Rest and Remember

Rest day.

Rest

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Remember to take a moment and honor our fallen warriors and servicemen and servicewomen who died in military service. Regardless of belief, if you live in this country you owe your freedoms to their sacrifices. Fly the flag and remember that the national moment of remembrance is always at 3pm local time.

Thank you Curtis for providing the below info on local ceremonies:

Attend a Memorial Day service and presentation of the colors by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars. Snoqualmie Valley services are scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Preston Cemetery; 10 a.m. at the Fall City Cemetery; 11 a.m. at the North Bend Cemetery and noon at Mount Si High School.

For those wondering about the “Clock Whore vs. RX Whore” quote from the other day, take a look at the article from a post awhile back. 

Snatch It Up Pt. 2

As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 Minutes: 

12 Power Snatch (65#/45#) 
10 Push-ups

Results

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Quote of the day: Jim M. “Did you guys find a box in NYC?” Pat “Yeah we did… but we didn’t use it.”

Justin_Power Snatch Rona_Power Snatch 

Today was a mainsite WOD that we last programmed back in November. This is a great couplet that focuses on explosive power with the snatch and taxing the chest and arms with push-ups. A word on push-ups. Overall as a box we are getting better and better. Make sure you are going deep (elbow should be below the shoulder), locking out, and staying planked. When that is not consistent then either break and rest or scale.

Pat also made up “Karen” and smashed his previous time with a box record of 6:06. I counted and scored his reps (like we all did the other day) and only 4 reps were a no go. His time just had to be seen to realize how fast this is as his first 75 reps were unbroken. After that he, Rob and I went at it with “Griff” in a fun foot race.

Pat demolishing “Karen”:

Pat crushes

Video of the Power, Hang and Squat Snatch (Note that most of the video shows a full squat snatch):

   

Notes:

Congrats to Amanda for achieving her 100th WOD milestone! She earned her exclusive club T Shirt membership though plenty of sweat equity. Also welcome to Mary who just completed Elements with us this past week. We look forward to you joining everyone in some brutal fun.

Sunday WOD in the park at 0930: 

Tomorrow we are going to teach a free WOD in the park for lululemon athletica at Bellevue Square. Come and enjoy a nice outdoor WOD with Michelle, Moe and me on Sunday morning at 0930. Meet in the store a few minutes prior in the mall or you can go to the park across the street from Macy’s and look for the guy with the funny grin on his face standing in the field with sandbags and PVC sticks (me).

"Lumpy"

“Timothy Quinn Brenton was a Field Training Officer with the Seattle Police Department. Officer Brenton was tragically gunned down in the line of duty October 31st 2009. He was previously in the Gang Unit. He worked Third Watch his whole career for the citizens of Seattle. He leaves behind an 8 year-old son and an eleven year-old daughter, a wife, a brother, and a sister.”

3 Rounds for Time:

250m Row 
6 Power Clean (135#/85#)
6 Thruster (135#/85#)
9 Deadlift (135#/85#) 
9 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (135#/85#)

Results

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Today’s WOD was requested by Greg (also a police officer) to honor a friend and comrade from the Seattle PD who was killed in the line of duty in 2009. We intended to do this for National Police Week (May 9th-15th) but we missed programming it in. A tribute WOD is never a good thing and we are sad that this WOD exists. Thanks to Officer Brenton for his service. The rep scheme of 6699 symbolized the badge number of Officer Brenton. RIP “Lumpy”.

Don and Jeff honor “Lumpy”:

SDHP_Don and Jeff

Memorial Day Weekend Schedule: 

  • Saturday will be normal class schedule and the 10am class is full. If you didn’t sign up on the site you will need to expect to go in the second wave. 11am class is wide open.
  • Sunday closed
  • Monday schedule is: 0930 and 1100 class times only. We will honor those who served or paid the ultimate sacrifice by allowing you to choose a Hero WOD (out of three choices). The start times are to account for a potentially larger group and longer WOD times. The three Hero WOD’s you will have to choose from are: Jerry, McGhee, and Erin. See the link above for descriptions. Each one is different and challenging. 

"Karen"

For Time:

150 Wall Balls (20#/14#) 

Results

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Baller Fran Counting Nan

Benchmark day! Who loves wall balls? Congrats to all of you for pushing through a WOD that looks easy on paper and jumps up and bites you around 30 to 40 wall balls in. This WOD makes me nervous every time I do it. Each rep becomes harder and more painful. By 150 the legs and shoulders are on fire right there with the lungs. Even though it’s a short workout it is hard. Painfully hard. 

Full range of motion is key and not only hitting the target (10ft. for men and 9 ft. for women) is required but also fully squatting to ensure the hip crease drops below the knee. To help with that today we employed “peer coaching”. I even coached, I mean harassed Michelle through her shot at Karen. We like this because it allows each of us to have not only a counter and spotter, but also someone to help push you through when you want to rest or take a break. We all got to take turns as “judges” for each other and that builds a stronger gym. When each of us are accountable for what “right looks like” we are all better off for it. 

Karen

Coaching Tip: The Deadlift with Jenna – Maintain a lumbar curve and tight core, shoulders and hips rise together, shoulders in front with scapula over the bar, and weight in the heels.  The bar should rise straight up the shins as you stand. Fully open the hips at the top.

Deadlift _ Jenna Deadlift 2 _ Jenna

Notes:

Jessica Pamanian’s (2nd Place finish overall) inspiring 170lb x 3 Clean and Jerk at the Northeast Regionals by CrossFit Again Faster – video [wmv] [mov]

Memorial Day Weekend Schedule: 

  • Saturday will be normal class schedule and the first 8 who sign up for 10am get priority (Right now only 2 spots left!)
  • Sunday closed
  • Monday schedule is: 0930 and 1100 class times only. We will honor those who served or paid the ultimate sacrifice by allowing you to choose a Hero WOD (out of three choices). The start times are to account for a potentially larger group and longer WOD times. Each Hero WOD will be something different and likely not one we have done previously. We will publish them on Saturday or Sunday to allow you to pick.

Mark and Jeremy decided today would be the day where they wake up, call each other to coordinate outfits, and then do the same WOD. That would be the “Chipper of Doom” AKA the last WOD from the Northwest Regionals that included epic climbs and falls. Pics follow:

   

Hang It Up

Strength WOD:

Hang Power Clean
3/3/3/3/3

Checkout WOD:

3 Rounds for Time:

10 Hang Power Clean (95#/65#) 
15 Push Ups 
20 Box Jumps (24″/20″)

Results

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View this photo 

Box Jump Fun

Jedi’s in Training practice using the Force:

Eli Jedi training Rob Jedi training

Memorial Day Weekend Schedule: 

  • Saturday will be normal class schedule and the first 8 who sign up for 10am get priority
  • Sunday closed
  • Monday schedule is: 0930 and 1100 class times only. We will honor those who served or paid the ultimate sacrifice by choosing a Hero WOD (out of three choices). The start times are to account for potentially larger group and longer WOD times.

Here’s a Men’s Journal article that details a couple’s preparations and gear for a 151 mile adventure race down in Australia. Scroll past all the gear they used to see how they trained (CrossFit endurance) and how they ate (Paleo Diet for Athletes) and drank (Coconut water). 

Also this month’s Men’s Fitness has a two page article on CrossFit and the editor’s experience with realizing how powerful it is and fully drinking the Kool-Aid. In the same issue however I learned that I should always work Chest/Tri’s and Shoulders together, followed by back/bi’s, and legs separately. I also should do “cardio” 4 times per week for best results! That honestly makes two pages out of the entire magazine worth reading…

Laura training for her stair climbing challenge she plans to win this summer:

Laura_Stair Training - 1 Laura_Stair Training - 3


Laura_Stair Training - 5 Laura_Stair Training - 6
Laura_Stair Training - 8 Laura_Stair Training - 9

Swing My Bell

With a continuously running clock perform 2 kettlebell swings (53#/35#) the first minute, 4 kettlebell swings the second minute, 6 kettlebell swings the third minute, and so on, continuing to add 2 swings each minute until you cannot complete the required number of reps in the given minute.

Score total rounds and partial reps in the last round completed. 


Results 

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Steph leading the gang in some KB Swings:

Swing My Bell_Steph and Pat
  

I guess it’s time to take advantage of Mom enjoying a night out with the SnoRidge Ladies and my little one fast asleep after having a monster coconut bliss sundae for dessert. So what do I do? Yep, I watch CrossFit videos, read the CrossFit Journal, program WOD’s and write the blog. How exciting is that? 


Today was meant to mix it up a bit as we haven’t done KB swings in a little while and I wanted to make it a task dependent WOD. I love the every minute on the minute format. It always starts easy and prolongs the mental battle that is sure to come in a hurry. These types of WOD’s test your mind as much as they test your body. When will you succumb to the pain and let the clock tell you enough is enough and that you don’t really need to try to get that next round completed? When you finally barely complete that next to last round how many partial reps are you willing to try to get in that final 60 seconds? 


Notes:

Saturday WOD Schedule:

10am so far is Curtis, Jeff, Mark N., Don. Post to comments if you plan to be there, next 6 people will fill that slot up. 

11am is open so post to comments or show up.


Interesting reading: The Paleo Diet Report on LivingPaleo.com is a free PDF download with explanation from the author on Paleo eating, lifestyle and it’s benefits. 

"Double Take"

For Time:

1000m Row 
150 Double-Unders
50 Box Jumps (24″/20″)

Results

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Box Jumps

Congrats to Marc M. for hitting the 100th WOD milestone tonight. After 100 WOD’s and the adoption of the Paleo Diet,  Marc has transformed himself and has lost over 45 lbs.! Amazing progress through hard work, consistency and discipline. Way to go Marc! 

Highlights from the Northwest Regionals -video [wmv] [mov]

Michelle and Moe are in it for a short clip along with Cade at the very end (Eric and Kelly’s son)!

Thinking of going to the CF Games? Tickets will be on Ticketmaster sometime in June.  Stay tuned…

A couple pics from the Regionals:

Affiliate Chipper


Fat Bar Deads Rope Climb

Jerk!

Strength WOD:

Clean and Jerk
5/4/3/2/1/1/1/1/1

Checkout WOD:

5 Rounds for Time:

5 Clean and Jerk (115#/75#) 
10 Knees to Elbows 
15 Lateral Burpees

Results

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Graham showing what knees to elbows really looks like:

Graham K2E

As Jeremy D. would say: “The lateral jump burpee punches normal burpees in the face!”

Here’s a sequence from Sean:

 
Sean Lateral Jump Burpee - 1 Sean Lateral Jump Burpee - 2 Sean Lateral Jump Burpee - 3

I had planned to write a recap of the weekend by now but am lacking the energy. Go figure! As I have sat down each night since Regionals I have thought of pretty much nothing but sleep. I will do my best to work on this by the end of the week and publish a post that also has links to picture albums from Day 1 and 2.

Notes:

Squatch Cave announcement: Due to the potential for injury to our little squatches (which nobody wants to see), we are going to try to institute two rules and need your cooperation.

1. No more swinging on ropes or rings, jumping on boxes, climbing on the pull-up bars etc. for the kiddos after the workout. Sorry! We had a minor injury today that highlighted that safety is paramount even if its post WOD (everyone is okay). We will also do our best to have our daughter (who has to practically live in the gym) understand that she has two sets of rules; one with friends there and one without.

2. Parents will soon need to sign a waiver for bringing kids to the box and being in the Squatch Cave. This means that parents should explain to their kids that this is to keep them safe. Even if they think it’s boring! 🙂

"Cindy"

AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) in 20 Minutes of:

5 Pull-ups

10 Push-ups

15 Squats

 

Results

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“Cindy” defined:

Cindy

Congrats to all who PR’d this benchmark “girl” WOD today.  Cindy is one of those WOD’s that looks easy. Most people underestimate this and at about ten minutes in realize they are only halfway through and can’t believe it. Benchmark WOD’s have a way of doing that to you. Some big numbers today and a really good emphasis on helping to push one another on. Keep it up! Also big congrats to Amanda who earned her 100th WOD milestone tonight!


Regionals Update will be posted soon.  Lots of pictures from an amazing weekend!


Our very own Team Squatch finished 28th out of 38 teams after all three events.  Congrats to Michelle, Moe, Kim, Pat, Jeremy D. and Mark B. for going after it this weekend. They worked through three tough WOD’s against some very good competition and represented well.  We should all be proud!

 

I finished 32nd out of 64 men after 4 WOD’s in two days.  It was way better than I expected and I can’t believe its over. What an incredible experience (more on that in the wrap up post I am writing). Thanks to all who supported us and the inspiration from this weekend only makes us more motivated to improve ourselves to get even fitter. For those so inclined, start training for next year! Make every rep count, make it legit, and above all make it fun.  


More pics will be posted soon! 

Team Squatch after all WOD’s complete:

 

Team Squatch

 

This needs to be seen to be believed:

Chris Spealler wins the NW Regionals (WOD #1 Video) [wmv] [mov]