Warm-up:
10 Anchored squat/ hinge transition
10 Halo + extension
10 Squat (with implement)
50 Jumping jacks (touch hips/ legs at bottom, touch hands over head at top)
5 Push-up
5 Straight jump
:30 sec. unweighted hinge hold
Warm-up should leave us warm, not tired; Scale accordingly, especially if just beginning training or adjusting to this style training for the first time. Range of motion, details of each movement, and bracing are all to be practiced and applied in warm-up just as they are in the training day; Attention in one leads directly to improvement in the other.
Movements linked to demonstrations in our Movement Library; Watch and refresh- Don’t guess.
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“Panic” squat:
5 x 5
When scheme is listed as “5 x 5”, or any variation of, it always refers to “sets” x “reps”.
With a lighter- yet positionally versatile- tool, the attentiveness, bracing, and violence-of-action can make or break the usefulness of any given drill.
The “Panic” squat features a hard 3/1000 bracing- pushing breath down-not-up, making yourself fat-not-tall- prior to beginning the level-change. Stay violently braced, pause for another hard, minimum 3/1000 in the organized bottom position of the squat, and then drive with force and intent back to standing. Once back to standing, hold firm for enough time to secure your position (recommended 3/1000), and then compose yourself for a 5/1000 before beginning the next rep.
If this is easy- at any weight- question the participant, not the process.
This provides “Time under tension”, reinforces the value of “hard” vs. “soft” movement, and begins to evoke the *extremely* important “panic response” that occurs in heavy lifting, hard training, and any sort of self-defense and/ or non-gimmick martial arts application.
All standard squat mechanics apply; This strategy should insulate and improve them, not the other way around.
Then, 5 rounds of:
2 x 5L, 5R Bent-over row + 2/1000 hold @ top
5 Straight jump (with implement, held and kept at chest-level)
10 Reverse lunge (5 x 1L, 1R with implement, held and kept at chest-level)
:10 sec. rest
Brace when you’re loaded and moving, breathe intelligently in-between, stay within structural standards even when tired, and don’t skip steps.
Bent-over row happens from a hard, organized hinge position (deadlift, kettlebell swing, mace shovel, Good Morning, Pendlay row…). Each rep also features a hard, stopped 2/1000 @ top.
If the hold is “easy” with the implement at-hand, lengthen it until it isn’t. “2 x 5L, 5R” translates to 5L + 5R, and then 5L + 5R, and THEN on to straight jump in each round.
Straight jump and lunge: Brace before you drop!
And then:
10 x :15 sec. full-effort hollow hold
Building a bulletproof “power source” will improve all elements of your physicality- and simple, hard, non-gimmick sit-ups and holds are a sure-fire way to do so. Do not make this easy- make it the opposite; It’s the insulation for your hardest efforts.
Each day will end with varied durations of hollow hold, and the cool-down is a minimum of 25 cat/ cow stretch and 100 yd. brisk walk/ exercise bike ride/ etc.
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