2010.10.26

First, a little bit of administrative stuff: I'm going to be on vacation for a while, so I'm going to try to get someone else to post these WoD's during that time.

Okay, so with that said, today's WoD was a combination of core/ab work with a whole heck of a lot of jumping rope. Finish times ranged from a little over 11 minutes to a little over 17 minutes.

For the warm up, you're trying to do as many rounds as possible, so bang out your reps. You'll mostly be working large muscle groups, so you'll be all right going into the sudden exertion. That said, make sure you stretch your forearms and shoulders when you're done. You'll want those muscles loose for the rope jumping.

For the WoD, you're only allowed to switch to single-unders if you can't consistently do them. If you can do them sporadically, you can count each double-under as 3 reps of single-unders. That said, if you start with the double-unders, you have to stick with them; you can't switch in the middle because you're tired.

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Warm Up
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 5 minutes):

• 10 push ups
• 10 air squats

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WoD

• 50 double unders OR 150 single unders
• "Dirty 10"
  3 rounds of:
  
  • 10 sit ups
  • 10 elbows-to-knees
  • 10 V-ups
• 50 double unders OR 150 single unders
• "Dirty 10"
  3 rounds of:
  
  • 10 sit ups
  • 10 elbows-to-knees
  • 10 V-ups
• 50 double unders OR 150 single unders
• "Dirty 10"
  3 rounds of:
  
  • 10 sit ups
  • 10 elbows-to-knees
  • 10 V-ups
• 50 double unders OR 150 single unders

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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.
  
  Scale down: Do the push ups on your knees. You lift less weight this way, so it's easier.
• Air Squats
  Make sure that when you go down, your bottom ends up closer to the ground than your knees (this is called "breaking parallel"). If you have to do your squats slower to accomplish this, that's fine.
  
  Regardless of how far you squat, 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.
  
  Scale down: If you can't squat that far, you should aim to end up with your thighs parallel to the ground at the bottom of your squat
• 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.
• Single Unders
  This basically means jumping rope. The “single” refers to how many times the rope revolves around you each time you jump. Try to keep a steady rhythm, so that you can do all of your reps without stopping.
• Sit Ups
  Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Come up all the way so that your torso is perpendicular to the ground.
• 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.
• 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

As always, have fun with it.