Games Athletes + Qualifier + Open Athletes
Spending our full effort today on building strength and durability today.
Two good days of conditioning this week – today we compliment that with bulletproofing the body.
Opening the day with split jerk skill development, leading to a heavy single for the day.
Deadlift work to follow, with three different variations of the lift.
An extensive Body Armor session to finish.
2018 Qualifier + Open Masters
MOBILITY AND ACTIVATON
MOBILITY
Foam Rolling: Thoracic + Lats (Upper Back) – 2:00 Total (Video)
Banded Shoulder Distraction – 1:00 Each Side (Video)
Front Rack Stretch – 2:00 (Video)
Wrist Stretches – 30s in each position (Video)
Foam Rolling – Quads and Adductors – 2:00
Couch Stretch – 2:00 Each Leg (Video)
Pigeon Pose – 2:00 each side (Video)
ACTIVATION
500 Meter Row (slow) or 15 Calorie Bike (slow) into…
3 Rounds:
3 Strict Pull-Ups
9 Wall Squats (Video)
12 Alternating Spidermans (6/side)
15 AbMat Sit-Ups
:20 second Samson Stretch each side (Video)
SPLIT JERK
Part #1 – Split Jerk Strict Press
5 Sets of 3 Repetitions, starting with an empty barbell (from rack).
The purpose of this first drill is to refine and build stability in our receiving position.
The split jerk strict press begins with the athlete stepping into the split jerk receiving position. From here, perform three *strict* presses from this position. This allows us to build familiarity in this position with a weight overhead.
Points of Performance we are looking for:
1. Front shin to be perpendicular with the floor. Weight is on the heel.
2. Back knee is bent, and pointing straight down to the floor.
3. The heel of the back foot is off the ground. Weight is on the ball of the foot, with the toes facing forward.
If you feel laterally unstable, widen your stance a touch. We are looking to be somewhere between hip width and shoulder width in our receiving position. Lastly, as we press the barbell overhead, visualize your upper torso being made of concrete. Half the battle is dialing the lower body positioning and stability wise… the other half is firing the abdominals and actively pressing overhead at lockout for a strong finish. We need both.
The more comfortable we are in this split position (which is simply trained with more time), the faster we’ll move to it during an actual split jerk.
For reference, we are looking to build to somewhere around 50-60% of our 1RM Strict Press. Aim to climb in weight after each set, again starting with an empty barbell.
Part #2 – Jerk Balance
5 Sets of 3 – Video (starting with an empty BB, or very light load)
The purpose of this second drill is to train both the front foot step, and the drive downwards beneath the barbell.
Using the video as reference, assume a “half split”. Literally half the distance you would place your feet to receive a split jerk. With the bar in the front rack position, complete a dip-drive to make the bar weightless. In that moment, step the front foot forward (aiming for the vertical shin we talked about above), and drive your body beneath the bar.
The back knee needs to be flexed from the onset, and needs to flex even more during the catch. This is what allows us to actually drive beneath. If it becomes locked out, you can imagine how we couldn’t get beneath. A soft back knee in this drill is a must, and building familiarity in this movement allows us to refine our speed beneath a full split jerk.
Like above, there will not be a leaderboard for this portion. For another talking point however, we are looking to build back to the same weight (if not slightly heavier) than where we left off on the strict press above. Speed and positioning is more important than loading. Next we’ll move some heavier weights. This is our primer to move our best.
BODY ARMOR
800 Meter Double-Kettlebell Walk
1st 100m – Both KB’s in Farmers Carry (at sides)
2nd 100m – Both KB’s in Front Rack Position
3rd 100m – Left Arm Front Rack, Right Arm Farmers Carry
4th 100m – Left Arm Farmers Carry, Right Arm Front Rack
Repeat that twice for 800 meters total.
Choose a set of kettlebells that we feel we could farmers carry unbroken for 400+ meters, if we went for it when fresh.
Rest as needed throughout, but aim to make the 100 meters sets unbroken if possible. Good to push here, but we also need to be observant of our technique. If we start to compensate and loose form, take a break regardless of where we are. The underlying goal here is to strengthen the body in the right positions.. not reinforcing the wrong ones.
When we talk to technique – we are looking for a rigid midline and a tall torso. Especially when we have a single KB in the front rack, with the other in the waists (farmers), our body is going to want to twist and compensate. Fight this urge and strengthen the midline by cinching down the rib cage with the abdominals and staying squared off to the front.