Community. Coaching. Caring.
“Thank you for registering for the 2010 CrossFit Games Northwest Regional.”
SnoRidge CrossFit is now registered for the Affiliate Cup Qualifiers at the Northwest Regionals in May. All that’s left before then are Individual Sectionals in Feb., more training, and then tryouts!!!
For time:
1 Mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 Mile Run
* If you have a 20# Vest or Body Armor wear it
or
“Team Murph”
Partner up and alternate exercises for time:
1 Mile Run
100 Pull-ups
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 Mile Run
* Run 1/2 mile each with partner and alternate exercises
Results
Jim M. and Ryan knocking out full “Murph”:
From CrossFit.com: “Murph” is dedicated to Navy SEAL LT Michael Murphy, 29 of New York, who was killed in Afghanistan in June of 2005. This workout was one of his favorites and he’d named it “Body Armor”. It is referred to as “Murph” in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more than to serve his country and the people who make it what it is.
He is a Medal of Honor recipient. Read the link above for the harrowing account of his heroic actions.
The 9am crew decided on this WOD over “Badger”. We took a vote, and the overwhelming majority wanted a bodyweight benchmark over a barbell benchmark. We will just have to save Badger for another day. In the early WOD the Affiliate Team ripped through this one and Travis and Pat just blew the doors off the box. Both of them came in at a smoking 35 plus and 36 plus minutes respectively. Everyone else did great at one of the toughest “grind it out” kind of WOD’s in CrossFit. What really stood out over everyone who either tackled it on their own or paired with a teammate was that Jim and Ryan showed up by themselves for the 11am class and decided to both go for the full version. Pushing, encouraging and nudging each other on, they both completed it fully RX’d and at a great pace. Even more impressive, this was Ryan’s first WOD other than his Baseline workout as he is still in the process of completing Elements. Could you imagine your third visit to the box and we ask you to do “Murph”? Two small callous tears, kipping pull-ups learned on the fly, and one ripped off shirt later and Ryan’s now a CrossFitter through and through. Totally inspiring to watch.
For all of you who came today for “Murph and Team Murph”; give yourself a pat on the back, raise a glass and toast each other (eye to eye) to a pretty impressive feat. You all worked your butts off.
Notes:
Nutrition Discussion will be on Friday 2/12 at 6:30pm with Todd Widman, who is a CFHQ Staff Trainer and certification instructor. He will focus on a very practical discussion of the application of a clean diet (Paleo and Zone) and the role proper nutrition plays in performance, recovery, CrossFit, and life. We highly encourage you to come regardless of whether or not you plan to participate in the Paleo Challenge (starts Sat.). This benefits anyone who cares about what they should eat and how it can help your performance as an athlete.
Post to comments if you plan to attend the Nutrition Discussion.
Strength WOD:
Press
5/4/3/2/1/1/1
Checkout:
3 Rounds for time of:
30 Double-Unders
15 Ring Push-ups
Results
Press: (noun) a lift in weightlifting, in which the weight is raised to shoulder height and then steadily extended to a position above the head without use of the legs.
or (verb) a) to try hard to persuade or exert influence on. b) to insist on or request urgently.
Which one described your press attempts today? For me it was both. It started as a weightlifting movement as defined above. It quickly became the latter as I persuaded, insisted, no requested urgently to get the bar overhead! The removal of the legs to generate power to push the load overhead is a quick eye opener to your relative strength. It shows why you become more efficient as you engage your legs and hips, and also quickly demonstrates how getting stronger in the press will make getting heavier loads over your head easier and faster with lifts like the push press, jerk, snatch. As you find your 1RM you will realize that 5 pounds is a big difference from one attempt to the next. Many of us tried to push, then persuade, then request that bar to move up. Some stared at it to no avail as it hovered at the eyes. Others tried to “duck” their head around it (didn’t work), and one even managed to push one arm up at a time (not recommended)! The Press equals raw strength. You either get it or you don’t.
Notes:
We are stoked to announce that our next Paleo Challenge will kick-off on Friday 2/12 at 6:30pm with a nutrition discussion with Todd Widman, who is a CFHQ Staff Trainer and certification instructor. In addition to his duties traveling for CrossFit certs and judging events like the CF Games, Todd has also been on the CF Journal in the “Boz and Todd Show” (which travels to various boxes to film segments on coaching and motivational techniques) as well as different workout videos. He recently hosted a great nutrition lecture at Rainier CrossFit which I attended. It focused on a very practical discussion of the application of a clean diet and the role proper nutrition plays in performance, CrossFit, and life. We will do the same and this chat will offer good insights into paleo and Zone eating, the how to’s and why’s of eating cleaner, and how to manage it with our families, jobs and busy lifestyles.
If you have a CF Journal subscription, go here to watch a video on Todd going for a sub 1:20 500m row.
We will then start off the official 7 week Paleo Challenge after the Saturday morning class 2/13.
Early high level summary: We will have weigh-in’s, ‘before” and “after” pics (not to be shared), measurements, and establish a pot for those who want in. The pot will split between the top Male and top Female winner or “loser”. Weekly weigh-in’s will be required and food logs will need to be kept. This is only 7 weeks so everyone can do it! Winner will be determined based on change in body comp. We will base this on the successful challenges that CF Seattle has run. Stay tuned…
Last but not least; sign up for 10am Saturday class by posting to comments. First 8 get a slot otherwise please come at 11am. Affiliate Team training will be at 9am.
Every minute on the minute complete 10 Box Jumps then perform max reps of overhead squats for the remainder of the minute. Continue with this rep scheme each minute repeating box jumps and max OH Squats until you total 100 reps of overhead squats.
EMOM:
10 Box Jumps (24″/20″)
Max Rep Overhead Squat (75#/55#)
* If you cannot complete any OH Squats in a minute rest and continue with box jumps until you hit the 100 rep total.
Results
Nan and Pat praying to the CrossFit Gods yesterday for help in today’s WOD:
Quote of the day: Deb mid squat talking about her husband ~ “Oh my God I don’t want to look like Curtis!”
After today you may all want to throw me into a penalty box. This was our re-match from back in November and there were a bunch of PR’s today. Keep working on the form over loading up the weight. Full depth should be the goal first, then load. This movement is a core taxer. It also was the cross-box challenge with several local affiliates (Outer Edge CF, Local’s Gym, King CrossFit, Stoneway CF, CF Advantage, Foundation CF, and Rivertown CF). We picked the WOD this month so you can understand why I chose this! You can check results that will be posted to Facebook under the group “A Bunch of CF’ers” and I’ll post our average gym time here as well.
Bridget post Penalty Box:
Hey you rowers! Did you know Concept 2 has a dedicated section on their site for CrossFit and rowing? Click here for some useful info, demos, events and training videos.
Congrats to our friends from King CrossFit who made the CF.com main site today in a video from back in their garage days. They are now thriving in a big box in Renton. Time flies. [wmv] [mov]
As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 15 Minutes of:
15 Deadlift (135#/95#)
500m Row
Results
Quote of the day: “Concentrating this hard is really stressful!” ~ Vicki taking about her WOD today.
CrossFit forces a lot of concentration during the workout of the day. No matter what level you are at you must concentrate. You have to if you want to block out the pain or discomfort, to slow down the breathing and keep plugging away. Or when everything seems new, unfamiliar, uncoordinated, challenging and impossible in a “are you insane for making me do this” kind of way. You stand at a barbell, watching peripherally as bodies and weights fly around you and all you can think is “GO” while at the same time thinking “stance, butt down, chest up, hands here, head there…”. For some it becomes stressful. We understand that. Our advice? Slow down a second, remember the cues that work for you, and progress through them while blocking out everything else. Don’t worry about how many rounds or how much time has gone by, get that progression in your head, focus on technique and 3-2-1 go! As you become more advanced or more familiar with the movement pattern, your concentration will shift more towards replicating perfect reps, hitting a target number or going unbroken, consistent pacing, split times, managing your rest, and maintaining strategy. You may even decide to check on your competition to see if you are ahead or behind. Bottom line: If your workout is carefree, devoid of all concentration, and totally relaxed and pleasant I would argue it’s not a workout.
Today’s WOD was meant to be a heavier deadlift with fewer reps. It was supposed to be a repeat from a WOD we did back in November. Due to a mix-up by Household 6 (who I am thinking should be demoted to Household 5 or at least be given burpee de-merits), this version today listed a lighter deadlift and added reps. Whoopsie! Despite that It changed the workout in a positive way and made for more of a row/dl endurance workout combination. It averaged 2000 plus meters rowing along with high reps of lighter deadlifts at an appropriate load that meant more power.
Bonnie AKA “Pinkalicious” rowing:
Notes:
Speaking of power: Jeremy reported his 1st ever 400 yard drive on the golf course this past weekend; thanks to CrossFit (and maybe a little wind). Either way, you could put a hurricane behind me and I probably couldn’t drive it that far.
Registration forms are in the gym for signing up for the local Snoqualmie valley Cinco De Mayo 1/2 marathon and 8k on May 1st. Register in person here in the box and save $5 off either race. Let’s get a good presence out there and support this community run and fitness challenge! Make it your first 8k or first 1/2! Also don’t forget the Snoqualmie St. Patty’s Day 5k race is Mar. 13th!
Tomorrow is our monthly cross-box Affiliate Challenge. We called the WOD for this month and it’s a doozy (many will remember it). We will do this workout along with several other local boxes (Local’s Gym, Outer Edge CrossFit, King CrossFit, Stoneway CF, CF Advantage, Foundation CF, RiverTown CF). Show up and bring some intensity!
Celebrating Michelle’s 9th Annual 29th Birthday!
3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
9 Thrusters (115#/85#)
29 Burpees
37 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
Results
Tough WOD. Like all birthday WOD’s, just brutal. It could have been worse though! Wait a few more years until Michelle celebrates her 15th anniversary of her 29th birthday, which will equal more thrusters! Now that will be really bad…
Post WOD there was a little hula hoop competition/demonstration by Michelle and Curtis. The video ran out on Michelle’s attempt but I counted her at 20 revolutions. Then it was Curtis’s turn. Who knew he was a former Canadian luau dancer (besides Deb)?
Food for thought: For those wondering about nutrition and if you should focus on your diet as much as you focus on your workout, or your job, your family, your mind, and so on then just take a look at some of these links from LivingPaleo.com and decide for yourself:
Americans Wonder Why They Are Dying Sooner
Foods to Avoid On the Paleo Diet
There are a ton of resources out there that are packed with good, sensible information on nutrition. Read what you can, take what you want, decide what you are ready to give up, and get to eating cleaner and healthier. Your body truly is your engine, what you fuel it with is important. Putting in the wrong fuels over time has long-lasting and harmful impacts that not only effect your workout, they effect your life. We are going to start another Paleo Challenge soon. Read here for insights into how it will work this time around. We will follow something similar to the approach that Level 4 / CrossFit Seattle used for their recent challenge but of course reserve the right to tweak things as needed.
Notes:
Parents, we need your help! Please ask your little ones to help clean the Squatch Cave before you leave. It helps avoid the end of day collective disaster that appears after several classes and the little Squatches have their way with the toys.
3 Rounds for time:
400m Run
Max Rep Squat Cleans (95#/65#)
Partner up and go “head to head” at squat cleans. Most reps after 3 rounds wins. Run fast so you can out-do your partner!
Rules:
One runs 400m while one performs max reps.
Switch after each run.
Full squat clean, bar must touch ground each rep.
Results
This WOD was fun yet really tough. Dueling someone else head on makes those runs a little more meaningful. It really didn’t matter who ran first as you were equally taxed the minute you began the opposite exercise. For those who went solo matching your run time to your squat clean time made a unique twist as you were racing yourself.
This afternoon 11 of us (Moe was sick, get well soon!) went to Thrush Sports Performance Center for some outstanding Olympic Lifting coaching and instruction. Three coaches worked with our group for 2 hours to review the snatch (hang, power, and full), the clean (hang, power, and squat), and the jerk (push, split). Numerous pointers, cues, demos, and general practice under the watchful eyes of some very accomplished Olympic Lifters was invaluable. Each of us benefited in many ways which undoubtedly will lead to better technique, focus and movement. The corrections I received keep spinning in my head and make me want to set up a bar and get to work! We will likely plan another one of these sessions down the road. For those who went, we would love to hear your thoughts and impressions and for you to share with the rest of the SRCF gang. Big thanks go to Jeremy for hauling us all down in his killer RV “the Squatch Mobile” as well as to Jim for taking some great pics which I’ll post tomorrow.
Riding in style:
Team Shot:
For time:
100 Burpees
Rest, then complete for time:
100 AbMat Sit-ups
Results
DAY 50 OF THE BURPEE CHALLENGE! Congrats and gold stars to all who completed it!
Farewell! Sayonara! Arrivederci! Adios! Goodbye burpees.
(At least until next week or so).
Congrats goes out to the 11 who stuck with it all the way to the end (in red in the results pic). Many started, some left early, some left late. In hindsight, was it really that hard? 50 consecutive days of burpees not only improved form and discipline, it was a good supplemental workout. In fact anyone who participated got that benefit, regardless of how far you got. If I left out anyone in the results pic please post to comments.
Notes:
Rob completed elements tonight and will be joining us soon.
There is no Affiliate team training WOD on Saturday morning since all of you (plus Mike) are going to the Olympic Lifting coaching session at Thrush Sports Performance Center from 3:30 to 5pm in Sumner. We have Travis, Curtis, Jeremy, Pat, Jim C., Lorri, Lucy, Sherry, Moe, Mike, Michelle and I attending. We will meet up at the gym at 2:30pm on Saturday. Jeremy will drive us down in his RV or you can follow us. He will have the NFL Playoffs on while we drive!
Regular Saturday WOD will be per the normal 10am and 11am schedule.
Movement prep and warm-ups are vital to getting loose, getting ready and avoiding injury. Watch “Hip Prep” with Kelly Starrett from the CrossFit Journal for some great examples of getting ready to get to work. [wmv] [mov]
Question: Do you like the group led warm-ups and movement prep/stretch? More, less, or same? Post to comments.
Happy Birthday both to Sherry and Kristy! Today is a two-fer:
Complete 2 rounds of each couplet in order for time:
“Sherry Couplet”:
41 Wall Balls (20#/14#)
41 Double Unders
“Kristy Couplet”:
41 Thrusters (45#/33#)
41 Good Mornings (45#/33#)
Move through both rounds of one couplet before starting the next couplet. Post total time for all 4 rounds.
Results
Sherry and Kristy:
Quotes of the day:
So I took my own advice yesterday and took a rest day. Minus my burpees. It was a wise move. I feel ready to go tomorrow. Strange how that works huh? I am also kind of surprised at how many are out of the Burpee Challenge. For those still in it you have two days to go. Day 48 means you owe 48 of them.
Before I forget, Rob sent us an idea for new equipment. We are so excited to add these to the gym we are probably going to get rid of the barbells. This is strength training equipment; the flab busting breakthrough called ShakeWeight. Who needs anything else? I am already programming new WOD’s such as “ShakeWeight Gone Bad”, “Shake it Tabata Style”, and “Shake, Shake Your Booty.”
Notes:
We have a few open spots for Saturday’s Olympic Lifting Coaching session at Thrush Sports Performance Center from 3:30 to 5pm. Cost is $75 (payable to Thrush) and it will be 1 1/2 hrs. of instruction mainly on the clean, squat clean, jerk, split jerk, front squat. Post to comments if you want in and haven’t let us know yet.
The lululemon trunk show is in process of being organized. Tentatively plan in early February to have a ladies night at the gym to buy some junk for your trunk!
Burpees…then rest. Get going and do all 47 of them. Then post to comments if you are still in.
Jim C. has his own action figure. That is big time!
New challenge: Find another action figure for someone in the gym!
Today’s topic:
Overreaching vs. overtraining. It’s vital to understand what both are before you diagnose yourself incorrectly. It’s also vital to knowing what these are to proactively work on prevention so as to not impact your training and decrement your physical and mental work capacity. It’s all about progress and if you are not sure what these two terms are you can easily go from overreaching to inevitably overtraining. I say avoid it so you can be on the path for making PR’s and gains.
First the definitions:
Overreaching: An accumulation of training and/or non-training stress resulting in a short-term decrement in performance capacity with or without related physiological and psychological signs and symptoms of overtraining in which restoration of performance capacity may take from several days to several weeks.
Overtraining: An accumulation of training and/or non-training stress resulting in a long-term decrement in performance capacity with or without related physiological and psychological signs and symptoms of overtraining in which restoration of performance capacity may take from several weeks to several months.
Overreaching is okay, it can be dealt with, it can usually be mitigated with proper rest and recovery, proper training balance and recognizing and avoiding overtraining scenarios. It’s listening to your body. I would argue if you aren’t flirting with overreaching from time to time you won’t ever recognize your athletic potential. If you want peak performance, you have to push near that zone. It’s NOT the same though as coming into the gym and doing a couple intense workouts a week so you are sore and tired and doing little to nothing else. That is okay and that will put you on the path to progress, but combine it with some frequency, consistency and proper nutrition and you will watch the results come.
Overtraining is usually a combination over time of poor sleep, high volume training, very frequent high intensity workouts, poor nutrition (both sustained and pre and post WOD), using too much overload (way to high of a weight or rep count), and external mental and physiological stressors. The key is over time. You can cycle through periodization. Increasing training volume, type, intensity and load consistently and then tapering to properly recover prior to an event is smart and logical training methodology. It can lead to performance gains and new PR’s. Not resting properly as you go is not so smart.
Most people won’t experience this if their training volume is low to moderate. To make physiological progress you must play with progression, overload and recovery. Without repeatedly breaking down and building up your body for days, weeks, and months you will not make any necessary progress. However if you don’t factor in nutrition and rest then you are taking two steps back for each step forward. If you are feeling any of the following symptoms, then manage a rest day. Or two. Some prefer three days on, one day off with either little or very low intensity exercise on a rest day. Some do four on, one off, two on, one off. I recommend trying back to back days as a minimum. Make at least one of those rest days a true rest if you are going hard at it. Frequency, intensity, and consistency are keys to success, but balance is needed. Being sore isn’t a reason to not work out, feeling tired after a long day isn’t either, but feeling it consistently and being run down? Going on that 4th day and not “feeling it”? Take a rest.
Here are some symptoms of overtraining to look out for:
As Coach Glassman stated in this CF Journal article, the WOD is designed to tax the fittest of people. That is why we scale movement, load, quantity and intensity. It’s individually modified to fit you to measure your progress. Be smart and gain consistency before going like a junkyard dog with too much weight and poor form. As you improve your skill, technique and fitness level you will naturally amp up the intensity.
CrossFit works because it constantly drives physiological and neuromuscular adaptation, pushes your limits, forces you to not “go through the motions”. It mixes it up, keeps it fresh, and even exercises your mind. It makes exercise what it should be, tough yet fun. What sounds better? Hitting PR’s, learning and improving new skills, making gains, getting faster and stronger OR feeling lethargic, constantly fatigued, weaker, struggling constantly at not only learning new skills but improving on weaknesses, and increased risk of injury? The answer is obvious but overtraining is serious and something to be aware of. So be smart, have fun and know when to rest.
Enjoy that rest day, eat well, get some sleep, spend some time doing something else fun. Looks like I need my own advice! But first those burpees…
Notes:
Only 9 days into the new year and Rona achieved one of her 2010 Resolutions! Yesterday she performed 10 consecutive push-ups RX’d. Congratulations and we look forward to watching Rona (and the rest of you) cross off more and more! Here it is in her own words:
“I wanted to let you know that I got my first New Years resolution marked off my list. I did 10 push-up RX (on my toes) today. We finally had a workout that my arms weren’t jello afterward as I decided today was the day. I went form being able to do 3 push-ups on Jan 1st then 4, 5, 8 and today I made 10. The baby was asleep and no one else was home so I video taped it. I needed a record. I made Rob watch it when he got home. Sorry guys but you both are going to have to watch it too. :)”
Affiliate Cup Competition 2010 Update: Read the latest update on rules for the 2010 Affiliate Cup Qualifiers at the Regionals. The top 6 teams from our Northwest Regionals in May will be eligible to advance. Competition will be fierce. We will have our own selection process prior to Regionals that will be open only to our current Affiliate “Team Squatch” that is in training. We will choose 6 total athletes for the team. Details will be published later but rest assured it will be both an objective and subjective process that includes at least 6 WOD’s and some individual max effort/skill tests that cover all 10 components of fitness, as well as a subjective evaluation by your coaches.
