LEG STRENGTH AND MOBILITY
Without strong legs you will fail as a CrossFit athlete.
SINGLE ARM KETTLEBELL FRONT RACK BOX SQUATS
“The Box Squat is a great tool in training design for a few reasons.
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1. Help athletes learn how to properly use their posterior chain. Use your quads too much in your squat? The box can be a great kinesthtic tool to get you to use your glutes and hamstrings more by sitting back.
2. Have knee pain in deep flexion? Use the box to limit range of motion and still work hip, glute, and quad strength to support your recovery from injury, or avoid it all together.
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✔️Try out various loading positions like the SA KB Rack to get some unilateral stimulus out of this double leg variation of the squat.”
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SINGLE ARM KETTLEBELL THRUSTER
Perform an unbroken set of 10 repetitions on each arm with the prescribed weight below. This is a unilateral test similar to the bilateral Goblet Squat Test (20 reps at 48/32kg)
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Male Weight = 32kg
Female Weight = 24kg
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SINGLE ARM KETTLEBELL FRONT RACK CURTSY SQUAT
“Building a great single leg strength foundation is vital. The reason being is that with great single leg strength we can help our clients with the following.
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1. Avoid injury lower extremity injuries by supported movement mechanics with strong HIPS
2. Create balance from left to right in the hips which can be important for trunk stability and low back health
3. Build up hip and leg stability so that when moving into double leg patterns, clients can express more power and strength.
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? This variation of the curtsy squat delivers great rotational strength benefits too with the unilateral loading pattern.”
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SINGLE ARM KETTLEBELL RACK STEP UPS
“Proper execution of the step up entails using the forward leg as the predominant driving force when standing. Too often the mistake of pushing off the back leg is made. Keep the back leg completely straight during the step up portion of the exercise to ensure minimal contribution from the back leg.”
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SINGLE ARM OVERHEAD BOTTOMS UP KETTLEBELL REVERSE LUNGE
LOADING POSITION! – Movements in strength training really haven’t changed much over the years. Why? Because the body was designed to move in certain ways and humans have been exploring this for a long time already. There aren’t new movement patterns to unlock.
Instead, we can start to experiment with how we load those movement patterns and apply different stimulus to them in order to either enhance or simply alter the effects slightly. A bottom up single arm KB loading position does just that for a reverse lunge. Added grip strength, shoulder stability, and demand for high precision in the lower body movement. Give it a SHOT!
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Image Sources
- Chargers Portrait June 11 2019: Photo courtesy of CrossFit Inc.