Spartan WOD for Tuesday, 10.30.12 brought to you by Gaspari Nutrition

~By James Villepique CSCS

 

In last week’s WOD we set the tone for the next month of progressive and periodized obstacle course training. This WOD is going to add a degree of intensity in a few ways. Here is what last week looked like:

Week 1 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Lower Body Agility Exercise x 5
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 10
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 12
1 min rest

- Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Full-Body Agility Square x 5
2 min rest

The wise would take the experimental knowledge they have of last week, employ some determined visualization techniques, and produce serious gains.

Try to do all the WODs in the same place, because this will make visualization more powerful. See yourself running farther and enjoying the endorphins; see yourself demonstrating catlike agility across the field; smell the grass in the full-body drills, and feel how high you go with the tuck jumps and split squats. It works wonders.

Here is what this week’s WOD looks like:

Week 2 Periodized WOD

-  Jog 1 Half Mile
Lower Body Agility Exercise x 7
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Alternating Split Squats w/ Jump x 12
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Half Mile
2 Pushups + Burpees to Tuck Jumps x 15
1 min rest

-  Jog 1 Quarter Mile
Full-Body Agility Square x 8
1 Min Rest

Changes

-1 min rest
+1/2 Mile
+7 Reps to Agility Drills
+30 Pushups

 

It may not sound like a big leap, but metabolically your nervous system will notice it. Furthermore, those changes will increase next week, and they may not be the same. Next week the increases will be a bit different, and throw a new variable in the mix – time.

The exercises are the same, but to be thorough I’m going to list and briefly go over them.

Let’s Do This…

Jogging

Altogether this week it’s one and a half miles. Jogging and cardiovascular endurance is the mana of the fitness gods. However, what we’re teaching your body to do is handle the physicality of it, the mental work is your job – pace yourself.

You’ll know you’re getting addicted once you’re brain begin to drift off into thinking about something other than jogging. At this point the exercise has become mechanized by your body, and it just comes down to how much energy you have to spare.

The jogging regimen we have you on doesn’t require packing in tons of carbs, or loading. Just make sure you have enough fat and carbs in your diet to facilitate a steady amount of jogging.

Lower Body Agility Drills

The exercises in these WODs are all agility based, but the drills are especially effective. Why do so few people use them? The health industry can speak for the countless bounty that’s spent every year on avoidable joint, tendon, and ligament injuries.

All too often people see athletes doing these on commercials and assume it has to do with their performance. It does, if we actually got to talk to these competitors, it also has a fair amount to do with Injuries.

Set up your rectangle, get to work, and take it seriously, because it could very easily be saving you from serious injuries.

Alternating Split Squats with Jump

The reasons these burn so deeply after so short of an amount of time is because they coagulate power based movements with endurance enhancing stability work.

The higher you jump, the harder you push, the more your entire musculature has to perform a mid air dance to keep you positioned to come back down smoothly and dip into lunge position without falling over.

Take a second or two to make sure you’re stationed correctly, and then set up. Stay controlled, and don’t give in to those adrenaline rushes that may creep up and try to send you into orbit.

Pushup Burpees to Tuck Jump

So basically we’re adding two pushups which you will perform after going down into the burpee, and before coming back up fluidly to execute a pristine tuck jump.

It’s not only going to warm up your chest, shoulders, and upper back before the full-body agility drills, but will increase the amount of calories burned as well. We’ll be adding more pushups throughout the next few weeks, so make sure you’re getting adequate recovery time after your WODS.

 

Full-Body Agility Drills

By the end of the month these will feel as natural as walking on two legs. The point is to tell your central nervous system that you require a new adaptation that requires you to be as nimble on your toes and fingertips and your feet.

Again, let me stress that you must pay special attention to your wrist joints, and shoulders. If anything starts to hurt, like perhaps a rotator cuff, then ease up a bit. For the first two weeks the most important thing as you crawl along the ground, is form.

Hang Tough & Keep Going!

James Villepigue

 

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Tags: Master WOD Archive