WOD – Page 667 – SNORIDGE CROSSFIT

"Karen"

For time:

150 Wall Balls (20#/14#)

Results

Steph and Melissa meet “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!

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”!

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!”

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.

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:

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:

Partner up and keep score:

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.

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

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:

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!

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:

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.

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:

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“.

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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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

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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:

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!

"Just try it!"

3 Rounds for time:

400m Run
50 Air Squats
500m Row

Results

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SRCF crew and Todd:

Quote of the day:

“Almond butter, cashew butter, all goodness! Then there’s nut porn, which is macadamia butter.” ~ Todd Widman

Tonight we were honored and extremely fortunate to have Todd Widman (of CrossFit HQ Training Staff and Rainier CrossFit) come share some outstanding food for thought with a total of 35 of us. The nutrition discussion was a great success with a spectacular turnout. Todd focused on the why, the what, the how, and the tweaks that are key to building a foundation of solid nutrition. His passion was evident along with his education on the subject. In addition to flat out getting some good common sense education around diet and the role it plays in everything from performance to life; we learned a ton of other things around how to keep things simple when talking nutrition.

Our bodies are a machine. How we fuel it is a conscious choice that impacts us every minute, every day and every year for the rest of our lives. As Todd summarized succinctly, you spend 1 hour of each day with hard effort in your daily CrossFit WOD. You have 23 other hours a day to screw it all up. He presented many compelling reasons for why we should eat real food, and in the right proportions. He covered the relationships of macronutrients and their impact on fueling the body. The material flowed well and led to questions that were smart, practical and beneficial to all. We learned about eating quality food, the basic Paleo influenced diet, and the Zone diet. He spent time on why combining the two is so much more effective than just one over the other. So with that we will springboard into our Paleo/Zone Challenge starting next Saturday. If you are on the fence ask yourself why not? What do you have to lose (other than weight and some bad habits)? Clean out the fridge and the pantry. Take the plunge. See what eating clean and in the right amounts can do. As Todd said, “Just Try It. You can do anything for 30 days.”

Thank you Todd!

Notes:

Affiliate Team training at 9am. Saturday class will be at 1030 for all. Seeya then!

Steven and Jackie from lululemon dropped in again today for a WOD. It was great to have you guys visit and look forward to you getting in more often.

"Annie"

Strength WOD:

Squat Clean
3/3/3/3/3
Work up to 3RM (rep max) in 5 Sets

“Annie”:

For time:

50/40/30/20/10 reps each of:
Double Unders
AbMat Sit-ups

Results

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View this photo

Nan and Don during “Annie” (Note Don’s correct range of motion on the sit-up by touching the toes):

Tonight’s post is an easy one. I get to have a guest writer! Lorri was so inspired by Curtis achieving his muscle-up last night that she sent this to me. Of course I had to share with everyone because her message is right on. Thanks Lorri for your eloquent way of writing about how your inspiration from that achievement caused you to not only get into the box today but to also reflect on what CrossFit has taught you and led you to BELIEVE!

Curtis’ Muscle-Up by Lorri L.

Yesterday, as most of you know, Curtis achieved a huge milestone in CrossFit….his FIRST MUSCLE-UP. Amazing! When I read about it online I felt so proud for him.

On my way home from the coffee shop this morning, I saw Tom and Curtis talking outside near the ELC, I stopped and said hello and gave a big congrats to Curtis. Tom asked if I was heading to the box and I sheepishly said no, because I was getting ready to go out of town. (For you moms, you know what that entails: laundry, cleaning, packing, completing projects, the list goes on and on. For me it also means making sure my house is ready for a showing while we are away.) I said good-bye, pulled away, and on my way home so a dialogue began in my head…..”No, I can’t go to the box BECAUSE…I have stuff to do….life stuff….getting ready for vacation stuff…important stuff…I need another(another?) rest day…” and then it hit me…

Curtis’ muscle-up represented so much more than just the move in itself….for me it represented consistency, persistence, strength, frustration, sweat, pain, and belief! There is no way that he could have achieved a muscle-up without persistence. I wonder how many times he had attempted a muscle-up and just couldn’t achieve it. Think on that…50 times?…100 times?….so many times he attempted to achieve and didn’t and then…suddenly…success! How many of us have attempted something so many times without success, but continued until we could achieve it. Persistence is defined as: Refusing to let up or let go. Persevering obstinately. Persevering obstinately!!! PERSISTENCE….I thought about that….I could get my behind to the box today.

But the core of my realization came when I realized this all materialized for him because he had BELIEF. He believed that he could achieve this monumental task. He believed in himself, even if at some times, he questioned if he could do it. (I am only guessing, I haven’t had a chance to ask.) He persisted in his drive to achieve the task that he BELIEVED in….WOW! What a simple concept….belief…but how many times has the little voice in my head questioned if I could achieve something. Or maybe even that voice said, “What are you thinking, you can’t do that!” I once overheard a wise man say (Pat S.) “We need to take CAN’T out of our vocabulary.” So true!

One reason I love CrossFit is because it quietly teaches us to believe: in ourselves, in others, and in that supportive community that we lean on when we aren’t sure if we can really finish that WOD or make it to the box. Through my interaction with everyone in the box, I have learned so much….to push harder, to ease off when my body is aching, to be proud, to be humble, to vocally support one another, and sometimes to quietly support someone who is struggling, questioning their own belief in themselves.

So thank you Curtis, for providing inspiration in all those around you, and especially me! Take the first step, BELIEVE, and then be persistent, until you reach those goals.