Fitness: 3×5 Across
Add 5lbs from last weeks Squats.
Performance: 5/3/1 (3 week)
70%x3
80%x3
90%x3+
or 70%x3x3 if you already hit your “3 week”
Post loads to comments.
Squat e9/12
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7 minute ascending ladder of:
Front Squats 135/95
Toes to Bars
For the rep scheme, start at 3 and 3, then move on to 6 and 6 adding by three reps to the previous round until time expires. Front Squats are taken from the floor. We’ll discuss scaling the T2Bs in class.
Post total reps and Rx to comments.
Brad gets ready for 30 Burpees in 13.1
- If you didn’t sign up for your Murph heat yet and see that they’re basically full. Fear not! You can sign up in the “Coaches Heat” at the end of the day. Check out the events page for all the details.
A Warm-Up Refresher
We’ve been hitting the Standardized Warm-Ups for the last 6 weeks and are pleased to see people working dilligently on their calisthenics. Here are a few points to keep in mind as you continue to make these part of your routine:
Intensity
You shouldn’t be approaching faliure with any these movements. The idea is not to necessarily make it harder each time you do it or test your limits, we want to build a base of sub-maximal volume to gradually build upon. Make it your goal to gradually work closer to Rx’d reps and mature versions of these movements but only after you can perform a submaximal sets or variations wth perfect technique. For example, if you do 10 push-ups as 5-3-2, keep that up until it feels less difficult and then attempt a different rep scheme like 6-2-2 or 5-4-1. Or if you’ve got 1 or 2 strict push-ups, do 2 strict at the top of each round and then finish out with 7 switch push-ups. Play around with how you approach these warm-ups but always keep some gas in the tank.
Movement Tempos
Tempos can be very useful with even the most basic movements. Holding the bottom of your squat for a 1 count not only strengthens the bottom position but helps open up your hips and ankles. Remember that good movement is born out of good initial starting positions. If the top of your push-up is soft then the mechanics of everything that follow it will accordingly suffer. Rushing through these movements can actually be counter productive. You might develop bad habits, reinforce poor posture and overdevelop one part of the movement at the expense of another. For example if your pull-ups are always just barely over the bar you might get great at doing moderate volume pull-ups at 90% of the Range of motion. Very frustrating when you start failing getting over the bar at all during workouts and you can’t figure out why. One little trick is to think about someone taking your picture at the top and bottom of each repetition. What would you want it to look like?
Variations
Here are some ideas on how to vary your movements to better suit your weakness or needs:
- Do you have a problem with your knees caving in during squats? Why not throw one of the green therabands above your knees to help strengthen that aspect of the squat during warm-ups. Have you never tried squatting with a theraband? Throw one on and see how it feels, you might be surprised.
- What if you have trouble hitting depth? maybe grab a 12″ box or a Wall Ball and work on hitting a target. If your knees tend to shoot forward try squatting in front of a bench.
- Do you find that your body type makes it hard to get deep on push-ups? Try using a few bumper plates under your hands so you can get a little deeper. This might also be a good option for folks who struggle with strict push-ups and want a little elevation.
- Are you doing 3 sets of 5-8 pull-ups without thinking twice about it? Why not make it a little more difficult by going chest to bar or doing an L-Sit Pull-Up? You might have to drop the total reps to make these submaximal but you’ll be developing other areas in the process.
- Lunges too easy? Add a bumper held overhead or in front to increase the stress.
- If push-ups are easy you can try a ring push-up or weighted push-up with a bumper plate on your back.
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Jason Khalipa sets a new “Jackie” record at 5:04
