Rower Fail. Warning! Rowing this way will guarantee that your coach will punch you in the face:
Notes:
CF Kids and regular class tomorrow at 0930! Advanced RX class at 1045. Be ready to work! Don’t be late!
Who’s up for the Railroad Days 5k, 10k or Kids 1k in Snoqualmie in August? Let’s get a SRCF team running!
Details:
In less than seven weeks, the 4th Annual Snoqualmie Railroad Days 5k, 10k and Kid’s 1k will take place on Saturday, August 20 in historic downtown Snoqualmie, WA.
To register online CLICK HERE. Online registration closes on Monday, August 15th.
Cristin gives 2 Thumbs Up for her birthday two-fer:
Gotta love the birthday WOD. Rather than go with Cristin’s age this one used her birthday and then the checkout was designed using movements that she can do RX’d as she improves in her shoulder rehab. You can see the reaction above! If you want a birthday WOD make sure you let us know when it is so I can program it and fit it in for all to enjoy.
In CrossFit the “American” style kettlebell swing is the norm. This is the swing that ends overhead. In the sport and use of KB’s, there are swings to eye level (Russian Swing) or shoulder level as well as other types movements. If you’re curious to why we swing overhead, then read it here.
Don (below) shows a good “American” kettlebell swing overhead. Bell straight in line with the shoulders, hips and heels with no hyperextension of the back:
Notes:
Squatch Kids kicks off this Saturday at 0930 for Session II and we have a few spots available! If you haven’t registered yet then do so at the below link. (If you have any issues let us know)
CF Kids Session II (ages 5-9)will begin on Saturday 7/9 and run every Saturday through 8/13 (we will be closed July 28 through August 1 for the CrossFit Games) for a total of 5 classes.
I was asked today where I had found this WOD and could only remember that we have run this before so I went digging back in time. I found a couple things interesting. One is that we were scaling to a box with the pike handstand push-up a year ago but now we are ensuring the head and arm motion tracks even more in the range best suited to develop shoulder and tricep strength. A few people have learned to do HSPU (both strict and kipping) since then.
The same lesson as a year ago still applies:
“We find this scaling works well for getting people strong enough to progress towards inverted HSPU’s on the wall. Simply doing a handstand and then putting several AbMats under head limits the range of motion and avoids the toughest part of the HSPU; the point at which the arms are fully bent and the head is touching the floor (or one AbMat). If you cannot press out of that position you need to work on developing your press strength with either the box or a barbell.
In conjunction with developing the press and HSPU, don’t forget to practice the handstand! Do static holds, get upside down and learn to get in the “hollow” position.”
The second thing I found interesting is that we had a visitor drop in for the first time to the box from the east coast back then (Kristen) who was also just here this past weekend.
Coach Coordination:
Notes:
Mobility Class tonight was a good one. Don’t forget every Wednesday this summer at 7pm you can get your stretch on with Rona! Ask for details.
Nutrition: This Paleo “e-cookbook” of 370 plus recipes looks pretty darn good! Note that it’s downloadable only as a PDF file including the bonuses to be viewed electronically and not delivered as a physical copy.
Similar to pick a path books this WOD lets you determine your adventure. Pick your weight and go. Ideally it’s challenging enough to be heavy but does not sacrifice form and technique. Too light and you’ll know it and the second run will be a breeze. No bueno. If it’s heavy enough that 10 to 15 reps in you’re thinking maybe you should have chosen a little less than it’s just about right.
Frank and the Power Clean and Jerk:
Speaking of pick a path, here’s a path that someone recently chose that exemplified great character and commitment. One path means finishing 3rd at the Northwest Regionals and earning a spot to the CrossFit Games even though they wouldn’t be able to go due to military obligations. The other path means allowing others to finish ahead of you thus giving up your 3rd place spot so that our Region sends three female athletes to the Games. Becky Clark of Narrows CrossFit chose the correct path in my (and many others) view.
* Supine ring rows: Bottom of rings should be at level of box for elevating the feet. No “kip” or saggy hips allowed. Must stay planked through the ring row. Scale either height of box/rings or complete 10 supine rope climbs per round.
What makes CrossFit great? Too many things to list. One is the camaraderie. The high five mid-WOD or the simple nod of the head to the other person as you run past. The yell you give to your friend and competitor during the workout to just keep on moving or pick up the bar. This happens everyday in the gym and also in CrossFit competitions.
I judged Becky Clark during the last heat of the 100’s WOD at the NW Regionals and I recall her and Ashleigh Moe during their 100 kettlebell swings saying “keep on going” and “don’t stop” to each other as they were swinging the bells. Here’s two athletes battling to beat one another for the top 3 spots by even one second (and everyone else around them) taking the time to show genuine sportsmanship during the heat of competition itself.
Today I was able to go to Jet City CrossFit in Seattle for a WOD and the same thing happened. Four boxes worth of coaches and athletes got together and did a dueling partner WOD where you try to beat your partner at a max rep workout of 7 different exercises. During each interval everyone was high-fiving each other and giving encouragement to their competition. While the goal was to out-do your partner it was really about a good workout and good times. This is really one of the few sports I have seen where it is expected and normal for the person to immediately finish and begin cheering on the person still working. This is just one of the reasons I am addicted to this crazy cult called CrossFit.
Drop-in at Jet City CF with SRCF, Foundation CF and CF Morristown:
Notes:
We sadly said goodbye today to John and Erin S. who are moving across the east coast and leaving the box. They have been with us for awhile and we will miss them. Good luck in Virginia and keep on CrossFitting!
Random pics. At SRCF so much happens it’s hard to keep up. Here’s a snapshot of what you missed today.
Crabwalks:
Kettlebell Swings:
and Jorts:
Nuff’ said. (Okay maybe not, if you want a custom pair sign up for Amy’s homemade Jorts. They are all the rage and go great with Inov-8’s.)
Steph and her son Nolan on the 45th Parallel on their road trip to Colorado:
My buddy Scott and his wife (who owns Stoneway CrossFit) just welcomed another boy to their family yesterday. He was wearing our SRCF T shirt at the hospital and turns out their nurse was our very own Deidre (below). Small world!
Happy birthday to Coach Moe! Here’s to another year of coaching, high-fiving and chest bumping at SRCF with you. We love you!
Quote of the Day: “It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” ~ Julius Caesar
Practice. Patience. Persistence. All things vital to learning something new. Whether it’s academic or physical, if you want to get better at something you have to do them. It’s especially important in CrossFit. Today as my daughter was showing me skin the cats that she practiced at gymnastics camp I was reminding her how important practicing the movement correctly and getting stronger at other skills was. We even talked more about it at home before bedtime. Today, I practiced a couple of skills I neglect in supine ring rows and GHD Sit-ups. After realizing how much I lack in my core strength and gymnastics ability this weekend I have made it a goal to work so many of the movements and progressions I know I need to do but don’t practice or have the patience to do them. If I practice them I will earn that next beast skill and eventually build up to those things I have the goal to hit, like levers or freestanding handstand push-ups.
The same is true for any movement or lift you want to conquer. You must work on the little things, practice them often, and be patient with scaling the correct way to build up the requisite strength and skill to achieve your goal and not get injured. So practice, be patient and be persistent. You can still go after it like a honey badger, but be a smart honey badger about it. Just don’t practice like Allen Iverson.
Practice by Allen Iverson:
Notes:
Sign up for Movement and Mobility Class this Wednesday at 7pm and EVERY Wednesday for the month of July with Rona! It’s included for unlimited members and if you are a 2 x week member it’s $10 per class. This class will work wonders on those joints and muscles that are tight or giving you issues and teach you how a little time spent on flexibility can mean PR’s and improved range of motion. (If you can’t sign up for some reason online no worries just show up)
First off congrats to our Squatches Moe, Jill, Laura and Marc who all ran the Rock N’ Roll Marathon this weekend and to our resident Dirt Corps riders Matt, Jim and Dan who raced in the Mt. Hood Downhill race and placed one on the podium, one just off it and one with a broken suspension fork. Good times all!
This weekend we also hosted the CrossFit Gymnastics Trainers Course taught by Coach Sean Lind. Michelle, Rona, Rob, Jeremy, Pat from SRCF along with 12 others from all over the country attended this 2 day course and received a healthy dose of quality coaching, quality movement and company with quality people. It was cool to be the host and get to hang out with several new and old faces while learning how to build better ninjas.
As a group we spent two days learning basics, progressions, scalings, spotting and programming for what I suspect are just the tip of the pommel horse in gymnastics. The skills we practiced and began learning this weekend are so basic that what we consider hard are not even considered a skill in the gymnastics world (muscle-up anyone?). Although everyone wants the big powerful and sexy movements found in CrossFit it quickly became obvious that you cannot hope to achieve those without practicing the correct movement patterns frequently while building the requisite strength for the next movement. Learning that kipping pull-up or muscle-up or dip starts with building up the strength, skill, muscle memory, and the right range of motion to get to that next level. Earn that progression! The strength, power, balance and flexibility required are intimidating at first but once you practice and see how everything can be scaled it instantly becomes fun and you are just a giant kid in a playground. Personally I left with a longer list of things I suck at and need to improve. That’s the nature though of CrossFit, you don’t check a skill off your list without adding two more.
To Coach Sean thanks for the great weekend of fun and instruction and to everyone who attended we hope you thought it was well worth it.
Attention:Gym is closed today, Saturday 6/25 for the CF Gymnastics Trainers Course
Good luck goes to Laura, Marc, and Coach Moe who are all running either the Rock-n-Roll Marathon or 1/2 Marathon on Saturday; as well as to Team Dirt Corps (Matt, Dan, Jim) who are racing DH Mountain Biking this weekend! Ride fast and don’t stop. Run hard and rock on!
Anyone who is a 2x week member and planned to WOD on Saturday 6/25 but couldn’t since we are closed please feel free to make it up by picking a class and tripling up in any week. We owe you one!
CF Invictus won the 2011 CF Games Open Participation contest for most members participating in the Open with 219 total! That won them a plaque, no affiliate fee for the year and 2 free tickets per participant!
