Have you ever played basketball? What helped you get the ball through the hoop? Power. You threw the ball with sufficient strength and speed to get it to drop through the net. What about when you were on the swings and you realized the faster and harder you pumped your legs, the higher the swing would fly? The swing went higher, because you used more power.
Every day you use power to complete common tasks. When your mom asks for your help putting a box overhead, you use power to move the box onto the shelf. The difference between power and strength is that power is faster. You wouldn't slowly lift the box to the shelf using only your strength, because you would have to hold it longer and the box would start to feel really heavy. Instead, you would push the box up with as much force and as quickly as possible, hoisting it up there in a hurry so it wouldn't begin to feel too heavy and cause you to drop it. You may remember a time when you used this type of movement to get a toy into the top of your closet or on a shelf in the garage. You were using power.
Functional movements (pretty much everything we do in CrossFit Kids) are unique in their ability to express power, from box jumps, in which body weight is being explosively moved. Compare standard and kipping pull ups. If an individual completes a set of standard pull ups followed by the same number of kipping pull ups, the load and distance moved would be identical. However, kipping pull ups generate more power due to the amount of time it takes to complete them (remember "as time goes down, power goes up"). This means the kipping pull ups place a greater physical demand on the individual and, as such, are more effective. Strength is important. Speed is essential. But power is the metric that we seek. We want our kids to move bigger loads, longer distances, FASTER! In the quest for fitness, power trumps.
Warm Up
D&B Bear Crawl
100m Run
D&B Crab Walk
100m Row
D&B Frog Hop
100m Run
D&B Duck Walk
100m Row
D&B Gorilla Walk
100m Run
ANGRY GORILLA
Take a wide stance (sumo stance) and make your hands into a fist. Bring your fists down to the ground in between your feet. Lower the hips and raise your chest (just like a deadlift) and look like an 'angry gorilla.' Swing your arms forward and place them far in front of you. While keeping a nice back position, place all your weight on your hands and swing your body forward. Assume the angry gorilla stance and reset the back. Continue moving forward for the designated distance.Here is a video from the CrossFit Journal on the Deadlift, which highlights the Angry Gorilla stance:
Skill
Max Watt Row
3 Rounds
15 Burpees
100m Run
15 Box Jumps
100m Row
15 DB Swings
100m Run
15 Sit Ups
100m Row