I was in meetings for this one, but Al sent me the WOD. It's an AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible), but it gets harder because you keep adding reps to the clean and jerk. Every round, add one more rep to the clean and jerks. Incidentally, if you have a rope and can do double-unders, you have to do those instead of the step ups.
The exercises you have to worry about are the pause back squat and the clean and jerks. Both exercises are liable to hurt your back if done poorly, so be sure to mind your form. You also need to be careful about bouncing up and down during the squat, since that can also tweak your hamstrings if you're unlucky.
Strength
- 15 minutes of pause back squat
WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 20 minutes) of:
- 20 double unders OR 20 step ups
- 1 Clean and Jerk (Add 1 more rep every subsequent round)
Exercises
- Pause Back Squat
You'll want to weigh the barbell with as much weight as you can handle. The most I saw anyone use was 4 sets of plates on each side, so that worked out to about 90lbs total. I saw every other group use at least 45lbs. Since you're intentionally trying to go a little heavier this time, have a couple of people help you get the weight from the ground to a back squat. You're going to rotate, so everyone gets a turn helping to lift and actually doing the exercise.
You'll need to get the bar resting on your shoulders to start. From this position, do an air squat. Make sure you keep a good lumbar curve the whole time (you can tweak your lower back otherwise), and you bend at least far enough so that your thighs are parallel to the ground. You need to pause for 3 seconds at the bottom of the squat; we had someone count out the full 3 seconds (note: to make sure you're counting a proper 3 seconds, add in "thousand" after each number).
Once the 3 seconds are up, come back up to the standing "racked" position to finish the rep. You want to drive the weight up, not just stand up, so think about squeezing your glutes together to generate some momentum. It might sound a little silly, but that motion helps to really push the weight upward. Each time you come back up, that's one rep.
- Double Unders
Jumping rope, you want the rope to make two full revolutions each time you jump. The important part is actually the flick of your wrists, not so much how high you jump. If you worry too much about jumping higher, you’ll throw your rhythm off.
- Step Ups
Set up a platform with one riser on each side. Step up onto the platform, one leg at a time, and then come back down one leg at a time. Stepping up with both legs & stepping down with both legs counts as a single rep. The faster you do this, the more it feels like a "quick feet" exercise. Even though it's only 1 riser, make sure you look down as you're doing this. After a while, your legs can feel tired enough where you'll slip if you're not careful.
- Clean and Jerk
Make sure you have a barbell with weight on it for this exercise; the most I usually see anyone use is 60lbs.
To begin with, put the weight on the ground in front of you (this is different than the "high hang" where you start with the weight near your thighs). Squat down to grab the weights, but remember to face forward and keep your chest facing forward. Stand up, but as you do so, shrug your shoulders aggressively. I know it sounds silly, but it should be an *aggressive* shrug. You really want to build some momentum in that motion. However, 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 weight up to about chest level and do a quick hop at the same time. If you were to watch the path the weight travels, it should be as close to your body as possible, and as close to completely vertical as possible. If the weight travels 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. At the end of this motion, you should have your palms facing away from your body, as if you were "racking" the weight near your chest/clavicle.
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 with your knees slightly bent and the weight at your chest. Don't actually let go of the weight, that can be all sorts of bad. However, you'll find that because it's a quick hop, you're pretty much jumping into it. At the same time, your hands will suddenly shoot up to hold the weight at your chest.
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 that it feels natural. That's the "clean" part of this.
The last part, the "jerk" in the name, involves violently shoving the barbell directly over your head. Make sure that you're in a quarter squat position, then very aggressively press the weights directly over your shoulders. In fact, your momentum will cause you to do a slight hop while your hands go upwards. At the top of the rep, your arms should be completely locked out, and you should stand tall. Because this lets you use your legs to drive the momentum and the power, this should feel easier than a strict shoulder press.
To finish the rep, you have to lower the weight to the ground safely (we're not allowed to just drop weights). From the locked out position at the very top, bring the weight straight back down to the racked position (resting on your shoulders/clavicle, palms facing away from you, elbows as high up as you can). From there, lower the weight to your thighs using your arms. Lastly, squat down to put the weight on the ground. You'll need to keep your chest facing forward the whole time; don't bend forward at any point. All of that is one rep. If you need to, practice the motion until it starts to feel natural; form is really important here.
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