Workout of the Day:
Ring Dips – Max Reps in Four Rounds
Rest 2-3 minutes between rounds.
and then,
As quickly as possible:
50 Walking Lunges with the heaviest kettlebells/dumbbells you can handle
50 Sit-Ups
40 Walking Lunges
40 Sit-Ups
30 Walking Lunges
30 Sit-Ups
20 Walking Lunges
20 Sit-Ups
10 Walking Lunges
10 Sit-Ups
Doctor's Orders for CrossFit Lats
Foam Rolling: The Lats
Written by Calvin Sun
As a CrossFitter, your lats are probably one of the most overused muscles in your body. How many times have you even thought of stretching or rolling your lats after 100 or so pull-ups? Having trouble reaching a good overhead position? You probably have tight lats. The solution, of course, is to roll them out and stretch them.
- Start by laying on your side with the foam roller perpendicular to your body.
- Reach out with your arm as if you were swimming the sidestroke.
- Jam the foam roller into your armpit and start rolling down toward the base of your scapula.
- Stop at any hot spots you run into and wait for the tissue to release. Don’t just passively roll over them you sissy.
Follow up the foam rolling with some lat stretching. Coach K-Star of San Francisco CrossFit explains here. Try to work these two drills into your pre- or post-workout routine and you’ll be well on your way toward becoming a better athlete.
If you don’t make the “scrunchy face” then you aren’t doing it right.
Marks doesn’t have the “scrunchy face.” show him how it’s done M.
Awesome job Nik, on last night. Although I am slightly biased because Nik is my brother (and an amazing one at that), I have never heard him speak before, and thought it was timely and useful. I am dedicated to trying the ‘points of reference’ for future workouts. Thank you for your time Nik!!
Just wanted to extend my sincere thanks to Nik for his awesome talk last night. Invaluable knowledge to bestow in dealing with obstacles and how to mentally, and in some ways spiritually, overcome them. Always great seeing you and Lee! Very excited for your booth at the Games and to try some healthy Paleo goodies. MmmMMM HMMMMM!
Scrunchy face is such a euphemistic term to describe the blissful, euphoric facial expressions as you slowly roll out the junk in your lats. I’ve never felt such enlightenment in my life. The lat stretch also brings immense tears to my eyes. Tears.. of.. joy(?).
Is it better to roll out before or after? I usually come in early and get a good 15min of rolling out beforehand. Never really do much afterwards though…
Ben,
There is some personal preference as to when you roll out…I happen to like mobilization type things beforehand, such as hitting my T-spine, and I save the muscle-mashing on parts like my lats and legs for afterwards. This order is also recommended by Greg Everett, nationally ranked oly lifter and author of a great text on oly lifting.