Using our springs properly

Nick | 05/28/2014 | 2

Shoulder to overhead movements can work very well to engage metabolic intensity in a WOD, but many of us are missing our on the potential of their effect by not practicing the quick re-racking of the bar as we load the legs for our next rep.  You’ll have two opportunities to work on this today.

During the strength, while the weight is light I’d like you to do two sets at each weight.  The first set will have your push pressing each rep, letting the bar drop back to your front rack while absorbing the load with your legs, resetting and push pressing the next rep.  This set should allow you to focus on not slowing the bar down on its decent with your arms but rather letting it fall fast and relying on the legs to take the brunt of the load.  For the second set, try utilizing the “dip” that you receive the bar back on the shoulders with to then drive directly out of into the next rep.  This can be tricky, and warrants practice.

The WOD offers us a chance to practice the same idea, but without worry that a barbell might smack us in the chin if we’re not fast enough.  Each time the sandbag lands on your shoulder, try to use the dip you absorb the weight with to drive directly out of and send the bag back to the other shoulder.  If you get the rhythm down, you’ll not only start to fly through today’s WOD, but any with shoulder to overhead movements.

STR:

Push Press
5-5-5-5-5

WOD:

8 rounds
8 sandbag shoulder-to-shoulder
sandbag block sprint

IMPORTANT PARKING INFO: The city has asked us to participate in Better Block, a collaborative art project re-imagining the neighborhood.  Parking will be somewhat restricted, so prepare to park on Newton or Emerson or one of the other many places to park nearby for evening classes on Thursday and all day on Friday/Saturday.