• When: 2018-11-29
  • QIC: Pothole
  • The PAX: Bumblebee, Buddy Love, Sir Topham Hatt, Moose, Laettner, Fool's Gold (runner), EZ (runner)


All About That Form

6 PAX + 2 Runners decided to ignore the cold and join YHC the day before his birthday for a workout that would be all about the form.

Conditions:

31 degrees and clear.

Tha Thang:

Circle Up:
SSH x 20 IC
Imperial Walkers x 20 IC
Through The Tunnel x 20 IC
Squats x 20 IC
Follow me…

Run to the bottom of the driveway.
Proper form is everything. If you consistently do exercises incorrectly, you look dumb and you’re only cheating yourself. Let’s start with Merkins. A good rule of thumb is just that: point your thumbs forward with your fingers facing outward at a 45 degree angle. Your elbows should graze along your sides. You should feel your triceps and your shoulders working.
10 proper form Merkins x 10 IC
Follow me…

Run to the mid intersection.
Form helps develop your muscle properly. There’s a reason someone came up with the proper way of doing something. Do it incorrectly, and you risk hurting yourself. That can be said ab exercises as well. If you’re always halfing the ab movements because they’re “too hard”, you’ll never develop those muscles and you’ll never develop that elusive 6-pack. Let’s take Big Boy Sit-ups. Start with at least the middle of your back on the ground. Preferably with your shoulder blades touching the ground, but you gotta start somewhere. Find that comfortable spot where your knees are bent enough that you can engage your abs to pull you up. If your feet are too close to your butt, you’re doing a crunch. Too far away, and you’re going to strain yourself too much. Keep your hands either side of your head. Don’t lock your hands behind your neck. You can give yourself a neck injury and you’re not fully engaging your core because you’re relying on your arms to pull your head forward. Placing your hands either side of your head (touching your ears) or making a double-fist in front of your face will ensure you’re engaging your core.
20 proper form BBS OYO
Follow me…

Run to the track.
Here’s another exercise I see that is consistently done incorrectly: the squat. Look, I get it, you’re getting older and your knees aren’t what they used to be. So you go down maybe half-way. When you do that, are you really getting any benefit other than for the sake of moving? The squat is designed to work your quads and your hamstrings. That doesn’t happen if you aren’t doing a deep squat. So what do you do if your knees are bad? Improvise. If you have bad knees, put your hands just above your knee caps to provide some support. Squat to at least where your shin and thigh is as close to a 90 degree angle as possible. Otherwise, place your hands on your hips, behind your back, or out in front of you. Squat with your torso going straight down – as if you were about to sit in a chair. It’s preferred if you break that 90 degree plane, but get as close to it as possible.
20 proper/improvised squats OYO
Follow me…

Run halfway around the track. Running is developmental to your own comfort. I would argue that there’s no one correct way to run. But keep in mind some pointers: don’t heel strike, breathe, and keep your arms moving. If you want to develop some of those running muscles, do some butt kick high knees. A run instructor once told me to practice as if I were running over a bunch of logs. For the last half of the track, run with high knees and butt kicks.

Go grab a block…

Let’s address the cinder block exercises. Lifting anything “heavy” sucks. But if you want to build muscle and get better, lifting heavy things is kind of necessary. So if you’re going to lift something heavy, you may as well do it correctly. Let’s start with curls. Start with the block all the way down with your arms fully hanging. Now lift that heavy block all the way up until it touches your chest just beneath your chin.
20 proper form curls OYO

Overhead presses. O. M. G. Again, living heavy things is difficult. If it’s heavy to you, then you’re building muscle. So build the right muscles by doing the exercise properly. It irks me every time I see the jackrabbit press. You know the one. You engage like a piston angled at 60 degrees, you don’t fully extend your arms, and you don’t pull back to your chest. You get it done quickly so you can say you did the reps. You’re not fooling anyone. Especially me. I’m silently judging you. So do them right. Start with the block resting on the top of your chest and extend your arms straight up and over your head, close to locking your arms out above you. Please. For the love of all that’s good and Holy, stop with the jackrabbit press.
20 proper form overhead presses OYO

Tricep Extensions. I won’t lie, these are difficult. But if you do those Merkins properly, you’ll start building those triceps and these won’t be as difficult. So if you want to do them right: get a good comfortable grip on the block, extend your arms straight up above your head, and then lower the block behind your head as far down as your arms will allow. Now engage those triceps and lift back above your head.
20 proper form overhead presses OYO

You can use the cinder block to practice your Merkin form. Grabbing either side of the block will ensure your hands are facing the correct way (thumbs pointing forward). 10 Merkins OYO

Put your blocks away.

Now practice what you’ve learned. 5 proper Merkins and 5 Squats, run half a lap, 10 Merkins and 10 Squats. Rinse and Repeat.

Circle up for Mary.
American Hammer x 10 IC
Pass to the left. Call an exercise, explain its proper form, and what you can do to improvise.
Freddie Mercury x 15 IC
Flutter kicks x 15 IC
Superman x 10 IC

Moleskin:

Remember the F3 app and to enter your emergency contact.
Make sure you’re paying attention. It’s still pretty dark in the mornings and sometimes people are hard to see.
Convergence on Saturday.

Okay, so I talk about form a lot. It’s because I want you to get the most out of the exercises so that you continue to get better and build muscle. So in addition to physical form when doing exercises, think about other ways you can practice proper form. Your marriage. Your job. Being a dad. And just being an overall good person. There is a correct way to do exercises, but there’s also a correct way to do life. Don’t be a #DarkGraySilverado.

What is your standard?