2013.08.05 - Fight Gone Filthy

You know how CrossFit is generally one of those exercise regimens that tries to push you? The average WOD is going to be more intense than "25 minutes of cardio and some weights." Given that, the exceptional WODs (the one with names) are often ones that are exceptionally tough. So, imagine what happens when you combine two of these together. We didn't have to imagine on Monday.

Fight Gone Bad is a type of WOD where you do 5 exercises for a minute apiece, with no rest in between. You try to do as many reps as you can, so you're going hard for a full five minutes. You get a minute of rest, then you do the whole thing twice more. It simulates being in a prize fight consisting of three five minute rounds. Filthy Fifty, on the other hand, consists of doing 50 reps of ten distinct exercises. In both cases, it's pretty common to be wiped out by the end. On Monday, we combined the two into what I am calling "Fight Gone Filthy:" 3 rounds of 5 exercises, doing 50 reps of each exercise (that works out to a total of 750 reps), with a 30 minute cap. Fastest time to finish was about 23 minutes, and there were a few people who didn't finish.

The exercises aren't particularly complex, but given that a couple of them are specifically designed to tax your legs, be absolutely sure to stretch and warm them up before you start. You don't want to start doing that many jumps or thrusters cold. Also, you'll need a pair of dumbbells and a platform for this one, so grab those before you start.

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WoD
3 rounds of:

• 50 thrusters
• 50 sumo deadlift high pull (25 each arm)
• 50 box jumps
• 50 push press
• 50 renegade rows (25 each arm, right/left = 2)

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Exercises

• Thrusters

  You'll need two dumbbells for this. The traditional start has your knuckles facing away from you and the weights resting against the upper part of your chest (this position is often called "racking" the weights).

  Do an air squat so that your thighs end up parallel to the ground; if you can "break parallel," that's even better. 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 dumbbells 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.

• Sumo Deadlift High Pull (SDHP)

  You only need one dumbbell for this, so put it down in front of you. Keep your feet about 1.5 shoulder widths apart, and do a squat. Keep your hands between your legs, and reach down to grab the weight without bending at the waist. Come up from the squat, aggressively shrugging your shoulders as you do that (it might seem a little silly, but with heavier weight, the shoulder shrug is important to help drive the momentum). Finish by bringing the hand with the weight to about your chin. This is one of the few times that you want your elbows to flare out to the sides; it should look like your forearm is roughly parallel to the ground. Without bending over at the waist, squat back down to bring the dumbbell back to the ground to finish the rep.

  Realistically, most people go right into the next squat/high pull; that's okay, so long as you don't compromise the curve in your lower back to do so. You can also keep yourself honest by making sure that you hear the sound of the weight hitting the ground for every rep. In essence, you're doing squats while lifting weight off the ground for every squat. In this case, you have to do 25 with each arm. It's up to you how you break them up, but it's hardest if you do 25 consecutively on either side.

• Box Jump

  Set up a platform with stackable risers. Shoot for at least 4 risers, but keep in mind that you're going to have to do 150 of these. Even if you normally use more risers, think hard about how many you can do at that height. Before you even start the WoD, 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. If it does move around at all, keeping your eyes on it should help prevent injury.

  When you do jump on it, you want to make sure that you stand tall once you're on the platform. If you stay hunched over the whole time, you're not getting the full effect of the exercise. One way to think about this is that you want your hips to "open up" on both the jump up and the jump down; all that really means is that your hips should be pushed forward once you're standing on top of the box.

  Scale down: Jump up to the box, and then step down instead of jumping on the platform. If you do step, make sure you alternate which leg comes down off of the platform first. For today's WOD, the only people who were allowed to step up were people with medical conditions or injuries. Everyone else had to jump up.

• Push Press

  Grab two dumbbells you can safely press over your heard. Again, since you're going to be doing a ton of these, you might want to go a little lighter than usual (usually, most people grab between 10lbs and 25lbs). To start, hold them at about shoulder level with both your palms facing away from your body so that you can see both palms in a mirror. In a sense, the weights are "racked" against your chest.

  Do a quarter squat, and as you come up, press the dumbbells directly over your head. In a way, the quarter squat is just used to generate momentum. Remember, your legs should be driving the power in this motion, not your shoulders or arms. At the top of your motion, you want your arms to be fully extended and your legs completely straightened out.

  Also, make sure you move the weights directly up & down; if you start moving the horizontally, you'll put extra stress on your shoulders. If your elbows flare out, that's also going to make it difficult to press straight up & down. Your rep is finished when you bring the dumbbells back to beginning/racked position.

• Renegade Row

  Holding a dumbbell in one hand, get down in to a push up position. You're going to be supporting your weight off the ground with the hand that doesn't have the weight in it, so grab a mat if you need it. With your hand firmly planted on the ground, pull the weight up off the ground in a straight line (it's a single-arm row, if you're used to doing those). Try not to rotate your body as you do this, since that makes it easier to lift the weight without working the muscles in your arm. Your chest should be facing towards the ground the whole time.

  You have to do a total of 50 of these, so you have to do 25 with your left and 25 with your right. The order doesn't matter, and you can break them up however you like. For these, each time you bring a weight up it counts as a single rep (e.g., "left/right = 2" for short)

As always, have fun with it.