Month: October 2017

[creativ_alertbox icon=”” colour=”red” custom_colour=””]We will have a large group in the gym today from 10:30-12. The front of the gym and mobility room will be available for use after classes, but the main gym floor/pull-up rig etc. will not. Open Gym will be available from 12-2 if you have extra stuff to work on. Please plan accordingly! Saturday class times will run as usual![/creativ_alertbox]

WOD

Every 5 minutes for 30 minutes

[odd]

30 Wall ball shots 20/14 lb 10/9′
400M Run

[even]

400M Run
30 wall ball shots 20/14 lb 10/9′

Workout notes: Today’s workout is an interval style workout. You will have a total of 6 rounds with a 5 minute window to complete 30 wall ball shots and a 400M run.  You have 3 rounds each either starting on the wall ball shots or on the run. Try to complete each interval as fast as possible and rest with any additional time that you have.  If you run out of time in any round then complete the workout as an AMRAP of 30 wall ball shots and 400M run rather than using the alternating rep scheme. Your score will be the total time it takes to complete each round or your total rounds of 30 wall ball shots and 400m run if you are unable to complete each round under the cap.

Skill

EMOM for 10 Minutes
3 Power Snatch

Perform three power snatches every minute for a total of 10 rounds. You can choose to link your reps together or perform three singles, but make sure you’re able to get all 3 reps done within each minute.  The weight you choose should be in the  moderate effort range.  An appropriate weight would likely be 65-70% or less for newer lifters. Consider starting with a weight you are very familiar with and increasing by small increments if  the lifts are going well.  Even though we are not squatting in this version of the snatch, make sure to drop underneath the bar slightly as you catch it with your hips behind you.  If mobility is an issue for you, talk to your coach about practicing a split snatch!

WOD

AMRAP in 10 Minutes

10 Burpees jumping to a plate
10 Overhead walking lunge steps 45/35 lb

Workout notes: Today’s workout is a couplet with the always difficult burpee and unilateral overhead walking lunge step.  We’ll be finishing our burpees by reaching full extension of the hip and knee after jumping onto a small plate. You do not need to clap overhead at the end of every rep.  Use the same plate for your overhead walking lunge steps. You will want to have your shoulders, elbows and wrists stacked above the body throughout the entire rep similarly to the way you would hold a handstand.  If you are having difficulty keeping the plate locked out due to mobility issues consider scaling by holding the plate at your chest or just performing the reps unweighted.

Skill 

10×1 Lunge Kick to Freestanding handstand OR Handstand Walk practice

Have some fun with the skill work today! Make several attempts to kick into and hold a free standing handstand.  For beginners start by just gently rocking up into the upside down position and increase the height of your legs with each attempt.  Don’t go all out in the beginning and turn over too far.  Make sure to start with locked out arms and have a bail out plan or partner assist in place so you don’t come crashing down.  If you are new to this skill start against a wall with some handstand holds or wall walks if you are not quite ready to kick up yet.  If you are comfortable kicking in to a freestanding handstand on your own spend todays skill work time practicing walking on your hands!

WOD

7 rounds of 30 seconds on 30 seconds off at each station

Row for calories
Box Jumps 24/20″
Two arm dumbbell power cleans 50/35 lb

Workout notes: Today’s workout will be scored as you would score the workout “Fight Gone Bad”. Count your total number of reps accumulated across all stations and rounds to come up with one score.  You will be working for a total of 30 seconds on each movement with 30 seconds to recover and move to your next station. Each “round” will include all 3 stations and last 3 minutes so you have a total of 21 rounds, hitting each movement 7 times.   There is rest after each movement so use your best effort to work continuously at each station. This an interval style workout in a longer time domain lasting 21 minutes so the potential for a high amount of volume is present. If you are new to CrossFit or that level of volume consider scaling to 4 or 5 rounds.

Skill
Front Squat
4-4-4-4-4

Today we’re working up to a strong effort 4 rep front squat.  With the front squat we want to focus on keeping the elbows up and chest as upright as possible.  As with any kind of squatting you’ll want to practice keeping your knees out and tracking over your feet. Remember to release the grip on the bar a bit in the front squat and load the bar onto your torso which should help you keep your elbows and chest up. If you have a mobility problem holding you back from keeping your elbows up you can always try crossing your arms across the bar or modifying that in some way.  Feel free to choose one weight and work there for all sets rather than adding weight as you go.

WOD

AMRAP in 15 Minutes

50 Sit-ups
35 Kettlebell Swings 32/24 kg
20 Push-ups

Workout notes: Today we have a time priority triplet with two bodyweight movements and a large set of kettlebell swings sandwiched in the middle.  Each movement has a fairly high amount of volume per round so finding a sustainable cadence will be important.  35 reps of swings is on the large side so most athletes will need to break up each round into a couple of sets. If you have been regularly hitting the benchmark weights but not sure if you should scale, consider performing russian style swings as a scaling option rather than dropping weight.  If 50 sit-ups in a row sounds like a lot, consider dropping the number to something more manageable so you don’t get stuck at one movement for too long.

EMOM for 10 Minutes

[odd] Kipping Toe-To-Bar
[even] 40 seconds of double unders

Our skill work is a great opportunity to refine two common movements. You’ll have a total of 5 opportunities each to work on the kipping swing/toe-to-bar and double unders.  If you are new to the kipping swing  start by alternating between the hollow and arch position on the bar and follow that by pulling the knees in and up as high as possible. Remember that this is skill practice so don’t start with a max set or use this to test your overall work capacity if you haven’t mastered these skills yet.  Start with small sustainable sets and try to maintain that effort across each round.

WOD

for time

15-12-9

Power cleans 135/95 lb
Thrusters 135/95 lb

Workout notes: Today’s workout comes to us from CrossFit.com! We have a task priority couplet with two weightlifting movements!  Most athletes will find that thrusters have a higher difficulty level than the power cleans so you will want to scale your load based on your ability with thrusters.  The advantage with power cleans is that you can perform them as single repetitions and still maintain a fast cadence. Thrusters on the other hand are usually performed in sets. If you are forced to perform single reps of thrusters from the outset of the workout you have gone too heavy.

Skill

EMOM for 10 minutes

Power clean + hang power clean from below the knee

For today’s skill work we will be working on a 2 position barbell complex.  Start by performing a power clean from the floor and re-grip the bar at the shoulders and carefully bring the bar into the hang position.  From there, slightly bend the knees and then lower the bar below your knee caps by closing the hip.  From there perform another power clean catching the bar in a partial squat.  Use this opportunity to practice aggressively opening the hips to create vertical drive on the barbell. Keep your feet in the same position as your squat as you receive the bar at the shoulders and reset your feet prior to your second rep.

WOD

for time

100 Alternating Dumbbell Snatches 50/35 lb

Workout notes: Today’s workout is a task priority single element weightlifting workout.  We most often see dumbbell snatches in couplets or triplets which essentially give you some rest from the implement while you work on another movement.  The total volume may be familiar to you but seeing snatches in this format increase the difficulty level! Establish a sustainable work:rest cadence early on and try to maintain that throughout all 100 reps!  If you are performing your reps as TnG it’s probably a good idea to break them up early to avoid redlining!

WOD

AMRAP in 20 Minutes

5 Toe-To-Bar
10 Push-ups
15 Air Squats

Workout notes: Today’s workout is in the same format as the famous CrossFit workout “Cindy”.  You will perform as many rounds and reps as possible in twenty minutes of three bodyweight movements.  Set sizes are small so we’re looking at potentially getting a high number of rounds.  Each movement complements each so practice quick transitions and keep up the intensity.  If you are new to Toe-To-Bar use this opportunity to practice coordinating your kipping swings and try to get consecutive reps within each set of 5.  The workout duration is long and volume potentially high.  Be mindful of your hands and avoid tearing by switching to a larger number of some form of sit-ups if your grip starts to go.

WOD

With a clock set for 21 minutes *

7 Minutes of
Rowing for calories

7 Minutes of
“Heavy Grace”
Squat Clean & Jerks 155/105 lb

7 Minutes of
30 Double Unders
15 Two arm dumbbell burpee deadlifts 35/20 lb

* start at any station and rotate through each one

Workout notes: Today’s workout probably looks very different that what you normally see in a metcon.  We essentially have 3 different AMRAPs to work through using 7 minute intervals.  Record your score for each workout so you end up with 3 scores after 21 minutes.  Our three workouts are very different from each other so go at each one with an open mind! We have single element monostructural rowing, a single element weightlifting AMRAP based on the the classic CrossFit workout “Grace” that was featured at the 2008 CrossFit games.  We follow that up with a fast moving mixed mode workout.   Unlike other interval workouts there will be no rest between stations so leave a little time as you move between AMRAP’s to get ready for the next one and jot down your score.  If classes are busy this can be done in any order! Choose one AMRAP and rotate through until you have completed all 3.  Please keep in mind that each 7 minute section is a difficult, high volume workout on it’s own so if you are new to CrossFit or not adapted to this much volume scale by dropping the weight and/or the dumbbells and insert some rest at each station.