Tuesday 04.28.15

Super Squat Shannon

2 REMINDERS:

1. Monthly CrossFit fees are due FRIDAY, MAY 1st. Save yourself some ink and memory loss by signing up for autopay here.

2. Our next beginners on-ramp sessions start this MONDAY, MAY 4th. Spread the word and earn some Warrior Bucks next month!

Here's a little excerpt from a Q&A sesh I had during last Saturday's open gym:

My wrists REALLY hurt when I...front squat, clean, thruster, or hold the bar overhead. 

What IS that?

For some of y'all, it's wrist mobility. You are able to get the bar onto your shoulders in the front rack position, but your wrists are SUPER stressed holding that position. These folks also may fall into the category of hating handstands, handstand pushups, and pushups because of the stress placed on the wrists during those movements. The answer to this is, of course, MOBILITY. (HA! And you all though chalk and/or wrist wraps would be the answer!) Check out some lovely stretches from Mobility WOD guru, Kelly Starrett, here.

For others of you, it's not that you lack flexibility, it's that you are not getting your elbows around in front of the bar and pointed at the wall. When you hear a coach yell, "FAST ELBOWS!" during cleans, it really means "get your elbows pointed at the wall in front of you AS FAST AS POSSIBLE." Why? Because this transfers the weight of the bar from your straight-ass wrists gripping the bar to your shoulders. It follows the central rule of keeping weight close to the trunk of your body, so your core can do all the work.

Below is a picture of a good front rack position (top) and a poor front rack position (bottom). In the bottom picture, the wrists are doing all of the work (ouchies!). My advice? Use the hang clean during the barbell complex to practice fast elbows. Get those elbows around and pointed at the wall in front of you as fast as possible during any and all hang cleans you encounter. I guarantee it will improve your cleans from the ground and get you trained to get your bar into the front rack position.

Good front rack (top) and poor front rack (bottom)

Last, some of you may lack the flexibility to get your elbows forward of the bar AT ALL. Forget the wrists, your upper back and elbows are just not letting you follow through enough to get the bar onto your shoulders. Here is a whole host of mobility vids to help you address this issue.

Tomorrow, we talk about your truth-telling hips.

WOD

8 rounds:  

3 deadlifts + 2 front squats + jerk (increase weight each round)
3 slow TTB between rounds
--
13 min EMOM
2 power clean (225/135)
Max doubleunders in remaining time