Tuesday - 5/4/10

Deadlift Support
8 Deadlifts at the top of each round (60-75% 1RM)
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of:
Sandbag Thrusters 50/30
Seated Rotations 20/10 (100, 90,80,70,60, etc.)
Back Extensions

No Gym WOD
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 of
Squats
Lunges (each leg)
Burpees

Notes:
I was talking with a couple people the other day about the effects of heavy deadlifting on the spine.  One of the first things that falls apart with me is that my shoulder and scap strength fails, allowing my upper back to round a little bit as I pull the weight off the ground.  And then, once the weight gets good and heavy, my lumbar (lower) spine tends to move a little.  Check out this video from my 1RM a while back, notice the not-so-good- spine position throughout.

So what to do?  Build up your core man.  Now what I have found, a lot of people actually have much stronger cores than they think; it's really a matter of learning or re-learning how to activate and fire those muscles before getting into each rep.  I personally have done countless amounts of core work over the years, especially back when I played baseball.  But as I got more and more into CrossFit, I found that my focus on the stabilization of my core became less noticeable in my programming.  I got plenty of core work, for sure, but not much in the way of focused activation.  So all of a sudden, I can bang out GHD sit ups and toes to bar till the cows come home, but when I rip out 50 plus push ups, my stomach hits the ground before my chest.  I forgot to activate my core, and ultimately began to pay the price by creating an imbalance in my bodies strength.

Planks.  Do planks.  All variations and styles.  They are the best core stabilization exercises one can do.  The other, TRX.  If you do not know what this is, stay tuned to this blog, as I will be posting up a lot of WOD's with this little tool involved.  In the mean time, check out the links:

TRX Suspention Trainer
Plank Exercises