WOD – Page 585 – SNORIDGE CROSSFIT

"No Slop"

In teams of 2, complete for time:

50 Double Unders
100 Push-ups
75 Power Cleans (95#/65#)
50 Wall Balls (20#/14#)
25 Overhead Squats (95#/65#)
50 Double Unders

Results

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* One partner works at a time, if single do half the reps
** No Slop or partial ROM counts, if partial = scaled
*** Solo does half of reps
**** Strategize with partner for how to alternate reps
1. No snags count for DU’s
2. Shoulders below or minimum parallel to elbow for push-up, full lockout
3. Contact with med ball target in squat for WB and OHS
4. WB must hit above line to count rep

Curtis in shock after realizing what an overhead squat is supposed to look like:

This WOD was from CrossFit Bellevue and our own Team Squatch completed this past weekend to train for the Affiliate Cup Qualifiers. As always in any workout the focus was “no slop”. Clean reps, form first over weight and speed. Some teams and individuals embraced this today. Some, well…

Here’s the deal, whatever load you use it should be one that allows for full range of motion (ROM). Can it be challenging? Yes. Slow? Tough? Of course. However it also needs to be a load that you can still do right. The same goes for bodyweight movements. Full range of motion like in a proper air squat, pull-up or push-up. Going RX’d is a goal. But what good is it to go heavy to attempt to be RX’d to do an overhead squat with half the depth and no midline stabilization? Or to perform a wall ball without full squat depth and a throw that is consistently below the target? That won’t translate to someday waking up and having the ability to just nail a particular movement. You have to practice it, work at it and develop the strength, flexibility or coordination. Stick with a weight you can manage and be safe. Use the warm-up or post WOD to improve on your range of motion or technique with a PVC or empty bar. Remember what Vince Lombardi said: “Practice does not make perfect, but perfect practice makes perfect”.

Michelle D. and Marc M. practicing perfect:

Notes:

Highlights from the CF Games North Central Regionals [wmv] [mov]

Coaching tip: Push-up Depth with Mike H.

Shoulders should be below or minimum parallel to elbow for push-up depth. Rigid plank. Ideal is chest to deck. Full lock-out at top.

When The Arms Bend, The Power Ends!

Rest Day

Mike and the “Oh So Fun Squat Clean”:

Notes:

Today’s topic: “When the arms bend, the power ends”

Mirror Images?

Technique is everything. In the two pics above, one is of a CrossFitter that was posted recently on crossfit.com that was used to show a slight early arm pull with triple extension on the power snatch and the other is of Ryan doing the same. I wanted to use these pics as a teaching point. Both athletes are in the “second pull” with triple extension in the power snatch. Both are bending the arms slightly early as the bar is still rising. In both photos the ankles/knees/hips of the two athletes have all reached full extension (i.e. open joints) while the arms have begun to bend. This marks the transition to the “third pull” which is the transition point when the barbell has reached its highest point and the arms bend as the lifter begins to explosively pull under the barbell to receive the bar overhead (the “first pull” being the pull off the floor).

My interpretation of both photos is that they have really good form and have reached the top of their “second pull” and are beginning the “third pull” under the bar. I also think Ryan’s form is slightly better (lifting form only of course) since he has a slight lean back showing he is generating more “speed through the middle” which translates to greater momentum on the barbell upwards. However, both could have better form by eliminating their early arm bend. Nit-picky sure but that early arm bend may mean the difference in getting more weight up.

One of the most common mistakes on cleans or snatches is that the lifter bends the arms early in the second pull or worse yet prior to reaching full triple extension. A great rule of thumb I learned from Coach Burgener is “When the arms bend; the power ends”. You want to achieve the most power you can in the lift to be the most efficient. This means letting that bar rise with the straightest arms possible before pulling under. It ideally reaches the highest point when you reach triple extension and then you bend to pull underneath. At it’s worst if you are already bending your arms while your hips/knees are bent and your ankles are flat on the floor you essentially are performing a reverse arm curl. So remember the three pulls, focus on exploding, and let that momentum work to your advantage and you will feel the surprise of the barbell “floating” up while you pull under it. The list of things we all have to work on just never ends!

Read “A Tale Of Three Pulls” by CrossFit Orlando

Photo of Second Pull from Catalyst Athletics:

Note less arm bend, and the barbell is much higher. And heavier.

"Cinco De Mayo Mini-Marathon"

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Today was the 8k and 1/2 Marathon here in Snoqualmie.

For Time:
Run 8k or 1/2 Marathon

Results

3-2-1 Run! A few of us post race:

Race Overall Stats I found interesting:

15 of us from SRCF ran the 8k (field of 404 runners): Justin, Jeremy D., Mark B., Marc M., Cathy, Lucy, Michelle, Moe, Graham, Sangeeta, Steph, Bonnie, Bridget, Autumn, and Me
4 of us ran the 1/2 marathon (out of 471 runners): Annie, Nan, Laura and Travis represented in the 1/2 marathon
1 of us (that I know of) volunteered and ran the bag check: Lorraine
Average time for the 8k field was 51:35
Average time for the 1/2 marathon field was 2:05
In both races the women outnumbered the men by an average of 2:1
Top 8k SRCF male was Justin
Top 8k SRCF female was Lucy
Three of you ran in tutu’s (Lucy, Bridget, Bonnie)
One ran in a Cinco De Mayo costume (Sangeeta)
All of your coaches ran too!

To everyone who ran pat yourself on the back, stretch your hamstrings, and take an epsom salt bath. You earned it! It wasn’t all that long ago for some that running was not an activity you considered “fun” or even worth the time or effort. For some who are runners today’s distance or pace was maybe a new challenge and for the most experienced runners among us it was maybe a test to see how your running and CrossFit have mixed. For me personally I have done very little running the past few months other than what we do in WOD’s and the occasional short distance run on the trails or with weight (vest or bag). I was happy to put my faith in CrossFit and the general physical preparedness it brings by running the 8k today with only 5 runs (longer than normal WOD distances) in the last 7 full weeks (since our last 5k race). It proved the point that CrossFit works as I placed 4th in my age group in the 8k and 26th overall. Simply put kicking your own ass every single day in a WOD transfers pretty easily to a sustained pace short to mid distance run.

Sorry we missed getting everyone together for a group photo pre-race. That is something we had not planned for and will ensure not to mess up next time. We have been pretty good at coordinating a majority group pic and it’s simply becoming a SRCF tradition! The turnout for our box would actually have been even larger but a few registered runners were sick, traveling or had conflicts come up. Next time we can set a PR with how many runners we get out there. We will make sure we stay tuned for the next local run and get people looking for the Squatch!

Buck Furpees!

You choose!

For Time:
100 Burpees

The kids and their Burpee WOD:

“GI Jane”
For Time:
100 Burpee Pull-ups

Results

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GI Lucy:

Or if you’re Kim you knocked out “Nicole” with an extremely impressive # of 80 pull-ups!

Quote of the Day: “You know you’re addicted to CrossFit when you run the red light to get to class on time.” ~ Bridget

Notes:

Gym is closed Saturday. No classes! We are running the Cinco De Mayo Race with the majority of you. For those not running we posted two WOD’s to pick from to do on your own.

It was a big turnout tonight at Ana’s to say congrats to Jorge and Jana who are off to get married. Nothing like a great night of friends, food and margaritas for a happy occasion. From the gang here at SnoRidge we hope you have a wonderful time and a flawless wedding ceremony!

The Happy Couple:

Closed for the Cinco De Mayo Race

Box is closed Saturday. We are running the Cinco De Mayo 8k and 1/2 Marathon.

Need a WOD?

For Time:
Run 5k or 8k

4 Rounds For Time:
400m Run
50 Squats

Thrust A Move

Strength WOD:

Thruster

1/1/1/1/1/1/1

* Work up to 1RM (1 Rep Max)

Jim PR’ing under the eye of his coach:

Check Out WOD Immediately After:

As Many Rounds As Possible in 10 Minutes:
10 Wall Balls (20#/14#)
10 Hollow Rocks
10 Double Unders

Hollowed Rocking:

Results

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The thruster is a challenging movement to learn. Not only do you need to combine a front squat and push press you also need to have either a good power clean or full squat clean. Until the clean improves it is likely the limiting factor to how much you can push in a thruster. The hips drive the weight and the arms finish the movement. Try not to press it up (I am guilty of that) or sneak your head under the bar (you know who you are if you do it). Get aggressive on the bar and drive it overhead coming out of the squat.

Teamwork was the theme this evening as Rona came back tonight after the morning WOD for a second shot at getting 93# overhead. Teaming with Bonnie the two pushed one another to new PR’s and both hit 93# with Bonnie hitting 103#. It was fun to watch and the two threw up some weight!

Going for 103# and celebrating the PR of 93#:

Notes:

One day left before race day! Tomorrow’s WOD won’t involve running, rowing or box jumps. No barbells either. You will get a choice between two wod’s. Yay burpees!

CF New England Crew tackles a recent main site WOD that we will see soon [wmv] [mov] by CrossFit Again Faster

Row and Run

For Time:

250m Row / 200m Run
500m Row / 400m Run
1000m Row / 800m Run
500m Row / 400m Run
250m Row / 200m Run
* Alternate in teams of 2 or complete individually

Results

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Quote(s) of the day:

1) Kristy after seeing the WOD today ~ “I heard what the WOD was and decided to get a mammogram instead.”

2) Laura on being asked if CrossFit is a cult ~ “Why don’t they call it a cult when you sit around on your a$$ and eat junk”

Rowing and running. What better way to keep the heart racing than to have to run harder or row faster for your partner? This WOD worked out nicely either as a team or alone. Either way it’s the same amount of work.

Jorge pulled his “Fran Card” today! To avoid running!

Picking “Fran” over something you want to avoid. Only Jorge had that opportunity as I gave him a “Fran card” a long time ago. He used it tonight after threatening at least a half dozen times. In the process of avoiding the running which he hates he hit a huge PR for his Fran and knocked the reps out with very clean form. Congrats! Ryan also subbed a WOD due to his foot injury and knocked out 30 muscle-ups (again with great form) for time.

Notes:

This Saturday the box is closed due to the Cinco De Mayo Race. Race registrants get ready for the 8k and 1/2 on Saturday morning. Race details can be found on the right hand side of the page under upcoming events. We have a big group running to represent SRCF. Wear your SnoRidge T-Shirt, your tutu (for the ladies dressing up) and bring your fastest pair of running shoes.

Me modeling the race attire for Lucy and company:

"Zohan"

Happy Birthday Mark!

3 Rounds For Time:

400m Run
28 Overhead Squat (95#/65#)
28 Box Jumps (24″/20″)

* 20# Vest optional for Birthday Boy

Results

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Mark AKA “Zohan” (for his Zohan movie character like abilities) levitates!

For those new to the Birthday WOD it is somewhat of a CrossFit community tradition to have a WOD on your birthday that revolves around your age or birthdate, includes movements or elements you both like and hate, and it must be tough. That said I messed up today. I changed the WOD last night after giving it a dry run but didn’t get word to Moe in time for the morning crew. So you all got to do “take 1” of the WOD. We changed it for the rest of the day to the revised version (above) that simplified it but made it tougher by extending the runs and overhead squats, and added the box jumps to further fry the legs. The weight vest provided a more advanced challenge that made breathing and box jumps much harder.

Mark is pretty much a beast no matter what we throw up on the whiteboard; however after some helpful hints (from Jeremy, Kim, Moe, and Michelle), we settled on a WOD that was two parts of what he doesn’t really like (running and OH Squats) and two parts what he does like (box jumps and weight vest). Happy birthday!

Finally! Video of Jana’s 1st Pull-up and Mark and Steven’s big box jumps:

Max Effort Day: 1st Pull-up and Box Jump Madness from Tom Nugent on Vimeo.

Tire Jump Fun:

"Jumping Helen"

Helen with a double-under twist; no running

3 Rounds For Time:

50 Double-Unders
21 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
12 Pull-ups

Results

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The Games are going to move to Los Angeles this summer! While we are sad its no longer able to be conducted in Aromas, CA it’s somewhat exciting to think it’s going to be in a bigger venue (Los Angeles Home Depot Center), with more amazing athletes than ever, and webcast live for all to see. We will be going down in July to watch and can’t wait to see how it all unfolds. Who’s up for going to the Games?

Announcing the 2010 CrossFit Games! [wmv] [mov]

Notes:

Cinco De Mayo race registration closed today and we have a great number of SRCF members among those who registered for the 1/2 and the 8k race this Saturday. We will plan the WOD’s Thursday and Friday accordingly.