Okay, so this one was not supposed to go like this. Al had in mind a team WOD, where we split up the work. So, he gave us a set up very similar to a championship style Fight Gone Bad (5 exercises, 5 minutes apiece). However, this version didn't have the usual minute of rest between each "round," and it had the full 5 minutes straight for each exercise. The idea was that some people on the team would do some work, then others would tag in. That's why there was no break between the exercises; he figured we'd naturally get some rest anyway.
Well, it was a competition between teams. Everyone did as many reps as they could, and then the team tallied up the total sum of their reps. So, at some point, both teams decided that resting was a losing strategy. Instead, everyone did all the exercises, for 25 minutes straight. Sure, people took a quick breather here and there, but for the most part, it was just a marathon of reps. You can do this however you like, but the winning team had something like 4800 reps split across 7 people. So an individual score somewhere around 700 reps (for all 5 exercises) seems like a pretty good goal.
One last thing to note was that everyone used the same weight and number of risers for the exercises. That was the easiest way to try to keep things fair. We used 15lb weights for the dumbbell swings, goblet squats, and dumbbell snatches. For the hang power cleans, we used one 5kg plate on each side (~22lbs). Lastly, for the box jumps, everyone used 3 risers.
As far as safety goes, just watch your form. The strict press in the strength portion is supposed to be weighted as heavily as you can handle, so this has the potential to hurt you if you're not careful. For the WOD you're intentionally trying to do as many reps as possible, so don't do them incorrectly. That's especially true of the hang power cleans, since you can tweak your back if you get sloppy. Otherwise, it's all about keeping a good lumbar curve & standing tall for the dumbbell swings, goblet squats, and dumbbell snatches. Oh, and watch your shins on the box.
Warm Up
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 jump squats
- 10 shoulder rolls
- 10 strict presses
Strength
For 10 minutes, sets of:
WoD
- 5 minutes of single arm dumbbell swings
- 5 minutes of hang power cleans
- 5 minutes of goblets squats
- 5 minutes of single arm dumbbell snatches
- 5 minutes of box jumps
Exercises
- Jump Squats
This one starts like a normal air squat, from a standing position with your feet about shoulder-width apart. 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 (i.e., "break parallel"). 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. However, as you come up to finish the squat, jump straight up in to the air. You finish the rep when you land and reset yourself. It's not uncommon for people to go right in to the next squat, though. This is okay so long as you're not bending over and losing the lumbar curve in the process. Basically, you don't get to cheat on your form because you're jumping.
- 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.
- Strict Press
Grab a barbell and weight it with as much weight as you can handle. I usually see between ~45lbs and ~90lbs.
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. You want the weights "racked" against your chest, with your elbows farther forward than the bar. You don't need to bring them all the way up like you do with a front squat, but you do want your forearms vertical and supporting the bar from underneath.
Once you've got the weight racked, lift the bar straight over head without using your legs. You are not going to dip or do a quarter squat. This is pure shoulder strength, with no legs to drive the momentum. Be sure to lift the weight straight up and down. In order to do that, though, you'll have to move your head backward as you lift. Otherwise, you'd hit yourself in the chin with the bar.
At the top of the press, lock out your arms. The bar should be directly overhead, and you shouldn't have your back arched at. I've often heard this described as having everything "in line:" your legs, back, arms, ears, and the barbell should form a straight vertical line perpendicular to the ground.
Bring the bar back down to the starting position in a straight line, as well. Again, move your head out of the way as you lower the bar. Once you've got the bar back in a racked position, you've finished the rep.
- Single Arm Dumbbell Swings
You only need one dumbbell for this exercise; this time around, everyone used 15lbs. Do a squat, keeping a good lumbar curve, and hold the dumbbell between your legs at about knee/shin level. Stand up from the squat, and as you do that, swing your arm upward in an arc until your arm is directly over your head. If you do the motion correctly, your legs will drive most of the momentum, and you're essentially just standing & squatting.
Your arm should stay locked the whole time, so that you're actually swinging the dumbbell. If you start bending your arm at the elbow, you're doing more of a bicep curl. That's not what you're after in this case, so that's wasted effort.
At no point should you bend over, that can hurt your lower back. You always want to be facing forward, with a good lumbar curve. If you get tired, it's preferable to stop for a bit than to do these reps with bad form.
This time around, you get credit for every single time one of your arms comes up. I'd suggest alternating arms after a set number of reps.
- Hang Power Clean
You'll need a barbell, weighted with ~22lbs. That might be lower than you're used to, but that just means that you'll get a lot more cardio out of this portion of the WOD.
The starting position for this is with the barbell around mid-thigh in front of you, with a slight bend to your waist (this position is considered a "high hang" so that's where the name comes from). Obviously, though, you have to get the barbell there from the ground somehow. The safest way to do this is actually to deadlift the barbell. In essence, keep your chest up, bend down, and then lift the barbell from the ground using your legs (not your back).
From that position, shrug your shoulders. I know it sounds silly, but it 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 weight up to about chest level and bend your knees a tiny bit at the same time. If you were to watch the path the weight travels, it should be completely vertical. 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 barbell near your chest/clavicle. You can almost think of it as letting go of the weight in midair, and positioning your body so that you can receive the weight with the weight at your chest. Don't actually let go, that can be all sorts of bad.
However, you'll find that because there's so much momentum and you're trying to "catch" the weight with your knees slightly bent, 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. You can practice this one step at a time until the motion starts to feel more natural.
Lastly, just stand up straight while holding the weight at your chest. Once you've stood all the way up, you can drop the weight 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.
- Goblet Squat
Use the same dumbbell that you had for the dumbbell snatches, and hold it underneath your chin with both hands. Your elbows should be down, so that your forearms are perpendicular to the ground. From this position, do a regular squat. You have to go low enough that your elbows go between your knees. And like always, remember to keep a good lumbar curve and keep your chest facing forward as you do your squats.
- Single Arm Dumbbell Snatch
You'll only need one dumbbell for this; it has to be a 15lbs dumbbell this time around. Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, with the weight on the ground in front of you. Squat down and reach down to grab the weight; don't bend over to grab it. Bring the dumbbell straight up, and aggressively shrug your shoulders (this helps generate momentum). You want to pull it straight up and jerk your hips forward. The momentum from your lower body will actually help drive the weight up, so that you're not actually lifting the weight with nothing but your arms.
Your elbow will actually flare out with your forearm parallel to the ground as it gets close to your chest. Once the weight comes to about chest level, do a quarter squat and raise the weight so that your arm is above your head. Again, you want the weight to travel in a straight, vertical line. A couple of cues that can help are to keep your ear close to your arm, so that you are bringing the weight straight up and down. Secondly, think of the squat as an aggressive stomp/jump, just enough so that your knees are bent and you keep your weight back on your heels. You can also hold your off hand out in front of you to maintain your balance.
Also remember that you want a good lumbar curve. Just because you have weight in your hands, you don't get to cheat on your form (arguably, it's far more important then). Once you're in a stable position with the weight directly over your head and your arm fully extended, stand up. Remember to keep your arm locked the whole time. so that the weight is above your head. It's safe to bring the weight back down to finish the rep AFTER you have completely stopped moving your feet and you are in a standing position.
- Box Jump
You'll need to set up a platform with 3 risers. 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.
When you do jump on it, you want to make sure that you stand tall once you're on the platform. If you stay hunched over the whole time, you're not getting the full effect of the exercise. One way to think about this is that you want your hips to "open up" on both the jump up and the jump down; all that really means is that your hips should be pushed forward once you're standing on top of the box.
Scale down: Step up to the box, and then step down instead of jumping on the platform. If you do step, make sure you alternate which leg steps up onto the platform first (and which legs steps off the platform first).
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