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!
(Ah the internets crashed on me last night thus the late post!)
Coaching is invaluable. Here at SnoRidge AKA “Camp Awesome” we pride ourselves on providing coaching, but that is not only reserved for us as trainers in teaching good movement, proper technique, and running workouts. It also applies to everyone in the box who may give that helpful tip, that extra push or encouragement, that correction, or even that word of caution about being “dumb” vs. being “smart”. I think our box is filled with good coaches. So many of us who have knowledge to share, who look out for one another, who have each other’s best interests at heart from WOD to WOD.
Do we always make the right decisions on how much to add to the bar? Choose the right WOD strategy? Do we take a rest day every time we need to? How about counting good reps and ditching bad ones? Likely the answer is no but we do it right more often than not. I see more and more often that many of us recognize the need to scale properly, warm-up better or stretch and mobilize. Many times someone will help another out with some pointers and cues when one of the trainers is busy with someone else. When we don’t we as coaches and fellow CF’ers all collectively remind one another why it’s important. Coaches not only motivate, teach, scale and execute; we hold you accountable. Everyone in the box in some form or another is capable of demanding accountability and it’s cool to see us all doing just that. That’s just what we do.
Speaking of coaches, on Saturday I attended the WA CrossFit Affiliate “Meating” hosted by Lynnwood CrossFit. It was an open gathering for any affiliate who wanted or could attend in our state. It was a great half day spent with 50 plus CF trainers and fellow business owners of all experience levels forging community, sharing information and best practices, throwing out ideas, and even a team WOD. It all ended with some BBQ where you could grill your own meat or eat whatever you decided to hunt, gather, or shop for. We barely scratched the surface on the topics we potentially wanted to discuss but enough was put out there that it made me think of more ways for us to be better as your coaches and affiliate owners. Look forward to the next one!
Working out this morning with everyone and then hitting the Team workout this afternoon at the WA Affiliates Gathering at Lynnwood CrossFit had me thinking about how motivating it is to be surrounded by “firebreathers”. As CrossFitters we all find reasons to delay the WOD but once that clock starts we can’t be held back. As the seconds tick by and the work gets done, it’s all a personal struggle to tough it out and not quit. All of us have an inner firebreather. Find and unleash yours.
Where was everyone today for the 10am class? This ensures you all will be well rested on Monday! Four of you came and hit the WOD, with Jim C. making up the deads and PR’ing at 465# while the rest hit the cleans. Thanks to Matt who came in early and volunteered to be the photographer during “Sectionals” training.
Oh and new gym rule courtesy of Lynnwood CrossFit: Whining will cost you!
Rest up for Saturday’s team WOD for the main 10am class (if it’s not pouring) and “Games Training” for the early time.
If you are wondering or possibly notice that the group training for the Games Qualifiers (yet to be announced) is meeting separately on Saturday mornings and completing a different WOD that is by design. It’s not intended to create an exclusive club or anything of that nature. It’s targeted training for those athletes who have committed to competing in the qualifiers for the 2011 CF Games. We are programming separate training that is geared for the types of workouts or movements or loads that are likely to crop up in a few months. Some are advanced, some heavy, some both. Most are shorter and intense as the time allotted to complete a WOD is likely to be a short to mid-range time domain or even have a cap where you stop whether you finish or not. It will complement or build off what we have been training for the past week and month, as well as what we plan for the month(s) ahead. It will also allow the group to get together once per week and train together, while also having fun pushing each other harder than if they trained separately. The biggest key is our training is targeted towards general weaknesses, skills or movements that CF’ers seeking to compete at the next level should reasonably expect to encounter.
It’s not specialized CrossFit just different programming designed to prepare for a specific type of competition (which is actually unknown!). Since we are an equal opportunity box we will ensure there are plenty of chances for everyone to hit many of the same skills or movement and fully “embrace the suck”!
Notes:
Welcome back to Jason who will be dropping in once a week and also hitting King CF during the week in Renton. Great to have you back in the box!
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.”
Quote of the Day from Rob re: CF Games Sectionals changes: “I think I’m gonna stop coming to the box and I’ll do the WOD’s on my own and just send in video to post my times.”
My favorite and most asked question in the box: “What’s a thruster?” We heard it twice today. Being new is totally understandable, but what’s funny is how often it gets asked by so many who aren’t new. Simple answer? They are the devil. Real answer? They are a front squat combined with a push press. Doing them “DB style” is torture.
Matt and Dustin locked out:
Coaching Tip: Dumbbell Thrusters
What do these CrossFitters have in common?
All are resting the back of the dumbbell on their shoulder
Use the shoulder after you clean the dumbbells to rest and stabilize the dumbbell in the front squat of the movement
As you drive up and transition to a push press explode and drive the dumbbell’s overhead
Return the dumbbells to the shoulder and continue into the squat of the next thruster
This helps to control the dumbbell and prevent the “crazy weighted windmill arm flailing” that can result in a dumbbell dropped on the toe or injured shoulder
Last tip: No throwing the DB’s down, you can’t control that bounce (See above bullet)
Squatch does CrossFit. Squatch can clean and jerk. Don’t mess with Squatch:
This is Moe’s favorite WOD. After today I would bet it’s several people’s favorite WOD. Why? Because we had 19 total PR’s! (I went and checked the past performances since not all of you knew or wrote it on the whiteboard). That’s insane! Either faster times, heavier KB’s, different bands or RX pull-ups were the norm for almost everyone. This is making me think it’s almost time for “Fran”…
“Needs more Kettlebell”:
One other notable performance happened today in the box; Nan paid up on her Apple Cup bet with Jeremy O. The bet was 100 Burpees for the loser of the Apple Cup and Nan cashed out after “Helen”. The cool thing was she ended up with a support crew that served as her “Burpee Peloton” to get her through.
“I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.” ~ Michael Jordan
The theme of last year’s CF Games was “Unknown and Unknowable”. Well, I assumed we would have Sectional Qualifiers this year for the 2011 Games. You what happens when you assume…
So in the wake of the development around the elimination of Sectionals and the evolving format for this year’s online/local “Sectional” qualifiers for the CrossFit Games I have been doing some thinking (and ranting but that is maybe not a good topic for this post). Amid my disappointment over the change in format and doing away with Sectionals as we know it, I have heard and read many different pros and cons and decided the most important thing to take away from this is that it will not change how I train. For the 14 other SRCF athletes who were planning on Sectionals I hope you won’t either.
Competition is a great thing. It makes you have purpose in your training. It forces you to push harder, rest less, go heavier, practice more, and dial it in. It makes you feel alive and allows you to accomplish goals and learn about yourself in the process. For those who want to compete for the Games in whatever format they announce then keep focused and prepare to do the online or local host qualifiers when the dates and details come out. If not then there are several other avenues out there:
USAW/CrossFit Weightlifting competition: Not sure when it will be but likely there will be another one in 2011
Local Oly Lifting competitions: Thrush Sports Performance Center regularly hosts competitions
Mt. Rainier Strongest Man and Woman Event: Rainier CrossFit hosts this annual event and competition each summer
Local and Regional CrossFit Throwdowns and Challenges: There are plenty! Like the “Grace” Challenge or annual “Fight Gone Bad” Event, we can find them and point you to them. Or we can even organize one.
Bottom line is this: If you are an uber-competitive CrossFitter, there are outlets for us all. As your coaches and affiliate we will do our best to uncover them, help you train for them if you desire it, and then push you to go forth and dominate!