Al knew it was my birthday because of Facebook, so we did a birthday WOD for me (it shouldn't be too hard to guess how old I am). Either way, the squat challenge is mostly fun when you've got a bunch of people around, since you're challenging each other to avoid doing burpees. In our case, everyone was challenging me. If someone dropped before I did, they had to do 32 burpees. If I dropped, though, I had to do 32 burpees and everyone who had held on was excused from the burpees. If you're doing it on your own, you can give yourself a goal (length of time) to meet, and if you don't meet that goal, you have to do burpees.
The WOD itself was just a variation of Dirty 30, so all you really need is a mat. Just make sure you give yourself a little bit of space.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 50 mountain climbers (left/right = 2)
- 10 upward to downward
- 10 bottom downs
- 5 lunges to elbow
- 10 sit ups
Skill
Squat challenge
WoD
3 rounds of:
- 32 sit ups
- 32 elbows to knees
- 32 V-ups
Exercises
- Mountain Climbers
Get down on all fours, almost as if you were about to start a race. It's also a bit like being in a push up position with a bend at the waist, with only one leg back. From the starting position, simultaneously bring your lead leg back & your rear leg forward. You want your knee to come forward as far as possible; if it'll help, think about hitting yourself in the chest with your knee. Do it again to switch the positioning of your legs, again making sure to try to bring your lead leg forward as far as possible.
This time around, you get credit for a single rep either time any of your legs comes forward. For simplicity's sake, we describe that as "right/left = 2."
- 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 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.
- Lunge to Elbow
This starts like any other lunge: 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 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.
Once your lead leg is forward and your knees are bent, reach down with your arms and touch the elbow on the side that's lunging forward to the inside of your calf. If your right leg is forward, touch your right elbow to the inside of your calf. If you can actually reach your elbow to your instep (the side of your foot), do that since that'll make it harder. Try to balance without reaching down your off hand, but if you need to, put your off-hand down on the ground to stabilize yourself.
If you need extra support, you can use your hands to push up off of the ground. Repeat the motion with the other leg coming forward to complete the rep. In other words, you have to lunge with both the right and the left leg coming forward for a single rep (or, "left & right = 1" for short). One way to simplify this is to simply rotate your upper body to go from having the left leg forward to the right leg forward (keep your legs planted where they are). This can feel awkward at first, though, so it's up to you how you make sure you've done your reps.
- Sit Ups
Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Come all the way up, but don't pull on your neck or lean forward. Doing either of those things reduces the work that your abs have to do.
- Squat Challenge
Set up a platform, and make sure that it's adjusted to your height. If you were to sit on it, you'd want your thighs to at least be parallel to the ground, but for anyone who has been doing this for a while, you want your knees higher than your bottom.
With that in place, squat down so that your bottom is an inch or so above the platform. You have to hold this position for as long as possible, and if your bottom touches the platform, you're eliminated.
The way we did it, it was everyone against one person, so everyone set up their platforms in a circle around that one person. If the person in the middle was eliminated, that person had to do burpees and everyone who was still left
- Elbows to Knees
Lie on your back, and touch your right elbow to your left knee. You want to move both your elbow and your knee during this motion, rather than keeping one static and touching the other one to it. Also, while you're doing this, your right leg will be straight out in the air about six inches off the ground. Then alternate, touching your left elbow to your right knee.
This time around, you only get credit for a rep once you've touched both elbows to both knees. We tend to call that "left/right = 1" for short.
- 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
Finished the Dirty 32 in 13:35
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