As a guide to our upcoming Focus on Form Week 2018, below is a summary of the items discussed during in 2017.

Focus on Form Week 2017 – Summary

Bear Crawl:

1. Start in plank position (not with your butt in the air)
2. Keep knees close to the ground (similar to a mountain climber), and stay down during exercise; keep your knees on rails. Goal is not speed but to engage the core.  Should feel it less in shoulders and more in core if engaged correctly.
3. One hand in contact with the ground at all times

h/t Boucher

Burpees (Version 1 – For Explosive Power):

1. Flex down to ground to neutral (Belly on Ground), Modified Merkin, Snap Up (feet meet hands), Jump, End at hands over head.
2. Not a traditional Merkin, bow upper body up, like a snake, flex lower back/butt, then snap up.
3. Keep feet close together, arms close to the body. This allows for proper knee form, and muscle engagement.

You Tube: https://youtu.be/_43ezrGPwIg

Modification: N/A

h/t Beano

Burpees (Version 2 – Traditional Merkin):

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart
2. Squat down and place your hands on the ground positioned like you would for a Merkin
3. Kick feet back to plank position
4. Do a Merkin
5. Snap your feet back towards your hands
6. Stand up and jump into the air, brining your hands over your head.

Modification: Knee push up (keep that back straight, butt down when you modify)

h/t  Hundreds of site Qs throughout the F3 nation

Cadence Counting Sequence:

1. Next Exercise is ______________________
2. Starting or Ready Position Move
3. In cadence, or single count, Exercise
4. Q counts the cadence/PAX count Reps
5. Q on last rep raises tone of his voice/PAX call out “halt”

You Tube: https://youtu.be/tT7afkk2toA

Modification: N/A

Other Info:  Think of the first three steps as “Ready, Set, Go”.

Next Exercise is = Ready,

Ready Position Move = Set

Exercice = Go

h/t Riggs, et al.

Heels to Heaven:

1. Full extension of legs out like a flutter kick
2. Keep toes pointed
3. Bring knees up towards chest
4. Lift legs, and lower torso vertically
5. Lifting motion should come from your upper abs

h/t Boucher

LBC:

1. To avoid stress on neck, tuck your hands under your chin instead of behind your head
2. Chin should “scoop” toward the sky to engage core; do not tuck chin
3. Exercise is short and compact and should focus on firing the core at all times

h/t Beano

Lunge Walk:

1. Begin standing with your feet shoulder width apart and your hands on your hips
2. Step forward with one leg, flexing the knees to drop your hips
3. Descend until your rear knee nearly touches the ground
4. Your posture should remain upright, and your front knee should stay above the front foot
5. Drive through the heel of your lead foot
6. Extend both knees to raise yourself back up
7. Step forward with your rear foot, repeating the lunge on the opposite leg

h/t Boucher

Standard Merkins:

1. Keep your elbows in
2. Look at the ground ahead of your body during reps
3. Squeeze your glutes to ensure a straight back

Modification: Drop to your knees (when you do this do maintain your straight back)

Other Info: Wide-grip Merkins work the chest more; narrow grip work the triceps more.

h/t Beano

People’s Chair:

1. Back against a wall
2. Knees bent at 90 degrees
3. Hold strong
4. Do not push back against wall; try to use the wall sparingly for support for the best push

Modification: N/A

h/t RG3

Plank:

1. Tuck pelvis underneath to engage core
2. Turn shoulders off, should not feel it in shoulders
3. Do not hike up butt at all unless doing a pike plank
4. Flex glutes; try to turn off hamstrings as well as shoulders

Modification: Drop from Toes to Knees

h/t Shake It

Running:

1. Shoulder and neck relaxed
2. Arms at hip level and keep them bent!!! NO DRUMS
3. Slight lean forward
4. Keep head steady and looking forward
5. Try to make sure you have a bend in your knee, when you land and push off
6. Activated glutes and loose hip flexors will help stride length!!!

h/t Coach Leslie Payne, Meredith College, via Wuerffel

Russian Hammer:

1. Short stable twist
2. Don’t exaggerate the twist and disengage the abs
3. Try to keep feet elevated
4. Experiment with extending legs straight or with slight bend to also work lower body, overall core

h/t Subprime

Squats:

1. Make sure your knees do not move in front of your feet during squat
2. Do not bend over. The top torso should not bend or move much during a squat.  This is one of the most common transgressions.
3. Feet should be shoulder width apart with toes slightly pointed outward
4. Strong posture (big chest)
5. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed across your fee (not all on front or heels)
6. Squat until thighs are parallel to ground
7. Don’t let knees go past your feet
8. Explode up

h/t Beano, Boucher

Trail Running:

Reference:  https://f3churham.move-marketing.net/trail-running-101-focus-on-form-technique/

h/t Grunge