Movement Of The Week || Muscle Ups Part 2

On our final installation of #movement videos for the #crossfitopen, we’re bringing you another #muscleup skill/strength builder. These are sure to be #intheopen! Good luck this weekend and for the next 5! We’re rooting for you! @crossfitgames #crossfit #gymnasty #gymnastics #rings #crossfitopen2016 @txtim3 Muscle-up pt. 2 Arch / Hollow Kip Swing (On Rings) A tight compact kip swing is important to correctly perform dynamic gymnastics movements. Even more so on the the rings as they present a less stable apparatus than the bar. The swing should be initiated with the shoulders, the elbows must remain locked out, keep the belly tight in both the arch and hollow position, and keep the heels together and toes pointed. “Big Ring Swings” The goal here is to try to increase the range of the swing so the body rises up parallel to the floor.  The swing starts like the smaller arch / hollow swing but the athlete will lead by swinging  the feet high and continue the swing by driving the hips towards the ring. Perfecting this swing allows the athlete to “feel” weightless at the apex of the swing, so they know when to pull and turnover the rings Hips to RIngs This is a natural continuation of the previous swing. The athlete must be patient and allow the hips to rise as high as possible then pull the rings to the hips or ribs.  The goal is to maintain a tight body position throughout and keep the eyes on the toes during the pull.  This helps teach athletes to pull the rings lower to allow for an easier turnover. Jumping Muscle-ups This is a good practice drill for the “dynamic” turnover. Set the rings at highest position possible still allowing the turnover to be successful.  Performing sets of 8 to 10 reps will help athletes get comfortable catching and supporting their bodyweight in a low ring dip. The low ring dip catch position is common for an athlete’s first muscle-up. Muscle-up Once strong enough to perform a kip muscle-up timing, rhythm, and fluidity become the limiting factors for most in a muscle-up. The initial swing must be fluid and keep tension in the body and rings throughout. Athletes must be patient and let the hips rise while they pull the ring

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Movement Of The Week || Muscle Up Drills

Who's ready for the #crossfitopen?! We sure are! Make sure to get your #muscleup #practice in this week! Check out some of our tips and strength building exercises to help you get and stay #efficient! #CrossFit @crossfitgames #muscleups #hollowbody #intheopen Muscle-Up Transitions -Rings to Sternum Position yourself below the rings. Grab the rings and establish active shoulders and a tight midline. With a slight lean back, pull the rings toward each other and to your sternum (bottom of chest). Variations/extensions to this exercise could include a static hold at the top of the pull and/or employing a tempo on the eccentric (lowering) phase, like a negative. -Toe-nail Muscle-up Transition Position yourself below the rings. Similar to the rings to sternum drill,  but with the top of the feet touching the floor. Grab the rings and establish active shoulders and midline. With a slight lean back, pull the rings toward each other and to your sternum. Pushing through the toes, utilize as much assistance as needed to maintain proper pulling mechanics. Once the rings are to your sternum; continue the pull tracing the bottom of your chest until the rings are at your armpits, with shoulders over the rings. Variations/extensions of this drill could be done the same way with toes on a box. -Band Assisted Hip Extension with Pull This drill can be used to help understand hip extension while maintaining good body position as well as reinforce the proper timing of the pull. Set-up a band on the rings as you would in a banded ring dip. Place the band at the crease of the glutes, as if sitting on a swing. Starting point will be approximately parallel to the ground, in a hollow body position . From this position, you will squeeze your glutes and drive your heels down, eliciting an extension of the hips. The band will assist in the rise of your center of gravity. At the apex of the rise, you will practice the timing of the pull by driving your elbows behind you toward the floor and bringing the rings to your torso. Begin by focusing on one good rep at a time. Stringing these together can take time and is not necessary to receive the benefit of the drill. -Band Assisted Hip E

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Night Of Champions || WOD ANNOUNCEMENT

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We are 5 short days from our Night of Champions competition! As promised, below are the WODs we’ll see this Friday with Rx and Scaled weights listed below. Get yourself a partner and get registered! Remember, only 1 team member must register through the online system ($50 per team). We’ll email you to get your partner’s name and which division you’ll be competing in.

REGISTER HERE

Event 1

Max Deadlift

Each team member will find a max deadlift.  Teams will be grouped on bars together by announced opening weights and each bar will move up in weight every minute. Teammates best lifts will be added together to give the team a score.

Event 2

1200 M Run
50 Burpee Box Jump / Step-up
40 Hang Cleans
15:00 Cap

Rx 
M: 24” box, 165 lb barbell
W: 20” box, 105 lb barbell

Scaled
M: 20” box, 115 lb barbell
W: 12” box, 75 lb barbell

Athletes will run a total of 1200 meters between them. This can be split into an 800 and a a 400 or two even 600s. The athletes will then proceed to the burpee box jump / step ups where the reps can be split anyway they see fit. Athletes may jump or step onto the box at their own discretion. Teams will then move to the hang cleans where they may split the reps however they see fit. Hang cleans must start between the knee and the hip and can be received in muscle, power, squat or split position.

*15:00 Time Cap

Movement of the Week || Chest To Bar Pull Ups – Part 2

Here's part 2 of our chest to bar series. This time around, focusing on the kip. These can also help with regular pull ups! Check out more videos at www.youtube.com/channel/UCJz-dOyuDWguw1OoRCkaq_w #kipping #chestobar #ctb #c2b #crossfit #intheopen #crossfitopen2016 #austin #tx #shoulders Traditional Kip – Muscle Kip Swing This drill is used to reinforce using the shoulder to initiate the swing. The lower body and hips should not swing at all. The athlete will push himself into a tight hollow position, and pull themselves into a tight arch position. The goal is to be as controlled as possible. – Arch / Hollow Kip Swing A tight compact kip swing is important to correctly perform dynamic gymnastics movements. The swing should be initiated with the shoulders, the elbows must remain locked out, keep the belly tight in both the arch and hollow position, and keep the heels together and toes pointed. – Skips This drill is an extension of the Arch/Hollow Kip Swing, with a more aggressive finish. The ’skip’ helps to develop straight arm strength/power, reinforces necessity of tight midline, and can be used as a tool used to understand/develop the timing of when to pull. – Pause at top with Push Away This is used to improve the athlete’s ability to connect pull-ups. The athlete performs a kip pull-up and stop and hold their chest against the bar. The athlete will then push themselves away from the bar and into another swing to pull. This is also a good test of actually pulling strength, if you can perform kip pull-ups but can’t hold the top position for longer than 5 seconds the athlete should work to improve strict static strength in the pull-up. – Full CTB Pull-ups The full CTB pull-up should look fluid and rythmic. Common faults include athletes losing control of the core in the “arch” phase of the swing, leaving the feet behind the bar while pulling the chest to the bar, and allowing the knees to bend or elbow during the “arch” phase of the swing.

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Movement of the Week || Chest To Bar Pull Ups

Push-up women and men! This week, we’re back with another series of movement videos to help you prep for the Open. This time around, it’s Chest To Bar Pull Ups. These are a tough challenge for athletes new and old, alike. Be sure to practice these movements and you’ll be sure to see improvements! #crossfitopen2016 #crossfit #CTB #C2B #pullups #strict #negatives #intheopen #gymnasty #gymnastics Strict Strength – Scap Pull-ups Begin the movement with shoulders and arms completely locked out and maintain a hollow body position with the glutes and core.  Pull the scaps down and back and do not bend the elbows, then relax your shoulders to return back down into a fully extended position. The goal is to develop the ability to perform 3 sets of 12-15 perfect, controlled reps. – Passive Range Lift off In prone position (face down): while trying to maintain a neutral cervical spine lift your hands (or PVC) off of the ground with focus on squeezing your shoulder blades down and together toward the mid spine. As control improves, you can continue to increase the range by elevating your starting position. Again, purpose is for control of the range, so we are not just slinging are hands up behind us. – Banded Face Pull This is an auxiliary exercise that develops and strengthens the rhomboids, external rotators, and rear delts. Strengthening this group of muscles will help athletes develop a full and proper “finish” of pulling the chest all the way to the bar with retracted scaps. In doing so the face pull helps to prevent athletes from rolling the shoulders to the bar during the “finish”. This exercise can be performed daily, goal is to accumulate 20-40 reps in a row. – Horizontal CTB Pull-ups Focus on maintaining a tight “arch” position by staying fully engaged in the glutes and core. Only raise the feet to a level that allows perfect pulling mechanics, do not try to reach the chest to bar position by rolling the head and shoulders forward to the bar. Goal is to develop the ability to perform 5 perfect controlled reps for 5 sets. – Negatives Jump your chest to the bar and hold the chest to the bar for 2 seconds. Then, slowly lower from the bar for 5 seconds.

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Movement of the Week || Toes To Bar – Part 3

Check out our final segment of the toes to bar series as we prep for the Open (Feb 25). Make sure to tune back in on Tuesday for our next series: Chest to Bar.  #toestobar #crossfit #intheopen #crossfitopen2016 #strict #upperbody #activeshoulders Straight Arm Strength In our final video of the toes to bar series, we focus on straight arm strength. Improving straight arm strength will make the kip swing more powerful and increase strength endurance for all “hanging” gymnastics movement.  These exercise are shown in order of least difficult to most difficult, and can be performed concurrently with the kip swing and core drills in previous videos. 1. Band Straight Arm Press Downs This can be done with the band set up you see in the video or with an old school cable pulley system if found at globo gyms and hotel/apt. gyms. Keep the arms straight as you press the bar to chest level. Maintain a tight core, and glutes similar to the hollow position. Only move up in band tension or weight when you can successfully complete 12 reps without breaking at the core. 2. Ring Fall outs This exercise integrates core stability and straight arm strength. The goal is to maintain a hollow body position throughout all phases of the movement. The tendency will be to allow the back to overextend, if this is happens shorten the length you extend the arms away from the body at the bottom. Work perfect set of 3-5 reps until you can hold your arms in line with your ears in a perfect hollow position at the bottom for 5 reps. 3. Strict Knees to elbow and Toes to bar These variations simply remove the swing and any momentum it creates from the full movement to force the arms, shoulders, and core to do more work. If you’re not strong enough to do these variations, use a spotter to help get your knees to your chest and toes to the bar. Then, slowly lower your legs for 3-5 seconds. The straighter the legs are the more demanding the exercise will be. Athletes of all ability levels benefit from increasing strength and strength endurance in the “strict” variations of bodyweight movements. Goal here is to develop the ability to complete 3 sets of 5 strict toes to bar with straight

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Movement of the Week || Toes To Bar – Part 2

As promised, here is part 2 of the toes 2 bar series, aimed at helping you prep for the Open. Enjoy! #toes2bar #t2b #open #core #hollowbody #intheopen #CrossFitGames #CrossFit #2016CrossFitOpen Compression / Core Drills In the first series we focused on the swing and how to maintain a compact rhythmic kip swing to string TTBs together. Our second series we’ll focus on developing the ability to flex and compress at the hips while strengthening the core abdominal muscles. 1. Hollow Hold (Tuck to Long) This is the fundamental position for all gymnastic movements. Being strong in the hollow position allows for better control of the kip swing and stronger transfer of power from hips to the upper body. Start by keeping the knees tucked and the arms straight by your side. The low back should be in contact with the floor, with the hips and shoulder off the floor. To make the position more difficult move the hands overhead and straighten your legs. Try to develop the ability to hold this for a solid 60 continuous seconds in the tuck version, and then do the same in the “long” version. 2. Hands Flat Knee Raises Focus on using the core to pull the hips off the ground, and keep the knees tucked as close to your body as possible. Return the hips and feet slowly back to the ground so you can feel the core working. 3. KB Knee Raises Similar to the previous drill, with the hands straight overhead holding a kettlebell or dumbbell. Focus on using the core to pull your hips off the ground, and keep the knee tucked as close to your body as possible. Return your hips and feet slowly back to the ground so you can feel the core working. 4. Toes to KB Focus on using the core to pull your hips off the ground, and keep your knees tucked as close to your body as possible, at the last second extend the feet to the handle of the KB. Return your hips and feet slowly back to the ground with straight legs so you can feel the core working. Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps of these drills to develop adequate core strength for the toes to bar.

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