2010.09.01

Today's WoD was one that we'd done before (back on April 20th). It's a Dirty 30 work out, so that means plenty of ab work. Put it this way; I've never wanted to do burpees that badly (because that meant I was almost done). Finish times ranged from about 18 minutes to 30 minutes, so as a whole we all showed some improvement from last time.

Actually, even if times were similar, we probably worked harder this time around. Many people did side-to-sides instead of elbows-to-knees, and that substitution makes the WoD harder. Similarly, we also had a choice when doing the burpees at the end; doing burpees with multiple push ups is faster, but doing 30 burpees will work your strength & endurance. It's completely up to you, so long as you keep good form throughout, and do all of your reps.

As before, be sure to stretch your legs after the warm up. You essentially keep your legs moving & stay on your toes for about 3 minutes, so you don't want your legs to tighten up. It probably won't affect your performance right away, but it also won't do you any favors. Also, be sure to stretch when you finish. This is the type of work out that can leave you sore the next day, so you want to minimize that as much as possible by stretching.

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Warm Up

• 30 seconds of jumping jacks
• 30 seconds of high knees
• 30 seconds of front-back jumping jacks
• 30 seconds of high knees
• 30 seconds of jumping jacks
• 30 seconds of high knees

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WoD

• 30 weighted lunges (left/right = 1)
• Dirty 30
  
  3 rounds of:
  • 30 sit ups
  • 30 side-to-sides OR 30 elbows-to-knees
  • 30 V-ups
• 30 weighted squats
• Dirty 30
  
  3 rounds of:
  • 30 sit ups
  • 30 side-to-sides OR 30 elbows-to-knees
  • 30 V-ups
• 30 burpees OR 3 burpees with 10 pushups

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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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Side-to-Sides
  Sit down, and lift your legs a few inches off the ground. Tap the ground on both the right & left side for a single rep. As you do so, add bicycle kicks. If you're touching the ground on your right side, kick out your left leg (and vice versa). For added difficulty, lean back a little to force your abs to contract even more.
• Elbows-to-Knees
  Lie 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
  It's a 5 step motion: 1) squat down & touch the ground, 2) kick your legs out into a push-up position, 3) do a push up, 4) jump back to the squatting position, 5) come up from squatting and do a jumping jack.
  Scale down: Cut out the push-up, so for steps 2 & 3, you just kick out your legs and then jump back to the squatting position
  
  Scale down some more: Instead of kicking your legs out in the second step, step back with one leg & then the other. The end result is the same, but it’s not as tough. Still no push-up
• 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).
  It's the same 5 step motion, only you do a bunch of push ups at once: 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.

As always have fun with it.