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Battle of London WOD#1 Tips #withmomentum

Posted 8th November 2013 by Josh Schouten

Qualification WOD number one is now in progress and you have until Sunday 10th to get your score on the board. A 12minute AMRAP of Clean and over the box jumps is the prescription  (movement standards can be found here).  So what’s the attach plan?

Warm-up

Think about the movements and the muscles you are going to be using during this workout.  Box movements are hip dominant and very high-speed movements.  A solid warm-up is critical if you are going to put a good score on the board.

Some air squats, some double-unders, some box jumps and a gradual build up in weight on the Olympic cleans is highly recommended.  So coordination drills to switch on the central nervous system will also help you imrpvements.

You should be warm and sweaty BEFORE the 3,2,1…GO

Don’t Jump the Gun

Remember your box jumping tekkers:

  • Swing your arms up as you jump to improve vertical leap height.  NEVER throw your arms down as you try to jump up, its counter productive
  • On landing and jumping make sure you knees do not collapse inwards.  Your powerful hip extender muscles will not fire correctly if your keens are not pressed out
  • Keep your chest up and limit forward flexion.  Try to stay as upright as possible during your jumps
  • Land as softly as possible on top of the box, like a ninja.  Do not waste energy slamming your feet into the box like an elephant
  • If you must rest during the box jumps rest on TOP of the box.  You want to use the elastic potential of the stretch shortening cycle of the muscles to efficiently jump onto the box.  Resting on the ground will cost you more energy in contractile forces to jump back on the box
  • Be fast off the ground.  As soon as your feet land you should spend as little time on the floor as possible

Over, not under or around:

Different athletes will attack the over the box jump with an array of techniques:

  • Athletes can forward face as they jump on and off the box and then turn around on the floor.  I would not recommended this, as the stretch shortening cycle (SSC) of the muscle will be lost and the consecutive jump will require a higher levels of muscle contractile forces (higher energy cost)
  • Athletes could jump off the box and spin in the air.  This requires a lot more control and may cause you to feel a little dizzy or loose your footing on landing.  Remember you are trying to be efficient and adding a twisting movement to the landing is not going to load the jumping muscles as effectively as straight vertical jump.  Again this will limit the benefits of the SSC.
  • Athletes could laterally jump over the box. This can be very efficient for some, but jumping mechanics are always better when we jump forward not sideways.  You can jump higher/further in the sagittal plane of motion. Some may argue that Olympic high jumpers jump laterally, but they are jumping over an object and kicking their feet up, not jumping onto an object
  • Staying low over the box is NOT RECOMMENDED.  Even thought you are not required to fully extend your hips at the top of the box jump, you do not want to stay low and keep your quads loaded.  Your quads will be on fire and the jumps and cleans will become a lot harder.  Try to jump and land as tall as possible on the box.
  • In my opinion, the BEST bang for you buck is to jump on top of the box, turn around on top of the box and then jump down and up as fast as possible.  By turning on top of the box the athlete will be in the best possible position to correctly loads (SSC) and explode through the next jump

Keep it CLEAN

  • The most effective way to clean the weight is obviously a power clean.  Get the bar as high as possible and try not to squat clean any rep.  As the weight is increase you may need to get under the bar a little further but do you best to catch the clean as high as possible to ensure there is no excess fatigue.
  • High reps of Olympic lifts often uncover and athletes weakness very quickly.  Good lifting form is a MUST and you need to stay focuses the quality of repetitions as the intensity and volume increase.  It’s not uncommon to see athletes leaving their hips up in the air during the first pull off the ground.  Make sure you get your butt down and you bend your knees at the bottom of the rep, do not overload you lower back.  Establish tension on the bar and try to maintain that tension and not round your back.
  • Don’t let your grip slip!  Hook grip all the way baby! You don’t want to miss a rep or blow out your forearms.
  • To drop the bar or not drop the bar?  If you are comfortable with the weight try not to drop the bar.  After you clean the bar you should lower it to your hips and then back to the floor.  Correctly lowering the bar will give you the best mechanical advantage to perform then next rep.  DO NOT keep you hands on the bar and go from the front rack position to the floor in one motion.  You will round your back and you will be out of position for the next repetition, not to mention the back pain!!
  • If you are not comfortable with the weight you should clean the bar and then drop it.  Do your best to control the bar to the floor to limit the bounce.  It’s will cost you more time as you will need to gather the bar and then reset for the next rep, but if the weight is heavy you might not have another option.
  • Changing the weight can be a tricky business.  Make sure you have the weights ready to go and staggered in order of the required increases.  The most efficient way to change the weight on a bar is to stand with the bar between your legs facing away from the centre of the bar. Undo the clip and place it on the floor, pick up the additional weight(s) with both hands and pull them onto the bar.  Put the clip back on and then repeat the same steps for the other side.

Breakdown

You need a plan!

You might not stick to it, but you should have a plan and idea of your target.  Can you perform 20 unbroken over the box jumps?  Can you perform 20 unbroken cleans at the specified weight?  If not, how are you planning to attach each round?  As the cleans get heavier you might aim to complete 2 set of 10reps or 4 sets of 5 reps with 5-10sec rest between each set.  Do not go to complete failure as missed reps is going to be far more expansive than taking a short break.

Maintain a steady pace and do not set out to fast.  There is no point gassing yourself in the first couple of rounds of the clean as this puppy gets heavier.  Know you limits and try to maintain a pace that you can handle.

More Tips From Our Coaches:

Josh:

  1. Pace your self. Don’t get excited. Respect the light weights as you would the heavy
  2. Test out the box jumps and see what feels less taxing and is more efficient for you. What suits the goose might not suit the gander.
  3. Positive thoughts are where it is. Can do, not can’t. We CAN all achieve some part of this WOD

Geoff:

  1. Its about getting to the last cleans that’s where I feel the numbers and the places will be made up.
  2. Test out the box jumps, stand up on the box, don’t stay low it will smoke you quads, rest on top of the box.
  3. Break the cleans into sensible numbers 5/10 and DONT miss reps, try and hold onto the bar on in early rounds when the weight is manageable.

Tom: TBC