhead Squat
  Standing, hold the bar over your head with your arms locked. Your arms should make a “Y” shape with the rest of your body. You want the bar directly over your torso, so that your spine & the bar are lined up (the idea is to keep you from leaning forward on the actual rep). This actually feels like you're holding it behind your head. Do a squat, keeping your arms locked as you go down & come back up.

As always, have fun with it.