Down this road, in a gym far away,a young man was heard to say,"no matter what i do, my legs won't grow"he tried leg extensions, leg curls, and leg presses , tootrying to cheat, these sissy workouts he'd do.
from the corner of the gym where the big men train,through a cloud of chalk and the midst of painwhere the noise is made with big forty fives,a deep voice bellowed as he wrapped his knees.a very big man with legs like trees.
laughing as he snatched another plate from the stackchalking his hands and monstrous back,said, "boy, stop lying and don't say you've forgotten,the trouble with you is you ain't been SQUATTIN'. "
Dale Clark
Because of its idiosyncrasies, the squat is underutilized (correctly). Consequently, many crossfitters have ill developed strength. The deadlift makes for one of the more convenient movements both for its ease of use and high dividend in functional strength. On the other hand, the squat requires a more technical approach and a significantly greater investment. Wods that do utilize the squat should be done so that form is not compromised for time. Ergo,expect to move slower but with more focus and diligence.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of today's wod was to exercise the necessary diligence the squat demands while under the stress of metabolic fatigue. The first round is always the easiest, especially when squatting fresh. After the first round; however, it was all up hill. I added the g2oh as a numbers game and an attempt to demand more efficiency after pre-exhausting the prime movers. The body weight movements were used to induce either a headache or nausea. The double unders used to deplete O2 stores prior to going back into the king of all exercises. The first round was, by no means, an indicator of how the rest of the wod went. Each round took exponentially longer than the previous, taking good care to stick the squats as close to perfect as possible. My recommendation is to try this wod when at 100% as any cracks and fissures will quickly turn into gaping holes from which escape will be improbable.
I really like the layout of this wod. Thanks for how often you describe and explain why each movement was selected. It's been very helpful when trying to gain a better understanding of proper programming.
ReplyDeleteOver the last few years I became such a fan of the front squat that until the last few months I had almost completely ignored the back squat. I thought if I was going to do one it would need to be the FS due to the additional core engagement and emphasis on the rack position. At The Shop we're currently in the middle of getting a better balance between the two. This new emphasis comes after realizing the importance of the posterior chain, specifically the hamstring. I'm not sure what a proper focus should be between the two but for now I'm going to shoot for 50/50 so that neither is ever neglected again.
...And Justice For All
Probably my favorite Metallica album of all time. After the Black album it was hard to still be a fan. Then, with last years "Death Magnetic" they surprised me and in my opinion pullled off an impressive piece of work. At least in comparison to the last however many years of crap.
The back squat is the king of all movements and has traditionally been hailed as the best mass/strength gaining movement. It's really all you need to do but since we test ourselves in such a variety of ways we do more. I think its more important to build a solid base with the back squat before giving anything else priority. The only reason I do the front squat is to beef up my squat clean and get used to feeling the heavy weight in the front. Try 225# x 21 for 21 days along with a gallon of milk. You might lose in some areas but gain in others.
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