“THE CHIEF”
5 ROUNDS - FOR MAX REPS
3:00 AMRAP
3 Power Cleans
6 Push Ups
9 Air Squats
-1:00 Rest between each AMRAP-
General Warm Up
3-5min of Cardio of choice, followed by…
3 ROUNDS
5 Slow Air Squats
6 Lunges
6 Single Leg RDL’s (no weight)
25 Jumping Jacks
Specific Warm Up
You should be pretty warm and ready for your air squats by the time you are through the general warm up, so take a few sets of 3-5 reps to get your Push Ups in order. Finally, do 10 Power Cleans with an empty bar (or light weight) and then gradually add weight for sets of 3 until you feel like you are primed and ready to rock and roll!
Workout of the Day
“THE CHIEF”
5 ROUNDS - FOR MAX REPS
3:00 AMRAP
6 Push Ups
-1:00 Rest between each AMRAP-
Workout Notes
This workout is a test in the “Light” category on Beyond the Whiteboard (a fitness tracking app that many of us use.) It’s a classic CrossFit Benchmark workout that I have always wanted to try, but it always escapes me! I think I did it once with dumbbells out in my back parking lot, but that’s the closest I’ve come to a legitimate test. I’m excited about it! Let’s break it down…
First of all this workout is 5 ROUNDS (or fewer if you choose to make it so) but each round is a 3:00 AMRAP with a 1:00 rest. “AMRAP” stands for As Many Rounds/Reps As Possible. This means that we will set a timer (in this case, a quick 3:00) and for the duration of that timer, we will continue cycling through the work as many times as we can. When the 3:00 AMRAP timer sounds, you have 1:00 to rest before you start the next round. That constitutes 1 round and there are as many as 5 in this workout. Each time you start a new round, you start the AMRAP from the beginning, with 3 Power Cleans. To do this workout properly, we do NOT pick up where we left off.
I know this sounds complicated, but I promise it’s not. Work through the round for 3:00, rest for 1:00, start over. Repeat until you’ve done it 5 times. KnowwhatImean?
In order for this workout to be effective (depending on the individual’s fitness level) we should be shooting for three to five times through the AMRAP in each round. If you get through three every round, that gives you a total of 15 times through the round (45 Cleans, 90 Push Ups, 135 Squats.) If you get through it 5 times, first of all you’re an animal, and that would total 25 times through the round (75 Cleans, 150 Push Ups, 225 squats.)
The goal would be to complete this workout with a weight of somewhere between 95lbs and 135lbs (no heavier) but we will choose whatever is safest and/or use what we have at home. This should be a spicy one! Again, don’t be afraid to drop the rounds down to 3 or 4 on this one!
Power Clean Modifications
With any implement, a power clean is taking a weight from the ground level and popping it up to your shoulder level. If it’s too hard for you to bring the to and from the floor, go with a Hang Power Clean. If you are ok going from the ground but can’t get it up to your shoulders safely, go with a Deadlift. If you are looking for something more fast paced, but just don’t feel good about coordinating the Clean, go with a Russian Kettlebell Swing!
Push Ups Modifications
These are going to get tough! There are plenty of variations in the push up video, but this might be a great day for Knee Push Ups! The quicker you can rep them out, the more rounds you’ll make it through and the better the workout will be. As I mentioned earlier in the week, all of our pressing options are on the table, but just try to be aware of how much pressing you may have done yesterday or how much you plan to do tomorrow, depending on how you break up your week. Here are your options: Push Ups, Dips, Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Strict Press, or Floor Press.
Air Squat Modifications
Air Squats are for everyone! However, if you want to switch it up, try swapping out each set of 9 air squats for some single leg work like 10 Alternating Lunges, 10 Alternating Pistol Squats, or 10 Alternating Box Step Ups!
Optional Accessory Work
Because our workout today was such a High Intensity Interval sesh, this would be a great day to do the opposite of that for our accessory work. If you’re got any energy left, go ahead and put in 10-20min of steady cardio! Nice and easy. Any implement will do, or power walk it out!
Cool Down
1-2min of Child’s Pose
1-2min of Saddle Pose