This WOD put more of an emphasis on the barbells, so make sure you have one handy. You also got a choice for how to get the weight from the ground to overhead, so I'll have to describe that particular exercise with several sub-parts. It's going to look fairly complicated in the description below, but it's actually not too bad to execute. You might need to practice a little bit in order to get used to the motion(s), but you should be able to handle it after a little bit of practice.
Like I always say whenever there's some sort of an overhead lift, be mindful of your form. We're still not using heavy enough weights for it to be an immediate concern, but even so, you can hurt yourself if you get sloppy. Also, you'll want to be careful when jumping over the barbell. Otherwise, though, just hit it hard and see how many rounds you can bang out.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 5 T push ups
- 10 upward to downward
- 10 bottom downs
- 10 arm circles
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 15 minutes) of:
- 5 ground to overhead
- 7 burpees over barbell
- 20 V-ups
Exercises
- T Push Ups
Drop down on in to a push up position, and lower your body until your chest hits the ground. Push your body up off the ground, but as your arms start to get fully extended, lift one of them off of the ground. Rotate your torso towards the side where you lifted the arm, so that you are now facing sideways rather than towards the ground. At the same time, extend the arm you lifted straight up in the air. This is actually where the name comes from: at full extension, your body will make something of a T-shape. Lower your arm and rotate your torso back in to a regular push up position. Repeat this motion by lifting your other arm in to the air to complete a single rep.
- Upward to Downward
This is a lot like a "judo pushup" in reverse, if you've ever heard of that. If you're familiar with yoga at all, the starting position should look like the "upward dog." Regardless, lay face down on the ground and then lift your entire body off the ground by extending your arms, as if you were doing a push up. However, bring your upper body all the way up, so that your chest up faces forward while your lower body is still parallel to the ground. This is the starting position. From there, lower your head and bring it down and in, as if you were trying to bring it to meet your waist. This will naturally force your hips to come up, and you'll end up holding yourself off the ground with a noticeable bend at the waist (your butt will be a bit higher in the air than your chest or lower body). To go back to the starting position, lower your head towards the ground, then lower your chest and bring it forward in the same motion. It's not a straight up and down motion like a regular push up, it's more of an arc. You should also keep your lower body off the ground at all times. Continue the arc by straightening your arms and elevating your torso. When you finish the arc, your torso/chest should be facing forward with your lower body parallel to the ground. All of that is a single rep.
- Bottom Downs
From a standing position, reach down and touch your toes. Without letting go of your toes, squat down in to a full squat. Hold the bottom of this position for a beat, and then stand up without letting go of your toes. Your feet should be as close to locked out as possible, so that you're essentially bending down to reach your toes. Hold that position for a beat in order to finish the rep. The idea behind the hold is to ensure that you don't cheat by only coming up or squatting down part of the way.
- Arm Circles
From a standing position, rotate your arm without extending your arm away from you. You're essentially making a windmill of your arm. Do this in both a clockwise and counter-clockwise motion for each arm, so that you fully warm up & stretch the muscles. Most people just do 10 rotations forward with one arm, 10 rotations backward with the same arm, and then they repeat this with the other arm.
- Ground to Overhead
To begin with, put the barbell on the ground in front of you (this is different than the "high hang" where you start with the weight near your thighs). Put your feet about shoulder width apart, directly underneath the bar. Squat down to grab the weight, but remember to face forward and keep your chest facing forward. As you stand up, pop your hips forward with some power, so that you're coming up on your tip toes. I know it can feel awkward at first, but the hips drive the upward momentum without having to pull the weight with your arms. Moreover, you want to shrug your shoulders *aggressively* as you're doing this. This also sounds silly, but you really want to build some momentum in that motion. However, keep your arms locked as you're doing this, or you'll end up doing more of a curl. If you need to make sure you've got it down, practice just that part of it a few times.
The next step, starting from the shrugged shoulder position, is to quickly bring the barbell up to about chest level (to a "racked" position, if you know what that means). It's more or less a flip of your forearms using your elbows as a hinge. The idea is to transfer the weight from about your mid section to your shoulder level with as little pulling motion from your arms as possible. Again, this is why the momentum from the previous step is important. If you're already driving the weight upward, all you're really doing is re-positioning your arms beneath the weight. If you were to watch the path the weight travels, it should be completely vertical. If the barbell travels in an arc away from your body, you're doing it wrong.
As all of this is happening, you need to "catch" or "receive" the weight near your chest/clavicle with your palms facing away from your body. Your hip motion may have caused you to jump a little bit off the ground (in fact, it's usually encouraged), but no matter what, you should have a bit of a squat going when the weight reaches your clavicle (think something like a quarter squat). That helps to absorb some of the impact from your knees, but it also puts your body in a position where you can drive upwards to lift the weight. In many ways, it almost feels like you're jumping to get your body below the weight and "catch" it. Don't actually let go of the barbell, but the cue can help you internalize that motion. Make sure the bar has stopped moving, and once it has, stand straight up. If your feet come out farther than shoulder width apart as you're catching the bar, re-position them so that they are again shoulder-width apart. Remember, though, only do this after you have full control of the barbell.
From here, though, you have a few options for how to get the weight over your head. What you choose to do is completely up to you, but I've purposely listed the remaining options in order of how much you use your legs (press requires the least, jerk requires the most). It'd be pretty reasonable to start relying more on your legs as you start getting tired.
- Press
I've also heard some people refer to this as a military press, but it's pretty much all upper body. Push the bar straight up into the air with your shoulders and arms. As the bar moves over your head, push your head forward so that your arms, spine, and head are aligned in the same vertical plane. Make sure to lock out your arms so that they are fully extended at the top.
To get back to the racked position, bring your head backward and then lower the barbell in a controlled motion back to your clavicle. You don't want to just drop the bar (with much, much more practice and a non-hardwood floor, this is acceptable, but for our purposes, just don't do it). So, make sure you're controlling the descent of the bar, not gravity.
- Push Press
From the racked position, do about a quarter squat, and then come up from that position, hard. As you come up from that slight squat, drive the weight up with your shoulders and arms. Remember, the main push is now coming from your legs, not your upper body. That's the whole point of doing that mini-squat, to use the power from your legs to drive up the weight when you come up. Push straight up and down, so that the barbell travels in a straight vertical line, and lock your arms out at the top of the lift. As the bar moves over your head, push your head forward so that your arms, spine, and head are aligned in the same vertical plane.
To get back to the racked position, bring your head backward and then lower the barbell in a controlled motion back to your clavicle. You don't want to just drop the bar (with much, much more practice and a non-hardwood floor, this is acceptable, but for our purposes, just don't do it). So, make sure you're controlling the descent of the bar, not gravity.
- Jerk
The jerk is meant to take full advantage of your legs to get the weight above your head, so be absolutely sure of your footing and your stability if you're doing this. From the racked position, do a quarter squat, and then violently push upward with your legs. In fact, your feet should come off the ground a short distance (don't actually jump, that's more than a little dangerous) from the momentum you're generating upward.
As before, your job now becomes to position yourself in a position to catch the weight that has been violently shoved upward by the momentum from your legs. Extend your arms upward to keep the barbell moving straight up, and do another quarter squat so that you don't catch the weight with your legs fully locked. As the bar moves over your head, push your head forward so that your arms, spine, and head are aligned in the same vertical plane. Once you've got the weight all the way up and you have full control of the weight, stand tall. If your feet have moved at all, re-position them underneath you so you have a good base. Again, don't try moving your feet until you're certain you have control of the weight.
To get back to the racked position, bring your head backward and then lower the barbell in a controlled motion back to your clavicle. You don't want to just drop the bar (with much, much more practice and a non-hardwood floor, this is acceptable, but for our purposes, just don't do it). So, make sure you're controlling the descent of the bar, not gravity.
Now, to finish the rep, you have to get the barbell back to the ground from the racked position. Using your arms, lower the bar to your thighs in a controlled motion. We're not allowed to drop things in that exercise room, so you have to control the barbell on both the way up and the way down. Once you've got it there, squat down and put the weight down on the floor. All of that is a single rep.
- Press
- Burpees over Barbell
It sounds complicated, but this is only a slight variation on a traditional burpee. Before you start, put the bar down so that it runs parallel to the way your body is oriented for the push up portion of the burpee. You're going to jump sideways over it eventually.
With that little bit of pre-work out of the way, it's still 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 jump sideways over the bar. You're going to end up jumping back and forth over the bar (if the first jump is to your left, you'll jump to the right for your next rep). With a weight lifting bar, this forces you to jump at least a few inches off the ground.
Once it starts to feel normal to do this motion, you can start to make it a smoother motion by essentially dropping down into a push up position, rather than squatting and then kicking out your feet. It requires a little bit less energy, but it also requires more coordination and muscle memory.
Scale down: Step sideways over the bar instead of jumping. This takes less energy, but still makes you do the work.
- 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
6 rounds, I think
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