I had to miss this work out, but Al sent me the WOD. It's a pretty basic one, but you need to set up a platform of some sort so you can do the decline push ups. There's also a skill portion this time around: you have to do an unbroken string of reps. For both of these, "unbroken" means without stopping or pausing (otherwise, people might "pause" for a long time to effectively rest). It's a good idea to track what number you hit, as there are good odds that we'll do the same thing again at some point in the future. It's a good way to see how much progress you've made.
As far as safety goes, focus on the hang power cleans. That's the exercise most likely to hurt you if you don't keep strict form. So, keep strict form. That's the easiest way to fix that problem.
Skill
- As many unbroken push ups as possible
- As many unbroken air squats as possible
WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 10 minutes) of:
- 5 hang power cleans
- 10 decline push ups
- 15 V-Ups
Exercises
- 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.
- Air Squat
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.
- Hang Power Clean
You'll need a barbell, weighted as heavily as you can handle. I usually see between 45lbs and 90lbs.
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.
- Decline Push Ups
Despite the name, it's more like an incline bench press. Set up a platform with as many risers as you can handle (the most I ever see anyone use is 6). Put your feet on the platform and your hands on the ground; your feet should be higher than your face. Do your push ups that way, with your chest touching the ground for each rep.
Scale down: Put your knees on the platform instead of your toes. That reduces some of the weight that you have to push off the ground, so it makes it a bit easier.
- V-Up
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
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