CF Games – Page 173 – SNORIDGE CROSSFIT

The Deadliest Snatch

For time:
Use Rep Scheme of 10/1, 9/2, 8/3, 7/4, 6/5…..down to 1/10 of:
Sumo Deadlift High Pull (75#/55#)
Power Snatch (75#/55#)

Results

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Faces of Strain:

The 2010 CF Games Northwest Regionals schedule has been announced! It’s ON! The WOD’s should be announced soon. Check out a list of some of the sponsors who will be there: lululemon athletica (our favorite gang from Bellevue Square), Forged Clothing, Life As RX’d clothing, Chef By Request, Progenex, Hot Off The Press Shirts, among many others. I can’t wait to buy more CrossFit T Shirts, I don’t have enough!

Notes:

Saturday Schedule:

9am Team Squatch training
10am Class (sign up by posting to comments)
11am Class
If the weather is nice plan to be outside. Should be fun!

Post Regionals we are going to plan a PARTY! When the weather is nicer it’s a done deal that we are gonna have a BBQ for the box at the house along with a Fish Game Tournament on the rowers. Who wants top bragging rights? Tentatively plan for a weekend in June. We may even bust out a WOD in the garage for old time’s sake.

Hang Power Snatch with Amanda:

"Shoot 'Em Up"

Strength WOD:

5 Rounds of Dead Hang Pull-ups

* Rest as necessary between rounds; work up to max reps per attempt

Check Out WOD Immediately After:

As Many Rounds As Possible in 12 Minutes:
5 Deadlift (Use 60% of 1RM)
7 Shoot-Throughs (Parallette)
10 AbMat Sit-Ups

Shoot Through’s for Two!:

Results

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Today was a different type of strength WOD and check out WOD and both were quite effective. Dead hang pull-ups are all too often neglected in CrossFit. We rely on hip drive and kipping so often that developing the strength to adequately pull our own bodyweight can take a back seat to speed and efficiency. So why train dead hang pull-ups if they are less efficient? The same reason we do one rep max lifts with the barbell. To get stronger so that when we want to go faster we can because we take longer to fatigue and can get more work done. This means more power. That means better results physically. Practice those strict dead hang pull-ups, with or without a band. You will get stronger and your pull-ups will get better.

The “Shoot Through” with Ryan:

Think “Burpee on parallettes”. I learned these at the Gymnastics Cert and they are outstanding. Part push-up, dip and jump. It teaches speed, builds strength in the arms, core and shoulders, and drains you quickly. You can do them on parallettes or scale them using boxes or something higher to allow more room to jump and to make the push-up easier. Either way, it’s still hard to “shoot it’!

Notes:

History of the Burpee according to Wikipedia: The exercise may have originated from native North American ‘Indian Wrestling’ or it may have been originated by a man named Lieutenant Thomas Burpee (1757-1839). He was an officer in the New Hampshire Militia during the American Revolutionary War and was described as “having the innate Burpee fondness for martial exercises” in A History of the Town of New London, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. Lt. Burpee may have used the combination of push ups and squat thrusts as a means of drilling, conditioning, and disciplining the troops under his command. In addition, the exercise may have also been used by the troops as a way to stay warm during the winters in wartime New England.

Quick heads up on the box schedule:

On May 15th and 16th (Sat. and Sun.) we will be closed for the 2010 CF Games Northwest Regionals competition being held at the Puyallup Fairgrounds. We will have a team of our very own competing (Moe, Kim, Pat, Jeremy D., Mark B., and Michelle) in the Affiliate Team qualifiers and myself for the individual qualifiers. If you are thinking about attending as a spectator then before you go buy tickets let Michelle, Moe or I know as a few of our team members had already purchased a ticket and no longer need it due to being on the team. Come out one or both days and watch the events. There will be a bunch of amazing people all sweating through the Master’s Qualifiers, Team Qualifiers and Individual competition that weekend! It will be exciting, fun and a great opportunity to see some of the best CF athletes our 6 state region has to offer tackle some sure to be grueling WOD’s. All for a shot at the Games!

"Yes…Tabata That"

Tabata Intervals: Perform 8 intervals of max reps for 20 seconds work followed by 10 seconds rest of the following exercises in sequence. Score lowest number of reps for a given round.

Box Jumps (24″/20″)

Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)

Air Squats

Following the WOD:

2 rounds of hang for time from the pull-up bar.

(Grip it and dead-hang for dear life)

Results

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Who thought the bar hang was way tougher than they thought?

Here’s a link to the Garage Gym throwback days for when we last did this one. We haven’t done Tabata’s in awhile ( since the March Cross-box Challenge) so it was good to put this in the mix.

Notes:

T Shirts are in tomorrow! We will bag and tag them and get them to you ASAP!

Welcome to Jenna who dropped in today to the morning class and rocked some Tabata’s! Also welcome to the gang who recently completed Elements : Annette, Michelle D., Sashank, Doug as well as Willy who is one day away from being complete. Make sure you all introduce yourselves and give high fives and chest bumps!

Congrats to Adriana and Jim M. who earned their 100th WOD status recently. You’ll see them proudly sporting their T’s.

CrossFit Games Update:

In addition to our group who is competing at Regionals in 2 weeks we have a group who are volunteering. Shout out to Rob, Rona, Lyndi, Eli, and Sangeeta who are all going to help ensure the event runs smooth!

Coaching Tip: The Air Squat with Eli

Air Squat cues:

Start upright with feet under hips and flat on the floor; toes slightly angled out
Maintain a steady gaze straight ahead
Keeping the chest up, initiate the squat by pushing the hips and posterior chain back (like taking a bow)
Squat down keeping your weight on your heels
Move your hands out in front of you, form a “window” with your hands to look through (this forces the head and chest to stay up and the weight to stay on the heels)
Concentrate on keeping your knees behind the toe box and keeping your core tight
Hip crease ideally should drop below the knee joint at the bottom
Drive out of the bottom and pull your hands back to your hips
Fully open (or extend) the hips at the top

"No Slop"

In teams of 2, complete for time:

50 Double Unders
100 Push-ups
75 Power Cleans (95#/65#)
50 Wall Balls (20#/14#)
25 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
50 Double Unders

Results

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* One partner works at a time, if single do half the reps
** No Slop or partial ROM counts, if partial = scaled
*** Solo does half of reps
**** Strategize with partner for how to alternate reps
1. No snags count for DU’s
2. Shoulders below or minimum parallel to elbow for push-up, full lockout
3. Contact with med ball target in squat for WB and OHS
4. WB must hit above line to count rep

Curtis in shock after realizing what an overhead squat is supposed to look like:

This WOD was from CrossFit Bellevue and our own Team Squatch completed this past weekend to train for the Affiliate Cup Qualifiers. As always in any workout the focus was “no slop”. Clean reps, form first over weight and speed. Some teams and individuals embraced this today. Some, well…

Here’s the deal, whatever load you use it should be one that allows for full range of motion (ROM). Can it be challenging? Yes. Slow? Tough? Of course. However it also needs to be a load that you can still do right. The same goes for bodyweight movements. Full range of motion like in a proper air squat, pull-up or push-up. Going RX’d is a goal. But what good is it to go heavy to attempt to be RX’d to do an overhead squat with half the depth and no midline stabilization? Or to perform a wall ball without full squat depth and a throw that is consistently below the target? That won’t translate to someday waking up and having the ability to just nail a particular movement. You have to practice it, work at it and develop the strength, flexibility or coordination. Stick with a weight you can manage and be safe. Use the warm-up or post WOD to improve on your range of motion or technique with a PVC or empty bar. Remember what Vince Lombardi said: “Practice does not make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect”.

Michelle D. and Marc M. practicing perfect:

Notes:

Highlights from the CF Games North Central Regionals [wmv] [mov]

Coaching tip: Push-up Depth with Mike H.

Shoulders should be below or minimum parallel to elbow for push-up depth. Rigid plank. Ideal is chest to deck. Full lock-out at top.

"Jumping Helen"

Helen with a double-under twist; no running

3 Rounds For Time:

50 Double-Unders
21 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
12 Pull-ups

Results

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The Games are going to move to Los Angeles this summer! While we are sad its no longer able to be conducted in Aromas, CA it’s somewhat exciting to think it’s going to be in a bigger venue (Los Angeles Home Depot Center), with more amazing athletes than ever, and webcast live for all to see. We will be going down in July to watch and can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. Who’s up for going to the Games?

Announcing the 2010 CrossFit Games! [wmv] [mov]

Notes:

Cinco De Mayo race registration closed today and we have a great number of SRCF members among those who registered for the 1/2 and the 8k race this Saturday. We will plan the WOD’s Thursday and Friday accordingly.

Hard-Core

Strength WOD:

Deadlift

5/4/3/2/1/1/1

* Work up to 1RM (1 Rep Max)

Tons of PR’s today in the house!

Check Out WOD Immediately After:

5 Rounds for Time:
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Supermans
10 Ring Rows

Results

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Synchronized Ring Rows with Steph and Mariela:

Scaled Superwoman for Prego’s:

Core work today! Not “Abs of Steel” but a solid WOD with an emphasis on the hollow position, and instruction on the Hollow Rock, Superman and Ring Row. All important movements and when linked together are good for the abs and core stabilizers. These will be worked more often along with ring supports, L-sits and tuck holds, planks, bar hangs, kipping and other fun things to get those six packs working. Oh and Shoot-Throughs!

Also Jana had a couple great ideas for our next challenge(s) that we will start in a couple weeks; the first being “Sit-up Challenge”. Stay tuned!

Notes:

Go watch “Ring Dip Standards” from CrossFit.com [wmv] [mov]

This will be the preferred method for RX. Shoulder below elbow, hip travel legit. Kipping is okay but you better have the strict ring dip in your toolbox before you pull out the kip. Practice pre or post WOD.

If you are planning to attend the 2010 CF Games Northwest Regionals on May 15-16th In Puyallup and want to volunteer along with Rona, Rob and Sangeeta go sign up here.

Team Squatch

The trials are over and its time to announce the Affiliate Cup Team for the Regionals in May and stats for those who were able to complete tryouts this past week. Without further ado, here are the results below.

The 3 men and 3 women that will make up our team are Mark B., Pat and Jeremy D. and Michelle, Moe, and Kim D.

These selections were based on the final rankings and scoring per the original announcement earlier.

Points breakdown are as follows:

I chose these WOD’s for specific reasons:

1) Based on broad and inclusive fitness that cover the ten components of fitness as defined by CrossFit

2) Needed to cover basic movements that at a minimum can be reasonably expected to be tested in a Regionals Team Competition

3) Needed to focus on the four main areas most CF Games Events have been including: strength (The Bear), met con (Christine), short duration basic skills (Baseline), and movements that are typically added to increase difficulty (The Advanced Skills Test). Rather than test 5-10 WOD’s which were logistically a nightmare I felt the advanced skills test and Baseline most covered the movements we should expect to encounter.

4) Rather than pick one lift (press, deadlift, etc.) and work up to a max, it was more fair to pick a WOD like the Bear that you determine the load as well as be required to know and perform multiple barbell movements. The more weight you can do is not only strength but reliant on efficiency of technique. Strength workouts like this are a much better test to me of what level of fitness and technique someone has over just pulling a bar off the floor 1 time.

5) The WOD’s are not overly difficult. They are basic and to compete as a team we should have the ability to navigate these types of WOD’s and/or skills based on what 4 are completing that workout. This allowed me to see where individually we are and what we need to train as a team for the next several weekends.

My plan is in addition to competing individually at the NW Regionals I will serve as your Team Coach and do my best to help you all in between my events and the Team events. From strategy to rest to pep talks I’ll do my best to be out there with you all. Let’s represent SRCF together!

I hope this has been fun for everyone and continues to be so. I want everyone who participated to know you are all Team Squatch! All of you have trained hard, stayed consistent, and reached new PR’s and levels. Your coaches are stoked for everyone and amazed at how far some have come, how all have raised their game and pushed each other, and how this team has bonded.

To everyone and anyone interested in competitions, remember we are a young box with many who are very new to CrossFit. Next years Games and competitions will be here faster than you think! There will be plenty of opportunity to train and improve your skills in the coming year so continue to stay sharp and know that next year we plan to field another team, as well as bring more to Sectionals or whatever the competition may be.

"Mauled By A Bear"

“Bear Complex”

Perform 5 rounds of 7 sets (complexes) of the following sequence:

Power Clean

Front Squat

Push Press

Back Squat

Push Press

Rules:

Bar must touch the ground each sequence but cannot rest on the ground or it terminates the set.
Goal is to increase loads each round to complete “The Bear” with max load.
Rest as needed between sets.
No re-grip allowed.
You must power clean the bar to full standing position before squatting the weight. (Deadlift to Hang Power Clean) is allowed.

Results

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Shhhhh, the Bears are sleeping. Crap they are awake!

Teamwork with John and Eli:

Complexes are oh so fun. They are a great opportunity to practice form and technique, and also reward efficient movement. The more efficient the technique means a heavier load, a faster time, and the ability to do more work. The Bear Complex is both a strength and a conditioning workout. It’s designed to give you a cardio effect while also pushing you to raise the load with each round if you can. It becomes a mental challenge and as your body screams to put the bar down it’s up to you to force yourself to hang on, get efficient, and push through the complex.

Something I failed to mention yesterday was the WOD’s this week are the ones that we are using to select the 6 who will make up our Affiliate Team for the CF Games Regional Qualifiers on May 15-16th. The Advanced Skills Test (from Sat.), Baseline (Mon.), the “Bear” and tomorrow’s WOD will be used to rank those trying out in terms of finish and the top 6 overall will make the team. The makeup of the team will be 3 men and 3 women. We picked these WOD’s because we felt they fairly represented both basic and advanced movements that are most likely required to participate in team workouts. No matter what we are proud of all who came out, threw their names in the hat and trained hard these past few months. We will announce the team once it’s set.

Coaching Tip: The Behind the Neck Push Jerk

Note how Moe completes the back squat and before moving to the push press/jerk she repositions both her stance and grip. This is the first step in being efficient. She then dips vertically and drives upward with both a push press and extension of the hips to drive the bar upward. As the hips open the bars travels up. She instantly begins to pull under the bar while simultaneously completing the press and locking out overhead (more jerk than push press as the load is heavy). As she lands under the bar locked out she finishes the rep by standing tall before lowering the bar (not pictured).

Notes:

The Snoqualmie Cinco De Mayo 8k and 1/2 Marathon on May 1st is fast approaching. Sign up in the box and join the rest of your fellow Squatches for a great run next month. Everyone’s doing it, why not you?

"The Road to RX Challenge"

Mark and his “Jumpless Burpee”! Crazy mad skills!

Advanced Skills Test (WOD is untimed: Pass/Fail each event):

5 Front Squats 155/105 lbs
5 Overhead Squats 95/65 lbs
5 Deadlifts 225/135 lbs
5 Kettlebell Swings 70/53 lbs
3 Thrusters 135/95 lbs
15 10ft Wall Balls 20/14 lbs
5 Squat Cleans 135/95 lbs
5 Push Jerks 135/95 lbs
3 Squat Snatches 135/95 lbs
5 Presses 95/65 lbs
5 Push Presses 135/95 lbs
5 Sumo Deadlift High-pulls 95/65 lbs

3 Chest-to-Bar Pull-up
5 Ring Push-ups
10 Kipping pull-ups
5 Pull-ups – Strict
1 Rope Climb 15′

3 L Pull-ups

3 Muscle-Up
25 Push-ups

5 Slapping Chest Push-ups
10 Bar Dips

5 Ring Dips
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 Burpees w/ 6″ Jump
10 GHD Sit-ups (touch floor and then post at top)
10 Ring Knees-to-Elbows
10 Rebounding Box Jump 24″/20″ (Feet on box, open hip)
3 Pistol – right legs (Ankle Depth)
3 Pistol – left legs (Ankle Depth)

10 Consecutive Double-Unders (No singles)

* All reps unbroken and no rest except barbell movements and wall ball which require hands on bar/ball or to remain in rack position. For consecutive wall balls, ball must touch over 10 ft. line or no go, drop = fail

** Movement standards reviewed in box, full hip crease below parallel, full hip extension at top of all squat movements

*** Full lockout with ears in front of arms at top of pressing movements

**** Ring movements require turnout at top or lockout and turnout at bottom for MU

***** Push-ups require shoulder below elbow, pull-ups require chin over bar

Standard Skills Test (WOD is untimed: Pass/Fail each event):

3 Front Squats 95/65 lbs
3 Overhead Squats 75/55 lbs
3 Deadlifts 185/115 lbs
5 Kettlebell Swings 53/35 lbs
3 Thrusters 95/65 lbs
10 9ft/10ft Wall Balls 20/14 lbs
3 Squat Cleans 95/65 lbs
3 Push Jerks 95/65 lbs
3 Squat Snatches 75/55 lbs
3 Presses 75/55 lbs
3 Push Presses 95/65 lbs
3 Sumo Deadlift High-pulls 95/65 lbs
3 Ring Push-ups
5 Kipping pull-ups
3 Pull-ups – Strict
1 Rope Climb 10′

1 Muscle-Up
10 Push-ups
3 Bar Dips
2 Handstand Push-ups (Floor for M; 1 AbMAt for W)
7 Burpees
10 Weighted Sit-ups 45/25 lbs
7 Knees-to-Elbows
5 Box Jump 24″/20″ (Feet on box, can rest between reps if needed)
2 Pistol – right legs (Med Ball Target)
2 Pistol – left legs (Med Ball Target)

7 Double-Unders (Singles between DU’s allowed)

* No rest on barbell movements and wall ball which require hands on bar/ball or to remain in rack position. For consecutive wall balls, ball must touch over line or no go, drop = fail

** Movement standards reviewed in box, full hip crease below parallel, full hip extension at top of all squat movements

*** Full lockout with ears in front of arms at top of pressing movements

**** MU does not require turnout, cannot be a jumping MU

***** Push-ups require shoulder below elbow, pull-ups require chin over bar (rest between reps allowed)

Many of you wanted to have another challenge. Well today was one. It was a challenge to see where you are with several basic, intermediate and advanced skills. The key word is skills. I emphasized skills because these require just that; skill. You cannot simply be “in shape” or a fast mover and expect to be able to do these. Inspired by CF Oahu’s similar RX Challenge; these WOD’s (both the standard and advanced) were intended by us to test the skill movements and loads that are fairly common in the majority of CrossFit programming. The exercises picked represent Olympic Lifting, basic barbell strength lifts, gymnastics skills and bodyweight skills, movements that demand core strength and coordination, and the generation of power through explosive hip drive. We substituted a few exercises in, switched loads, and after careful consideration kept or modified the standards for which reps would count. Could they have been heavier or harder? Sure. However these are the common ones that when combined with cardiorespiratory endurance exercises form the basic workout of the day that is as RX’d (Prescribed). Some may have seemed easy to you but remember how difficult these skills were after only a month or two into CrossFit?

This test also helped us on a few other fronts, all of them centering around assessing how you are progressing as athletes and what we need to progress and focus on as your coaches. Most importantly it should have helped you identify what specific areas are your strengths and what areas are your weaknesses. You get fitter by training your weaknesses and maintaining your strengths. If everyone was a disaster on the barbell lifts that would reflect on us. If no one could get a specific exercise then shame on us as well. If you were all outstanding across an exercise or a particular domain than that would help highlight what we have done right.

This also helped us begin the process of selecting who will be on our Affiliate team, “Team Squatch” for the CF Games Regional Affiliate Cup Qualifier on May 15-16th in Puyallup. There will be 30+ teams vying for 6 spots to advance to the CF Games in July. Our goal is to field a team from those who have been actively training together that is best equipped and able to accomplish any WOD that is required as a team. We cannot afford to scale, so having a team that is most well rounded across the general and advanced skill-set of CrossFit and fitness is pretty important.

So how did it go? Overall we could not have been anymore stoked with the progress all of you have made. It was so satisfying to see 20 people (Michelle and I included) buzz our way through the skills today with more “pass” than “fail” scores. Many areas showed broad improvements from those first days of Elements to where we all are now. Today helped serve as a focused coaching opportunity to remind you all about good form, proper movement standards and efficiency of technique. It was also an incredible opportunity to sit back a moment and realize we have a bunch of men and women doing pull-ups and climbing ropes, lifting heavy stuff, throwing and swinging heavy objects, sprinting with sandbags, and jumping rope like Rocky training for a fight with Clubber Lang. That’s fitness!

We hope you had fun, we will do this one again. If you need your results we have the scoresheets in the box and can make you a copy for your logbooks or BTWB.

Post Skills Challenge there was a little fish tournament. While Jeremy may have won it doesn’t say much that he beat 5 year old Maya who racked up a mighty impressive 700+ points! If all else fails, Maya will make the team!

Results

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"Bionic"

5 Rounds for time:

6 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (95#/65#)
6 Burpees
6 Front Squat (95#/65#)
6 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
6 Hang Power Snatch (95#/65#)

Results

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Jason gutting it out:

Burpees done right:

This WOD came from Jogo Gym (CrossFit Bellingham) and was one workout that was used in their throw-down last year for local athletes who were prepping for the 2009 CF Games Regionals. I remember later trying it along with Michelle and it literally floored us. So this year we figured in the spirit of the Games we would bring it out. Speaking of the Games, we are officially in the next phase of the road to the CrossFit Games. All of the Sectionals are now complete worldwide and the next step is the Regional Competitions where over 1350 men and women will battle it out to send 90 finalists to the CrossFit Games Finals in July to crown the “World’s Fittest Man and Woman”.

Read more about the next phase along with some interesting stats at “Congratulations Athletes” from the CrossFit Games site.

Now to give a huge high five to Rona for her 1st rope climb tonight after the WOD. She was feeling “Bionic” and climbed right up! The sky is literally the limit for you!

Notes:

Welcome back to Jeff who is back in the box after a little time off. Nice to have you in here and remember to take it one WOD at a time.

This Thursday is “ladies night out” at Ana’s. See Lorri, Michelle or Moe for more details if interested.

From CrossFit.com: “Trainers vs. Trainers” from the Second Annual Certification Staff Trainer Summit [wmv] [mov]