2010.08.11

Today's WoD was actually one we've done before, a long time ago (Aug. 27, 2009). For anyone who was around at the time, you'll want to try to match or better your performance from that day. It's an AMRAP workout, so your work is measured by how many rounds you complete in the allotted time. The high mark from that day was 19 rounds, and sure enough, someone beat it today with a score of 23 rounds.

The warm up was fairly quick, but you'll want to make sure you get your blood pumping and your muscles loose. Also be sure to stretch out your legs, and calves in particular, afterward. The warm up keeps you on your toes for a good portion of it, and you don't want to hurt yourself as you do the jump box.

For the WoD itself, be especially careful to keep good form on the overhead squats. It's easy to cheat as you get into the later rounds, but you don't want to build those bad habits. We weren't using much weight, but you can still hurt your back with poor form. What's worse, if you get used to doing the movements incorrectly, you'll really hurt yourself when you use heaver weights.

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Warm Up
2 rounds of:

• 20 seconds of running in place
• 20 seconds of front-back jumping jacks
• 20 seconds of high knees

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WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 20 minutes):

• 10 overhead squats
• 10 good mornings
• 10 jump box
• 10 dips

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Exercises

• Front-back Jumping Jacks
  Start with one leg in front of the other, then alternate. Jump back and forth between the two positions. As you do so, bring your arms up as if you were doing regular jumping jacks. It really is just like a jumping jack, the only real difference is that your legs move forward & backward instead of side-to-side.
• 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.
• Overhead Squats
  Grab a weighted bar; most people used one of the body bars (10-12lbs), but the highest anyone used was 30lbs. 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.
• Good Mornings
  Use the same bar that you had for the overhead squats. Standing, rest the bar on your shoulders behind your neck. Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart, and keep your legs locked. Bend at the waist (as if you’re bowing), keeping 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. Notice that this variation doesn't require a bend to your knees.
• 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.
• Dips
  Using the same set up that you had for the jump box, 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

As always, have fun with it.