This work out was one that gets easier as you go. Specifically, you get to do 20 fewer reps of each exercise for each subsequent round (hence the name "drop 20"). I've written it all out for simplicity's sake, but the basic idea is to just knock off 20 reps of each exercise every single round. Of course, you're going to have to do a bunch of reps to get to that point, so you'll definitely feel it. Be absolutely sure that you've warmed up your legs, since you're going to be doing the most reps of the air squats.
The two exercises to be the most careful with in this case are the air squats and the push press. In both cases, you'll want to watch out for your lower back. For the squats, just make sure to keep a good lumbar curve, because you're going to be doing a metric crap-load of them. For the push press, you still have to worry about your back, but you'll also have the added concern that you'll have weight overhead. All in all, just keep good form as much as possible, since it'll minimize the chances of you getting hurt.
WoD
- 100 air squats
- 80 sit ups
- 60 push ups
- 40 push press
- 20 dumbbell rows (left/right = 1)
- 80 air squats
- 60 sit ups
- 40 push ups
- 20 push press
- 60 air squats
- 40 sit ups
- 20 push ups
- 40 air squats
- 20 sit ups
- 20 air squats
Exercises
- 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.
- 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.
- Push Ups
Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.
- Push Press
You'll need a barbell weighted as heavily as you can handle (most I usually see is ~65lbs). 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.
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 a barbell. As you come up, press the barbell 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 the 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. Normally, you'd finish your rep by bringing the weight back to beginning/racked position, but in this case, you'll want to bring the weight to allow you to do your next motion. If your next motion is a back squat, then bring the weight back down behind your head. If your next motion is to start over with the clean, then you're going to need the bar in front of you. So bring the bar down in front of you to a racked position there.
- Dumbbell Row
You'll need a single dumbbell for this; most people use about 15lbs. With that dumbbell in hand, bend at the waist. You can either put a slight bend in your knees and bow (like a good morning), or you can put one leg in front of the other and bend over. Either way, keep your back as flat as possible (like a table top). Start from the bottom and pull the weight up to chest level. Bring it back down to the bottom to finish. You need to pull up once with both hands in order to get credit for a single rep (or "left/right = 1" for short).
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