WOD for Thursday 3-31-16. Yoga is Thursday 7pm!

Athletes, please note, Yoga is Thursday 3-31 at 7pm.  There is no Yoga this Saturday.  Olympic Lifting is on at it’s normal time, 8:45 Sunday.

WOD for Thursday

A- 12 Minutes: establish a 1 RM in the Bench Press or Close Grip Bench Press.

B- 12 Minutes: 3×8 Bench Press @ 50-60% of 1 RM.  Tempo 2-2-2-2

C- Work Capacity.  Every 2nd minute:  5 Pushups/10 Situps/15 Airsquats then AMRAP UNBROKEN Touch and Go Clean and Jerks at 135/95 in any time remaining to 60 seconds. Rest from 61 to 120 seconds.  Complete 6 cycles. Score is total Clean and Jerks.

WOD for Wednesday 3-30-16. Reminder of April’s membership increase.

First off,  GREAT energy during today’s sled push.  Some sports psychologist/human behaviorist types could probably cite studies of how good for the soul, emotional well being, etc etc it is to have people cheering for you;  strangers even!  Probably has something to do with endorphins.  I don’t really know the scienceness of it, but there were some great efforts made me close to misty-eyed.

Some surprisingly good strength numbers as well, with people PR-ing.  I am psyched.

Wednesday is our designated upper body pull day.  This cycle you have a choice to make.  In the past we’ve done pullups, and they will be an option again, but also available will be what we commonly refer to as the Chinese Row.  This has the athlete facing down, chest on a bench, barbell at arms length.  The athlete draws his/her elbows up, with the goal of contacting the bar to the bottom of the bench.  We’ve done it in the recent past.  Which should you choose?  In brief, the pullup is certainly more valuable to Crossfit.  You’ll always see pullups in competition and probably never see anything like the Chinese Row.  But pullups can be tough on the shoulder  capsule.  The row would do a good job of preserving the muscular demand of a pullup with less joint stress.
 Programming protocols are largely the same.

With that in mind, here’s your wod for Wednesday

A- 12 Minutes Test 1 RM Pullup or Row

B- 12 Minutes 3×8 Pullup or Row @ 2-2-2-2  50-60% of 1 rm for the row.  Trial and error on the pullup.  Tempo this slow will force many of you into assistance bands, even if you haven’t used them for years.  Don’t worry about it.  2-2-2-2 x 8 @ bodyweight is very demanding.

C- Work: EMOM x 15   –  a) 30/20 Seconds Chin above the bar Static Hold    b)  15/12 Row Calories  c) 15 Wallballs 20/14

Lastly, please recall that as of April 1, there is a $5 increase per person in rates across the board. The one exception is to those members who have been with us for less than 6 months; your rates stay the same through the end of your 6th month of membership. Thank you all for your continued patronage.

WOD for Tuesday 3-29-16. Goal Setting for next year.

Briefly, a little more about taking the long view towards your fitness and next year’s open.

If it’s of interest, I’d be happy to meet with you individually and draw a rough map of your training year.  In many instances, what you need the most may not be addressed by the general programming, and in which case, deviating slightly or significantly may be your best bet.  These consults will probably take 15-20 minutes and I’d like to schedule them at or around the open gym times (weekdays 8-845 and saturday’s 10-12).  There is no charge for these consults.  If you want specific, individualized programming I might charge something in the neighborhood of 20/month just cause the logistics of 4,5, 6 individual programs is time consuming,  but for most of you, your needs will be met by this initial consult.

I will say the following:  many of you were faced with actions that you could not do, not well or swiftly, but at all.  We have some athletes with good to great capacities elsewhere who were unable to showcase those talents because of their inability to get these “dead stop movements”.  If that sounds like you,  THAT is your first priority.  A great first step might be to go to you tube and keyword “progressions,  muscle ups  (or double unders or toes to bar etc etc)”  I will try to post some links to instructional entities, coaches etc that I like.

Lets get testing out of the way and then anyone interested in mapping out the year, we’ll start scheduling the second week of April.  Feel free to post to that effect in the comments section.

WOD for Tuesday 3-29

15 minutes-  Work to a heavy single in the back squat.  90-95%.  Not quite full fatigue.  If you “stick”  as you go up, but are able to push through it, that’s where we want you to be,  call that your starting point.

15 Minutes- 3×8 Back Squat @ 2-2-2-2 tempo.  50 to 60 %.  Adhere to the tempo.

Work-  Against a 60 second clock, complete 1 lap of Sled Push @ +25/+45.  Every successful lap earn you another minute to complete another lap at an additional +25/+45.  So men 0 to 60 seconds @ +45,  61-120 @ +90, 121-180 @ +135 etc.  Women @ +25, +50, +75 etc. Round robin format.  Do NOT sandbag your backsquat in order to do “better” on the work.  That is totally backwards.

16.5 last chance. Strength Bias explained.

Thank Goodness the CFG Open is OVER  (The exception being those athlete’s performing 16.5 on Monday).  Everyone who took them on should give yourself some measure of pat on the back.That was a tough set of WOD’s.

Monday 3/28  is the first day of what will be a 10 week shift in the programing towards a strength development phase. Please read all of the following so you come to the gym prepared.

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The Weekly Schedule through this training block  is as follows:

Monday-  Shoulder Press

Tuesday- Back Squat (high bar)

Wednesday-  Barbell Row or Pullup

Thursday- Bench Press

Friday- Deadlift or Sumo Deadlift

Our last 2 cycles of linear progression were pretty successful, resulting in an average of 16% gains across the 3 lifts tested. First timers can expect more than that.  We will keep the same format for the lifts but we will change the way we apply the supplemental action (Strength 2)  and the Metcons.  These changes are detailed below.

First, Some FAQ’s

Why a strength bias? Strength is the critical component of fitness, spilling into and improving your capacities in other domains. Your strength drives your metcons and your metcons drive your Long Slow Distance, but the LSD does not reciprocate and drive your strength. Every one of you will see improved performance in CrossFit workouts as your strength increases. For the newer athletes amongst you, this might be the difference between scaling every workout and completing workouts as prescribed. For our members with competitive ambitions, this format will serve as better prep for the CrossFit Games Open and all the local and regional competitions that have largely followed suit. Especially since the introduction of the scaled option, the workouts are getting heavier and harder (55 deads at 225/155,  cleans at 185/105 etc).  In an effort to remain competitive in the CrossFit world we are trending heavier too.

In addition to the strength workout, on most days there will still be a second period devoted to work capacity. This is a format we have used often so it really won’t seem very different to what you have already experienced. Expect short durations, heavy loads, couplets and triplets. Do not expect multi-event chippers.

Hmmm…I don’t know…Wont This make me bulky? Don’t I need more Cardio?  No and No. It is my sincere  hope that the diet contest has made you aware of the following FACT. Your bodyfat is what make you look bulky and the means to address this are best achieved by changing what you eat. Hopefully, some of what you are paying for (In addition to the charm and wit of our staff, the access to equipment and our legendary parties) is our expertise about how to make you as FIT as possible. Not as thin as possible. Sometimes those goals coincide for a while and sometimes they do not. Yes, if you build muscle and remain fat, you will indeed appear bigger/bulky but VERY few among you will not see positive appearance changes by following this strength-bias program IF your food is in line.

That said, if you want more activity, do more. Miss the old 5k? Waxing Nostalgic for the 60 minute Step Aerobic class you used to take? Feel free to do so, but AFTER your Strength action.

How do I get this most out of this?

A) FREQUENT ATTENDANCE. I put that in all-caps to emphasize it’s importance. You need to get here and hit these lifts regularly. Much like Rxd is an ambitious standard, we are programming for the athlete who is prioritizing his/her fitness and progress. If that’s not you via circumstance or attitude, your progress will suffer in comparison. To that end, however, I DO recognize that life intrudes in unavoidable ways. Therefore, if you cant get here very often, I would prioritize as follows 1) Squat 2) Shoulder Press 3) DeadLift. That means if you only get here 3x in a given week, you should Squat, Shoulder Press and deadlift. So if you only make it in M and TH in a given week you may want to Squat and Press in that order, despite being the only person doing so that day, then do the work capacity test with the class.   If you have your own personal goals, and your attendance is limited, push those lifts to the front burner.  So if, for example, a bodyweight pullup is your priority and you can only come 1x that week, get your pullups in.

B) Record Your Numbers:    Having a record of what you did before will make your lifting more efficient and effective. anything else is playing darts blindfolded.  You cant improve on last week if you don’t know what last week even was.   You can journal on a blog, in a calendar, or in a good old-fashioned notebook: anything works as long as it’s written down somewhere.

This sounds complicated.  I kinda wanna just work out and sweat?   Aim higher.  You can sweat almost anywhere.  Get something out of your money and get dramatically stronger.

I’m down for strength bias, I’ve done it before and it kicks ass,  but what’s different about this  period?

Glad you asked.  Please see the schedule breakdown below

Week 1– Test 1 Rep Max  Perform Target Lift 3×8.  Work capacity.  We will change the testing protocol’s a little bit for safety’s sake.  I’ll ask you to work up to a heavy single, but NOT quite a 1 rep max.  While this DOES adversely affect the accuracy of exactly HOW much improvement you gain, the corresponding reduction in injury risk makes it worth it.

Weeks 2,3, Target Lift 4×8, Supplemental Strength,  Work capacity.

Week 4– Deload.  3×5 Target Lift, No Supplemental, Work capacity.

Weeks 5,6,7  Target Lift 4×5, Supplemental Strength, Work capacity.

Week 8– Deload. Target Lift 3×3 No Supplemental Strength Work capacity.

Weeks 9 & 10 Target Lift 3×3,  and 3×2 respectively.  Supplemental Strength, Work capacity.

Week 11 — Test Out 1 rep max.

Expect a lot of tempo controls in your reps.   This will suppress your poundage vs what you could do at an optimized speed.  Don’t worry about it.

Get excited kids.  You’re about to get very strong!

 

15 Mins-  Find Your 1 Rep Max in the Shoulder Press.

15 Mins- 3×8 Shoulder Press @ 2-2-2-2 Tempo.  Start at 50-60%

Work- Tabata A)  Russian KB swings 24/16  B) 5 M Shuttle Run

 

 

Closed Easter Sunday. Regular schedule Monday 3-27

16.5 notes

Not a whole lot of strategy, there’s really no place to hide here, but I’ll give you my thoughts.

Equipment wise, I suggest playing to your weakest element.  So maybe Oly shoes, wrist wraps and a belt if thrusters are stiflingly heavy.  Less gear if thrusters are OK.

The burpees can become SLOW  but do your best not to outright stop.  You can always sprawl, crawl up and hop over if you are willing to deal with the suck.

Thrusters are a different story.  Until the 15’s or 12’s  I’d suggest staying ahead of your fatigue.   1 or 2 breaks in the 21’s and 18’s.  If #7 on a given set starts to break your posture; your elbows drop or your back rounds etc, THAT is a huge clue to stop and gather some energy.  You COULD possibly do another then and there, but SHOULD you.  Injury risk aside, a thruster that’s rolling you forward, driving your elbows down and rounding you out is a very uncomfortable and taxing event.  Rest before that happens.

I recall feeling this workout is basically thirds, not in rep count but in character/flavor what have you:

21 and 18 are your first third and here some of you will feel pretty good and run out a little too fast.   I’d approach this third conservatively.  Maybe even feel like you’re going a little too slow.

15 and 12 is where you make your money.  Here you will want to stop the burpees for some water, fraction the thrusters into 2 or 3 sets etc. Don’t do it!   THIS is where you must push.  Strong thruster athletes who have paced well should go unbroken in these rounds.  Burpees should be on the same speed as in the 21/18 rounds, but now they will hurt more.

Final third is 9-6-3 is another round of 18.  No you can smell the finish.  Unbroken thrusters, and sprinted burpees.  If you’ve been stepping up, try to pop up.  You will want to delay these changes until the 6-3, but don’t.  Start your sprint in the 9’s.    This third is fast if you’re willing to suffer,  slow if you’re like “Why do I even do this?  I can;t believe I pay for this.  This is stupid.”    You get done, and the Open is over.

WOD for Friday 3-25-16. CFG Open WOD 16.5 (also 14.5) Recall, Olympic Lifting is at 7pm.

First, don;t forget, Olympic lifting is Friday 3-25 @ 7pm.

While I expected something with more sizzle and pop, I’m fine with this workout.  There’s no fancy tricky stuff.  Burpees slightly favor the small, thrusters slightly favor the larger, stronger athlete.  Both moves are accessible.  Like last week, everyone can get into the workout and get a little dirty with it.

It’s simple enough that I’m going to program it as your WOD for tomorrow, leaving us able to jump right into our Strength Bias programming block on monday.

If you are registered and submitting a score, it may be smart to experiment with some measure of test run on Friday or Saturday and then possibly your attempt on Sunday or Monday.  This is NOT a workout I’d repeat in it’s entirety.  Too long and too taxing.  If you did this 2 years ago, you likely agree.  If you did the Open two years ago, your score is archived on the Leaderboards,  I just went back and checked mine.

I got a 13:20 in 2014, which is 4.76 seconds per rep.  Probably that was more like 3.75 seconds per thruster and 5.75 seconds per burpee which turns into 21 thursters in 1:18 and 21 Barf burpees in 2 minutes.  When you look at it like that, it seems less fearsome.  You just don’t have the luxury of a 15 second rest or that 1:18 is now :55 seconds and the 2 minutes is 1:30.  Rounds 21 and 18 are just about the halfway point, way too early to be all smoked out, so measure and pace yourself.  Saturday I’ll probably do rounds 21 and 18 pacing towards 13 minutes flat and see how I hold up, then take my shot on Monday.

The wod is

For time

21-18-15-12-9-6-3 Thrusters 95/65,  Bar Facing Burpees.

Special Movement Class Schedule. Programming preview.

Just an early heads up.  Due to Easter commitments, Olympic Weightlifting will again be on Friday at 7pm this week.  Come out and let Kayla fine-tune your olympic lifting game.

Yoga is on at it’s regularly scheduled time of Saturday at 8:45 am.  After the Overhead squat atrocities I saw today,  I sincerely hope some,  MANY of you will let Heather limber your stiff joints up.  Appropriate mobility won’t happen fast, but it will also NEVER happen if you don’t take conscious steps to fix it.

After the Open, for almost everyone, our competitive season will come to an end.  Many of you gamely signed up and competed despite being quite new to CrossFit, and were rewarded with the most technically difficult 5 workouts we’ve seen to date.  I hope you are not discouraged by being forced to stop some workouts early due to not yet having one of the requisite skills (doubles, muscle ups, heavy deads etc).  I DO think it’s wise,  if you’d like to compete again 47 weeks from now, to map out a training plan and schedule as soon as possible.  I’ll arrange (for anyone who wants my input) to get some individual time to figure out what you need to focus on, and when and how to best do so.

The Open ends with the deadline for 16.5 this monday.   Thereafter we will resume a Strength Bias with lifts to be determined, but certainly a deep hip flexion (IE squatting) will be among them.  Details will differ, but the jist of it will again be 9-12 weeks, test at the beginning, recurring primary lifts, rotating assistance or accessory lifts, test at the end.

Lastly, very soon we hope to resume periodic (ideally monthly) team games.  The weather over the next 2-3 months is the best we’ll see all year, and we’ll take advantage with some fun events.

 

WODs for tuesday 3-22 through friday 3-25-16

Tuesday- A) 7 mins to find your 1 rep max Thruster.  B) 7 Mins max rep Thrusters at 95/65.  C) Skill work/athlete’s choice.

Wednesday- Run 800 m, 30 Snatch Grip Deadlifts at 95/65, run 800 m, 30 Hang Power Snatches @ 95/65, run 800 m, 30 Overhead squats @ 95/65.

Thursday-  A)WORK-  Amrap in 5 minutes  15 Doubles, 10 Box Jumps, 5 Clean and Jerks 135/95  B) STRENGTH- Dips Ring or Bar, for load ascending.  B) Dip Static Hold 2x at the bottom.  2x at the top.  C) Shoulder Prehab.

Friday-  To be determined pending 16.5.

 

WOD for Monday 3-21-16. Open Workout 16.4

Prescribed is:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:
55 deadlifts
55 wall-ball shots
55-calorie row
55 handstand push-ups

Men deadlift 225 lb. and throw 20-lb. ball to 10-ft. target
Women deadlift 155 lb. and throw 14-lb. ball to 9-ft. target

Scaled is:

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 13 minutes of:
55 deadlifts
55 wall-ball shots
55-calorie row
55 hand release push-ups

Men deadlift 135 lb. and throw 20-lb. ball to 9-ft. target
Women deadlift 95 lb. and throw 10-lb. ball to 9-ft. target

This is a legitimate scale and will challenge many of you.

On a different note, the two organizers of our informal running club Susan W.  and Kate S.  both PR’ed their 1/2 marathon time by 8 minutes  (1:55 and 1:51 I believe…) at the Quintiles event this past weekend.  And they had to overcome cold wind and rain to do it.  Very good work, ladies!  We’re not surprised.  You worked hard at it!