"Helen"

3 Rounds for Time:

400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings (54# M / 35# W)
12 Pull-ups

Travis meets Helen

This benchmark WOD is tough.  Travis summed it up with “that was deceiving”. Everyone improved today by either scaling up a kettlebell or band for pull-ups. Or both!  

Helen is a WOD that always seems to start great and by the end you are telling yourself to not let go of the kettlebell or pull-up bar as the time just speeds up.  This is one that the best of times simply are achieved by going fast and “unbroken” through all three rounds.  

Here’s a “Helen” video from CrossFit.com of two incredible athletes showing a mind-numbing pace for Helen.  This video shows a race between one man and one woman with different strengths at play. Dutch Lowy is a well known CrossFit athlete that placed 7th in last year’s CrossFit Games and Jessica Langford is an accomplished marathon runner.  Watch how strength in kettlebell swings and pull-ups takes on a fast runner and see who wins.   

"Nancy"

5 Rounds for Time
400m Run
15 OH Squats (Prescribed Weight: 95# M/65# W)

The Overhead Squat is a weightlifting movement that requires strength, coordination, flexibility, power and a stable midline. Its ability to test the strength of your core, shoulders, and legs is unsurpassed.  It’s a technical lift that requires practice, practice, more practice and then patience, but once you get it you quickly see a change in your speed and power.  We have been focusing on these quite a bit with PVC pipe both in Elements and then in warm-ups.  The weather made for a perfect time for several of you to try it with a barbell or load to feel the difference so we ran everyone through a scaled version of “Nancy”. 

Adriana OH Squat
Quote of the Day:
“I felt like a Nancy while trying overhead squats.” ~ Curtis

Here is a great video taken from the CrossFit Main site “Exercises and Demos” section.  It shows good OH Squat form as well as keys to safely lifting, lowering and dumping the barbell.