Lateral/Rotational Movements

[Craig Cooper]

My only complaint with CrossFit has ever been the apparent lack of anything but linear movment. Are there functional lateral and/or rotational movements that could be included in a mixed modal workout without compromising it's integrity?

[Robb Wolf]

Hey Craig!
This was kicked around over at the Cf message board a while back...I think throwing med balls, Thai kicks, windshield wipers, hooks...all these fit in nicely.

Here is a potential WOD with all rotational elements:
10 Thai kicks L/10 Thai kicks R
20 Med-ball punches (throw like a cross, roll hip over completely) 10R/L
6 windshield wipers
rounds in10, 15 or 20 min (10 looks good to me...in the words of Coach Rut: "Stimulate, Don't annihilate".)

Keep in mind that many of these movements lend themselves well to speed work ala Westside dynamic effort (set of 5 reps done as quickly as possible. 2-3 min rest between efforts.


Check out Ross Enamaits book Infinite Intensity for some awesome ideas in this line: http://www.rosstraining.com/infiniteintensity.html

All of Ross's work is Top-Notch.

[Ken Urakawa]

I usually throw in a variety of movements as part of the warm up--med ball work, plyos, SAQ stuff, renegade rows, combat twist, kettlebells, etc. If the WOD is especially heinous, I'll ease up on some of the metabolic component, but I think doing that stuff usually improves my performance.


Are you looking more for plyometric/resistance movements or footwork/agility stuff?

[Craig Cooper]

Robb - thanks for the suggestions, I'll give them a try.

Ken - looking for anything that can be incorporated into a WOD. Thanks for the suggestions.

[Scotty Hagnas]

We use clubbells quite a bit in our WODs, along with med balls rotational stuff. Mostly two handed exercises, as in a class format it works better logistically. (we need more clubs) I use a number of different drills, but I use swipes, side swings, clockwork squats, and hammer swings quite a bit.

I will sometimes use them in complexes with light med ball throws for power generation. Heavy, low reps with the clubbells, followed by med ball throws for max speed and power using a similar movement pattern.

Scott Hagnas
CrossFit Portland

[Allen Yeh]

Craig,

Some things I throw into my warmup when I workout at home are the H2H KB exercises.
Slingshots aka around the world, figure 8's and figure 8's pluse uppercut.

I will also throw those into my workout as a "rest" period, i.e. tabata kb swings, tabata slingshots, tabata squats, tabata pullups

[Jennifer conlin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo2cV...elated&search=
Jason C Brown has this rotational move on Youtube. I've been using it and can feel it for sure!