This was another set of mini WOD's. You're going to need your lower body quite a bit, so be sure to warm up your legs. Otherwise, all you really need is some weights and a timer. The strength portion wasn't about building strength so much as it was for building good form (you're not loading up your bar with weight).
The thrusters and snatches are the bigger concerns this time around, though even then, I'd be more concerned about the thrusters. Dumbbell snatches are only worrisome if you drop the weight when it's above your head. So, make sure you have a good grip, and those should be less of a concern. As for the thrusters, make sure to protect your back with good form. You can hurt yourself if you get sloppy.
Strength
10 minutes of:
- 3 overhead squats (no weight on the bar)
WoD
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 5 minutes) of:
Rest 3 minutes
As Many Rounds As Possible (in 5 minutes) of:- 5 single-arm dumbbell snatches (left/right = 1)
- 10 V-ups
Exercises
- Overhead Squat
Grab a bar, but this time around, do NOT put any weight on it.
Standing, hold the bar over your head with your arms locked. Your arms should make a "Y" shape with the rest of your body. You want the bar directly over your torso, so that your spine & the bar are lined up (the idea is to keep you from leaning forward on the actual rep). This actually feels a little bit like you're holding it behind your head, and your shoulders should feel like they're actively trying to push the bar.
From that position, you want to do a regular squat. Keep your arms locked as you go down, but make sure your knees stay lined up over your toes. You don't want either of them to "buckle" by facing inward when your toes are pointed outward. That puts a lot of (unnecessary) strain on your knee. You want your butt to go at least as low as your knees, though if you can go even lower (i.e., "break parallel") that's ideal.
Once you've reached the bottom of the squat, stand back up to your starting position. At no point should you bend over or move the bar horizontally. The bar should move straight up and down. Once you come back to your original standing position with the bar overhead, that's 1 rep.
- Thruster
Grab a barbell and weight it as heavily as you can handle; most people use between ~45lbs and ~90lbs.
To start, hold the bar 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 bar is "racked" against your chest.
Keeping the weight 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. Push the weight straight up & down, since any horizontal motion will put undue stress on your shoulders.
To finish the rep, you have to bring the bar 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 weight at the top, bring the weight back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time.
- Sit Up
Keep your feet in butterfly position (heels touching each other), since that isolates your abs. Also, be sure to keep your feet planted on the ground (lifting them off the ground generates momentum that doesn't really come from your abs). Come all the way up, but don't pull on your neck or lean forward. Doing either of those things reduces the work that your abs have to do. You have to touch your toes to get credit for the rep.
Don't bounce your hips or your legs against the ground to generate momentum. That actually generates power from your legs, rather than your core. In essence, that's cheating since you're not working your core as much that way.
- Single-Arm Dumbbell Snatch
You'll only need one dumbbell for this; I usually see 10-15 pound dumbbells. 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.
This time around, you have to bring the weight overhead with both arms to get credit (we call that "left/right = 1" for short).
- 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
Happy CrossFitting, y'all.
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