"Deads, Sleds, and Dread"

Affiliate Team WOD:

21/15/9 reps of:
Deadlift (225#/155#)
Overhead Squat (135#/95#)

Results

View this photo

Mark and Pat rock out their deadlifts:

 Deads

Main WOD:

In teams of 3 complete a relay race of 5 Rounds for time of:

100 ft. Sled Push (70#/35#)
50 ft. Shuttle Sprint
12 Sledgehammer Swings (16#/12# at 6 per side)
100 ft. Shuttle Sprint
200m Row
50 ft. Shuttle Sprint
25 Squats
* One athlete works while others rest

Results

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Tough Sledding with Rona:

Rona Sleds

 Today was one of our most favorite days in the box. Or outside of the box. When it’s that nice out we have to drag the equipment outside and generate some power and intensity. We had several great waves of people today show up to have some “brutal fun”. Seeing so many people gutting it out in two tough WOD’s and in such a great scenic setting was motivating. From deadlifts and heavy overhead squats to sleds and sledges, we mixed it up a bit. We hadn’t done a relay or team WOD in awhile so this WOD worked great for teamwork and used the new sleds and the tire and hammers. 

The affiliate team also got a taste of what going heavy in overhead squats will show you in terms of form faults. Overheads are improving! Getting a little beyond your comfort zone in the overhead squat will quickly amplify if you have shoulder flexibility or strength issues, whether you can properly support the bar while sending your posterior chain back and down, or if you have sufficient mid-line stabilization to support that load overhead. Kudos to Lorri and Lucy who found their groove and started getting the feel down for the OH Squat. Props to everyone for toughing out a very hard workout. Mark, Jeremy and Kim also joined us today from “The Compound” for the deadlift/oh squat WOD and then stuck around helping and coaching. Thank you so much for the good cues and extra coaching today.

“The Compound” Crew:

Mark OH Squats Kim OH Squat Jeremy OH Squat

Lots of pics from today’s WOD can be found on Flickr. Check ’em out and thanks to Jim for helping take some great ones!

Notes:

Graham reported today that since he started CrossFit with us and switched to a strict Zone diet he has lost 20 pounds! All of that in only ONE month! Hard work, proper nutrition and consistency is clearly paying off. 

Paleo-Zone Challenge participants: Remember your weekly weigh-in’s. We strongly encourage food logs as you will be interested in 7 weeks to look back at what you ate. Stay consistent, strict and avoid cheat meals as much as you can until April, then see the results and slowly see what you add back in moderation.

Here’s a thought provoking post and discussion: “The Grain Manifesto

 Pat modeling the exclusive handmade “SnoRage 1 Member Club T-Shirt” for Curtis’s garage:

SnoRage 1 WOD Club Shirt

Out of Breath

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5… down to 1 rep(s) each for time of:

Burpee Box Jumps (24″/20″)
Dumbbell Thrusters (40#/25#)

Results

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Burpee Box Jumps with Michelle:

Burpee Box Jump - 1 Burpee Box Jump - 2 Burpee Box Jump - 3 Burpee Box Jump - 4

DB Thruster - 1 DB Thruster - 2

I love WOD’s like this. When I programmed this WOD I was told I was mean. Maybe I am but this was designed to tax your legs and your lungs while making four or five movements into one difficult couplet. I also wanted it to be a medium length workout that had a high power output. Judging by how everyone felt after doing it I think it worked. The burpee is part push-up and full jumping squat. Combined with the box jump it quickly provides some “cardio” or aerobic qualities to the workout. The dumbbell thruster is the anaerobic and strength building aspect of the couplet that is part front squat and part push press. Done correctly it feels much heavier than a barbell thruster and makes your body scream to put the weight down. The movements together are somewhat advanced and help train coordination, agility and balance; all things that are truly missing components in most people’s fitness regimen (Ever see someone have to jump onto an elliptical machine?).

Last weekend in the Sectionals we got to experience sled pushing as part of a WOD. The suck factor was much more epic than I anticipated but it was still extremely fun. It proved mentally challenging for many as well as providing quite a total body workout. Because of that we went and bought three of their sleds afterwards. As our weather improves look to use these, the sledgehammers, and the tires more. One workout with any of those and I am convinced it will surprise all of you how mixing it up can be brutal but still so much fun.

Notes:

We are full for 10am! We have Steph, Maria, Mark, Bridget, Bonnie, Melissa, Rona, Jana, Don. We’ll cap it at 9 people. 11 is open for anyone else.

Affiliate Team training is at 9am. Get in here and find your mojo! The Compound Crew will be joining us!

Volunteers needed for kid duty at the St. Patty’s Day Race 3/13. If you are not planning to run but are attending and don’t mind watching some kids for 30 minutes let us know.

Pull Like You're In Second Place

3 Rounds for time:

500m Row
20 Pull-ups
400m Run

Results

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Rowing Perspective:

Perfect Pull

CrossFit Jana

Close your eyes and Pull  

Great turnout for the Sunrise crew today! Good to see the early risers hit a WOD to start the day with Moe.

Don’t forget your weekly weigh-in! How do you feel the Paleo/Zone challenge is going for you? Making progress? Staying strict? Feeling moody or feeling more energetic? Post to comments.

Read “Paleolithic Diet is So Easy, Cavemen Really Did It” in the Washington Post

Notes:

Post to comments if you are attending the 1000 WOD on Saturday. Right now Steph and Maria are in. Otherwise come at 1100. Affiliate Team will train at 0900.

Sign up for the St. Patty’s Day 5k and kids 1k race. We are gonna have a big group this time!

Check out the poster for the SoCal Sectionals for the CF Games:

Crossfit_socal_retroart-thumb-250x375-574

Five Rep Max

Strength WOD:

Deadlift
5/5/5/5/5
* Work up to 5RM (5 Rep Max)

Check Out WOD Immediately After:

As Many Rounds As Possible in 12 Minutes of:
20 Squats
15 Double Unders
10 Kettlebell Swings (53#/35#)

Results

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View this photo  

Jason gets his first double unders while Michelle inspects Air Squats:

Jason_1st Double Under Air Squats

Taste of the Sectionals Pt. 3! Three attempts at a five rep max deadlift was the fourth workout of the WA Sectionals this past weekend. Each attempt was alotted 20 seconds to complete all 5 reps and the plates were iron which meant very little bounce between reps. Today we went with 5 attempts and no time limit. Many of you hit a new 5RM PR or exceeded your previous 1 rep max! That’s a strength gain.

Quote of the day: “My wife discovered she does not tolerate wheat and gluten. That explains over 10 years of craziness.” 

(What’s funny is the context of this quote was that for 10 years she was trying to figure out what was wrong, not necessarily driving said husband crazy.)

The other thing I noticed and we talked about tonight is the effects of week 2-3 of our Paleo/Zone Challenge. For those sticking with it this is the period where the energy level is a little low, the mood is cranky, and the hunger pains are frequent. Stick with it and eat clean. If you are hungry eat but eat right! Don’t cave to temptation and start cheating. One cheat meal? Okay. One every day? NOT okay. Stay strong and one week from now you will feel better, be moving faster and fatiguing much later in your WOD.  This is the beginning of getting past the “break point”. The point that makes you just want to forget it and go back to how you ate. 

One other point I want to bring up. Many of you likely have encountered the strange look, snide remark or negative comment regarding how “crazy” you eat. How everyone has an opinion on what Paleo or Zone is or why it won’t work. My advice? Ignore it. People who do it are merely projecting their own insecurities or justifying their own lack of discipline in proper nutrition. Beware trying to spend too much time and energy trying to convince every one of your co-workers or friends why that sandwich, chips and diet coke is bad. When they see your results then they will really want to know what you’ve been doing.

Living Paleo – “Food Cravings

A Proposal and a Bladder Malfunction at the Utah – Nevada Sectionals of the 2010 CrossFit Games video: [wmv] [mov]

Notes:

It’s that time! Dues are due. Please pay in the gym if you are due at the 1st of the month.

Welcome to Aaron, Lorraine, Autumn, and Caroline who began Elements this week!

Affiliate Team training will be Saturday at 0900. We will run two main group WOD’s on Sat. at 1000 and 1100. Sign up in comments for the 10am WOD.

Join Moe tomorrow at 0600 for the early AM WOD! Don’t forget the schedule change for next week only: On 3/9 next Tuesday there will be NO 6am class. Moe will swap that class and teach on Monday morning at 6am (3/8). No change for Thursday.

SnoRidge CF WA Sectionals pics on Flickr.  More pics added!

Rowers

Ring Around the Front Squat

For time:

40 Ring Dips
40 Front Squat (53#/35#)

*Post WOD pick a time and complete 3 x Max Handstand Holds at either 15 sec/30 sec/45 sec/ or 1 minute

Results

View this photo (WOD Results)
View this photo (Elements Results)  

“With this ring I thee dip…” ~ Jorge and Jana ring dips for fiance’s

Matrimonial Rings

Part two of a “taste of the Sectionals”. Rather than forty handstand push-ups, today we paired ring dips with heavy front squats. Using the bands to scale ring dips allowed full range of motion while giving just enough assistance to tax the arms, shoulders, and chest. Forty reps straight proved tough and left the arms a bit noodle like before tackling the barbell. The squats should have felt heavy but still allowed proper form with the weight in the rack position with the chest and elbows up and the weight on your heels. 

Avoiding your weaknesses inhibits athletic development. Following the WOD it was skill time with some basic instruction on handstand holds and getting more comfortable being inverted. For several of you it went from “I can’t do this” to nailing holds of 15, 30 and 60 seconds at a time. The handstand hold is not meant to be a parlor trick or some step toward becoming a gymnast. It’s a movement that will strengthen your core, develop a stronger overhead press, teach balance and agility, and develop confidence. It’s the first part towards handstand push-ups, an incredibly taxing exercise that we will see more of. Like anything else it can be scaled so get comfortable getting inverted and have fun. Don’t worry, we will be there along the way to teach, coax and catch you. One handstand at a time.

Bonnie Handstand Maria Front Squat Couples Counseling

Notes:

Schedule Change for next week only: On 3/9 next Tuesday there will be NO 6am class. Moe will swap that class and teach on Monday morning at 6am (3/8). No change for Thursday.

SnoRidge CF WA Sectionals pics on Flickr. Thanks to all who have shared their pics! I’ll keep adding more and more from the many CD’s we received!

Also Rainier CrossFit posted pics to Flickr of the weekend. 

    

Fight Gone Bad-ish

“A Taste of the Games” this week!

Compete 3 Rounds of 1 Minute of max reps of each of the following exercises:

Wall Ball (20#/14#)
Power Snatch (95#/65#)
Box Jumps (20″)
Row (For Calories) 
* Rest 1 minute between rounds

Results

View this photo
View this photo 

The 2010 CrossFit Games WA Sectionals SnoRidge Competitors:

Curtis DL Moe_Pwr Snatch

Travis_Set for Front Squats Lucy_Row

Lorri_Overhead Michelle_DL

Pat_DL 410 Sherry_Sled Push

Tom_FS Final Results

(More pics to be posted soon)

This week some of the WOD’s will either be directly from the WA Sectionals that occurred this past weekend or will feature similar programming or movements. We wanted to give you all a “taste” of what some of these felt like while mixing it up a bit with a different movement here and there. Unknown and unknowable! Why not make it a little different? If you are so inclined to relive the Sectionals feel free to take a day off later this week, then come to each class time and knock one of these out all day long. To make it even more realistic, sit outside in the cold and we will tell you each WOD about an hour or two before you have to do them!

Sectionals Recap:

I consider this weekend one of the best in my life. It was an amazing experience that was a culmination of weeks and months of consistently hard training and strict nutrition. It was an experience not just for me but for 9 of us fellow SnoRidge CF’ers. Moe, Sherry, Lucy, Lorri, Travis, Pat, Curtis, Michelle and I all competed in the 2010 CrossFit Games WA Sectionals this past weekend at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, WA. There were a total of 162 male and female athletes who competed in five WOD’s over two days. Five tough WOD’s designed to repeatedly stress the body and test each competitors overall fitness level.  For all who competed and completed these WOD’s each came out a victor. To do that much work under that high of pressure was no easy task. Everyone did their best, set new PR’s, and carried their chins high. We saw old friends and made new ones, and resolved to work on our weaknesses and improve upon our strengths.

Here are the five WOD’s:

Saturday: 

WOD #1 – Every minute on the minute for 8 min. run 100m then complete max reps of shoulder to overhead (155#/105#)

WOD #2 – For Time (12 minute cap): 40 Handstand Push-ups in 5 minutes or less followed by 40 Front Squats (155#/105#)

WOD #3 – Fight Gone Bad-ish: Same as above only wall ball for women was a 10# ball to a 10ft. target

Sunday:

WOD #4 – 5RM Deadlift: 3 attempts in 20 sec. each for a 5 rep max of deadlift. (Loads were iron plates and load could not be adjusted down if you failed) Any attempt outside of 20 seconds was a DNF

WOD #5 – 5 Rounds for Time of: 100 ft. Sled Push (135#/95#), 18 Double-Unders, 4 Muscle Ups (2 MU for Women)

WA Sectionals 2010 Results 

These workouts taught us about our limits, about our mental and physical capacity, and about the incredible support of the CrossFit community. I have played sports and competed and raced in my life and at no time have I ever been apart of a community where each competitor will finish and then cheer the person on next to them even if it means that by cheering them on that person may end up beating them. It happens without question. All weekend strangers and competitors tried like hell to beat one another while at the same time screaming their lungs out for each other, exhorting one another to pick up the bar, push the sled, row faster or pull more off the ground to get a faster time or one more rep. Think about that. Have you played a sport where while you were playing you would tell the other team or athlete to score a goal or basket, throw a deep pass, or sink a putt against you?  Does that even make sense? One of the many things of CrossFit that I love is that even in the sport of CrossFit, while all of us want to beat the next person; the majority of us practice sportsmanship at its best. We pick each other up off the floor and encourage the next person to finish and finish faster, even when we know it means we may get beat. 

The pride that both Michelle and I feel over having been able to bring a great group of us to represent our box can’t be described. That group not only included the 9 who competed; it included the group who volunteered, cheered and supported us. That is a testament to what we all have built. Not too many boxes brought such numbers and certainly not many who have been around for as short a period of time as we have. I already can’t wait until the 2011 Sectionals! In the meantime let’s keep training for Regionals.

Speaking of Regionals, the Affiliate Team will continue to train harder to determine who will be the final 3 men and 3 women who will represent us on May 15-16 as our SnoRidge Affiliate Team in the Affiliate Cup Regional Qualifiers. I also qualified this past weekend by making the Men’s top 20 so I am also eligible for the Individual Men’s Northwest Regionals Qualifiers of which over 70 Men and 70 Women from 6 states will compete for 3 spots each to go to the 2010 CF Games in Aromas, CA in July.

Notes:

Weekly Weigh-in for those who are in the Paleo/Zone Challenge! Make sure either Tuesday or Wednesday you weigh-in at the box and record it with us. Don lost 4 lbs. last week! Stay consistent, keep your nutrition log and stay strict. Don’t waver and give in to eating poorly. 

The push-up challenge and the double under challenge are officially over.  Many of you saw it through and the results are obvious with improvement across the board. Stick with it and keep that form and set a new PR after a WOD sometime.  

In only two weeks we are running the St. Patty’s Day 5k here on the Ridge! Register on the right hand side of the page. Who’s in? (Kid’s too, don’t forget there is a 1k race for them)

Welcome to Rachel, Greg and Kim who all completed Elements last week, and congrats to Lorri who got her 1st pull-up today! I guess Sectionals already rubbed off, way to go Lorri!

Closed for the Sectionals!

We are closed today. Nine of us from SnoRidge are competing at the 2010 CF Games WA State Sectionals.

If you have any questions about SnoRidge CrossFit please contact our front office staff member Pat. He is the one pictured in the blue shirt who not only answers phones and cleans the equipment but will gladly spot you when needed.

Pat assisting another satisfied SnoRidge CrossFit customer:

New Staff
 

"Harder Than It Looks"

5 Rounds for time:

20 Box Jump (24″/20″)
20 Kettlebell Swing (53#/35#)
20 Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift High Pull (53#/35#)

Results

View this photo

Rob rocking the KB Swing:

Rob KB Swing

Short post tonight. If you are still in the push-up challenge its time to knock out 100 today! What what?!

Watch Gillian Mounsey (CF Games competitor and gymnast) tackle Fran back to back after putting on a muscle-up clinic for the Marines at Quantico, VA [wmv] [mov]

Off to Sectionals! Best of luck to all the competitors and congrats in advance on a great two days for the CF Community! (If you need info on the Sectionals see yesterday’s post)

3-2-1 Go!  

Invasion of The Body Snatch-ers

Strength WOD:

Power Snatch
3/3/3/3/3
* Work up to 3RM (3 Rep Max)

Check Out WOD Immediately After:

3 Power Snatch (75#/55#) 
6 Push-Ups
9 Squats

Results

View this photo
View this photo  

Snatches! Barbells and Kettlebells! Oh My!

Adriana_Pwr Snatch Jim_Pwr Snatch

Graham_Pwr Snatch Mark_Pwr Snatch

The power snatch builds strength and speed. Start with the barbell in a standard squat stance with arms wide and elbows out. Shoulders should be over the bar. Keep the eyes level and chest up and maintain a tight core. As you stand with the barbell the hips and shoulders should rise together. Send the knees backward as you lift to keep the bar close to the body. This is the first pull. As you pull over the knees begin to close the barbell toward your pockets or thighs while simultaneously speeding up and pushing the hips forward. Keep it close to the body and shrug upwards. Allow the arms to bend and pull up as you extend the knees, hips and ankles into triple extension. Think speed. This is the second pull. Finally, as the bar is reaching its apex begin to pull yourself under the bar and land locked out with the bar behind the ears while in a 1/4 squat. This is the third pull. Stand tall while locked out. 

Got all that? If not click on the above link and watch the videos. One of the most technical lifts, the power snatch is invaluable and efficient in getting a load quickly overhead. From a lifting or CrossFit standpoint, think how much more efficient you can be if you are overhead squatting and can snatch it into position every time you have to pick it up? From a CrossFit Games Sectionals standpoint, think how much you will need this lift on WOD#3 on Saturday!

For outstanding form and execution look no further than Sage Burgener, daughter of Coach Mike Burgener:

    

Coach Burgener On Power Snatch – Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Notes:

We wanted to welcome Lena who is a CF’er that dropped in this week while home from Air Force deployment. Thanks for your service and thanks for checking us out! Also Shari from the Torture Chamber in Dupont came in today to learn some power snatches and say hi. We are glad you made the trip up and hoped you learned a little more about an unfamiliar lift.

CF Games WA Sectionals info:

Agenda and times can be found here. For those riding in the RV with Pat meet up on Saturday at 0630 outside the box. We will meet all of you at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds for check-in starting at 0730. 1st WOD is at 0830 and Ladies will go first. 

Competitors! Any questions don’t hesitate to ask Michelle, Moe, or me. We will bring foam rollers, tape, extra ropes, pull-up bands, and anything else we can think of. Bring extra clothes for yourself, snacks, running and lifting shoes (Travis we will bring yours from the box), headphones if you want some tunes between WOD’s and dress in layers for keeping warm between workouts. Get rest, stretch and eat well. 

For those interested in spectating click here for more details and a map to the event. We would love to see any of you who come to watch but there is a $50 fee for both days (should be cheaper for only one day). I do know they aren’t at capacity so likely you can come the day of and pay to get in. 

3-2-1 Game time! Don’t hate the playa hate the game!