Advantageous

Compete 5 Rounds of 1 Minute of max reps of each of the following exercises:

Row (For Calories) 
Deadlift (225#/135#)
Ring Dips
* Rest 1 minute between rounds

Results

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Piper and Tobin visit from CF Advantage:

Piper and Crew rowing

Tobin DL

Advantageous: Meaning: Conferring benefits; promoting or contributing to social or personal well-being.

Today’s WOD was part of our Cross-box monthly challenge where several local affiliates take turns rotating the programming of the WOD and all boxes participate on the last Wednesday of each month. This month was brought to us by Cody and crew from CF Advantage and it was a good one. The triplet of rows, deads, and dips left you taxed and ready for the rest minute and was a great way to hit a more advanced movement like ring dips. We also had Tobin and Piper from CF Advantage drop in for the late WOD and help represent for SnoRidge (kidding they repped their box)! It was great to meet them both and best of luck to Tobin in this weekend’s Sectionals. Add all that up and I would say that’s a day that fits the above definition of “advantageous”.

Notes:

Tomorrow 6am class with Moe! Wake up and work out people!

"Running Fran"

For time:

400m Run
21 Thrusters (95#/65#)
21 Pull-ups
400m Run
15 Thrusters
15 Pull-ups
400m Run
9 Thrusters
9 Pull-ups

Results

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View this photo

  Jorge Jason_Thruster

Who thinks Running Fran is harder than regular Fran? Not me! Still one heck of good WOD though. It was interesting to hear the unanimous opinion that “Karen” was tougher. The forearm “pump” and chest burn was still there just at a lesser intensity. I like this variation. Speaking of variations, we may see more of them. There are many different spins such as “Fat” or “Heavy”, “Uneven”, “Run or Row” and other alternate versions of the benchmark “Girls”. Maybe a Backwards Fran (reps go 9-15-21) or “Rowing Fran” is next. 

Props to Laura for moving up a band, Jana for PR’ing thrusters, Fran got 2 kipping pull-ups in her namesake before using the band, and Jorge for gutting it out RX’d and ending strong with some really good pull-ups to a whole lot of cheering.

Jeremy Benches Jim_One Arm Fran_KB Thruster

Jeremy and Jim pictured above doing alternate versions of today’s WOD to accommodate for their injuries and rehab. Subbing exercises, limiting loads or range of motion are just different examples of ways to scale CrossFit workouts. The devil is in the programming though to make it effective and functional.

Tomorrow is the Cross-Box WOD Challenge! CF Advantage picked this month’s workout so come and get ready to row, deadlift, and dip.

Notes:

For those still in the push-up challenge today you need to bang out 75 of them. Keep breaking them up and don’t quit now, there are only 5 days left.

Parents: Please help us keep the Squatch Cave clean by asking the Squatch kids to clean up before you leave or we may see Squatch himself make an appearance. That would be kinda ugly…

We are CLOSED this Saturday! (No Classes on Saturday 2/27) We will be competing at the WA Sectional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games.

Video:

Watch “Mary’s Story” Pt. 2, A CF Journal Preview [wmv] [mov]

Mary is the mother of a couple of friends of ours who train at Rainier CF. This is the story of how CF is saving Mary’s life. One WOD at a time.

"Karen"

For time:

150 Wall Balls (20#/14#)

Results

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Steph and Melissa meet “Karen”:

Steph and Melissa WB_Karen

 

Well cross wall balls off the list of things we haven’t done much of lately! 150 of them will certainly make for one heck of a workout. For those who have done this benchmark WOD before there was a lot of progress to compare to today. For those who are new this is a benchmark workout that is one commonly found across CrossFit. Pat and Nan owned the leaderboard with smoking fast times. Sub 7 for men and sub 8 for women is REALLY fast. There were many PR’s today from the last bout with “Karen”, here are some; Bonnie, Laura, Bridget going RX’d and Curtis, Pat, and Jeremy PR’d. Marc M. also took 4 minutes off his time while Sherry went for it at the men’s height (10ft. target) and hit every single rep above the line!

There was also one other really cool milestone today in the box:

Fran got her first pull-up!

Fran 1st Pull-up - 1 Fran 1st Pull-up - 2

CONGRATS FRAN!

Notes:

Today was the deadline and 24 of us are officially in the Paleo/Zone Challenge. Outstanding! Stick with it and stay strict, and let’s see what happens after 7 weeks. Keep your diet logs!

We are CLOSED this Saturday! (No Classes on Saturday 2/27) Michelle and I will be competing at the WA Sectional Qualifiers for the CrossFit Games along with Moe, Lucy, Sherry, Lorri, Curtis, Travis and Pat. Above all we will be there to have fun! Good luck to all the competitors.

Watch “Mary’s Story” Pt. 1, A CF Journal Preview [wmv] [mov]

Mary is the mother of a couple of friends of ours who train at Rainier CF. This is the story of how CF is saving Mary’s life. One WOD at a time.

 

 

Rest, After Push-ups!

For those in the push-up challenge we are on 65 push-ups today!

Speaking of which Bridget took her boys hiking at Twin Falls the other day and knocked out her push-ups on the trail, the kids also got some overhead squats in “Squatch Style”!

2010 Twin Falls 073

2010 Twin Falls 086

2010 Twin Falls 085
 

And that right there is why we do CrossFit. To enjoy the finer things and to live a healthy and happy life for our loved ones!

 Happy Sunday!

Get Dirty Then Take a Dunk

“Dirty Thirty”

For Time:

30 Box jumps (24″/20″)

30 Jumping Pull-ups

30 KB Swings (53#/35#)

30 Walking Lunges

30 Knees to Elbows

30 Push Press (45#)

30 Back Extensions (or Good Mornings 45#/33#)

30 Wallball (20#/14#)

30 Burpees

30 Double-Unders

Results

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    “Swing That Bell”    “Good Morning Fran!”

Swing that bell Good Morning Fran

Day 1 of the Paleo/Zone Challenge Kick-off!

Today was the official start to our nutrition challenge. What better way to kick it off than to start with a little Chunky-dunk in the “Body Fat Test Truck” at the box? While simulated drowning to get your body fat is not my idea of fun, it was a great opportunity to get your body composition measured and establish a baseline. At the conclusion of our challenge they will be back for a re-test on Saturday 4/10 and cost is $35. Like today the test is in a swimsuit in the truck in a “bathtub”. Test is approximately 10 minutes. We will schedule those who want to do it in 12 minute increments as we get closer to April.

We hope you were able to “soak in” what you learned from the Nutrition Discussion with Todd Widman last week and able to get your food shopping and pantry cleaning done. Time to eat! If you were unable to attend or just want an outstanding summary of what Todd reviewed we will print copies of the notes that Sangeeta took and sent in a word doc. These notes are really good and captured all the key talking points. We also have copies of the CF Journal 15 and 21 as well as a Zone Block “Cheat Sheet” at the box to hand out.

Rules:

  • Paleo Challenge is 7 weeks long starting Saturday 2/20 and ending Saturday 4/10.
  • To be eligible for the winnings, you must weigh-in, take your “before” pics and establish a body fat baseline NLT Monday 2/12! No exceptions!
  • If you did not have us make a copy of the front page of your Body Fat Test report then please bring it in as your “baseline” to go with the pics.
  • Participation with the “ChunkyDunk” Truck (as Mike calls it) completely optional. If you didn’t use the Body Fat Test Truck then just weight in on our gym scale, take your pics and use our less accurate hand-held body fat analyzer at the gym. That way we are “1 block of apples to 1 block of apples” at the end for comparison.
  • Winner will be determined by biggest % change in body fat composition. 
  • Of the remaining participants (besides the 2 winners); your coaches will vote on one person who made the biggest physical change in appearance based on before and after photos for a “runner-up” prize!
  • Each participant owes a $15 “buy-in” that goes into a pot for the top male and top female winners.
  • Diet logs will need to be kept! Start by writing it down, putting it on your computer or some other tracking method. This will ensure accountability as well as allow you to look back and see how you maintained discipline. It will be checked!
  • “Before” and “After” Pictures need to be taken. (3 each of front, side, and back) Women in shorts and sports bra/workout top, men in shorts with no shirt. We assure you that the pics will be kept private in a protected drive at home and after the challenge will be deleted permanently if you desire. Pictures are highly effective in seeing results. 
  • Weekly weigh-in’s at the gym are required. Make sure EACH WEEK you conduct one weigh-in on our scale.

Get Tanked

What to eat? Remember above all eat quality! Make a commitment to stick with small changes you know you can maintain. Don’t starve yourself! If you need to eat ensure it is clean and in the right amounts. At a minimum, cut out the crap. That’s the refined sugars, soda (of any type), breads, grains, pasta, artificial ingredients and sweeteners, corn syrups, trans fats, snack food, fast food and “non fat” and “low fat” foods. Those really aren’t FOOD!

Here are some helpful links on Paleo, Zone and what to eat:

CF Journal: Enter the Zone

Zone Block Calculator

Paleo Food Conversion to Zone Block Servings Calculator

Red River CrossFit: Let’s Eat!

10 Tips When Eating Paleo

Performance Menu Paleo/Zone Recipes

Notes:

Affiliate Team athletes will meet at 9am Sunday to run through WOD’s 1 and 2 of the Sectionals!

Some of the Affiliate Team women working on handstand push-ups:

HS Crazy

ATTENTION RUNNERS:

Two races are getting closer. The first is the St. Patty’s Day 5k in March. Register on the right side of the page. The second is the Cinco De Mayo 1/2 marathon and 8k race in May. For that race please register in the gym as you will receive a discount on both races only if you register in person with us. As a sponsor for this race we are the local registration point so save some $ and run with your fellow CrossFitters and Snoqualmie-ans!

"Tabata Something Else"

Perform 8 intervals of  20 seconds of work with 10 seconds of rest for each exercise. This will equal a total of 32 intervals (8 pull-ups, 8 push-ups, 8 sit-ups, 8 squats). There is no rest between exercises:

Pull-ups
Push-ups
AbMat sit-ups
Squats

Results:

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Tabata Torture:

Tabata!

Partner up and keep score:

Scoring copy

Today the CF Games 2010 WA Sectionals announced 2 of the 3 WOD’s for Saturday (Day 1) of the competition next weekend. The WOD for Sunday (Day 2) will be announced at the end of Day 1. They also posted video of the first two here

What do we know? They will be good challenges. The movements are ground to overhead, sprints, handstand push-ups and front squats so far. They will be heavy, short and medium duration, and need strength, power, speed, balance, and stamina. Judging by the “bring your own jump-rope” note they will involve agility and cardio-respiratory endurance. No doubt with the other two wod’s yet to be announced they will cover these and more of the ten components of fitness. If you want to test yourself then there’s no better place than the Sectionals. Top 20 men and women will each advance onto the Regionals in May. We will also be competing in May at the Pacific NW Regional Qualifiers with our Affiliate “Team Squatch”. We will select our team of 6 based on the 9 athletes who are competing next weekend. 

I know all of us as competitors all feel some level of anxiety and fear over the WOD’s. It’s only natural. Heck Michelle seems stressed out about it, and I am the one who normally does the stressing for the two of us. Bottom line: Have fun. Take it for what it is; a few workouts on Saturday and one on Sunday. This is our chance to compete with a ton of good people who all simply do it to get fitter. It’s our CF Games event as individuals. Come Monday it will be a memory that no one will ever take away. It will make you both physically and mentally stronger. A chance for your friends and loved ones to go cheer for you and for yourself to cheer on others. It will forge elite friendships through mutual suffering. It will be something that if you were to change your mind and not compete would likely leave you feeling disappointment. So why not? Doing it is what makes you stronger. So just do it. We’re as ready as we’re gonna be! Who’s with me?

Rona wrote to me today about the Sectionals (where she will be volunteering with Jana) and I thought I should share it:

Hey guys,

I just had to follow-up to this morning and talking about sectionals. I totally get how frustrating and nerve racking it is not knowing what’s coming and not being super happy with what you do know. Get that completely.

I definitely think everyone should go, and I know you guys will encourage them to. One thing Jesse was saying from last night, that I thought was really key, is that this is “Our WA state CrossFit Games” meaning make the most of the experience. Go into it with all the heart and excitement and attack the workout with all you got. How can you go wrong with that?  Not everyone gets to go on to the next phase and even less make it to the games, but that’s ok. You get to this experience together, with the community that you have fostered and no one can ever take that away. I am pumped! 

I know you are all going to kick some ass at sectionals!

Good Luck!!!

Rona”

Notes:

Tomorrow will be our Paleo/Zone Nutrition Challenge kickoff! 7 weeks of eating right! Come weigh-in, check your body fat, take your pics and do a WOD! WOD is 1030 for main group, 0900 for Affiliate Team.

The lulu crew (I kind of like that name) came in today for some more brutal fun.

Lulu crew

Yesterday Anthony  said he would never do handstands because he didn’t like being inverted. Umm…

Anthony Gets Inverted

Mid-Line Stabilization

Strength WOD:

Overhead Squat
5/5/5/5/5
Work up to 5RM (rep max) in 5 Sets

Immediately after:

Max Effort 1 mile run for time

Results

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Mike getting overhead with great form:

Mike and Don

The key to successfully getting heavier in the overhead squat with good form is a stable and rigid mid-line. To achieve that you need to tighten your core, hold your breath, maintain a proper body position and squat. Point your toes out slightly in a wider than normal squat stance, then send the hips backwards as you squat. When you reach the bottom explode up and push your heels through the floor. Always keep the shoulders active and the bar locked out overhead and inline behind the ears. 

After the strength WOD we ran the official 1 mile mark for all of you (thanks Pat for measuring!) and while it may have added a few more meters it gives everyone another yardstick to measure yourself with. 

We also had Steven, Nicole and Anthony drop in from lululemon. It was Anthony and Nicole’s first time with overhead squats. After some brief instruction and coaching you can see in the pictures below what flexibility and balance allows you to lift overhead. Glad to have the “lulu crew” coming in more often!

Nicole OH Squats Anthony and Steven OH Squats  

Notes:

55 Push-ups today in our push-up challenge! Also don’t forget to attempt this week’s max reps of double-unders either Friday or Saturday.

Saturday will be the body fat testing by The BodyFat Truck. Make sure you check your time slot and dress appropriately (swimsuit). You will also need to take a “before” picture for the Paleo/Zone Challenge and weigh-in. If you don’t do the body fat test with the truck then you will need to use our less accurate monitor to establish a baseline. Buy-in is $15. Money goes in the pot and the top male and female will split the winnings.

WOD times: Affiliate Team training at 0900 and Main Group WOD will be at 1030.

Can you overhead squat your bodyweight 15 times?

     

"The Air Force WOD"

For time:

20 Thrusters (95#/65#)
20 Sumo Deadlift High Pull
20 Push Jerks
20 Overhead Squat
20 Front Squat

* Complete 4 burpees each minute on the minute before moving onto the barbell. Stop every minute to complete burpees and only move on to the next barbell movement after completing 20 reps. Athlete may rest only after completing 4 burpees for the minute.

Results

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Coach coaching Coach:

Coach coaching Coach

Unlike it’s namesake, this one was TOUGH. Okay just kidding! (I have many friends and family in the AF) The Air Force may stay in 5 star hotels and have great golf courses, but they really know when to get a WOD programmed with their name on it! “Deceiving” was the word Jana used to describe it, and several said this was one of the toughest or the toughest WOD you had ever completed. From a programming standpoint, this is pretty tricky and well done. It’s a little to no rest situation that will quickly highlight a weakness in your barbell technique. The whole body is quickly taxed from core to extremity and maintaining mid-line stabilization becomes a true challenge by the time you reach the OH Squat. The majority of you were limited to the load with which you could properly or safely complete the overhead squat and that was the right choice.

This WOD was programmed for the CF Games Midwest Sectional that just wrapped up this past weekend. For a review of how that Sectional qualifier went as well as how the Air Force WOD in particular impacted the athletes click here. What was your impression? Hardest one? Loved it? Never again? Post to comments.

Rack 'em up Laura_Thruster

Notes:

The “Pacesetters” 6am class on Tuesday and Thursday is ON! Wake up and join Moe to blow your WOD early! umm…wait a minute.

Some of you have asked about the hook grip. The main site posted this today: Hook Grip

Video of the Midwest Sectional Women’s WOD on Sunday [wmv] [mov]

"Helen"

3 Rounds for time:

400m Run
21 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)
12 Pull-ups

Results

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Curtis on his way to a sub ten minute PR of Helen:

Helen_KB Swings - 2

High fives and chest bumps (I had to borrow that from Todd W.) to everyone of you who tackled “Helen”. Many PR’s and accomplishments today ranging from Bonnie moving up a kettlebell, Mark ditching the band and getting his first WOD with pull-ups, and Jim M. hitting his 100th WOD! (Our 100th WOD Club T-Shirt first order is in production by the way)

This week we are focusing on what “right” looks like. That means ensuring we hit standards. Clean and perfect reps. No slop or cutting corners. Getting it right at a lower weight before getting heavier and risking injury for a faster time. Today’s main blog topic is designed to tie into this week’s focus and also be thought provoking.  

The article below was really interesting to me. I read it after it was recommended by a fellow trainer and friend and I thought it was a really good topic for the blog. It got me thinking and wondering what other CrossFitters think. As I read it I thought about my opinion and decided to share it with all of you (after the picture below).

Read the following article from HyperFit USA – Ann Arbor CrossFit: “Clock Whores“. 

Clock Gone Bad Pic

My opinion? It’s “Clock Gone Bad”. Not in reference to the actual product (pictured above) or some WOD title; but in reference to the topic of how measuring performance with a clock in a group environment can shift from a perfectly legitimate tool for tracking progress toward’s one’s own goals to natural and healthy competition to the worst possible scenario. That scenario? “Win at all costs”, regardless of the method in getting there. The potential for intentionally sacrificing standards, limiting full range of motion, improperly counting, and cutting corners to simply be faster to beat others or even yourself. The potential to cheat. In my mind, that is unacceptable. Simply because it is pointless. It is a road I suspect that once someone goes down likely would be hard to ever get off. It is a time-bomb (pun intended) that when it goes off and is discovered can have zero positive impact, and it likely will go off at some point.

We all willingly pay for training and high intensity workouts that continually test our limits and are designed to push our fitness to the next level. We forgo the “conventional” Globo Gym type model and embrace CrossFit, whether it’s our primary fitness tool or a supplement to our other fitness endeavors. Each day we come into the box, feel the butterflies, warm-up and nervously anticipate the 3-2-1 GO that starts each WOD. We do this because it’s fun in a twisted sense, because it works, because it makes each of us feel like we accomplished something meaningful. Because it’s addicting and provides an interesting high after we yell time and flop on the floor. It usually is quickly replaced with an intense feeling of relief, accomplishment and surprise at what was just accomplished. So why on earth would anyone cut corners to cheat themselves of that result? Why in the pressure to get a faster time or maybe even outperform someone else would someone decide to count some garbage reps or maybe even skip some?Why would anyone pay for it? What satisfaction could ever be gained from knowing that what someone just spent the last several brutal minutes nearly killing themselves for was all for naught? Why would anyone ever want to be a “Clock Whore”? 

Post your thoughts to comments.

Notes:

Starting tomorrow at 6am Moe will be teaching class. If you are an early riser come in bright and early! (Every Tuesday and Thursday at 6am we will have classes)

Here’s a really well done video of the Midwest Sectionals WOD #1 (Air Force WOD) Video: [wmv] [mov]

"Ton of Ten"

Main Class WOD “Ton of Ten”:

For time:

10 Power Clean (95#/65#)
10 Burpees
10 Push Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Clean and Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Push Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Power Clean

Results

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Rona pushing hard

Affiliate Team WOD “A Sh*t Ton of Ten“:

For time:

10 Power Clean (135#/95#)
10 Burpees
10 Push Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Clean and Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Push Jerk
10 Burpees
10 Power Clean

Results

View this photo

M Coaching

Great barbell workout today with a focus on power cleans and push jerks. We are seeing significant improvement in developing both movements for many of you. Congrats to Ryan who also joined the muscle-up club! After the WOD while everyone was talking the room quickly was surprised to see him completing the lockout on his first ever muscle-up. After another which I missed on camera, I was able to get him to give it one more try to take some pictures. Talk about a quick learner, he just went through learning the progressions on these last week! And only two weeks ago Ryan did “Murph” as one of his first WOD’s. 

Ryan and his muscle-up:

Ryan 1st Muscle-up

Moe is currently halfway through her Level 1 Certification this weekend. I was able to get down tonight to see her PR “Fran” in 8:30 during the mass workout at the end of the day. It was inspiring and fun to say the least. I will post some pics of her tomorrow. Huge congrats to you and way to shatter your previous best by almost 3 minutes!

Notes:

CF Games 2010 News: The SD and AZ Sectionals announced their Sectional WOD’s. Interesting to say the least! The Midwest Sectionals kicked off officially this weekend. Let the Games begin!