This was another one that I had to miss, but Al sent out the WOD(s). There were actually two of them, both relatively short. The first had a definite focus on the upper body, and the second one was pure legs. Since you'll need a platform for both of them, set that up before hand. Otherwise, it's just business as usual.
This time around, there isn't as much concern about injury. Don't position yourself too far forward on the dips and don't slam your feet to the ground on your V-Ups. Other than that, though, you should be good.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 bottom downs
- 10 good mornings without bar
- 10 upward to downward
- 10 shoulder rolls
WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 10 minutes) of:
- 10 hand release push ups
- 20 dips
- 30 V-Ups
2 minutes of rest, followed by
As Many Reps As Possible (in 5 minutes) of:Exercises
- 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 without 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.
- 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.
- Shoulder Rolls
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.
- Hand Release Push Ups
Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and lift your hands off the ground at the bottom. This forces you to go all the way down (gravity will take care of the rest if you don't actually bring yourself to the ground). At the top of the rep, make sure your arms are fully extended.
Scale down: Do the push ups on your knees. You lift less weight this way, so it's easier.
- Dips
Set up a platform with risers; most people usually use at most 5 risers, though remember that your height makes a difference. For this movement, adding risers makes it harder, because the platform denotes how far you have to dip your body weight.
Position yourself so your arms are holding you up/off the edge of your platform, with your legs straight out in front of you. You should just be barely forward of the platform; your butt should practically touch the platform as you do your reps. If you come forward too far, you'll put unnecessary strain on your shoulders.
Lower yourself so that your butt touches the ground, and then raise yourself back to the starting position. That's 1 rep. If you do the exercise properly, you'll feel the exercise the most in your triceps.
Scale down: Bend your legs, and put your feet flat on the ground before doing your dips. Since you're lifting less weight this way, this makes the dips easier
- 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
- Air Squat to Box
Set up a platform with risers; most people usually use at most 4 risers, though remember that your height makes a difference. For this movement, removing risers makes it harder, because the platform denotes how low you have to squat.
Stand in front of the platform, and do a regular air squat. Make sure that when you go down, your bottom touches the platform; this should be at parallel or further. Don't rest your weight on the box at any point, though, since that's cheating. You want the box to provide a target, but it shouldn't carry some of the weight that your legs should be carrying. If you have to do your squats slower to accomplish this, that's fine. Regardless of how far you squat, 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.
Scale down: If you can't squat that far, you should aim to end up with your thighs parallel to the ground at the bottom of your squat.
No comments:
Post a Comment