More often than not, when you are new to CrossFit or weightlifting in general, dumping your bar can be a little scary.  You watch other lifters fail, dump the bar and hear the loud crash echo throughout the gym causing heads to turn.  While the females are more vocal about being scared to dump the bar, I think the guys can be a bit hesitant to dump the weight as well. And that’s perfectly ok!

Dumping your barbell can definitely be a scary thing but know that it is an option for you to safely bail out of a lift.  As a newcomer to weightlifting, you don’t really know what to expect.  And yes, it is possible to get hurt from dumping your barbell if done improperly.  As a veteran, you might be thinking, “Ugh!  Failure!”  but hey you just attempted a max effort for a lift and it’s your body’s way of telling you, “Awesome job but you’re done for the day! Try again next time!”  Be excited that you went to that point of no return, even if you failed.

Here are a couple of examples of bailing out of a back squat.  In the following video, the athlete remains tight at the bottom of the squat but is unable to finish the concentric portion of the squat.

In this next video, the weight is under control on the eccentric portion of the squat but then the athlete loses tightness at the bottom and can’t lift the weight up.

Notice in both videos, Anna’s first step is to drop her elbows, thereby eliminating her rack position to release the weight of the bar.  The second key step is to move in the opposite direction of the bar, which she does by stepping forward in the first video and by dropping forward to her knees in the second video.  By quickly moving in the opposite direction of the bar, she avoids letting the bar slide down her back.

A couple of rules about dumping:

1. NEVER dump an empty bar!

2. For the sake of the plates, don’t dump a bar with the 10# or 15# plates on them.  Remember the Endangered Tens?

3. When dumping, keep your eyes on the bar to avoid it crashing into someone else.

4. Always move in the opposite direction of the bar.

WOD 06.28.2013

Back Squat 3 x 5

Then, 3 Rounds

• 10 Thrusters
• 10 Pull ups
• 240m Sprint
• Rest 1 minute

*Mystery cash out*