COMPETE : Beginning WOD

Beginning Heavier Work

Form is the foundation of good movement patterns. Most specifically, maintaining good form will get you through this program and the Team Assessment. Focusing on it from the start and making it one of your programming pillars will help keep you injury free and utilizing all of the muscle groups as you work. (Bad form = not all the muscles you need will be engaged.)

Sandbag Work Starts Now

Choose the sandbag weight that is right for you for use in this workout. Do not begin at the TA weight unless you have been using that weight consistently and it is now your base. Otherwise, select a weight that feels comfortably challenging. We are going over the basics in this workout today and further workouts will expand on the principles.

What WOD Exercises Should I Know?

Face the Wall Sandbag Squats You'll be doing unweighted Face the Wall Squats in the warm-up so you will be familiar with this movement. For the workout, you will by necessity have to be further from the wall. Put your sandbag up against the wall baseboard and tuck your toes about 1" under it. From there, squat and lift the sandbag without it touching the wall. You will need to turn you head to the side as you squat. This is a slow movement and should be very controlled. 

Sandbag Front Raise Standing tall, ruck on, hold your sandbag from both side handles by your hips. Raise your arms, bringing the sandbag level with your chest. Bring it back down. Go as slowly as you need to using perfect form. If the bag is too heavy, drop weight.

Ruck Ribbons After the Front Raise, this will feel extra spicy. Use your ruck for this movement. Begin standing, holding your ruck's sides vertically at your hips. Raise your ruck up and bring it over your head until your elbows bend as in a triceps extension.

Ruck/Sandbag Chest Press Chest presses are Bench Presses done laying on the ground. *If you have a bench, feel free to use it for more range of motion. Begin by laying on your back, elbows tucked to your ribs. Your ruck should be resting on your chest. (You may use a sandbag in place of your ruck.) Push your arms straight up, lifting the bag off your chest. Bring it back down with control.

Sandbag Carry We recommend 25m for this workout, which would be roughly FOUR trips up and down a standard 20-foot suburban driveway. Or you can measure out 82-ish feet. Your choice, but we prefer the driveway method so you can drop, rest, and get moving again. First, carry the sandbag in what's known as a Zercher carry, or a tight cradle carry with the bag nestled into your elbows. Then, carry it over your shoulders like a fireman's carry. Then, a left shoulder and right shoulder carry. Bring your core into every step you take. This group of exercises are as total body as we get today. It'll be enough, we promise.

START HERE

When you see warm-ups in the Compete group of workouts, do them. They are there to prevent injury and tweak little form issues that may crop up, even after years of doing certain movements, like squats.

15 x Face the Wall Squats - No one likes these except for the people who practice them, but they are ideal for perfecting and correcting squat form (if that needs to happen - you’ll know very soon). The idea is simple:

  • Face a wall, toes to the baseboard in squat position. (If this is a new exercise for you, start 3” away from the wall. Even if you’ve been doing squats for years.)
  • Raise your arms overhead. 
  • Squat, keeping your hands 1” from the wall. 
  • Go as far down as you can and then back up. 
  • This movement needs to be in your warm-ups for the next 4 weeks.

15 x Warm-Up Butterfly Sit-Ups

3 x PVC Pipe* Shoulder Warm-Up Drill

  • 10 x PVC Pipe Pass Through Hold your PVC pipe wider than shoulder width. Your arms should feel slight tension as you hold the pipe. Raise your arms up overhead and bring the PVC pipe behind you, the PVC pipe bumping your behind and then bring it overhead and bumping the front of your thighs
  • 10 x PVC Pipe Around the Worlds
  • 10 x PVC Pipe Deadlifts Perform with body tension as though the pipe were heavy.
  • 10 x PVC Pipe Overhead Squats Hold pipe overhead and perform squats
  • If you do not have a thin PVC pipe, a dowel, broomstick or mop handle works just as well.

WORKOUT x 3 Rounds

*Always wear your ruck! Rest between sets and rounds as needed.

  • 15 x Sandbag Squats
  • 20 x Walking Lunges (ruck only)
  • 15 x Sandbag Front Raise
  • 15 x Ruck Ribbons
  • 15 x Ruck/Sandbag Chest Press
  • 25m Sandbag Carry - Zercher
  • 25m Sandbag Shoulder Carry
  • 25m Right Shoulder Carry
  • 25m Left Shoulder Carry

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