Pull Under and Push Up

21-15-9 Reps of the following for time:
Squat Clean (115#/75#)
Handstand Push-ups

Games Qualifier Training WOD:

12-9-6 Reps of the following for time:
Squat Clean (175#/105#)
Handstand Push-ups

Results

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Jana inverted and doing some Handstand Pushing:

Jana HSPU

Interesting announcements, developments, and information on the direction of CrossFit HQ in the videos linked below. The most eye opening is the upcoming yet to be detailed format for the qualifiers to the Games. In the part 2 video the answer on Sectionals and Regionals format is that there will be no Sectionals as we previously knew them. There will be a 6 week video online qualifier for athletes and boxes to participate in to get to the Regional level.

While I am pretty disappointed by this announcement for a host of reasons we will do everything to support every single athlete that is interested in competing and trying to get to Regionals. If you want to compete, and want to complete and film the WOD’s required then I will personally make it happen for each of you. We will post any new information as soon as we hear it. More to come.

State of the Community: Executive Panel on the CrossFit Journal

Part 1 Video [wmv] [mov]

Part 2 Video [wmv] [mov]

Diddly Squat

Strength WOD:

Front Squat 3/3/3/3/3
Overhead Squat 1/1/1/1/1

Results

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View this photo

Heidi_Front Squat Jim_OH Squat

Today was a day to get strong! Definitely lots of weight moving around. Mixing it up and working solely on strength helped everyone find a 3RM on their Front Squat and then be properly warmed up to transition towards 1RM Overhead Squats. The key challenges for many on the overhead squat remain flexibility, maintaining a solid midline during the up and down of the squat, armpits forward and elbows locked out, and learning how to send the hips back while staying on the heels. Got all that? If OH Squats are not your favorite thing; keep working them in warm-ups with a PVC or bar, stretch and you will learn to groove them in no time. If you have the movement down but going heavy is the problem, then master it with a relatively light weight before piling the weight on. The technique is what’s important and the key to getting heavier. It’s a taxing lift. Always stay light if you don’t have it down, PRACTICE, work hard and fight for it. You will get better at them. As you master the movement and get stronger the bumper plates will add up. Remember, looking like sh*t with a heavy bar isn’t all that impressive. It’s just looks like a bigger pile of sh*t!

WOD Demo of Rich Froning on OH Squat/Front Squat/Back Squats progressive 1RM [wmv] [mov]

WOD Demo of Chris Spealler on Rowing / Heavy Thrusters [wmv] [mov]

Notes:

Tomorrow will be a birthday double whammy!

Starting in January we will be kicking off the New Year with a Nutrition Challenge for anyone interested! Clean it up and focus on quality food. The results will speak for themselves. Stay tuned for details.

Dead Man Running

As Many Rounds As Possible for 12 Minutes (AMRAP):
400m Run
5 Deadlifts 

* Post Load and Time (Attempt a DL at or near your 5RM)

Results

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 Matt and Gloria getting Set:

Matt_Set Position Gloria_Set Position

Deadlifts

WOD Demo with E.C. Synkowski [wmv] [mov]

What is GPP and how CrossFit translates to Motocross: CrossFit for Motocross and Action Sports 

Notes:

Wednesday 8am Class is cancelled this week due to a schedule conflict. 

Shout outs, high fives, chest bumps, and good games to Moe, Cristin and Laura who all ran the Seattle 1/2 Marathon on Saturday! It was Moe and Cristin’s first 1/2 and Laura’s second. Laura PR’d by over 3 minutes and said she felt great the whole run! Stay tuned for a 5k or 10k race that we will hope to get great participation in from everyone in the box.

Change Your Life

“Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose Wisely.” ~ Karen Kaiser Clark

CrossFit changes lives for the better. It’s a hard thing to explain to others, but it can and does often. It may be “just a workout”, but for some it also might change your life. For Michelle and I, CrossFit sure did. In more ways than I could probably count if I really tried to. At a minimum it changed our health, nutrition, outlook, relationship, family, hobbies, values and mindset. Not really too many big changes, huh?

Watch how CrossFit is changing this woman’s life:

It Changed My Life: Deborah Scarbourough – CrossFit Journal [wmv] [mov]

Now read how CrossFit changed Rona’s life. She recently hit a milestone of 1 year as a CrossFitter and wrote about it. With her permission we are sharing it with you. Personally I read this and I’m proud. I’m motivated. I’m inspired. And I can’t wait to see where year 2 goes.

Rona_Take a breath

“As I approach my 1 year anniversary with SnoRidge CrossFit, I’m overwhelmed by the amount of change in my life in a short 12 months. I’m overcome with gratitude for all the CrossFit trainers that have help me with this evolution; Moe, Mark, Allen, Erik, Jeremy, and Kim, each one of you has contributed to my success and growth. Thank you to Jana and Jorge for joining CrossFit and peaking my curiosity. Tom and Michelle most of all; thank you for opening the box, for being the great people and trainers that you are. I’m thankful you had this dream and the desire to pursue it. Most of all thank you for donating a months free membership to the Encompass preschool charity auction. I remember vividly strolling with my glass of wine through the charity items and I gasped and pointed to the SnoRidge squatch. I told Rob “its a sign. I’m getting this auction item”….couple hours later we had a bird bath made by our daughter’s preschool class, something else I can’t even recall now and my CrossFit one month membership. 🙂 I had no idea how it would change me.

I started my elements classes and it was hard; really hard. Each elements class I had told myself two things; it’s going to get easier, and don’t walk. I stuck with it. My first few months I struggled through the WODs. I was slow, but I always finished and I never ever walked on a running WOD. The thing I never expected, and in retrospect I should have known, it didn’t get easier. No really, it didn’t. I got stronger, more coordinated, developed new skills, I could even run faster and harder but it Never got easier. 🙂 I thought that would be a good thing, but now i realize that is one of the reasons we go. If it got easy it would get boring. CrossFit is never boring. 
 

In the beginning I had horrible headaches, my body was not used to the strenuous work. After about 3 weeks that stopped. I used my asthma inhaler every workout, then only for running WODs, now I haven’t used it in over 4 months. I had some shin pain that ended up being tight quad and butt muscles, then there were the broken blood vessels in my face after my first few handstand WODs. Not pretty. The countless bruises on many body parts. Most notable was the post Zercher carry WOD upper arm bruise. All of it…worth it. 

Outside the box, CrossFit gave me more self-worth and new found self confidence. I now feel pride in what my husband and kids see each day when they look at me, rather than disappointment. I’m not a mom that stays behind or watches from the sidelines when they go play ball, hike or go to the pool. I have energy to run up the big hill each day with Davis when we pick Evan up at school, most days 3 or 4 times. They know I am strong and like it. Davis, my 2 year old actually told one of our newer CF members that his mom was really strong. I’m so thankful she told me he said that cause I don’t think there is a much better way to get confirmation that we as a family are doing the right thing for us. Last Sunday my daughter told us that she and her brother were going to do a WOD. Of course we were like “cool”. Her brother wasn’t following like she wanted when she was running around the couch. So she yells to him “I’m getting healthier then you.” Just two small examples of how our life changes are reflected in your kids and we are very happy with what we see. 
I find my initial response to trying something new is so different now. Before I would think “I can’t do that. It would be cool but no.” Now I think “why not, it’s a little scary but let’s give it a try.” I have done so much this year that I look back and feel proud of. A new lease on life is so over used but describe my situation to a T.

Rona_Barbell Rack

Some highlights from this year that I don’t want to forget:
First handstand as an adult
First Rope climb
First Banded pull ups
First RX pull up
Judging at CrossFit sectional 
Watching our team kick butt at CrossFit sectionals and regionals
First Rope climbing WOD
Discovering Paleo and Todd Widman’s Paleo class
Positive thinking and goal setting class  Greg Amundson 
Getting RX push ups
Going from 12″ box to 24″ box for box jumps, and getting 34″ max box jumps
The Warrior dash
St Patrick’s day 5k
The Danskin sprint triathlon
Losing 40 lbs 
Hiked little Si for the first time
Max Deadlift 193lbs
Winning the paleo challenge!  

One thing we gain as a family is our SnoRidge family and friends. We sweat together, we PR together. We complain about the WOD, we joke, we cheer, we yell, we get each other though the tough ones. We help each others kids, we confide in each other. We work hard to catch each other in a workout. We inspire one another to try new things, get better at others or finally get that skill that has been eluding us. You all make me better. I want to CrossFit indefinitely. I am never going to have a perfect bod, but I love my body for what it is and what it does for me. I am so much more than I gave myself credit for. It makes me sad to think I had given up on ever being healthy and if I hadn’t found CrossFit I would have realized the me I am today.  

Here is to another year of growth, of meeting goals, of inspiring and being inspired. To living, to sharing, to having more to give to my husband, kids, and community…GO!     

Rona”

Rona_SDHP

Doubled-Over

7 Rounds for Time:
5 Handstand Push-ups
10 Deadllifts (185#/135#)
10 Chest-to-Bar (C2B) Pull-ups
20 Double-Unders

Results

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Quote of the Day: “Are you sure this was supposed to be 7 rounds? I’m pretty sure it’s only supposed to be 5.” ~ Andrea during the WOD

Gassed

This was a whopper of a WOD. I pulled this from the main site to work into our programming to develop some advanced skills with the HSPU and the chest-to-bar pull-ups as well as the DU’s while fatigued. The combination of these movements and the 7 rounds was brutal. Or as we like to say “it’s a fun one!”. Cristin pointed out to me tonight that we (your coaches) love to say “it’s a fun one” or “this one isn’t bad, it’s pretty fun” when it’s particularly bad (as in fun). So I guess it’s time to come up with a new saying!

An impressive demo of today’s WOD (both form and speed) with the women of CrossFit Santa Cruz [wmv] [mov

WOD demo and Coaching tips with Miranda Oldroyd [wmv] [mov]

Coaching Tip: Double-unders with Rona and Steven

DU_Rona DU_Steven

The double-under is the same jump as a single but with a little more “bounce” to let the rope pass through twice.  Fight the urge to raise your arms and jump with a donkey kick your feet behind you. Keep the wrists forward of the hips with the elbows in at your sides. Jump vertically with the feet together and spin the wrists to speed the rope through two revolutions. Listen for the “click” of the rope in front of you to trigger the timing of the wrist flick and jump off the toes to produce a double-under.

Happy Birthday Lorraine and Andrea

Strength WOD:

Push Press

3/3/3/3/3

Immediately After Complete Lorraine and Andrea’s Birthday WOD:

For Time:

40 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
37 AbMat Sit-ups 
40 Good Mornings (45#/33#)
37 AbMat Sit-ups 
40 Good Mornings 
37 AbMat Sit-ups  
40 Kettlebell Swings

Results

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Happy Belated Birthday’s to Lorraine and Andrea who both share the same birthday:

BIrthday Girls

Way to tackle your birthday WOD together!

Congrats to Rona on her first TWO ring dips tonight:

Rona Ring Dip

Notes:

  • No Wednesday 8am class (11/24). All other classes will be on the normal schedule
  • Thanksgiving Day (Thursday): One class only at 9am; all others cancelled
  • Friday: Normal AM class schedule; NO 5pm Class
  • Saturday: No Sectionals Training WOD due to the Kids Marathon; we will have our normal 10am class for everyone

Here’s a good explanation to Pose Running by New Balance:

   

"The Chief"

The Chief

Max Rounds in 3 Min. of:

3 Power Cleans (135#/95#)

6 Push-ups

9 Squats

Rest 1 minute. Repeat for 5 Cycles.  

Complete as many rounds as possible in each cycle.  Goal is to maintain the max number of rounds across the 5 cycles. Score total rounds. Partials do not count.

Results

View this photo

 

Hail to the Chief:

Thumbs Up Post Chief

 

Hail to the Chief

Quote of the Day:

Nadia being told by Moe to finish her warm-up exercises and grab a bar to review the Clean (warm-up included “Cuddle with a Friend” on the whiteboard from Rona):

“So you’re telling me we aren’t going to cuddle?” 

The Chief is deceiving. This one is truly a WOD that you read and think “cakewalk”. It makes you overconfident. The reps are small in number and the movements seem easy. The heavy clean is really the only challenge but it’s just three reps. “I can get a bunch of rounds” you tell yourself. Then the clock starts and you hit that first rest slightly gassed. The rest minute gives you just enough time to explode into the first round of the next cycle sprinting fast to pile up the rounds. By the third cycle it’s a whole new ballgame. The fourth and fifth round are “hang on for dear life”. The rest is what makes this so tough. Any WOD that has a built in rest is typically evil as it means you push like a sprint and reach system overload quickly (like “Fight Gone Bad” or “Barbara”).

 

Notes:

6am Tuesday class cancelled tomorrow due to the weather madness. All other class times are on and snowball fights are optional.

 

We have a few so far who want to volunteer for Sectionals (Laura, Lena, and Amanda S.). Please post a comment or let us know if you are interested as we are just making a preliminary list. 

 

Snow Angel for Time with Pat:

  Snow Angel Warm-up

 

Chris Spealler and the Olympic Lifts” Chris Explains his Training for the CrossFit/USAW Open

RX, Not RX: What’s It All Mean? ” by CrossFit Watertown

"Christine"

Rowing (Standard version) or Running, take your pick:

3 Rounds for time: 
500m Row (or 400m Run for running version)
12 Deadlift (Bodyweight)
21 Box Jump (24″/20″)

Results

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Row, Lift, Jump:

Row

Heidi DL

Box Jumps Jump

Compare to previous results

A few bruised shins and maybe a bruised ego is usually the result of “Christine” when the rowing and deadlifts give you heavy legs. The constant hip extension and demand on your glutes and hamstrings makes a normally achievable height to jump a much bigger challenge.

Thanksgiving Schedule Announcement:

  • Thursday 11/25 at 9am: Only ONE Class! “Trim the Turkey” Thanksgiving Day WOD: Moe will be running class so come in, warm-up and lessen the guilt of those big Turkey Day dinners! Gobble gobble!
  • Friday 11/26 at 9:30am and 11:30am will be the only classes that day; NO PM Classes!
  • Saturday 11/27 at 10am: Jeremy D. will be running class. This is also the Seattle Kids Marathon that morning.

Attention Wendler Strength enthusiasts:

For those who have asked and been working on improving your strength through the Wendler program either before or after a WOD, we are making a change to how we will accomodate you. This change is to prevent disruption of class time. If you are wanting to start the Wendler Strength program, you also need to pay attention as it applies to all. Read the above link for an explanation on how it works.

Starting Monday, if you want to complete a Wendler cycle then you have only the below choices for schedule:

  1. Tues and Thurs at 7pm
  2. Mon and Wed at 4:30 pm

When you come in, you need to move with a purpose. You will be responsible for knowing your loads, your warm-up sets, and moving through your work sets. You must finish on time. If time runs over and it’s class time or time to close, then we will cut it short.

Based on how crowded class at 7pm is, we will allow you to work on Wendler. If it’s a big class, then we can’t do it, but if there is room we will accommodate provided there is no distraction to class.

If there is a crowd, then it will be first come first serve.

Last rule; please be aware that your coaches need to workout too, so the priority during the 4:30 time slot will go to the trainer’s WOD time. If a coach is working out, then that is the priority for space and equipment.

Notes:

Roundtable in Tahoe: The Psychological Component on the CrossFit Journal: Watch some of CrossFit’s top athletes as they discuss the mental side of CrossFit, with Mikko Salo and Chris Spealler weighing in on the effect of workouts and the mental challenges they bring.

Clean-tastic!

Strength WOD:

Clean (full squat) one rep every minute on the minute for 15 minutes.

Score highest and lowest loads (Scale to Hang Clean or Power or Hang Power Clean and Front Squat)

Immediately after complete the following Checkout WOD:

2 Minutes of Max Rep Double-Unders

Results

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Willy and Jenna with Triple Extension (Jenna’s is Quadruple since she has to extend around the baby):

Willy_Triple Extension Jenna_Triple Extension

Double_unders

Watch and practice the Burgener Warm-up for your clean and snatch lifts:

The Burgener Warm-Up” with Coach Mike Burgener, CrossFit Journal Preview video [wmv] [mov]

Again Faster The Mic’d Instructor: Improving the Clean – Meeting the Bar

   

Meeting the Bar from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

"Nancy"

5 Rounds for Time:
400m Run 
Overhead Squat (95#/65#)

Results

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Compare to 1/22/2010

“Nancy” AKA Best WOD Ever!

Nancy

Sangeeta and Kristy_OH Squats Cristin_OH Squat

Nancy Demo with Dave Leys [wmv] [mov]

Congrats to Rona and Sangeeta who both hit their 1 year anniversary of CrossFit! (Rona’s was tonight and Sangeeta’s was last week). The changes, progress and PR’s you each have achieved this past year are simply awesome. Keep it up! You inspire those around you.

This Saturday after the WOD (11am) I would like to gather those interested in Sectionals for a chat on upcoming training and preparation. Please let me know by posting to comments if you can make it (or send us a message but comments is easier).