Remember bumpers with bowling? I mean those things they put up to prevent bowling balls from going down the gutters. Because really, how sad is it when you’re a kid (or maybe not even a kid) trying to have a good time, bowling your heart out, and throwing gutter balls turn after turn? It’s kinda the worst.
Well, maybe you had experience with these back in the day at something like an 8th birthday party. You know, the one where one friend “forgot” they were lactose intolerant, ate the already un-edible bowling alley pizza and proceeded to projectile vomit over 100% of the opened presents, three quarters of the way through singing “Happy Birthday.” LOL. But also, please tell me you can relate…
Now that I have your attention, know that I’m bringing up this concept of bumpers today for two reasons:
1. Like regressing movements from their prescribed form in a GPP workout, the connotation with using tools – such as bumpers – to help anyone better achieve a desired training effect from a stimulus – is often negative, and shouldn’t be. Can’t do bodyweight strict pull-ups (yet), but can beautifully execute the points of performance of a strict vertical pull with banded assistance – and in a stressful way that drives strength development? That’s exactly what we want! Not to mention, far more useful than not participating in something because it’s “beyond” your current strength/skill level.
2.Like we talked about last week with respect to reining in a horizon, I urge you to exercise your ability to get exponentially more granular in order to chunk larger projects into smaller, more digestible tasks. You there, with the growth mindset, I know you have the capacity to imagine all the ways in which something could be done better! But are you willing to see how narrowing your scope to perform a task can offer exponentially more upside than merely marinating in a theoretical perspective?
I’ll leave you with what Logan offered us in Coach’s Prep this past weekend, while discussing effective programming:
“Being able to name concessions is part of communicating value.”
6/15/21 WOD
DEUCE ATHLETICS GPP
6-6-6-6
Narrow Grip Bench Press
12-12-12-12
DB Bench Press
Every 2 minutes for 12 minutes, complete the following for time:
10 Dbl KB Swings (53/44)
1 Corner Run
DEUCE BACKLOT GPP
EMOM 12
6 Tempo Bent Rows (3010)
Complete 4 rounds for quality:
6 RDLs
6 Offset Box Step Ups (ea)
Then, complete 5 rounds for time of:
4 DB Deadlifts
6 DB Hang Cleans
8 DB Front Squats
400m Run
DEUCE GARAGE GPP
2-2-2-2-2
Weighted Box Jumps
4-4-4-4
Sumo Deadlift
Then, complete 3 rounds for quality of:
14 Zercher DB Good Mornings
50′ Sled Push / 50′ Sled Reverse Drag
Then, complete the following for time:
50 Slam Balls
400m Run
50 Slam Balls