Hello CBDer's Happy April!!! How have you been recovering from the Open? As you may or may not have noticed there hasn't been much prescription from the ROD these past two weeks. This has not been an oversight or us getting forgetful. We have been pulling back the reigns a bit on the extra work because of the impact that 5 weeks of Open competition can have on the body & mind. Last week one prescription, this week, two. Simply put we felt that everybody could do with a bit of a recharge whilst still coming in for classes. Even if you don't feel it now taking a bit of time to have some fun in your training will benefit you in the long term. Any how's here is some gymnastics stuff to play with and home down. Next week the barbell will be reintroduced in the program and we'll start to getting stronger once more!! Monday 7th / Tuesday 8th A): strict pull 3 x 8 (rest 90-120 secs between sets). Notes: the aim is of course building strength in this movement so if you are requiring bands you should NOT be doing the sets of 8 reps unbroken. This would negate the objective. Find your grey area where you can hit out the first 4 reps consecutively. After this get your remaining reps out in whatever fashion you need to. Make sure your rest between these reps isn't too long, 5-15 secs should be enough. On the form front there should absolutely be NO KIP. It should go without saying but we still see peeps kicking their legs out or instigating the movement at the bottom portion with a swing of some kind. No matter how subtle you think the swing is, it's still a swing and thus voids any attempt/s you are in the process of making and will have you having to repeat your reps again! Keep your lats & shoulders active and engaged throughout. This is the primary mover in your pull up and should be doing the lifting. Thumbs AROUND of course! Make a big concerted effort to pull yourself up and over the bar. It's not good enough to just pull yourself inline with the bar. Get your chin over and ontop the bar. Lower yourself down to a completely locked out stare with your arms. **if you are already at a stage of 3 sets of unbroken strict pull ups then it's time to add some moderate load. Start with a 5/7.5kg dumbbell and stick with that until you can knock out all 3 sets unbroken. Consider that your "prerequisite" before you go to a heavier load. Under no circumstances are you to add any load if you cannot do 3 unbroken sets of 8 strict pull ups. B): 10 mins to find Max Height Box Jump. (Limit yourself to 6 genuine attempts). Notes: a fun one here. But also can be treacherous too! You need to be alert, careful and on your game to be attempting this!!!! Please please do not do this if you are not able to. A good vertical box jump is a great measure of power output and requires explosive action from the body and a violent hip extension. It is a valuable part of training, getting great glute/hip function, great leg drive, calf function and a lot of dynamism! All key aspect of a CrossFitter. Box Jumping is not just about gassing out trying to get your reps. Now with all that being said this can be tons of fun. Warm your calves and Achilles heels up accordingly. A good bout of double unders followed good ol fashioned calf raises will help heaps. Start conservatively with your normal WOD box jump height. Get a good 7-10 jumps in to get you going. Go for quality in the jumps and NOT for time! Build up your heights sensibly too (ie: don't go from 30" to 40" in one hit!). The sensible way also is to build by adding weight plates on top of a box, a metal box. Build one plate at a time. Now is also a good time to mention that you are NOT to use the green 10kg plates. Instead only use the yellow 15's & the blue 20's. And quite importantly you are to use the red metal box jumps only. No wooden boxes allowed today! Now on the form/rules front: - Make sure your feet are set at least hip width apart, preferably closer to shoulder width but we all have little differences here. - When it's time to jump break at the hips, slightly bend the knees, and use your arms in a thrusting/pumping action upon take off. - As obvious as it sounds your objective is get you knees higher than your target, NOT your heels. It is often mistaken with peeps jumping their heels behind them tucked up under their butt and realising too late that the have not jumped high enough. - Knees out!! As much as you hear us say this in your squat/dip-drive mechanics the same is just as important on your jumping mechanics. When you go to leave the ground squeeze your glutes and keep the knees out. When you're landing the same laws apply, keep the knees out by still continuing to engage your glutes. (This is for your safety and knee lifespan, trust me on this one! I know!!). - For your effort to count you need to stand it up under control and stay standing for a 3 count ontop the box (falling away as you stand up will not count as successful rep). - No "galloping" onto the box. Two feet from ground to box. - Come down safely. If you end up with an awesome high box jump, don't just hop off instinctively. Have a set plan on how to get down. If you do jump make sure you apply your mechanics and land softly with knees out. - We're only looking for one jump, this means do not attempt a rebound! - No run ups!! It is preferable if you don't do this immediately after a WOD. Either try to get it done before the WOD (and when you've adequately warmed up), or if doing it in open gym after your workout do the pull ups first and then go onto the jumps when you're over your workout. Also if it's deemed too wet to be trying this, postpone this until the next day. Have fun!