Warm Up
- 25 jumping jacks
- 10 mountain climbers (left/right = 1)
- 10 lunges to elbow
- 10 upward to downward
- 10 arm circles
- 30 box jumps
- 5 power cleans
- 10 thrusters
- 15 lunges with bar (right/left = 2)
- 20 sit ups
- 25 V-ups
- 30 box jumps
- 25 power cleans
- 20 thrusters
- 15 lunges with bar (right/left = 2)
- 10 sit ups
- 5 V-ups
- 30 box jumps
Exercises
- 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 and your rear leg forward. Make sure that your lead leg also slides sideways, so that it is outside of your arm on that side. Do it again to switch the positioning of your legs, again making sure your lead leg ends up outside of your arm.
Both of your legs have to come forward one time to complete a single rep. For simplicity's sake, we describe that as "right/left = 1". - Lunges to Elbow
This starts like any other lunge: 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 front 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.
Once your lead leg is forward and your knees are bent, reach down with your arms and touch the elbow on the side that's lunging forward to the inside of your calf. If your right leg is forward, touch your right elbow to the inside of your calf. If you can actually reach your elbow to your instep (the side of your foot), do that since that'll make it harder. Try to balance without reaching down your off hand, but if you need to, put your off-hand down on the ground to stabilize yourself.
If you need extra support, you can use your hands to push up off of the ground. Repeat the motion with the other leg coming forward to complete the rep. In other words, you have to lunge with both the right and the left leg coming forward for a single rep (or, "left and right = 1" for short). - Upward to Downward
This is basically a "judo pushup" if you've ever heard of that. If you're familiar with yoga at all, the starting position should look like the "downward dog." Regardless, the starting position is very similar to the static inchworm: start standing and reach down with your hands several feet in front of you. It's a lot like a push up position with a noticeable bend at the waist (your butt will be a bit higher in the air than your chest or lower body). 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. Now have your body travel the arc in reverse to complete the rep. - Arm Circles
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 and 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. - Box Jumps
Set up a platform with at least 4 risers on each side. 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 comes down off of the platform first. - Power Cleans
A single rep of a power clean is essentially a weighted squat with some hand motions thrown in. This exercise is meant to be done with barbells, so if you feel comfortable using that weight, go for it. If you aren't comfortable with that weight or the technique using a bar, switch to a pair of dumbbells. Remember, just make sure that you're comfortable with the form with whatever you use.
To begin with, put the weight on the ground in front of you (this is different than the "high hang" where you start with the weight near your thighs). Squat down to grab the weights, but remember to face forward and keep your chest facing forward. As you stand up, shrug your shoulders aggressively. I know it sounds silly, but it should be an *aggressive* shrug. You really want to build some momentum in that motion. However, 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 chest 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. At the end of this motion, you should have your palms facing away from your body, as if you were "racking" the dumbbells 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 dumbbells at your chest. Don't actually let go of the weight, 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 that 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 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. - Thrusters
Use the same bar you've been using for the lunges and cleans. The traditional start has your knuckles facing away from you and the weights resting against the upper part of your chest (this position is often called "racking" the weights).
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 weight over your head, until your arms are fully extended. Push the weight straight up and down, since any horizontal motion will put undue stress on your shoulders.
Bring the bar 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 bar, bring the weight back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time. - Lunges with Bar
Using the same bar that you've used for the power cleans and thrusters, hold it at about shoulder level with your palms facing forward. You want the weight to be resting against the top part of your chest, and your upper arm and forearms should make two straight lines facing directly ahead of you. If you have enough strength and flexibility in your wrists, try to bring your elbows as high as possible. This forces your wrists to take more of the brunt of the weight, so only do so if you can handle the weight.
From this 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 farther forward than your 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. Alternate which leg you bring forward, so that you work both sides evenly.
This time around, you get credit for a rep every time you bring one of your legs forward (or, "right/left = 2" for short) - Sit Ups
You'll need two dumbbells for this. The traditional start has your knuckles facing away from you and the weights resting against the upper part of your chest (this position is often called "racking" the weights).
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 two dumbbells over your head, until your arms are fully extended. Push the weights straight up and 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 weights back down before you start your next squat, and keep a good curve on your lower back the whole time. - 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.
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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