This was another repeat WOD that neither Al nor I could make. This time around, it was a slight modification of the WOD from April 1st. Remember that there are different rep schemes; depending on how much weight you use, you have to do a different number of reps. The basic idea is to make you do a comparable amount of work. If you use heavier weights, you do fewer reps. On the flip side of that, lighter weight means more reps.
This one was actually shorter, though, because we didn't have a buy-in this time around. I don't know what the times were this time around, but the first time, finish times ranged anywhere from 12 minutes to 33 minutes (they were all over the place).
As far as safety goes, mind your form for both the sumo deadlift high pulls and the thrusters. Don't rely on your lower back, so don't bend over for either of those exercises. You want to protect your back by keeping a good lumbar curve throughout the whole WOD. Slow down if you have to, but don't compromise your form.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 bottom downs
- 10 good mornings (with just the bar)
- 10 shoulder rolls
- 10 sumo deadlift high pulls (with just the bar)
- 5 thrusters (with just the bar)
WoD
If you:
Are a guy and used ~90lbs (4 5kg plates on each side) or are a woman and used ~45lbs (2 5kg plates on each side):
- 32 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 27 thrusters
- 26 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 21 thrusters
- 20 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 15 thrusters
- 14 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 9 thrusters
- 37 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 32 thrusters
- 31 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 26 thrusters
- 25 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 20 thrusters
- 19 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 14 thrusters
- 42 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 37 thrusters
- 36 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 31 thrusters
- 30 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 25 thrusters
- 24 sumo deadlift high pulls
- 19 thrusters
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
Grab a bar, but don't put any weight on it for the warm up. Standing, rest the bar on your shoulders behind your neck. You'll want to squeeze your shoulder blades together, and keep your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your feet about shoulder-width apart, and keep your legs locked. Bend at the waist (as if you’re bowing), keeping your eyes forward. Your back needs to be flat as you do that, and you should finish so that your back is parallel to the ground. Come back up to standing to finish the rep. Notice that this variation doesn't require a bend to your knees.
- 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.
- Sumo Deadlift High Pull
You'll need a barbell for this exercise. Remember that you can weight it however you like, but the number of reps that you have to do depends on how much weight you add to the bar.
With that out of the way, keep your feet about 1.5 shoulder widths apart, and do a squat. Keep your hands between your legs, and reach down to grab the weight without bending at the waist. You want your hands to be about thumb-width apart from each other. Come up from the squat, popping your hips forward and aggressively shrugging your shoulders as you do that. It might seem a little silly, but both of these things help you generate momentum and drive the weight, without having to just lift the bar with your arms. Finish by bringing the hand with the weight to about your chin. This is one of the few times that you want your elbows to flare out to the sides; it should look like your forearm is roughly parallel to the ground. Without bending over at the waist, squat back down to bring the dumbbell back to the ground to finish the rep.
Realistically, most people go right into the next squat/high pull; that's okay, so long as you don't compromise the curve in your lower back to do so. You can also keep yourself honest by making sure that you hear the sound of the weight hitting the ground for every rep. In essence, you're doing squats while lifting weight off the ground for every squat.
- Thruster
You'll need a barbell for this exercise. Remember that you can weight it however you like, but the number of reps that you have to do depends on how much weight you add to the bar.
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.
Keeping the barbell racked against your chest, do an air squat so that your thighs end up parallel to the ground; if you can "break parallel," that's even better. As you come up, press the barbell directly over your head, until your arms are fully extended. The drive all comes from your legs, rather than your upper body. Still, push the barbell straight up & down, since any horizontal motion will put undue stress on your shoulders.
To finish the rep, you have to bring the weight back to a rack position. For this, you can actually make it a smooth motion, and go straight into the next squat instead of stopping at starting position. This is fine so long as you fully extend the barbell, bring the weight back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time.
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