What’s the theme this week? Hitting the target. Whether it’s “to elbows” or “to bar”, we have focused on a few movements requiring that you hit the target. Today is Toes-to bar. Count the reps that hit the bar. If you counted them and didn’t hit the target? Shame on you. Go to your room and do 100 burpees. No macadamia nuts for you.
Pain in the knees? Tight behind the knees? Watch, learn and then mobilize. This site is a treasure trove of answers for aches, pains, and issues that have pretty simple fixes. #1 fix? Stop rushing out of the box after the WOD without stretching!
When completing a chest-to-bar pull-up it is necessary to make contact with the chest in which the “target” should be to contact the middle of the chest or below to the bar. To complete this range of motion pull harder with the arms and lats while heaving your chest forward. Leaning the torso back while keeping the feet together will help. As the arms tire consider varying your grip.
Take 2 minutes. Watch this short preview video on Marissa Lelogeais on the CrossFit Journal (which is well worth the measly $25 a year to subscribe). She is a CrossFitter. She also happens to have cerebral palsy and is partially blind. If she can do it, then anyone can do it. Kinda makes any excuse a lame excuse, huh?
When some of your coaches made this WOD over the weekend we threw out a few different combos. This is what “stuck”. Prior to all us doing this WOD we had a very short discussion about knees-to-elbows. All of us violently agreed that there is a reason they are called knees…to…ELBOWS. Otherwise they would be called Knees to triceps, or knees to chest, and so on. Like a “Chest-to-Bar Pull-up” we all reasoned that the contact with said body part was crucial to why the name was chosen and that would constitute the full range of motion. I know we previously have said slightly above and slightly below the elbow was a good rep. That is the old SRCF standard. Today we raised the standard.
Why raise it? Well, why not? One of the aspects of fitness is accuracy. Whether it’s hitting the line (or eventually target) in wall balls, getting our chin over the bar, or ensuring our feet land in the right position of a clean or snatch it’s important to be accurate. Practicing this in as many movements as possible is vital to getting fitter, faster, and just less sloppy. The key is practice. If you miss a rep, then do it again. It’s that easy. Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t cheat yourself, and don’t hang your head. You get tired. We get that. Take a second, tighten up that shot group; then pull those knees all the way up to those elbows next time.
“Knees-to-Elbows” and their variation movements from CrossFit.com [wmv] [mov]
Congrats to Brad and Jim aka “Old Man Jim” who completed Elements tonight!
I read a post today by our very own Rob who writes on his blog CrossFit Dad. The post I read spoke of the aspect of preparing for, practicing, and facing your weaknesses in the box. In Rob’s case it is the overhead squat. He dreads them. He knew they would be part of the WOD one specific weekend yet still came in early, practiced, scaled, warmed up properly, and focused on doing them right. The outcome? Achievement unlocked. Overhead Squat technique learned. Read it, reflect on it, and chart out your approach to a weakness you may have in CrossFit.
We can’t do Nasty Girls without posting what is one of the “early classic” workout demo videos from CrossFit.com; classic because of the early style that included crappy music, no editing, and epic performances. This video is one I remember seeing early in my first encounter with CrossFit and thinking “cool, I wanna be like these girls”, who were the original trio of female firebreathers: Nicole Carroll, Eva T, and Annie Sakamoto.
The most memorable parts are that 3 women are doing muscle-ups (which wasn’t all that common several years ago) and that Nicole fights and cries her way through the last round of the WOD, failing muscle-ups and cleans while the tears are flowing yet still managing to finish the workout. Inspiring.
“Check your ego at the door, somewhere in the world a high school kid is warming up with your PR.”
Hypothetical Question: If we had a 6pm Friday class would you honestly come to it? Post answer to comments.
Coaching Tip: The Power Clean Finish Position with Amanda and Jana
Keep the elbows high and parallel to the ground for the ideal “rack” or “finish” position
Fingers are loose to allow the elbows up
Bar should rest above the chest and on the shoulders, chest is upright
Feet are in the landing position ideally beneath the hips
Pat and Mark completed the 2nd WOD in the latest 3 WOD Again Faster “Beat the Team to Win” series. This WOD was pretty tough and they both came away with killer times using different strategies (Pat 8:00 and Mark 7:55).
For time:
200 Double Unders 9000#/7000# of Deadlifts 75 Barbell Thrusters (45#)
* Weight on deadlift bar will determine # of reps. If weight isn’t an even multiple of the 9000#/7000#, athlete will round up. For example, if you choose to complete the 9000# with 185# (9000/185=48.6), you’ll complete 49 reps. * Reps can be partitioned as the athlete wishes. * Once workout begins, deadlift weight must remain the same.
CF Santa Cruz Member celebrates his 50th birthday with a WOD of weighted pull-ups and hip extensions. [wmv] [mov]
Two things to note in here:
1) Back, Hip, and Hip-Back Extensions demo
2) Note the attention to getting a legit pull-up no matter how many he fails to get his chin over the bar. He simply won’t count slop. The lesson? Don’t count the garbage. Do it right or don’t do it! I love his determination.
Notes:
Reebok and CrossFit have recently entered into a licensing partnership. The Reebok corporate HQ now has their own CrossFit gym for their employees:
Team Burpee preparing for battle with a few words of encouragement from the “Miz”:
Chest bumps to Willy who got his first kipping pull-up tonight after the WOD! A whole bottle of Awesome Sauce goes to Lindsay and Nadia for RX’ing their very first WOD!
Random thoughts:
We have a lot of flood waters from the heavy rains locally and just in case if anyone from the box has been effected please let us know how we can help.
We are running a special through the end of Jan. 31st for 10% off our “Elements” to get started. If you have benefitted from our services and know of someone interested in switching up their workout or trying CrossFit; then please share with them how your experience at SnoRidge CF has benefitted you. (At a minimum tell them how much fun burpees are!)
Coming to SnoRidge in 2011:
Starting in January we are excited to offer discounts for membership commitment options for paying dues in advance (6 months and 12 months in advance). We are working on the discount rates and will announce them prior to the new year!
Plan on some other “big” changes for the box in 2011. “Nuff said. For now.
Kim was so excited about pistols and rings yesterday she fell over! Actually almost everyone did! The pistol challenges balance, coordination, flexibility, strength, and temperament. It has the unique ability of producing maximum frustration. Be patient, scale the movement and work on depth as your leg strength and balance improves. To work on your ability to squat deeper, try a Mobility WOD!
Also congrats to Kamran for getting his double-unders today and then doing them in the WOD!
Melissa PR’s her deadlift at an incredible and mind boggling 325#!
Check that board and check all those PR’s today! Good grief people we are getting the water tested soon. Deadlifts were flying up, and hopefully the building was not shaking too much! Congrats to everyone who PR’d today, be it the deadlift or the 2k Row. Melissa deadlifted 325# and Jeremy O. deadlifted 455# while Pat and Mark B. rowed to submit video before the deadline for the Again Faster “Beat the Team To Win” competition. Both Pat and Mark got some pre-row coaching from Lucy and then had insane times (Pat 6:36 and Mark 6:49). The unedited video is posted here and is being submitted tonight to Again Faster to see how they rank. I did see there were men’s times of 6:19 and 6:25 today but Pat’s is still top 5 I believe!
Melissa and Steph – Set and Pull:
Pat and his rowing coach:
Notes:
Squatch had his own TV Show! Check out the mad CrossFit skills:
Today I thought we would mix it up, have fun, and everyone could go for broke. Since it was a rest day I am looking forward to making this one up soon! Watch the video, then read the post below I borrowed from a friend. It is right on, well written, and worth reading.
For those working on double-unders, watch Chris Spealler show you how it’s done:
1. Have fun – Whether it be in CrossFit or your favorite sport or shopping with grandma, make sure you try and have fun. Honestly, you can do CrossFit just about anywhere with anyone or by yourself. You choose to come to us for a reason, because we’re awesome.
2. Show up on time – Actually show up early and leave late. Foam roll, stretch and get rid of all that junk in your lower back and shoulders. Showing up late will only cheat you out of a sufficient warm-up. Without a good warm-up, your chance of injury increases exponentially. If you show up early you have two options, cheer on the class that is finishing or start warming up.
3. Don’t whine – It’s okay to cry, just make sure that we can’t see or hear you and remember to clean up your tears when you’re done. Maybe the song that comes on isn’t your favorite, in the immortal words of Josh Everett “If you need music to motivate you, go find something else to do”. Be careful of asking me to change the song, I might just put on Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA on repeat. I’m your coach, not Mix Master Mike. You have a task to accomplish, so do it. Yes I know that every workout is hard and I know that you hate running and I know that the bar hurts your delicate hands, but there comes a time when we have to nut up or shut up…or both. CrossFit is constantly varied, so the odds are that you will see some workouts you hate. That’s why it’s CrossFit and not alltheshityoulikeFit. When you come to CrossFit, be ready to work. Come prepared to face all those pains and things you hate head on. Accept the suck.
4. Give it all – More than strength, speed, flexibility or endurance, effort is what matters most. I don’t care if you’re Joe Thruster with a sub 3 minute Fran, if you half-ass a workout, you’re a poser. Grandma doing jumping pull-ups and thrusters with a PVC kicked your ass because she gave everything she had just short of a stroke. Times and weights matter, but they fail in comparison to effort. Keep pushing yourself to your most extreme limits. I don’t care if you have a 500 lbs or 50 lbs deadlift as long as you put forth the effort and don’t sandbag.
5. Listen to your coach – We are here to help you get more fit and accomplish your goals. When we say things like “you’re lifting with your back, use more hips” don’t act surprised when your lower back is sore. When we tell you that the foam roll and lacrosse ball works, we aren’t just being sadistic. We tell you to rest because you need rest, just as we tell you to get in the gym more because you need to be in the gym more. If you want to get better at something, you have to practice it. Plain and simple. Yes there are some of you who are naturally good at some things, but why not get better?
6. Fail sometimes – The unique thing about CrossFit is that the only way to achieve excellence is through failure. The strength portion of our workouts are designed to where you may fail at a set. If you don’t fail you aren’t trying hard enough! CrossFit is an environment where no one will laugh at you or put a permanent letter in your file for dumping an overhead squat. Don’t be afraid to fail, there’s always next time. Pushing yourself to fail is more of a mental thing than it is a physical thing. We have conditioned ourselves to think that failing is bad and therefore don’t push ourselves in fear of failure. Take that fear away and see what you can accomplish.
7. Eat good food – The short answer is eat Primal. If you don’t want to eat like that, just eat meat, some fruit, vegetables, little starch, no sugar, no grains. If you’re low on energy, then you’re not eating enough. I remember a lot of people starting off on Paleo complain of low energy then proceed to tell me that they didn’t eat anything all day because they didn’t know what to eat. Is it that hard to eat meat and vegetables these days?
8. Count it – Tracking your workouts matters.
9. Be nice – CrossFitters are notorious for making fun of people who go to globo gyms (present company included). People achieve their personal fitness goals in their own ways. Instead of pointing out their propensity for douchiness on the elliptical, try introducing them to CrossFit. You’ll get a better reaction and won’t come off like a jerk. You were once that guy on the squat machine or that girl on the elliptical. If someone made fun of you and then said CrossFit was the way to superior fitness, you would tell them to go *F themselves.
10. Get involved – CrossFit is more than just an hour of working out. We are a family and you can get as involved as you like. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in.”
