Month: June 2019

Skill

10×1 Lunge Kick to Freestanding handstand OR Handstand Walk practice

Hooray for handstand day!  Bodyweight skills are just as important as weightlifting if you are looking to be a well rounded CrossFitter.   If you are new to this skill start by gently kicking up to a wall or practice wall walks to build the upper body strength and midline positioning that this skill requires. If you are comfortable in a handstand start by gently rocking up onto your hands and increase the height of your legs with each attempt.  Save yourself from a crash and burn by being conservative and trying to find a vertical balance point before you start barreling across the gym.  You will need to be able to hang out upside down with locked out arms so make sure to have a bail out plan or partner assist in place if this is new to you.  If you are comfortable kicking in to a freestanding handstand on your own spend today practicing walking on your hands or try tackling an obstacle or two!

WOD

AMRAP in 15 Minutes

15 Burpees
15 Sumo deadlift high pull 95/65 lb

Workout notes

It’s a new week and what better way to start things off than with more burpees!  We have a difficult couplet on the menu today.  Each round starts with a large set of burpees paired with a tough barbell movement.  The benchmark load on the sumo deadlift high pull might seem light but over multiple reps it will feel like a fairly heavy load.  The movement will tax your grip and in order to move efficiently you’ll need to create vertical hip drive to knock out large sets.

WOD

5 Rounds with one minute on each station

Row for calories
Rest
Thrusters 45/35 lb
Rest
Pull-ups
Rest

WORKOUT NOTES:

The inspiration for today’s workout comes from the classic CrossFit benchmark “Jackie“.  In this version we’ll be attacking the format with an interval clock.  You will have one minute to work at each station as well as an equal amount of time to rest.  With the added rest you can try a little bit higher intensity than you might if you working straight through but just like Jackie you should leave a little something in the tank for the pull-ups which most of us will find is the toughest movement.   With five total rounds the clock will be set for thirty minutes and you will be working for half of that.  The benchmark load for the thrusters is an unloaded barbell so we’re looking a weight light enough that you could work for most of the minute. Alternatively you can use a training bar or light dumbbells.

WOD

AMRAP in 20 Minutes
3-6-9-12-15 …
Squat snatch 135/95 lb

200M Run after every round

Workout notes:  Today we have a difficult weightlifting movement with an ascending rep scheme. The squat snatch is technically the most difficult lift that we’ll encounter.  If you are new to the lift make sure you have the mobility required to reach a full depth squat.  If that isn’t happening today switch to a power snatch or squat clean. The suggested load is probably very heavy if you are new to the lift so be conservative and work on moving through each rep efficiently.

Skill

Front Squat
2-2-2-2-2

Work up to a strong effort 2 rep front squat.  Start light and increase the weight for each set. The focus here should be keeping your torso upright and tracking your knees over your feet. The weight of the bar should be on your shoulders with your elbows pointing outward and your chest up.  Actively push your knees out if you feel them caving in so you can reinforce good mechanics.

WOD

for time

50 Burpees
40 Power cleans 135/95 lb
30 Burpees
20 Power cleans 135/95 lb
10 Burpees

Workout notes

Today’s workout is a couplet with a descending chipper style rep scheme.  The workout starts with a large set of burpees before you tackle a large set of cleans.  Most of the workout happens in those first two rounds with just over half of the burpees and two-thirds of the barbell work finished before you get to the set of thirty burpees.  With all that volume we’re looking at a longer workout so plan on starting both the burpees and cleans at a sustainable pace rather than sprinting in the first few minutes. Establish a repeatable cadence by taking a quick breath between burpees as well as the cleans.   We have a total of ninety burpees and sixty cleans, if that volume is well outside what you are used to and/or you are new to CrossFit, consider cutting the reps in half for each movement so you can keep the intensity high!

SKILL

Squat Clean
1-1-1-1-1

Today we’re going heavy and working up to a strong effort squat clean.  If you are new to the lift start by catching the bar in the power position and slowly riding the bar down into the bottom of your squat.  Start with your feet beneath your hips as you pull from the floor and widen your stance to shoulder width as you receive the bar and descend into your squat.  We won’t be using the interval timer for today’s lifting so rest and recover between each attempt based on your ability but try to make attempts within two to three minutes of each other and add weight as you are comfortable.

wod

AMRAP in 10 Minutes

10 Box jumps 24/20″
10 Push-ups

WORKOUT NOTES

Today’s workout is fairly short with ten minutes to score as many rounds as possible  of a simple box jump and push-up workout.  These movements compliment each other somewhat in that we are alternating between the  lower body and the upper body.  Box jumps can be fairly high intensity and the push-ups are largely strength based so you’ll get a small bit of recovery as you are working on one station.  For that reason do your best to transition quickly and try to keep moving.  Remember that the push-ups will get hard fast so break them up early and often.  When it comes to box jumps pace yourself by establishing a sustainable cadence by resting on top of the box or at the floor.

Skill

Tabata Toe-to-bar or kipping swings

For our skill work spend your time practicing one set of kipping toe-to-bar in every twenty second work period. If you are new to the movement practice connecting kipping swings and getting your knees or toes as high as possible while maintaining a fluid hollow-to-arch swing.

WOD

AMRAP in 20 Minutes

16 Hang power clean 115/85 lb
8 Front rack walking lunge steps 115/85 lb
400M Run

Workout notes

We have another long workout on the menu today.  There’s a heavy emphasis on the barbell with a large set of hang power cleans coupled with a set of walking lunges.  Be sure to test both movements and adjust your load based on which movement is harder.  You’ll want to be able to knock out large sets with both movements.  For the hang power cleans starting with a large set and finishing each round in 2-3 sets would be a good target.  As far as the lunges go you have four reps per leg in each round so ideally you should be able to hit a set of eight while fresh.

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes
30 seconds of strict handstand push-ups

Today we’re working on handstand push-ups in their strict form.  Strict hspu require more strength than kipping so scale if you need to but keep the stimulus intact. Use a box and perform push-ups in a pike position if you are still building the strength.  If you are just learning the movement using 1 or 2 abmats is okay but remove them over time as you gain proficiency.  Focus on finding the same tripod position that you do in kipping hspu and keep your body tight as you lower yourself down and press back up. Handstand push-up sets are hard to maintain so keep that in mind when deciding how many to do during each work period.

WOD

AMRAP in 15 Minutes

21 Double unders
15 Sit-ups
9 Wall ball shots 20/14lb 10/9′

Workout notes

Today’s workout is a fairly long one with small set sizes for each movement.  In a format like this we’re likely looking at a pretty high round count with a lot of transitions.  Make sure you move quickly and keep the intensity high throughout the workout.  Since the set sizes are so small and we have the backstop of the AMRAP to bail us out you do have the opportunity to test a heavier medicine ball or notching an RX for the double unders if you feel that you are ready!

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes

1 Power clean with pause below the knees

We’re working on some positional weightlifting for today’s skill work.  You will have ten opportunities to work on power cleans.  In the power clean we are pulling the bar from the floor with hands just outside of the hips and receiving the bar at the shoulders in a partial squat prior to standing up to finish the lift.  In this version of the power clean we’ll add a pause below the knees which should help you isolate any positional issues you need to work on.  Focus on pulling the bar from the floor under control with the  chest up.  After the bar passes your knees, generate aggressive vertical momentum by violently opening the hips and catching the bar with your elbows up.  Remember that even though we’re working on the power clean you should still drop lower into a partial squat as the bar gets heavier.

WOD

3 Rounds for time

30 Alternating dumbbell snatch 50/35 lb
15 Strict press 95/65 lb

Workout notes

Today’s workout is a weightlifting couplet with two implements.   Each round starts with a large set of alternating dumbbell snatches.  Use a dumbbell weight light enough that you can complete large sets of snatches as “TnG” reps or single reps with a quick reset on the floor. With ninety total reps on the menu the weight should be light enough that you can get through each round of thirty without compromising your technique for any single repetition. Plan to get each set of thirty done in 2-3 sets. The second movement in our couplet is the always difficult strict press.  The benchmark barbell load probably seems like it is fairly light but for most us the “Rx” load will be challenging.  Scale the barbell to a weight you can knock out at least ten while fresh and resist the urge to incorporate the lower body to propel the weight vertically.  Similar to bodyweight push-ups, we’ll all eventually hit a wall and need to set the barbell down. When that happens just take a few seconds rest and pick up the bar when you are ready for another set rather than adjusting the load or resorting to push press.

WOD

with a partner

1 Mile run with a medicine ball 20/14 lb
100 devil press 50/35 lb

Workout notes

For today’s workout we’ll be partnering up and working through a two movement chipper.  We’ll start with a one mile run carrying a medicine ball. You and your partner will need one medicine ball that you can transfer as little or as often as you like while you are on the run.  When you make your way back to the gym set your med ball aside and start working on a large set of devil press,  The “devil press” starts by doing a burpee with your hands on each of two dumbbells. Stand up from the burpee with your feet outside of the DB’s as you deadlift the DB’s into the hang position and finish with with a snatch or clean and jerk. The devil press is definitely as hard as it sounds so choose your weights wisely and make sure both partners are capable of working with that load. With a tough movement like this one, small sets will most likely make the most sense to keep things moving quickly.

WOD

10 Rounds of 1.5 Minutes on 1.5 Minutes off

[odd]
10 Toe-to-bar
10 Two arm dumbbell thrusters 50/35 lb
Max effort air assault for calories

[even]
10 Toe-to-bar
10 Two arm dumbbell thrusters 50/35 lb
Max effort row for calories

WORKOUT NOTES

Today’s workout is a ten round interval workout with a 1:1 work rest ratio.  You will start each round with ten toe-to-bar and ten dumbbell thrusters prior to repping out calories on the bike or the rower.  We’ll alternate between bike and rowing every other interval so you will have a total of five opportunities to score calories on each machine.  To setup for this workout we’ll get into groups of at least two and up to four.  Each group will need two pairs of dumbbells as well as a rower and a bike.  Two athletes will be working at a time starting with toe-to-bar and then finishing on either the bike or rower.  When ninety seconds have elapsed the second pair will start working in the same fashion while the first pair rests.  When round one is over athletes will start again on toe-to-bar but switch from the bike to the row or vice versa.  Continue in that fashion until all four athletes have finished ten rounds and have been on each machine five times.   Your score will be the total number of calories you accumulate after all ten rounds.