Tuesday, January 17, 2012

12-01-16: Bench press, back extensions and push-ups

Elm City CrossFit WoD for Monday, January 16th, 2012

Bench press. Mark Rippetoe cueing Eva Twordokens on proper bench technique. Shoulders are pulled back, scapula contracted, making for a solid point of contact with the bench itself. Conveniently enough, it also decreases the range of motion required to hit lock-out. See the pic below for the reasons why. (CrossFit)
On the left, his hands are easily 2 feet from his chest, whereas on the right, the range of motion has been reduced several inches. So a stronger point of contact with the bench, a decreased range of motion... what's not to like? (Weber Strength)

Glute-ham developer back extensions. Look easy. Feel awful. (808 CrossFit)

Push-ups. I shouldn't have to add anything here. Seriously. Push-ups. Keep your core rigid. Always. (CrossFit)


Ah, the bench press. Staple of most strength programs, and something every person ought to know. "How much ya bench?" should be an answerable question, dammit! As we're in a strength-building phase, the goal was to do a percentage of one rep max for a set number of reps, 90% for 4 reps, 4 times through. A difficult number at that weight, but not certainly not impossible.

Four rounds of four reps later (with one near miss on the final rep), it was on to the sell-out, alternating rounds of 10 back extensions and max-rep push-ups. Back extensions were ok, but screw me, push-ups after heavy benches suck. I mean, I suck at them anyways, so being tired didn't change *that* much, but damn did it ever feel awful.

Bench @ 185#1234
Reps4444

Max Rep Push-UpsRound 1Round 2
Full/Knees13/012/3

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