The Great Josh L!

Got a Goal? Here's a Suggestion:
Earlier this week we posted an article that had three different programs one could use to increase their pull-up capacity.  Some of you commented that you'd like to use these programs through this cycle.  Why not pick a plan, post up your name on the goals board and make a mark everytime you complete an exposure.  This is a great way to keep yourself accountable through the month and let us coaches know what you're up to.

Why We Get Fat
Gary Taubes, author of "Good Calories Bad Calories" and "Why We Get Fat" discusses why the idea that individuals gain or lose weight due to either increasing or decreasing caloric intake is just plain wrong. In this lecture, Taubes reviews all the main points of his second book to the staff at Google.  Watch Here

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CrossFit: Fittest On Earth YouTube
Mark Divine on Hypothermia and Mental Control CrossFit

1 x Max Reps
Rest 3-5 minutes
3 x 70%

Post reps to comments.
Compare to 10.14.10

Tag Team 3 Miler
1 Partner runs 400 meters while the other rests, waiting to "tag in". Each partner runs 1.5 miles (400m x6)

Post time to comments.

Coach Fox is on the prowl!

197.1 Miles and Runnin'!

The Ragnar Relay is this weekend!  Team SBK has been training hard and is going to represent big time! The SBK Ragnar Team is: Dan L, Sarah H, Charmel R, Joe W, Colette K, Bjorn B, Noah A, Juliana A, Dan R, Jess F, Steph P, Asta F 

3×10
*Use 75% of your most recent 1RM

Post loads to comments.
Compare to 4.20.11

AMRAP 12 minutes
Run 130
21 KB Swings
12 Burpees

Post Rx and time Rounds to comments.

Jenna M. does Fran

Happy Mother's Day to all of the amazing moms at CFSBK!

If the shoe fits…take it home!

Remember you have until this coming Wednesday to remove your shoes from the gym!  Any shoes left at the end of the day Wednesday are getting thrown over a power line. 

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Navy Ship Dedicated to Fallen SEAL CNN
The Wrong Sleep Ages the Brain Up to Seven Years Daily Mail

21-15-9 Reps for time of:
Thrusters 95/65
Pull-ups

Post RX, times and experience to comments
Compare to 12.13.10

Look Ma, No Hands!

We flipped the script! New Group Class Strength Cycle Programming

For this cycle we're shaking things up a bit in our group class scheduling.  Here is the schedule for the the next 4 weeks.

Monday: HSPU
Tuesday: Rest Day
Wednesday: Heavy Squat
Thursday: Met Con
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Met Con
Sunday: Volume Squat

Notice we've eliminated the longstanding "Pull" day and moved around the remaining training days.  Fear not because deadlifts, snatches and cleans will still be prorgrammed during the month.  We wanted to give folks who have traditionally come on the same 2 or 3 days a week the opportunity to experience some different movements from our movement pool and bias strength endurance cycle.  We hope you enjoy and look forward to your feedback!

Note: If you are only going to make the Sunday squat day please prioritize the heavy squat over the volume squat. 

There Will Be Tacos: Take 34!

Today is the day!  Come celebrate Coach Jeremy's birthday and help him put down 34 tacos in honor of being 34!  The festivities start at 5pm and all the details are on FB here.

Shoe Reminder

Just a friendly reminder to remove your shoes from the gym this week by May 11th!  Thanks!

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Technically Better Fran Mobility WOD
Making the Fran Metcon Mobility WOD
Old School CrossFit: Greg & Annie Do Fran Crossfit
New School CrossFit: Mikko Salo Does Fran CrossFit

Coach Jeremy after taco #34

Happy Birthday Coach Jeremy!!

Developing Your Pull-up

By Coach Christian Fox

There are a bunch of reasons to get better at doing pull ups. For one, we do a
bunch of them in CrossFit. They’re also a great way to increase the
strength of your upper back, arms, lats, grip, and help to have a
balanced and healthy shoulder girdle. You should be able to do strict
pull ups with a variety of grips, and once you can consistently do few
pull ups  at a time it may be time to start working on the kipping pull
up. Here’s how you’re going to get better, no matter where in the scheme
of it you are.

Beginner
(No pull ups, or “I did one, once…”)

“A” Day
3 sets of 12 reps of either: Ring Rows or Band Assisted Pull Ups. Use an
angle or band that makes completing all the repetitions challenging. Rest as needed between sets.

Followed by, 3 Supersets of 12 reps of either: Dumbbell Curls (I know you’ve secretly wanted to do these anyway) or  Dumbbell Rows
with either: Dumbbell Bench Press or Dumbbell Floor Press
Choose a weight that feels like you could have done another rep or two at the
end of the set. Take minimal rest between exercises in the superset.
———
“B” Day
10 ‘mini sets’ of 1 rep each of 5-10 second negatives using either a pull
up or a chin up grip on the minute for 10 minutes. You can jump to the
top or set a box up that allows you to start at the top (collar bone
above the bar). Yes, that seems like a lot of rest in between reps, and
no, it’s not a lot of total reps. That’s a good thing, trust me.

Alternate between the A day and the B day with a day of rest between workouts. An example would be:
Monday A – Wednesday B – Saturday A – Monday B – Wednesday A – Saturday B
———

Intermediate
(Can do 3-5 pull ups at a time)

Week 1)  6 sets of 2 reps. Rest 1 minute between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 2)  5 sets of 3 reps. Rest 1 minute between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 3)  4 sets of 4 reps. Rest 90-120 seconds between sets. Perform twice a week.
Week 4)  3 sets to failure. Rest 3 minutes between sets. Perform twice a week.

This program can be used until you have 3 sets of 10 reps in the 4th week.
In other words, if you don’t get the 3×10 in week 4 restart at week 1 by
adding a rep to the sets. Week one would be 6×3, week 2 would be 5×4,
and week 3 would be 4×5, then retest in week 4.

End each session by practicing kipping pulls ups for a few small sets, no
more than 5 sets and no more than 8 reps. Terminate the set if you fall
out of rhythm. It’s all about developing a rhythm that you can control
and maintain. Remember that a solid kip uses your whole body and don’t
forget that your abs need to be engaged throughout. If you fly open in
the front of the kip you are leaking tons of energy away from the bar.
Check out this video for a peak at what an efficient pull up should look like.
———

Advanced
(Can regularly do sets of 10 or more strict and/or kipping)

Congrats, you stud or stud-ette. You are now on your way to becoming elite! Don’t expect though that your pull ups will magically become better if you
don’t practice them. You should still be working on both strict and
kipping pull ups. Mix up the grip that you use when you practice. Try
these.

1) Once a week do a set or two to near failure. Start with a pull up grip
(hands outside shoulder width and palms away) and when you are 2 reps
shy of failure switch to a chin up grip (hands inside shoulder width and
palms toward you). When you are 2 reps shy of failure switch to a mixed
grip (1 palm in, 1 palm out) and do the same before switching again.

2) You can practice similarly by doing a set or two of max strict pull
ups,  immediately switching to kipping and again going till failure (or a
rep shy of it).

3) Start doing weighted pull ups/chin ups, 3 sets of 5 reps, and seeing if you can add weight each week.

4) 30 seconds on/30 seconds off for 5 minutes of max reps kipping pull
ups. The set ends if you come off the bar. Remember to stay engaged in
the trunk. Don’t leak energy out in front. Remember this video.

5) Each time you’re in the gym do a 3-5 sub-max sets of kipping pull ups,
trying to add a rep each time you do the drill. You want to feel fresh
and stay shy of failure here. Terminate the set if grip becomes the
limiting factor. Again, remember to stay engaged and not leak energy out
of the front of the kip. Once again…

6) If you have a solid kip that just seems to go away on you when you get
gassed then try practicing your pull ups under duress. Do 50 double
unders or sprint down the block and back followed immediately by a set
of 10-15 pull ups.

——-

If one of the days that you’re in the gym involves a lot of pull ups then
consider that a replacement day for one of the days on the above
programs. Also consider this…it’s no mistake that smaller, lighter
people have an easier time with pull ups. While the barbell exercises
can be scaled easily to ability, calisthenics can not. If you have some
weight to lose then a solid nutritional program can work in tandem with
the above programs to help you achieve the pull up. Check out the folks
over at Whole 9 or our buddy Robb Wolf for lots of info from simple tips to detailed programs to get you started. Three cheers getting yer pull ups up!!!

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Which category do you fall into?  Are you willing to dedicating the time and effort to bump up a level or two?

3 attempts at max broad jump
3 attempts at max distance backwards overhead sandbag toss
3 attempts at fastest cone drill*
*Please refer to the following video for a demonstration of the cone drill

Post distances and times to comments. 

Ladylike indeed! Radhika V grinds out a tough squat

Gillian Mounsey's Gymnastic Workship at CrossFit Queens!

Accomplished gymnast, CrossFit Games competitor, SBK Friend fo' Life and all around great person Gillian Mounsey will be putting on her gymnastics workshop at our good CrossFit Queens Saturday, May 14!  For full details including the seminar syllabus and to register check here.

1 Man, 34 Tacos: Coach Jeremy's 2nd Annual Birthday Taco Tour!

Come watch/join Coach Jeremy eat to absolute discomfort as he puts down 34 tacos at a number of the finest taco spots in Brooklyn!  The crawl is this Saturday, May 5th and starts at 5pm.  To RSVP for the new definition of taco madness and for more details check out the Facebook page!  Here's to Jeremy beating his PR of 23!

Shoe Reminder

Just a friendly reminder to remove your shoes from the gym this week.  We are doing a little bit of spring cleaning.  You can bring them back Thursday May, 12. All shoes not out by Wednesday, May 11 will be drawn and quartered. Thanks, Mgmt!

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Jeff Tucker on the Hollow Rock Crossfit
Annie T. and Coach B. a Crossfit Journal Preview Crossfit
Worst. Deadlift. Ever Gym Idiots

Work up to a 2 Min Max Rep Snatch Test
*Athletes can switch hands as needed during the 2 minutes

Post load and reps to comments.
Back Off Week

Annie Ladder

For 15 minutes complete
10 Double unders, 10 situps then
20 Double unders, 20 situps then
30 Double unders,  30 situps then
40 Double unders, 40 sit-ups, etc.

Post rounds and reps to comments.

*Athletes should use this as an opportunity to perfect and refine their Double Under form

Allen E. gives running two thumbs up.

Spring Cleaning: Special Shoe Edition

Spring is in full swing and we'll be doing some cleaning over the next couple of weeks.  In the interest of straightening up we're asking everyone to remove their shoes from the gym between today and next Wednesday, May 11.   Any shoes left will disappear never to be heard from again. Don't fret  we'll re-open the racks for shoe storage next Thursday, May 12. 

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Gymnastics WOD Jump Rope Trilogy: Parts One, Two & Three Gymnastics WOD
Jeff Martone on the Kettlebell Snatch Crossfit
Gary Taubes on Robb Wolf's Paleo Solution Podcast Robb Wolf

Wait, who'd you say I look like?

Be Like Craig.  Sign up for the Strength Cycle.

May Cycle A (novice cycle)
5/9/11 – 7/1/11
Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:00-8:30pm
and
Fridays from 6:00-7:30pm

May Cycle B (advanced cycle)
5/10/11 – 7/3/11
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm
and
Sunday from 10:00-11:30am

To register, click here!

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Would you attend a late afternoon/evening class on the weekend?
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A Guide to Nutritional Off-Roading Whole 9
174,203 Things You Can Do Instead of Watching TV Whole 9
Ukranian Playground Bar Training Wimp.com

Spend 15 minutes at each of the following stations:

A) Row for max meters
B) DIY foam roll/mobility work: band FSQ rack stretch, forearm to instep lunge, LAX into upper trap
C) Find a max thruster

Post loads, meters and experience to comments.
Back Off Week

SBK Fought for the Right to Party at Prom.  And WON!

CF Open Sectionals 2011 is a Wrap!

A huge thanks to all the members of Team SBK who represented CFSBK by participating in 6 incredibly challenging WODs over the last seven weeks and to all the friends, family and fellow members who supported them during their journey.  The last sectionals event was this past Saturday and Team SBK housed it!  Congratulations to Steph P. and Jessica Fox for their 1st and 2nd place finishes at the event!  Thanks to everyone who made the last seven weeks a huge success.  We look forward to next year!

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Real Turkey>>>Tofurkey Foodsize
3 Sisters, 100 Double Unders Youtube
POV of Downhill Bike Race in Chile Vimeo

Barbell Zerches, Sleds and Get-Ups -Oh My!

Post experience to comments.
Back Off Week

Alex does a weighted pull-up. Load= 1 baby Zachary

There is still room left in Coach Jeremy's next Strength Cycle. Hop on it!
May Cycle A (novice cycle)
5/9/11 – 7/1/11
Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:00-8:30pm
and
Fridays from 6:00-7:30pm

May Cycle B (advanced cycle)
5/10/11 – 7/3/11
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00-8:30pm
and
Sunday from 10:00-11:30am

To register, click here!

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Tight Calves? Check out this Heel Cord Love from MobilityWOD
Composting 101 Robb Wolf 
Want to learn something new? For cheap? Beekeeping, Historic Gastronomy, Tying knots etc? Check out the Brooklyn Brainery located on Court Street! 
Secret Science Club (Brooklyn)