2014.01.13

This one was a fun team WOD. All team WODs are fun, but this one had the added fun of being "synchronized CrossFit." The idea was that everyone on a team had to do the rep at the same time for it to count. That meant that each team had a "captain" that was in charge of calling out the rep and making sure everyone did it. Whichever team had more total rounds and reps by the end was crowned the winner. Make sure to track both total rounds completed and how many reps you finished within each round, since reps are a tie breaker if the rounds are equal.

I'll also mention that Al threatened the losing team with burpees; whichever team lost had to split up 100 burpees amongst its members. Fortunately, this was something of an empty threat, but I can tell you that it was one hell of a motivation to push hard.

This time around, the only thing to be mindful of were the deadlifts. We don't use super heavy weight, but if you do enough reps poorly, you'll feel it in your back. I know you're trying to bang out as many reps as possible, but be mindful of your form.

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Warm Up
2 rounds of:

• 25 jumping jacks
• 5 T Push Ups
• 10 sit ups
• 10 bottom downs
• 5 upward to downward
• 10 second Samson stretch

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WoD
As Many Reps As Possible of (10 minutes):

• 10 deadlifts
• 10 sit ups

2 minutes of rest

As Many Reps As Possible of (10 minutes):

• 10 lunges (left/right = 1)
• 10 push ups

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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.

• Sit Ups

  Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Come up all the way, but don't pull your neck forward or bend over as you do so. That releases the contraction of your ab muscles, so gives you less of a work out.

• 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 three seconds, 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 three seconds 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.

  Since this particular WOD is going to work your legs, you can add an extra bit of stretch by pushing out your knees at the bottom of the squat. You can even let go of your feet and push out with your elbows.

• 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.

• Samson Stretch

  From a standing position, put your hands straight out in front of you and interlock your fingers. Step forward into a lunge with either leg, and as you do so, stretch your interlocked hands straight up into the air above your head. Your arms should be perpendicular to your front thigh. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Come back to a standing position, then repeat this but bring your other leg forward this time. As before, hold the stretch for 10 seconds.

• Deadlift

  Grab a barbell, and weight it as heavy as you can handle (most people used 40 lbs). Place the barbell on the floor pretty much right in front of your feet (with a full Olympic bar, you'd put your feet right underneath the bar). Stand with your feet about shoulder-width part, and bend your knees slightly (about 20 degrees) to reach down to grab the barbell. You want your hands on the outside of your legs/knees, and you want to start with the barbell to be high enough off the ground to be about halfway up your shin (this is about the same height as an Olympic bar resting on the ground with 45lb plates on it). Keeping your head up and your chest facing forward, lift your torso a few inches until the barbell almost hit your knees. Your arms shouldn't bend at the elbows, you're just lifting your upper body with the weight conveniently attached to the upper body. Also, the weight should move in a straight vertical line, with no horizontal motion. It can help to think about it as if you're trying to skin your shins with the weight.

  Once the barbell is at about your knees, pop your hips forward to generate some more momentum. At the same time, contract your shoulder blades towards each other. This will naturally pull the weight up even more (again, in a straight line). You should be standing straight up with your chest out at the top of the movement. Even though it looks like you're pulling the weight up using your biceps, you should try to avoid pulling up with your arms. That actually decreases the amount of weight you can lift in the long run, and it's bad form.

• Lunges

  From a standing position, 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 back 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. You'll have to repeat the motion with the other leg coming forward for the next rep.

  This time around, you have to bring both legs forward one time in order to get credit for a rep (or, "right/left = 1" for short)

• Push Ups

  Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.

As always, happy CrossFitting y'all.