Workout of the Day:
Weighted Hip Bridge (a.k.a., booty builders)
8-8-8
and then,
Five rounds of the following:
10 x Right-Leg Bulgarian Split Squat with Heavy DB in Suitcase Carry position
10 x Left-Leg Bulgarian Split Squat with Heavy DB in Suitcase Carry position
10 x Goblet Squat with Heavy DB or Kettlebell
10 x Handstand Push-Up
Krazy K conquering the Swinging Bridges in Maui
Travel WODs – Maui Edition, Part Two
Written by C.J. Martin
I am back from a great trip to Maui, and looking forward to seeing my extended family at 6 a.m. tomorrow. I promised to post more travel WODs for those of you who find yourself on the road for business or pleasure and aren’t sure what to do for your fitness. But I have to admit, we spent so much time hiking and doing other things that I only have one good WOD for you all. Nonetheless, here’s how I rounded out my trip to Maui:
Wednesday A.M. – Total Time – 100 minutes
- Bikram’s Yoga – I couldn’t help myself. I had to try it a second time to make sure I got everything the first time. I did. It was the exact same thing the next time. Is this always the case? If you are a Bikram’s die hard, please let me know if they switch up the routine, or if it’s always the same. I kind of dug the heat and the fact that once you show up you’re committed to stretching for 90 minutes. I won’t make it a regular practice, but I could see myself in a stinky yoga class a few times a year. And again, I kept my mouth shut when I was told to “arch [my] back to ceiling like a frightened cat.” That’s probably why I could only do it a few times a year . . . I can only keep my mouth shut for so long.
Wednesday P.M. – Total Time – ??? (2 hours, maybe?)
- Hiked the Waihee Ridge Trail. If you’re ever in Maui, this is a gorgeous trail that gives you amazing panoramic views of half the island. You also look down into Iao Valley and some of its waterfalls. The hike is 2.5 miles to the top (5 miles roundtrip), and ascends approximately 1500 feet. The initial mile is somewhat steep, but Pops and Krazy K were troopers. With their newfound fitness, they motored all the way to the top (evidence below).
Thursday – Total Time – ??? (2 hours, maybe?)
- Hiked the Swinging Bridges trail in Waihee Valley. This is a family favorite. It’s an easy hike with some beautiful scenery. The name, of course, comes from it’s two bridges that cross over a creek. They are relatively sturdy, but there is definitely some swinging and bouncing. There’s a great reward at the end of the trail with a nice pool and small waterfall. You can jump in over the main waterfall and follow the current into two smaller falls that provide a great massage for your neck and back. Be warned, the water is a little chilly at first, but it’s worth it.
Friday – Total Time – 25 minutes
- We flew out on Friday, so we had limited time to get a workout in. We made it work. We jogged on the beach for about 8 minutes to find a good spot to set up, then we did about 5 minutes of perfect stretches, sumo squats to stand, drop lunges, lateral lunges and some 10-position push-ups. Then, we did the following in the soft sand:
- As many rounds as possible in 12 minutes of: 25-yard Walking Lunges, 25-Yard Bear Crawl, 25-Yard Burpee Broad Jumps
All in all, it was a great trip. Our WODs obviously weren’t the focus of our vacation, but we got in some pretty decent ones without taking away too much time from the rest of the fun. Next time you’re on the road, give one of our workouts a shot, or send me an email of what you did. We’re always looking for good travel WODs.
Tags: Travel WODs
The trails sound awesome!
I’ve done Bikram’s about 20 times and it’s always been the exact same series of stretches…
Poo on Bikram’s! Same routine, same script over and over and over and over. And the Nazi-esque yelling to “Lock your knee” and “Round your back” resulted in me having back problems for the past 5 years. My fault for not backing off, but it’s hard when you’re getting yelled at! Kind of like basic training….
I do like the intense heat, though.
I have to give a BIG yoga shout out to the studio I’ve been going to, Bird Rock Yoga in Pacific Beach. The teachers there switch up the classes so it’s never the same. In crossfit, you are going to repeat certain exercises from wod to wod and the same is true for yoga poses. I find that the classes I’ve been going to mirror some of the crossfit structure; similar warm-ups everyday and then a varied class.
The owner of this studio is a former co-worker of mine and she happens to be my favorite instructor. The classes are small and she is very good about telling people how to properly do poses. It is easy to hurt yourself if you don’t do them properly, just like in crossfit. I find that the instructors at Bird Rock tell me how to modify certain poses so that I keep proper alignment, a good lumbar curve and get the most benefit from the poses.
I really can’t say enough good things about this studio- I absolutely love it and wish I had started years ago. I have been going several months now and myself and my friend who owns it have already noticed improvement in my form and flexibility. (I still have a long way to go though…..stupid tight hamstrings) I highly recommend Bird Rock if you want to do some yoga classes.
How do you do Weighted Hip Bridge (a.k.a., booty builders)?
Here’s what I did: Lie on the ground in a sit-up position with feet on floor and knees bent. I put a dumbell across my hips. In the starting position from my butt to my shoulder blades were touching the ground. Then I fired my glutes and straightened my body so that only my feet and shoulder blades were touching the ground.
First, did I do them correctly? Second, is there a better location to place the weight? Is there a way to scale the exercise to make it easier or tougher besides just adjusting the load?
Another great yoga studio is Prana Yoga in La Jolla, I love Gerhard’s class!! I bring a beach towel for my yoga mat because it is SOAKED when I am done!! I have been doing yoga for several years and love it. I first got into yoga after I was in a car accident and spent 3 days a week for 9 months in physical therapy for my neck and back. I find that if I regularly stretch, I can maintain a healthy back, however I was told I would never be 100% again, but with regular exercise, I don’t even notice a deficit. So I love yoga and would always sing its praises.
That being said… I have tried Bikrams and had a less than pleasant experience. I too had the strict instructor that yelled at you, and would yell at me for pausing to catch my breath or for drinking water. To be fair, I tried various Bikram studios to get an accurate feel for the classes; well my final attempt was my last. I ended up with the worst headache in my life and was vomiting non-stop!!! I was intrigued with benefits of the deep stretching and the intense heat might have on the body, but unfortunately it just did not agree with me.
Was sick last week but managed some workouts.
Fri. Row 2k – 19:50
sun. Squat 5×3 245-275-275-275-275 then this one I made up. 21-15-9 of HSPU, KB swings 1.5 pood, double-unders. 9:34
today. Bench 3×5 185 across. Then Jackie as rx’d 8:04. Defnitely not my best time. But w/e.
Nathan, I believe that is correct form. A technique/form issue to pay attention to is lumbar extension. It is to be avoided! Neutral spinal alignment should be maintained; there may be a tendency for some people to extend the lumbar spine in an attempt to increase the ROM of the bridge. Keeping a tight abdominal wall with a strong emphasis on anterior pelvic tilt prior to beginning the bridge is a good way to help out with this.
I don’t know of a better place for the weight.
Ways to increase intensity/difficulty besides increasing weight would be to hold an isometric contraction at the top of the motion, slow down the negative or lowering portion of the movement, and/or put a mini-band around the knees to add an external rotation element to the glute function during the bridge.
You could also put the shoulders on a bench and do a similar motion, but I think this is really a different excercise altogether.
Yoga: What Mary said.
I wouldn’t have a problem with repeating a routine, but I can’t believe there are yoga instructors who yell at people. That’s just stupid. Sorry to hear about your troubles, Cynthis, that’s plain wrong what they did.
Routine and variety is something I find very interesting in the context of Crossfit. Constant change and variety is preached and offered up as a great virtue of the practice, but there is also the concept of virtuosity which is occasionaly (too infrequently, imo) raised. Virtuosity only comes through practice and repetition. Martial Arts and Yoga both use routines to drill for virtuosity; consistent practice of the same technique is used to ingrain movement patterns and take them to a point where they are second nature. I think this is very important.
Vituosity is not going to be attained in a movement like the squat, and certainly not in something like the snatch or clean, by doing them as part of a WOD a couple of times a month. They have to be practiced regularly and frequently. No doubt variety in one’s workouts is a good thing for both adaptation and mental freshness, but the constant vareity of WOD programming will not lead to virtuosity if that is all one does. The neatest thing I think Invictus is doing in its programming (although the emphasis on mobility, SMR and dynamic stretching is very cool, too) is adding a strength movement at the beginning of the WOD. Not only does this help increase strength, obviously, but it adds repetition and will, I think, assist with attaining vituosity in the weightlifiting movements.
CJ, I have been doing Bikram yoga 2 to 4 times a week for the past 6 years. The routine was developed by the founder Bikram Choudhury to work all your muscles, ligaments, tendons, organs and glands in the 90 minute session. He was a yoga master in in India at 17 years of age and an olympic lifter. It has been a great benefit to me with healing of a number oflong standing cronic injuries. At 55 I would not be able to keep up in cross fit if it was not for Bikram Yoga.
The series of poses is always the same in every studio around the world. I have been to 20 studios in 4 countries. To teach you have to go to a 6 week teacher training course to become certified. It would cost you about $10,000 to do it. Hundreds of people take it each session. There are over 70 studios in California alone and 7 in San Diego.
As for the back stretching, these poses are over 2000 years old. I think they know what they are doing. The flexability is very helpful in all aspects of your life. For mor info have a look at the website http://www.bikramyoga.com.
Flash
The most basic piece of equipment you can have is a yoga mat. A yoga mat will allow you to position yourself comfortably while assuming the Bikram yoga positions and keep your perspiration off of a shared mat. You will also want to make sure that the mat you choose is non-skid.