12/19/10

20 minutes, complete as many rounds as possible of:

5 chest-to-bar pullups
10 dips
15 overhead squats, 95 lbs

source: crossfit.com workout from a few days ago
time: 20:00
works: balance, shoulders, flexibility, core, back, triceps, chest
difficulty: 8
my effort: 7

This is one of the continual movement-type workouts favored by martial artists, crossfitters, etc. It's a difficult one for me, as I have never been particularly good at overhead squats, mostly due to the ROM in my shoulders. It's OK once I get warmed up, but I'm very slow at them, so my overall rounds are usually low.

Overhead squats are a great movement for strengthening the glutes and hamstrings while training your core to balance. Be sure to take a wide, snatch-type grip on the bar, lock your elbows into place, and perform a wide-stance squat. If your achilles prevent you from making a full squat, stop where you need to; don't allow your knees to buckle.

The chest-to-bar pullups can be performed either in kipping or dead-hang format, depending on what you're trying to get out of your exercise. I kept it mostly dead-hang.

The pullups and dips were the easy part of this workout for me; the squats slowed me down considerably.

I completed 6 rounds, subbing an 80lb bar for the 95lb.