1.2.2011
Skill:
TGU 3-3-3-3
WOD:
“Cindy on Crack”
3′ on 2′ off, 5 sets total
5 Pullups
10 Pushups
15 Squats
Start each round where ou left off last. Who can get 5 rounds plus per interval?
Author Archive
12.24.2011
“Twelve days of Christmas”
1 Deadlift @ 275/185
2 Manmakers @ 1/3 BW
3 DB Push Press
4 Burpees
Fiiiiiiive Goooooolden Ring Dips
6 L-Pullups
7 Shin to Wrists (L+R=1)
8 Jumping Lunges
9 Toe’s to Bar
10 Star Jumpers
11 DB Thrusters
12 hundred meters (row or run)
It goes like this:
Do 1
1, 2
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3, 4….
Last one is a 1200 m row or run.
Merry Christmas!!!
12.23.2011
Skill: Snatch tech.
“Pullin”
For time:
800 meter run or row
30 Snatches, 115/75
800 meter run or row
Finisher:planks
Coach’s note: If you have the flexibility and good position, do squat snatches. If you’re still working on it, take this time to work on overhead squats instead.
12.22.2011
Skill: With a moderate weight, do a total of 13 Turkish getups, slow and controlled. Do the extra rep on your weak side.
“The Nut Cracker”
AMRAP 3 minutes:
10 KBS 53/35
20 Squats
10 Box Jumps 24/20
Rest 2 minutes between rounds. Complete 5 rounds.
Top athletes should be getting close to 4 rounds per interval.
12.21.2011
Skill: Tire flippin’
Part I: Jump n’ Slide
AMRAP 8 minutes:
Ab Disc x 1 Length
Broad Jump x 1 Length (take you’re disc with you)
-Rest 5 minutes-
Part 2: Pedal n’ Pinch
For time:
40/30 Airdyne cals
40 Overhead lunge 45/25#
30/23 cals
30 OH Lunge
20/15 cals
20 OH Lunge
10/7 cals
10 OH Lunge
Coach’s note: For the broad jump, stay light on your feet; it’ll save your back. Use the overhead lunge time to practice a good shoulder position. Don’t hold that plate like a DB, pinch the egg!
12.20.2011
Skill: KB work
Partner up, one person working while the other rests. Switch between every movement.
1) Double-KB clean, 7 reps
2) Double-KB bent-over row, 8 reps
3) One-arm windmill, 5 reps (each side)
4) Double-KB front squat, 5 reps
5) Hand-to-hand KB swing, 12 reps (each side)
Do 4 rounds each, rest 1 minute between rounds. If you don’t have a partner, rest as long as it took you to complete the reps before starting the next movement. Guys use 53′s and girls use 35′s.
12.19.2011
Skill: Work on push jerks for 15 minutes, then;
“Hammerdown”
AMRAP 16 Minutes
3 Power Clean and Jerk @ 155/115#
6 Chest to Bar Pullups
9 Burpees
Coach’s Note: New to the clean and jerk? Use DB’s for this WOD and do hang squat cleans instead of power cleans. Focus on dropping under the weight and receiving in a solid squat.
CFCDA APPAREL
The order is closed! We have a lot of people…. we are gonna look smokin in CDA! The prices I quoted will be the final price of the items. So if you haven’t paid, all payments are DUE by Monday evening! We will be ordering extra tshirts, but not sweatshirts…. soooooo get your money in!!!
Ugly Christmas Sweater Party…
Thank you to everyone who came to the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party last Friday! It was a BLAST! There were great gag gifts, amazing people, and strong drinks! Check out the great time! More to come on Facebook!
Healthy Shoulders, Part 2
The Handstand Pee Up. You'll see it at the Games next year. Better start your prehab! Photo courtesy of www.fitbomb.com
If you haven’t already, check out Healthy Shoulders, Part I.
Now that we’ve got you thinking about your posture in regards to having healthy, strong shoulders, we’re going to delve a little deeper. I’ll try not to nerd out too much.
Everyone knows what your shoulder blade is, but how many people actually know what it does? Your shoulder blade, called the scapula, is a pretty cool bone. You can tell a lot about shoulder health just by how it sits against your ribcage and how it moves (or doesn’t move).
The scapula moves up and down, protracts and retracts, tilts forward and back, and rotates. If the controlling muscles are balanced and healthy, all these movements shouldn’t be an issue and you’ll have a healthy, strong shoulder. But if these muscles get weak, tight, or imbalanced (from, say, sitting at a desk), problems occur.
Go ahead and put your hand on one shoulder. Right on top there should be a little hard spot of bone. That’s part of your scapula, called the acromium process (circled in picture 3c below). Here’s the deal with the acromium; when you move your arm overhead, that thing needs to get out of the way. If it doesn’t, you’ll feel what’s called impingement syndrome (pic 3d). This is basically muscle tissue getting pinched between your acromium and humerus (arm bone).
Photo courtesy of the CrossFit Journal
So how the heck do I get it out of the way? A combo of scapular retraction, protraction, and upward rotation, duh. I know, sounds complicated, bear with me. Just look at the picture and imagine this; that scapula needs to rotate clockwise, while the bottom part tilts slightly forward, around the ribs. The top part also tilts back to create room. In picture 3d, none of this is happening. That person is just lazily lifting their arm overhead. In picture 3e, there is no impingement, because he’s actively “pinching the egg” to create room between the acromium and humerus.
The "ribs" you see are actually his serratus anterior muscles. They are contracting and rotating the scapula down and forward, making room for the humerus and helping stabilize the bar overhead. Photo courtesy of www.crossfit.com
Several things can cause an impingement. In addition to not actively engaging the proper muscles like we just talked about, most people have underdeveloped serratus anterior. To make matters worse, poor posture leads to tight pec minors (see pic of Spealer’s “ribs” to the left), which attach to the anterior (front) side of the scapula and pulls it forward, worsening the impingement. In other words, you can’t rotate the acromium out of the way with a serratus anterior, and it’s actually being pulled further in the way by your pec minor.
So, how do we avoid this situation? Prehab.
- Top: pinching the egg for retraction. Bottom: Pushing the arms forward for protraction.
To strengthen the serratus anterior, perform scap pushups. Start in a pushup plank and pinch the egg (retract). Without bending your elbows, push the floor away (protract). You’ll get maybe 2 inches of elevation. What you’re doing is sliding the scap around your rib cage. 3 sets of 20 reps is ideal. I like to do these standing with small bands (see pic to the right).
To lengthen the pec minor, you should stretch it and perform plenty of SMR (self myfascial release). My favorite SMR for the pec minor is placing a lacrosse ball about 2 inches below your collar bone, on the outer portion of the pec. Pin the ball against the wall while holding that same hand behind your back. The advanced version (more painful) involves placing the ball on top of a book or bumper plate to give it some elevation and lay on that sucker. Same spot, hand behind your back and head facing away from the ball. Move the ball around until you find the spot that causes pirate face, and focus there for 2-3 minutes.
A good stretch for the pec minor is the door stretch. You should be actively retracting the scap during this stretch.
These are just a few things you can do to prevent injury or rehab an existing one. If you are a desk jockey, this stuff is important. Since you’re already in a poor position all day, you need to reverse it. These prehab techniques can easily be added in to a typical workout. For example, in between each set of squats you could knock out 20 scap pushups with a band while you’re resting. And when you fall off the airdyne in post wod exhaustion, throw a lacrosse ball under your pec minor (you’re on the ground anyways, might as well be productive). Don’t wait for your coaches to make you do this stuff, take initiative. And whatever you do, don’t wait until you get hurt.
Keep in mind, even with all this prehab you still need to check your ego during the wod and put yourself in a good position. I said it in Part 1 and I’ll say it again; learn to “feel” when you get lazy. Stop, reset, and pinch the egg! This goes for nearly any movement involving your shoulders.
Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how the shoulder functions, and what you need to do to keep it healthy. This is just a slice of prehab techniques you can use, integrate them and watch your overhead position improve. And as always, ask a coach if you need more help.
For more shoulder prehab, check out these awesome posts from CrossFit Invictus for instructions on how to perform Y’s, T’s and W’s.
Y’s
T’s
W’s
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