In the first part of this article, we established the reasoning behind the standards of exercise and workout performance. In this installment, we’ll present actual performance prescriptions for a number of the most common and contentious exercises in the CrossFit movement pool. As I mentioned last time, these prescriptions are made with no authority related to CrossFit, Inc. and should not be confused as official CrossFit standards. Adherence to these or any other standards is entirely within the discretion of each individual.

Except where noted otherwise, the following prescriptions apply to CrossFit training for fitness. Sport specific applications need to be determined by each athlete and coach. For CrossFit as a sport itself, as mentioned in the first part of this article, the obvious approach is to make the standards the same as for fitness considering CrossFit is, by definition, the sport of fitness; however, because I’m no longer a CrossFit athlete and have no real involvement in such training, I defer to the judgment of those athletes leading the pack with their performances, as it’s their influence more than any other that will shape the sport in the future.

Burpee

The burpee is easily one of the most heinous exercises ever created and has wonderful punitive potential. Much of the effect is due to the speed of its execution, and this being the case, burpees can be performed without necessarily hitting a perfect squat between the push-up and jump—that is, if the athlete is able, a more direct transition between the two points is desirable. If a stricter performance is needed, calling the exercises an 8-count is more appropriate as this indicates all eight positions need to be hit.

Irrespective of what happens in the middle, the requirements of the end points shouldn’t change. The jump should be performed with the arms reaching straight overhead and the body fully extended, and the push-up should be performed with a straight body and the chest all the way to the floor.

1-minute Burpee Race Video
From the Golden, CO CrossFit certification in 2005. L-R: Matt Gagliardi (25), Annie Sakamoto (28), Keysha McClenton-Benzing (27), Greg Everett (28), Connor Martin (19).

Clean

The term clean without a qualifier such as hang or power indicates the bar is taken from the floor and received in a full squat and should be performed accordingly unless otherwise noted or understood between coach and athlete. There will be cases in which the goal is simply to get the bar or other implement from the floor to the shoulders, and the most efficient method of doing so is the most desirable—in such cases, power cleans are obviously appropriate. Again, however, this should be clarified among all parties involved. The bar must be received on the shoulders, or for less flexible individuals, at the level of the shoulders.

Clean & Jerk

The above guidelines for the clean apply equally to the clean component of the clean & jerk. Following the clean, the athlete should recover completely before initiating the dip for the jerk—that is, not use the momentum of the clean recovery as the drive for the jerk. Jerk without any qualifier indicates the jerk variation the athlete uses for maximal loading—for the vast majority of athletes, this will mean the split jerk. However, for athletes who power or squat jerk, these variations are appropriate. Hand placement for the jerk should conform to the same standards described for the press.

Dip

Dips, whether on bars or rings, begin with the elbows in full extension, take the athlete down until the upper arm breaks horizontal—the back of the shoulder is below the back of the elbow—and finish again with full extension at the top. Kipping should have no effect on the starting and finishing positions—only on how the athlete gets between the two. For strict rings dips, the hands should be supinated slightly at the top and the extended position held momentarily before returning down, but this is unnecessary within a metabolic workout.

Handstand Push-up

The handstand push-up is an exercise at the center of constant debate. Generally any impressive performance is quickly criticized with the claim that the hand placement was too wide—most often by individuals who aren’t able to perform any reasonable number of handstand push-ups with hand placement of any width. That said, some reasonable standard is in order to ensure at least a minimal range of motion for an exercise whose travel is limited by nature.

The obvious standard is a hand placement identical to that the athlete would use to perform handstands (the name of the exercise is not coincidental). Of course, this is open to a lot of interpretation in the athlete’s favor when the circumstances inspire it. Instead, the athlete’s hands should be limited to a width that places the forearms vertical at the bottom of the rep.

The top of the forehead—the hairline (or former hairline for some)—should contact the floor lightly at the bottom of each rep. The rep begins with the elbows fully extended and the body full extended against the wall or other support structure, and ends in the same position. The athlete should not be allowed to press away from the wall and reach elbow extension as he or she is falling back to his or her feet—this is not the same movement through the same range of motion.

Throughout the rep, the back of the athlete’s heels should maintain contact with the wall—not the bottom of the feet, unless the movement is being intentionally scaled and the legs are being used to assist. If a kipping variation is being used, the kip should start and end with the hips and legs fully extended and back of the heels at the wall.

Muscle-up

The muscle-up sees some extremely creative interpretations, few of which do the exercise justice. If we stop for a moment and consider that the muscle-up is essentially the combination of a pull-up and dip, it becomes fairly obvious what the expectations for performance should be.

The exercise begins with the elbows fully extended and the shoulders full open—these are the points most commonly and egregiously violated. The fact is, it’s difficult to maintain a false grip in such a position, and dramatically easier when the elbows are slightly flexed and shoulders slightly closed. Of course, the reason maintaining a false grip in this position remains so difficult is because it’s habitually avoided—remarkably enough, training will improve the athlete’s ability to do it. The exercise ends with the complete extension of the elbows, and if being performed strictly, with the rings turned out slightly. This supination of the hands at the top isn’t necessary during metabolic training, but compete extension of the elbows is.

Kipping during metabolic training is allowable as long as the standards for the top and bottom positions are still met. Too often kipping results in a shortening, sometimes dramatic, of the range of motion, largely because of the difficulty of maintaining the false grip at the bottom, compounded by the increased force of the speed added by the kip. Too bad.

The Big-Kids’ Muscle-up

Power Clean

The power clean differs from the clean in no manner other than the depth at which the bar is received and stopped—with the thighs above horizontal. The often misunderstood part is stopped—the athlete’s level at the moment the bar is delivered to the shoulders is not the determining factor except insofar as the height at which it allows the bar to be stopped. That is, all downward movement must be arrested with the thighs still above horizontal. No matter how high the bar is initially received, if the athlete drops below horizontal with the thighs, it doesn’t qualify as a power clean.

Power Snatch

Like the power clean, the power snatch differs from the snatch in no way other than the depth at which it’s received and arrested. The mechanics of the pull are identical, as is the starting position with the bar on the floor. Likewise, the bar must be received overhead with the elbows fully extended, and that extension must be maintained until the athlete has returned to a standing position.

Press

Unlike with the handstand push-up, athletes are much less likely with the press to attempt to use excessively wide grips simply because of the awkwardness of the rack position. Just in case, however, we’ll limit the width to one that places the forearms vertical in the rack position when viewed from the front of the athlete—that is, in the bottom of the rep, the elbows should be directly under or inside the hands.

The rep begins and ends with the bar in contact with the shoulders. The top of the rep should conform to the correct overhead position—this means shoulder blades fully retracted and elevated, which will force the torso into a slight forward incline and place the bar just forward of the heels—and the elbows fully extended. If this position cannot be maintained for a reasonable period of time, it’s incorrect.

No dipping and driving with the knees to initiate the movement is allowed. The degree of layback prescribed by Mark Rippetoe is reasonable—the forward most part of the armpit may not move behind the most rearward part of the glutes.



Pull-up

There are three concerns with the pull-up: full extension at the bottom, adequate height, and reasonable grip width. The pull-up is essentially the same movement as the press with the opposite direction of resistance. That said, it seems reasonable to use the same grip width standards—at the top of the rep, the forearms should be vertical. Likewise, the start and end of the rep should be essentially the same—at the bottom, the elbows should be fully extended and the shoulders fully open, placing the face slightly forward of the bar; at the top, the upper chest should be at the level of the bar if not in actual contact with it. Any style of kip that meets these standards is allowable.

Push Jerk

The hand placement of the push or power jerk should be the same as for the press—elbows directly below or inside the hands in the rack position. The bar must be received overhead with the elbows fully extended, and that extension must be maintained until the athlete is standing again. Like the press, the rep must finish with the proper overhead position—shoulder blades fully retracted and elevated, the torso inclined forward slightly, and the bar just in front of the heel. The depth at which the jerk is received can be anything less than full knee and hip extension, no matter how little. The rep is complete when the athlete returns to a fully standing position with the bar locked out correctly overhead.

Push Press

Again, the hand placement of the push press should follow the same guidelines for the press. No re-bending of the knees when receiving the bar is permitted. The rep is complete when the bar is in the correct overhead position with full elbow extension, full scapular retraction and elevation, and full knee and hip extension.

Push-up

The push-up begins and ends with the elbows fully extended and the shoulder blades protracted—in the bottom position the lowest part of the body is in contact with the ground, but cannot be used to bounce off of it. The shoulders, hips and ankles should be held rigidly in a straight line throughout the movement unless kipping—in the case of kipping, the must still be completely straight in the bottom and top positions.

The push-up is essentially a horizontal press variation, and as such, the same hand placement guidelines apply—at the bottom of the rep, the elbows should be directly above or outside of the wrists. The orientation of the elbows during the rep may be whatever is preferred by the athlete.

Snatch

Without any qualifiers such as power or hang, the snatch starts with the barbell on the floor and is received in a full squat. The bar must be received overhead with the elbows fully extended and that extension must be maintained until the athlete is standing fully again. The overhead position must be correct with full scapular retraction and elevation and the bar just in front of the heel. As with the clean, there may be cases in which snatch is a denominator prescription and the real goal is to bring the bar from the floor to overhead in a single movement—in such cases, power cleans are allowable.

Split Jerk

The hand placement for the split jerk is the same as for the press, as is the overhead position and requirement for full elbow lockout. The rep is not complete until the athlete recovers from the split to a standing position with the bar still locked out overhead.

Squat

The squat begins and ends with full hip and knee extension. In the bottom, the athlete must at least break horizontal with the thighs—the crease of the hip below the top of the knee. With unloaded squats, this is a pretty arbitrary point—I’d prefer to see the athlete hit rock bottom as allowed by contact between the hamstrings and calves. At the bottom, the knees should be vertically above the feet or slightly outside them when viewed from the front of the toes.

Thruster

Since the thruster is just a combination of a squat and press, the respective rules apply. The athlete must break horizontal with the thighs at the bottom, and the bar must be locked out completely overhead—yes, full scapular retraction and elevation with a slight forward inclination of the torso and the bar just in front of the heels. How the bar is racked on the shoulders—if at all—is not important. A poor rack position only makes it more difficult for the athlete.

Grace & Isabel

Grace and Isabel are a couple of the original diagnostic workouts: 30 135 lb clean & jerks and 30 135 lb snatches for time, respectively. These two workouts are examples of exemption from the strict rules of the snatch and clean & jerk in terms of receiving depth. These girls are more a test of how quickly and efficiently athletes can move the bar from the floor to overhead, not how quickly they can perform the strict movements. Being able to perform power versions is an accomplishment—it means the athlete is more powerful than his squatting counterpart. A well-trained athlete will be able to throw these weights around very easily—performing strict squat variations of the lifts would be a waste of time.