Monday, January 15, 2018

2018.01.15

In honor of MLK, Nina found a WOD that would be fitting for today. It's called "Drive out Darkness" which pulls from MLK's quote: 

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that”

Descriptions as usual. Have fun with it!

WoD

Exercises
  • Box jumps
    You'll need to set up a platform with risers. I usually see between 3 and 5 risers. Before you even start the WoD, stomp on it really hard. You want to make sure it'll support your weight and 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).
  • Barbell rows
    You'll need a barbell for this; I usually see between 45lbs and 90lbs.

    To begin with, put it down in front of you. Start with your feet a little bit more than shoulder-width apart, and bend your knees to reach down for the barbell. Grab the barbell with your hands on the outside of your legs/knees, so that your hands are slightly farther apart than your feet. From that position, stand straight up so that you have the barbell resting near your thighs (if you know what a deadlift is, you basically need to do one of those).

    From that position, bend your knees slightly and bend forward until your back is at about a 30 degree angle. Your back still needs to be as flat (like a table top) as you can manage. Squeeze your shoulder blades together before you start, and then pull the barbell straight up to your chest while keeping your back stationary. Bring it back down to the bottom in a fluid motion to finish the rep. You want to bring the weight up and down from this position until you've finished all of your reps.
  • Walking lunges
    Do a lunge with either leg forward, and then do a lunge with the opposite leg forward moving in a "walking fashion." Each step is counted as one. Make sure you plant the heel of the leg that comes forward, and bring the knee of the back leg (the one that's bending) as close to the ground as possible.
  • V-ups
    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.
  • Kettlebell swings
    Just use one dumbbell - and go heavy (most guys used 20lbs, most women were using 10-15lbs). Grab it with your strong hand, wrap your off-hand around your strong hand. You want a curve in your lower back (your lumbar), as if you were sticking out your chest and bending your lower back inward towards your spine.

    Do a quarter squat and put the dumbbell between your legs, right around mid-thigh. Stand up, and as you do so, swing the dumbbell in front of you, keeping your arms locked. Because it's a light weight, you want to swing the dumbbell until it is perpendicular to the ground, directly above your head. Bring it back to starting position to complete the rep.

    You want to maintain a good lumbar curve the whole time, and you should bend your legs as you finish a rep. If you’re bending at the waist, you’re doing it wrong, and you might hurt your back.
  • Burpees
    It’s a 4-step motion: 1) squat down and touch the ground, 2) kick your legs out into a push-up position and do the push-up, 3) jump back to the squatting position, 4) come up and jump a couple of inches off the ground (touch your hands above your head). Since we only had to do 30 of these total, you're not allowed to scale down that much.

    Scale down: Cut out the push-up, so for steps 2 and 3, you just kick out your legs and then jump back to the squatting position

    Scale down some more: Instead of kicking your legs out in the second step, step back with one leg and then the other. The end result is the same, but it’s not as tough. Still no push-up.
  • Dumbbell thrusters
    Grab a pair of dumbbells; this time around, you only need up to 10lbs (to simulate throwing a 20lb medicine ball).

    Start with the dumbbells at your shoulders with your palms facing each other (towards your armpits) and your knuckles facing out away from your body. You're going to be doing this in the hammer fist grip this time around (your forearm and the dumbbell make a hammer that you could swing). This is the start, or "racked" position for this exercise.

    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 weights over your head, until your arms are fully extended. Push the dumbbells straight up & down, since any horizontal motion will put undue stress on your shoulders.

    Bring the dumbbells back to the “racked” position to finish the rep. 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 dumbbells, bring the weight back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time.

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