Sunday 9.20.15 WOD

Coach Daniel

WOD

“The Other Total”
1RM Clean
1RM Bench Press
1RM Overhead Squat

Rules

The rules for the lifts will need to be simple and well understood by everybody, both the lifters and people in the position of judging them, so we’re all on the same page. The idea is that when you post a The Other CrossFit Total, yours will be done to the same standards as everyone else’s. The lifts must be easy to judge, easy to understand, and as difficult to corrupt as possible. By starting out with a clear picture of what we want and don’t want from The Other CrossFit Total, many millions of hours of bitching, hard feelings, and confusion can be averted. It must be understood that good form in the lifts is inherent in the rules for testing them.

The order for performing the three lifts will be clean, bench press, and then overhead squat. The best single attempt for each of the three lifts are added together for The Other CrossFit Total. There is no time limit for each lift or for the length of the session in which they are all performed, but they must all be performed during one session—i.e., you cannot leave the area to rest or perform other activities between the three lifts. Multiple progressions to the best attempt are not allowed; do not work up to your best clean, then change an item of equipment or clothing and work up to it again to try to better your first effort.

Clean Rules

The barbell is placed horizontally in front of the lifter’s legs. It is gripped, palms downwards and pulled in a single movement from the platform to the shoulders, while either splitting or bending the legs. During this continuous movement, the barbell may slide along the thighs and the lap. The barbell must not touch the chest before the final position. It then rests on the clavicles or on the chest above the nipples or on the arms fully bent. The feet return to the same line, legs straight before performing the Jerk. The lifter may make this recovery in his or her own time and finish with the feet on the same line, parallel to the plane of the trunk and the barbell.
— USA Weightlifting

Bench Press Rules

  1. The bench shall be placed on the platform with the head facing the front or angled up to 45 degrees.

  2. The lifter must lie on his back with head, shoulders and buttocks in contact with the bench surface. The feet must be flat on the floor (as flat as the shape of the shoe will allow). His hands and fingers must grip the bar positioned in the rack stands with a “thumbs around” grip. This position shall be maintained throughout the lift. Foot movement is permissible but must remain flat on the platform. The hair of the athlete must not hide the back of the head when lying down on the bench (pony tail is preferred).

  3. To achieve firm footing the lifter may use flat surfaced plates, or blocks not exceeding 30cm in total height and a minimum dimension of 60cm x 40cm, to build up the surface of the platform. Blocks in the range of 5cm, 10cm, 20cm, and 30cm should be made available for foot placement at all international competitions.
  4. Not more than five and not less than two spotters/loaders shall be on the platform at any time. After correctly positioning himself, the lifter may enlist the help of the spotter/ loaders in removing the bar from the racks. The lift-off if assisted by the spotter/loaders must be at arms length.
  5. The spacing of the hands shall not exceed 81cm measured between the forefingers (both forefingers must be within the 81cm marks and the whole of the forefingers must be in contact with the 81cm marks if maximum grip is used). If in the case of some old injury or anatomically the lifter is unable to grip the bar equally with both hands he must inform the referees prior to lift-off for each attempt and if necessary the bar will be marked accordingly. The use of the reverse grip is forbidden.
  6. After removing the bar from the racks, with or without the help of the spotters/loaders, the lifter shall wait with
    [elbows locked into the starting position] for the Chief Referee’s signal. The signal shall be given as soon as the lifter is motionless and the bar properly positioned. For reasons of safety the lifter will be requested to “Replace” the bar, together with a backward movement of the arm, if after a period of five seconds he is not in the correct position to begin the lift. The Chief Referee will then convey the reason why the signal was not given.
  7. The signal to begin the attempt shall consist of a downward movement of the arm together with the audible command “Start”.
  8. After receiving the signal, the lifter must lower the bar to the chest or abdominal area (the bar shall not touch the belt), hold it motionless on the chest, after which the Chief referee will signal the audible command “Press”. The lifter must then return the bar to straight arms length elbows locked. When held motionless in this position the audible command “Rack” shall be given together with a backward motion of the arm. If the bar is lowered to the belt and stays on it for 5 seconds the Chief Referee’s command is “replace.”
    –USA Powerlifting

Overhead Squat Rules

The squat must be done from the squat stands or power rack. The bar must be placed on the back and walked out to clear the rack completely. No contact with the rack is permitted until the bar is replaced in the rack. Once the bar is lowered, the stance cannot change until the bar is

to be racked. The starting position must be completely upright, with the knees and the hips fully extended and with the chest up. The hips are lowered until the top surfaces of both of the legs at the hip joint are lower than the knees, and then the bar is lifted back up. The bottom position is identified by A) the apex of the crease in the shorts formed as the hips are lowered, B) the surface of the top of the patella, C) the plane formed by a straight line between the

two, and D) the dipping of the hip end of that plane below horizontal. The finish position is the same as the starting position, and the athlete must return to it before the bar is racked.When the finish position is secure, the bar must be walked back into the rack and successfully replaced.

Any halt in the upward motion of the whole bar, identified at its position on the back rather than at its ends, constitutes a missed attempt, as does any change in position of the feet against the floor during the squat. Any deliberate attempt to lower the bar counts as an attempt. No more than two spotters are permitted, and they are not allowed to touch the bar during the attempt, which is finished only after the bar is successfully replaced in the racks. The spotters are permitted to steady the racks, and to take the bar if the lifter loses control of it. Any touching of either the bar or the lifter by any spotter invalidates the attempt.

The Process

Now that we know exactly what we’re doing, we need to figure out the best way to do it. For people not used to doing single maximum attempts, some tips on how best to safely do them are in order. After a warm-up, the clean will be performed first. Some squatting with the empty bar should have been included in the general warm-up so that the knees, hips, back, and shoulders are not too terribly surprised. Anyone in a position to attempt a legitimate Other CrossFit Total should be familiar enough with their capabilities on the lifts to have a fairly good idea of just what might be possible for a one-rep max (1RM). This number is what you warm up intending to do. A meet situation will involve three attempts, and this is a good way to determine a true 1RM.

The first attempt would be a weight you know you can do for a heavy set of three. The second attempt would be a weight you know without any doubt that you could do for a single, having just done the first attempt. And the third attempt is the weight you want to do, based on your performance on the previous two attempts. If you have made a mistake setting your first attempt, the next two will need to be adjusted, but you should know what you can triple, and this will always be a safe first attempt. And since you know this weight, you know what weights to use to warm up for it: you’ll use the lightest weight that you normally start with for your first warm-up when you train, and 90% of the first attempt for the last warm-up, with either three or four relatively even increments in between these two.

After the clean, rest a while (long enough to rest, not long enough to get cold) and follow the same procedure with the bench press. Since bench press numbers will be much lighter, the warm-ups will be closer together, and you might choose to use fewer intermediate warm-ups. This is fine, since the clean has provided quite a bit of systemic warmup, if not actual fatigue. After a rest and a drink following the bench press, the overhead squat warm-up might be abbreviated even further, with a heavier first warmup and only two or three intermediate sets before the first attempt.

Here are some basic precautions that need to be followed for safety:

1) Don’t be stupid.

Don’t total if you’re injured to the extent that a total will aggravate the problem. This will cost you in at least training time, and possibly time off of work if you’re ultra-stupid.

2) Don’t be greedy.

Learn to recognize the difference between greed and ambition, and be merely ambitious.

3) Don’t be pig-headed.

If your first attempt tells you that you need to lower your second, do so, without a misplaced sense of diminished self-worth. It’s a test, and it’s designed to measure what’s there, not create something that’s not. That’s what training is for.

— Above document abbreviated from The CrossFit Journal