BeMore CrossFit

WOD

Row 1000 M

50 Overhead Squats (65/45)

50 KB Swings (55/35)

50 Squats

1200 M run

50 Push-Ups

50 Sit-ups

50 Push Press (75lb/45lb)

CONGRATULATIONS to all of you who finished the Longest CrossFit Work out Ever.

GREAT JOB.  Lets do it again and try and beat 1:00 hour, or not )

ALSO A Good Read For those Sprinters, Bikers, Skiers, Hockey Players looking to speed up their game.

Sometimes in the quest to look better in a T-shirt, we forget to train the muscles that we depend on every day. One of those forgotten muscles is the gluteus maximus, the biggest and strongest muscle in the body. The glutes and the hamstrings work in tandem during all lower body exercises, in particular exercises that propel you forward and upward.

Stronger glutes power you to jump higher and sprint faster. They also help stabilize the pelvis and align the spine, which combine to improve posture and reduce back pain. And for those who spend most of their day sitting, training the glutes helps strengthen a backside weakened from too much time in a chair.

Sprinters (runners) and skaters benefit from strong glutes. So do female athletes who have a tendency to be too weak in their glutes and too strong in their quads. This particular strength imbalance can contribute to knee pain and injury, which is why more and more female skiers and basketball and hockey players spend extra time in the gym strengthening their posterior.

Training the glutes starts with simple exercises that fire up the muscles and remind them of their function, which is where the hip lift and walk comes in. It improves pelvic stabilization, strengthens the glutes and works the hips through a functional range of motion. It also stretches the hamstrings, which tend to be tight in athletes with lower body speed and power.

The basic exercise is the perfect place to start for novice exercisers. Once you can perform two sets of eight repetitions, feel free to step it up a notch. As the exercise gets harder, it becomes tougher to stabilize the hips and core muscles. At its hardest, the hip lift and walk is challenging even for elite athletes as demonstrated by Ann-Sophie Bettez, a member of McGill’s two-time national champion hockey team.

Try this exercise at home or in the gym. If it’s buns of steel you want, then the hip lift and walk is the place to start.

Muscles trained: gluteus maximus, hamstrings, erector spinae.

Start position: Lie on your back, feet flat on the floor, arms outstretched palms down on the floor at shoulder height. Position the feet hip distance apart and look straight up.

Action: Slowly raise the hips off the floor until the knees, hips and shoulders are in alignment. Keeping the knee bent, lift one foot off the floor and bring the knee toward the chest. Lower the leg to the floor and repeat with the opposite leg. Repeat until you have performed five to eight repetitions per leg.

Tips: Push your heels into the floor and contract the glutes as you raise the hips. Avoid pressing down on the hands as you lift the hips. Keep the pelvis level (don’t let the one hip droop) as the foot lifts off the floor and the knee travels toward the chest. Don’t let the knee of the supporting leg drift inward or outward as the lifted leg moves toward the chest and back down to the start position.

Harder: Cross both arms across the chest instead of placing them on the floor and reach up to grab the knee as it moves toward the chest. Pull the knee into the chest and hold it for two seconds before returning to the start position.

Harder still: Place a ball under the heels, arms outstretched and palms down at shoulder height. Lift the hips until the knees, hips and shoulders are in alignment. Keeping the leg bent, bring the knee toward the chest. Hold for one second and return the leg back to the start position. Repeat, lifting the knee of the other leg. Perform four to eight repetitions per leg.

Source: Calgary Herald

CrossFit Calgary, CrossFit Calgary South, Okotoks CrossFit DeWinton

Filed under: CrossFit Calgary