This WOD was a good workout for your lower body, and people put in good work. It was a 12 minute AMRAP, and the goal was at least 6 rounds (I think a couple of people hit that). But honestly, what everyone remembered the most was the partner challenge in the beginning. We got matched up with a partner for three sets, and for each set, you did as many reps as possible. Whoever did fewer reps in that set had to do 5 burpees as "punishment" in 30 seconds. That means that you can do up to 30 burpees in the partner challenge if you're unlucky.
As far as exercises to watch out for, they're all mostly in the WOD. Be careful when you're jumping over the platform, you really want to make sure that you don't trip and fall while in the air. You also want to make sure that there's nothing in your way when you're jumping around, lest you mess up an ankle. Secondly, the squat cleans can tweak your back if you're not careful. I realize that we aren't throwing around really heavy weight, but bad habits are bad habits, regardless of weight. And I have personally seen someone tweak their back with that kind of weight, so you might as well do it with good form.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 5 T push ups
- 10 bottom downs
- 10 good mornings (no bar)
- 10 arm circles
Partner Challenge
- In 60 seconds: 5 burpees and as many push ups as possible
- In 30 seconds: winner rests, loser does 5 burpees
- In 60 seconds: 5 burpees and as many sit ups as possible
- In 30 seconds: winner rests, loser does 5 burpees
- In 60 seconds: 5 burpees and as many air squats as possible
- In 30 seconds: winner rests, loser does 5 burpees
WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 12 minutes) of:
- 10 squat jump over platform
- 10 dumbbell squat cleans (with hammer fist grip)
- 10 one-handed overhead weighted sit up (5 left, 5 right)
Exercises
- T Push Ups
Drop down 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.
- 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.
- Good Mornings (No Bar)
Stand with your legs about shoulder width apart, and put your hands on the back of your neck. Don't apply pressure (that's bad for your neck), just rest your hands there. Bend your knees slightly, and bend at the waist (as if you’re bowing) while keeping your eyes forward. Keep your back flat as you do that, and finish so that your back is parallel to the ground. Come back up to standing to finish the rep.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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. 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.
- 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.
- Squat Jump Over Platform
You'll need to set up a platform with risers; most people use at least 4, but I've seen up to 6 on occasion. 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.
Do a normal air squat, but as you come up to finish the squat, jump forward over the platform. You finish the rep when you land and reset yourself. Be really careful that the dumbbell isn't rolling around where you're going to land, because that'll be all sorts of bad. Once you've finished your rep, turn around and start over.
Scale down: Instead of jumping over the box, jump up onto the platform. Then jump once more to get to the other side. Since you don't have to jump over the box in a single motion, it's not quite as explosive a movement.
Scale down more: Instead of jumping, step up on to the platform, and then step down on the other side. So long as you get yourself from side to the other, you're still doing the work.
- Dumbbell Squat Clean
A single rep of a squat clean is essentially a weighted squat with some hand motions thrown in. This particular version is with a pair of dumbbells, so grab a pair that you're comfortable using for the entire WOD (I mostly saw people use 15lb dumbbells).
To begin with, hold one dumbbell in each hand at your side so that your palms are both facing each other (if you know what a "hammer fist" is, that's what you want). Keeping your chest up, squat down and lower your arms so that the dumbbells are a couple of inches off the ground. From that position, start to stand and pop your hips forward. That will generate a bunch of momentum so that the dumbbells start to move upward. You want the dumbbells to move in a straight vertical line, even though you're doing more than just standing up.
Next, shrug your shoulders aggressively. I know it sounds silly, but it really should be an *aggressive* shrug. You really want to build some momentum in that motion. Remember, though, keep your arms locked as you're doing this, or you'll end up doing more of a curl. If you need to make sure you've got it down, practice just that part of it a few times.
The next step, starting from the shrugged shoulder position, is to quickly bring the dumbbells up to about your shoulder level and squat down at the same time. If you were to watch the path the weights travel, it should be completely vertical. If the weights travel in an arc away from your body, you're doing it wrong. Your hands don't lift the weight as much as they adjust themselves to hold the weight differently.
You can almost think of it as letting go of the weight in midair, and positioning your body underneath the weight so that you end up in a squat with the dumbbells at your chest. Don't actually let go of the dumbbells, that can be all sorts of bad. However, you'll find that because it's a quick squat down, you're pretty much jumping into it. At the same time, your hands will suddenly shoot up to hold the weight at your chest; since you are holding the dumbbells in a hammer fist, that's basically the same as bringing the dumbbells to your shoulders.
As always, keep a good lumbar curve. You don't want to bend over as you do this. If you do it wrong repeatedly or with a heavy enough weight, your lower back will pay for it. Again, practice just the squat motion a few times so it feels natural.
Lastly, just stand up while holding the weight at your chest. Once you've stood all the way up, you can drop the weights back down to thigh-level to start over. That's the end of a single rep. Now all that's left is to put it all together in a smooth motion.
- Overhead Weighted Sit Up
Lay on your back, and hold the weight straight up in the air with one hand; your arm should be perpendicular to the ground. Keeping your arm locked and your eyes on the weight, do a sit up. You will be keeping the weight in the air as you move your trunk, and you want your arm to stay perpendicular to the ground the whole time. This forces your abs to do all of the work, since your upper body is otherwise occupied and it can't generate any forward momentum.
4 rounds (15lb dumbbells)
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