9am Affiliate Team
10am Class: 1st 8 total post to comments for sign-up. (Bridget and Mark are #1-2)
11am Class: post to comments for sign-up.
Come workout or the Terminator will come get you:
Category: Movable Type
On To The Next Round
As Many Rounds As Possible In 20 Minutes For Time:
400m Run
10 Ring Dips
10 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
10 AbMat Sit-ups
Results
Nan running it in:
Epic race today! Rob S. and Jeremy D. going at it for round after round. These two didn’t stop:
Notes:
My apologies to messing up Kim’s scaling on the Whiteboard, she did assisted ring dips with feet on the box, not hands on the box.
Welcome to Warren and Sashank who started Elements Parts 1 and 2 this week! 2 down, one to go!
Watch “Insulin and Bodyweight” preview with Dr. Scott Connelly and Coach Greg Glassman for a very thought provoking discussion [wmv] [mov]
"Christine"
3 Rounds for time:
500m Row
12 Deadlift (Bodyweight)
21 Box Jump (24″/20″)
Results
What was worse? The row, the deads, or the box jump? Consensus: The Box Jump. No wonder this old benchmark has a name. It has since been modified by most to make the men’s box jump the 24″ height, which I think is more fair (outside of Fight Gone Bad which is 20″ across the board). Nothing like rowing and deadlifts to remove your ability to jump. Great job on all the PR’s from the previous time we did this one.
Christine with Pat Barber from 2007 on crossfit.com [wmv] [mov]
The box jump seems obvious, intuitive, a no brainer. However the key to the box jump as RX’d is a series of movements.
- Explosively jump, using your arms to build momentum.
- Land on the top of the box (in our gym ideally you land with at least half your foot on the top of the box; not toes on edge)
- Jump or step off with full hip extension or “open hip” as you jump off. If you step down ensure you first stand up on the top.
- Hip should open above or at least level with the top of the box.
- As you hit the ground rebound back into the next box jump.
Kim and the box jump:
The jump that doesn’t open at the hip as you come off the box or has a closed hip and opens below the top of the box is not ideal. Stepping down is fine, just less power output than rebounding. Stepping up is also not preferred unless you are scaling or working on moving towards jumping or moving up in height. While the work is the same to step (moving your mass up to the same distance or height of the box), it does not ideally achieve the purpose of training with the box jump. The movement is designed to teach hip extension. Powerful hip extension. This is something that is leveraged in so much of what we do (clean, snatch, squat, push press and jerk, wall ball, kipping pull-up, muscle-up, deadlift, kettlebell swing, etc.); and leads to better fitness and athleticism and efficiency of technique in any sport or activity we participate in.
"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
Shhhhh, the Bears are sleeping. Crap they are awake!
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).
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?
"Baseline"
2 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
40 Squats
30 Sit-ups
20 Push-ups
10 Pull-ups
Post “Baseline” Optional Strength:
5/5/5 Shoulder Press
Results
“The Zohan” AKA Mark B. AKA Speed Racer vs. Racer X AKA Rob:
Time to update the Leader Board! Today was not only a day of PR’s across the board (as everyone improved in either time, level of scaling, or both) it was a day to set a new “Baseline”. What better way after wrapping up the Paleo/Zone Nutrition Challenge than to kick it off with a re-test of the first WOD everyone does when they complete Elements. The last time we did this as a gym was back in November. We will do this periodically to serve as a great gauge of fitness level and to compare and track against our previous performance. While the majority will run, a few do a 500m row each round because that is what they did the first time they started. This WOD looks easy, however when done for time it is an eye-opener. Or a potentially even a bucket filler.
Jeremy lending Travis a helping bucket:
The morning class featured a battle worthy of Ali vs. Foreman or at least Speed Racer vs. Racer X. Mark B. and Rob ran, squatted, pushed and pulled their way to the end where every second counted. They crushed the time on this and set a whole new standard for the box and themselves as the first two to get this in sub 7 minutes. I was lucky to get the opportunity to work out with the late class and take on the challenge of chasing their times. Literally.
Notes:
Great googly-moogly! Congrats to Jim C. for his 100th WOD, and also to Adriana and Deb who reached their 1 year anniversary since they started as Michelle’s first garage clients. Congrats also to Jana who did Baseline as Rx’d only a week after getting her first pull-up!
Go watch: “Why Do I CrossFit?” with Ben Lunak; a CrossFit Journal Preview [wmv] [mov]
Then practice stringing those double-unders together…
Skinny Dip
Did cavemen eat real foods or did they eat this stuff?
“Paleo/Zone Diet: So easy even a caveman can do it.”
The “Skinny Dip” was yesterday and also marked the end of the Paleo/Zone Nutrition Challenge that we started 7 weeks ago in February (Skinny Dip was the Body Fat Truck Measurement Re-Test). Time flies when you are cutting refined and processed carbs! Click the link above for the rules as posted back in February for reference. The top male and female winner are based on biggest % change in body fat composition. After realizing the hand-held body fat analyzer we used in the gym (for those who didn’t take a dunk) has a wide range of variance (some people’s results were very inconsistent when compared with the dunk tank and some were right on); we decided we could not include the few who used it in the chance to win the pot. However, for the “runner-up” everyone was included since we stated the runner-up would be chosen by your coaches based on “who made the biggest physical change in appearance based on before and after photos”. It just so happens the runner-up not only made the biggest physical change but lost the most weight overall! She also used the hand-held which we think under-represented her change in % body fat composition.
Before we announce the winners, here are some stats from the past 7 weeks of our challenge.
- 23 started the challenge
- 12 saw it through to the end
- Of the 12 who weighed in and measured at the start and end, the total weight lost was 105.8 lbs.
- Average body fat % lost per person was 3.18% for those who used the Body Fat Truck
- Average weight lost per person was 8.8 lbs
- 5 people lost more than 10 lbs. each in 7 weeks
- Since the start of the challenge Jana has had to have her wedding dress altered twice to make it smaller
- Bonnie has participated in both of our Nutrition Challenges and been a CrossFitter since September ’09 and has lost over 50 lbs!
And the winners are…
Top male % body fat change is a 2 way tie:
Rob S. at 3.7% (6 lbs. lost)
Jim M. at 3.7% (12.6 lbs. lost)
Top female % body fat change is:
Rona at 4.3% (10.6 lbs. lost)
Winners will split the pot and also get a paid 1 year CrossFit Journal Subscription from SRCF!
Runner-up:
Rachel who lost 14.7 lbs.
Rachel completed Elements in February with her husband Greg and both of them signed up for the Nutrition Challenge almost right away. They switched to a hardcore Paleo/Zone diet and have been fitting in CF 2-3 times a week. She has made drastic changes in only 7 weeks in both her physical fitness level and overall appearance and Greg has lost 10 lbs. during the challenge. Both have gotten stronger and significantly fitter. We are stoked for them both!
Rachel wins a SnoRidge CF T-Shirt and a paid visit by SRCF to the Body Fat Truck for your next test!
Congrats to our winners Rona, Rachel, Rob and Jim, as well as to everyone who entered and all who saw it through. We highly encourage you to stick with the changes you made and to think back to the Nutrition Discussion we held with Todd Widman to kick this thing off. As he said, “you train an average of 1 hour a day (or less). You have 23 hours to screw it all up!” So remember to eat right, train right, recover right and take care of yourself!
The next Box Challenge is to continue to make the nutrition changes a lifestyle habit. We will coordinate to have the Body Fat Test Truck come back in the summer.
Mad props to Fran and Kim who got their first rope climbs yesterday:
Congrats to Laura who earned her 100th WOD T Shirt this week:
"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
Rowing for Dummies
* Not you all, the dumbbells!
For Time:
21 Dumbbell Push Press (40#/25#)
500m Row
18 Dumbbell Push Press
500m Row
15 Dumbbell Push Press
500m Row
Results
Couples Retreat on the Rowers:
Tough week of sledding for all. If your hamstrings aren’t sore it means you didn’t get in the box! Today was a quick push-pull that still left you on the floor when all was said and done.
Come in Saturday for the 10am and 11am and give your best at the SRCF “Road to RX” Challenge. This will be fun! For those who want to see what skills they have in their toolbox and which ones are still under construction we will have a WOD that will be pass/fail; go or no-go. There will be an Advanced Skills Challenge WOD (that is mandatory for the Affiliate Team) and a Standard Skills Challenge WOD. These are based on CrossFit Oahu’s RX Test (posted the other day) but modified to what we want to test and emphasize. Certain skills were removed, some added, some modified. Details will be reviewed along with standards. You will get a judge and be broken into groups. If you elect to not do the challenge that is totally okay. The rowers are available and will be set up for a nice 5k row.
Notes:
Congrats to Judi who completed Elements this week and will be a regular at the 6am class!
Saturday is “Skinny Dip” day. Or with the recent snow and cold maybe it’s more like a “Polar Bear plunge”. Come in and get dunked to see what your body fat composition is. Bring your suit and towel! Cost is $49 for 1st time test and $35 for a re-test. For those who have stuck with the Paleo/Zone Nutrition Challenge this is the check in to see how much your 7 weeks of discipline and consistency have paid off. We can see the difference in so many of you and it’s so great to watch the transformations that have occurred.
Fire In The Hole
Strength WOD:
Front Squat
1/1/1/1/1/1/1
* Work up to 1RM (1 Rep Max)
Check Out WOD Immediately After:
As Many Rounds As Possible in 10 minutes of:
10 Front Squat (95#/65#)
10 Ring Dips
10 Double-Unders
Results
The key to the Front Squat, get your butt back and get down in the hole. Learn to fire out of it with your chest up, leading with your elbows. Weight should always be on the heels with the elbows high.
Quote from Chris Spealler (one of the top elite CrossFitters) Q: “So how do you train the mental aspect?” A: “You just go THERE.”
So what does “going there” mean? Rather than having me try to explain it go read what Kallista Pappas wrote on the topic. This is perfectly stated. We all need to learn how to go THERE. Oh and in case you are wondering, her poster is the one framed in the box. The one that says you just got schooled by a 14 year old girl.
Coaching Tip:
Full range of motion on a ring dip means the shoulder drops below the top of the elbow joint (As Ryan shows below) and then locks out at the top:
Notes:
Reminder for the Saturday BodyFat Test. The truck will be here at 7am to 12pm and you will need to sign up in the box for a slot. You’ll need your swimsuit and cost is $35 if it’s a re-test and $49 for 1st time. I would encourage you to get it measured. Make it your baseline if you are new or your yardstick for seeing how you have done if you kept up with the Paleo/Zone Nutrition Challenge. Saturday class for 10am and 11am will be open and we won’t try sign-ups this week. Just to stay constantly varied (actually because so many are on vacation).
Hill-acious
8 Rounds for time:
100m Hill Sprints (rest on return to starting line)
Then For Time:
100 Pull-ups
Results
Hill-acious Sprints:
Recover:
According to Urban Dictionary “Hellacious” is defined as: “an adjective used to describe something horribly bad. Or extremely bad, unpleasant, horrible. Or to emphasize intensity of something.”
My favorite though? “Something so wickedly awesome that you can’t think of any other word to say but hellacious.” I would describe sprinting up the hill as hill-acious. Wickedly awesome yet horribly bad at the same time. Perfect for a WOD. We will have to mix it up with a sandbag sometime. That sounds hellacious too.
Coaching Tip: Butterfly pull-ups are a circular motion pull-up that requires a faster cycle time, harder pull, and immense coordination when compared to the normal dead-hang pull up or even the basic kipping pull-up. Note that the legs are already behind the body when the arms are extended as you “fall” or slide past the bar. As you hit the bottom of the hang the feet fire forward while simultaneously pulling up into the circular motion on the bar. This means a faster (yet tougher) pull-up. The faster the cycle time the greater the power output.
Watching Mark B. do Butterfly Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups makes me wonder how fast he could do 100 chin-to-bar pull-ups. Amazing!
