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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5 rounds of:
5L, 5R Press
5 “Panic” squat
5 Straight jump
:20 sec. rest
Each press features a full, stopped, hard 2/1000 overhead. The implement starts 100% stationary each rep- no bounce, no “push”. Drive thumb to the back (do not rotate hand in) and insist on a straight wrist and straight arm in every rep. Add longer-than-designated pauses to rack and overhead to make the weight you have at your disposal as heavy as it needs to be. Rest reasonably between sets.
Both squat and straight jump are to be performed with implement held hard at chest level. 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 hold and “fat-not-tall” bracing prior to beginning the level-change. Stay braced, pause for another hard, minimum 3/1000 in the organized bottom position, and then drive with force and intent back to standing. Once back to standing, hold firm for enough time to secure your position, and then compose yourself for a 5/1000 before beginning the next rep.
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 training. If hold duration does not pose those challenges, extend it until it does.
All standard squat mechanics apply; This strategy should insulate and improve them, not the other way around.
Then, 10 minutes of:
5 Inchworm
5 “Floor-to-feet”
5 Burpee
5 Push-up
:20 sec. rest
Note similarities and differences in each movement; Burpee and “Floor-to-feet” should feel more like a kettlebell swing (primarily, power) than a push-up (primarily, strength), though all standard push-up positioning and mechanics apply.
Scale push-up to ability; Leave the ego out of the equation- excellent, scaled push-ups are far better than crappy, broken “unscaled” ones.
And then:
5 x :20 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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