Month: April 2019

  • May 1, 2019

    Skill

    EMOM for 10 Minutes

    1 Power clean + 1 Squat clean

    We’re working on some more weightlifting skill work today. You will have ten opportunities to complete a clean complex.  The loads could potentially be on the heavy side so touch and go is an option but not necessary. Start with a power clean by catching the bar above parallel and in a partial squat. Bring the bar back to the floor and complete a second clean, this time dropping into the bottom of your full squat.  Ideally you’ll land in the same stance as you receive the bar at the shoulders for both versions of the clean but you’ll drop deeper into your squat in the second rep.  You can work up to a heavy load but remember that this is positional work so you should be using sub maximal weights and focus on hitting each position in the lifts.

    WOD

    7 rounds of 30 seconds on each station

    Strict Pull-ups
    Two arm dumbbell front squats 50/35 lb
    Rest

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is an interval workout with fairly short work periods along with a short rest period as well.  Each round is ninety seconds total with thirty seconds of pull-ups, thirty seconds of squats after seven rounds will finish at the ten minute mark.  Thirty seconds is not a lot of time to get in and out of a band so if you are scaling the pull-ups a good option would be jumping pull-ups or ring rows.  Use dumbbells that you can hang on to most of those thirty seconds rather than going so heavy you can only knock out a few reps.

  • April 30, 2019

    SKILL

    EMOM for 10 Minutes
    Power Clean + Push Jerk + Split Jerk

    Today we’re working on a jerk complex and starting with the simpler push jerk and immediately following that with  the more complex split jerk. For this skill work your load should be light enough that you can power clean the bar and complete both jerks in succession. If you are familiar with the lifts consider a moderate load for the duration of the workout and increase slowly if your technique is sound.  You’ll need to keep the load light enough that you can safely lower the bar down to your shoulders after completing the push jerk. Remember that lowering a heavy bar from overhead is a skill in itself so practice using soft knees to catch the bar at the shoulders rather than letting it crash down.  New lifters should keep the load light and practice perfect technique for each lift.  Both movements are complex so practice sound mechanics before you increase the weight.

    WOD

    for time
    20 Push Jerk 135/95 lb
    35 Hang Power clean 135/95 lb
    50 Burpees

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is a three movement chipper that will ideally fall into a shorter time domain. We have two weightlifting movements with differing levels of difficulty.  Test out both movements and adjust your load based on which movement is more difficult.  For both the push jerks and the hang power cleans you’ll want to be able to start each movement with a large set to knock out a good portion of the reps. You’ll finish the workout with a large set of burpees so start out at a sustainable pace and try to hold that pace until you get through all fifty reps. The barbell movements can be scaled by the weight. If the total burpee volume looks like more than you are ready for consider dropping the number from 50 down to somewhere between 30 and 40 reps instead.

     

  • April 29, 2019

    Skill

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

    Hooray for handstand day!  Bodyweight skills are just as important as weightlifting if you are looking to be a well rounded CrossFitter.   If you are new to this skill start by gently kicking up to a wall or practice wall walks to build the upper body strength and midline positioning that this skill requires. If you are comfortable in a handstand start by gently rocking up onto your hands and increase the height of your legs with each attempt.  Save yourself from a crash and burn by being conservative and trying to find a vertical balance point before you start barreling across the gym.  You will need to be able to hang out upside down with locked out arms so make sure to have a bail out plan or partner assist in place if this is new to you.  If you are comfortable kicking in to a freestanding handstand on your own spend today practicing walking on your hands or try tackling an obstacle or two!

    WOD

    AMRAP in 20 Minutes
    15 Air Squats
    10 Alternating Dumbbell Snatch 50/35 lb
    5 Push-ups

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is a long duration triplet with two bodyweight movements and a light weightlifting movement.  When it comes to the squats and push-ups, use the most difficult standard you can maintain without  having to progressively scale as the movement becomes difficult.  Most of us will find that the push-ups increase in difficulty with the additional fatigue of a long, high volume workout.  Do your best to keep the movement strict and simply add rest or break up each set as you get deeper into the workout.  For the snatches we’re looking for a weight you could easily complete ten of with a sustainable cadence while fresh.  If you are considering testing a heavier weight today make sure that you can easily work through the full range of motion without compromising your mechanics before starting the workout.

     

  • April 28, 2019

    WOD

    3 rounds with 1 minute on each station

    Air assault for calories
    Double unders
    Sandbag cleans 100/70 lb
    Toe-to-bar
    Row for calories
    Rest

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is in the format of “Fight Gone Bad”.  We have five stations with three opportunities for work at each.  Your score will be the total number of reps you complete in the entire workout.  Keep a running count for each round and total up your score at the end of the workout for one large number.  Your time spent at each station is on the short side but remember that the total work time is fifteen minutes which translates to a longer workout.  Keep that in mind when you start that first round and do your best to work at a sustainable pace rather than beginning with an unsustainable effort.

  • April 27, 2019

    WOD

    for time

    1000M Run
    27 Snatch 95/65 lb
    27 Thruster 95/65 lb
    400M Run
    21 Snatch 95/65 lb
    21 Thruster 95/65 lb
    200M Run
    15 Snatch 95/65 lb
    15 Thruster 95/65 lb
    100M Run
    9 Snatch 95/65 lb
    9 Thruster 95/65 lb

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is a total of four rounds with two difficult weight lifting movements coupled with a moderate running distance in each round.   Most of the workout occurs in the first two rounds and the total rep count decreases drastically as you progress through the workout.  The weightlifting volume in this workout is high which means you’ll want to scale to a load you can work through each round in large sets using a weight that is light and that you can move quickly.  At no point should you be forced to do singles or doubles with the weight you choose. If you are new to CrossFit or this level of volume make sure to scale as needed. You can chop off that first round and start in the round of twenty-one or if the running doesn’t look like an issue, but the barbell volume looks daunting you can choose 21-15-9-6 as your rep scheme rather than 27-21-15-9.

     

  • April 26, 2019

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    REMINDER

    We will be cancelling the 6:30PM class today, Friday the 26th, for our trivia night/going away party for Sydney and Corey.  Hope to see you all there![/text-with-icon][vc_column_text]

    SKILL

    Deadlift with controlled descent (no TnG)

    3-3-3

    Today we’re working on a familiar lifting movement but adding in a difficult twist.  We’ll work up to a moderately heavy weight and knock out three triples.  For these triples you’ll lower the barbell down under control rather than letting it slam to the floor and use the bounce to help you with subsequent reps or dropping the bar from the finish position.  Performing the deadlift in this manner is going to make those second and third reps feel much harder than it might normally since you are essentially doing three heavy singles back to back.  Keep that in mind when choosing your weights and focus on maintaining good posture throughout.

    WOD

    AMRAP 10 Minutes *

    Pull-ups

    4 Burpee box jumps 24/20″ EMOM

    Workout notes

    For today’s workout you will have a total of ten minutes to complete as many reps as possible of pull-ups.  We’ll set up a sixty second interval timer and you’ll start with four burpee box jumps at the top of every minute.   Ideally it should take you no more than about twenty seconds to complete those burpee box jumps.  If you find that you are using a lot of time to get through those reps consider scaling the number you do in each round to two or three. You’ll want to make sure you have enough time to knock out some reps on the pull-up bar.  Transitioning in and out of a band might be tough to do in a short time frame so consider jumping pull-ups or ring rows for this workout if you need a good scaling option.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

  • April 25, 2019

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    REMINDER

    We will be cancelling the 6:30PM class tomorrow, Friday the 26th, for our trivia night/going away party for Sydney and Corey.  Hope to see you all there![/text-with-icon][vc_column_text]

    Skill

    Front squat w/2 second pause in bottom of squat
    2-2-2

    Today’s skill work is again working on one of our fundamental movements but we’re taking a departure from how we normally see this strength work and focusing on positioning.  Work up to a moderate load and stick with one weight across all three sets or increase slightly when you get to your working weights. Remember to maintain your posture throughout the rep and after the pause. That means keeping your knees tracking over your feet with your elbows and chest up.  Spend a moment in the bottom of your deepest squat position and drive upward keeping your chest up.  Adding the pause in the bottom of the squat will increase the difficulty of the lift so be conservative and shoot for something in the 75 to 80% range at most.

    WOD

    5 Rounds of 2 minutes on 2 minutes off

    200M Run
    then
    Max reps of wall ball shots 20/14 lb 10/9 ‘

    Workout notes

    This workout is a five round interval workout with a 1:1 work:rest ratio.  You will have two minutes to score as many wall ball shots as possible following a 200M Run.  The time frame is pretty tight so scale the distance to a 100M if needed.  Ideally you should be at your wall ball station with about a minute left on the clock. That would then give you roughly a minute to score wall ball shots.  The best strategy for the wall ball shots is going to be one to two large sets rather than chipping away with small sets.  Because we have a long rest between efforts use this opportunity to treat each round like a sprint by pushing the pace on the run and try for larger sets of wall ball shots.

     

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  • April 24, 2019

    SKILL

    EMOM for 10 Minutes
    2 Power Snatch

    Perform two power snatches every minute for a total of 10 rounds. You can choose to link your reps together or perform two singles, but make sure you’re able to get both reps done within the first half of  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

    2 Rounds for time
    50 Sit-ups
    40 Alternating dumbbell snatch 50/35 lb
    30 Box Jumps 24/20″

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is a short triplet that will be scored by the total time it takes you to complete two rounds of sit-ups, snatches and box jumps.  Forty snatches is a moderate sized set so use a weight that you can start with a few touch and go reps rather than something so heavy you are forced to do singles.  The large set of box jumps will be tough following the snatches so give yourself a sustainable cadence by resting momentarily on top of the box or as you reset your feet on the floor. If the volume looks high for any of the movements consider cutting the reps down to something more manageable. Something like 40-30-20 would be a great scaling option.

  • April 23, 2019

    SKILL

    Tabata Double unders

    Today’s skill work is an opportunity to work on the difficult double under.  If you have the movement down but are still working on knocking out sustainable sets this will be a great time to build your stamina by finding a sustainable work level.   Stay relaxed in the shoulders and jump with as much efficiency as possible.  If you are new to the movement make 1-3 attempts during every work period. Start by performing single unders and introduce a double under attempt every 3-4 minutes. When you attempt your double unders perform the same jump as with your single unders but get more height with an explosive jump and speed up the turn on your rope.  If you’re expert level at double unders and certain you would go unbroken every round use this time to work on Triple Unders!

    WOD

    AMRAP in 20 Minutes
    12 Burpees
    9 Front squats 135/95 lb
    6 Hang power cleans 135/95 lb

    Workout notes

    Today’s workout is a long duration workout with three difficult movements.  Start each round with a small set of burpees.  The burpees take the longest amount of time to complete so do your best to move quickly and keep the intensity high.  After the burpees are complete you’ll tackle a small set of squats and hang power cleans.  The benchmark load for both movements is a moderate weight but the volume will add up so use a weight light enough that you could easily complete a set of each when fresh.  Likely one of these movements is more difficult for you than the other so adjust the weight on the bar based on which movement is tougher.

  • April 22, 2019

    Skill

    EMOM for 10 Minutes

    1 power clean

    The barbell is back! We’re working on a simple weightlifting movement in today’s skill work.  You will have ten opportunities to work up to a strong effort power clean.  Start by pulling the bar off of the floor with the hips low and your chest up.  After the bar passes your knees aggressively open the hips to create vertical drive on the bar.  Quickly drop into a partial squat while you drive your elbows up to receive the bar at the shoulders prior to standing up.  Do your best to hit each position in the lift rather than yanking the bar off of the floor just to hit a heavy number.  If you are new to the lift keep the load in the light to moderate range rather than increasing to max effort.

    WOD

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

    Kettlebell swing 32/24 kg
    Two arm dumbbell front rack walking lunge steps 50/35 lb
    Push-ups

    Workout notes

    We have fifteen minutes on the clock for today’s workout.  There will be five opportunities for reps for all three stations.  We’ll have an interval timer set at thirty seconds with an equal amount of work and rest. Do your best to work through most of each thirty second work period and use the rest interval to recover and transition to the next station.  The movements in this workout are chosen to compliment each other so you can keep the intensity high and work most if not all of each work period.  Your score for this workout will be your total reps for all work periods.