This benchmark girl WOD is truly challenging. At first you think it’s the pull-ups that will be the hardest part and that the rest will be manageable. After pulling through that first hundred the forearm pump is in full swing and the arms are dying fast. Thinking you can just knock out a good set of push-ups to take a bite out of the next 100, this is the point where you hit the wall. Those last fifty push-ups seem like an eternity. Until you hit the sit-ups… You get the point. Accomplishing a half, scaled or fully RX’d Angie is something to truly be proud of and one benchmark we will certainly see again.
From CrossFit.com: Chris Spealler does Angie [wmv] [mov] (Note he uses anchored AbMat sit-ups)
CrossFit Crashes the C.R.A.S.H. B.s This is from February but applicable as we rowed a bit today (Pat is required to read this). The Crash B’s are the World Indoor Rowing Championships and two of the Top CF’ers from the 2009 Games accepted the invitation to go and compete against the world’s best rowers to see how they would fare. They certainly fared very well. Next year’s Crash B’s are in February and in Boston. Seeing how we have a certain beast in the 40-49 year old age bracket who likes to row 10k’s as a hobby, and that we have a former rower or two at the ready to coach; I am thinking we need to get someone (cough, cough… Pat) signed up to compete next year!
Today was an emphasis on the clean, specifically the power clean. This movement is essential to learn and improve as it’s integral to so many movements in CrossFit that we do. A good clean lays the foundation for progressing through so many other more advanced skills or movements, as it’s the easiest way to get weight from the ground up to a rack position to press or squat with it.
Attention: Watch this video on the power clean from Jon Gilson of Again Faster for some great tips on set-up, technique and coaching tips. Believe me all of us can take something valuable from this video to improve our clean:
Justin and Ashley (CF’ers from Central Washington) dropped in today for some cleans. Great to have them in and props to Justin for a 235 Squat Clean!
Saturday class schedule change alert: One formal time at 1000; waves if needed. There will be no 11am slot! This is for the next couple weeks due to everyone’s summer plans and light attendance at 11am.
We’ve been getting some work in this week and last on cleans as well as pistols. Mixing it up with the cleans to use moderate, heavy, light weight and medicine balls should help cement the movement for many and illustrate why technique is so important. The pistols teach balance, coordination, agility and build single leg strength and power that translates to so many movements.
Ash working on her rope climbs:
Notes:
Almost 100 years ago Coca Cola contained cocaine. Then they took it out and relied simply on the deadly combo of sugar, phosphoric acid and caffeine to get people hooked. Read What Happens to Your Body If You Drink a Coke Right Now? on blisstree.com and tell me it doesn’t sound like drinking a soda is a lot less appealing? Wondering about diet soda? Oh that’s just as bad. Next time you go to buy that liter bottle of soda pick up some sparkling water instead.
Saturday class schedule change alert: One formal time at 1000; waves if needed. There will be no 11am slot! This is for the next couple weeks due to everyone’s summer plans and light attendance at 11am.
Upcoming events: Look on the right side of the site and check out the many events this summer to sign up for with your fellow Squatches!
Steph and Marc raise the roof for their birthday WOD:
Off to the races:
What is CrossFit? This video gets me fired up. Fired up to train, coach, and simply walk into the box and be around clients, friends, and family. It gets me thinking too.
What is CrossFit to me? It’s my way of embracing life. Seizing the day. It’s taking on a challenge and struggling to push both mentally and physically to see it through. It’s self-improvement, self-motivation and self-satisfaction. CrossFit is setting the example for my kid, my family, my friends, and my community. It’s evidence based fitness both of mind and body. It’s also hard and intimidating. CrossFit is butterflies in your stomach, mind screaming “quit” and then “don’t quit”. It’s almost never wanting to do the WOD until you hear “3-2-1 Go” and then loving that you did the WOD when it’s over. It’s bumper plates, big lifts, tall socks, board shorts and no shirt. Tire flips, rope climbs, handstands and being a big kid whenever you want. It’s epic, awesome and badass every single day. It is workouts that really are workouts. CrossFit is coaching, training, cheering, good games, and good times. It’s eating right, hating to rest, and chomping to get back to that next dreaded workout. It’s marriage counseling. It’s setting PR’s, learning new skills and newfound confidence, and then getting better at whatever you use your fitness to go do. It’s turning weaknesses into strengths. It’s helping my loved ones live a few more healthy and productive years. CrossFit is a vehicle which you can use to change your life, and we have been lucky enough to witness it daily in our box. Most of all, it’s simply FUN.
Epication: An epication is a vacation of epic proportions. Standard vacations kneel and weep before the awesomeness that is the epication.
This defines our recent trip to Carson, CA (which sounds better than Compton) to be a part of the CrossFit-apallooza that is known as the CrossFit Games. It was a great weekend filled with awesome performances and memories that inspired us to get back in the gym to hit it hard. On top of that Michelle and I were lucky to enjoy our epication with some incredibly cool friends!
I have only three requests for the 2011 CF Games:
Have more of us Squatches go down
Have one (or a team of us) make it through qualifiers to compete and cheer for
Hurry up and get here already!
If you are interested in a ton of pics from the Games here ya go:
While you can jump laterally or head on; the key is an explosive jump
Jump up while aiming beyond the box
Open your hips and then pull your feet and knees up to your chest
Stretch your feet out beyond the box and prepare to land
Land with your knees bent to absorb the impact
You can perform variations by jumping onto the box and jumping down; jumping and pivoting 180 degrees in the air to land facing the box; or jumping sideways (laterally) over the box
During the prime 2 months of summer that we get here, is an 11am class needed or is 10am sufficient with a “come one come all” arrangement? The 11am has been spotty at best as the weather has gotten nicer and weekend plans take priority. So we are considering having a 10am slot and just running waves if it’s crowded. Post to comments.
We are officially going to petition the city to rename the street in front of the box…
This was definitely “HELL-in”. Appropriately named, reputation earned! This is a demanding workout both in terms of cardiovascular and metabolic conditioning. Essentially one giant chipper; the decreasing distance and reps represent the “light at the end of the workout”. As the forearms burn the pull-ups begin to falter and grip strength and pulling power become a huge challenge along with the jackhammer in your chest. Simply willing yourself to keep running, swinging, and pulling is a battle in and of itself.
Fight Gone Bad V is coming!
If you are reading this please consider signing up and creating your own fundraising page. This event (we also did FGB IV last September with CF Redmond) benefits Livestrong, The Wounded Warrior Project, and the CrossFit Foundation. Read more here. The money that CF Affiliates across the country raise will go towards cancer research and the CrossFit Foundation (which benefits military, law enforcement and first responder communities with fitness equipment assistance).
Raise $150 and you will receive a limited edition shirt. We plan to host this on a date in late September (TBD) as the official date of 9/25 conflicts with a cert we will be at. Have no fear though we already have approval from them to pick a different date. So register, pick “SnoRidge CrossFit” under team name and get started fundraising!
Warrior Dash is coming!
Several of us have mentioned or have already registered for the supposedly “most insane obstacle race” in America. Doubtful however it looks like a blast. Date is 9/12 in Oregon and times are filling up. Some of us are registered for the 11 – 12 heats. If interested click here. Let’s get a good group to go down, put on our Viking gear and run through fire, mud, and water!
Notes:
Tomorrow class is 10am and 11am. Post to comments if you are in for the 10am as first 8 will get prioirity. It’s Day 5 of our “Week of the Games” and will be an Affiliate Cup Event.
Want to see a CrossFitter easily pull over 600 lbs. on a deadlift? Watch Dave Lipson pull 651! [wmv] [mov]
27 people went into the box today to attempt a 1 rep max (1RM) deadlift. All 27 hit a new PR! How cool is that? Chest bumps and high fives! I tried to get pics of everyone’s PR lift but couldn’t be everywhere at once. My apologies for those who I didn’t get a picture of. That just means you get to PR again next time!
New box Deadlift records: Mark B. with a lift of 465# and Lucy with a lift of 243#
Pics of Deadlift Mania 2010:
Notes:
Congrats to Pat who this past weekend rode the 200 mile STP (Seattle to Portland) bike race in only 1 day with a time under 12 hours! Pretty amazing considering around 90% of the 10,000 riders take two days to complete it with an overnight stop. Pat told me today he owed it to CrossFit!
