This one was all about using the Olympic lifts to get weight from the ground to overhead. The strength portion splits the motions into two parts, so that you get used to the technique and the weight. For the WOD, you'll do something very similar, only with one hand (and one dumbbell) at a time. Either way, you're going to move weight correctly all the way to a locked out position over your head.
It should come as no surprise that the lifts are going to be the biggest area of focus. You want to build strength, but you want to do so safely. That means be very, very strict about your form on the push presses, cleans, jerks, and dumbbell snatches. Don't hurt yourself with poor form.
Warmup
2 rounds of:
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 push ups
- 10 bottom down
- 10 arm circles
- 10 push presses (no weight on bar)
Strength
10 minutes of:
- 2 (squat) cleans
- 1 push jerk OR 1 push press
WoD As Many Rounds As Possible (in 8 minutes) of:
- 8 single-arm dumbbell snatch (4 right and 4 left)
- 8 hand release push ups
Cashout
- 100 sit ups
Exercises
- Push Up
You want your entire body straight/rigid, without a bend at the waist. Maintain this position the whole time, regardless of whether you're moving or not. 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.
- 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.
- Arm Circle
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.
- Push Press
You'll need a barbell. For the warm up, leave all of the weight off. You're just trying to get the muscles warmed up. For the WOD, weight it as heavily as possible. I usually see between 45lb and 90lb on the barbell.
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.
Do a quarter squat, and come up as explosively as you can. In reality, you'll end up end up hopping up a tiny bit because you're generating so much momentum/power from your legs. That's okay, but be absolutely sure that you're in control as you do this. You really don't want to trip or fall while holding a barbell. As you come up, press the barbell directly over your head. Remember, your legs should be driving the power in this motion, not your shoulders or arms. At the top of your motion, you want your arms to be fully extended and your legs completely straightened out. Also, bring your head forward a bit so that your arms, spine, and head are all aligned along the same vertical plane.
One last cue is to make sure you move the weight directly up & down; if you start moving the horizontally, you'll put extra stress on your shoulders. If your elbows flare out horizontally, that's also going to make it difficult to press straight up & down. Finish your rep by bringing the weight back to beginning/racked position.
- Clean
A single rep of a squat clean is essentially a weighted squat with some hand motions thrown in. This particular version requires a barbell, so grab one weight it with at least 20lbs. I've seen anywhere up to ~90lbs on one of those barbells.
To begin with, put the barbell down in front of you. From a standing position, squat down while still facing forward (don't bend over). You want the barbell to be at about mid-shin. If you're using the barbells in the exercise room, that means you'll have to lift it up off the ground a few inches. From that position, stand straight up and pop your hips forward. This should be a violent motion, since the point is to generate a lot of momentum (in fact, you should come up on your toes and "jump" from the momentum). However, the barbell will move in a straight vertical line. You're just using your body to move the barbell in as efficient a route as possible.
With the barbell at about hip level, shrug your shoulders. I know it sounds silly, but it should be an *aggressive* shrug. You want to continue the momentum of the barbell without having to "lift" the weight with your arms. That means you have to 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 barbell up to about chest level and squat down at the same time. Again, the barbell should be move in a straight vertical line. If the barbell 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 underneath the weight so that you end up in a squat with the barbell at your chest. Don't actually let go of the barbell, 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.
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 barbell back down to thigh-level and then put the the barbell back on the ground 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.
- Push Jerk
Hold the barbell at about shoulder level, with your palms facing away from your body so that you could see both palms in a mirror. In a sense, the weights are "racked" against your chest. 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 lots and lots of reps. Regardless of how high you bring your elbows, the weights are "racked" against your chest.
From here, do a quarter squat to load up your legs to act as springs, and then you want to violently shove the barbell directly over your head. In fact, your momentum will cause you to do a slight hop while your hands go upwards. At the same time, you want to squat down (about a quarter squat). It might help to think about it as your lower body is racing to reach a quarter squat at the same time that the barbell reaches the top of the lift. At the top of the rep, your arms should be completely locked out, and you should be in a quarter squat position. Once you've got full control of the weight, stand tall. Then, and only then, should you re-position your feet. Because this lets you use your legs to drive the momentum and the power, this should feel easier than a strict shoulder press.
To finish the rep, you have to lower the weight to the hang position safely (we're not allowed to just drop weights). From the locked out position at the very top, bring the weight straight back down to the racked position (resting on your shoulders/clavicle, palms facing away from you, elbows as high up as you can). You'll need to keep your chest facing forward the whole time; don't bend forward at any point. All of that is one rep. If you need to, practice the motion until it starts to feel natural; form is really important here.
- 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 get credit for a rep every time you bring the weight overhead with either arm (we call that "left/right = 2" for short). However, you HAVE to do 4 reps in a row with one hand. That means 4 reps with your left and then 4 reps with your right (or 4 right then 4 left). Either way, do 4 reps in a row with a single hand.
- Hand Release Push Up
Get down in a plank position, with your body rigid and no bend at your waist. Bring your chest to the ground for every single rep, and lift your hands off the ground at the bottom. This forces you to go all the way down (gravity will take care of the rest if you don't actually bring yourself to the ground). At the top of the rep, make sure your arms are fully extended.
Scale down: Do the push ups on your knees. You lift less weight this way, so it's easier.
- Sit Up
Keep your feet in butterfly position (the bottoms of your feet should be pressed against each other, so that your legs create a diamond-like shape), 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.
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