Category: Workout of the Day

Skill

Front Squat
4-4-4-4-4

Today we’re working up to a strong effort 4 rep front squat.  With the front squat we want to focus on keeping the elbows up and point out and in turn the chest.  As with any kind of squatting you’ll want to practice keeping your knees out and tracking over your feet. Remember to release the grip on the bar a little bit in the front squat and load the bar onto your torso. That should help you keep your elbows and chest up. If you have a mobility problem holding you back from keeping your elbows up you can always try crossing your arms across the bar or modifying that in some way.

WOD

AMRAP in 7 Minutes
2 Push-ups
1 Jumping Pull-Up

Workout notes: You could read this as a push-up, plus a burpee pull-up but you should make your best effort to make this workout more difficult by remaining in a plank throughout your push-up reps! Perform your strictest push-ups possible and jump to a bar that is outside of your reach for your pull-up.  To make counting easy score this workout by counting your total number of  jumping pull-ups performed and any additional push-ups in an uncompleted round.

Skill

10×1
Wall walk with 10 Second Hold in wall facing Handstand.

There is no time component for the completion of this workout so the emphasis should be on quality movement. Ascend as high as you can into a wall facing handstand and hold that position. As you get stronger in this position you’ll have your belly to the wall, pressing up with active shoulders. If you can, remain in that position for 10 seconds and then come down under control. Complete up to 10 repetitions and rest as much as needed between reps.

WOD 

4 Rounds with 1 minute on each station

Two arm dumbbell push press 45/30 lb
Air Squat
Row for calories
Rest

Workout notes: This workout will be scored as you would score the workout “Fight Gone Bad”.  Count your total number of reps completed and come up with one big number at the end of the four rounds. It could be tempting to “game” this workout by going easy on a movement to be fresh for another one but that is not the intent of this format. Go hard at each station! Pay close attention to your mechanics during the push presses and air squats. Make sure you reach full extension in the push presses and don’t re-bend your knees after the dumbbell is overhead.  Practice hitting full depth in all of your air squats and full extension at the top.  They will get hard with higher rep counts but don’t short the range of motion to keep going.

Skill

1-1-1-1-1

Power Clean

Work up to a strong effort power clean.  The lift should start just as you would with a squat clean.  Your back angle should remain static as you pull the bar off of the ground and you should start opening your hips as the bar passes your knees.  Re-bend to receive the bar at your shoulders and let your grip open up slightly.  As the bar gets heavier you should meet the bar at a lower elevation. If things are working correctly your last lift would be a squat clean or close to it.

WOD

“Annie”

50-40-30-20-10
Double Unders
Sit-Ups

Workout notes: Annie is a classic benchmark workout from CrossFit.com.  Using an abmat is optional but do attempt to protect your skin from the flooring by making sure you don’t slide around too much on the floor.  The workout is simple and meant to be fast! If you do not yet have good consistency with double unders make an honest effort to complete the workout with them but bail out go with single unders if you find yourself stuck for a few minutes and unable to get any.

WOD

for time

1 Mile Run
50 Medicine Ball Cleans
1000M Run
100 Kettlebell Hang Snatch or Dumbbell Hang Snatch
450M Run

Workout notes: Note that there is no “Rx” load for this workout! For medicine ball cleans you can go as heavy as 30lbs but even if you use a heavier ball than what you normally use for wall ball shots you should be moving quickly and practicing full extension with your hips prior to dropping into your squat. With the snatches you have a choice of kettlebell or dumbbell. The kettlebell snatch is generally considered the harder of the two movements as you have to rotate your wrist around the bell rather than let it slam into your arm.  You may alternate arms as you wish but do distribute the work evenly across both arms. The one mile run is down to the yellow sign just short of L street and back. The 1000m Run has you running out the back door and down to the Cantrill sign. Finish up by running all the way around the property! The running is almost 2 miles so scale the distance a bit if that is well outside your range.

WOD

AMRAP in 20 Minutes

5 Strict Pull-Ups
10 Deadlifts 225/155 lb
15 Bar Facing Burpees

Workout notes: Today’s workout is longer and falls into the oxidative metabolic pathway but we have strict pull-ups and deadlifts that will be performed with a strong effort for most athletes.  Those movements will inevitably slow down the feel of this workout.  Concentrate on your mechanics with the deadlifts and pull-ups and push the pace with the burpees.

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes

1 Squat Snatch with pause in the bottom of the overhead squat

Today we work on the squat snatch.  The movement is very difficult and requires a great deal of mobility. Warm up to a weight that is in the 60-70% range and work with that weight for for all ten repetitions.  Test the movement at a low weight to make sure you are using a weight that you can land into a deep squat with your feet flat and your chest up.  Adding the pause will increase the difficulty of the lift so be conservative! If the squat snatch isn’t happening today due to mobility issues work on a power movement but in add some work on very light overhead squats with a PVC or empty barbell so you can get the feel for the movement.

WOD

AMRAP in 8 Minutes
Push-Ups
EMOM perform 20 Double Unders

Workout notes: For this workout your score will be the total number of push-ups you perform in 8 minutes.  It’s a good idea to keep the set sizes small early on and try to manage sustainable sets even though you are treating this workout as an AMRAP.  To Rx this workout perform 20 double unders at the start of every minute.  Scale your double unders first by choosing a smaller set size like 10 or 5 reps or even 1 rep!.

Skill 

EMOM for 10 Minutes
[Odd]:30 Seconds L-Sit on Parallettes  or Seated Leg Raise
[Even]:30 Seconds Alternating Pistols or High Box Step ups

Most of us will be best served by holding the L-Sit on the floor with legs raised and at extension for as long as possible.  If 30 seconds is beyond a max set break up the time into small chunks.  Pistols require a great deal of mobility and strength so if they are not happening today work the movement on a high box that gets you hip crease below parallel.

WOD

Tabata Toe-To-Bar
1 Minute Rest
Tabata Wall Ball Shots 20/14 lb
1 Minute Rest
Tabata Kettlebell Swing 32/24 kg

Workout notes: For today’s workout we will use the Tabata interval to time our workout. The tabata interval is 20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest for 8 rounds.  Tabata scoring is usually scored by your lowest round for any movement but today we’ll score this workout for max reps. We are adding a minute of rest between tabatas so go hard in each movement.

Strength 

Deadlift
3-3-3-3-3

Work up to a strong effort set of  three deadlifts.  This doesn’t necessarily mean you go up to max effort, but work up in weight as you feel comfortable. Judge your effort by the strain it takes you to achieve each lift.  New lifters should keep the load light and work on proper body mechanics as they increase in weight.  Start with a light weight and make sure that you have established a straight back and an  appropriate setup as you address the bar.  Be sure to maintain your posture as you progress though each set of three and as you increase in weight.

Metcon 

AMRAP in 15 Minutes
200M Run
60 Seconds rest

Workout notes: For this workout your score will be the total number of rounds you complete while forcing yourself to hold 60 seconds rest for every run.  The only exception to that rule is if you have enough time to complete another round in the last minute of the workout by cutting the 60 seconds rest then do so rather if you feel you are capable.  If you can, keep track of your split times for each 200M and use the first couple of rounds as tests so you can perform negative splits.  Each 200m run should be strong effort but you want to run at a pace you can hold for several rounds so don’t perform an all out sprint during the first few rounds.

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes
Straight set of strict handstand push-ups

Two weeks ago we worked on kipping hspu. This week we’re specifically targeting the movement in it’s strict form.  Strict hspu are more difficult so scale if you need to but keep the stimulus intact.  If you are just learning the movement using 1 or 2 abmats is okay but remove them over time as you gain proficiency.

WOD

AMRAP in 6 Minutes
1 Power Clean 185/135 lb
1 Squat Clean 185/135 lb

Workout notes: Our skill work was a gymnastics movement and our metcon for the day is entirely a weightlifting movement.  Your score will be the total number of rounds you complete plus an additional power clean should get one. The suggested load is a little heavier than what you might see in a light weight metcon.  We’re looking for a weight that might be slightly above 60% of your 1RM but not so much that you are working with a max effort weight or a weight that you can not catch above parallel.  Most athletes will find the squat clean to be more difficult than the power clean in this scenario so make sure you can perform both lifts proficiently at the weight you choose.

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes

1 Split Jerk

Use ten minutes to work on your split jerk. Warm up to a moderate weight that you can perform for ten minutes and increase only if your lifts are technically sound.   Focus on distributing your weight equally over both feet with your front foot toed in slightly and your back foot planted on the ball of the foot. Press yourself under the bar and finish with your arms fully extended before you recover your feet.  If you are new to the lift keep the load light and practice perfect movement.  Our WOD today is shoulder intensive as well so consider you total volume today when you are practicing the split jerk.

WOD

AMRAP in 8 Minutes
Pull-Ups
5 Burpees EMOM

Workout notes: This workout will be scored by the number of pull-ups you complete in 8 minutes.  You will start with 5 burpees and perform 5 every minute thereafter. If you are new to pull-ups scale by performing jumping pull-ups or ring rows.  Kipping is okay but protect yourself and remain mindful of your hands. Switch to strict pull-ups if you feel a tear coming on!