Skill Work: - Overhead Squat - 65% x 2 x 2 - Snatch Balance - 65% x 3 x 2 - Snatch - 70% x 1 x 3
Strength: Box Squat (w/ Bands) - Set a new 5 Rep Max
WOD: "Death by Pullup"
With a continuously running clock do one pull-up the first minute, two pull-ups the second minute, three pull-ups the third minute... continuing as long as you are able.
Use as many sets each minute as needed.
Post number of minutes completed to comments.
Chains and Bands
OK, lets talk about Accommodating Resistance. Louis Simmons of Westside Barbell brought the use of bands and chains to the forefront of the powerlifting world in his gym and the results speak for themselves.
Accommodating Resistance is achieved by adding heavy resistance bands and/or chains to a weighted barbell during strength training. Empirical evidence suggests that the use of bands and chains with lifts such as the squat, bench, and deadlift build tremendous explosiveness in athletes. As an example, Louis Simmons often has football players come train in his gym and over the course of 8 weeks of training, without having the athlete run a single step, the athlete's 40-yard dash time improves, often dramatically. Another example would be Joe DeFranco's comment that "deadlifting with chains is tremendous for improving your vertical jump and first-step quickness."
So how do we use them for our purposes. During the strength portion of the CFBF WOD, you will almost always see a prescription for some form of accommodating resistance, whether it be Box Squat with Bands, Incline Bench Press with Chains, etc...
Instead of explaining things out, I'll let Dave Tate guide us through a few things.
OK, so you understand why we do it, and how to set everything up, but you're still not sure where to find the proper equipment. As with anything in life, there are many good choices, so I will simply lay out the path that I took.
Bands: Go to Rogue Fitness and buy some Iron Woody resistance bands. Most people will need a pair of purples (mini), blues (small), and greens (medium). Unless you squat over 500 lbs, you won't need anything bigger.
Chains: I simply went down to a local industrial hardware store (Home Depot doesn't carry anything larger than 3/8" chain) and bought everything that I needed:
- (4) 5 ft. lengths of 1/4" chain - (4) 5 ft. lengths of 5/8" chain - (4) 5/16" spring snaps - (4) 1" spring snaps
Total was around $300. Not exactly cheap, but considering the longevity of chains, I definitely consider it a positive cost-to-benefit ratio. If you're in the continental US, you could also buy sets of chain from EliteFTS, I think the total works out to be around the same.
Here are a few pictures of how I set the chains up for squatting and benching.
Implementation: OK, so now that we have the basics down, let's talk about tailoring Accommodating Resistance to an individual athlete. Weights listed are for an athlete's 1 Rep Max for the core lift.
Squat: 250-315 lbs - Use the Blue Bands or 1 set of Chains (40 lbs). 315-405 lbs - Use the Green Bands or 2 sets of Chains (80 lbs). 405+ lbs - Use Purple Bands around the plates and Blue or Green Bands around the sleeve; or 3 sets of Chains (120 lbs).
Bench Press: 185-225 lbs - Use the Purple Bands or 1 set of Chains. 225-300 lbs - Use the Blue Bands or 2 sets of Chains. 300+ lbs - Use the Green Bands or 3 sets of Chains.
Deadlift: 315-405 lbs - Use 1 set of Chains 405-495 lbs - Use 2 sets of Chains 495+ lbs - Use 3 sets of Chains
NOTE: If your numbers are less than what is outlined above (for males), then you are better off simply doing sets across 3x5 for the given core lift (i.e., squat, bench, or dead) and utilizing linear progression until you reach the appropriate strength levels and proficiency in the core lifts.
Skill Work: Snatch Balance - Heavy Single Snatch - 75% x 1 x 3
Strength: Bench Press - Set a new 1 Rep Max
WOD: "10 minutes of...KB" As many reps as possible in 10 minutes: - Kettlebell Swings, 1.5 pood (or 55 lbs DB)
You may not rest the 'bell on the ground or your body. The only rest is done while holding the 'bell by the handle in one or both hands. The event ends when you put down the 'bell or place it on any support surface. If you stop before the 10 minutes are up, the penalty is 10 burpees for every 30 seconds - rounding down - of uncompleted time (i.e., if you stop at 6:45 the penalty would be a total of 70 burpees: 10 for 6:30-7 and 60 for 7-10)
Post weights and results, including penalties, to comments.
Skill Work: Muscle Snatch - Heavy Single; 90% (of heavy single) x 1 x 3 Clean & Jerk - Heavy Single; 90% (of heavy single) x 1 x 3
Strength: Back Squat - Set a new 1 Rep Max
WOD: "Litvinov" 3 Rounds for time: - 8 Front Squats, 185 lbs - Run 400 meters
The joke here is that, supposedly, Sergey Litvinov, a 196 lbs Russian hammer thrower from the '80s did this workout with 405 lbs and 75-second runs. Yeah, let me know how that goes...
Post weights and total number of reps to comments.
Skill Work: - Snatch Deadlift - 105% x 2 x 3 - Snatch Balance - Heavy Single
Strength: Shoulder Press - Set a new 3 Rep Max
WOD: Alternating Tabatas - Thrusters, 65 lbs - Pull-ups *Start the clock and perform as many reps as possible for 20 seconds of thrusters. Rest 10 seconds. Then perform as many pull-ups as possible in 20 seconds. Rest 10 seconds. Repeat this 14 more times for a total of 16 sets. Your score is the total number of reps of thrusters plus the total number of reps of pullups in 16 sets. The entire workout takes 8 minutes.
Post weights and scores (thrusters/pull-ups/total) to comments.
Skill Work: 3 Position Clean (Mid-hang, Hang, Floor) - 65% x 3 sets Clean & Jerk - 75% x 1 x 3
WOD: "Cindy" AMRAP in 20 minutes: - 5 Pull-ups - 10 Push-ups - 15 Squats If your PR is over 25 Rounds, add a 20 lbs weight vest (Compare to 24 October 2009)
Skill Work: Snatch Balance - Heavy Single Snatch Deadlift - 105% x 3 x 2 Strength: Front Squat - Set a new 1RM (This is for you Garrett!)
WOD: AMRAP in 10 minutes: - 5 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups - 10 Clapping Push-ups - 15 Squat Jumps (A Squat Jump is executed by completing a proper air squat and then jumping to touch a "target" 12-inches above standing reach. The Squat Jump should be one fluid motion, in other words, don't stop at the top of the squat and then jump.)
All WODs must be videotaped and unedited footage must be posted to any online video sharing site (YouTube, Vimeo, etc...) no later than MIDNIGHT (Hawai'i Standard Time), Sunday, 3 January 2010.
WOD#1: Required Range of Motion (ROM) - Ring Dips: Full Extension at the top with the elbows locked out, at the bottom the rings must touch the armpit; Pull-ups: at the bottom the shoulders must be all the way open, at the top the chin must be over the top of the bar. Lunges: the weight must be held overhead, and not resting on any other body part, while you are in forward motion, and your trailing knee must kiss the ground on every rep. Video: Ensure each rep completed by the competitor is caught on film from an angle that allows the viewer to clearly see that the ROM is being met. If it isn't on the video, the rep doesn't count! Also, as the major online video sharing sites have a 10 minute cap, if the WOD takes more than 10 minutes, please divide the video up into 2 clips: Part 1 and Part 2. A "missed rep" due to a video cutoff at the transition point from Part 1 to Part 2 will not constitute a DNF.
WOD#2: ROM - Weights must touch the ground at the beginning of every rep and lifted until the kness and hips are open and the shoulders are behind the bar. Video: place the camera to the side and slightly behind the athlete (approximately a 45* angle).
WOD#3: ROM - Sandbag Squat Cleans: The sandbag must start on the floor and end up on either shoulder, you must pass below standard squat depth(the crease of the hip must be below the top of the knee), when standing to the top of the rep ensure that the knees and hips are completely open before dropping the sandbag. You may receive the sandbag in a full squat or power clean the sandbag to the shoulder and then squat. If you are in Hawaii and need a sandbag that is heavy enough, let me know and I'll get you one. Box Jumps: Ensure that the hip opens fully at the end of each rep, this can be done by standing up fully on the top of the box or jumping off. Stepping off the box is allowed. Double Unders: 1 rep is counted when the jump rope passes twice under the feet in 1 jump. Also, as the major online video sharing sites have a 10 minute cap, please divide the video up into 2 clips: Part 1 and Part 2. A "missed rep" due to a video cutoff at the transition point from Part 1 to Part 2 will not constitute a DNF.
The winner of this month's Colossal Challenge will be crowned Colossus and his/her picture will be posted at the top of the column on the right side of this page. Also, they will receive a free CFBF Colossal Challenge Champion T-Shirt.
Post questions, thoughts, WOD results, and links to the videos to comments.
