Damn Dirty Gymnasts
A trainer, who shall remain nameless to protect her identity, had some choice words about today’s workout. I understand that it wasn’t our typical fare. My goal was threefold.
First, I wanted to get a Bench Press in this week. It’s been a while and the BP often gets overlooked when we’re deciding what movements to incorporate into our workouts- it requires more equipment than the standing press, it requires a spotter, and there is a sort of cultural antipathy towards the staple of bodybuilders. But being a strong pusher has obvious and direct correlations to every day life. We should use it more, not less.
My second goal was to start progressing us towards the Iron Cross. Granted most of us won’t ever get to that extreme, but we can all at least start training in that direction. So toward that end, we did what I called Iron Flyes, which is to start with the rings at shoulder height, arms out to the sides, elbows straight. The movement is to pull the arms down until the hands reach the hips in a support position. There were two ways to modify this- either hang bands from the rings and slip them over the feet, or to initiate the movement with a jump. I think the band was harder, especially since the bands wanted to pull your feet out into the splits. We’ll keep working on it.
The third objective was to spend some time on another progression towards a gymnastics hold. This one was the Front Lever. It’s amazingly hard to hold the tucked version, but as people got familiar with it, their times actually increased.
None of these movements fit easily into a workout, so I thought I’d put them all on a single day and be done with. Tomorrow will be Crossfit meat and potatoes.
That is funny stuff. You know I love your programming, Morgan…typically.
It was a fun afternoon. Great job everyone.