Todd

Into The Spider Verse
10 Wall Walks
30 DB Box Step Ups @ 50/35 + 24/20
30 Toes to Bar
30 DB Box Step Ups @ 50/35 + 24/20
30 Toes to Bar
30 DB Box Step Ups @ 50/35 + 24/20
10 Wall Walks

Workout Guidance
Today we have a workout with three movements that will test our muscle endurance rather than our cardio capacity! Wall walks will test the endurance of our shoulders, step-ups our quads, and toes to bar our grip. Once interesting thing about these step-ups is that they’re done using a single dumbbell, but for males their prescribed stepping height is greater than 24 inches. We’ll find that this is less fatiguing on the quads perhaps than doing a heavier weight to a lower box, but more fatiguing on the hip flexors, as we’ll be pulling our knee closer to our torso. This hip flexor fatigue may be exacerbated by the toes to bar, in which wet;; be using the same muscles that we use for step ups to pull our thighs closer to our chest during the toes to bar movement. The way to manage this fatigue is to break our toes to bar and step-ups in small sets, even though we may feel good the first time that we touch these movements. Let’s think about using sets of 3-5 reps in our toes to bar, and being slow and deliberate on our step-ups.

Question of the Day
What movie has the best soundtrack?

Andy

50 Cal
12-9-6
Deadlifts @ 315/225
Bar Muscle Ups

Workout Guidance
Once again we find ourselves pairing a heavy weightlifting movement with a high skill gymnastics movement. This does take on a slightly different flavor than some other workouts, because the deadlift isn’t nearly as technical as say, a snatch or an overhead squat. Nonetheless, we want to have some movement objectives when we’re lifting. The deadlift is an interesting case where many athletes will find that they’re able to lift more weight if they compromise their form by allowing their lower back to round. While we may see this compromise at the highest levels of competition, we need to understand that those athletes are competing for money and are making a conscious choice to take on more risk in order to increase their chances of winning. While this may be an acceptable tradeoff for them, this is not one for us. The only weights that we have any business deadlifting are those where we can keep a neutral lower back, and if our back rounds, that should be an indicator that we have too much weight on the bar. Today, let’s pick smart weights on the deadlift, and live to fight another day.

Question of the Day
Have you ever shot a gun before?

Norélis

Sunday Funday
Tabata at each station

Strict T2B/Hanging Leg Raises
Single arm DB Push Press (Right) (35/20)
Strict Pull-ups
Single arm DB Push Press (Left) (35/20)

1 minute rest between each Tabata

Workout Guidance
Today we have a workout that’s going to challenge the endurance in our grip and shoulders. Our first objective should be to pick a weight that allows us to complete every 20 second set of push presses without putting the dumbbells down. Once we’ve established a dumbbell weight, we should pick modifications for the strict pull-ups and the strict toes to bar that allow us to start out doing multiple reps, and where we can reliably do single and double reps even when we’re tired. The strict toes to bar is a movement that we don’t see as often, so we’ll start there. If we want to keep our toes to bar strict, the very simple test is that our feet never come behind the pull-up bar. The top of the moment is of course our feet touching the bar, and the bottom us us in a hollow body position hanging from the pull-up bar with our feet slightly in front. The first scale for this is the hanging leg raise, where we only lift our legs as far as we’re able, but observe the same strict standard at the bottom of the movement. If we’re not hanging from the pull-up bar we should feel free to do a v-up or a sit-up. Today is a good day to use a band for pull-ups, and we can also modify to ring rows if grip becomes too much of an issue on the pull-up bar.

Malhar

Hurry Up and Wait
AMRAP 20

Up Ladder
1/1, 2/2, 3/3, 4/4, 5/5…
Power Cleans @ 225/155
Bar Muscle Ups

Workout Guidance
Today we’ve combined a high skill movement in the bar muscle-up with a heavy lift in the power clean. Most classes will start with a bar muscle-up clinic, where coaches go through common scales and modifications to help you get the most out of this movement. After a power clean teaching progression, expect your coach to go through a series of practice rounds designed to get you built up to a weight that’s heavy, but an appropriate stimulus for the workout. The best context for the barbell today is to say that it is the heaviest power clean that we would consider hitting in the context of a WOD. Nobody should be cycling the barbell for multiple reps today, and even the single reps should be done at a slow pace. Those hitting bar muscle-ups will try to hold on to unbroken sets for as long as possible, starting each round with a larger set and then getting into a rhythm of 1s, 2s and 3s as they get deeper into the workout.

Question of the Day
Where’s the place that has the worst customer service?

Coach Colin

Bookend
Overhead Squat – 5/5/3/3/3/1/1/1/1/1

2k Row

Workout Guidance
We started the week with a lengthy lift followed by a killer cardio test, and we’re ending the week the same way. Athletes vary greatly in their feelings about the overhead squat. Those with a background in sports that demand flexibility, such as gymnastics, dance, or wrestling, tend to enjoy overhead squats because the physical traits that they developed in their youth allow them to hit the positions without much difficulty. Athletes who played more traditional field sports, or who may have been sedentary for a long while before coming to CrossFit, tend to struggle with the movement and avoid them if possible. So the question becomes: why overhead squat at all if it’s so difficult for so many people? In short, the qualities that we develop when we overhead squat make us better human beings. When we overhead squat, we improve our balance, core strength, flexibility, and neurological control. Could we improve all of those things using different tools? Absolutely. Is there a more efficient tool for developing all those qualities simultaneously? I don’t think so. 2K row presents a vastly different challenge to most of our athletes. When we row a 2K, our goal should be to keep a stroke rate between 25 and 30 for most athletes. Our pace should feel fast and hard. In my opinion, the best strategy for most athletes is to row the first 500m at about an 8/10 level of intensity, and then try to get a second or two faster every 500m from that point onward. The last 500m we have nothing left to pace for, so we can turn up the intensity, find our dark place, and finish as hard as possible.

Question of the Day
What book have you read the most times?

Andy

Circus Catch
3 rounds of
20 Toes to Bar
20 DB Snatch @ 70/50

Workout Guidance
Our workout today is a really cool combination of hip extension and hip flexion. Often, we like to pick contrasting elements when we’re putting our workouts together. A great example of this is the workout “Fran” which combines a press in the thruster and a pull in the pull-up. When picking contrasting movements we’re able to create a bigger overall stimulus, because while you’re resting one system you’re working the other. In the case of “Circus Catch,” we’re stimulating the muscles of our posterior chain (hamstrings, butt, and lower back) with the dumbbell snatch, and the muscles in our anterior chain (abs, hip flexors) during the toes to bar. This creates an effect where we’re less limited by the endurance of our muscles and more limited by our body fatiguing as a whole. In CrossFit, we think of this type of set-up as “elegant” because it allows us to move quickly between movements and generally gets us fitter than hammering one muscle or movement pattern over and over.

Question of the Day
Who’s the greatest sports talent that didn’t pan out?

Marissa

Nearly Headless Nick
6 rounds of
1 min Row/Bike/Ski
1 min Box Jump Overs 24/20
1 min Burpees
1 min Rest

Workout Guidance
Today is a classic time domain based on the CrossFit workout “The Ghost.” In this version, we change the order slightly as well as substituting box jump overs for jump rope. One important thing to understand about this workout is that the only station where we truly get a minute of work is the last station. In reality, it’s going to take us about 10 seconds to transition from station to station. We can think about the workout in this way: 50 seconds of C2 Machine, 10 seconds of transition, 50 seconds of box jumps, 10 seconds of transition, 1 minute of burpees. Our goal today is to find the maximum sustainable pace for all three movements. Expect your coach to teach you how to cycle box jump overs and burpees quickly, and go through a series of practice rounds to find the pace that works best for you.

Question of the Day
What’s something odd that you always travel with?

Dan

Baby Powder
4 rounds of
30 Wall Balls @ 20/14
15 Power Cleans @ 115/80

Workout Guidance
Today we have a short workout that utilizes moderate weights. One thing that we want to understand when we modify workouts is trying to figure out what “story” the workout is trying to tell us when we look at in on the blog or the whiteboard. This is a skill that coaches have to master in order to lesson plan for their classes, but it can also be super helpful for us to master as athletes. For our “story” we want to imagine a theoretical athlete. This athlete is solidly Rx – he or she can do all the movements as prescribed, but isn’t exotic or exceptional at any one movement or in any aspect. For this workout, our first question is – how is this athlete breaking up the wall balls? Well, they’re probably not going unbroken on their sets, as being able to do 30 unbroken wall balls inside a workout is bordering on the realm of exoticism. They’re probably doing 2-3 sets of wall balls each time. So when we modify, we should pick a modification that allows us to complete our wall balls in 2-3 sets. This could be a lighter weight, or maybe going to a lower target. However, we should not pick a modification that allows us to go unbroken, as this would constitute an over-modification and essentially making the workout too easy.

Question of the Day
What’s something odd that you always travel with?

Stone Cold

Pulling Gs
Weighted Pull-up – 5/5/3/3/3/1/1/1/1/1

1 mile Run

Workout Guidance
Today we have a workout that’s unique in the regard that the two parts involved aren’t really related to each other. The first half of class will be dedicated to going through a progression for strict pull-ups, then the second half will be warming up and then hitting our mile run. For the pull-ups today we should pick a modification that challenges us, but still allows us to complete all of our sets without failing any reps. We can also flow through modifications; if you’re someone that can potentially do singles in strict pull-ups but you’re unable to string multiple reps together, you could use a band or do a negative for the 5s and 3s, then do unassisted strict pull-ups for the sets of 1. Our mile run today is meant to be an all-out effort. Your coach will go through a full running progression, warm-up, and pacing drills after your weighted pull-ups. Whenever we run a mile time trial, our goal should be to do the second half faster than the first half. We should feel like we’re doing a good job of pacing up to the halfway point, then step on the gas for the second half.

Question of the Day
What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last year?

Jess

Sunday Funday
Accumulate 3 minutes in an L sit

Every time you break:
100m Farmer Carry 50s/35s
20 Single DB Hang Clean and Jerks (10/side)(50/35s)

Workout Guidance
Today we’re going to challenge our midlines with three different movements. An L-sit is one of the most advanced movements we can master in CrossFit. If we want to modify the L-Sit we can have one or both of our feet pulled down, so that we’re supported in a tucked position rather than a straight leg position. We can also sit on the floor with our legs straight out and our hands on dumbbells, and alternate lifting legs as we support ourselves on the dumbbells. Our farmer carry/hang clean and jerk piece should take us 2-3 minutes to complete 1 round, and we should pick an L-sit modification that allows us to complete sets of at least 30 seconds at a time. Our farmer carry weight should allow us to work with only one break each round, probably at the turnaround.