Power Hour

Strength WOD:

1/1/1/1/1/1/1
Power Clean (Find your 1RM “Rep Max”)

Checkout WOD:

5 Rounds for Time of:

10 Hollow Rocks
10 Good Mornings (45#/33#) 
10 Push-up (Hand Release)

Results

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Quote of the Day: “The reason the clean is so critical to sports performance training is that it is a scalable way to develop power.” ~ Mark Rippetoe

  Speal Power Clean

From “The Power Clean” by Mark Rippetoe: CrossFit Journal

“The power clean teaches explosion. It cannot be done slowly. And since it involves a longer pull than the squat clean, it emphasizes the finish, where the maximum hip, knee, and ankle extension occurs, without the added complication of the front squat part of the movement.

There will be a weight, however light or heavy, that the athlete can handle correctly. That weight can be gradually increased, enabling athletes of any level of advancement to increase power production. Since athletics depends so heavily on the ability to exert force rapidly, the clean is a very useful tool for all athletes.

The power clean is best thought of as a jump with the bar in the hands, followed immediately by an upward forward slam of the elbows to rack it on the shoulders. It is much easier to learn from the hang position; learning it off the floor tends to understate the importance of the explosive phase at the top.

In fact, the reason the power clean is an important assistance exercise for weightlifters is that it teaches the “finish” of the pull at the top, that last little bit of extension that must be done before going under the bar. If the first thing learned is the jump, the trainee has a better chance of keeping the power part of the movement foremost in importance. The most important position is what I refer to as the “jumping” position. It is the point at which the bar touches the thigh when both the hips and knees are unlocked and the arms are still straight.”

Power Clean: Exercise Demo Video – Catalyst Athletics

Good Morning!

Good morning

Happy Birthday Lorraine!

6 Rounds for time of:

11 Burpees
3 Thrusters (115#/75#) 
11 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
3 Thrusters

Results

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View this photo (with an artistic demo of the WOD by Ashley)

The birthday girl:

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Lorraine from the afternoon crew:

BIrthday WOD Crew with Lorraine

Reminder, if you are planning to attend the rowing clinic on Saturday then please sign up on the whiteboard in the box. The whiteboard regularly has upcoming events and announcements on it. Ensure you read it as we have several things coming your way! From the Rowing Clinic, to the Strongman, Turkey Trot, Paleo Holiday Potluck, CF Games Open and more; there will be plenty to do in the coming months. 

Speaking of whiteboards, I realize I am long overdue at updating the Leaderboards. This will soon change. I will be updating these over the next week. All Girl Benchmarks and Hero WOD’s that have been done in the box will post the top 3 men and top 3 women’s RX scores. Several need to be fixed as some times and scores have been beat.

What’s a thruster? Here’s 45 good examples of a blazing Fran time.

Talayna Fortunato’s 2:26 Fran – video [wmv] [mov]

Runners! Read: The Once and Future Way to Run – New York Times

Dead Pull

As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 15 Minutes of:

5 Deadlifts (225#/155#)
7 Chest-to-Bar Pull-ups
20 Double-Unders 

Results 

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C2B Silhouette_Don

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 the clavicle 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. No touch = no go.

Amy N. gets her 1st WOD with C2B Pull-ups:

C2B Pull-up_Amy

Notes:

This Saturday is the Rowing Clinic! Scroll down and read for details.

Row, Squat and Run

3 Rounds for time:

Row 500m
21 Back Squats (95#/65#)
Run 400m

Results

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James racked and ready:

James_Back Squat Breather

Contests (Congrats) to Amy N. and Caryn for their first dead hang pull-ups today (during the warm-up)! Next time ring the PR bell! Today’s WOD was a late adjustment to incorporate some light back squats. The goal of this weight was to discourage you from dropping that bar and getting through each round with only one clean off the floor.

Don demonstrating good back squat depth:

Back Squat depth

Movember is back again and has started. During the month of November men grow moustaches in support of the fight against prostate cancer. Several men in the box will be joining the “mo bros” for the second year and if you missed out last year all are welcome. At the end of the month Rob asked that we hold a “Mo WOD” for everyone that will feature “manly” movements (think man makers and hard work).

Here are the rules.  I am now down Day one. Evil Tom is coming back. In spirit of the rules I was clean shaven on day one, and will grow a Fu Manchu or more likely the Horseshoe (aka Hulk Hogan) moustache. I also will try to raise some money to fight prostate cancer. My dad beat it, and now is battling two other types of cancer. Cancer sucks. 

Mark on his way to a PR deadlift 505# on the fat bar today:

505 Fat Bar

Notes:

Most people who make it to the Games were relatively fit and athletic before they found CrossFit. Many have a background in some aspect of CF (gymnastics, endurance, weightlifting) or even competed at an elite level in college, semi-pro, or pro level sports. One rare woman who made it this past year was a new mom who had just found CrossFit as a way to shed some pounds. A year and a half and 75 of those pounds later… Sam Petersen’s Determined Ascent by CrossFit Games

“CrossFit and Throwing Practice” with Matt Hasselbeck – video [wmv] [mov]

"Boxed In"

As Many Rounds As Possible in 15 Minutes of:

12 Push Press (75#/55#)
10 Box Jump (24″/20″)

Results

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Happy Halloween!

Lucy Push Press

Have a rocking week!

KISS Tribute

This Saturday we will have our normal 0930 class with a Team WOD. Immediately after at 1045 we will have a rowing clinic open to all who are interested on learning proper rowing technique. The cost is free. The rowing instructor is world class. In fact she is an Olympic Gold and Silver Medal rower and a Master Rower for Concept 2 and CrossFit!

SIGN UP in the box!

Details:

Olympic & World Rowing Champion to Rock Your Row:

Anna Cummins

  • Anna Cummins: Crossfit Master Rowing Instructor, Level 1 Certified Crossfit Coach, Runs Bellevue’s Cummins Chiropractic & Wellness 
  • Olympic Gold 2008, Silver 2004

    • What should rowing look like?
    • Elements of power 
    • Timing 
    • Common Mistakes & Easy Fixes 
    • Best stretches to keep healthy
    • Give me a WOD with a row because I’m ready! 
    • RSVPs necessary to reserve your rower.

Halloween Party Pic Album:

   

"Frankenchipper"

Creepy Combination for time of:

400m Run 
21 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
12 Pull-ups
400m Run
15 Overhead Squats (45#/35#)
30 Wallballs (20#/14)
2 Rounds of Cindy: (5 pull-ups, 10 Push-ups, 15 Squats per Round)
50 Push Press (45#/35#)
50 Walking Lunges 

Results

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Costumes Assemble!

Frankenchipper Group

Goofy:

Goofy Group

The Frankenchipper is a combination of benchmark “Girls” WOD’s. Like Frankenstein it’s part “Helen”, “Nancy”, “Karen”, “Cindy”, and Filthy Fifty. This WOD is a quick gasser that’s light but challenging. More so when you have a costume on. We had a huge crowd of 3 waves plus CF Kids all in costumes and ready to rock on Saturday.

Speaking of rocking, we also had our 3rd annual Halloween party at our “haunted house” last night (pics later). Open to the whole box, we had some creative costumes and characters and a good time. Michelle, Ash and I had a blast hosting lots of great people with delicious and mostly paleo food and hilarious costumes. If you missed it then plan on next year “Same or better” (as Teri says)!

REMINDER: NO PM Classes on Monday 10/31. Classes at 0830, 0930 and 1130 only. Happy Halloween!

No Rep by Wolverine:

Wolverine No Rep

Dangle and Slim Shady  Wolverine Wall Ball

Run Ruh Roh Pull-up

Ruh Roh Scooby chin doesn’t count!

Fro Swing  Tomb Raider

Notes:

Halloween twist on a Main Site WOD of 1 Rep Max Clean/Bench Press/Overhead Squat with Games Competitor Aja Barto – video [wmv] [mov]

Super Chicks:

Super Chicks

Squat Deep and Swing

5 Rounds for Time of:

7 Squat Clean (155#/105#)
14 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)

Results

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Josh and Sangeeta squat and swing away:

Josh_Clean Sangeeta_KB Swing

Attention ladies! The women coaches have decided that going forward in order to RX a WOD with a women’s barbell you must have the 1# or the 1/4# plates on the bar. No more 53# or 63#, 103# etc. if you want to go as RX’d.

Video Demos of today’s WOD:

WOD Demo with Jason Khalipa and Neal Maddox – video [wmv] [mov] [HD mov – download only]

WOD Demo from the CrossFit Level 1 Certificate Course at Guerrilla Fitness – video [wmv] [mov]

See everyone IN COSTUME tomorrow for the Frankenchipper! 0930 WOD and we will run waves as needed. CF Kids class should also wear a costume too!

Next weekend for the Saturday WOD we are excited to have some rowing instruction plus a WOD from an Olympic Gold Medal Rower, CrossFitter, and Concept 2 Master Rower Anna Cummins. More details coming! Cost is free but sign-ups will be needed once we get everything set.

Puppy Coach in Training:

Canine Coach

Pull-up Test

Strength WOD:

3/3/3/3/3
Weighted Pull-ups (Strict, no kipping)

Checkout WOD:

Tabata Row (Calories)

* Rounds of: Row 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds rest 

Results 

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Weighted Pull-ups with a belt or a dumbbell:

Josh_Weighted Pull-up Greg_Weighted Pull-up

Today was an “easy” day. A simple strength test of a basic gymnastic movement and gauge of where your pull-ups really are. While you can kip without a dead hang pull-up, the goal should be to have strong dead hangs before kipping. This was a checkpoint to see how strong you are at pulling your bodyweight or more. Want a stronger kipping pull-up? Practice these. 

Tabata Time:

Tabata Row

The beginning of this video makes me want to move to Iceland:

Growing Up CrossFit” with Annie ThorisdottirCrossFit Journal preview video [wmv] [mov]

Snatch-Fest

Strength WOD:

3/3/3/3/3
Power Snatch (Find your 3RM “Rep Max”)

Checkout WOD:

5 Rounds for Time of:

10 Burpees
5 Power Snatch (95#/65#)

Results

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Amy_Power Snatch

The power snatch. Explode, extend and turn those wrists over as you land in a 3/4 or 1/2 squat. Foot placement, elbows out, hook grip, and back angle are all important. Keeping the barbell close and bending the elbows late as you aggressively shrug and pull under the bar and land with locked out arms. This is not the muscle snatch. Ending up in a “press out” is not training the power snatch. Drop the load, regroup and work the endless cues, speed and position needed to become truly proficient in this lift. Here’s a video demo.

The afternoon class was all about snatches!

Snatch Fest

These guys know their snatches:

Kendrick Farris and Chad Vaughn Earn First Medals for Team USA at Pan Am Games: USA Weightlifting

Upcoming Events:

On Saturday November 12th there are two local events. One is a CrossFit / Strongman competition at Rainier CrossFit and the other is the Snoqualmie Ridge Turkey Trot. Our plan is to divide and conquer between these two events plus how we run one WOD time (No Advanced RX Class that day). Stay tuned! 

Details:

Rainier CrossFit’s Strongest Man and Woman 6 is on Saturday, November 12th. Event details coming soon but it will run all day. This event is a blend of Strongman and CrossFit components for some fun workouts. RCF donates the proceeds to Fragile X Research which benefits a very important cause to them and their son Casey. 

Go to the link above and register to compete! Mark is already signed up. A couple others mentioned they are interested. If you are planning to compete then let us know.

2011 Snoqualmie Ridge Turkey Trot 5k and Kids 1k at 9am. Several are planning to run (kids included). Wear your SRCF shirts, take a pre-race picture and run wild! If you run the race and want to come watch the Strongest Man and Woman event then head on down. We can get you details.

On Your Toes

5 Rounds for time:

400m Run 
10 Toes-to-Bar
20 Push-ups
30 Air Squats

Results

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Jason and a proper push-up: elbows back, planked, head up and on his toes:

Jason_Push-ups

Running a marathon is an amazing accomplishment let alone running it again and hitting a PR (like Moe recently did). Scott sent this in tonight for his wife so I had to share. Big congrats to Jill who just PR’d her 16th marathon with a blazing time of 3:17!  

Jill H_Marathon

“Jill after running a PR 3:17 marathon,
placing 3rd overall at the Columbia Gorge Marathon. Not bad for a Sunday
WOD…26.2 miles uphill. The marathon has an elevation change of over 2000
feet. Jill has run 16 marathon’s. She has been getting faster and stronger
since joining SnoRidge Crossfit in February 2011.” ~ Scott H.

Notes:

A few have mentioned rough hands and callous issues from pull-ups, toes-to-bar and other type of movements. It’s essential to keep them sanded down and smooth. You can use a file, pumice stone, or other type of manicure tool, but if you want the quick and effective way then see below for my preferred callous maintenance solution. Buy one of these, use it and you won’t have any more issues.

Buy a cordless Dremel and file them away!

Cordless-MiniMite