Back Squat 3-3-3-1-1-1
AMRAP 7 Minutes, with no racks:
1, 2, 3.. Push Press 135/95
1, 2, 3.. Burpees
Here’s a minute long clip of some of the 6am crew trying to get the hang of the Wall Ball 2-for-1’s during the WOD on Tuesday.
The 2-for-1 is a less often seen skill, and is not easy to learn. Squat, throw, squat, catch at a blistering pace will mess you up quick. You must be able to perform solid squats, non-stop, while shifting your eyes from the target to ball and back. Think about the 10 general physical skills; cardio, stamina, strength, flexibility, speed, power, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy. Which one could you lack and still be able to do the wall ball well? I think none.
As you watch the video you can see a few things, and keep in mind, all the people in this video are proficient CrossFitters who can squat relatively well, possess good strength, and are generally well rounded athletes. If this isn’t their first time trying this exercise, it’s one of the first and they did a respectable job. With that being said, there are still some range of motion problems going on at both the tops and bottoms of numerous squats here. On a movement this difficult, lets just say the rep police took the day off. It’s important to keep in mind that with things of this nature when you allow yourself to count through questionable reps, you may be effectively scaling the WOD.
Matt and Rena (left) both get into a good rythm and the movement begins to look the way we want it to. In the middle you can see Topher (middle) make a last second block and narrowly aviod taking a med ball to his dome. Shots to the face are common while learing 2-for-1’s, so use a light and soft medicine ball when learning.
My recommendation learning for 2-for-1s is to first make sure you can do regular wall balls really well, then spend some time here and there outside of your WODs playing with the skill and learning it. Use a light ball and focus on continuously squatting. Any break or hesitation from full speed squatting is going to cause a missed rep. Keep your eye on the target while squatting with the ball, and your eye on the ball while the ball is in the air. Your ability to see, and shifting your vision are hugely important on this movement. Throw the ball 6-8 inches higher than usual so you have even more time to see it. If you’re tall like Anne and Topher, the normal height you toss the wall ball will not give you enough hang time to sneak in the extra squat and keep moving in a smooth rhythm.
If you can master the basics of the squat, the wall ball, and eventually the 2-for-1 wall ball, you’ll be way ahead of the pack.
For some inspitration here’s an old skool CrossFit.com video from Santa Cruz of a guy doing 2-for-1’s pretty well. You know it’s old skool CrossFit when you see an athlete this good using a butt ball.
Double-Under/Wallball 2-fer-1s (Zac) [wmv][mov] » Oct 6 07
