I missed this WOD due to meetings, but Al sent out the work out for everyone. It's essentially fun with dumbbells, so make sure you grab a pair with which you'll feel comfortable for all of the exercises.
The push press, dumbbell snatch, and dumbbell swings are all exercises that can tweak your back if you're not careful. Make sure you're good about your form with those exercises.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 10 burpees
- 10 upward to downward
- 10 jump squats
- 10 arm circles
- 10 second Samson stretch
WoD
3 rounds of:
- 50 sit ups with dumbbell in one hand (25 left/25 right)
- 50 weighted lunges holding two dumbbells (right/left = 2)
- 50 dumbbell push press
- 50 dumbbell snatches (25 left/25 right)
- 50 dumbbell swings (25 left/25 right)
Exercises
- Burpees
It's 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 2 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 back into the push up instead of jumping. Same goes for when you go back to the squatting position (step 4); step forward instead of jumping.
- 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.
- Jump Squats
Do a normal air squat, but as you come up to finish the squat, jump straight up in to the air. You finish the rep when you land and reset yourself. It's not uncommon for people to go right in to the next squat, though. This is okay so long as you're not bending over and losing the lumbar curve in the process. Basically, you don't get to cheat on your form because you're jumping.
- 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.
- 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.
- Sit Ups with Dumbbell
Lay on your back, and hold the dumbbell straight up in the air with one arm; your arm should be perpendicular to the ground. Keeping your arm locked and your eyes on the dumbbell, do a sit up. You will be keeping the dumbbell in the air as you move your trunk. With these exercises, you also have to do a sit up with both arms to complete a single rep. That means that you want to alternate which arm holds the weight overhead every time you go to do a sit up.
- Weighted Lunges
Hold the weights at your side, one on each side. You can also hold them on top of your shoulders, if that feels more comfortable. The idea is to weigh yourself down with the weights, so both ways work.
Do a lunge with either leg forward, and then do a lunge with the opposite leg forward. Each time one of your legs comes forward, it counts as a single rep (we call this "right/left = 2" for short). Make sure that you bring your front leg forward far enough that your knee isn't farther forward than your foot; that puts undue stress on your knee. Also make sure to plant the heel of the leg that comes forward, and bring the knee of the back leg (the one that's bending) as close to the ground as possible.
- Dumbbell Push Press
You'll need a pair of dumbbells for this exercise. To start, hold the weights 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.
Do a quarter squat, and come up as explosively as you can. In reality, you'll end up end up hopping up a tiny bit because you're generating so much momentum/power from your legs. That's okay, but be absolutely sure that you're in control as you do this. You really don't want to trip or fall while holding weights above your head. As you come up, press the weights directly over your head. 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, bring your head forward a bit so that your arms, spine, and head are all aligned along the same vertical plane.
One last cue is to make sure you move the weights directly up & down; if you start moving them horizontally, you'll put extra stress on your shoulders. If your elbows flare out horizontally, that's also going to make it difficult to press straight up & down. Your rep is finished when you bring the weight back to beginning/racked position.
- 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.
- Single Arm Dumbbell Swing
You only need a single dumbbell; the heaviest I've seen anyone use was 25lbs. Do a squat, keeping a good lumbar curve, and hold the dumbbell between your legs at about knee/thigh level. Stand up from the squat, and as you do that, swing your arm upward in an arc until your arm is directly over your head. If you do the motion correctly, your legs will drive most of the momentum, and you're essentially just standing & squatting.
Your arm should stay locked the whole time, so that you're actually swinging the dumbbell. If you start bending your arm at the elbow, you're doing more of a bicep curl. That's not what you're after in this case, so that's wasted effort.
At no point should you bend over, that can hurt your lower back. You always want to be facing forward, with a good lumbar curve. If you get tired, it's preferable to stop for a bit than to do these reps with bad form.
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