Name: Playbook - TrickStrong RX - MetCon 2 - March, Swing, Carry
Uploaded: 2024-01-31T16:52:12.056Z
Duration: 30 min
Description: MetCon 2 - March, Swing, Carry

This one got me! So excited to run it back next week 💪🏼

Josh

Love is pain, and this gave me lots of love

Patrick

Proof that I’m horrribly out of CV shape right hurr.

Ange

Well soooomebody has horribly asymmetrical balance 🙄😳. Kicked my ass, thanks mate.

Ethan

You will be challenged with new positions that build your strength, mobility and athleticism! Modify exercises as needed, but keep up the form and pace. You got this!

The reps are a guideline. The hallmark of a good warmup is that you feel prepared to move!

This is another great mobility exercise for the shoulder girdle and thoracic spine.
 
The shoulder is a 3D ball and socket joint. Our mobility and stability training needs to reflect this for maximum benefit and carryover to functional tasks such as reaching over head or behind our back.
 
For Rotating Angels, start on your stomach with your forehead supported on a firm surface such as a floor, mat or towel. Lift your arms off of the ground with scapular (shoulder blade) engagement. Limit shoulder shrugging as much as possible during this exercise. 

Notice how we rotate the shoulder continuously throughout the movement, achieving a palms up position once our arms raise above our shoulders. In overhead movement, the palms up position prevents impingement & promotes external rotation, or opening of the shoulder.

When below the height of the shoulder, begin to internally rotate the shoulder with the goal of touching the backs of your hands together - all in a pain-free range of motion.

Rotating Angels

One of my favorite mobility drills! It is so effective in helping with the common movement restrictions we have in the hips and spine. 

Don't forget to rotate your head with the rest of your torso by looking at the ceiling.

Rotate towards the front leg.

Lunge with Thoracic Rotation

The hip 9090 stretch is called this because of the 90 degree angles your hip will make. 

The hip is a ball and socket joint. This means that in order to train our mobility in an effective way, we will want to explore and be less linear with this stretch. 

The hip 90/90 is a great way to explore the surfaces of the hip joint and to really move into your restrictions.

This drill is a great way to warm up your hips and core as it is ACTIVE. Think of allowing one hip to trail while the other aims for the floor to encourage hip opening.  

You should not be feeling any pain in your lower back, hips or knees.

Dynamic Hip 90/90

Framing the door is an amazing mobility drill to encourage opening in the pec major, pec minor, lats, teres major and other internal rotators of the shoulder.

- Begin with chin tuck + scap squeeze
- Bring arms OH, facing palms outward
- Bring elbows as close to body as possible while maintaining goalpost position
- Hold at bottom position for 5-10 seconds, and return to the top

You should feel all of the muscles between your scapulae and your lats firing HARD during this. The more consciously you squeeze the muscles in the back, the more your shoulders will open and the more your posture will improve. 

An alternative is doing it on the floor using a foam roller. 
I won’t say it’s a progression because the foam roller makes it easier from a postural stability standpoint, but more challenging from a mobility standpoint.

Framing the Door - Standing

The Copenhagen plank is an incredible but underutilized side plank variation with emphasis on the adductors. 

These muscles are located in the inner thigh and are often undertrained even though they are necessary for efficient athletic movement. They aid in single leg stability and transfer of power from the upper to lower extremities via several anatomical slings (Lateral, Anterior Oblique, etc.)

To do it right: 

1) Get into a sidelying position with your elbow stacked directly under your shoulder

2) Tensing your core, rise to a side plank with the bottom leg bent (but still contacting the ground. Push into the ground using both legs to rise. You should feel this in your inner groin area (top leg) and your glutes (both legs)

3) Be sure that your ear, shoulder, hip, knee and ankle are in line. Maintain a neutral spinal position

4) Hold this position for 10 seconds before returning to the starting position

Copenhagen Plank Level 1 (Bottom Leg Assist)

MetCon 2 Warmup

Circuit A is performed for 3 rounds with a 1 minute rest between rounds.

Front Rack Marches: 30 sec per side
Goblet Squat Leg Lifts: 5 per side
KB Triple Flexion: 10 per side

Front rack marches are excellent for shoulder, core and single leg stability. 

By using a weight on one side, we further challenge our rotary stability. This can mimic the asymmetrical forces we have to fight during athletic, single leg movements. 

To do this right:

Rack the kettlebell properly by allowing it to rest on your forearm and bicep in this front rack position. You can use the other hand for assistance. The heavier you go, the harder it will be to stabilize. In this video, I am using a 50 lb KB. 

Drive the legs in opposition for greater stability in this exercise. This means driving your knee as high as possible, while pressing your stance leg through the ground. Aim to stand tall and even.

Modifications: unweighted, dumbbells, plates, medicine ball

Front Rack Marches, Unilateral, KB

The goblet squat is an awesome lower body exercise used to improve strength and power. The goblet hold creates a more vertical position which emphasizes the quads. Goblet squats are a great exercise to improve your vertical leap. 

It is also helpful in mobility training, as the weight helps push us into more ankle dorsiflexion and opens our hips.
Adding the leg lift variation further stresses strength and mobility requirements in the bottom position. 

Modifications: no leg lift, dumbbells, reduced depth, narrow stance

Goblet Squat Leg Lifts, KB

Triple flexion is the combined motion of hip, knee and ankle flexion. This is an important pattern to develop knee drive in any athletic movement, including sprinting, kicking and of course many movements in tricking. 

We use triple flexion all the time in tricking to generate force in kicks or transitional skills. 
The muscles involved in triple flexion also help to absorb shock and decelerating us during takeoffs and landings.

On the stance leg, it improves stability massively not only through muscular endurance work, but improved coordination and proprioceptive input.

Aim to stand tall, and include the opposite arm to improve stability and coordination

Modifications: unweighted, banded, dumbbells, reduced ROM

Triple Flexion, KB (Full ROM)

Circuit A - March

Circuit B is performed for 3 rounds with a 1 minute rest between rounds.

Single Arm KB Swing: 15 each side
POS Row: 10 per side
Half Kneeling Diagonal Swings: 10 per side

KB swings are great for building explosiveness in our hinging pattern. This is important for any athletic activity, including jumping, landing, running, cutting and pivoting. 

Doing this with one arm is more challenging to stabilize as it is asymmetrical.

The deadlift is very effective in strengthening the hip hinge, whereas the KB swing stresses power. Like the deadlift, we need to maintain a neutral spine when doing this. The core stability we need is much more dynamic as we move quickly through this exercise. 

Start with a KB between your legs. Bend at the hips and knees a bit, similar to the bottom of a deadlift. Swing that KB backwards between your legs. Use that momentum, combined with great timing of your glutes to thrust your hips forward. Maintain a neutral spine. 

Your arm should reach chest height just due to the momentum alone.

Once your form is solid, progress in weight to challenge yourself! Do this on both sides.

Modifications: dumbbells, two handed

KB Swings, Single Arm

The POS Row is a combination of a single leg deadlift and a row. This helps to develop the connection between the working lat and opposite side glute. This connection is called the Posterior Oblique Sling (POS).

The POS is an important source of stability and power transfer throughout the body. Basically, the opposing glute and lat work together to stabilize the spine, store and release energy during movement. 

Think arm and opposite leg swing when sprinting or during gainer switches.
We want to train these muscles together in order to improve strength, power and neural drive.

You should feel tension building in your hamstrings, glutes and opposite lat at the bottom position. Think of storing this energy during the descent and releasing it like a rubber band to come back to standing. 

Modifications: banded, dumbbells, unweighted
3 Rounds, 10 per side

POS Row, KB

The Half Kneeling Diagonal Swing is an extremely functional movement for improving our rotational stability and power. Functional movement is rarely linear. This exercise trains our strength and stability within diagonal patterns that we use on a daily basis and in tricking. 

Think of the direction of arm and leg swing for a cork for example. We are often operating in these diagonals whether we’re reaching for something overhead, throwing a ball, doing a cork or swinging our arms for a TDR.

Doing this from a half kneeling position allows for more rotational range of motion. This less stable base of support carries work over to the core and upper extremities as they have to pick up the slack. 

That being said, it is important to focus on follow through (back leg) and control (front leg) using your glutes rather than your lower back. Aim to stay upright and balanced. Use the bottom position to coil and gain power for the ascent. 

Modifications: dumbbells, standing, lunge, tall kneel

Half Kneeling Diagonal Swings, KB

Circuit B - Swing

Circuit B is performed for 3 rounds with a 1 minute rest between rounds.

OH Walking Lunge: 30 sec per side
KB Windmill: 5 per side
Turkish Getup: 3 reps per side

Stability refers to controlling unwanted movement. Dynamic stability refers to controlling unwanted movement even while other parts of our body are moving, needing a greater deal of coordination. 

The overhead walking lunge is a great way to simultaneously improve shoulder and spinal stability in a way that resembles tricking. 

Think about it, for the upper body we are often planted on our hands while our legs are in a split position (think TDR, MS)

For the lower body, our arms are typically overhead while we takeoff and land from skills. 

This drill is a great low impact way to improve both movement patterns.

Aim for a deep, pain-free lunge without overarching at the low back. Keep the KB stacked directly over your shoulder. Perform on both sides.

Modifications: Dumbbells, unweighted, less range of motion

Overhead Walking Lunge, KB

The windmill is an amazing exercise for combining the hip hinge movement pattern with spinal rotation, which not only trains our core and shoulder stability, but also lengthens our hamstrings, thoracic spine, pecs and neck. 

Think about why we would need this movement pattern as tricking athletes. Owning this movement creates more stability in tricks such as touchdown raiz, gumbi, sideswipe – any move that loads through the hips with spinal rotation.  

You can begin this with soft knees, and progress to straight knees which will stretch the hamstrings. Notice how I turn my feet away from my overhead arm about 45 degrees to allow room for the rotation. 

Look towards your overhead arm the entire time. As you maintain core rigidity, load your shoulder in line with gravity by aiming the weight directly at the ceiling.
Avoid excessive shrugging and trunk sagging.

Modifications: dumbbells, unweighted, medicine ball

KB Windmills

The Turkish Getup is an incredible full body exercise that does it all - full body strength, mobility, coordination, endurance, grip strength, the list goes on. 

It is a bit complicated, but learning this sequence will pay off greatly. 

Steps: 
1) Roll <-> Press (Not Shown)
2) Press <-> Elbow
3) Elbow <-> Post
4) Post <-> High Pelvis
5) High Pelvis <-> Kneel
6) Kneel <-> Half Kneel
7) Half Kneel <-> Stand

If you need a movement breakdown, check out our form tutorial on the Turkish Getup.

Modifications: dumbbell, medicine ball, 'bell up'

MetCon 2 - March, Swing, Carry

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