🔥 Fire Nation Leg Power – Back Squat 1RM & "Fire Breather" Sprint Conditioning (2/25/25)

Fire Nation Leg Power – WOD for Tuesday, 2/25/25

Welcome to Week 1 of the Fire Nation—where we’re focusing on raw power, explosive movement, and next-level conditioning. Today’s WOD is all about building strength under heavy loads and pushing past fatigue with sprint-based endurance work.

A big back squat day followed by a lung-burning sprint workout? Sounds like a Fire Nation kind of day.

🔥 WARM-UP (10 minutes)

Prepping the hips, knees, and ankles for heavy squatting while also waking up the posterior chain and explosive power.

Air Squats

Knee Pulls & Quad Pulls

Heel Scoops & Lunges

Leg Swings

100m Shuttle Run

Focus: Move intentionally, hit full range of motion, and prepare to move some serious weight.

🔥 STRENGTH (20 minutes) – Back Squat 1-Rep MAX

Build to a heavy 1-rep max Back Squat

Scaling Options:

Level 1: Goblet Squats (8-12 reps) – Focus on mechanics & depth

Level 2: Working sets of 3-5 reps at moderate-heavy load

Level 3: As designed – Build to a true 1-rep max

Coaching Notes:

Brace the core & stay tight—no sloppy reps!

Control the descent, drive up with power.

Depth matters! Hit parallel or below if mobility allows.

🔥 CONDITIONING (16 minutes) – "Fire Breather"

4 Rounds for Time:

Run 400m

25 Wall Balls @ 20/14

Scaling Options:

Level 1: Bike 1km + 25 Air Squats or Medball Front Squats

Level 2: As designed

Level 3: Wall Balls @ 30/20

Workout Breakdown:

The goal? Keep moving, recover on the run, and stay unbroken on the wall balls!

Pace your 400m runs—don’t burn out too soon!

Efficient wall ball reps = better breathing & control.

Strategy Tips:

Unbroken wall balls if possible!

Find a steady pace on the run—don’t redline too early.

Relax your shoulders between wall ball reps to avoid early fatigue.

🔥 COOL DOWN (5-10 minutes)

Light Cardio or Mobility

Notes: Take time to recover, loosen up, and connect with your fellow athletes. Hit that community PR before you leave!

💭 Final Thoughts: Why This Workout Matters

Today’s session is about pushing your lower body strength to the max, then testing your engine under fatigue. Fire Breather will challenge your ability to recover quickly, cycle through movements efficiently, and stay mentally tough.

Legs will burn. Lungs will scream. But you’ll walk out stronger.

Drop a comment below—how’d you crush today’s WOD?

📌 Next Steps for Black Iron Athletes

🚀 Join Our Discord Community: Stay updated on WODs, cycle progressions, and connect with the Black Iron fam! Join Now

💊 Fuel Your Recovery: Check out our Thorne Supplement Dispensary to optimize performance! Shop Here

🏋️‍♂️ Try Hyrox Training: Every Tuesday & Thursday @ 6:15PM—train for endurance & strength!

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👉 Learn more & join the Black Iron Family today! Contact Us Here

🔥 Fire Nation Strength & Speed – Bench Press & Bike Sprints (2/24/25)

Black Iron Fam, it’s time to turn up the intensity! We are officially in Week 1 of the Fire Nation, where we focus on explosive power, strength under fatigue, and pushing limits. Today’s session is all about upper-body pressing strength and sprint endurance.

💥 Get ready for a big bench press, aggressive bike sprints, and a finisher that will test your mental toughness!

🔥 WARM-UP (10 minutes)

Before we get into heavy pressing and high-output conditioning, we need to prep the shoulders, core, and lower body.

✅ 10 DB Floor Press (Warm up the chest & triceps)

✅ 10 Alt Scorpions (Open up the hips & spine)

✅ 5 Swimmers (Activate shoulders & scapula control)

✅ 5 Burpees (Full-body activation)

✅ 10 Broad Jumps (Power & explosiveness)

💡 Focus: Move intentionally, control each rep, and get ready to move some weight!

🔥 STRENGTH (20 minutes) – Bench Press Focus

🏋️ Goal: Build upper-body strength & explosive power

💪 Build to a 6-Rep MAX for the day

🔥 Then: MAX reps @ 50% of today’s max

Scaling Options:

🔹 Level 1: 4-5 working sets of 6-8 reps, followed by 1 drop set at 50%

🔹 Level 2: As designed

💡 Coaching Notes:

Stay controlled and explosive—no bouncing the bar!

Keep the shoulders engaged & core tight to protect the joints.

Focus on form over ego—perfect reps make stronger athletes.

🔥 CONDITIONING (18 minutes) – Bike Sprints

🚴 3 Rounds for MAX Calories:

⏱️ 60 seconds sprint → REST

⏱️ 30 seconds sprint → REST

⏱️ 15 seconds sprint → REST & REPEAT

💡 Rest until fully recovered between intervals. This is a max effort workout—Fire Nation doesn’t hold back!

🔥 Pro Tips:

Attack each sprint like a warrior—this is where speed meets grit.

Control your breathing in the rest periods so you can go hard again.

Modify: If needed, reduce work time and extend rest as needed.

🔥 FIRE FINISHER (12 minutes) – Burpee Box Jumps

🔥 For Time (12 Min CAP):

🦘 60 Burpee Box Jumps @ 24/20”

Scaling Options:

🔹 Level 1: 30 Burpee Box Step-Ups

🔹 Level 2: As designed

💡 Fire Nation demands full send! Push through leg fatigue and mental resistance. This is a true grit test.

🔥 COOL DOWN (5-10 minutes)

🌬️ Light Cardio or Mobility

Notes: Take time to recover, loosen up, and connect with your fellow athletes. Hit that community PR before you leave!

💭 Final Thoughts: Why This Workout Matters

Today’s session isn’t just about lifting heavy or sprinting fast—it’s about learning to push intensity while staying in control. Fire Nation is all about aggression with purpose—power when needed, and precision in movement.

🔥 Stay focused, train hard, and embrace the fire! 🔥

💬 Drop a comment below—how’d you crush today’s WOD?

📌 Next Steps for Black Iron Athletes

🚀 Join Our Discord Community: Stay updated on WODs, cycle progressions, and connect with the Black Iron fam! Join Now

💊 Fuel Your Recovery: Check out our Thorne Supplement Dispensary to optimize performance! Shop Here

🏋️‍♂️ Try Hyrox Training: Every Tuesday & Thursday @ 6:15PM—train for endurance & strength!

What is a Reverse DB Bear Crawl, and Learn Why you should Add It to your training

Introduction

The Reverse Dumbbell Bear Crawl is another movement you don't see every day but it is one of the best core, hips, and shoulder movements around. It can be done with or without the DBs (dumbbells) making it not only accessible but simple and effective.

I would put the Reverse DB Bear Crawl into the same movement category as the bird dogs and dead bugs. The bird dog is one the movements in Stewart McGill's "Big Three". Designed to build core strength and stability the bird dog (and Reverse DB Bear Crawl) is something everyone should be doing more often.

PS If you don't know who Stewart McGill is... you should... here are a couple of articles on "The Big Three":

THE MCGILL BIG 3 FOR CORE STABILITY

Correct Application and Execution of The McGill Big 3

Read all the way through for three workouts you can do with the Reverse DB Bear Crawl.

CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO

Check out our YouTube video on

"Reverse DB Bear Crawl" below and see a step-by-step guide on how to do it!

What is a Reverse DB Bear Crawl?

Well, it is exactly what it sounds like... and if you haven't watched the video already check it out! The RDBBC (Reverse Dumbbell Bear Crawl) is designed to build, core strength, stability, coordination, and balance. Like I said earlier it has all the same benefits as the bird dog but potentially more since we can add resistance.

Muscles Worked:

Overall we are working a lot with this one movement. Number one is core engagement in general. After that, it is equal parts shoulders, hips, grip, lats, and triceps. If you are doing the RDBBC for the first time you will definitely be sore in some weird places the next day but in all the right ways. It is not something you will feel the "soreness" immediately but it is a slow burn that will creep up the next day.

Why this matters: 

Besides arguably being as beneficial as the bird dog the RDBBC is a huge payout in benefits with minimal impact or risk. It is accessible, simple, and effective. All while helping you build and condition your core which benefits everyone regardless of their activity level, life style or sport.

Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Gorilla Row

Don't forget to Check out the video for a demonstration if you haven't already.

Step 1: Setup and Stance

Start with the DBs and hands directly below the shoulders, and the knees bent at 90 degrees directly below the hips.

Step 2: Grip

Grip the handles like a hammer with your grip centered on the handle.

Step 3: Execution

Push off with your right hand and pull back on the dumbbell with your left as you reach your right leg back. Keep the core tight and keep the movement small and choppy.

Common Faults:

• Not moving the opposite arm and leg

• Too much rotation as you crawl

• Making your movements with the arms or legs too big

• Not keeping your core engaged throughout the movement

How to incorporate this into a workout:

The options are limitless when it comes to programming this movement into a workout or program. Because you are hitting so much with this one movement it can easily be the warm-up or the highlight of your training day.

WORKOUT EXAMPLES:

Simple & Effective

4 rounds for Quality of

20 feet of Reverse DB Bear Crawl

20- DB Hang Power Cleans

20 feet of Reverse DB Bear Crawl

20- DB Front Squats

STRENGTH Focus

20 minutes for Quality

20- Barbell Bent Over Rows

20 feet Reverse DB Bear Crawl

20-second MAX Calorie Bike or Ski

20-second Handstand hold

Note: Ideally resting 2 to 3 minutes between rounds to keep the quality and intensity high.

Conditioning Focus

3 Rounds for time

20 Burpees

20 feet of Reverse DB Bear Crawl

20 Box Jumps

20 feet of Reverse DB Bear Crawl

What's next?

Get moving! Try this movement out for yourself and see why the Reverse DB Bear Crawl is arguably one of the best movements you didn't know you needed. You can also come join us for a FREE CLASS at Black Iron Athletics. We incorporate movements like this into our program so you don't have to miss out on any of these hidden gems.

CLICK HERE TO FIND A CLASS

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