The gym facelift is complete! A little fresh paint goes a long way.
Category: Video and Media
Fireworks
Kind of what all of you felt like were going off in your chest at round 4.
In teams of 2 complete the following relay race for time.
Perform 7 rounds of a 40 yard long shuttle run that consists of the following exercises:
Sprint to 10 yard line and back,
Sprint to 20 yard line and do 5 burpees and back,
Sprint to 30 yard line and do 7 kettlebell swings and back,
Sprint to 40 yard line and do 10 PVC Overhead Squats and back.
Tag up with your partner.
* One partner goes while the other rests.
The morning class got together at Swenson Park for today’s WOD. We put this together with a few goals in mind. The weather is great and we wanted to get outside, we haven’t done a team WOD, and we needed one that allowed rest cycles after max effort. The shuttle sprints were new and there to help increase the cardio-respiratory endurance. The other goal was to pilot a test run at the park so that we can try to have a couple Saturday WOD’s for everyone this summer.
It was a close race but the team of Dan and Michelle just beat out the other two teams. It was also great to have all the kids running around and practicing burpees, sprints and frog hops. It’s rubbing off!
Happy 4th! Remember to honor our country, fly the flag and stay safe!
"The Bear Complex"
Perform 5 sets of 7 sequences (complexes) of the following exercises:
Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press
Rules:
- Bar must touch the ground each sequence but cannot rest on the ground or it terminates the set.
- Goal is to increase loads each round to complete “The Bear” with max load.
- Rest as needed between sets.
- You must power clean the bar to full standing position before squatting the weight.
First I want to apologize for not having a picture of Amanda. Michelle got the pics of everyone else today doing “The Bear” but I got so caught up with the WOD tonight and the camera stayed on the countertop.
That said, tonight was really cool and watching Amanda learn to power clean, then push and convince herself she could complete this WOD and add some weight was inspiring. My favorite moment was in the middle of the 4th round when she looked at me after two complexes and said with a smile “I never thought I would be working out with barbells and in a garage” and then proceeded to grind it out.
A few observations:
As you all added weight through this WOD it became apparent to all of you why the dip and drive of the push press is more efficient than just trying to press it up. Muscle memory started kicking in and confidence with the movement techniques grew each round.
Both of us saw powercleans improving. Keep that barbell close to the body, remember it’s explosive, incorporate that shrug and keep it close to the body as you rotate your elbows around. Avoid the reverse curl impulse. We will also plan to coach the barbell back squat more in pre-WOD Elements as the low bar back squat will be new to all of you.
Video demo from the CrossFit main site of “The Bear” WOD:
Quicktime click here
Windows Media Player click here
Hip, Hop, Hooray…
Deadlift
3×3
Warm-up then work to three rep max deadlift. Then perform the following WOD.
21-15-9 for time:
Deadlift (Bodyweight)
Wallball (20#/14#)
Box Jumps (24″/20″)
Pick your poison. Each of these exercises is opening or closing the hip. Put them together and it’s a challenge to go from one exercise to the next. Short but effective. Just what we wanted after a long WOD yesterday.
Welcome to Lucy and Jorge who started Elements with us today. Everyone narrowly missed a burpee penalty by introducing themselves to our newcomers to make them feel welcome. Nice!
Notes:
Thank you everyone for parking today off the cul-de-sac when it was crowded. I guess it means you all read the website!
Oh and here is Part 2 of the Kipping Pull-up by Robb Wolf and Nadia Shatila on Again Faster. Part 1 can be found here. Practice your kipping motion in movement prep and also post WOD if you have some time and energy.
The Kipping Pullup – Part Two from Jon Gilson on Vimeo.
Rowing with Robin
Robin recently joined us and brings a wealth of rowing experience with him. A former competitive rower over the “pond” in England, he and wife Lucy are beginning their CrossFit journey and no doubt the rower will be a strength for both of them. I was able to get a little video of him warming up on the rower and ask some questions around technique and coaching tips.
Here’s a short video and demo:
Ashley rowing hard!
"This is hard"
or “that was Hell” or our favorite, in response to asking Greg if he was ready to try 95 pounds: “I should’ve kept my big mouth shut.” All quotes of the day. All six of you had similar observations. Remember hard work produces results.
4 Rounds for Time:
10 Sumo Deadlift High Pull (95#/65#)
15 Pull-ups
30 Squats
We have a some shout outs today for a couple friends. First off Alexandra Seal from CF No Limits completed her CrossFit Level 1 Certification this weekend down in Aromas, CA. She is front and center on the left side of the barbell. Congrats Alex!
Our good friend Derek from high school was in town visiting for the weekend and we got to throw down a few WOD’s and several PR’s. He’s been CrossFitting since January and has drunk the Kool-Aid. While here he completed Fran as RX’d and a CF Total. He also managed to nail his kipping pull-ups, learn handstand push-ups, power cleans, deadlifts, and most importantly got his first muscle-up! Then he strung a few together for good measure. Here’s a pic and video of that accomplishment. Great effort Derek!
Derek First Muscle-Up Video:
Foam Rolling and Stretching
Why stretch? What is a foam roll? Watch this video from Again Faster. You can pick up a foam roller for little over $20 at Target in their exercise equipment section. This little thing is money well spent to helping roll out the tightness you feel in legs, knees, glutes, back etc. If you have joint issues, IT band problems, adhesions, tight hamstrings, lower back soreness and so on, give this a try in addition to stretching to increase your flexibility and decrease your pain. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow.
Foam Rolling: Part I from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.
Clean Up
For Time:
Alternate the following exercises in a ladder format.
15, 12, 9, 6, 3 of Pull-ups
3, 6, 9, 12, 15 of Power Cleans (115#/85#)
* For extra credit do chest to bar pull-ups and 155# power cleans.
Derek is a close friend of ours and fellow CrossFitter that is visiting us from the east coast for the weekend. He wanted to get some work in on cleans and kipping pull-ups so after some instruction we all threw down this WOD together.
We just introduced the double under in yesterday’s WOD. For those that this is new territory, it’s a skill that takes practice and patience. Here are some good techniques to help you learn in this video on Double Unders from Again Faster.
Double Unders from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.
Notes:
Good luck to Travis who is running in the Mt. Hood 10k Scramble Race tomorrow! Don’t get stuck on the mountain!
"Karen"
For Time:
150 Wall Balls (20#/14#)
Adriana powering through:
The faces and aftermath of “Karen”:
Wallballs are getting better (even if some of you hate them)! Some are now fully prescribed with full range of motion and all of you are more consistent in technique, accuracy, squat depth and coordination of the throw. Here’s a video of a 5 minute Karen along with some cues on wallball form from the CrossFit main site Exercises and Demo section.
Congrats to Lyndi and Amanda who completed all their Elements sessions this week. Oh and a new rule for welcoming our new folks: make sure you guys introduce yourselves to each other when you meet or its a 10 burpee penalty!
"When Did It Click?"
Happy Sunday everyone! Here is an amazing story of how CrossFit changed a person’s life. More amazing though is this story is abundant in the CrossFit community.
Jason David is the co-owner of Motor City CrossFit. He went from a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle to finding CrossFit and using it to go from 247 lbs. down to 165 lbs. and 12% bodyfat. More importantly he is now doing something he loves everyday and is living healthy and fit.
Read his fitness journey here titled “When Did It Click?” on the Affiliate Blog.
