Al described this WOD to me as "sorta like Fight Gone Bad." It's the same basic idea (simulating a prize fight by doing multiple rounds of 5 minutes of work, followed by rest) as Fight Gone Bad, but there were a couple of changes. First off, you did this one with a partner watching you. They were there to make sure you did all of your reps properly; you were trying to emphasize form above all else (technically, you should always do this). Secondly, because you were doing this with partners, you switched off. After you did your reps, you then watched your partner go through all of his/her reps. As a result, each "round" takes 10 minutes (5 for your reps, 5 for your partner's reps), but you are only working out for half the time.
None of the exercises were particularly complex, so from an injury perspective, there isn't a lot to worry about. Just make sure that your platform is stable before you use it, and give yourself a little bit of room for the jumping lunges. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
WoD
For 5 rounds:
- Have a partner watch you do:
- 60 seconds of as many hand-release push ups as possible
- 60 seconds of as many squats to a box as possible
- 60 seconds of as many dips as possible
- 60 seconds of as many dumbbell push press as possible
- 60 seconds of as many jump lunges as possible
- Switch and watch your partner do their 5 minutes of work
Exercises
- Hand Release Push Ups
Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and lift your hands off the ground at the bottom. This forces you to go all the way down (gravity will take care of the rest if you don't actually bring yourself to the ground). At the top of the rep, 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.
- Squats to a Box
Set up a platform with risers; most people usually use at most 4 risers, though remember that your height makes a difference. For this movement, removing risers makes it harder, because the platform denotes how low you have to squat.
Stand in front of the platform, and do a regular air squat. Make sure that when you go down, your bottom touches the platform; this should be at parallel or further. Don't rest your weight on the box at any point, though, since that's cheating. You want the box to provide a target, but it shouldn't carry some of the weight that your legs should be carrying. 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.
- Dips
Using the same set up that you had for the decline push ups, 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
- Dumbbell Push Press
Grab two dumbbells you can safely press over your head. 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.
- Jump Lunges
Start by doing a regular lunge: bring one leg forward in a straight line, and then bend your knees so that both your knees are bent at 90 degrees. The back knee should be close to the ground, and your front knee should be directly over your front foot (otherwise you're putting undue stress on your knees). One cue that can help some folks is to treat your lunge like you're going straight up and down with your front leg. Your knees don't quite have to touch the ground (you might get burns/scrapes that way), but come as close as you can to that. If you need extra support, you can use your hands to push up off of your lead leg.
Instead of standing up from that position, jump up in to the air. You want to switch which leg is forward and which leg is in the back in mid-air. When you land, go right into your next lunge. Essentially, you're just jumping from one lunge to the next. Same rules apply on subsequent lunges: keep your front foot farther forward than your front knee, and go all the way down. Keep jumping between each lunge.
Scale down: Do regular lunges.
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