TGU and Rope Skills

The TGU is a super important movement pattern to understand and master, especially if you are a grappler. The TGU movement challenges an athletes coordination, strength, muscular endurance, and core stability–all also obviously important to CrossFit. Once the CrossFit athlete masters the basic movement pattern, the athlete can challenge load, reps, and intensity. TGU can be performed unweighted (common), loaded with kettlebells (quite common), loaded with sandbags (uncommon, but a slightly different technique), loaded with barbels (uncommon…and an extra dimension of balance and coordination), and loaded with a training partner (uncommon…and with an added dimension of strength and trust between training partners). A TGU is a functional movement, training a wrestler/grappler to escape from the bottom position and get back on their feet in  a fight. This is easier said than done, especially when the guy on top is driving his shoulders into your chest and jaw and you are gassed. The guy on bottom first needs to create space between him and the guy on top. He needs to get his shoulders and hips both off the ground and away from the guy on top. The guy on bottom’s second movement is to use his arms and or legs to maintain space and thereby keeping the guy on top from pressing the advantage. The guy on bottom’s third move is to pop up into the standing position. All three movements may involve the guy on bottom using a stiff arm to keep the heavy/fast/angry guy on top at bay. TGU! WOD (workout of the day) 45sec On/15 secs Off 3 Rounds A. High Knee Skips B. Double Under C. Backward Skips D. Rocky Skips E. Rolling Burpees ]]>