Monday, August 24, 2015

Week 3 of our 8 week Everything is Everything Challenge!  Stay focused and keep working hard!

One of the most common things I coach on heavy squats and is how to properly brace the midline.  Most commonly this is referenced by coaches saying to “hold your breath,” but it there is actually a whole bunch more than that to think about.  Taking the time to understand how to “organize” your spine translates into all of our lifts to make us stronger and more efficient athletes.  The video below discusses the idea that before you even take the bar out of the rack you should be thinking about bracing your spine.  Lets focus on this sequence today:

  1.  Standing tall, before you get under the bar:  Squeeze your butt, press the ribs down, squeeze the abs and pull the shoulders back.
  2. Take a big belly breath and hold it as you get under the bar
  3. While holding your breath, stand up with the bar on your back, take a step backwards and set your feet into squat stance without looking at the ground
  4. Once you are set, take a quick exhale and take another big belly breathe and hold it before performing the squat.
  5. Hold your breath through the entire range of motion and then repeat step 4 before performing your next squat.

Weekly Programming:  CrossFit, FastFit, Barbell

Prehab

Monster Walks x 10 reps
Sampson Stretch x :30
Bottom of the Squat x 2 minutes
Lat Activations, 3×5 reps
Down Dog Ankle Stretch x 20 reps

Warmup

Double Under practice x 2 minutes
15 Wall Squats
15 Hanging Knee Raises (no swing)
10 Good Mornings
10 Pause Back Squats

Practice the bracing sequence as you warmup for the strength portion.

Strength

5×3 Back Squats

Notes:  Warmup and perform 5 working sets, starting around 75% and building up to your max for the day around 90%.  Rest about 2 minutes between sets.  Make sure the hip crease is below the knees before you stand up.

Fight to keep your chest up when weight gets heavy. Please add a box if you struggle to get below parallel.

If that is the case please keep the weight light until proper form and technique is achieved.  

Conditioning

15 min AMRAP:
10 Toes to Bar
20 Wall Balls
30 Double Unders

Notes: Rx weight for the Wall Balls is 20/14lbs. Please substitute V-Ups for Toes to Bar. Please sub 1 min of Double Under practice if you cannot perform Double Unders.

Cool Down

2 Rounds:
Reverse Snow Angels x 20 reps
Couch Stretch x :60
Calf Stretch x :60

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