January 16, 2013
January 19, 2013
OFF THE RACK

With Tuesday being an upper-body only focused workout, and one which omitted a met-con, there were plenty of bets as to what Thursday’s class would hold. Quite a few of them were on point too.

Warm-Up: 
2 x Inch Worm 1/2 room, Samson Lunge 1/2 room, 10 Pause Squats; 
20 Spider Lunges; 
2 x Bunny Hop 1/2 room, Backwards Lunge 1/2 room, 8 Alt-T Push-Ups; 
1min Tricep/Lat Band Stretch/side 
Strength: 
5 x 5 Front Squat

To kick things off, each class was given 15 minutes to work through 5 sets of 3-5 front squats. The goal was to work up to a moderately heavy weight – “moderately heavy” because each set of front squats had to be initiated by cleaning the weight off the floor first. Remember to initiate each front squat – as well as any other squat – with the hips. Tilt the hips back first, securing the arch in the lower back, and then immediately drive the knees out to begin slowly lowering yourself. The timing is quite subtle and quick, but the order makes a big difference.

Coach Sara cuing Dave on initiating with the hips; the tactile + visual cue of tilting the hips back with the hands gives the mind something to focus on for the next set when the bar is in your hands

Leading with the hips allows us to maintain an upright torso position with elbows up and forward. Bending the knees first shifts our body weight forward, causing us to round the back and shifting the bar into our hands, which consequently causes the elbows to drop which shifts the weight forward even more (a downward spiral effect of poor posture and positioning). Proper positioning makes a big difference, one that’s much more evident during higher weight, or, higher reps. Enter the un-ironic and completely intended example of the day’s met-con.

 Met-Con: 
1 x AMRAP Front Squats; then, 
50 Air Squats, 50 Sit-Ups, 50 Side Hurdles, 50 Sit-Ups, 50 Air Squats

The met-con was run in heats starting every 2 minutes, which gave people plenty of time to alter the weights on the bar to suit their needs. The weights were RX’d for guys at 155, 135, 95 and 65, with ladies bars set at 103, 83, 63, and 33. After completing a single max rep set of front squats, lifters dropped the bars and stepped to the other side of the room for the remainder of the workout. The side hurdles were designated as over and back (meaning two jumps – over and back – for every one rep).

While 100 air squats and 50 side hurdles after a max rep set of weighted front squats seems daunting, there was one form-tip to make things slightly easier: butterflying the legs during sit-ups might make the sit-ups harder as it concentrates the work in your abdomen, but it also allows your hip flexors to rest. In a workout like this, where that burning sensation often over-rides any desire to not stop, this momentary rest can make a big difference.

Hope everyone is enjoying the massive amounts of non-snow, non-sleet, and even non-rain we experienced yesterday. See you all this weekend for more of the same.

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0 Comments

  1. Sara says:

    This was fun! I worked up to 5x133lbs on the front squats. If I had some more time I would hav given 143 a shot. The 133 clean felt great and I think I would have done ok on the clean with another 10lbs. I used 103lbs for the metcon which is about 60% of my max. I got 18 reps. On the 19th I felt my back rounding so decided to bail rather than fight it up. I think the hurdles were the slowest part of the workout for me. I should have moved over to the mat to do them so that I had a little less impact on my knee during them. I finished in 11:46 I think.

  2. Katie says:

    Great workout! My legs are just starting to feel sore now, and I’m sure that’s going to increase through tomorrow.

    I did my sets at 33# and 53#, on the 53# I did 3 reps per set. Focused on the usual — knees out, no early hip rise, elbows up.

    Tough metcon. I did 33# for the FS, and made it to 15 reps. The hurdles were definitely the toughest part, my legs were already spent by that point. Thanks for all the encouragement on the last 50 squats — I think I finished those faster than the first 50 because of everyone cheering me on. I definitely would have broken them up, but I heard Andraea say “no rest!” so tried to stick to that as much as possible!

  3. Alex C. says:

    Great workout but aren’t they all? Worked up to 185# during the Strength portion. Knocked out 22 reps @ 155# for the AMRAP and finished in about 10:30.

    I also want to say thanks to everyone for making my transition from CF Dupont to CFDC so easy. You guys are an awesome bunch and a true testament to how great the CF community is. I’m excited for what 2013 (and beyond) has in stored for us.

  4. Steph says:

    Yay, squats, with barbells!

    It was great to squat again! I used 103lbs for the workout and got 20 reps. I could’ve done a few more but knowing it’s been so long, I figured that was trashing my legs enough. The first set of 50 squats after the front squats were so slow! Legs were on fire. The worst were definitely the lateral hops. I pretty much did them 1 at a time. Something about those hurdles…

    Can we do more squats tomorrow??? 😀