For Time:

500 Double Unders

*Every minute you must complete 5 Burpees

**Cutoff time is 20 minutes

MOBILITY WOD

WHY DO WE RUN BACKWARDS, PERFORM OLYMPIC LIFTS, AND SPIN A ROPE UNDER OUR FEET WHEN WE PROBABLY WOULDN’T HAVE TO DO THESE THINGS ON ANY GIVEN DAY?

There are reasons both simplistic and complex.  For instance, these exercises are fun.  Simply put, it is just plain fun to jump , run, and throw around some weight.  Running backwards lets us act like we are kids again.  Throwing weight overhead as fast as we can is a challenge and when we conquer challenges throughout our day it just makes us stand a little taller.

Not only are these exercises fun and allow us to experience a challenge in our day, but physically there is lot going on as well!  For example, let’s take a look at the clean and jerk.  We all know that most of us won’t be competing in the USAW championships next year trying to set a new clean and jerk record, but we do know that we will be moving day after day. Our lives involve movement and an exercise like the clean and jerk or snatch stimulates neuromuscular coordination better than most any other movement.  What is neuromuscular coordination?  To sum up a super “sciency” definition, it’s the brain telling to the muscle to produce a movement.  The ability to fire the right motor units in the right pattern and right sequence is important because as humans we were designed for movement.   As we age, sit at a desk and generally stop moving, we lose the ability to move because we don’t. The lifts, such as the clean and jerk, teach movement. Whether you are lifting a PVC pipe or going for a PR, you are training your body to move better and faster.

We perform complicated exercises like double unders, cleans, snatches, or even running backwards because it produces better movement.  Better movement = More Play Time!

Check out everything going on this picture of the clean, from BALANCE, to COORDINATION, to STRENGTH, and lots of POWER!!!  All of these general physical skills help to produce better movement.