Lower your body. Keep the rings CLOSE. Elbows back-not OUT. Bring the knees to the chest and kick AND press. Watch the timing. Lock out completely at the top!!

Pregnancy and Postpartum fitness can be VERY personal and will even be different for the SAME person during different pregnancies.  We truly believe that there is NO one size fits all set of workouts or even modifications for this very reason.  Depending on your fitness level before you became pregnant, what number pregnancy this is, whether or not you have any complications, pre-existing injuries, and many other factors - what you need is going to vary greatly from everyone else.

Our advice is always to LISTEN to your body.  Err on the side of caution.  If something feels off - cut it out - even if it's just for that day.  You can still get a GREAT workout even late into your pregnancy by adding in some of these super common subs and scales.

You can do this mama!!!

Correct movement =

Heels down, upright torso in dip, knees forward or slightly out. Dip - Drive Up - Press Under - Bar caught over foot with head through - Stand with bar overhead.

Here are some common faults:

•Pressing Bar in Front
•Forward Torso Dip
•Knees Caving in Dip
•Wide Landing
•Hips Forward Dip
•Not Standing to Finish

Let's talk about the difference in pull off of the ground for both lifts.

First and foremost, the MOST important for both lifts - before worrying about anything else - is making sure the belly is tight, back is flat, and heels are down.

For BOTH lifts, the goal is to keep the bar close and keep the bat traveling in a straight path.

In general, for the DEADLIFT, the hips will be a bit higher - to keep knees out of the way or the bar path and to recruit max amounts of glute and hamstring! We still need SOME knee bend to add some help from the quads as well! Gaze is down - roughly 6 feet in front of you on the ground. This works because you are not needing as much visual awareness as you will need for the clean - and keeps your spine completely neutral.

For the CLEAN, we lower the hip a bit which will put us in a better position to jump the bar straight UP instead of swinging it forward...we don't want the clean to mimic a KB swing in the path of the object. We will look straight forward and keep the chest up throughout. This will help us keep the chest on a good position for the jump and the catch-and will help maintain balance!

Keep in mind the CLEAN pull is not completely just a squat. Raise the hips enough to find tension in the hamstrings!

Not everyone has the desire to do a muscle up but we do see a lot of you trying them or trying to improve!

We love muscle ups and want to help! 2 most common mistakes?? Not finishing your pull or pulling too wide!

Practicing the transition like you see in this video and also work your - false grip - pulling strength - and dipping strength - and you'll be on your way!

If you have access to rings, practicing the transition is a great way to warm up the shoulders for any workout!!

We have some handstand push ups as an option in a workout coming up later this week! Give this progression a try!

These steps might take you a day or a year. Work through them at your own pace and own level.

Step 1 - Pike HSPU from the knees.

The press should be vertical and head and hands should be in tripod position at the bottom with butt in the air.

Step 2 - Pike HSPU with feet on the box. Same idea as on knees but now you are pressing more of your body weight. BUTT IN THE AIR and press your body UP! Head comes through the arms at the top.

This position is tough if you have tight shoulders or hamstrings FYI. Allow a slight bend in the knees if necessary.

Step 3 - Practice shifting weight to locked out elbows and shoulders before kicking all the way up. Make sure you're not too close to the wall.

When you're ready to kick all the way up, tuck the chin and look at opposite wall, not down at the ground. Squeeze your butt and pull rib cage in!!

Step 4 - Practice lowering into the tripod position SLOWLY. At the bottom, head is closer to the wall than hands.

Step 5 - From the tripod position, bring knees all the way down to elbows. Kick feet somewhat out and back around to the wall. The sequence must be kick-then immediately press.

If you don't kick out and around slightly you will end up driving your feet into the wall before you are able to lock your arms and it will stop your ability to press.

Step 6 - Smaller - faster kip. Once you have developed the timing of Step 5 slowly - Speed it up! From there, if your upper body strength is good or if the workout has smaller sets - you may choose to speed up the kip!

Beware of these common mistakes that’s aren’t necessarily WRONG, but you are just making it a lot harder than it needs to be!!

Swinging outside the legs works, but since the Dumbbells are further apart it can make them feel harder to control/heavier.

Try the between the legs bend and press (no-not the bend and snap) and choose the appropriate weight! You will be on your path to 😈 Press Mastery!!!

It’s a Burpee! How much technique could there be?! Right??

With the new emergence of the “CF Open” bar facing Burpee standard. We thought we would put out some tips for those of you who want to work efficiency in this movement!!

For the new “CF Standard” the rule is you have to jump back and jump in. 2 feet take off over the bar.

Main point to make is you do not want to try to broad jump from where your feet land. You will definitely still want to take a step to get closer to the bar. Once you do that, you can even add the mid air spin to speed things up!

The step in and step out Burpee is actually probably the most efficient at getting close to the bar and over! If you’re not worried about Open scores - definitely try that one!

Pulling dumbbells from the ground for a clean or deadlift can be awkward. We see a lot of caved knees and round backs - this is no good!!

When pulling the dumbbells from the ground you will want to bring your feet closer together. Bend your knees and drive them OUT!!

Also for the cleans - bicep curls are cool, but not super efficient for lots of reps! Use that hip and shrug!!

On the dumbbell snatch - when and how to switch arms? 🤔

For the beginner or when you are fatigued/the weight is heavy - switch on the floor.

Feeling a little more confident and fresh and want to move faster? Try the midway down switch.

And when seconds matter, and you are super confident - you can try the super fast @009julian signature overhead switch. I also call this the close your eyes and pray.

snatching is the coolest. period. . . 

Not all of you have access to a rower, but a lot of these mistakes are also made one a deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull, and a clean!

Proper path is a strong leg drive through the heels, followed by the shoulders/back, and then the arms. This allows the chain to travel in a straight line and to really create as much power with the legs and glutes as possible.

On the return, it should be smooth and slower than the pull. Return with arms, then hips and legs. Fast pull. Slow return.

Avoid bending the knees before straightening the arms on the return. This will cause you to go around the knees.

Avoid staying too leaned back. You want as long a pull as possible and you want to be in a position that is similar to the bottom of a deadlift.

Keep the belly and back tight and solid.

Beware of pulling early with the arms. This is too much work for the smaller muscles of the upper body and will decrease how much of your leg drive you actually use.

For distance - rowers will tell you around a 5 damper setting is most similar to being in the water. This will keep a smooth pace.

For calories, you will go up a little bit to get a harder, stronger, pull which will tick away calories specifically a bit quicker - based on how the machine reads it.