WORKOUT OF THE WEEK # 007
Strength + metcon
Saturday 13th November 2021
Part 1
Thruster
Build to a Heavy 5r
Intent: This section of the workout is where we will hit our main compound strength movement, this is going to a be a heavy thruster. The thruster is effectively a front squat into a push press and requires great mobility and strength to move the bar with skill.
Approach: Use the dedicated time slot that the coach gives to build to a heavy 5r of your thruster, this will most likely be in the region of 15-18 mins. If you have a number in your head that you want to hit, strategically build the weight over each set. Ensure good rest when the bar starts getting heavy so that you can attack your heaviest set to finish. The 5rm that you hit may help you decide what weight to use when it comes to the workout that follows.
Beginners, if you don’t have much experience lifting yet don’t worry too much about going super heavy. It will be more beneficial to pick a weight that you can move well with no major technical errors and just keep nailing that for the whole duration. If mobility is a limiting factor then work with the coach to use different drills that work on your position in between sets. Or choose a scaling option from below.
Intermediate and advanced athletes, use this time to find a 5RM Thruster for the day. When the bar gets a heavy be sure to reset each rep, it will feel harder if you go from one rep straight into the next and takes great skill/timing to complete it in this way and most likely won’t bet your heaviest 5. In the build up sets feel free to do this as a way to practice moving the bar with efficiency as it will only help you later on in ‘Fran’ when trying to move the bar quickly.
Scaling: As previously stated the barbell thruster requires great front rack mobility, in theory if we can keep a full grip this will be of huge benefit to us when the bar is heavy. If you struggle with the front rack position you could look at using some heavy DB/KBs instead. If you struggle with depth in your squat you could opt to use a target i.e a wall ball to sit your hips to each rep (no resting at the bottom). Finally, you could choose to stick with a lighter weight and increase the reps i.e 10r to get a little more practice in with the position/ timing of the movement.
Demo Video: Barbell Thruster
Part 2
Kipping Pull Up Skill (8-10 Mins)
Intent: This section is not only to act as a warm up for the workout but also to really dial in your kipping pull up skill. Here we want to cater for all ability levels whether you’ve got 30 Unbroken C2B pull ups vs never having done 1.
Approach:
Beginners, the coach will take you through a step by step process to use this time as a way to really nail your hollow/arch work, this is the foundation of any kipping movement upon the rig. Once this has been achieved we start trying to introduce this whilst hanging, ie the beat swing and the importance of shoulder control. Finally, if we are at this stage we can begin to utilise hips/position and momentum. If you have the strength then you may just achieve your first kipping pull up, if not we keep working on those foundations and learn the importance of having a good base of strict pulling strength first.
Intermediate & Advanced, use this time to practice linking reps together, still start with that hollow/ arch work with the rest of the class. If you are sufficient in pull ups this may be where you break off and begin to go through the motions of the butterfly technique, a much faster and more efficient option, however more advanced. We recommend you have a solid 10 normal kipping pull ups first.
Scaling: In terms of scaling this section there is not much to delve into, the hollow position can be adapted and you may just use this time to spend some time hanging on the rig if you are not used to it! in addition use this to work out what scaling option you are going to use for the workout. (Listed in part 3).
Demo Video: Butterfly pull Up
Part 3
‘Fran’
21-15-9
Thruster (42.5/30kg)
Pull Up
(9 Min Cap)
Intent: This section is where we bring the intensity into the session and finish with the classic CrossFit workout ‘Fran’. This workout is designed to be short and fast!
Approach:
Beginners, for this we want to pick a weight on the thrusters that we can go near unbroken, don’t worry if its just empty bar and feels really easy to start with (it will get tough quick). pick a scaling option from below for the kipping pull up, try and keep the intensity in the workout but remember we still and will always want to see quality movement.
Intermediate & Advanced, as a classic CrossFit workout this is one that we can’t stand around looking at the bar with, there is a cap for a reason so pick a weight that you could do unbroken if needed, this may not be your best option for breaking up the workout but it should be do able. Test your ability as an athlete to hold on for the pull ups, again we don’t want to be standing around staring at the pull up bar, it is not a huge amount of volume!
Scaling: As previously stated for scaling the thrusters we can look at weight first, if mobility is the issue we could move to a pair of dumbbells instead. For the pull up, we could opt for a jumping pull up which allows use to use our legs to generate momentum before pulling our chin over the bar, if you get the set up correct on this it can still be hard and allows us to keep the intensity of the workout. A final option could be a ring row, this will be slightly slower but will work more on strict pulling strength and will avoid using momentum to generate the movement.
