8.13.18 - 8.17.18

Monday 8.13.18 

Row – Kettlebell Swings – Wallballs
Legs Straight, Arms Finish
All of these movements have something in common. The bigger muscles (the legs) create the majority of the power before passing off to the smaller muscles (the arms).

In the row, this means that legs will straighten by pressing the knees down before athletes pull the handle to their chest.

On the kettlebell swings, athletes will straighten their legs hard by squeezing the quads and the glutes. Once that happens, the arms will guide the bell to an overhead finish position with the bottom of the bell straight up over the center of the body.

The wallballs are very similar to the kettlebell swings. However, instead of a hinge movement, we are now looking at a squat pattern. Athletes will also squeeze the quads and the glutes to straighten the legs before guiding the ball to the target with the arms.

Rowing Movement Prep
:20 Seconds Just Legs Rowing
:20 Seconds Rowing

Kettlebell Swing Movement Prep
With a lighter weight: 
5 Kettlebell Deadlifts
5 Russian Kettlebell Swings’
5 Kettlebell Swings

Build to workout weight and repeat

Wallball Movement Prep
3 Front Squats
3 Push Press
3 Wallballs

Tuesday 8.14.18 

Bike
Leg/Foot Placement
When adjusting the seat of the bike, athletes should find a height that allows for a subtle bend of the leg at the bottom of the revolution. Athletes shouldn’t feel like they are reaching extra far to find the pedal at the lowest point. As far as where the foot goes, athletes can aim to place the ball of the foot on the pedal. The placement of the leg and the foot allow for maximum power to be applied to the bike.

Movement Substitutions
30/21 Calorie Schwinn Bike
21/15 Calorie Row

Double Unders
Knees Back
Triple extension is important in the olympic lifts, but also with double unders. We often see athletes either bring the knees up or the heels back. This is hip flexion and knee flexion. If athletes can think about pressing the knees back, they will get adequate extension while keeping the lower body in a good position.

Arms Close
What the arms do determines how long the rope is. If the upper arm stays close to the rib cage, the rope is at the optimal length that athletes measured it out at. However, if the arms drift away from the body, the rope shortens and is more likely to cause a trip. Keep the arms close to minimize the probability of tripping.

Movement Prep
:15 Seconds Single Unders
:15 Seconds Higher Single Unders
:15 Seconds Double Unders

Movement Substitutions
Reduce Reps
120 Single Unders
1 Minute Double Under Attempts

Deadlift
Arms Close
During movement prep, have athletes hold the bar on their mid shin or at the top of the knee. Cue them to relax their arms and let the bar swing away. Now cue them to pull the bar back in by squeezing the arms close to their side. Repeat for three reps. Being aware of the role the lats play in the deadlift will help athletes keep the bar tight to the body and stay in a safe pulling position during the workout.

Hips Back
What happens at the top of the repetition before the bar returns to the ground is just as important as what happens from the floor. At the completion of the rep, the hips should travels backwards first as opposed to knees driving forwards. Sending the allows for a good bar path and good use of all the leg muscles.

Movement Prep
Establish Set-up Position
Arms Close Drill
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

5 Deadlifts
_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Build to Lighter Weight

Wednesday 8.15.18 

Sandbag Run
Bag Position
There are a couple way to hold the sandbag, both with their own set of pros and cons. The first and most common would be to have the bag rest across the back like a barbell. In this position, the weight is balanced and in a very stable position. The downside of this position is that it does take a little longer to get into and the arms almost nothing to assists with the run. The other option would be to throw it over one shoulder. This is a very quick transition to the shoulder from the ground and allows athletes to pump the other arm while running. The downside of this method is that the weight is off the one side, creating more work for the midline. Neither is wrong. Whatever is more comfortable and whatever gets the work done the quickest is the best option for athletes.

Movement Prep
50 Meter Sandbag Run (Bag Across Back) 
50 Meter Sandbag Run (Bag on Shoulder)

Burpees
Hot Floor
When performing burpees today, we want to imagine a hot floor. This minimizes the amount of time that athletes spend on the ground. When they are standing tall, they are also better positioned to get a big breath in. Breathing here will be important knowing the bag is on the shoulders following this movement.

Movement Prep
4 Spidermans (Each Leg) 
3 Frog Hops
2 Burpees

Thursday 8.16.18 

Cleans
Hips Up, Hips Down
With a lot of reps on the barbell, the more power athletes can generate with their hips, the more time they give themselves to get under the bar. With the nature of the workout, we also have to focus on getting under the barbell quickly. In that second and third set, there may not be as much “oomph” on the way up, so pulling the body under the body becomes that much more important. We can get used to that even when the weight feels lighter. Getting the hips up fast and down fast accomplishes exactly what we’re looking for. Athletes can envision a heavy resistance band attached to their hip. They have to jump hard on the way up to stretch the band. After the hard jump, the band will quickly pull them back down to receive the bar.

Movement Prep
2 High Hang Power Cleans
2 Hang Power Cleans
2 Power Cleans
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

2 High Hang Squat Cleans
2 Hang Squat Cleans
2 Squat Cleans

Overhead
Push Press (Squeeze)
The push press is the first overhead movement to be performed in the complex. The difference between the push press and the push jerk is that the knees do not re-bend at all. Athletes will finish with a strong extension of the hips, knees, and ankles. Squeezing the belly, butt, and quads hard throughout the movement will put a great deal of power into the barbell and prevent the accidental re-bend that is common with this movement.

Movement Prep
3 Push Press

Push Jerk (Drop)
In the Push Jerk, will are still looking for the hard extension to get power into the bar, however athletes can now drop back under to receive the bar. We are looking for the hips up, hips down thought process we established in the cleans to catch the bar with locked out elbows. Dip, Drive, and Drop!

Movement Prep
3 Push Jerk

Split Jerk (Positioning)
The split jerk is something we perform less commonly than push press or push jerk. Despite the split being the most efficient receiving position, many athletes are able to lift more in the push press or the push jerk due to the more complicated footwork pattern of the split. For these athletes, the strength is likely there, so the skill will take priority. To find this balanced split position, we can have athletes step back into a lunge. In this position, their front knee should be slightly behind the ankle. The back knee should be just under the back hip with the toe on the ground. When athletes stand up halfway they will find their split jerk position. If they were to lean and fall forward, the foot that moves forward first will likely be the front foot in the receiving position. The biggest fault we see here is a straight back leg which puts most of the weight on the front foot. Making sure the back knee is bent every rep will be important to avoid this. For resetting, athletes will recover their front foot and then back foot.

Movement Prep
Establish Split Position
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3 Jumps to Split Position (Thumbs on Shoulders) 
3 Jumps to Split Position (Land and Punch Arms Overhead) 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

3 Split Jerks
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Full Complex with Empty Barbell

Friday 8.17.18

Row
Use the Recovery
The recovery is exactly what it sounds like. This should be a passive movement, not active. It is commonly seen that athletes aggressively pull themselves back into the catch. While this may be appropriate sometimes, today we can take it as athletes opportunity to breathe, especially with burpees to follow. Let gravity do the work and preserve energy for a large drive away from the monitor with the legs. Let’s focus on the power of the stroke rather than the total number of strokes. Quality, not quantity.

Movement Prep
:30 Second Row

Movement Prep
Establish Bottom Position
3 Push-ups
3 Frog Hops
3 Burpees

Toes to Bar
Heels to Floor
It is common during the kip swing for athletes heels to bend and curl up towards their backs. This results in a break in the chain and a loss of tension. Keeping the legs longs so that the heels are as close to the ground as possible during the swing allow athletes to generate more power between the hollow and arch positions. Bringing the heels back down the ground quickly is also beneficial in finding a rhythm from rep to rep. Keeping the legs straight with the heels towards the floor applies to this movement as well as the pull-ups today.

Movement Prep
10 Scap Pull-ups
5 Kip Swings
3 Knees to Chest
3 Toes to Bar