Al and I both had to miss this one, so I have no first-hand experience to share about this WOD. All I know is what the workout looks like, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's going to be tough on your legs. I mean, you might just feel it a tad after doing 100 box jumps and 100 lunges as fast as you can, with some extra snatches thrown in for good measure. That's why the warm up includes things like squats and the Samson stretch, so that you warm up the big muscles in your legs. Still, be sure to stretch if you need to make sure you don't hurt yourself while doing the WOD.
The biggest risk here is mostly going to be to your lower back. If you do your snatches wrong or if you bend over while doing lunges with a bar in a front rack, you're going to eventually feel it in your back. Remember, you're going to be doing that movement 100 times. Even if you're not throwing up a huge amount of weight, be mindful of your form. It's preferable to go slowly than to hurt your back.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 push ups
- 10 sit ups
- 10 air squats
- 10 bottom downs
- 10 second Samson stretch
WoD
10 rounds of:
- 10 single arm dumbbell snatches (weak hand)
- 10 single arm dumbbell snatches (strong hand)
- 10 box jumps
- 10 lunges with bar in a front rack (left/right = 1)
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.
- Sit Ups
Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Make sure you touch the ground when lying down/leaning back, and touch your heels when you come up. 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.
- Air Squats
Make sure that when you go down, your thighs are at least parallel to the ground. If you can, squat farther down than parallel, so that your bottom ends up closer to the ground than your knees. 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch
You'll only need one dumbbell for this (I usually see people use 15lbs). Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, with the weight on the ground in front of you. Squat down and reach down to grab the weight; don't bend over to grab it. Bring the dumbbell straight up, and aggressively shrug your shoulders (this helps generate momentum). You want to pull it straight up and jerk your hips forward. The momentum from your lower body will actually help drive the weight up, so that you're not actually lifting the weight with nothing but your arms.
Your elbow will actually flare out with your forearm parallel to the ground as it gets close to your chest. Once the weight comes to about chest level, squat down and raise the weight so that your arm is above your head. Again, you want the weight to travel in a straight, vertical line. A couple of cues that can help are to keep your ear close to your arm, so that you are bringing the weight straight up and down. Secondly, think of the squat as an aggressive stomp/jump to get into the squat position and keep your weight back on your heels. You can also hold your off hand out in front of you to maintain your balance.
Also remember that you want a good lumbar curve at the bottom of that squat. Just because you have weight in your hands, you don't get to cheat on your form (arguably, it's far more important then). Once you're down at the bottom of your squat with the weight directly over your head, stand up. Remember to keep your arm locked the whole time. so that the weight is above your head. It's safe to bring the weight back down to finish the rep AFTER you have completely stopped moving your feet and you are in a standing position.
- Box Jump
You'll need a platform with risers; the most I've seen anyone use is 6 risers. 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: Step 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.
- Lunge with Bar in a Front Rack
You'll need a barbell weighted with as much as you can handle; the most I saw anyone use was 60lbs. To start, hold the barbell slightly below shoulder level with both your palms facing away from your body so that you can see both palms in a mirror. If you've got enough strength and flexibility in your wrists, bring your elbows straight up so that they point away from your body. This will force more of the weight against your upper torso and put more of a strain on your wrists, so only do this if you can sustain this position through a lot of reps. Regardless of how high you bring your elbows, the weights are "racked" against your chest; this is the "front rack" position.
With the weight racked, 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)
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