WOD – Page 624 – SNORIDGE CROSSFIT

Penalty Box

Every minute on the minute complete 10 Box Jumps then perform max reps of overhead squats for the remainder of the minute. Continue with this rep scheme each minute repeating box jumps and max OH Squats until you total 100 reps of overhead squats.

EMOM:

10 Box Jumps (24″/20″)
Max Rep Overhead Squat (75#/55#)

* If you cannot complete any OH Squats in a minute rest and continue with box jumps until you hit the 100 rep total.

Results

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Nan and Pat praying to the CrossFit Gods yesterday for help in today’s WOD:

Quote of the day: Deb mid squat talking about her husband ~ “Oh my God I don’t want to look like Curtis!”

After today you may all want to throw me into a penalty box. This was our re-match from back in November and there were a bunch of PR’s today. Keep working on the form over loading up the weight. Full depth should be the goal first, then load. This movement is a core taxer. It also was the cross-box challenge with several local affiliates (Outer Edge CF, Local’s Gym, King CrossFit, Stoneway CF, CF Advantage, Foundation CF, and Rivertown CF). We picked the WOD this month so you can understand why I chose this! You can check results that will be posted to Facebook under the group “A Bunch of CF’ers” and I’ll post our average gym time here as well.

Bridget post Penalty Box:

Notes:

Hey you rowers! Did you know Concept 2 has a dedicated section on their site for CrossFit and rowing? Click here for some useful info, demos, events and training videos.

Congrats to our friends from King CrossFit who made the CF.com main site today in a video from back in their garage days. They are now thriving in a big box in Renton. Time flies. [wmv] [mov]

"Whoopsie!"

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

15 Deadlift (135#/95#)
500m Row

Results

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Pat sneaks a peek:

Quote of the day: “Concentrating this hard is really stressful!” ~ Vicki taking about her WOD today.

CrossFit forces a lot of concentration during the workout of the day. No matter what level you are at you must concentrate. You have to if you want to block out the pain or discomfort, to slow down the breathing and keep plugging away. Or when everything seems new, unfamiliar, uncoordinated, challenging and impossible in a “are you insane for making me do this” kind of way. You stand at a barbell, watching peripherally as bodies and weights fly around you and all you can think is “GO” while at the same time thinking “stance, butt down, chest up, hands here, head there…”. For some it becomes stressful. We understand that. Our advice? Slow down a second, remember the cues that work for you, and progress through them while blocking out everything else. Don’t worry about how many rounds or how much time has gone by, get that progression in your head, focus on technique and 3-2-1 go! As you become more advanced or more familiar with the movement pattern, your concentration will shift more towards replicating perfect reps, hitting a target number or going unbroken, consistent pacing, split times, managing your rest, and maintaining strategy. You may even decide to check on your competition to see if you are ahead or behind. Bottom line: If your workout is carefree, devoid of all concentration, and totally relaxed and pleasant I would argue it’s not a workout.

Today’s WOD was meant to be a heavier deadlift with fewer reps. It was supposed to be a repeat from a WOD we did back in November. Due to a mix-up by Household 6 (who I am thinking should be demoted to Household 5 or at least be given burpee de-merits), this version today listed a lighter deadlift and added reps. Whoopsie! Despite that It changed the workout in a positive way and made for more of a row/dl endurance workout combination. It averaged 2000 plus meters rowing along with high reps of lighter deadlifts at an appropriate load that meant more power.

Bonnie AKA “Pinkalicious” rowing:

Notes:

Speaking of power: Jeremy reported his 1st ever 400 yard drive on the golf course this past weekend; thanks to CrossFit (and maybe a little wind). Either way, you could put a hurricane behind me and I probably couldn’t drive it that far.

Registration forms are in the gym for signing up for the local Snoqualmie valley Cinco De Mayo 1/2 marathon and 8k on May 1st. Register in person here in the box and save $5 off either race. Let’s get a good presence out there and support this community run and fitness challenge! Make it your first 8k or first 1/2! Also don’t forget the Snoqualmie St. Patty’s Day 5k race is Mar. 13th!

Tomorrow is our monthly cross-box Affiliate Challenge. We called the WOD for this month and it’s a doozy (many will remember it). We will do this workout along with several other local boxes (Local’s Gym, Outer Edge CrossFit, King CrossFit, Stoneway CF, CF Advantage, Foundation CF, RiverTown CF). Show up and bring some intensity!

"Randy"

For Time:
75 Power Snatches (75#/55#)

* Post WOD complete max effort plank hold for time

Results

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This “Hero” WOD is a tribute In memory of Randal Simmons, LAPD SWAT (deceased Feb. 7, 2008).

Moe and Amanda locking out:

Looks like it’s time to update the leaderboard! Some impressively fast performances today by all of you with top M/F times going to Pat and Lorri. This benchmark WOD is an all out barbell sprint. It quickly gets hard 30 reps in and as you keep moving the back tightens, the shoulders fatigue and the heart pounds. While the weight is relatively light, it feels like you are doing burpees with the bar. In under 10 minutes you get a very effective workout that is all parts cardio, strength and power. Like any Hero workout, knowing what it’s for always helps to keep it in perspective while you are pushing through it.

After the WOD was another max effort test. Holding a plank is challenging and representative of core strength and mental toughness. Going 5 minutes is crazy hard (Erin and Curtis!), but Rob pushed way past that with a stunning 6:18 tonight after “Randy”.

Congrats to Rob, our new “Plank King”!

“Randy”, by LAPD Swat and CFHQ Staff [wmv] [mov]

Watch this video especially from 4:41 in where Josh Everett just crushes this WOD.

Notes:

Welcome to Melissa, Jeff, and Ryan who all started with us today. We look forward to you all completing Elements soon and joining in the brutal fun!

Ready, Set, Rest

Gym is closed. Rest or go for a run. Low intensity active rest is a good alternative.

Do you think CrossFit prepares you for other fitness tests despite not particularly training for them? I believe so and have personally experienced it. Here’s an account from a friend of ours from North Scottsdale CrossFit who used only CrossFit to train, prepare for, and successfully run a 1/2 marathon. If you have similar experiences post to comments.

"Michelle"

Celebrating Michelle’s 9th Annual 29th Birthday!

3 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
9 Thrusters (115#/85#)
29 Burpees
37 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)

Results

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Tough WOD. Like all birthday WOD’s, just brutal. It could have been worse though! Wait a few more years until Michelle celebrates her 15th anniversary of her 29th birthday, which will equal more thrusters! Now that will be really bad…

Post WOD there was a little hula hoop competition/demonstration by Michelle and Curtis. The video ran out on Michelle’s attempt but I counted her at 20 revolutions. Then it was Curtis’s turn. Who knew he was a former Canadian luau dancer (besides Deb)?

Food for thought: For those wondering about nutrition and if you should focus on your diet as much as you focus on your workout, or your job, your family, your mind, and so on then just take a look at some of these links from LivingPaleo.com and decide for yourself:

Americans Wonder Why They Are Dying Sooner

The Food Pyramids

Omega 3 Fish Oil

Food Cravings

Foods to Avoid On the Paleo Diet

There are a ton of resources out there that are packed with good, sensible information on nutrition. Read what you can, take what you want, decide what you are ready to give up, and get to eating cleaner and healthier. Your body truly is your engine, what you fuel it with is important. Putting in the wrong fuels over time has long-lasting and harmful impacts that not only effect your workout, they effect your life. We are going to start another Paleo Challenge soon. Read here for insights into how it will work this time around. We will follow something similar to the approach that Level 4 / CrossFit Seattle used for their recent challenge but of course reserve the right to tweak things as needed.

Notes:

Parents, we need your help! Please ask your little ones to help clean the Squatch Cave before you leave. It helps avoid the end of day collective disaster that appears after several classes and the little Squatches have their way with the toys.

Double Trouble

3 Rounds for Time:
50 Double-Unders
50 Good Mornings (45#/33#)

Results (Friday WOD)

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Double Trouble – Bridget and Adriana:

Got double-unders?

Short post today. It’s my better half’s birthday.

"Nancy"

5 Rounds for Time:
400m Run
Overhead Squat (95#/65#)

Results

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Happy Birthday “Nancy”!

When programming a birthday WOD for someone it typically involves a few guidelines: it should mix exercises the person is not a fan of along with something they are good at, it should somehow reflect the birth date, age or year if possible, and it should be hard. For Curtis I threw some of those guidelines out and simply asked a few questions; what is hard and a weakness and something he has been targeting? His nemesis, the overhead squat. What would make it even more challenging? A benchmark with overhead squats. Last I asked, what would really get his goat? Picking my favorite benchmark WOD. So happy birthday! Don’t say I never did anything for you!

Tonight I was able to witness some cool PR’s again in the box. Some with heavier loads, full range of motion, or faster times for those who had done “Nancy” before. I watched Michelle PR (personal record) Nancy by over 8 minutes and go almost unbroken the whole way through! I was able to workout with the 5pm class and it helped push me to PR and also watch Pat get through the WOD RX’d after struggling with learning OH Squats only a little over a month ago. I watched as the late class improved tremendously on overhead squats. I talked with Pat about the topics of progress, setting personal records, and achieving athletic goals through CrossFit that continue to surprise all of us. From heavy deadlifts, to fast runs, to improving a dreaded lift with better form and less breaks. We talked about how you can never quit a WOD, never cheat yourself, and must always push through it to the end.

Curtis and I also talked after the WOD about setting PR’s. It was a good conversation that stuck with me and also reminded me of our collective journey at SnoRidge. Curtis was our first male client who took a leap of faith and joined SnoRidge CrossFit when we were a small garage gym with a barbell, med balls, a box, a rower and our daughter’s Barbie Car. Like many of you who started in the garage he watched as we grew and evolved and set new records with more and more clients. We in turn watched as he advanced and made progress in the gym both big and small. He got stronger, faster, and more skilled with both weighted and bodyweight movements. He slowly set PR after PR. It took time. It took patience. It also took impatience. He didn’t set a PR every workout or every other workout. Sometimes he was RX’d, many times early on he scaled back to work on learning and practicing correctly. But he always pushed hard.

Which brings us to now, where Curtis PR’d “Nancy” tonight. While it may not be RX’d, he improved significantly from the first time he did this with a bar to using a heavier load tonight. He scaled himself to a load that allowed for good form yet he did it fast. And he was stoked. Which brings me to the point I want to make. A PR is something to be proud of. It doesn’t have to be RX, blazing fast, crazy heavy, or a ton of rounds. It is simply a new record. An achievement for yourself to feel satisfaction knowing you earned it. With sweat, blood, sometimes puke or even tears, take note of how pushing yourself pays off with PR’s that are lasting and potentially life changing. Don’t take it for granted. Don’t think it’s easy or should just happen. Some days will be tough or even frustrating. It’s never automatic. Know that only through consistently hard work, rest, nutrition, and the persistence to ignore the inner voice we all hear each WOD will we each continue to raise the bar for ourselves and set a new personal best.

Travis and Curtis post WOD going for their max rep pull-ups. Both PR’d…

Notes:

Saturday Schedule: Affiliate team WOD will be at 9am. Class at 10am and 11am. Post to comments if you want the 10am Sat. class time. First 8 are a “go”!

PR!

Strength WOD:

Deadlift
5/4/3/2/1/1/1

Immediately after:

Max Effort:

1 Mile Run

Results

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Amanda celebrating her PR!

We gotta get more weights! What a day in the box today. Every single one of you had a Personal Record. EVERY…SINGLE…ONE! Deadlifts were flying up and some of you PR’d by a whopping 50 pounds. Everyone also followed this up with some blazing 1 mile sprints. We should field a track team at the next Summer Olympics at this rate. Due to this development we are going to do two things; buy skinny 45# plates to fit on the bar and order a bunch of steroid test kits.

Pictures tell a thousand (pound) story:

Mile run speed demon:

Notes:

SKI Magazine sends a blogger to a CrossFit gym to get ready for ski season.

We are going to get more strict on burpees from here out. This will be the new standard for everyone except Michelle and I. Watch here for a demo: [wmv] [mov]

Oh and Travis, Michelle said to remember: “Ding – Ding”!

"Go for Broke"

5 Rounds of Max Effort for 1 Minute of each exercise:
Max Rep Thrusters (95#/65#)
Max Effort Row (Calories)

* Rest 30 Seconds between exercises and rounds

Results

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Pre-WOD:

Post-WOD:

Where did all the smiles go? Here is the general consensus on today’s WOD: “Brutal. Hard. Miserable. Worse than Burpees. Hardest one yet. Tougher than normal, and normal is tough!” Last observation: “I loved it!” Wait a minute. What?! I have decided Amanda is a) crazy b) a rower c) a masochist. As good as she is at rowing, I vote for “a”. She is crazy.

Rona feeling the joy of Thrusters:

Notes:

We are looking at starting our next Paleo Challenge in February. We are coordinating with our fellow cavemen and cavewomen. Stay tuned for details!

If you haven’t registered for the St. Patty’s Day 5k Run what are you waiting for? A pot o’ gold? Click on the link on the side of the page and run with the gang.

"Nicole"

As Many Rounds As Possible in 20 Minutes:
400m Run
Max Rep Pull-ups

Run first then perform max rep pull-ups. Touching the ground or contact with a box (if performing assisted pull-ups) terminates the round and starts the next run. Grip it and pull!

Results

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Jim M. pulling for the next rep:

“Nicole” is a WOD that crushes the forearms and makes it feel like you are running with two tree trunks tied to your shoulders. As your grip fails and the mind keeps racing the clock, you wonder how you are possibly going to get the next round of pull-ups without falling off the bar. The run is truly a penalty as it either sucks away time or forces you to run so fast that the heart is beating out of your chest as you come back to the bar. Do you practice your math skills while you run the 400m, constantly trying to pick what to target each round to get to your goal? What pull-up strategy do you use in this one? Do you hang on for dear life and eke out rep after rep? Or once you get to fatigue do you choose to drop and run fast? Whatever method you chose today, remember it and next time try the opposite. Looking at the whiteboard and the seriously impressive performances today make me want to get on that bar!

Notes:

Pics from our field trip on Saturday to practice some Olympic Lifting at Thrush Sports Performance Center (thanks Jim C. for taking some great ones):