The Holleyman WOD is an extremely popular workout because of the challenges it offers. The workout is dedicated to the United States Army Sergeant who was killed while he was serving for his country. Hero WOD is a traditional workout that is created in honor of those heroes who have died while serving their country.

Many WODs are named after men and women who’d lost their precious lives while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the further parts of the article, you’ll get learn about the Holleyman WOD.

Before we begin with the workout routine, it is essential here to highlight that it is a hero workout. It means it will be challenging for you and may take more than a while to complete. So, if you are ready to learn more about Holleyman, workout routine, and some tips for completing it, then ensure to read the article till the end.

Holleyman WOD: Exercise Routine

With a running clock, you have to perform thirty rounds of the workout in a particular order. Here is what’s included in the Holleyman WOD:

• 5 Wall Ball Shots (20/14 lb.)
• 3 Handstand Push-Ups
• 1 Power Clean (225/ 155 lb.)

In order to complete the workout, you will be required to finish 30 rounds of the above-stated workout as quickly as possible. The volume of this workout is high, yet it is classified into manageable sets of 5 + 3 + 1 of wall ball shots, handstand push-ups, and power clean.

Are you wondering what the challenging part of this workout is? It is the ultimate goal of Holleyman WOD, i.e., to complete thirty rounds in a non-stop mode. You can take a rest only while transitioning from one activity to the other.

Good Scores and Times for Holleyman WOD

Score in Holleyman WOD is the time on the clock when you have completed the 30th round of the workout. As mentioned before, the volume of exercises is high in this workout as it includes 150 wall balls, 90 handstand push-ups, and 30 power cleans at the end of the workout. According to the agility and capacity of your body, you can start marking your score to scale up eventually.

In the beginning, you might feel Holleyman WOD is a pretty heavy workout. It is because there is no rest between the rounds. However, you can rest only during the transition movements. Along with being physically exhausted, you can feel the workout to be mentally challenging. If you are worried that you won’t be able to perform this workout routine, then you don’t worry, as the next part of the article will be beneficial for you.

Tips to improve the Holleyman WOD time

There is only one factor that plays a key role in improving the Holleyman WOD time, i.e., transition strategy. If you closely observe the workout, you’ll see that transition will take place ninety times between the workouts. Thus it is extremely vital to pay attention to how you transition from one movement to another. Following are a few tips that you can consider:

• Perform the workout where you find you can rely on a corner. Basically, you have to use one wall for wall-ball shots and the other one for handstand push-ups
• Make sure to position your bar in such a manner that it comes directly behind the handstand push-up wall
• If you want to score well, ensure that there are not more than three steps between the movements

How to Scale Towards Doing Handstand Push-Ups?

The entire Holleyman WOD is challenging. However, the handstand push-up is indeed one of the hardest movements that can take an ample amount of time to master. In a handstand push-up, not only do you have to defeat the fear of flipping upside down, but it also requires an insane amount of upper body strength to complete the workout. Here’s what you can perform daily in order to scale up handstand push-ups.

Handstand Holds

One of the most neglected ways to scale handstand push-up is to perform it against the wall and do a handstand. It helps in developing isometric strength when you stay inverted. In addition to that, it will also help in strengthening the foundation of handstand push-ups. Holding HSPUs will definitely fire up muscles in the back part of your body. Above all, it is a great way to remove the fear of flipping over while performing a handstand push-up.

Dumbbell Z-Press

The dumbbell z-press is great for building the strength required for handstand push-ups. All that you have to do is be seated on the floor with legs outstretched in front of you. Now, with dumbbells on your shoulders, you have to press it up and overhead while maintaining a neutral spine. If not dumbbells, you can use kettlebells as well.

Box/Pike Push-Ups

It is an excellent way to practice inverted positions and build pressing strength in the same position. The idea behind practicing box or pike push-ups is that you will be working on pressing in a similar body posture to that of a handstand push-up, but the load will be much lesser inbox or pike push-ups.

Eccentric HSPU

Ideally, eccentric work is great to develop strength for gymnastic-based movements. Eccentric work means the lowering phase of the exercise. So, if you are not able to press your back up, it is important here to work on your control abilities. Make sure to do the repetition of eccentric handstand push-up with a goal in mind. Don’t perform them in a rush, as it can hamper your safety.

Aaron N. Holleyman: Hero of this workout

Now that you are well aware of the Holleyman WOD, it is significant to pay attention to the hero of this challenging and powerful workout. Aaron N. Holleyman, 27, was in the U.S Army as a staff sergeant. He was from Glasgow, Montana, and was assigned to the First Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, which was based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

He was killed on August 30, 2004, when his military vehicle hit an explosive device in Khutayiah, Iraq. But, he is survived by his son Zachary, daughters Shelby and Erin, siblings Kelly and Daniel, and parents Ross and Glenda. The Holleyman WOD was originally posted on CrossFit’s main site on 30 August 2012. The idea behind the workout is to honor, remember and give your best for this heroic personality who has given everything he had to offer.

DFX CrossFit Raleigh

We hope all the tips and scaling exercises mentioned here will help you in improving your score at Holleyman WOD. If you would like to learn more CrossFit WODs and how to complete them, get the proper training with DFX Crossfit in Raleigh NC. We have the facility available to help all of our members achieve any WOD that they would like. We offer classes and open gym time for our members. Fill out the contact information below if you have any questions about our programs.