“Romanian deadlifts are an excellent assistance exercise for deadlifts and squats. They build muscle and power in the hamstrings and glutes and also hit the lower back quite well. The Romanian deadlift is great for athletes because it’s performed in the stance very similar to the “ready position” used in so many sports (hips down, knees bent, flat back…think a linebacker or the position of the body pre-jump).” -EliteFTS
The Conditioning and the “Ready Position”
In our January Blueprint program this month we focused on the Romanian Dead Lift, the G-Row and the Behind-the-Neck Strict Press. It was very exciting to see the evolution of everyone’s command over these very basic movements. There were a handful of women in the 5:30am class who began their RDLs earlier this month at 75lbs and finished up today trying to squeeze in an extra set so they could try 145lbs! What was more exciting was that there was no diffference in form between their warm up sets and their ending sets. We watched many of you who are quad-dominant athletes learn to engage the posterior chain and finish the deadlift with the correct body parts!!!
The Behind-the-Neck Strict Press is certainly no one’s idea of the world’s most exciting lift, but for those of you whose over head squats have never been quite in-hand, or those of you who dread the Bear Complex due to the possibility of smashing the bar down on your delicate vertebrae, AND for those of you whose strict pullups are still elusive, this is a quite useful lift. Establishing complete control over an external object (like a barbell) no matter where it is relative to your body is a fundamental feat.
The G-Row might also not win any awards for favorite lift. Glamorous it is not. But, I saw your lats work! I saw your shoulder blades squeeze together! Oh, the places you can go after a few weeks of G-Rows.
The conditioning work this month was…conditioning. Simple, safe movements chosen so that you can go at 110% effort. We alternated quite a lot with static work so that you develop the capacity to be in complete control of your position in space even when under heavy fatigue. Especially in control of your mid-section, that oft-times uncooperative section between your bottom ribs and your hips.
Get ready for a new suite of movements to master. February is upon us!
Tonight 5:45 Performance CrossFit and tomorrow 11:30 All Gym CrossFit Workout.
