Sunday, August 30, 2015

2015.08.13 - Filthy Fifty

This was a Filthy Fifty variation; it's really easy to remember what to do, because you have to do 50 of every single exercise. There are 10 exercises, so you end up doing a total of 500 reps. Luckily, the most equipment you need is just a pair of dumbbells. If you're looking for a target time, the best finish time was about 16:30.

There's slightly less concern with lighter weight in your hands, but pay attention to your form for the squat cleans and the goblet squats. In both cases, you can hurt your back if you get sloppy. So, please, don't get sloppy.

Warm Up
2 rounds of:
WoD
Exercises
  • T Push Up

    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.

  • 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.

  • Bottom Down

    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.

  • 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.

  • Renegade Row

    Holding a dumbbell in each hand, get down in to a push up position. The dumbbells will be on the ground, and you will essentially be holding yourself up on top of them. Keeping one dumbbell on the ground, pull the other weight up off the ground in a straight line (it's a single-arm row, if you're used to doing those). Try not to rotate your body as you do this, since that makes it easier to lift the weight without working the muscles in your arm. Your chest should be facing towards the ground the whole time. For these, you have to do lift both dumbbells off the ground to complete a single rep (e.g., "left/right = 1" for short).

  • 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.

  • Hollow Rocks

    Start by laying down on your back. Extend your arm and legs straight out (so that your body is completely flat), and then tighten your abs so that both your arms and legs are a few inches off the ground. One cue that can help is to exhale as you do this. Without releasing the contraction of your abs, rock forward and back on your butt. Do not let your hands or feet touch the ground. Forward and back is 1.

  • Supermans

    Lie face-down on a mat, with your arms outstretched in front of you on the ground. Simultaneously raise both your arms and legs a few inches off of the ground. Bring your arms & legs back down to the starting position in a controlled descent. Letting your arms and legs drop to the ground can actually be bad for you, so try to avoid that. That's a single rep.

  • Goblet Squat

    Use the same dumbbells that you had for the dumbbell squat cleans, but you'll only need one of them. 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.

  • Scissor Kicks

    This is also known as a "bicycle kick," if that helps you. Lie down on your back and lift both feet about six inches off the ground. From that position, lift one leg so that it is several inches higher. Bring your leg back down to the starting position. Now switch legs, and lift the opposite leg several inches higher. Bring your leg back down to the starting position to finish the rep.

    In practice, most people do this quickly and make it a very smooth, continuous motion. There's nothing wrong with that, so long as you're still completing the full range of the motion. If you're barely moving your legs, you're not really getting the full effect of the exercise.

  • Push Ups

    You want your entire body straight/rigid, without a bend at the waist, and you want to maintain this position the whole time. If you start dropping your waist, you're not doing it right. Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and when you come up, make sure your arms are fully extended.

  • Lunges

    From a standing position, bring one leg forward in a straight line, and then bend your knees so that both your knees are bent at 90 degrees. The back knee should be close to the ground, and your front knee should be directly over your front foot (otherwise you're putting undue stress on your knees). One cue that can help some folks is to treat your lunge like you're going straight up and down with your back leg. Your knees don't quite have to touch the ground (you might get burns/scrapes that way), but come as close as you can to that. If you need extra support, you can use your hands to push up off of your lead leg. You'll have to repeat the motion with the other leg coming forward for the next rep.

    This time around, both legs have to come forward for you to get credit for a rep (or, "right/left = 1" for short).

  • Mountain Climbers

    Get down on all fours, almost as if you were about to start a race. It's also a bit like being in a push up position with a bend at the waist, with only one leg back. From the starting position, simultaneously bring your lead leg back & your rear leg forward. You want your knee to come forward as far as possible, but you also want it to slide to the side as you do this. Your knee should be farther from your chest than your arm. Do it again to switch the positioning of your legs, again making sure to try to bring your lead leg forward as far as possible.

    This time around, you get credit for a single rep after both of your legs have come forward. For simplicity's sake, we describe that as "right/left = 1."

    Scale down: You can make this easier on yourself by setting up a platform and holding your upper body up against it. This takes some of the weight off of your upper body.

  • Jump Squat

    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.

As always, have fun with it.
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